IMPERIAL POLITICS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVIII, Issue 81918, 15 February 1907, Page 3

IMPERIAL POLITICS

THE HEBRIDES' CONVENTION. DEFENDED BY WINSTON CHURCHILL. » London, February 13. Mr Winston Churchill (Undersecretary for the Colonies) sketched the New Hebrides negotiations, and declared the best possible bargain had been nuulo. He was quite certain that colonial interests had not suffered. When the Convention was sent to t;:o colonics no ultimatum was tin* <;•> vernment only w shed them U know that after wrestling for months with the French delo#Ui's it was va.n to attempt to obtain fuit'uT eonce.-Mons. He defended th: 1 indentured reiiuli. tionj as excellent and defensible from every point of vow, a great, undeniable advance iowar.ls a humane system of labor, in contrast with the state of anarchy they replaced. The Convention did nor pro vent a Kanaka wrkiiMj in any inland after th<> detorininivc on of Kia contract. Mr Churchill twituvi Mv 3UI four with rambling oil' to anlipi-dvan archipelagoes only to discover a homely mare's nest.

The Right Hon. A. Lytielton (late Secretary for the Colonies) said the Government, in sanctioning labor eonditions in the New Hebrides, had done what they denounced the late Government for doing in the Transvaal. The debate was adjourned. PRESS COMMENT. IGNORING THE COLONIAL CON FERENCE. WHAT IRELAND EXPECTS. London, February 13. The Times says the Government deliberately ignored the Colonial Confer enee, involving the most vital interest of the Empire. Such contemptuous indifference was strange on the part of those affecting to believe that sentiment was the only possible bond oi Imperial unity. Sir 11. Campbell Bmnerrnan ought to be aware that the 1897 Conference was not pre-arranged when Parliament was not sitting; it only arose incidentally out of the pre sence of the colonial premiers at ihe Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Mr Chamberlain only suggested that the 1902 Conference should meet after Parliament had assembled, and the King's prorogation Speech adequately recognised its imperial significance. The Freeman's Journal says the Premier's language may mean much or very alittle. The Irish people expect not so much an improvement in the features of the present system as a ra dical change. It is generally inferred from Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman's speech that tne Government will seek to diminish' the constitutional powers of the House of lords, not to attempt reconstructive refrrn. INDIGNANT FEMALE SUF, FRAGISTS. A BIG DEMONSTRATION. CONFLICTS OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT FIFTY-SIX ARRESTED. Received 14th, 10.34 p.m. ' London, February 14.

A great woman's convention at Caxton Hall, Westminster, expressed profound indignation that there was no allusion in the King's Speech to wo f men's suffrage, and demanded that the Commons give precedence to the great question. Eight hundred feinaie suffragists, headed by Mrs Despard, marched to the House of Commons to present a resolution to Sir Henry Campbell-Ban,-nennan, singing "Glory, Hallelujah.'" The police tried to disperse the procession at Westminster Abbey, but the bulk of the suffragists contrived to reacDi thq entrance to Parliament, where they clamorously demanded to see the Premier.

After much uproar and many skirmishes with the police, lifty-s'x. including Mrs! Despard, were arreted. A dozen of them forced an entrance out despite a fierce resistance. During the struggle outside, tlie mounted police nearly rode down several. NEW HEBRIDES' CONVENTION (DEFENDED BT SIR E. GREY. Received 14,10.50 p.m, LoNDOJf, February 1-1. SSir E. Grey resumed, tlie debuts on e Address-in-Beply. The New Hebrides Convention, lie said, deliberately contemplated subsequent modifications as the result|of experience. It was a great improvement on the previous state of tilings. They must remember that the proportion of [French settlers was two-thirds to British one-third. Since it was impossible to secure exclusive British possession, the best possible bargain was made. If partition had been mooted, it was b) no means certain that we would have got the best oi the bargain, at a time when British interests had been unduly depressed in the New Hebrides by the high protection dutes imposed by the Jculouies, while the French granted more liberal treatment. The fear of outside companions (sic) induced Britain to propose a joint protectorate, continuing negotiations at leisure. France declined for good reasons, and therefore tbe best course was to ratify the Convention, deferring further amendment until later. Sir E. Grey deelaredit would haye been criminal had they not regulated labor. A step forward has been taken, but the working ef the system must be carefully watched, and if abuses were discovered, France must be approached With a yiew to amendments.