ESSENCE OF PARLIAMENT

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 145, 28 September 1910, Page 3

ESSENCE OF PARLIAMENT

(From our Parliamentary Correspondent) Wellington, Sept. 24. "Arm ye 'brave! A noble cause! Your zeal' demands." Meaning, sirs, that the Defence Act ihas entered on the first stage of amendment, the amending Bill having been read, a second time under circumstances of unusual Parliamentary unanimity. The position is thus: Before Kitchener came we jjassed the Act for compulsory military service. When he came 'he paitted 1 us on the ibaok in his grave way. W'hen he made liis report he said what he 'thought about our scheme of soldiering, not in ttoe language of the camp but in the sweet words of the courtier. Translated, it meant that our system could be very good if we only extended ita application to thie manhood of tthe country. But that if confined, according to the intention of the Act, to hoys, it would never, in the creation of caits, come to amy good whatever. The opinion was clothed as advice.-from an expert. Wis are taking the advice. We are extending the compulsory age to five and twenty. There you have the whole thing in a nutshell. Sir Joseph, in moving the second reading, flourished a multitude of figures, dived with them into the various ages prevalent among young 1 men, divided .them into their years, predicted wnat <the force would be every year, raised the whole of the questions arising out of these numbers, presented the House and counitry with a mass of figures which fated round like the little colors in the kaleidoscope. It would be .hopeless to follow him through these feats. This is not an opiate column. Therefore, it is quite enougih to say that iby the year 191.6, if all goes well with tlie scheme, ted all the units of all the years are good boys, we shall ( have an army of 105,000 men ready to' fight anybody and anything and go anywhere to dio it. The House said "Hear, hear."

Wilien Mr. Allen rose lie was l a transformed man. He came next to the Minister, of course, because -as everybody knows he is the Defence Minister electthat is to say, he is the Defence Minister of the party not at present in power. But he threw all considerations of party to the winds'' rising on the wings of ' patriotism to gteSit heights of appreciative argument. He was genial withal, 'fluent, optimistic, Without a trace of the querulous tone with which he addresses himself to most questions. The House was electrified, listening spellbound to Mr. Massey'fl lieutenant. When he announced that he would in the spirit of : the Minister's appeal rise albove party, holdl himself in readiness to support him in getting 'his Bill through the House, and if necessary march up to every platform in the country to continue the work of first aid. The House cheered him. That showed the temper of the House on the question. When he sat down everybody could see that he had a thorough grasp of the subject". We shall certainly not want for guidance on ithe defence question so long as Mr. Allen is above Dominion ground, for he will be also above party all the time on that question.

* * » * The only opponent of the extension of service to the manhood was the leader of the anti-military party, if such a party can be said to exist in the Dominion. At all events, if it 'has no body it has a head, and the head spoke with no uncertain sound ,on one important point. He declared that it is the, duty of every man to join in defence of his country. The declaration iijj good enough to cover a multitude'of,,-sins. Mr. Taylor during his speech .cojpimitted the mul% tude, He refused, to, agree to the extension to the- manhood. True, an expert had' advispd .jt, but what are experts ? Parliament .had decided the other way lasit year.-, Is £lye of Parliament to be flouted. t>y any expert? Never! Mr. Taylor forgot to notice the reason given by the expert, which is that the army of the Dominion will be very much the better for an admixture of seasoned men; It is a reason backed up by common sense, which requires no ghost, expert, or other to tell it that boys cannot ever-do the -work of men. Mr. Taylor went on to, argue that training is not required according to the plan of the military intellects of the world to enable men to; defend their country .properly in the hour of need, instances from a.t;large. all the instances he quoted were reaiiy against him, and there.are many which he did not quote which are even more'so. Naturally, with nothing better tha,n..tiiat against the principle, the House decided to read the Bill a second time.

Details "were given in plenty by the Minister and canvassed toy various speakers during the 1 debate. As we are not to take all the men of service ages we must select those we do, so as to get the best. This ia not to be by ballot, a thing the: Homsesagreed tp readily, as the. ballot is lottery and lotteries are 'not the right medium for the selection of the soldiers of the King. The rule is laid down of the exemptions and thel resit is done by magistrates to be selecti ed. It seems fair enougjh to be tried. Mr. Allen advised another way and no ! doubt in committee his way will be I threshed out. It will get fair play. So much is clear. ,

The method of applying discipline to the citizen force 'without endangering .the I proper liberties is a problem. Thei safety vialve in the Bill is the right of appeal for officers to a board. But the ifylinister disarmed criticism at the outset by announcing that he would agree to extend the privilege to the men, and that hj« was ready to change the system to the court-martial system, with a properly constituted and appointed advocate-gen-eral for the protection of the rights of all concerned. The idea ia to get thes men accustomed in peace to the thing they will have to submit to in war. It will get rid of many causes of misunderstanding. Provided there is nothing of the hidle-bound high-feathered martinet about it this part of the scheme ought to work out well. The dietail will have attention at the committee stage with many others. Till then the public can take a short farewell of the Bill . It is enough for them in, one dose that the principle of compulsory service is acceptted in its completeness. The wonder of the thing is that without more than a fraction of the time and jpioney spent by the continental systeodi of.training we may expect to attain the same result, namely, am army fit to do anything and go any where. It is a stroke as won-* d'erful as the toiuich of the financial magic, which by a payment of £12,000 a year added to what we pay now, and the exension of the time of payment of the whole to seventy-five years, we are , to increase our effective repayment of Sloans from six millions to sixty. It seems as impossible to the aerage mind. But the military scheme has the approval of soldiers just as. the financial has of actuaries. The session has suddenly begun to look fruitful. . * ♦ * * The lasit day of the week was given up I to finance and ''bullyiragiging,'' but the I rest was a piiocessio'tt of interest, not

equal to tihe Defence Bill, but lively I enougih for all that. The Loan Bill got I through the second 'reading without any r sign of the tapering-off process so much discussed of late. The water powers got ! put into a Bill of uieir own, and got talked at some. There is much eagerness about the same. Most men have now •realised how ibig a thing this water power is. * * » • i

| A 'Frisco service has 'been arranged ' and the arrangement is remarkable for 1 two things. First, the fact is demon- ' ; strated that there are, as 'has been happily said, two Prime Ministers in this 'happy country, the Right Hon. Sir J. G. I Ward aiwl tfhe Eight Hon. Mr. Gunson, I who is also president of the Auckland ! Chamber of Commerce. On this occasion I the Right Hon. iSir J. G. has been made I to feel .that the arrangement is by no j means pleasing to the other Right HonI oraible., No one will argue against the I Right Hon. moailthpiece of Auckland, but the arramgement for the 'Frisco service will mot be altered. The other thing remarkable is that the Union Company, which 'lias had' the enterprise to provide refrigerated space on the steamers, has met with t'he smallest possible response from tie 'Maorilandera engaged in the shipping of meat to otlier countries, whereas the apace lias been fairly rushed from Australia. What do we deserve ? * * * Tlhie little omission of the send-off to 31r. Fowkls was repaired at Auckland after all. The speeches there contained very big references to the great. proconsul. One of the members who was mot sorry because of tin. omission has volunteered to .remark that Auckland is ! the-fliotbed of "Greyism." But he has not yet grasped the. salient points of the pro-consuj's r . ♦ > * The Gaming Bill has not yet got out of committee, but there are fears in .some quarters of what it may be found 'to oontain when it does. Hence, we are homhardfed with a memorandum from the president- of the Jockey Club. Therein we read that there is a million a year spent on tlhe wagies of racing, and the tiemand is made of What is to become of the recipients of all good worthy props of large families, brought up in innocence and .virtue. In some quarters the .answer is something about the wages of ;,sin. In these the death penalty into which these wages are supposed 'to gravi;late always, will, it is thought, take tihe •shape of a clause in the Bill providing local option. We shall see. If we do, it •will ibe found that the session is too far gone- for such a tremendously contentious subject. The same may be said I Tvith reference to the rumors that per- ; siat about the appearance of a licensing Bill. The rumors of these are simple innocents. * * The Bill for the increase of the advances to workers has been well treated. It has produced a rush of claimants of the credit for the original ideas. Which means that its passage is assured with no further obstruction than may be necessary for more claimants to air their great privilege.' A far-seeing man is your Parliamentarian.

❖ ❖ * A petition from John Chinaman is curious and mot a little amusing. John is a master hand at diplomacy, even when he takes in washing. In his petition to the House he invokes the international principle of the open door, reminds honable members that he cheerfully paid a hundred pounds for admission to the Dominion, which is, of course, the most glorious country on earth, in the certain hope of admission to all the privileges of the citizens, and winds up with a vivid pictare of the certain discomfort of many working men, who, if the Bill 1 passes;" will have to be content with kno wing that ."the cleaned boiled rag of, tiheir Surlily expectation is lying in the wash-tub by compulsion of an unreasonable Legislature. It is a perfectly lovely document. As it has right on its side when it claims just the same treatment, neither more nor less than that accorded to the European, he will probably get what he wants. There are men enough in both Houses who will be men enough when it comes to the push.