Parliament.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 128, 23 October 1914, Page 8

Parliament.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22. AFTERNOON SESSION. By Telegraph.—Per Press Associatioa. ■Wellington, Last Night. The Council met at 2.30 p.m. The Voad Boards Amendment, Municipal Corporation Amendment, and Workers' Dwellings Act Amendment Eills „vre read a first time. NATIONAL PROVIDENT. Hon. H. D .Bell moved the third reading of tho National Provident Fund Amendment Bill. Hon. Samuel said the Bill would be , a benefit until the friendly societies were satislk .1 that the work they had undertaken could be better done by rbo State. The debate was adjourned . EDUCATION RESERVES. T!| e ElucartSon Reserves Amendment Bill was taken in committee, progress was reported, and leave asked to sit again. ROAD BOARDS. Hon. Bell moved the second reading of the Road Boards Amendment Bill. The measure proposes to confer upon road •a jrds power to obtain money for tho construction of drainago works. The Bill was put through committee without amendment, read a third time, and passed. Municipal government. The lion. Bc!l moved the second reading of the Municipal Corporation Amendment Bill, which makes provision far a poll to be taken upon flic inclunionor exclusion of an areu in a borough. The Bill was put through committoe without amendment, read a thud time, and passed. Tut; (Jouuul rose at 4.40 p.m. HOUSE OF SEPRESEKTATIVES.

AFTERNOON SESSION. The Ilou.se met at 2.30 p.m. THE HUNTLY DISASTER. In reply i 0 Sir Joseph Ward, the Premier stated Unit tlio Government had not yet considered tne n«ce*iity of ins.nuelii!- the Hunlly Disaster Oommissio.t to injure int.) charges of intimiuvtion. A decision would be come to beiore the Commission reported. LOCAL RAILWAYS. T!ie amendments made in the Local Railways ]si!l by tho Legislative Couacil were agreed to.

LEGISLATURE AMENDMENT BILL.

The Louse went iiuo committee o«u the l. (jishiLure Amendment Bill No. 2. Hon issuer issued an Order Paper, coniamuy; an alteration in the voting of seamen, who, it Ls now proposed, shall voce, m the electorate in waiok they signed their articles. The House roio at 5.30 p.m. LVENJNG SESSION. LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENT BILL. Wellington, Last. Night. The House rammed, at 7.3d p.m. In committee the House continued" the discussion of the Legislature Amendwent i;,i,, No. 2. Th c Opposition severely criticised tho proposal to alter the. method of recording seamen's Totes, the 'burden 0 f the argument being what tho change was mada entirely in the intercats of the Minister of Marine and the member for Auckland West. Sir Joseph Ward contended tliat }he Bill connived an depriving tho seamen of a privilege winch tluy had enjoyed since 1803. ft. moved, as. an amendment to the title, "that tins i d an Act to deprivu the seamen of Now Zealand from oxeroisinj their votes with the same freedom that has existed since tho passing of the. Act in 1893."

Hon. Filler said the proposal tunentlmen: was made for the purposp of preventing s.ar.rjiiii improperly using the j-r:\ i.i fjc.i which they enjoyed. Alter Mo.-*>r.i Will'ord, ISTailnfT, audi -Miller had spoken, a division '.ran' takea upon nhe amendment t, which was defeated by :w to as.

ear.ise ;l was amended to provide for cue months nrideneo for qualification ', o exercise a vot.-.

. A new ckuui:, ■-, was added, providing that seaman Shall be deemed to be h:i elretor of y t!ie district comprising the port at which he, signed articles, aril that any siaman not engaged upon a ship he deemed to be aa elector of the district comprising the port lit which he was last discharged. Mr.'-Md-'omhs moved an amendment providing fcr tie election of women to Urn House

Jhe Premier objected to tho clause, mu! said it was quite a ilillVnmt thin" inmi the cause passed last nijdit giviu" "■omen the right to sit in tim J.rgUative '■ ouncil.

nhMii' ail'irmed (h,. .vrmehde that -1 ejectors should have einul' electoral rights.

Mr. lsitt said; ""Winn we gave'th-' woimm the franeliisa it earrirtf with it the right to represent i-lieir i ■:

'Pii.B Pi-jmiw- .replied thai Sir Grey was regardci as nhe ;rreal anostte of i.rbcriaiim, but while he was-in'favor of women becoming good «nd useful memher.s of the revlsim.' chamber he was nevi..T in favor of their becoming members of the Lower llouso.

-Mr. Witty strongly i-jupoital th; amendmeni, siying tli.il it'was an boa-e.-u and 'logical sequence of the franchise.

■Oil a division jiiinw taken, Hid cl;uw;> whs i-ij,'oU;<J by :« to 21. V..;v. MA was .then ireportsd fnx.u committer.

Th a I'reimer -n<;pes'.'d to take the '■liinl reading. Sir Josepli \\'ard 'protwliil afjuiiist tin; dogmatic iproceod'iiiHi of Ui;> Overniiiint in driving Um j.ip sariny that no one had asked for tfie measin-", wh it'll was :•. pun; ropri.sal against ■'•■'"■ '■■'Jiinn'iii uii,l wiit,. being promoted for party rca.*M..

Tho lYt-niitir n-pliod that it wis unfair (o allow st-ainon to co-iieeiilrate. their w.te.s in any on e t-lwlonvtp for -lino purport' of wusMing a par'.ioulnr I'iiu.Udnjt'e. 'l'lii; dulwtu -was continued b- Messrs Witty and McCounbs. (Ij'ft .Sillin',')

TERRIBLE STORIES.

FROM THE BATTLEFIELD. FIENDISH WORK OF THE GERMANS. London, September 13. A London Ticar has gent to the Time! tXis letter from his son, an officer in tho Expeditionary Force. Tho talcs lio tells are so horrible that the Times procured in confidence before publication the name and the regiment of the officer. GIRLS IN THE TRENCHES. Hero is his unvarnished tale as told to his father:—"Here I am in the thick of it. Thu may interest you, as I am writing in the firing line. We arrived in this place about 8 p.m. last night, having marched 50 miles. All last night we entrenched, and at 5 a.m. this morning vfo got our firat glimpse of tho Germans. They advanced in solid masses. Their shells at first fell rather short, but they soon got tha rang!', and at G. 30 a.m. their shells started to pitch in the trenches. Tiw first one kiiled three of my poor fellows, including my sergeant. "I never realised what an awful tiling war is. You cannot imagine at home tho horror of it. I am in a small village on the extreme left, and can see the liorrihlo cruelty of the Germans to the inhabitants. We have got tiiree girls in the - trenches with us, who came to us for protection. One had no clothes on, having been outraged by the Ger I have given her my shirt and divir' my rations among them. In consequence I feel rather hungry, having had nothing for thirty-two hours, except milk chocolate.

CAUGHT IN THE ACT. "We have boon hard at the Germans all day (now 8 p.m.), and have successfully driven them back. Our men's shooting is wonderful and accurate. The Germans collapse like ninepins under it. The slaughter is awful. ... I started this morning with fifty men in my trench and now 'have 23 and no non-coins, officers left. They are wonderfully cheery. I have been hit twice; one took the heel of my boot off, and one through my shoulder, which is rather sore, so I must have it dressed.

"Another poor girl has just come ; n, having had both her breasts cut off. Luckily, I caught the Uhlan officer in the act, and with a rifle at 300 yds killed him. And now she is with us,"poor girl, but 'I am afraid she will die. She is very pretty, and on'y about 10, and only has her skirt on. . . ." THEN GOD AND MAX WILL JUDGE. Lord Selbornc, in - a letter to the Times, applies the proper statement to those horrors. "Permit me to say," he writes, 'fthat sueh statements as these cannot possibly be allowed to rest on anonymous authority. The eivifaed world has the right to demand that names and full particulars shall be given.

"Either these statements are untrue, or they are true. If they are untrue, I am sure that you, sir, would most deeply regret having given publicity to them in any form, and would feel that our righfeotts cause was grievously injured by such a libel on tho German Army.

"But if they are true, then God ami man will judge. "Would it not be possible for trained lawyers or judges belonging to a neutral nation like the Netherlands or the Unitfa Slates to conduct a sworn enquiry into such cases as arc already open to investigation? There must be many sueh among tho Belgian refugees in England and in the parts of Belgium not occupied by the German troops."