MOTHER COUNTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 March 1917, Page 5

MOTHER COUNTRY.

PLOT AGAINST THE PREMIER. DISCUSSION OP THE MOTIVE, London, March 6. The trial of Mi' 3 Whecldon and others for the plot against Mr Lloyd George, has opened at the 010 liailey before Mr Justice Low. It is probable it will last several days. All the accused pleaded guilty. Sir F. E. Smith, Attorney-General, submitted that the prisoners were a desperate body of people bitterly hostile to this country. They sheltered fugitives from the army, anir had done their best to injure Britain in the war crisis. In discussing the motive leading people of the middle class and good education to such moral degeneracy,' Sir F. E- Smith said the jury would probably infer, firstly, tliaftfui prisoners had an intense and unreasoning hatred for their country, which was shocking; secondly, a hatred for the measures necessitated hy the war and a profound dislike for compulsion; thirdly, hatred of the statesman whose duty it had been to recommend sueli measures.

TARIFF REFORM. THE INDIAN COTTON DUTY. SETTLEMENT OF IRISH AFFAIRS. PERMANENCY OF DAYLIGHT SAVING. London, March G. The Morning Post states that the announcement of the Indian duty on cotton goods dropped on Lancashire like a bombshell. The Dominion* and India have been invited to send representatives to London to promote inter-Im-pc rial trade, and, until the conference meets, it is improper for the Government of India to impose a duty. The action is directly opposed to the whole spirit of the conference, which undoubtedly is reciprocity. It was never intended that tariff reform should set the dominions against the Mother Country. The Daily News vehemently denounces the duty as revolutionary. There is nothing quite like it in our history. The measure was carried out without consulting Parliament, and implies a change in the whole Imperial fiscal relations, in which the Dominions are intimately concerned. The Imperial Conference has been blithely overridden and forestalled. The Daily Chronicle states that it is rumoured that the Government contemplates appointing a commission to report on the expediting of an Itish settlement. The Government will hot refuseMr O'Connor's resolution point blank, and will not accept Sir George Reid's amendment. It adds that the Government has decided to prolong the life of Parliament for half a year after April. (Sir George Reid gave notice to move that in view of the necessitv for strengthening the hands of tli# Allies at this critical stage, the House is unable to discuss Home Rule and other domestic legislation, which would unavoidably excite an acute difference of opinion). The Summer Time Committee recommend the permanent adoption of daylight saving. They snid that it has had excellent social and ecuiiomic benefits, and that the moral tone has improved, owing to the tendency to spend an extra hour in the open air. It has also caused a marked decrease in juvenile oii'encks. A vast preponderance of the public favors its permanence. The Bishop of London has announced that every clergyman in London has volunteered for National Service.

MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. THE SITUATION IN ROUMANIA. ' SCARCITY OF POTATOES. London, March C. In the House of Commons Mr Dillon asked whether we had impressed Roumania by pledges of assistance which we were unable to fulfil. He quoted an alleged letter from Lord Hardinge to Sir George Buchanan (Ambassador in* Petrog-rad), apparently seized among the mails and published in Germany, stating that M. Bratiano (the Roumanian Premier) had always been one of the most evasive fellows, and was even now endeavoring to wriggle out upon the pretence that our offensive at Salonika was not everything he desired. Mr. MacT'herson said that Mr. Dillon ought to read so doubtful a letter with great hesitation. He asked whether Mr. Dillon quoted the letter with Lord Hardinge's permission. Captain Bathurst sma there was an unprecedented world-wide scarcity of potatoes, and it was unlikely that there would be sufficient in Britain for any-, body in the late spring and early sum-' mer. . There was no evidence that farmers were unreasonably withholding them. Mr. Lambert said the withdrawals of labor from agriculture we.* so great as to result in a serious diminution of food production. The people at the War Office apparently knew nothing about agriculture. Companies of soldiers as substitutes were unsatisfactory. Farming could not be done by numbers. Mr. Bonar Law said the Government would make a proposal regarding the cancellation of certificates of naturalisation when the Imperial Conference met. Sir George Cave announced that the convictions of women for drunkenness during the past four years were 35,705 37,308, 33,210, and 31,244.

DIRECTOR OF VEGETABLES AND FRUIT. A, & N.Z. Cable Association and Heater. Received March 7, 0.40 p.m. London, March C. The Press Bureau states that Mr. John W. Dennis has been appointed to the Ministry as director of the potatoes, vegetables, and fruit section, without pay. POST WAR PROBLEMS. A. & N.Z. Cable Association and Reuter. Received Maiqb 7, 9.40 p.m. London. March 0. The Premier, receiving a ikptrtation from the Labor Party in connection with the resolutions passe! -.['. !k; Manchester Conference in J:ni-.-:i ■■■.■ relating to post-war problems, pr.-un sivi to submit- them to the new Reconstruction Committee.