PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 September 1917, Page 5

PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

By Telegraph.—Press Associatiw, Wellington, Last iNiffh.^)"

The House met at 7.30. f ;4| ( AMENDED MILITARY -BIDLi,' 11| Tho Expeditionary Forces Amendjntefc Bill was introduced ibv Governors' nXpsage. Sir Jas. Alidn said tile cbief cl*l|e , in the Bill was that providing fot t®e exemption of cletgy, meaning ed clergy of recognised .fihuc&hss, mdl . those ministers .rtiifhorisedjio Mariat Brothers; Sjiot <j|d«Mid ( j clergy, wtire not exempted. nothing in the Bill about tho congestion of youths of 10, out they wouldjjo# l '7 accepted as volunteers. One clause ms|lo the ollence of employing an unregistered .reservist eompleto on the making of'a .contract for employment.. A doubt l(ad. .j previously existed as to whether there.' j ■_ was a complete offence until after sever* ■'. x days' employment. Power- is takejy t<* ' call up the residue of a class, in tfyfli reserve without tho formality qf a. tjjjft.' lot, when all men in tho residue wereti 1 required. Deserters would lose thel?' civil rights for ten years, but tha Govern-* ment had not yet seen its way to con* fiscate their property. EXPEDITIONARY FORCES VOTINQ. ! ' t The Premier, in moving the second reading of tho Expeditionary Forces' Voting Bill, said the most important' point he had provided for was the caro< of men in camp, otherwise all tha Trentham men would be counted! in tha Hutt electorate. What was proposed was to take tho total number o£ men im the force and allocate them to the various electorates in proportion to the num.* ber of electors in each. ■Mr. Pearce failed to see' how men could not 'be "allotted to tho actual district from which they came. The men in the camps could well vote for their own districts. The proportional system, •■. was fair in the case of men outside Newf Zealand. . . . ; Mr. Anderson suggested allocating the spldier to the district in which he eni listed. '. "" i Mr. Statham asked if, in the event of an election, soldiers at the front would ' be allowed to vote ? Would they be • to vote by proxy? .7 . Mr. Harris said his principal borougtt, was Devonport. On the system proposed in the Bill it would probably be credited!: " with 000 men, -whereas Devonport had sent 'I2OO men. "How are we to know the man who 1 will vote in, say, the Christchutch North electorate'" asked Mr. Polan^, Tho Premier explained this was no* the subject of the Bill. Every map would have the absolute! right to vots' ir: his own district. Mr. Witty stated that on tho night oti ■' the census over 2000 South Island peoplal were in Wellington. This was probably? going to cost tho South Island a seat.V as it would increaso the North Island population by many hundreds at the pense of the southern.. Mr. Young said that men who savfc. the troops off from Wellington enlisted! there, which, under the Bill, would cauga further injustice. Mr. Massey: Tho Bill has nothing to) ! do with it. . .JiJjjA :If Mr. E. Newman asked if the count™ quota was adhered to. Mr. Massey: Yes. The Premier added that the 'House would have an opportunity of dealing with the country quote and other electoral matters befora tha '' general election came along, " Mr. Webb; Before the session is over® Mr. Massey: I won't say that/' admitted there might IK 1 a slight injufis tie© to the South Island through a, large number of southern visitors being iq Wellington at the time of the ceoisuffy ' •* but it was not likely to have scrioufl consequences. The Bill had nothing ta do with the method of the soldiers' vote, ■but on that subject he 'believed ft sol* dier should have the opportunity of yfa ing for an individual rather than for ei party. They -voted for party on last occasion and it did not work ont well. | Mr. Veiteh: There is no party now, Mr. Massey: No. They would have to be asked if they would vote foi; tha National Government or not. 1 i The second reading was jarried on toe voices.

REGISTRATION or AKENS/ " v Hon. G. W. Russell moved the second reading of the Registration of A]isns Bill. He stated it was proposed to set •' up a system of registration of aliens, who were dofined as persons of either sex, not less than fifteen years of age who were not British subjects, cither by birth or by naturalisation, in'-New Zooland. The Act would be administered *'< by a, Minister of the Crown, aided by tho : •police force. He explained tile machinery > clauses, penalties for evasions, and pro* vision for making regulations under th# Act, and quoted figures from the 10H census, showing tho following aliens were at present resident in New Zealand: Austria 3131, German Empire 4015, Denmark 2262, Chinese 2CIL (approximate), other foreigners 5502, total ■iiy>7l. ' Mr. Poole supported the Bill and hoped , there would bo no weakness in its udi ministration. ( Dr. Newman thought the- Bill did not . go far enough. Every alien should tie interned or made to work. They certain]* should not bo allowed to participate in the Liberty Loan when they refused to subserlbo to patriotic funds. liessi'B Pearce, Harris, and Brown supported the Bill, but agreed it did noi> ,go far enough. Mr. Reed contended that naturalised aliens should be brought within the scon# of the Bill. , •» Sir James Allen cvplnined there was 110 power to conscript the Dalmatian* • in the north of Auckland, and power - could not be taken. Tho Government had endeavored to attach them to tha !■' Serbian army, but the. men refined to go, except at tho Now Zealand rato of pay, whi:-h could not be given them. It would be a mistake to intern these people, because many of them .were engaged in prodding food for the Dominion. Messrs Witty, Young. Thackor ,flnd Wright commented'on the cost of keep. ing 'German prisoners in the Dominion, who were receiving better treatment than their own people. They ought to be ma do to work or drummed out of th# country. Mr. Riiasc-il, in the course of hit reply, said that undue severity on our part to German prisoners might lead to re- 1 taliation against British prisoners in German hands. The Government, lad been advised to take the yreatM euro Of this. The Bill v.'iu rciul a hk-kA tlm.. hm ;hu " voices, and the Hoiiho ro*o at, 1 l.fiO .