WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 November 1917, Page 7

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

DRIVING TACTICS. THE BAB OLD WAY. (Special Correspondent). Wellington, Oct. 29. Till the end of the session was well in sight the National Government set an admirable example for its successors in the matter of early rising and in the matter of party forbearable. But towards the closo of last week, with the obvious desire of getting rid of Parliament: as early as possible it reverted to the old driving tactics, and speedily dissipated its good record to the four winds of Heaven, For the Government it must be said, for what it is worth, that a majority of the private members seemed no leas anxious than the occupants of the treasury benches to "ring .down the curtain" by the end of the week, and for the private members that they submitted with exemiplary good temper to the application of the big boot. There was an occasional protest againrt undue haste from the Labor members, now and again followed by a sympathetic "Hear! Hear!" from some other part of the House, but on the whole there appeared to be a feeling that, the representatives of the people had done enough for one year and that they might go home for rest and recuperation without any sins of omission upon their, conscience". IN THE DYING HOOTS.,

The mistake the Government made was in reserving to the dying hours of the session highly controversial legislation which was likely to get the tempers of members on edge. For instance, the | Expeditionary Forces Amendment Bill, which was passed by the House last week with a clause exempting the Marist Brothers and other school teachers from military service, was returned by the Council with this clause deleted. The clause did not appear in the original Bill, but was adopted on the motion of Sir Joseph Ward by an almost purely party division, the Liberals voting for its acceptance and the Reformers for its rejection. The Council, which is now composed almost entirely of Reformers, and entirely of members appointed by the Reform Government, is entitled, of course, to take what view it pleases of any question submitted for its consideration, but in this case it has laid itself open to the suspicion of having voted on surely party lines and no one can foresee 'what the outcome of its insistence upon its amendment would be. AN UNFORTUNATE POSITION. Probably it was in the hope of avoiding the introduction of the sectarian issue that Sir Joseph Ward included the whole of the members of the teaching profession in his proposal. Everyone realised when the vote was taken in the House that the only matter in serious dispute was the position of the Marist Brothers. The other members of the profession very well might have been left tn the good sense of the members of the Military Service Board, but the Marist Brothers, of whom it is estimated not more than one-third of the thirty-five or thirty-six in fee Dominion could be fitted for military service, have been specially trained by the Roman Catholic Church for teaching in its own schools, and with any other denomination would be regarded as fully ordained clergymen on account of their views and the duties they perform. Now this extremely difficult and delicate question is left to be decided by an impatient Parliament not altogether free from the prejudices and passions of sectarianism.

[GRAVE CONSEQUENCES POSSIBLE. The Hon. J. T. Paul, one of the two Labor representatives reappointed to the Council by the Reform Government, voted with' the small minority of four against the deletion of the exemption clause from the Bill and stated, from the democratic point of view, very fairly the constitutional impropriety of thirteen members of the nominated chamber thwarting the deliberate will of the renresentative assembly. But his appeal fell on deaf ears, and now Mr. Nosworthy, the junior Reform Whip, has publiciv declared that he and his friends aTe going to Tesist the reinstatement of the clause even if their determination keeps Parliament sitting for another month. On the other hand it is stated that members on the other side will stand firm on the assertion of their rights and that they will not flinch even at the prospect of bringing about a Cabinet crisis. • [The Bill has now been dropped, the Council and House not being able to reach an agreement on the point.]