IMPERIAL POLITICS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2762, 17 March 1910, Page 5

IMPERIAL POLITICS.

LORD ROSEBERY’S RESOLUTIONS. ■United Tuess Association—Copyright LONDON, Alarts'll 15. During Lis speech, in the .House of Lords Lord Rosebery referred Sir George Reid, .High Commissioner for Australia, as a. man of infinite ability, popularity, and geniality. No better choice- for the position, lie said, could possibly have been made. <He asked how could Sir George Reid possibly justify to Australians the abolition of a second Chamber in Great Britain when Australia took care to secure a strong .and efficient Senate upon the institution of Federation in 1S00? The colonies, he added, had always taken carfr .to secure a strong second Chamber.

There is much comment in the newspapers on Lord Rosebery’s statement that he deprecated the election of Beers by popular vote. This, he said, would only give a ifeeble understudy of the House of Commons, and multiply the horrors of a general election, •but the Lords would derive dignity by association with corporations and County Councils formed into elective bodies upon the French basis. Representation provided in this way should form no inconsiderable proportion of the Upper House.

Sir Edward~Grey, in the course of a speech at a Liberal banquet in the city said that if the reform of the House of Lords was left to the other side the Liberals would be courting disaster, death, and damnation. The solution would he an elective chamber, elected not necessarily simultaneously with that of the House of Commons, nor .from the same area. The Government would reimpose the Budget taxes, and by that they would stand or fall. THE “WOMEN'S CHARTER.” Mr C has. McLaren's so-called Women’s Charter has .been read a first tiihe in the House of Commons. It consists of nine bills, including one for the enfranchisement of women, and entitling them to divorce on the ground of .men’s unfaithfulness; also grant's to wives of a sum equivalent to the aggregate of wages earned as housekeepers, in the event of the husband’s death, divorce, separation, or bankruptcy. All educational facilities, are, it is promised, to be shared by both sexes equally, Provision is made for supplying midwives, and for the establishment of creches modelled on the German systems introduced by Pestalozzi and IFroebel. Houses, and milk for infants, are to be provided by the municipalities.

TREATMENT OF SUFFRAGIST PRISONERS.

Mr. Winston Churchill announced that a regulation would be introduced permitting mitigation of the treatment of suffragettes in prison.

SIK. JOHN REDMOND—THE MAN OF THE HOUR.

'Now that the Irish Party appear to hold the fate of the Liberal Governmentiu the holhnv of their hand, great interest centres in the.person of the Nationalist leader, Mr. John Redmond, M.P. Mere is a character sketch of him by the “Daily Mail's’' ,parliamentary representative:—“Mr John Redmond has made himself a power by steady, persistent work, an iron will, and ’unflinching devotion to the cause which .})« cons.dors right. The son of an Irish member of Parliament, he was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and was afterwards called to the Irish and .English Bar. He .became a clerk in the vote cilice of the Mouse of Commons, but ho gave this up in 1881 to represent a constituency iu his native country. Elected for New Ross, he left the Vote Office to take his place on the floor of the House. Me began with a record, for on his lirst day at Westminster he. made his maiden speech, created a scene, and was .suspended before the deck struck twelve’ Me was in the twenties then. Now his feelings arc .just as passionate, but his methods are more effect.ve; “From the day he entered Parliament, Mr. Reunumd lias always been a prominent- figure in the • Nationalist party. Mis chance came at the Parnell split. He stood by Parnell, loci the little party which remained faithful to him, and and finally was selected to uuide the destines of the Nationalists ;|C a whole. Tills is no easy task at the best of times, and the way Mr. Red. mond has held his followers together, in spite of sectional strife, is a tribute to his power not only as a- politician, hut as a leader of men. It is his imppnetrable self-restraint which has help'd Mr. Redmond to attain his present power. He organises, he directs, he controls. He is a master of Parliamentary strategy. Me knows how to play the waiting game, but he is not wasting the time he spent in waiting. Many years Tip lias utilised iu moulding lus impulsive and high-spirited party into a united whole, looking .forward to the opportunity which time was sure to brill". True, be has struck incidental blows, and struck them shrewdly. He has demonstrated that, perhaps bek’ond any other leader in the House, lie knows how to make the best of opportunity—when to remain silent, when to move. . “H e lias been described as an orator. That perhaps, is hardly correct. He has a clear, forceful, but rather hard voice his words are well chosen, and he almost makes his meaning luminously clear. But there is no quality of appeal in his words, and it is difficult to imagine him stirring the emotions of an audience. His personality tells because it is evident that he knows what he wants, and means to get it. But he has no powers of persuasion over a gathering. Up is* inferior in this- to some of ’the younger members of his party, notably Mr. Kettle. The House of Commons likes Mr. Redmond. He comes of good stock, and even in his fierci-est moods one does not forget that lie- is an Irish gentleman. He lut-s hard in debate, but is always courteous, always tactful and dignified. Organisation and opportunity have been the two things in his mind for a generation past Now his hand is on' his sword, and he is looking to a decisive conflict Before him.”