Parliament's Week

COMMONWEALTH (British Commonwealth of Nations)

House of Lords. By a majority of 42 the House carried a motion declaring the taxation of betting to be desirable and practicable. Lord Newton, moving the resolution, declared that the betting industry was firmly established, representing an annual turnover of -L-200,000,000 (roughly, a billion dollars). Lord Arnold, speaking for the Government, which has refused to have anything to do with the proposal, said that the financial credit of the country would be hurt when the existence of the tax became known. The bill is technically opposed by the trade unions.

House of Commons. The Premier received a 'sharp reminder that the Labor Ministry holds office only by grace of the other parties, when a motion to suspend the rule for 11 p. m. adjournment, in order to expedite business, was defeated by a vote of 234 to 207. The motion was a mere matter of procedure, and there is no question of the resignation of the Cabinet, especially as Mr. MacDonald served notice when he formed his Ministry that he would not resign as the result of an adverse vote, unless some question of principle was involved. This (first) defeat has, nevertheless, emphasized the unstable position of the present Ministry and is considered one of those shocks numbers of which no Ministry can survive. From the Conservative benches came jubilant cries.

P: Sir Edward Grigg, former private secretary to Lloyd George, will move the rejection of the Turkish Treaty (TIME, Aug. 6), when it is brought before the House. Sir Edward will criticize the limitation on the number of warships permitted in the Straits. The attitude of the Lloyd George liberals will afford the House a hot debate. The treaty will be supported by the Conservatives and by the Government.

P: Arthur Henderson, Secretary of State for Home Affairs, is not the only member to have sons in the House (TIME, March 17). A fortnight ago the House heard a maiden speech from Gwilym Lloyd George. The "wizard from Wales" sat two seats away from his son and listened with intent solicitude. The former Premier appeared very proud of Gwilym and the two left the chamber together. In another maiden-speech, the same day, Hall Caine, Jr., son of the famed novelist, congratulated his "fellow maiden speecher on his very excellent speech, which showed that the younger Lloyd George would follow his very distinguished father."

P: s predicted last week, Major John Jacob Astor, proprietor of The Times, was reflected without opposition at the Dover by-election, held to reseat him after his loss of Parliamentary status (TIME, March 17).

P: Winston Churchill, versatile, energetic, irresponsible, is contesting the Abbey Division. He began his tour by driving around Covent Garden with his wife. Fruit dealers and brawny porters held out around him until his car had to halt, and greeted him with such shouts as "Wot cheer, Winny?" or "Blimy, if it ain't Winston!" Through piles of potatoes, bananas, cabbages, tomatoes, he went to the porch of St. Paul's Church and made a brief speech that caught the crowd. One red-faced carter yelled: "Winny, you're a scream, but you're the best of the bunch, anyway."