Word: parliament
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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Whose Oligarchy? The issue this time was the Labor government's Parliament Bill, already twice approved by the House of Commons. The bill would reduce the time needed for the House of Commons to enact legislation over the Lords' disapproval, from two years to nine months...
...members, normally only a tenth or less attend.* But last week 258 showed up to listen, speak and be counted. In the debate, some of them displayed a lively concern over an issue deeper than steel or immediate programs. Old Viscount Cecil of Chelwood cried that the Parliament Bill was leading straight to an "oligarchy" of the cabinet. Sweeping the chamber with a steely glare, he said: "I shall be told, perhaps, that this does not matter because the cabinet obtain their power from the electorate . . . Hitler made a precisely similar claim . . ." Vigorous Lord Salisbury thundered in agreement...
...only a question of time. Under the Constitution, the bill would become law anyway not later than December 1949. Until then, all Acts of Parliament would continue to carry the traditional preamble: "Be it enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons . . ." But afterward, a final flick of the Parliament Bill provided, even the words "the Lords" would disappear from the preambles...
...Italian Communists weren't saying publicly what the latest Moscow orders called for, but clearly it was not sweetness & light. In the Italian Parliament last week the Reds were both edgy and truculent. Palmiro Togliatti started things off in the Chamber of Deputies by complaining that his name and those of 39 other Italians had been included in a list of leading Communists issued by the U.S. House of Representatives.* The House, he shouted angrily, had been elected by only 4% of the U.S. population-"the rest being Negroes...
...himself introduced a dozen or so "honored guests" for one-minute speeches. Dr. Kensuke Horinouchi, Japanese ambassador to the U.S. from 1938 to 1940, was "profoundly impressed with Dr. Buchman." Said grave, grey Dr. Chen Li-fu, newly elected Vice President of China's legislative Yuan: "The Chinese Parliament ... is still in session. But the urgency of the world situation . . . compels me to join forces with you today in this great international family." He told reporters earlier: "If Confucius were alive today, he would probably be here...