CANADIAN POLITICS.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 72, 28 March 1921, Page 7

CANADIAN POLITICS.

ATTACK ON GOVERNMENT. THE TARIFF ISSUE. iFrom Our Own Correspondent.) VANCOUVER, February 2G. Coincident with the reassembling ol the Canadian Federal Parliament, the Opposition have been indulging in unexampled verbal pyrotechnics and have delivered broadside after broadside int( -'■!■ funks of Prime Minister Meighcr nnd bis cohorts, wh„ arc taunted with overstaying their visit. Admittedly, the l.ib-ral chieftain, Hon. Mackenzie" King is intensely anxious to oust Mr. Meig hen, and he has been losing'no opportunity to drive home to the Premiei that the Coalition has long ago outl:\.\i its usefulness. In tho debate ot the address. Mr. Mackenzie Ring indulged in a long and vituperative speech, charging the Government with having overstayed its mandate in the face oi successive defeats in by-elections, ol which, he said, the Government had lost seven and won one since 1917. He ended hy moving a straight motion of want oi confidence. He cited instances from all portions of the civilised and se_i-chil„-ed globe tt chow that since the war people had beer given the chance to exercise the franchisi tor which they were presumably yearning. Only in" Canada and Russia, had this privilege been denied them. He characterised the present Canadian Government as usurplns. who bad far toe ienc; lingered supcrflous on the stage. The only fundamental difference between the usurpation in Russia and thai in Canada, dramatically declared Mr. King, was that In the former country rhorc had been physical violence, whilst in Canada the violence had been legislative. "Unlpss we can make of these new halls of Parliament, a citadel of people's liberties."' he added, "we will have erected over the sacrifice of the wax only a whited sepulchre, a thing in form and appearance outwardly beautiful, bu' within a charnel house of disillusion ment, intrigues and deceptions, full o broken pledges, of shattered ideals, o lost visions, of vanished faiths, and containing the seeds of a nation's decay."' XO PRESENT APPEAL. The Premier, in reply, made it plain that the Government has no intention oi appealing to the country at tlie pxesent time. As the successor of an existing administration, and not tho head of a new Government, he cited instances oi Liberal Governments in Xovia Scotia Saskatchewan and elsewhere which had continued in office under a new Premier The present Government was the legal successor and continuation of the Government which went before it. and whose term had not yet- expired. Xever in the history of Parliament had a Government been in office with so many ex-Ministers sitting behind and supporting it. The Government's duty was not done unti: the problems growing out of the wax had been settled and, the the country was still far from that time. Mr. King, in his address, had devotee much attention to the position of Mr Calder, former Minister of Immigration stating that his mandate at least hac long expired, as he had declared that he entered the Government on the understanding that the tarlir would not be a matter for consideration. The Premiei agreed that it had been understood ir 1917 that they did not agree upon any tariff policy, but that did not prevenl those who constituted the Government from agreeing, if they could, whal should be the tariff policy during the Government's term of office. He pointed out that while to-day the Lender of the Opposition contended that the Government had no right to deal with the tariff, les3 than twelve months ago he had seconded a resolution demanding that the Government deal with it at once. The Premier accused the Leader of the Opposition with inconsistency, pointing out that last year he had complained because the promised revision had not been brought on, while he now contended that the Government had no right to revise it at all. The plain inference from the Premier's speech was that the Government would carry on until the tariff was revised and the Wesjt given its proper representation. The Government, he said, will keep on until the legal end of its term. So long as it received support it would not shrink nor be stampeded. Tlie West was entitled to from ten to thirty more representatives if the House dissolved before redistribution. "The constitutional practise with regard to retaining office may be stated thus," said the Premier: "The term is five years. The usual practice is to re-. main in office for four years. Tbe Government may retain office if it retains the confidence of tho people through their representatives in Parliament. There is no issue so far as the Leader of the Opposition is concerned e_cept that we should not be here." It is the obvious policy of the Leader of the Government to force his opponents into a corner on the varying sectional declarations which Mr. Mackenzie King has made on the tariff, while the hitter's strategy is to remain within the lines of "Torres Vedras" until his expected support from the Farmers' partv_ can come up and be consolidated. T.lie Farmers' aa°Tegation is acknowledged to be a puzzle. The varying attitude of the Liberal phalanx on the tariff question has just caused a sensational rift in their ranks by the withdrawal of Louis Joseph Gauthier, of St. Hyacinthe, from organised Liberal opposition. In the debate on the address the big French-Canadian politician denounced what he termed the hypocrisy of his old associates on the tariff issue. He raked the anti-protec-tionists, and said ho recognised no leader now since Sir Wilfrid Laurier was dead. Incidentally, he said, he was elected as a Laurier Liberal in ID 17 on the naval policy, and on that he stood still. He was now seeking an alliance with the hope of ending the isolation of Quebec and for the welfare of all classes, races and creeds in that province. It was Mr. Gauthier who last session made a somewhat cryptic reference to "the hour of Quebec," for which he was waiting. That hour, in his opinion, hacli now come. The man only was wanting. For himself, he merely assumed the role of John the Baptist, preparing the way for an era of happiness to all who desired peace and contentment. Canadians are now wondering who the new Leader will be, for it is hinted a French-Canadian will displace Hon. Mackenzie King as Leader of the Liberal party of Canada.