The Life of Parliament.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20414, 8 December 1931, Page 8

The Life of Parliament.

TV'e printed yesterday a message from Wellington saying that one of the subjects to be discussed by the new Cabinet is a proposal to extend the life of the present Parliament from three years to four. No authority is given for the statement, but the wide publicity it has received suggests that interested people are canvassing the proposal; and if this is so, its. chilly reception should leave them in no doubt about public opinion. The merits of three- four- ox five-year Parliaments can of course be debated indefinitely. In Britain threeyear Parliaments would certainly be a nuisance, partly because of the dislocation caused by elections, but largely because the British Parliament is seldom free from pressing problems of foreign or Imperial policy which could rot be disposed of in a three-year term, As against this, however, it should be remembered that in practice elections do not cause very important breaks in policy; every Government is within limits bound by the commitments cx predecessor, and no Party comes into power with a clean slate to write on. But as far as New Zealand is concerned at the moment, the question may bo decided without recourse to any of these arguments. The present Parliament was elected in abnormal circumstances; many candidates were put forward by the Coalition whose only merit was that they subscribed to the Coalition policy, and electors in many cases voted for such candidates with reluctance. The previous Parliament was, by general agreement, one of the weakest in talent that New Zealand has had, and there can be no doubt that the formation of the Coalition has artificially prolonged a number of political careers. This being the case, there should be no talk of a longer term of office for the present Parliament. Tho issue, was never squarely before tho electors, though it was mentioned on one or two platforms, and if it had been more widely discussed the Coalition might have won fewer seats.