The Dominion. MONDAY, JUNE 28, 1920. A BAD BEGINNING

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 234, 28 June 1920, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, JUNE 28, 1920. A BAD BEGINNING

At its proper time a want-of-con-fidence motion is a constitutional ! step towards bringing about a change of government. No one needs to bo told the motion in this category which was placed on the Order Paper of the House of Representatives by the Leader of the Opposition last week will serve no such purpose. The Government of the day is firmly established in power; its supporters substantially outnumber all other sections of the House combined. It is self-evident that in existing circumstances want-of-confidence motions, from whatever standpoint they aro moved, are an inexcusablo waste of time. Not so long ago, of course, party sparring of the kind with which Mr. Mac Donald's amendment, at all events, is identified was in the accepted order of things, but. it may be hoped that times in this respect _ have changed. Certainly the interests of tho country demand the free development in members of Parliament of the new outlook, of which there were some promising, though tentative, indications last session—an outlook in which it is frankly recognised that; this is emphatically no time fori stirring up artificial antagonisms, and that the one thing demanded of legislators is that they should settle down to steady work.

The steps taken to_ turn the Addrcssnn-Rcply debate into a political shamfight—and that' is precisely what the no-confidence amendments amount to—represent a vicA attempt to revive political methods and tactics that ought to be decently buried and forgotten. Not only is it true that' any time spent in debating theso amendments will be time wasted, but it is much more, serious that they illustrate an apparent failure on _ the part of some sections in Parliament to rise to such a pense of public duty and responfihility as is demanded in these- days of strain and difficulty. That some time is to be wasted wantonly in the opening days of the session is bad enough; but it is woito that unless the spirit which makes this initial time-wasting possible is checked, it will hamper tho whole work of the session and disastrously limit its useful results. J Politicians would be wise to recognise that people in general are far moro inclined than they have ever been before in this country to distinguish sharply between work and wordy warfare in Parliament. In view of the vast amount of work that is to be done in lifting a burdened country out of its most pressing difficulties, the least that can be demanded of members of Parliament is that they should work together in harmony until they find themselves divided on vital questions of principle. As Parliament is constituted such dividing lines can hardly be said to exist except between tho extreme Labour faction and the remaining members of the House of Representatives. The division here is wide and deep, but as far as can be judged at present the parties and members who constitute the vast majority of the House are in a position to cooperate freely in useful efforts on behalf of tho whole community. Such co-operation is called for, not as a concession to the party in power, but because it represents the only method _ by which members, whatever their political colour may be, can honestly discharge their responsibilities and give due thought to the interests and welfare of the people of the Dominion.