TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 92, 15 October 1914, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY

One end of a session is 'ever much the \ same as another. Loquacious Within a fortnight Parliamentarians, of the- end Hit Ala jesty usually has a very verbose Opposition and a Government which darkly hints at a sitting beyond Glniatmaa unless the obstructing change their tactics. There is alleged to be a mountain of work, of stupen dous proportions, and the Opposition professes to be aghast, appalled, under thfe frowning heights. It is an old stage triek — as old as Oppositions. Ifc x is an inflated mountain, for which tho Opposition has the pin, to bo produced at a suitable time. Consider these dy* ing days of Parliament. Last week Sir Joseph Ward and his followers made a pretence of astonishment at the size of the Order Papor — a very modest list of Bills compared with thl number reserved for the- rushing end of the 1911 preelection session. What happens? Does the Opposition try to expedite the business? A party which uses a whole night (till 3.30 a.m.) on the first-reading stage of a Bill cannot claim to be eager to save time. The first reading \s usually a mere formality, whatever maj be the character of the Bill. An. Opposition has full scope for protests and criticism on the motion for tho .second reading, and tho objections to any clause in Committee can be Hansardised on the motion for the third reading. There fore, a protracted debate on a first reading is nothing better than a hold-up, unless the Opposition agi'ees to forego the privilege of speech on the second reading. The ordinary experience is that after an Opposition uses many hours ;n the repetition of arguments and reiteration of assertions, it hus an easy conscience aboul tht, re&liy important stage of a Bill — the passage through Committee. Thift is he time when an Oppo* sition has scope for work beneficial to the public, but this close 'study of Bills for the purpose of amendment is neglected, comparatively, in favour of the easier superficial method of denunciation. After a lapse of years Wellington is to have a revival of A Labour Day the Labour Day proRevival. . cession, well remembered by mony who have grown to manhood trom boyhood since the last display was seen. What troops of happy young admirers the pageant of industry had in those times ! Various tradesmen were busy with their own special operations on the lorries, and joy 'abounded. It was indeed Labour ' Day. Here was Toil, elevated on a moving stage in a pleasant drama of workaday life, for all the city to see. Tt was a good object-lesson for the rising generation, and altogether a welcome change from the ordinary daily round. Labour lost something when the procession was allowed to slip out of sight. Wiser heads in Australia peisovered with the annual peaceful demonstration, which time proves to bo much move effective than noisy, militancy, &o

doubt the successful continuance of tho pageant enterprise in Australia has helped to a restoration here. All classes can hope that the project will be worthy of Labour's traditions and ideals. We believe that these activities, rightly directed, can be very valuable in promoting fnendly feeling in a community. Some sections of Labour in this country tend to be exceedingly self-conscious or class-conscious — extremely serious, as if these free and prosperous" islands weregroaning under an iron weight of despotism. A gloomy mood, without warrant, is not one to appeal to the general public. How true is thqt old proverb that more flies can be caught with a spoonful of honey than with a cask of # \ inegar ! One good hearty gala day, with no tiresome speeches about rights or wrongs (real or imaginary), could achieve more for Labour with the public than innumerable dismal dirges from the stiap-box or the platform.