The Grey River Argus WEDNESDAY, December 1, 1936. LIFE OF PARLIAMENT.

Grey River Argus, 1 December 1937, Page 4

The Grey River Argus WEDNESDAY, December 1, 1936. LIFE OF PARLIAMENT.

The Government has occasionally been twitted with not having fulfilled election promises. Whar the charge usually amounts to is no more than a claim by opponents that their own legislation should be removed from the Statute Book. They ask their successors to make taxation concessions which they never themselves attempted to make. They say, also, that the retention meantime of their legislation is alien ating public sympathy from the present Administration. Indeed, the National Party is ready to say anything at the present time that is calculated to discredit the Government, without regard to whether one thing they say is a contradiction of some other thing they say. But they are at least in a quandary over the Government’s measure which is going to undo one of their pieces of legis iatioii. They cannot in its regard repeat the accusation that an elec, tion promise is not being kept. The Labour Party did say it objected to the life of last Parliament being, without a mandate, extended by the last Government; and, while some Nationalists declare it means a possible or probable loss of Labour scats in the House, the Labour Government has now brought down a Bill to do awa.v with the extension. It is go-

ing to give the people the earliest possible opportunity to pass judgment on its legislation and administration. It is ready to give an account of its stewardship at) any moment, and recently offered to meet the wishes of the Op-* position if those wishes were for an election even earlier than at the end of a three-year term. In some countries, such as France or the United States, Parliaments are rigidly limited to a definite

term. The rule is by no Means so hard and fast in British countries. In certain contingencies a dissolution might at any time be granted. In theory, the King or his representative may dissolve a Parliament deemed to have lost the confidence of the majority. _ In practice, the advice of Ministers is usually accepted, though there are instances where even a viceregal fiat has ended a Parliament, and even ended a Government without an election following. The underlying presumption is, of course, that a dissolution of an administration is directed in the name of the people. But the last Parliament had its life extended in the name of—say. Sit Otto Niemeyer! It was to allow the Government of the day time to carry out its policy to the logical conclusion.' So it did 1 It is not

surprising, however, that the National Party should neglect this point when claiming that they would prefer the general election later rather than sooner. They did not foresee, until too late, the logical conclusion of their policy, and it is doubtful if they still are not attached to the same policy. Parliaments, no doubt, are nowadays tending to be less influential than they used to be. The civil service lias a greater power than it ever had before. Yet, the practice of consulting the electors at three-yearly intervals, instead

of longer ones, might operate to render them the more truly representative and thus more truly authoritative. It may be significant that the Parliamentarians with the longest experience of administrative office should be those favouring a longer interval between the elections. It has happened »1 critical times that Parliamentarians have changed Governments by compromises. They have claimed this to have been a democratic course because it had a majority in support, but the idea of the mandate has often been thereby ignored. The present Government has had a. man date for its legislation. It is no!; prepared to go beyond that mandate, even if it might obtain sanction in Parliament itself for so doing. When the general election is held next year, therefore, the people will reflect that they have had their supreme right respected in this matter, and will be justified in considering it as a criterion of the Government’s sense of responsibility and respect for the principles of democracy.