CANADA'S PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19221, 9 January 1926, Page 8

CANADA'S PARLIAMENT.

The Canadian Parliament which has just met faces a complex situation. The general election held at the end of October produced a condition of stalemate. The exact consequences cannot be known until the intentions of the Progressives and Independents, some 26 in number, are disclosed. The circumstances are that tho Conservatives, under Mr. Meighen, form the strongest party in a House of 245 members. They are still some half-dozen short

of a majority. The Liberals, led by Mr. King in the last Parliament, can still command a majority with the support of the Progressives. This was their position then, but they are now much more precariously situated. Their Conservative opponents have come back much strengthened, so that a small defection from any other group would enable Mr. Meighen to seize the reins. An unusual feature of the position is that Mr. King, though still nominally Prime Minister and party leader, is without a seat. He, like many of his Ministers, was defeated in his own electorate. The normal course, in Canada as elsewhere, is for other member, in a safe seat, to resign, so that the leader may be returned at the subsequent by-elec-tion. Mr. King has refused so far to consent to this course, preferring to wait the turn of events. It would seem, therefore, that the Vice-Regal Speech, forecasted in the cable messages, is a highly tentative document. The position allows of several developments. The Progressives are likely to lose their cohesion, signs of this possibility having been shown before the election. That opens the prospect of an accession to the Conservative strength. The barrier in the way is the tariff issue. Mr. Meighen has declared for a high tariff. The Progressives,, representative of the prairie farmers, favour low customs duties. The two strongest probabilities, following the meeting of Parliament, are the retention of office by the Liberals with Progressive support, or, alternatively, a new election in the very near future.