THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 1923. THE SESSION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18953, 29 August 1923, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 1923. THE SESSION.

A great deal that might have been done in favourable cii’cumstances in the parliamentary session which is drawing to a close has been left undone. According to the Ministerial plan the session had to be brought to an end at or about the date of the departure of tlm Prime Minister to attend the Imperial Conference. This necessitated a somewhat ruthless abandonment of Government measures in the final days of the session, and caused the curtailment of the legislative record to somewhat meagre dimensions. The parties which are in Opposition will no doubt point to the slimness of the Statute-book as an illustration of impotence on the part of the Government. They will be less ready to make the claim that the practice by them of obstructive .methods contributed to the withdrawal by the Government of several measures and of the postponement of them for consideration next session. Politicians will never admit that tney have been engaged in obstructive practices: they will always insist that they have merely been exercising the right of legitimate criticism. The fact remains that ther* was a deliberate and serious waste of time on the part of both the Liberal and Labour parties—more so by the Liberal party than by the Labour party — throughout the whole session. The object of it was, of course, to rob the Government of the time it required for the completion of its legislative programme. In this respect, it is to be recognised, the Opposition parties were merely applying the strict rules of political partnership. According to these rules, their business is to aim at embarrassing the Government as much as possible, and to this lofty purpose they continuously devoted their energies without very much regard for the interests of the country. Wo shall not venture to say how many want-of-confidence motions there were, but there was the peculiar feature about some of these that they were productive of situations that were less awkward for the Government than for the Liberals. The position of the Government was, however, never free from anxiety. The Ministerial majority was r 1 —ays so slender as to forbid any liberties by members of the Government It was, however, not actually, shaken during the session. There was, indeed, one division in committee on a Bill in the last week of the session in which the Government was defeated on a motion by the Leader of the Opposition, but it was a division that was marked by some cross-voting, and the result of it, therefore, possessed no special significance. In at least three or four divisions, however, the Government’s majority sank to one. It would be idle to pretend, in the circumstances, that the Government possesses a tenure of office that is not exceedingly precarious. It would be equally idle to expect that any Government which is so insecurely situated as the Government of the Dominion is at the present time should meet Parliament with a bold policy. The Government which maintains an uncertain existence must be wary and circumspect in its doings. The programme of the session has been coloured by a regard for this circumstance.