PARLIAMENT AND THE WAR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24630, 11 June 1941, Page 4

PARLIAMENT AND THE WAR

It is probable that there will have been a substantial measure of public approval of the decision of the Government that because of the military situation the interrupted session of Parliament should be resumed at an earlier date than that to which an adjournment had been made. This approval will almost certainly have been based on the expectation that the Government would take the community as a whole more largely into its confidence than it has done in the past respecting the prosecution of the war, and particularly respecting the heavy contribution which the Dominion has made to the war effort of the Empire. Nor was this expectation one that had not received some support from Ministerial declarations. It was the Prime Minister himself who said within the last few days, that it was necessary that the facts in relation to the war should be told, and that the people should be prepared to face them, for, as he said, " We are in for a hard time." It is certain, therefore, that a considerable amount of dissatisfaction will be felt throughout the Dominion if, as seems likely, the information which the Government considers it expedient to disclose to the members of Parliament is not to receive a more general circulation. The parents and relatives of the soldiers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, who have given signal proof in Greece and Crete of their courage, resourcefulness and endurance, really deserve something more than that they should remain in the dark concerning the facts which the Government proposes to disclose to the members of the Legislature in secret session. It is to be remembered that it would be only through a breach of confidence on the part of a member of Parliament that anything that is said in secret session could be divulged outside the walls of the Legislative

Chamber. That secret sessions have their value is undeniable, but it is widely recognised that, necessary though they may be at times, it is only in exceptional circumstances that there should be recourse to them. It is difficult to believe that the present-day circumstances are of a nature so exceptional as to make it necessary or desirable that the public should not be admitted to a participation in the information which the Government may think fit to impart to the members of Parliament.