The Dominion. FRIDAY, JULY 5, 1912. THE NO-CONFIDENCE DEBATE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1484, 5 July 1912, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, JULY 5, 1912. THE NO-CONFIDENCE DEBATE.

The proceedings in the House of Representatives yesterday, so far as the want-of-confidenco motion moved by Mr. Massey is concerned, were chiefly confined to the speeches of Labour and Independent members. For the most part they were surprisingly dull and prosy, although Mr. Veitch made a number of points very well, and on the subject of local government, and also in some of his references to railway matters, spoke soundly and convincingly. Mr. Atmore, who followed,. \y'as plainly out to create an impression and did so, but not quite as he wished; while Mr. Payne was as Utopian as ever, and a little dreary in elaborating his schemes. The only new light thrown on the political situation by yesterday's speakers was in relation to the so-called caucus pledges. The i'dea that those members who attended the caucus in March last pledged themselves in any , manner which would prevent them voting freely on tho present noconfidence motion was completely exploded. Mr. Veitch, for instance stated that although he attended the caucus—he preferred to call it'eonwas free to vote with tho Opposition or with the Government; and seeing that he announced his intention to vote for the Government he can be regarded as a disinterested witness on the subject. It is very plain from the attitude of the Government yesterday that they are shirking a division, and are playing for time in every possible, way. Despite the fact that when a want-of-confidence motion i? under discussion it is the rule to suspend all other business but the formal matters at the opening stage of each day's sitting, nearly the whole of Wednesday and Thursday afternoons was wasted over matters which should have been laid aside for the time being. Moreover, last evening, after only three members had spoken to' the no-confi-dence amendment of Mr. Massey, the Government moved the adjournment of the House at a few minutes after 11 p.m. The Prime Minister professed to regard this as a reasonably late hour, and talked about the busy day they had gone through. Yet there was not a member of tho House who did not know that this was merely a pretext for spinning out the debate, and by so doing prolonging the life of the Ministry.. During the February session the Ward Government secured a win by trickery and exactly tho same methods of wasting time, are being pursued by the Mackenzie Ministry, with the same hope in view. Unhappily for tho Ministry, the conditions on th.) present occasion are very different in certain material respects to those which existed in February last. Mr. Massey last evening very properly protested against Hie waste of time Uiat lias taken place. Probably he has more to gain in some respects by delay than has the , Government, for Mr. Herhies is due here next week, and the larger the majority the lieform party wins by the better. But rather than be accused of wasting the time of Parliament, iintl the money of the. country, to fjniii tln> parly end, he has shown his willingness to take the vote, without further delay. There are no doubt members nn the Minifttevial fiidi , of ibo Howe who, equally with those in, Opposition,

heartily detest the methods of trickcry which somehow seem inseparable from the tactics of the Wakd and Mackenzie Ministries; and some of these liossibly would be found goiii" into the lobby with Mn.- Massey if lie made a stand and insisted on the no-confidence debate taking the precedence it should over all other business, and being disposed of as speedily, as possible. It is humiliating to think that in the conduct of our public affairs, even on the gravest issues, tha will of the people and the wishes of Parliament may Iw thwarted even temporarily by the petty trickery of those who place their lust for office above all else. Mn. Masski', we trust, will insist that there shall be no further waste of timeit is his duty to do so. The state of unrest which exists at the present time is harmful to all classes of the community, and tha sooner the political struggle is settled one way or the other the better it will bo for everyone.