THE COMING SESSION,

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1772, 10 June 1913, Page 4

THE COMING SESSION,

In spite of the fact that the opening of Parliament is now only sixteen days distant, there is very little stir in political circles, and speculation as to tho possibilities of the coming session is noticcably absent. The reason for this is obvious. With an Opposition demoralised by recent loss of office, lacking; a fighting platform, with no principles to guide it, and not oven & le&dor to lead it. politics have bcoomo one-Bided, and

to a oertain extent uninteresting. Up to the present the anti-Reformers have been singularly ineffective in such attempts at criticism as they have essayed, fconio of their organs have been extremely abusive and palpably dishonest in manufactuiing grounds of attack, but their tactics in most casos have been so transparently unfair that thej* have merely served to show the weakness of their own position and that of the Opposition. The fact that the Government has only been a few mo nths in office may account m part for the failure of its opponents to discover any really legitimate grounds of complaint, but in the main the sorry figure whioh the Opposition has cut can be put down to its lack of leadership and to the absence from its ranks of members who carry weight either in Parliament itself or with the country. Never at any time during the past twenty years has the "Liberal party in Parliament been so deficient in men of capacity and fighting strength as it is at the present time. This is in some respects regrettable. It is not good for Governments to have too much of their own way. An activo Opposition usually has a wholesome effect on Ministers in keeping them up to the mark in administrative matters, and while it is a little early to look for shortcomings in the Massey Gov ernment, we should be sorry to think that they would never have anything more formidable to face in the way' of criticism than the poor stuff which their opponents have up to the present been responsible for. The Prime Minister has - stated that he has a heavy programme of work arranged for the coming session, and as the middle session of a Parliament is usually the session in which members settle down to serious business best, it may be expected that the Government will make good progress in the way of fulfilling such of its election pledges as yet remain to be given effect to. Legislative Council Reform will naturally form an important part of the session's work, and it would not be at all surprising to find that, in view of the rcccnt experiences of Australia, and the complications which have arisen there, as tho result of the Federal elections, some modification of last year's Bill should be deemed desirable. There is of course a good deal of difference between the situation which would exist here if the elective Upper House proposals of the Government were carried in the form of last session, and tho existing electoral law in the Commonwealth. The danger of such a deadlock occurring here as is now in prospect in Australia would bo very slight indeed, but with tho experience of Australia to guide them, the Government would be foolish indeed if it failed to take advantage of tho lesson so plainly presented. One of tho effects of the Federal elections may be tho laying aside for the time being of tho proposed reciprocal treaty between the Dominion and Australia. This proposed treaty, which was successfully arranged by tho Minister for Customs (Mr. F. M. B. Fisher), has aroused a good deal of curiosity arid some hope. Tho Minister himself was very safiguirie that the terms of the treaty would meet with general approval, and that thoy would prove of marked benefit to the people of both countries. With the defeat of tho. Labour Government in Australia, tho treaty proposals presumably will lapso, and although they may be revived later, it is hardly likely now that they will become law this year. Probably finance will constitute a more than ordinarily interesting feature of tho session's debates. The Government has already shown its determination to place tho finances of the Dominion on a better footing than they have been since the abandonment of the policy laid down by Ballanoe in the early 'nineties. The present Minister of, Finance will nj doubt have a good deal that is_ of interest to say during the corning session, not only as to the position of affairs as ho found them, but as to the future policy of the Government. Thore is, indeed, every indication that the session i will prove one of the most interesting ana important of recent years.