The Dominion. FRIDAY, MAY 8, 1914. "GO ON, OR GO OUT."

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2143, 8 May 1914, Page 6

The Dominion. FRIDAY, MAY 8, 1914. "GO ON, OR GO OUT."

After a debate extending over three weeks a censure motion has been rejected by the Australian Federal Parliament ou. the easting vote of the Speaker. The motion, which was moved by the Leader of the Opposition (Mp„ Fisher), nc« cnsed the membfcvs of the Government of slandering the .former Labour Government and the people by stating thai; the. rolls should liaVe been cleansed before the election. To ordinary common-sense people the statement complained of s.onnds quitc harmless—indeed it reads very like a truism; but at the present time an extraordinary state of affairs exists in the Commonwealth Parliament and common sense has little or nothing to do with the conduct of its business. No one, of j course believes for a moment that, the people of Australia have teen slandered, and everyone who has i followed- the course <jf recent -events

in Federal' politics knows quite 1 well that the censure motion is. men;- a ly an incident in the protracted J battle between the Liberal and La- I hour Parties which are so evenly di- j: vided on the floor of the. House that e the Government lias to depend for f its existence on the Speaker's cast- 1: ing vote. The object of the Opposi- |: tion is sheer obstruction. If; wants f to harass and - hinder the- Govern- J menfc in every possible way, and it- I is strong enough in numbers to make ( the progress of business exaspetat- I ingly slow. The Prime ' Minister i (Mr. Cook), after laying bare the- t feebleness of Mn. Fisetee s charges, i agreed to take the motion seriously, i He said all the Government had s dbn-o was to point out the simple and c undeniable fact that, the electoral { rolls were not as clean as they c should be. and that there were many 1 people on the rolls at the la.st dec- f tions who should not have been there, 1 The Opposition professes to regard i this assertion as an insult to itself i and the oonntry—hencc Mb. FisflSirs 1 motion. j That the discussion of a motion of < this kind should have occupied the 1 attention of the Federal House for I over three weeks ought to provide the people of Australia with a good deal of food for thought. Such pro- j longed and deliberate obstruction of < business and reckless waste of time s and money ivnild not by tolerated , /) the cam of any public body ex- , cept Parliament, and the possibility j of such a state of, affairs shows that , there is urgent need for. the adoption ; }of more rational methods in Parlia- i mentary nrocdure. To allow this - 'utile party struggle to go on incie- j finitely would be a reflection on the- | common sense of the community, and must tend to undermine, the respect I of reasonable men and women for the supreme legislative body of the Commonwealth. It is not surprising that Minister are disgusted with ; the existing position, and no doubt. [ the overwhelming weight of public , opinion outside of Parliament is in • favour of effective steps being taken to nut an" end to the present discreditable exhibition, Speakirig at St. ICilda recently Mr. Cook was applauded by his audience when he matte'the. emphatic declaration that ! 'the Ministry.had tnado up its mincl •i on or go out." The- sooner thfc crisis comes Shu better, for whatever the result of the appeal to the people may be it is almost .inconceivable that the new position can be worse than the old. The Government; ought to go straight on with its policy until further progress becomes impossible, It should then seise the first opportunity of - making an appeal to the people in order if put an end to an intolerable situation. The ' ffiuch-discussed dissolution problem received some further attention during the censure debate. Mr. Thomas, one of the Labour members.) declared that a double dissolution— that is, the simultaneous dissolution of both the Upper and the Lower Houses—was unthinkable and ' Impossible, and.h-e accused the Ministry of an attempt to bring the GovernorGeneral into 'the ttirnwil ftf political strife. He Said the GtfverftorOeneral was not to be asked to grant a double dissolution in order to solve a great problem, bat on the offchance that the- Ministry niight secure a majority in the. Senate as well as in the -House, The 'Labour Party is naturally unwilling to risk losing its great majority in the Sonate, and is- anxious that' only l the House of Representatives should go to the country; whereas the Liberals cannot expect- to improve their position very much unless the electors aro given an opportunity of re-electing both .'Chattibcrs. However the party politician may view' tho question, tilings have now got into such a tangled and unsatisfactory state that from'the point of view, of the Commonwealth as a whole it would certainly be an advantage that the people should be enabled to give effect to its will, in as. complete a manner as possible. As regards the double dissolution the Constitution lays it down that if the Senate in two session?., separated by a period of three months, twice- declines to pass' a measure which has twice received the assent of the H oils",. the Governor-General may, if lie thinks fit, dissolve both Chambers. The 6oye*ttor*Geoeral is not. compelled to grant,a double dissolution, bat the matter is left to his discretion. He is quite- unfettered, as far as the law is concerned, in the exercise of this discretion, and the uncertainty of the ■whole position is increased by the fact that no one even pretends to know how His MfcTEstt's representative will act. Will he decide tk point in accordance with his opinion as to the importance of the Bills which the Senate may. reject, or will he take tho whole situation into consideration and adopt the course which he considers best in the general interests of the country 1 •No one. can say which e'f these courses he, will follow, 'or what his d€- ■ cis-ion would be in either case.