THE FEDERAL WRANGLGE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2179, 18 June 1914, Page 4

THE FEDERAL WRANGLGE

The action of the Ooycrnotf-Ctencral of Australia in granting the request of the Prime Minister 01k. Cook) for a dissolution of both Hcnw?'-

is being vigorously sttadted by this Labour Party, and dftfondod with equal vigour by the liberals. The Opposition is naturally sora boeau-so its dominance in the Senate has been «>.d an go red by that Chamber being sent to the country, together with" the House, and. it' is frying bard to prove that only the House of Representatives should have beet! dissolved. Mr. Hughes declares, that His Excellency's decision is not sanctioned by precedent, and h destructive of the foundations on which the Federal compart rests. He argues that the Senate acted within its constitutional fights.. If the Constitution had intended that it should pass every np by the House, such intention would have been plainly expressed. -He also attacks the double dissolution on the ground of expediency, and declares that ,tnc probabilities are fatal to tlw«mtentiontJiat the appeal to the country will give the Government a majority in both Houses. The Prime Mii'iifter, un the other b»s)d, deprc* eates the attacks on (he GovernorGpii<t>i). who morelv acted, on the advice of his Ministers, He Mys Section 5T of tin" Constitution provides) clearly and definitely for the course; which lias bean taktrn, which is the!

only course provided by the Constitution for the deadlock which has existed, between the .two Hous.cs for the last twelve months. No clause gave the framcrs of the Constitution more trouble than the one in question, and "it was the way that clause was finally fixed that determined the decision of the people of Australia to accept a Constitution with an equal State-rights Senate." It_ is true, as another authority points out, that the Governor-Gen-eral's action is unprecedented, hut as no Governor-General has previously been ask«! for a double dissolution, a- refusal would have beenequally 'unprecedented. It is difficult to see how the Governor-General wpld have acted otherwise than he did. The Constitution lays down that if a Bill is. twice passed by the House and twice rejected by the Senate, the Prime Minister may ask hx a double dissolution. This situation was brought about by the Preference Prohibition Bill, and the respoflsiblo advisers of the Governor* General asked him to .dissolve both Houses. In agreeing to tiifi course, he no doubt took into consideration the whole political position, and came to the conclusion that the- most* effective way of eliding the prolonged deadlock was to send the whole .Federal Parliament back to the electors. It was certainly the most reasonable thing to do in the circumstance?.