MONDAY, MAY 22, 1816. THE WORK AHEAD

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2777, 22 May 1916, Page 4

MONDAY, MAY 22, 1816. THE WORK AHEAD

The Prime Minister should be encouraged by the tone and spirit of the speeches delivered in ' tho course of the Address-in-Reply debate last week tri push ahead at once with the really important business of the session. No one wants a long session this year, and it would seem that members are in the right mood to assist, the Government to place the necessary measures on tho Statute Book with all reasonable dispatch. Mr. Masses and his colleagues. cannot fail to have noted, as the country has noted, that such criticism as has been offered concerning the administration of the past' year has been mainly of a helpful character. The exception . has been on the part of a little band of irreconcilables who have largely confined themselves to generalities or to personal abuse. These attacks, though often offensive »nd objectiohable, have not been without their value as indicating the weakness of the case which the irreconcilablea have striven to work up against individual Ministers or against tho Government as a whole. Their cold reception.by the House lends further emphasis to this fact. No one could read the report of the speeches of the proceedings in-the House of Representatives On Friday last, when Sir Joseph Ward and. Mr. G. W. .Russell dealt with the attacks of the Labour-Socialist element, without recognising how unhelpful these professing: leaders of tho Labour-Social-ist movement have proved themselves in this time of national emergency. The spectacle presented by Mr. Webb under the lash of the stinging comments of tho Minister for Internal Affairs was not one to inspire admiration either of his personal sense of responsibility or his public spirit. And it is Mr. Webb and others like him who are the greatest fault-finders and tho -lost sweeping critics of the Government. Ministers can well afford to ignore tho wild utterances of such critics and congratulate themselves on the general endorsement of their actions by tho great majority of the members of the House.

This is not to say that there has been no room for reasonable criticism, nor can the Government afford to take matters easy on the ground of what it has already accomplish' ed. On the contrary, our purpose in referring to the satisfaction with which Ministers must regard the opening debate of the session is to urge them to-take advantage of the generally friendly and helpful mood of members to press on with the work which lies ahead; and first and foremost is the passing of the Bill to provide for Compulsory National Service. It would be foolish from the point of view of Parliamentary tactics to delay the introduction of - this measure until a later stage of the session, for members are now fresh from their constituencies, they know what the public think on the question, and they have not yet had time to 'develop that irritability and readiness to find causo for offence inseparable from the; late hours and strain of Parliamentary work, and which is a frequent hindrance to steady progress. But this after all is a minor consideration coinpared with the necessity for the passing of the measure and its moral cffcct when passed. The country has come to recognise that the voluntary system of enlistment, though it has distinct merits, is not only unequal to the task of providing the numbers required to enable New Zealand to carry on its full share in the war, but it is unjust,. Married men with families to support are prompted to come forward and offer their services_ because they are told that there is a shortage of volunteers, and singlo men lacking the same spirit escape their obligation. This is unfair, and it is opposed to the national interest. But it is not necessary to recount the reasons in support of National Service for the period of this war; the main facts to bo considered are that it has become necessary to enable us to fulfil our obligations, and that the country as a whole recognises this, and wishes to see the Act authorising it passed as soon as possible. Parliament is in the mood for work; members have made it clear that they wish to assist the Government with tho tasks that lio before it; the Bill should be brought down at once. It is tho principal work ahead, and demands priority of place.