February, 1912. 



history of the Month. 



spective rights in regard to financial questions ; and 

 it seems that Premier John Verran's terse declara- 

 tion that it will be ' a tight to a linish,' so far as he 

 and his i)arty are concerned, is likely to be some- 

 where near the truth. And yet the finish may be a 

 long way oft"; much farther indeed than the elections 

 which are to take place on February loth; for even 

 if the Labour Party return with a majoritv — as they 

 are very confident of tloing — the same crisis may he 

 repeated with almost tiie same result, the only dif- 

 ference being that a double dissolution of the 

 Houses can then be secured, which again may or 

 may not result in an alteration of the personnel of 

 <-ither or lioth of the Houses sufficient to definitely 

 lecide the question upon which they are now 

 ihvided. 



" This decidedly is very unsatisfactory, and the 

 doubtfulness of the issue am[)ly justifies the at- 

 tempt which Mr. Verran made earlier in the session 

 to secure such an amendment of the Constitution as 

 would prevent a similar occurrence in the future. 



" The immediate cause of the present deadlock 

 is the rejection of the Appropriation Bill by the 

 1/^gislative Council, because of two lines to which 

 they say they cannot — or rather will not — agree, 

 'I'hese lines are _^io,ooo for the establishment of 

 .Slate brick works, an<l ;^iooo for the purchase and 

 re-sale of timber and firewood. Tiie legislative 

 Council declares that these lines are merely the thin 

 •end of the wedge of a sixrialism, which will not be 

 satisfied until all industries are nationalised, while 

 the Government — as representing the I.alxnir Party 

 in the House of Assembly — reply that such an ob- 

 jection comes with no merit of consistency from 

 a Hou.se which has frequently passed lines with a 

 similar tendency, and for much larger sums, with- 

 out anv ])rotest what.soever. 



" I,w>king at the situation from the outside, it is 

 a[)i)arent that jK)litics in Snuth Australia ha\e got 

 into a tangle which will not l>e easily unravelled. 

 With a Constitution which makes no provision for 

 settling disputes between the two Houses of Parlia- 

 ment, and a franchise which assures the predomin- 

 .mcf of the party which represents ])roperty in the 

 l.<'gislative Council, there is the certainty of an in- 

 definite i-oiitinuance of the conflict. There are two 

 possible remedies for the trouble —viz., the liberal- 

 ising of the franchise for the I^'gislative Council, 

 so that the ruling thought in both chaml)ers may Ix; 

 more in harmony, or a provision in the Constitu- 

 tion for de.iling with deadl<x'ks similar to that 

 whiih was recently made in the Imperial P.irlia- 

 meiit. The former method has iK-en continuously 

 .iilempted by the I.ilieral and I,alx)ur sections in 

 i'.irli.iment for many years, but the mo.st that has 

 l)een achieved is to fix the fraiKhise for the Legis- 

 lative ('ouncil at the payment of a rental of j£ij 

 los. 'I'he Litter method has also l>een frequently 

 .iltempted, and with success .so far as the H(»iise of 

 .Assembly is concerned, but it has always lieen de- 



feated in the House which sees no need for its own 

 reform. 



" The Verran Government took a bold step some 

 months ago in approacliing the Home Government 

 on this matter. According to the correspondence 

 which has been published, they stated the case fully 

 and fairly, and asked that they should be advised 

 as to the course which would relieve the State Par- 

 liament from its intoler.iblc position. The reply 

 gave no promise of interference until every possible 

 means of dealing with the trouble under the present 

 Constitution ha<l been exhausted, and that is the 

 p.ith which the Go\-ernment are now treading. The 

 pitv of it is that the result may be so inconclusive, 

 and. .it the best, so far removed. 



•■ .As in most cases where great issues are in dis- 

 pute, there is justification for the stand which is 

 lx.Mng taken .by lx>th sides. The Legislative Council 

 Ix'ing the product of its franchise, is deeply sus- 

 |)icious of jiroposals made by a Government which 

 is placed in power by the Labour Party, and al- 

 though it is admitted that no objection has been 

 rajsrd to similar expenditure when proposed by 

 otlier Governments, it is easy to understand the op- 

 position which is raised in the present case. On 

 the other hand, the I^ibour Party cannot be blamed 

 for seeking to carry an important proxision of their 

 p<jlicy into effect, more es])ecially as ihe occasion of 

 their endeavour has ample justiiication to which 

 both Houses have already agreed. 



" Briefly Stated, the position is this: — La.-.i yeai 

 P.ulianient voted a sum of _;£j'2oo,ooo — in addition 

 to a sum of _^ioo,ooo previously \oted — to be ad- 

 vanceil in sums of not more than jQs°o to any one 

 per.son desiring to build a house, under the Advances 

 for Homes Act. Naturally this Act has been looked 

 ui>on as a [)erfect godsend by the poorer class, who 

 ar<' staggering under the burden of increasi:iglv higl', 

 rents. liut the Government finding that the cost 

 of building is unduly great, on account of the price 

 of materials which ought to and can be supplied 

 at clieaper rates, jiropose to become purveyors of 

 bricks and timber— first for their own use on Gov- 

 ernment works, and then for those who w'ill deal 

 witli them. They as.sert that 20s. per 1000 can 

 be saved on bricks, and from 6 per cent, to 20 per 

 cent, on other clas.ses of building material. This 

 ■iccounts for the two lines in the Ap|)ropriation Bill 

 to which objtrtion has lieen made bv the Legislative 

 t'ouncil, and, eon.sequentiv, for the crisis which has 

 led to the dis.solution which staids all the Hou.se of 

 .As.s<-mbly and half of the Legislative Council to 

 tlK'ir constituents. The situation is distinctly inte- 

 resting and momentous, not only bc<-ause of the local 

 importance of the questions at issue, but also on ac- 

 count of the fact that the constitutional aspc\:t is one 

 that touches the principU'S of r<'.siionsible government 

 in every part of the l''.mpire. Mr. Verran and his 

 Gov<Tnment have reason to ho|ie that a crisis so 

 similar to that which led to the ])assing of the Veto 



