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THE HISTORY OF THE MONTH. 



Opening of 

 Parliament. 



Melbourne, June 27, 1912. 

 The P'eder.il Parliament opened 

 on June 19, with neither more nor 

 less flourish than usual, and, as 

 usual, the general function gave 

 little or no idea a-s to what kind of career the session 

 will have. As usual, also the chief interest lay in 

 the speech put into the mouth of His Excellency the 

 Go\<-rnor-General, and the possibilities it gives for 

 criticism. The programme for the session is colour- 

 less, except for a scarlet patch or two. Even the most 

 excitable meml>ers can scarcelv rou.se enthusiasm 

 over such themes as Bills to amend the Old Age and 

 Invalid Pen.sions Act, Royal Commissions Act, Pub- 

 lic Service Act, Trade Marks Act, Quarantine Act, 

 and Customs Act, and others relating to bankruptcy, 

 banking, copyright, etc. Most of these may be 

 ]3assed, and the average elector will not be aware 

 that anything has happened. If onlv these non- 

 contentious measures were on the Parliamentarv 

 blacklxjard, the se,ssion would be a very mild one. 

 And mild the (k)\ernment has tried to keep it. There 

 is only one item in the Lalx>ur list that is likely to 

 cause di.scussion, and that is the proposed 

 grant of _£^5 to every mother, married or single, who 

 performs the office of maternity. Over this, discus- 

 sion is certain to rage; but it is a question that will 

 not be provocative of any .serious result. The Oppo- 

 sition will be able to light a good battle on the 

 matter; i)ut the Lalwur Party will l>e solid, and the 

 fate of the Government will not lie affected. If. 

 now, it had opened the Tariff question, as urged to 

 do by many of its own following ! Then there would 

 have been wigs on the green; and if L.iljour men, 

 who are again.st the Government on this matter, stuck 

 to their guns, there would be a fate awaiting the 

 Labour Government similar to that experienced by 

 Humpty-dumjjty. But this is the last .session of 

 Parliament, and Labour meml)ers cannot be de- 

 pended upon to \-ote in accordance with their per- 

 .sonal convictions, so the Government is safe. In 

 any case, it isn't taking any risks. But it is a 

 poor programme that is submitted. 



Rallying the 

 Forces. 



Of cour.se. most eves in Parliament 

 are turned toward the elections, and 

 it is safe to assume that the .session 

 will be short, to give memljers an 

 opportunity to do some electioneering before ri\'als 

 get in the field. The Liberal forces are organising 

 and are in a better way to win than thev have ever 

 i)een f>efore. There are women's leagues of all .sorts 

 and numbers, while the male portion of the 

 Liberal Party has similar sections. The trouble 

 is that there is not the adhesion among them 

 that there is in the Labour Party. Ever 

 since the forces in the House joined together, 

 the con.servative, last-century element has been 

 troublesome. And that it is not going to be faithful 

 to the things that are pledged in an honourable 

 agre<'ment, or understanding, is becoming e\-ident. 

 For instance, the committee of the Liberal Party 

 ap])ointed to make .selections for the Senate in Vic- 

 toria, selected Senator 'McColl, Dr. Carty Salmon 

 and Mr. Samuel ^lauger. Instantlv the " Argus " 

 newspaper jirojerted a fierce attack on Mr. Mauger. 

 It forgot all about its pleas for unity in the Libera' 

 ranks, and viciously attacked him for being an ex- 

 tremist. Possibly the " -Argus " is a good authority 

 on what an extremist is, for it is the greatest 

 literary extremist in Au.stralia to-day, going to the 

 farthest point in its old-time, old-fa.shioned advo- 

 cat'ies. I-'irst it argued that Mr. Mauger was a fiscal 

 extremist, when it had been agreed that the present 

 fisc.d situation .should be accepted bv lx)th parties; 

 seixmcUy, that he was known only in the city, when, 

 as a matter of fact, no man is better known in the 

 country ; and then, lastly, and mo.st shameful of 

 all, Mr. Manger's great reform record was thrown 

 at him as a reason why he was not a suitable candi- 

 date. Even his achievements in suppressing .sweat- 

 ing was cited as a crime on the part of a man who 

 was .seeking Senate suffrages. The fact is, as the 

 " .\go " finely jiut it. the forces of Conservatism 

 .■uid the Liquor Traffic were combining to keeji Mr. 

 Mauger out of Parliament. The "Argus" argu- 

 ment, boiled down, amounted to this: Mr. Maiiger's 



