Longest Parliament in history

With the closing of the session last night the longest Parliament in the history of the dominion has, except in the matter of the formality of the dissolution, come to an end. A certain amount of cheap criticism has been heard from time to time about the extension of the life of Parliament from three years to five. The community will generally have been able to appraise this criticism at its true value. The war was at its height in 1917, when the Parliament would in normal circumstances have expired from effluxion of time. The conditions

were of such a character that it was necessary that the energies of the dominion should be solidly applied to the task of supporting the Mother Country and her Allies in the prosecution of the war. The one thing that was vital was that no stone should be left unturned which would contribute to the attainment of victory. Questions of purely domestic interest had to be subordinated to this great purpose. As to the need of this there was substantial unanimity on the part of the public. It was with popular approval, therefore, that Parliament adopted the exceptional course, for which there would ordinarily be no justification, of extending its own existence. The only critics of its action — those who describe Parliament as having been selfappointed for the past two years, and as having during this period not been representative of the electors — belong to a class which was not deeply concerned about the result of the war.