Liberal Victory in Canada
The Canadian General Election has resulted in the return of the Liberals as the largest single party, and with the support of the small group of Independent Liberals they will have a narrow majority in the new Parliament. Mr. Mackenzie King has lost the large majority which he had over all parties in the last Parliament, but his continuance as Prime Minister is assured, and his position is
more secure than it might appear, since it is unlikely that the Pro- gressive Conservatives, representing the Right, will combine with the Socialists of the C.C.F. and the Social Credit Party in any attempt to turn him out. Conscription has figured prominently as an issue in the election, and the Socialists made the utmost of their policies for reconstruction. But the Liberals themselves had a pro- gressive, and probably more practical, programme of reconstruction to put before the country, and it enabled them to hold their own and more against the C.C.F., who have had fewer successes at the polls than was generally expected. It is the Progressive Conservatives who have most of all strengthened their position, though with nothing like the big success which the provincial election in Ontario might have been thought: to foreshadow. If the swing of the pendulum has not operated more effectually than it has done, that may almost certainly be attributed to the success of Mr. Mackenzie King and his colleagues in guiding the country so efficiently through a successful if exhausting war. His has been one of the great admin- istrations in a testing period of Canada's history.
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