Parliament Resumes
The " hang-over " wind-up of i a Parliamentary session is never very exciting, and in spite of the important debate on transport on Wednesday, interest is inevitably centred on the new session which opens in the new House of Commons on October 31st. An autumn election has apparently been ruled out, but a Government defeat could still precipitate one. There iS no great probability of that, for the King's Speech is unlikely to foreshadow much controversial legislation, and the Government majority, slender though it is, should be enough for all ordinary purposes. Some slackening in the spate of legislation should give opportunities of which the Opposition ought to take full advantage, of subjecting current administration to more constructive and detailed criticism than it has received in the past few years. Meanwhile ceremonial will hold the field. The restoration of Parliament to its full amenities—which includes the release of the Lords from their present cramped quarters as well as the installation of the Commons in anew and better appointed Chamber—is a • matter of no small national importance, and it is well that the Speakers of the Dominions Houses of Parliament should have come to witness this notable new stage In the history of the great institution to whose traditions their own Parliaments owe so much of their procedure and their atmosphere. From 1295 the stream of Parliamentary government has flowed virtually iminterrupted, and never, so far as the Common- wealth is concerned, with a stronger current, than today.
