We have written elsewhere about the political crisis in Canada.
On Tuesday it was announced that the Conservative leader, Mr. Meighen, had formed a Govern- ment and that he held it to be his duty to conclude the work of the session. It had been expected that the late Liberal Premier, Mr. Mackenzie King, would criticize Lord Bvng's conduct in refusing a dissolution. He did not do so, .but the Liberal newspapers have freely des- cribed the refusal -as unconstitutional. We cannot help feeling that Mr. Mackenzie King would have been in a more logical position if he had allowed the motion of censure on his Government to go to a division. As it was, he demanded a dissolution without having actually brought the matter to a test. In these circumstances Lord Byng thought it right to find out whether the Conservatives could carry on before proceeding to another General Election. He had to consider the interests of the country as a whole ; he had to 'bear in mind the facts that Mr. King had not a majority—indeed that the greatest electoral strength belonged to the Conservatives—. and that only a .few months had passed since the last General Election. We can see nothing whatever unconstitutional in his decision. The formula about acting on the advice of Ministers is really only a par- ticular wily of saying that the majority must decide.
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