The Debating Club met on Friday, the 18th July, to discuss the motion, "That this House has confidence in the Government," and invited members of Parliament (and Mr. Foley) to lead the debate and the public to hear it. The result was that the audience was not content with the motion in hand but went on to deal with others.

Mr. Combs, M.P., opened the case for the affirmative. He said that to decide whether a Government was worthy of confidence you must compare it with its predecessors. He traced the administration of his Government stressing housing, social security, higher standard of living, and the equipment of our soldiers. Mr. Ben. Roberts, M.P., seconded him, emphasising the importance to the farmer of a guaranteed price and controlled marketing.

Mr. Doidge, M.P., was the leader of the negative. He was not going to have any parish pump politics, and introduced us to the subtle charms of a British Empire united under bourgeois democracy and the benefits of American finance capital as a social cure-all. Mr. Harker, M.P., seconded Mr. Doidge and reduced the argument ad hominem. Mr. Foley seconded Mr. Harker and showed that the figures quoted by Mr. Combs could not be much good because the official statistics of the country showed that either there were 20,000 married women, not widows, without husbands, or there were 20,000 men who were bigamists!

From the Floor.

The speakers had been subjected to a constant fire of back chat from the floor, but they thought that the boys were just enjoying themselves. Little did they realise. . . . The speakers from the floor were not only not confident in the ability of the Labour Government to continue a progressively more socialist administration, but they definitely had no confidence in the National Party.

Miss Hutcheson pointed out that democracy would wither away if we did not stop perverting the minds of youth with propaganda. Mr. Nathan expounded the viewpoint of the good Independent. Mr. Winchester, while frankly critical of the Labour Party exposed the desire of the Doidges and Harkers for "government of the People, by the Chambers of Commerce, for the Associated Banks."

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