I, who have the honour of speaking to you to-day in the name of the Government and who have at my back the strongest majority that was ever known in Belgium, owe it to truth to say that our opinions have not a corresponding preponderance in the country; and I believe that, if that majority were always correctly expressed, we should gain in stability what we might lose in apparent strength.  Gentlemen, in the actual state of things, to whom belongs the Government of the country?  It belongs to some two or three thousand electors, who assuredly are neither the best nor the most intelligent, who turn the scale at each of our scrutin de liste elections.  I see to the right and to the left two large armies—­Catholics and Liberals—­of force almost equal, whom nothing would tempt to desert their standard, who serve it with devotion and from conviction.  Well, these great armies do not count, or scarcely count.  On the day of battle it is as if they do not exist.  What counts, what decides, what triumphs, is another body of electors altogether—­a floating body too often swayed by their passions, by their prejudices; or, worse still, by their interests.  These are our masters, and according as they veer from right to left, or from left to right, the Government of the country changes, and its history takes a new direction.  Gentlemen, is it well that it should be so?  Is it well that this country should be at the mercy of such contemptible elements as these?

How often have I longed to see a Premier in this, my adopted country, rise to such fervid heights of patriotism as this?

M. Bernhaert is right.  It is the party Government that is essentially the weak Government.  It cannot afford to estrange or offend any one who commands votes.  It is said that every prominent politician in the British House of Commons is being perpetually tempted and tormented by his friends not to be honest, and perpetually assailed by his enemies in order to be made to appear to be dishonest.  The Opposition is prepared to trip up the Ministry at every step.  It exaggerates mistakes, misreprerents motives, and combats measures which it believes to be good, if these are brought forward by its opponents.  It bullies in public and undermines in secret.  It is always ready to step into the shoes of the Ministry, to undergo similar treatment.  This is the sort of strength which is supposed to be imperilled if the nation were equitably represented in the Legislature.  In the present state of the world, especially in the Australian States, where the functions of government have multiplied and are multiplying, it is of the first importance that the administration should be watched from all sides, and not merely from the point of view of those who wish to sit on the Treasury benches.  The right function of the Opposition is to see that the Government does the work of the country well.  The actual practice of the Opposition is to try to prevent it from doing the country’s work at