I regret that the action taken by the two Opposition parties yesterday rendered an Election inevitable. I, therefore, have had an audience with His Majesty this morning, and asked for a dissolution. His Majesty empowers me to announce that he has consented.

In considering further arrangements, I felt that I should be meeting the wishes of all parties in the House if I did my best to avoid clashing with the municipal elections. The difficulty was whether it would be better to hang the Election over until the municipal elections had been cleared out of the way, or whether it would not be better, and far more convenient, to try to get the General Election over before the municipal elections.

The Government were very anxious to reduce the inconvenience of the Election to a minimum. By a careful study of the position, we have found that it will be possible to have the Election over before the municipal elections take place. The proposal, therefore, is that this afternoon this House will be prorogued, and the Election will take place forthwith. [HON. MEMBERS: "When?"] The Dissolution to-night will mean that nominations can he made on Saturday, the 18th October. and we can take the Election on Wednesday, the 29th October.