THE LIBERAL SPIRIT.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 265, 7 November 1919, Page 4

THE LIBERAL SPIRIT.

The reception of the Undesirable Immigrants' Exclusion Bill in Parliament is a very good illustration of the blunting of liberal principle* by the war. We uso the term " liberal" not in the party sense, but in the sense in which it is universally applied to principles of freedom and justice. We have already said more than once that while the powers of exclusion and deportation conferred by this new measure are much needed, the untramelled authority which it gives to the Government opene the way to serious abuses. In the Legislative Council the Hon. J. T. Paul, who is head of the Xew Zealand Labour part}', made a moderate and valuable speech on the measure. Unlike the extremists in the Lower House, he did not condemn tie measure entirely, but agreed that power to exclude what wo 3 really undesirable was a right one to give. Fearing, however, that the Attorney-General, in exercising that power might he influenced by political bias, he moved to insert the following clause in the Bill: "That a return showing in detail the number of such orders issued, and the name, nationality, and the reason for the exclusion or deportation of every person excluded or deported ehall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within fourteen days of the commencement of each session of Parliament." This was a perfectly reasonable safeguard, which, as Mr. Paul remarked, was in accordance with the best principles of British liberty. Moreover, it did not. weaken the Bill to the slightest extent. It merely made the Attorney -General specifically responsible to Parliament for his actions in this direction. The Council, however, rejected the proposal on the voices, and there is nothing to show from the report before us that Mr. Paul found anybody to support him. The position ie really astonishing when you examine it. Parliament grants to a Minister the power to deport persons from Xew Zealand and deny others the right of entry, and yet will not require him to furnish particulars of his actions. Are we moving back to the days of the Stuarts? We have too much faith in the vitality of liberalism to think that this frame of mind is anything but temporary, but ' while it lasts it is not creditable.