OUR RULERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 309, 30 December 1922, Page 15

OUR RULERS.

OVER-GOVERNMENT AND MISGOVERNMENT. TOO MANY XAWS. • . , *-'~' "'''i '•' - • (By QUACK.) It is impossible to contemplate ouri overburdened Statute Book without wonden-ing how a young country can | have willingly woven such a web of for-1 biddings as is there displayed; woven. I one supposes, to control the wild wishes of little more than a million, mostly I normal, humans, who inhabit the land, i At the same time one remembers that I Moses considered ten commandments ; sufficient to restrain a people recently j released from a long and irksome bond- i age, and ready therefore to be guilty of almost any excess: ! | Democratic Government upon a repre- i I sentativc basis is successful only when ! adopted by a placid, slow, tincxeitablc ', race, quietly indifferent to anything but j direct assault upon personal liberty, with a firm conviction that all laws are made | for the "other fellow," and intended to j be set aside in special circumstances— j such as inconvenient application to one- i self. The selection of a group of law-makers I from the general ruck of the population j is a comical system in its reckless dis- I regard of the fitness or otherwise of candidates for power and authority.. The profession of politics calls for greater wisdom, so one would think, than any other, yet ability to address a meeting in a loud voice is held to be | a sufficient qualification. A young I lawyer, doctor, schoolmaster, even a I young constable, is examined more ji.".o.sely. and more thoroughly sifted for I capabilities than a parliamentary canI didate, who may be taken from plough, I bench, desk, or anvil, or swept in from ! the limbo' of the unoccupied, without ! much preparation or polish, stood upon a j platform, praised and discredited by op- ; posing crowds who sec, or who do not j see. s omev germs of knowledge in one who is an absolute stranger to all maybe, and I there and then, upon the man's own imI supporteel assurance, he is hoisted to a j pinnacle, not only as representative of the collected wisdom of his constituents, 'but as a proposer of laws which shall have behind them the forces of armies, and shall affect the fate, the happiness, , the future, of thousands, both now living and yet to be born. I have never understood why it is coni sidercd unnecessary to have a school i for parliamentary candidates, why there should be no test of general or of special - knowledge, and why the temporary opin- - ion of a temporily interested crowd ! should he regarded as a safe selective ■ agency. If I need a man to sweep my 1 chimney, repair my boots, shear my sheep, or mend my watch, I am never absolutely careless and indifferent. I like - to have some evidence that the man ? I to whom I entrust my property is not 1 entirely untrained, and more often than ' not I am in the happy position or being ' able to rid myself of incompetent ser- , vices almost immediately the incompet enco is discovered; yet here am I weakh i offering my support to a stranger whe ' ; tells mc. in a more or less aggrerssivi I manner, that he is this, that, and tin I other, and intends to do so and so, ant I absolutely without reliable evidences oi c i guarantee I let this unknown, untested n11 untried,fellow go. partly at my expense g | to a place from whence he may. one day j I issue commands entirely at variance wit] I my desires.

Does it not sound a nightmare of nonsensical indifference to my own welfare, and that of the country in which I live and rear my family? "When in the House tt.P.'s divide, If they've a braiu ami cerebellum too, They 'have to leave that braiu outside. And vote just as their leaders tell 'em to. But then tbe prospect ot a lot"" ' Of dull M.l'.'s ill close proximity. All thinking for themselves, Is what ", 'Jfo, man-can thliik with equanimity-. If this is true we might save much expense and trouble by giving our attention to the "leaders," and accepting mere voting (automatic) machines, without the disturbance of an election. If a contested election always resulted in the. appointment of the best , maii (best from a national point of | view)., there would be more to be sail iin favour of the system, but elections 1 are mostly remarkable for the number of , good men rejected, and the doubtful i quality of the embryo law makers chosen. ! It must be admitted that three or | i four years of political experience and I ; training will turn the thoughts of any 'j ordinary man from purely Belfish chaninels towards the general welfare of his fellows, but during this period of essenj tial schooling he assists in the perpctra- I I tion of many loosely drawn Bills, which iso display their faults when they become | law, that judges differ, lawyers wrangle, j and many inuocent persons suffer. ' A House composed of equal numbers of men of rigid, legal mind, and idealists — j visionaries—might produce progressive statutes seldom needing reconstruction, but • as' it is, this original Act is soon j over sprinkled by a heavy peppering of i amendments, which sometimes amount collectively.to a new Act smothering the old. It appears to mc that the first duty of a newly elected- House should be | the repeal and revision of all out of idate statutes, the destruction of all obsolete legal machinery, and a general i and concerted attempt to simplify and I coelify. condense and cleanse, the mountain of, parliamentary material which is ever being piled piled up by successive generations of talkers and inventors of experimental legislation. The new cloth upon the old garment is always a mistake, and a parliamentary J waste basket, and scrap heap, and de- ] struetor, should be part of the outfit of our legislature. It is amusing to note the bewilderment [ of most men when suddenly confronted i by the question,' "What precisely do you , | mean by—?" and then the addition of a word selected from those they had a moment previously used. j Even a dictionary sometimes gives so I many alternative meanings to a word . that it becomes a quicksand of doubt t and confusion of thought, yet it is of f words our laws are compounded, and the i men who roll out reckless streams, or ] i spurt out flashing fountains of verbiage, | are expected to express in unmistakable ! terms, in words beyond argument, the , laws upon which our social integrity Is ' j based, and our personal relationships ad I,justed.

I I If som.* of the graiiel old men o , j Hebrew days could return to earth . and visit our House. and si | beside our judges, magistrates, aim , I justices, would they, do you think, ad- ; mire the "progress" of which we so ) I lightly boast? Compared with a new , ] country like ours, with thousand' of ! years of human experience and wisdom "jto start from and guide us. there should :be no territory in the world so well and [ j simply governed, so prosperous, and so ; advanced. M r 1 The love of country is hut love of man: . To smooth his path thro" life, and give thy strength 'To solve bis prohlems and assuage his / grief. 5 ' _^_^^^^^^^_^_