STATE MEDICAL SERVICE

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23446, 29 September 1941, Page 4

STATE MEDICAL SERVICE

Catholic Newspaper Condemns Bill COMMENT ON POLITICAL POLICY “New Zealand is at the moment keenly watching a most flagrant governmental attempt to transgress the principles of liberty and justice, in the proposed laws affecting the medical profession,” says an editorial article in the latest issue of “Zealandia,” the Roman Catholic weekly newspaper. “It is, of course, a duty of the State to see that there exists proper provision for promoting and safeguarding the health of the community. But that can be done without violating the natural rights of the individual or the principles of that ideal of democratic freedom for which Britain is now fighting. And it is one of the fundamentals of democracy that government shall be with the consent of the governed. . . . “Absolutist tyranny remains what it is no matter whether it be exercised by an individual despot or by a, parliamentary majority vote. Human rights and liberties have an inherent, irrefragable sanction. They are not something to be observed or contemned at the whim of a group of parly politicians who happen to hold the reins of legislative power. “We need not detail herein the actual terms of the new conditions which the Government seeks to establish, beyond pointing out that some of them arc not only unjust but crudely unintelligent, as, for example, in their utter failure to recognise the psychological factor in the healing of the sick. “Provocative Legislation” “At this time of Empire crisis we are entitled to expect from the Government a special restraint with regard to provocative legislation. The need of the hour is for unity and co-opera-tion, yet this is the very time that the Government chooses to introduce legislation that has already created a most serious feeling of resentment throughout the country. “Do our legislators really believe that under the proposed conditions the medical profession can possibly maintain its present high standard of efficiency? Have they reflected that the matter has an added importance in view of the extraordinary demands that the war is increasingly making upon the medical services? The Government itself should be the first to guard against and deal promptly with anything that might prejudice the work of the profession. “The majority Parliamentary party is, however, plainly becoming more and more obsessed with that Socialist idea of absolutist regimentation which has always been so utterly repugnant to the British mind and opposed by British constitutional practice. It would be just as well for our legislators to relax their ideological zeal a little, for they are making a very serious mistake if they imagine that New Zealand citizens like the rule of the bludgeon. “Under the stress and exigencies of war the Dominion’s people have shown an admirable readiness to make necessary sacrifices. But it is one thing to co-operate in the honest effort to win the war. It is quite another matter to see Parliament taking advantage of the war situation in order to establish a Socialist regime in the Dominion. Democratic Principle “As we have already recalled herein, a majority vole does not and, from the very nature of true democracy, cannot confer absolutist power upon a governing political party. We rightly repudiate the political despotism of Hitler and Stalin. We should make it equally our concern to oppose the pernicious paradox of a Labour Government sheltering itself behind democratic authority in order to impose legislative measures that are an actual violation of the democratic principle. “The proposed dispositions regarding the medical profession call for the urgent consideration of the whole community. To the patriotic citizen the war is a vital menace, not a heaven-sent opportunity for_ the establishment of Socialism in the Dominlbn. Yet our legislation is progressing steadily in that direction, The Medical Services Bill is a crucial test case. . “If the Government is allowed to get away with this, who shall put bounds to Parliamentary despotism? It becomes simply a question of whose turn is next. The public would do well to ponder the implications of this bill, and thereby realise how drastic and significant a stop it is in the advance toward State Socialism.” . , (rm The article appears under the heading, Hie Rule of the Bludgeon.” _