NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 180, 28 April 1931, Page 8

NOTES OF THE DAY

Observers of the course of events in India must occasionally expeilence a feeling of hopelessness when they consider the deepseated religious prejudices which keep her various sects apart, and vastly complicate the problem of providing that strange country with a political system based on representative government. To-morrow is a Mohammedan festival in India, and followers of that faith are being entreated to substitute goats for cows in the slaughter incidental to the ceremony of sacrifice in order not to offend the Hindus, to whom the cow is sacred. In these days it seems extraordinary that public order should in India be dependent upon the capacity of rehgious prejudice to contain itself. Yet if we turn back the pages ot British history we shall find religious intolerance and strife as cruel and merciless as that which in India to-day evokes amazement among Bntish peoples. India, from this point of view, has a Ion" way to go before she can be politically united in the true sense of the word. ‘

“Parliament,” said. Colonel McDonald in the House, “should be quite above any law society or any body of lawyers. I may be wrong, of course. On the contrary, he was right. Under the New Zealand Constitution, which is modelled on the British, Parliament is supreme. Its legislation may be open to criticism, both on principle, which is largely a matter of party controversy, or in regard to form, which is tested in legal,, practice and not infrequently’found slipshod and obscure.. If Parliament makes a bad law, only Parliament can right it. This, is as it should be, because Parliament is the People, and by a polite fiction of democratic practice, the People govern themselves, and make laws for themselves. Unfortunately the representatives. of the People do not always discharge their supreme responsibility in. a responsible spirit. On questions of law they are often not judicial and where business is concerned, generally most unbusinesslike. Poo often they seem to be more concerned to put a just appearance on their actions than to act justly.

In reducing the voting age from 25 to 23, and thereby, as report says, extending, the franchise to university students and other younff political enthusiasts, the new Spanish Republican Government seems to be lather concerned that the result of the impending elections should be a very definite vote against the monarchy. The move is a confession of weakness, for had the Government entertained no doubts about the. feeling m the country it would have confidently entrusted the decision to the old electorate. As it is, republicanism is practically certain of endorsement, for much of the feeling against the monarchical regime during the period of the De Rivera and Berenguer dictatorships was fomented by the younger generation of the Spanish intelligentsia in the universities. On the other hand, this infusion of young blood may not make for political stability. Pent-up forces suddenly released after prolonged restraint are apt to run riot in the exercise of their new-found freedom. It will be a considerable time before republicanism in Spain becomes, if ever a settled condition. ’

Several, proposals in the Hawke’s Bay Earthquake Bill were either so novel or far-reaching that they could not be regarded without misgiving and could only be excused on account of the extraordinary nature of the emergency. New precedents had to be found to meet an unprecedented situation. Thus there was no great demur at the Government’s proposal to raid its London reserves. To what better use could they be put than in the present case? Some people even extended indulgence to the scheme for making good the reserves ,by a new levy, the insurable property tax, but some most emphatically did not. Indeed the idea was, as already pointed out, open to grave objections and the objectors, chiefly represented by the Reform Opposition, have had their way. But, although the Government has agreed to drop the tax, there still remains the difficulty of restoring million pounds to the London reserves. The Prime Minister insists that it must be done and most people will agree. Having gained their point, the Opposition should not leave the onus on the Government but should help in solving the problem.