Letters Of An Ex-M.P. to His Son about To Enter Politics

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 57, 30 November 1935, Page 8

Letters Of An Ex-M.P. to His Son about To Enter Politics

Dear William,—

1 told you to expect a bit of a shock on election night. I got one too. I prepared you for yours, but mine caught me bending. I think I told you once before that you never can tell how the cat’s going to jump at a general election. Most of us who thought we could read the signs had it figured out that the Government would lose some seats to the Democrats, and a few to Labour, but that when the Nationalists and the Democrats got together in Parliament they would hammer out some sort of agreement to keep Labour out of office. If we’d thought a bit harder we’d have seen that votes for the Democrats would really be votes for Labour. Nobody will ever convince me that this country really wanted to go Socialist. A lot of people turned "agin the Government” because they thought it was headed too much that way as it was. Well, they’ve got more of it now than they bargained for. As I said before, and say again, if you’ve got to have a first-past-the-post election you must stick to the two-party system, or the whole business gets messed up. Still, there it is. We’ve got a Labour Government with a big enough majority to turn the whole place upside down if it wants to.

For myself, I don’t think it will want to do anything of the kind. You couldn’t make a Socialist State out of this country without some sort of revolution. I don’t mean guns, of course, but a lot of people would get: hit where they’d feci it most—in the pocket. There would be a lot of unpleasantness, and the Government would go out on its ear at the next election. You’ll find that the new Labour Government isn’t going to risk anything like that. It got in on a wave of discontent, and it isn’t going out on one if it can help it. It’ll play safe. You see. Thanks to the Brains Trust it’s got a fair helping of Socialism from the Nationalists to go on with, and that should keep it busy for a while. Even if it wants to do a bit more in that line, all.it need sav to the Opposition is, “Well, who started it?” And to the public, “Who gave us a mandate? If you didn't want it, why did you vote for it?’ Of course, wc didn’t actually vote for it.. Wc got it by voting the way we did. & Mind you, I think the new Government has a fair chance of makin°‘ a name for itself if it keeps.its head and doesn’t start messing about with economic theories that might be bad for the country’s finances. The party has promised that there won’t be any more taxation or borrowing. At least, Mr. Savage said more of the one was impossible, and there was too much of the other, which ought to mean the same thing. In that case we haven t got much to worry about in the meantime. A new broom’s not a bad thing now and then, lheres enough young blood in the Laboui Party to put a bit of a kick into things, and i f the old hands who ve been through the mill can keep a tight rein on these youngsters, there shouldn’t be much harm done. Running a Government is not quite like running a business All the same, certain rules apply to both. One of them is that you can t spend more money than you ve got. Another is that if you start boi rowing without knowing just exactly how you’re going to pay back, you 11 find Nemesis on your doorstep some day with a bluey in her hand. Then there are departmental rules, tied up in red tape, the same as business firms do with their invoices, and ledgers, and so forth. I sometimes wonder which has the bigger savthe Government or the State Departments. Anyway, the new Government has to learn a lot about red tape before it gets really going. A man may have a few ideas ot his own about building a house, but by the time he’s through with the architect and the builder, to say nothing at all about the building, plumbing and electric-wiring regulations, he II find that he’s had to part with most of them.

It’s the same with Governments. They come and go, but the State departments stay put. There has to be some kind of continuity abou the business, otherwise there would have to be a new set of statutes and regulations every time a new Government came on the job. So it works out that when the Governnieiit wants to put some new legislation through it has to ask those who know something about the business what is. the best .way of doing it. The principle of it is one thing—that’s the Government’s job —but putting it into practice is another. All sorts of difficulties may crop up, and it’s the business of the Government’s advisers to point these'things out. There’s lots ot people who think that they could give others a few points , about running their business. But put them in the boss’s office and they soon find out that it’s not so easy as it looks.

Well, William, here’s to the next three years. After that you can have another shot. Your affectionate FATHER.