TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 4, 5 July 1928, Page 12

TOPICS OF THE DAY

* • "Democracy could never be a particularly cheap form of government," said Mr. Waito in moving the Address-in-Beply yesterday, "but British people would always prefer it to any form of government by either a Mussolini or a Lenin." It must bo admitted that democracy is not particularly cheap;, no form of government is. When the Israelites of old time desired a King they were- warned of the-consequences by Samuel:— . This will be the manner of the King that shall reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen, and some- shall run before his chariot. . . . And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to bo bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. Whether the government be by King or by Parliament, by the voice of the autocrat or the voice of the people, it must be paid for. The cost may be collected in many ways: by tithes, by a King's ship-money, or by the modern incometax adjustments of an up-to-date Mm-! ister of finance, but the collection is always resented. * . « * British people, as Mr. Waite said, prefer the democratic method, which may bo as expensive as any; but it is not necessarily expensive. Wo have a democratic government with tho slogan (if it does not go much further) of "loss government in business and nioro business in government." On principlo such a Government should eucourago the people to do for themselves what they have been expecting tho Government to do for them, and what the Government must necessarily do it should do with greater efficiency. That is the principle. It is. not yet the complete practice. The more it is put into practice the greater should bo the reduction in administrative costs. With more efficiency and less interference there is no reason why democracy as operating in New Zealand should not compare favourably in cost with the administrations of a Lenin or a Mussolini. Certainly we do not want Leninism, or even the strong man rule of Mussolini. We, prefer to manage our own affairs, and to be equally free to mismanage them. At times, however, it seems as if we are to pay the full price for our democracy, and yet wo aro not wholly safe from the activities of. minor Mussolinis issuing their docrecs by Order-in-Couneil. * # * Change of tone is to be noted in the addresses to the British Commonwealth Labour Conference. Mr. J. E. Mac Donald, in his presidential address, said that the Labour Party, which was formerly inclined to oppose migration,1 now recognised that a great fluidity of population was necessary. Their aim, however, should be to develop family rather than, individual migration. Mr. Ben Turner also emphasised the cardinal importance of the migration question to Labour. Emigration, lie added, was not a cure for unemployment (though he admitted that unemployment had been intensified by the decrease in emigration), and it sould bo dealt with only as part of tho general economic system. From this startingpoint it is not too much to expect that Labour may advance gradually to a more progressive attitude towards migration. In the past the attitude of Labour has been influenced by lingering suspicions that emigration involved dumping surplus labour into the Dominions, and immigration was actuated by a desiro for flooded labour markets. There is no ground for these suspicions as touching the motives of those charged with responsibility for the overseas settlement policy and administration. It is fully recognised that migration is of value only to the extent that it leads to permanent and satisfactory redistribution of population. It is not always possiblo to make the administration fit this ideal. Sometimes there is over-settlement, and sometimes the opportunities for settlement are overlooked. But if Labour will give solid support to tiie migration movement these difficulties can be more readily removed. * * • * A reasonable view of "the drift to the towns" was taken by Mr. Waite in his Address-in-Eeply speech. Ho recognised that growing urban, j jpulation was an indication of development. This is true. A hundred years ago almost everybody in New Zealand was engaged more,or less in'primary industry. Fifty years ago the proportion "on the land" was still high. The subsequent change does not betoken retrogression. It means that we have attained a higher standard of living and as|s more independent of other countries. At the

same time this movement must bo watched. We must "bo on our guard against attempts to do for ourselves (by high protection) what we cannot yet do economically; also against raising our standard of living above our means. "Back to the land" is a useful catchcry inasmuch as it acts as a corrective to expensive tastes and tendencies. But oven "back to tho land" may bo a dangerous motto if it is not sensibly interpreted. The sensible interpretation should lead to an effort to remove anything which operates to disturb the economic balance of rural and urban population. # # » Education was indicated by Mi-. Waito as in need of some study to remove what caused a bias against the land. Educationists have realised this, and wo may expect future policy to correct what has been wrong in this respect. Yet when this correction is mado it will not be enough. We may train young people so that they are inclined to bo farmers, and then turn them against their inclination. At present there are two causes having this effect. One is the constant parading of the hardships and difficulties of the farmer. Can we wonder that young men, urged to go on the land, hesitate to do so when they hear the complaints of those now in the industry? The other cause is the financial difficulty, in part the aftermath of inflation and in part due to farmers' own depreciation of their security. In time this latter.cause will bo removed. Its removal can be hastened and the settlement opportunities can be increased (as the Government has realised) by tho application of science to the industry. Greater use of fertilisers, improved stock, and adoption of most modern methods will enable the land to carry a greater and more prosperous population. We would strongly urge that ; those who bewail tho "drift to tho towns" should support to the fullest extent these excellent measures for changing the. direction of the movement.