Evening Post. THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 1933. A NATIONAL MOVEMENT

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 81, 6 April 1933, Page 10

Evening Post. THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 1933. A NATIONAL MOVEMENT

The shock inflicted upon the public confidence by the Government's sudden change of front on the exchange issue at the beginning of the year would have been less severe if, instead of allowing the decision to appear as the result of sectional dictation and underground engineering during the Christmas recess, Ministers had taken the people into their confidence, given the threatened interests a chance to be heard, and prepared the public Imind for what they had in view. The free-hand mandate which the Coalition Government received from the electors does not mean that, subject to what it can persuade Parliament, or coerce Parliament by an attenuated majority, into confirming, the Government is free to do exactly as it pleases in defiance of the ordinary rules of democratic procedure, sound business, and common sense. Mandate or no mandate, the Government would soon, shake itself to pieces by a policy of autocratic sectionalism, or by a procedure which gave its policy that appearance. It is, of course, difficult to rectify the gross tactical blunder to which we have Teferred, but there are some indications that Ministers have learnt their Jesson and are mending their ways. It is at any rate obvious that they are once more taking the public into their confidence and thus promoting a kind of education which is just as essential to their success as the manipulation of Parliament.

The Prime Minister in particular may be congratulated' upon . his appearance at the annual meeting of the Wellington Chamber of ' Commerce on Tuesday, and upon the impression that he made by a sound, candid, and helpful speech. He had, of course, to leave the burning question of exchange policy alone, but the absence of a controversial note strengthened his treatment of . all the other problems and his appeal for the national unity which the heat engendered .by that question has imperilled. It was upon the need to meet the still shrinking revenue by further public economies that he based a call to the nation, resembling in its simplicity and.its quiet determination that in which he revealed an unsuspected strength when he first faced his Herculean task two years ago. /

We cannot got out of our trpublcs, said Mr. Forbes, unless' -with the cooperation of every class of the community. We have got to pull together, and do our best to make others see what is fair and equitable. What we have to see, and what you gentlemen have to see, is that whatever arrangement is made is that which will appeal to the common sense and feeling of justice in the minds of every; section, of the community. -

It was by a very happy coincidence that, on the day when the Prime Minister issued this appeal to the nation to play its part in a task which the Government cannot pos-< sibly complete unaided, a number of public-spirited and representative citizens from all parts of New Zealand held: a meeting in Wellington for the. purpose of completing the arrangements which have been for some time under consideration for a similar purpose. From time to time during the last few weeks the public have heard with curiosity, and the politicians, with suspicion, of a movement for the formation of an organisation to be called the New Zealand Legion, arid from a good deal of what has been,said on the subject it is quite'clear that there has been much misapprehension of the character, and the objects of the movement. The effect of the first meeting of the Provisional National Council of the Legion on Tuesday and Wednesday and of the reports which we publish today is to leave no further excuse for misunderstanding. But before dealing specifically with the objects of the organisation-we-may make a preliminary reference to a few circumstances which show that, whatever our preconceptions, our prejudices, or our political affiliations may be, the Legion is at least entitled to a respectful hearing. Its scale is already Doifrinion-wide, for it has branches formed or in the course of formation in each of the 18 divisions into which it has mapped out the country. Delegates from no less than 15 of these 18 divisions attended the first meeting of the Provisional National Council, and the delegations were sometimes as large as three or four. The character and status of the delegates indicate that the movement is making a wide appeal to good citizens, regardless of distinctions between classes, parties, or town and country. And their attendance in such large numbers and from districts as far apart as Auckland and Southland testifies to a personal enthusiasm.

and a skill in organisation which augur well for the success of the movement. It is, of course, to the energy and the eloquence of Dr. Campbell Begg that the New Zealand Legion owes its launch under such happy auspices. A man who in 37 days "personally covered 5276 miles on Legion business—an average of 142 miles a day" and, apparently withhr the same period, addressed 42 meetings, must have some of St. Paul's qualifications as a missionary, but in point of speed the 3582 miles which he was able to cover by air gave Dr. Begg a great advantage over the Apostle, who doubtless had to do most of his land travel on j f ooti But 'after making due allowance fpr the contagious effect of such faith and enthusiasm as Dr. Begg's, the response which it has met in all parts of the country and the'kind of men that it has attracted are very encouraging symptoms. at such a time as this. Politics were never at a lower ebb. If our politicians have ceased to give us a lead, what sort of lead are we giving them? To lament our own troubles , and to blame the Government ' for making them worse is about the nearest approach that most of us make to politics in these days.

Disaster lies that way, and iwe should all be grateful to the New Zealand Legion for showing us a better way. The appeal of the promoters for disinterested service, for active consultation and co-operation of all good citizens with the object of promoting sound legislation and raising the level of politics, not by upsetting the Government and substituting another, not by aggravating the present instability of politics by putting a third or a fourth party into the arena, but by improving both the machinery of government and the personnel of politics, has 'already met with a- most encouraging response. If the.enthusiasm with which the Legion has started can be sustained, and its work directed with anything like comparable wisdom, it will render New Zealand a magnificent service.