ON A DIFFERENT BASIS

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 51, 1 March 1934, Page 10

ON A DIFFERENT BASIS

, The essential point to be noted in the programme of the New Zealand Legion is reform of the system o£ government,^both national'and local. In' itself thisJs highly desirable. The present system i$ wasteful and inefficient. For the attainment of even moderate success it depends upon the discovery of a leader who -will—' paradoxical as it may seem—disregard its basic principles" and graft a modified dictatorship on to democracy. This was what the strong leadership of Seddon and Massey achieved. But this rough and ready method of correcting the weaknesses of democracy had its own faults. It centred lesponsibility and much authority in the leader, and denied to the country the fpll service of all the talent to be found in other quarters. The Legion submits a plan under which it is hoped that adminis^ Irative economy and efficiency -will be assured, and talentjor public" service be used,wherever it is found. In other words, it is proposed that an effort should be' made to make democracy fully workable in itself, instead of continuing a'nominal'democracy and praying' that'a dictators will arise to sa^e us • from >-'the "" consequences. Whether the efrort >will succeed de ; pends upon how'far the Legion can persuade members of present parties to forget traditional party ties, or failing persuasion" of the members, how far it can induce the public to/return new members who will not be tied to party. Govemment refoim is the king pin. Without it much of the programme cannot possibly ,be brought into •operation. Indeed, it would be inadvisable to attempt this. For illustration, national control of cuirency and would be suicfdal if it made banking the football of a party system, to bejiither and thither with a new, goal whenever teams changed sides. But if the Government became national, with leasonable prospect of stability continuity of policy'and if, also, it were directed on economic matters by an economic council above sectional influences, some at least of the-'objec-tions to' national control would be removed. There are many other points in which the programme as outlined is similarly affected. There is a call for national planning, but, as the Legion executive points out, "under present conditions 'economic planning' simply becomes Government interference in business (oi a spasmodic 'commission'), and is naturally objected to." Can the Legion Jniild up the organisation which will be non-paity, non-class, and " wholly trustworthy? It has proved so far that it is not a mere flash in the pan, and it gives evidence now that it has a constructive- purpose. . We cannot hope that it will immediately achieve what it has undertaken (in fact it would be unwise to meddle with finance and currency until it has proved itself strong), but we trust 'that it will convince the present parties that they cannot hold fast' fo.r evei and persuade ihe public to accept their outworn , divisions. Policies have changed so 'much in the la^l few years that the parties have no excuse for refusing to submit to change too.