THE BEST SYSTEM

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 134, 3 December 1936, Page 11

THE BEST SYSTEM

'DEMOCRACY'S VIRTUES

HON. W. PERRY'S ADDRESS

Pointing out emphatically that the democratic. system was worth preserving, the Hon. .W. ..Perry;' M.L.C., Dominion .president, of the R.S.A., and president, of the New Zealand Defence League, impressed' upon members of the Optimists"Club'in'a luncheon address today, that those who formed part of the system should be.prepared to. make sacrifices jn order that it would be. preserved." ''.: . Mr. Perry said that by a process of evolution they had; developed a democratic . fprm of government, and despite its imperfections, it was: still the best form of government yet devised by the wit of man. It" was f ; ''i>

system and was always .capable of improvement and capable or expansion. It was the people who had the say 'as to whether the system of democracy wouTd improve and expand; the pace of this develepment was determined by the people themselves. This principle of freedom and selfgovernment had been' carried by England and later" by; Britain, to; the four corners'of the'earth. What privileges did'they'enjoy as a result 'of democracy? "We enjoy the. privilege of. trial by jury," brie of the greatest bulwarks of liberty of .the individual ever seen; we'enjoy the principle' of habeas corpus, Universal education,1 liberty of. the Press', and ■ religious worship. The franchise; including that for women, the- secret ballot, an independent and incorruptible judiciary, and a nonpolitical Civil Service with the greatest traditions behind it. Those'things," said Mr. Perry; "are worth preserving. What .are-we doing to preserve it? We nearly lost it between 1914 and 1918."

Mr. Perry said-that if any future war should involve Britain, he" imagined that-ah' attack would be made on Britain, "itself and" its/facilities for obtaining '-■ • food ' supplies. The ■ naval supremacy of- Britain' that existed in 1913 did not exist' today, and the whole 'position ' gave him the very gravest cause for alarm. ■ . TRETIIENDOUS IMPLICATIONS. "The world," continued Mr. Perry, "is in a state of travail. ; There are tremendous implications in the present conflict in Spain, and there is . more than a possibility that Spain may become the battle ground for the war between the two systems of Communism and Fascism. Russians are going to Spain, not because they have anything in common with Spain, but because they believe1 in 'Communism;-; Germans are going to Spain simply because they uphold Fascism. ■- ..

"The system of democracy-.is worth preserving, and 'we'are' not doing ourduty unless we are prepared to make some sacrifice in order to preserve it. The::jnentality -'off other' people's is not the same as that of the British people. We in the British Empire have a strong desire "for,-peace; we desire-.it and require it lor our development. Unless the people who comprise the democratic system are prepared to make those'sacrifices which, history tells us we should be prepared to .make, in order to withstand those shocks .of which history teaches us to beware, I am sure ..that democracy will perish, just as. surely as if it possessed no' virtue whatever, t feel so serious about the.international situation that I make this open confessipn.:.. That' eyery morning and every night of my life I kneel dowji and..pray,, for peace,; and "pray further for .time, so that if there is going to be a ,war .in which the British Kmpire and democracy are to'fe attacked, then let it be a war, and riot a massacre." ';.''..;.' .