STATE AND PEOPLE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 68, 18 September 1944, Page 4

STATE AND PEOPLE

The objection voiced by Mr. H. I. Sinclair at a Plunket Society meeting in Dunedin to the State being regarded as "a munificent body specially created to provide every type of assistance for every type of person on every possible occasion," invites serious thought. In modern society the State has certain functions to fulfil. It has a duty to so conduct the affairs of the nation that the rights and privileges of every section are safeguarded, and in order to do this it must exercise tertairi controls. But there is a decided danger to the well-being of a nation in a ready acceptance of the philosophy which places undue emphasis on the power of the State and too little emphasis on the initiative and enterprise of the individual. Such a philosophy strikes at the very foundation of society. It encourages the people to lean on the State rather than to depend on their own efforts, and leads to a belief that all benefits and all privileges are derived from the State. There could be no more mistaken belief. No Government can grant anything to the people that the people do not themselves provide. As Mr. Sinclair pointed out, it is the people and their social organisations that are important. The true function of the State is not to impose its will on the people but to so organise the affairs of the nation that the will of the people is made effective.