FOR THE COMMON GOOD

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 155, 29 December 1944, Page 4

FOR THE COMMON GOOD

The plea made by the president of the Associated Chambers of Commerce (Mr. Stewart) for a greater effort towards the preservation of individual rights should have wide attention. "In the war zone," he said, "we are fighting for the independence of nations. So, in the economic zone, we must fight to enable the individual and the legal entity to preserve their rights." In order to, play our part in preserving the independence of nations, we have had to accept, as part of the price of victory, many forms of control which have greatly limited our rights as individuals. Once victory has been won, will we be content to allow the State to continue its control, or will we strive, as Mr. Stewart suggests we j should, to regain the liberty we once enjoyed to live our lives in our own way? The answer to that question depends very largely on ourselves.! Under a democracy, no Government can indefinitely impose its will on the people against the wish 'of the majority, ..Whether individual rights will, be restored depends, then, on the individual. If State regimentation is to be resisted, there must be a subordination of selfish interests to the common good. It may be that some 'forms of Government control suit certain sections. They may offer protection against competition, whether it is in business or the labour market, and there may be some who will be unwilling to see them relaxed. It is in this attitude that the greatest danger lies. State penetration into, the daily lives of the people, if it makes the State all-powerful and the individual of little account, is either a bad thing or a good thing. It. is for the people to decide. But they must decide the issue on a broad, not a selfish, basis. To do otherwise would be to place a powerful weapon in the hands of a Government inclined towards regimentation.