THE “DICTATOR”

Evening Star, Issue 23422, 13 November 1939, Page 8

THE “DICTATOR”

M HASH'S "DIVINE RIGHT" TD PLAN REPLY BY NATIONALIST LEADER , [Per United Press Association.] HASTINGS, November 13. “ I can quite understand that Mr Nash cannot accept my statement that when the fanner, or any other section has the right of ownership of his own production taken away from him, lie has lost a most precious thing,” said the Hon. Adam Hamilton, replying to a statement by Mr Nash. 11 The policy of the Government directed by Mr Nash —State Socialism—is to own and control everything. That policy is based, as Mr Nash has shown a hundred limes, on telling the producers that Mr Nash is better able to iplan and regulate affairs than they are themeelves. ‘ You work and produce,’ he says, ‘ but then I take the lot. I have a plan, and 1 can regulate things. You work as hard as you can so that my planning is made easier for me. If you have ideas of doing things in some way you yourself would find agreeable, they cannot bo considered. If you happen to protest 1 will discipline you, because that is only an organised protest for democratic, political ends, and, of course, I am not interested in democratic politics at all. Dictatorial planning is my bulwark and my strength.’ “ A more insincere attitude than that taken up by Mr Nash throughout his dealings with the producers it is difficult to imagine. He has assumed the airs of a dictator over the rights of one and all, the while assuming an attitude of righteous indignation that anyone could question either his motives or his almost divine right to plan everything for everyone. He now brags of his plan of State Socialism, but resents a protest from those from whom he has taken ownership and control. “ I point out to Mr Nash again that there is a limit to the amount of dictation, regulation, and planning justified. Mr Nash has gone past that limit. It is not surprising, either, that to secure a basis for comparison in defence of his planning, Mr Nash has to use the period of the worst slump the world has known. In itself that reveals the tragedy of the present circumstances.”