Greymouth Evening Star. SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 1943. PEOPLE AND PARLIAMENT.

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 June 1943, Page 4

Greymouth Evening Star. SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 1943. PEOPLE AND PARLIAMENT.

T JIE Government’s definite decision that a general election will be held before the end of September, will be widely welcomed. as ending the uncertainty that had existed in some quarters. If the Dominion is wrong in having an appeal to the electors. she sins in good company, all other Overseas Dominions, and the U.S.A., having exercised similar franchise rights during this war. Britain would have done so, too. had she been more distant from the actual battlefronts. As it is, there, is increasing dissatisfaction in Britain with the delay in holding the elections. The nation that is content to sacrifice its right of electing its Parliamentary representatives, without the gravest of reasons, displays its unfitness to have self-govern-ment.

Some Legislative Councillors may deplore an election and predict bitterness in the contest, but there is no cause for the latter. New Zealanders invariably take their elections coolly, and are often criticised. for this seeming apathy. The influence of the war raging elsewhere, will check undue feeling about the elections. The main issue will be whether State control should be extended, or whether a return to a large degree of individual freedom is desirable. What happened in the depression years, or even within the last three years, is of less consequence than what is to happen in the next few years, when victory will bring the duty of practical reconstruction and rehabilitation. Who is to be entrusted with this involved task ! Votes should be cast with that question uppermost in the minds of responsible voters.

There will be adequate opportunities to learn particulars of the respective Party views, and, meanwhile, electors should resolve to attend the booths on polling day. The estimated cost of a general election and its preparation exceeds £lOO,OOO, but the money may be regarded as well spent if the polling is really representative in numbers. Compulsory voting is not a principle to be encouraged, and the system has not been a complete success in - Australia. It is generally agreed inside and outside the two Chambers, that the New Zealand Parliament has Jost prestige of late years. Less public interest is taken in the proceedings, in spite—or because? — of broadcasting. The professional politician is now more widely in evidence, and the result has not been happy. Next year, the Parliament of New Zealand will reach its 90th birthday, the initial session of the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives being opened on May 24, 1554. The first Parliament building was in Auckland, at the corner of Eden and Parliament streets. The House of Representatives consisted of 37 members, of whom Auckland returned 12, Wellington eight, Nelson six, Canterbury five, and Otago and New Plymouth three each. There have been great changes in Parliament during the 90 years. Have all these, been for the better? If not, who is to blame? The electors must shoulder the chief share of any cause for censure. They choose their representatives, and when they are careless about this responsibility, or misled through their own indifference, they should not grumble when they see the results of electing those not really qualified for the important task of governing the Dominion. Labour rule in the present Parliament has been tried and found wanting. The dominion’s welfare demands a change, and there are signs that the September elections will result in such change.