THE NEW ZEALAND LEGION.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVII, Issue 4397, 25 May 1933, Page 4

THE NEW ZEALAND LEGION.

Some excitement has been caused in political circles at the establishment of a new organisation called the New Zealand Legion. From information available it would seem that the main object of the Legion is to select what they consider to be the most suitable men and send them to Parliament without any party bias,

so that they can speak and vote on any measure without being responsible to a leader. It is well recognised that it will be difficult to break down the party system of government, but it cannot be said that such a system is in the best interests of

any country, and it remains to find a substitute so that members of Parliament can assert their individuality without being termed traitors to their party. Edmund Burke, the Irishman who made a reputation for himself in the House of Commons, is responsible for the statement "that a representative ought not to sacrifice his unbiased opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightenment, or his conscience to any man or any set of men living." Under the party system a member of Parliament is doing all these things, and the country suffers accordingly. It has been said by its opponents that the New Zealand Legion savour of Nazarism and the Ku-Klux-Klan. Unless there is something behind the objective of the

Legion which has not been made publie, there is nothing to warrant such criticism. With a strong Prime Minister this country is practically ruled by a dictatorship, and if the Government leader is not a strong personality, Cabinet acts as a dictatorship. We have many examples of this in the recent legislation by Order-in-Council, when the most important measures of the last few months were framed and put into operation before members of the

House had the opportunity of speaking on them and casting a vote in conformity with their own opinions. The world can look to Germany for the effects of a plethora of political parties. For years that country had five to seven political organisations and the result was chaotic conditions of government that provided the opportunity for the flag-waving and blatant Hitler to step in and take control of the country's affairs. In Great Britain conditions were such that the country was heading for national bankruptcy until the best elements of all parties joined forces to work for the common good of the people. In this Dominion we have the policy of a Government being scrapped when superseded by another—at enormous cost to the people. What would be the position of any business undertaking if its administrators were in a state of uncertainty day by day as to their terms of office, and a Government is nothing less than a business on a

large scale. The activities of the New Zealand Legion are the local manifestations 'of a world-wide discontent with the system of government. The feeling has grown that politicians have become mere opportunists seeking power by yielding to local pressure for political favours. What can the taxpayers feel about the political railways that have been built, or partly built, because of loyalty to party, without any con-

sideration of the good of the country as a whole, besides huge costly buildings erected for the same reason? It has been sad that it it is impossible to govern without the party system, but local bodies are able to do so, also scores of local organisations with hundreds of members. In a non-party Parliament there would be opposition to many measures brought forward by the Executive Council, but such opposition or criticism would be unrestricted and free from party bias. This country does not want such criticism summarily stifled as in the cases of Germany, Italy and Russia. Democracy has been killed in these countries, and such a state of things is not at all desirable in the

British Empire. Our democratic system, however, is imperfect, and out of date. This country requires good men in Parliament—good in every sense of the word. Under the party system there are many good men who refuse to take up politics because they realise that unless they link up with one party or the other they are as a voice crying in the

wildei*ness. A man entering Parliament becomes a nonentity, not through lack of personality, but because he belongs to no party—in other walks of life the word g - ang might be used. It is not the members of Parliament who are to be blamed for their position; it is the system

that is to blame—a system that is out of date like money currency and many other things that the people

cling to like a fetish. If the New Zealand Legion can place the right men in Parliament and allow them that freedom of speech and action which any man is entitled to, it will deserve the thanks of the people of this Dominion. There are good men in the Parliament of this country

who would be glad to have the opportunity of speaking their minds without being controlled by a political party, but have tied themselves to that

party at the election campaign, and they have no option but to show their allegiance, the only alternative being the risk of being called a traitor to

"the cause." j