NEW LIBERALISM.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXX, Issue 10104, 1 August 1893, Page 5

NEW LIBERALISM.

SIR E. STOUT’S SPEECH.

The following is the Hansard report o| the concluding portion of Sir Robert Stout’s speech in the Financial debate w ! A great deal of reference has been made to the platform of the Government, and particularly to what has been termed <e the new Liberalism ” —the Labour Bills,' &c. Well, Sir, how do we stand? What is the meaning of this cry of new Lib-; eralism ? I have nothing to say against' the justness of the term " new Liberalism.” Liberalism was not the same fifty years ago, not the same thirty years ago that it is now. The world has changed. Wb have come into what may be termed a new era, and, as has been well said, " new occasions teach new duties.” The old Liberalism was a fight for individualism—tor the right of the individual to do aa he liked with himself and his own. It was a fight against the power of the Crown and of the Church. The Government was looked upon as the enemy of the State. That is all changed. People are now beginning to see that the State may be made to do useful work, and people are beginning to see that the organisation of the State can be used for the uplifting of the people. That, Sir, is the new Liberalism, The old Liberalism insisted upon maintaining the individual against the State, and upon limiting the right of the State to interfere with individual action except to the smallest possible extent. Sir, there was a great deal to bo admired in the old Liberalism. The old Liberalism did much for the individual; but we cannot ignore the spirit of the age. We cannot ignore the trend of public opinion, and I warn those who think that we ought to be content with individualism, with the doctrine of laissea fairs preached of old by political economy, to just look at the political economists of the day. Read the works of the late Oleffe Leslie, of Professor Ingram, of Professor Marshall or Professor Sedgwick. They have all come to this conclusion: that the laissea fairs doctrine is defective. I believe in what the late Arnold Toynbee said—

“We have not abandoned our old belief! ia liberty, justice, and self-help, but wa say under certain conditions the people cannot help themselves, and they would be helped by the State representing the entire people. Three conditions are necessary—

“1. It must be of primary social importance. “ 2. It must be practicable.

3. It must not diminish self-reliance.’*

But, Sir, I am not aware that any of the proposals made by the Liberals of New Zealand diminish self-reliance. Let ue. take this question of co-operative works. Why, Sir, instead of injuring, it will afford the most strong help to self-reliance —namely, the men can carry on the work themeolves, seeing that they have ceased to be the servants of contractors, and that they have practically become their own masters. Surely that is teaching them self-reliance; and, if the co-operative contracts should have defects from some points of view, I think it would be a cheap.' education if you can teach our men to be' self-reliant, and to rise to something, higher than being mere labourers to another man, because there is certainly an element of serfdom in it when a man is not his own master.

An Hon Member: How can he rise to this state ?

Sir R. Stout.- Ho becomes a master himself. tinder this condition he ia himself & master. He is a contractor, not a mere employee; and I believe he will have more self-reliance in this state than if he merely served a master. Ha becomes a contractor. Sach is the beginning of government. The germs of self-reliance develop into self-control. But it is ad experiment, I submit, that ought to be tried. I ask honourable members to see whither this trends. It has been said that Socialism depends entirely on how we define the term. I assume' that the term means an increase of the State's functions, which is necessary as much for the elevation of the individual himself as anything else in the world. It has been said by the poet, of Nature, “ So careful of the typo she seems, so careless of the single life.” So far as society is concerned, the whole trend ia' for the preservation of the individual life. It is a fight against nature. What is the meaning of education, and the extension; of our efforts for public health but a struggle to try and save the weak, and to' try and preserve the individual life, and; to lift humanity as a whole to a higher life ? Take one illustration: We hear a cry for the abolition of party government. That is Socialism. It means that individual competition should cease, and that we are to have no longer a struggle for existence between parties—that we are to have a socialistic unity instead. These gentlemen can no longer believe in this excessive individualism. Those who advocate the abandonment of party are unconsciously falling in with this socialistic spirit or the age. How ia this to be metP I appeal to the wise men of this House not to attempt to oppose this feeling by senseless resistance. It is out duty as statesmen to try and see how the spirit of the ago is trending, and to direct it into the proper channels. Let them show in dealing with measures before this House that, in spite of party, they can look at them entirely for the good of the country. If they do that we would have point after point of the Financial Statement taken up and dealt with on its merits. We should have the merits dealt with without personal recriminations. I ask honourable members, and I appeal to this House, if they desire to deal with this in the spirit of the age, to rise above party, to see that we do not have any taint of political feeling or personal feeling rankling in our minds in the discussion of the various matters that we have to deal with. Let me show the other two things we sholld keep ia view, and what, perhaps, members on this side of the House have not sufficiently considered. I say that the spirit of the age is such that you must increase your State functions... say that wa have not yet got to the limit ofthe State’s functions. I say that the State' 1 " hac to do a great deal more than it has done in the past. It has got to give more education, to look more after public health, to look more after social reforms, and if this be ao wo must see that we have the best available servants for our purpose, and treat them well. If we are going to extend our State functions wa must have the highest talent wa can get to carry on the functions of the State! We must see that our Ministers are men of the highest qualifications and character. We must sea that they are properly paid, sad not dealt with in a grudging spirit; and we should see that they are not overworked, like Sir Harry Atkinson and Mr Ballance, who were worried to death and died poor. I say that is a disgrace to our democracy, and I exceedingly regret that in a former Parliament Ministers’ salaries were so much reduced. I go further, and I especially appeal to members of this side of the House, that they will have to pay their Civil servants better—to give them a good tenure of office; and,, bo far as the administration of justice, we must have also good subordinate judges to deal with oases especially affecting the poor. We moat attract to our Civil Service our best men } / aud you will have to look upon them not as men to bo abused, or to have accusatioaa «. made continually against them, but men to *j bo respected. You will have to put men in ; the Civil Service, the best all-round that this Colony can produce, and pay them well, and also do your best to create a healthy public opinion in their ravour. If this system of co-oporative works is to extend you will have to secure the best engineers, the best inspectors, because if you have inefficient engineers, not men of high character, and if you have not ineuectors who can be trusted—for upon them the fixing of the prices depends—then your co-operative works will prove a huge failure. Unfortunately, some of us who belong to the Liberal side of the House have not sufficiently considered, or have seeu, what is involved in this extension of State functions. And now, Sir, if we keep our finance strong} if we go on carefully with our public works, and lay down BOM9 .rule asYo our local

tionj if we make our Civil servants ft credit to ns and a credit to this Coloriy, and slowly and gradually increase our State functions, I believe there is a bright future for ua. We must go forward hopefully,'and not like those who go forward imagining that some great calamity is to fall upon them. Sir, we have a noble opportunity. Wo stand in many ways in the front rank or nations, and for this reason: that we are not encumbered by privileges, we are not encumbered by prejudices, and we are ‘therefore free to make experiments. I ask the House to make these experiments. I ask the House to believe that these expeninjßats.may.be,made.. I ask-the House to think that in making these experiments, evjep,' if they fail, still it is our duty to io4ikah them. ‘What are we here for? here merely to create ftMv'Gbldny 'where . there ra wealth. TCt to build up; a Colony where the great body of its men and women shall be, physically strong, intellectually good, and Shall , be,of the highest moral character. What will make the name of this Colony groat ? It will be its breed of man and women. We must use the great power of the State to accomplish these things. The honourable gentleman opposite me may sneer, and there are some honourable members who think that such ia not the, function of the State. I say it is known now to be the function of the State to look after the race. Are we to have the scenes that have occurred in the Old Countries re-enaofced here again ? Ia our rase to become as the races of the Old Countries ate in the slums of! the great cities and the factory towns ? Are •we to see established in this Colony men stunted in growth, vicious, »i|d dying off at an enormous rate ? Are wo to see these things without trying to them ? and you cannot do that by le nng them to individual competition. Xh it has failed at Home, and it is only to bq accomplished by organised action. We have to act not on}y carefully of the type, but we must also be careful of single 1 liyes, and I believe we ca,u do that without interfering with individual freedom. Ido not wilh to see that interfered with in the slightest degree, and I believe that—by - State action you can give mere freedom, and ; bo educate your rape that lit ; shall rise to a position as high as that of any race in the world. Apd i how .isitto be done ? Not by porstaiaV recriminations amongst ourselves; not by hunting lip all sorts of small things . frpm- the past to bring : them; against Ministers or other members; but it is by ■o dealing with every measure that cornea before ns as to try if we cannot make it better— to look at it impartially, and see where wo can do something to help forward the race. If we so conduct ourselves, and-so deal with the measures that are laid before us, I hope and I believe that our social experiments in New Zealand will be heard of nob only in the neighbouring Colonies bub throughout; the world, and people will learn that there ia a vigour in our race and a vigour ia our Cflony, and such that from us others may wsll take a lesson and an example.