GOVERNMENT BY COMMISSION.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 1977, 19 November 1921, Page 4

GOVERNMENT BY COMMISSION.

In the course of his speech In the House of Representatives yesterday, the Prime Minister stated that he opposed the setting up of a Commission to control the Customs, on the ground that this control should be in the hands of the representatives of the people alone. With thjs principle nobody can disagree. It is unfortunate for Mr Massey, however, that while he declares for representative government on the one hand, on the other he delegates the powers of Parliament and the responsibilities of Cabinet to specially selected Commissions. There has probably never been a Cabinet in the history of the Dominion that has sheltered itself behind Royal Commissions to a greater extent than the Massey Government. If the cost of these Commissions were known to the people it would come as a surprise and a shock. However, as Mr Massey now states that Parliament should accept Its responsibility in regard to Customs taxation, it may not be too much to ask that it also accept the responsibility* for the legislation upon which taxation in general is based. The community pays a very considerable sum annually for the performance of work that really belongs to the representatives of the people.