POLITICS AS A PROFESSION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVII, 15 July 1912, Page 5

POLITICS AS A PROFESSION.

SOME INTERESTING COMMENTS. A brief .cable message from Adelaide recently conveyed the opinion of t"he, Go-vernor-General (Lord /Denman) "that horse-racing wa-s an "engrossing sport" and politics was "one of the finest professions." He indicated that he had found one a pleasant change from the other, and left politicians to imagine that when they were weary of statecraft they could find adequate recreation on the Turf, especially if they rode horses in steeplechases. Readers here, comments the "Post," may- regret that the report of* His Lordship's utterance wa6 all too meagre. "He thought politics was one of the finest professions, but it was never so difficult as it was to-day," the cable said, and there it stopped. "Difficult" is a word of many meanings, particularly in politics. Probably Lord Denman had in mind the industrial and social problems which are vexing statesmen and politicians in Great Britain and the Dominions ■ overseas as well as in other countries of the Old World and the New. The functions of the State become more varied and complicated from year to year, and in this question of the proper decree of "State intervention" lies the "difficulty" of latter-day politics. In a review of Lord Hugh Cecil's new book on "Conservatism," a critic in the "Contemporary" remarks: "Lord Hugh Cecil's sympathies to some extent lie in theory with the Whigs, .or Liberals, of the mid-nineteenth century —the nartv that insisted on the all-paw-erful character of economic laws, on the ultimate uselessness of State intervention, and (bv a curious inconsistency when we realise that the doctrine of lais-sez-faire enslaved the jrreater part of I he population) on the liberty of the individual. . Modern Consorvativism do. sires to preserve in order not to change, and modern Liberalism desire to change in order to progress." The political world movement to-day is Liberal, in response to a desire of change for the better, and an army of practitioners aifects ability to lead the people towards i peace and plenty. . The Parliaments of Australasia venture further into the domain of "liberty of the subject" than the "Mother of Parliaments" has been allowed to go, and thev have less regard for the operation of so-called "natural laws." Therefore if disastrous blundering is to be avoided, these young countries must be served by well-trained public men students of history, keen observers of contemporary events and developments, intelligent readers. It is a matter of chance whether such men can be secuivd t ,hape . scheme'agfinst the machinations ol: the crlib-toh«ued "carpet-bagger, whose profession is rather tickle the ears the crowd than to enlighten the public. H« prefers to lighten the public P ur =?' and gives no substantial return foi his emolument. Before a man can prac t!se on the body physical he has to tin nish proof of competency, but no be!ll jn In roof is required from the man who u'ishes to practise on the body p lit £ a proLison witlx an open door ! and manv charlatans have entered The nuack," with an oily tongue.and ada- , mnntine front, may find lt . eas^ l ' ° £,® c I into the profession of politics th< 11 man <>f solid character and i wide and deep. The electoral awand | the methods which hr.vc -me into vo.L,ue

fetor ejection campaigns help rather the undesirable than the desirable type of candidate. Therefore the term "professional politician," which should be an honourable one, carries a tang. It should mean "a man who honestly make a profession of serving the, -public , fUsjl who.lo mind atul his *Vhole heart," but in OOftifttiMi, iisage it .mteans "an artful exploiter of the public." The country does need able men of integrity who will make politics an . honourable profession', for this public occupation is oile to take the whole time of an e-arnesi, matt who wishes .to keep IpWiself well informed; but it dbes yearn to see an pud of the "parochial profession" of politics: