INTELLIGENT THOUGHT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 29 March 1938, Page 9

INTELLIGENT THOUGHT

FINDING A MIDDLE WAY FREEDOM OF INDIVIDUALS "In New Zealand at the present moment we face one of the greatest , crises, if not the greatest, in our political history.” said Professor R. M. Algie, organiser of the Auckland Provincial Freedom Association, in the course of an address at a luncheon of the New Zealand Institute of Business Executives. In reviewing the political thought and philosophies of the day, he emphasised the need of intelligent thinking and knowledge if democracy "Whether the crisis, if it is resolved in one direction will bring disaster, or if it is resolved in the other will bring contentment, is a matter I shall not touch on.” said the speaker. “It is for you lo choose wisely and intelligently and that must be done on the basis of j information. One of the objects of the i body I represent is to make available information for the people. I LURE OF CATCHWORDS I "The difficulty in a democracy is that j too many of us are liable to accept a ; catchword instead of worrying out a ; problem for ourselves. There is a des- ! perate need for a well-informed public ' it democracy is to be maintained.” Professor Algie said he considered that there were two reasons for the fact that democracy was losing its grip, one being that faith had been lost in it as an efficient system of government, and the other that the Dominion was passing through a natural period of apathy alter the time of great tension in the world war. Another thing which caused the present outlook was the question of the j correct relation between industry and j the community. Fascism on the one ! hand, and Socialism and Communism on the other, were methods of dealing with this fundamental problem.. SUBSTITUTION FOR COURT ‘‘ln New Zealand we have for the present chosen the policy of Socialism,” said Professor Algie. “As evidence of this we have the policy of the Labour Party and the laws placed in the Statute Book. In quite a number of statutes passed in the last two years the decision of a Minister has been substituted for the decision of a Court, and in too many statutes the right of appeal has been taken away. “It is argued that the alternative to Socialism is Fascism. That is a dangerous attitude. There is a middle way and it is open to us. Some form of planning industry is inevitable, but it should not be compulsory. We must be guided by the free principles of democracy, where each man claims certain inalienable rights while recognising that others have the same rights. "We must adopt a long view and be big enough to reject a temporary advantage at the ballot box so as to gain an ultimate advantage for the community as a whole,” concluded Professor Algie. “That is the fundamental issue of democracy.”