ROYAL COMMISSIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17178, 4 June 1919, Page 6

ROYAL COMMISSIONS.

An explanation seems necessary " for the delay in publishing the ro ports by the Royal Commission! which have investigated, respec tively, the epidemic of influenza anc tho restrictions upon the Aucklan; fisheries. Both of those reports have been in the hands of the Gov- ' eminent for some weeks, but the public is refused information regarding their contents on 'tho ground that they have not yet been considered by Cabinet. The validity of ' I this explanation is not apparent. It i is not the Cabinet, but the Govcri nor-General who issues the commissions for such inquiries, and the suggestion that Cabinet consideration must precede general publication involves a novel and unwelcome departure from established procedure. Tho report of the Royal Commission on Defence Expenditure was similarly withheld for two months, but delay in that instance does not justify the apparent secrecy in regard to the Epidemic Commission. In the latter case, Sir John Denniston presented an interim report dealing with precautions and measures to be taken in preparation against a recrudescence of influenza. Obviously, whatever value the commission's recommendations might have would depend upon prompt examination of its advice, and the immediate adoption of the measures it proposed. Presumably the Department of Public Health has had an opportunity of examining the commission's interim report, but the public generally has been denied the benefit of its counsel. The indefinite detention of. the commission's main report is incomprehensible. The nature of the inquiry indicates that it deals with the administration 'of an important department of Unte, and by refusing to issue the report tho National Government lays itself open to public suspicion. Although the circumstances arc not parallel, the report by the Board of Trade upon the coal industry is in a similar position. This inquiry was undertaken in fulfilment of a definite promise to the public nearly a year ago, and there is 4no • apparent reason why information completed by the Board of Trade last January should still be awaiting Cabinet . consideration. None of these matters, bears any relation to the conduct of the war, and they should not be subjected to even the most innocent form of censorship—procrastination. '