THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1936 LEGISLATIVE VERTIGO

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22424, 21 May 1936, Page 10

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1936 LEGISLATIVE VERTIGO

Labour Ministers are continually repeating that they intend to make man the master and not the servant of the machine, Mr. Semple being the latest to ring the changes on this worn bit of verbal coinage. The politicians could make a good start with their own legislative machine, which has been getting out of control. That is apt to happen, of course, when the driver's motto is " onward and upward with the brakes off." The wheels, like the music, go round and around and, with an embargo on brakes, Mr. Savage's " onward and upward " takes the Labour chariot further and further from the common earth of reality. The sky may be the limit, but, after all, who wants to go there and what i' 3 the object of the journey? People are beginning to wonder. Not everyone has a head for altitudes and some doubt whether there is much nourishment to be got out of the ether. Most people would prefer to put their feet to the ground again and keep them there. Then they might hope to be rid of the legislative vertigo that is afflicting everyone just now. The Government is responsible for the confusion in the public mind by the whirlwind pace it has set since Parliament assembled less than two months ago. It has been going too far and too fast. The Minister of Labour himself seems to be not perfectly sure of his way . through the jungle of his own industrial laws, although he is sometimes impatient when others are lost. New Zealand may be marching to the new Jerusalem—taking the van of progress, leading the world, beginning where Seddon left off, and all that sort of thing—but the people would prefer to take the journey by stages, to be satisfied that the new Jerusalem is a place worth going to, and to be assured that they are really on the right road.

Not that verbal assurances are lacking. Mr. Savage administers tonic words almost daily—sometimes twice a day. " The builders are here," he has announced, " and we are going to do the job," thus neatly identifying the " builders" with " we," that is, the Labour Government. And so far, to give Cabinet its due, Ministers have been very busy with plans. There are quantities of these, neatly drafted into bills, such quantities indeed that people have become confused and disquieted trying to follow their intricacies, trying to understand what is required of them, trying to find out if there is any little corner in all this magnificent paper edifice in which they can settle and be comfortable. No one can satisfy them on the point at this early ptage. It is not yet the dawn. Zero hour for the farmer's guaranteed price, for instance, is still months ahead. The building has not advanced beyond the blue prints. There is nothing tangible to go on. If the. new builders are going onward and upward at skyscraper speed, the foundations by this time should be well and truly laid. " First things first," as Mr. Savage sagely said when referring to his intention to end the evil of unemployment. Here* then, is the first test of any Government, and particularly a Labour Government. What progress is being made with this foundation task? Since the Government was lavish with palliative bonuses at Christmas little has been heard of this central human problem. No return of unemployment has been issued for some time, although Mr. Armstrong admitted in debate that there was little change to record.

The real trouble is that the Government is attempting to do too much all at once. Even the little world of New Zealand cannot be remade overnight, or in a few months, or a year or two. Building is a slower business than talking and drawing, and it demands work and materials, fashioning and fitting together. The Government should declare a truce to law-making and turn to its practical task. There is a vast difference between legislation and administration —all the difference between theory and practice. To take an instance, the Government has incorporated many of its ideals and principles into the industrial laws. The question is whether they can be applied in the real competitive world of the factory, shop and office. Those with first-hand knowledge are more than doubtful. Objections to this or that provision multiply daily. Interpretations are needed, applications in detail, and care must be taken to see that one clause does not collide with another, that the whole is fair and harmonious and, above all, practicable. These unspectacular but necessary tasks should have been faithfully performed before the bills were rushed through Parliament. As it is, employers and workers are not sure where they stand or what may be required of them. Their bewilderment is only part of the confusion in the public mind at the legislative flood, an uneasy feeling that is growing and may prevent the renewal of confidence from proceeding freely and naturally. The Government itself is feeling the pressure and is postponing important administrative decisions. It is weighed down under its own overload. For its own sake and the country's good, the Government will be well advised to pause in its onrush, in order to elucidate, administrate and consolidate.