A LIBERTY PARTY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22489, 5 August 1936, Page 17

A LIBERTY PARTY

Sir, In New Zealand the stage is being set for a struggle like that now taking place abroad, between Fascism | and Communism. True, with our man- ; hood suffrage, and defective as the ! voting system is, there is yet no need I for bloodshed to effect changes, but i whichever wins out the effects upon j the populace will be most unhappy, j Mr. N. Thompson wonders whether j Mr. J. Hislop would get sufficient supj port as a leader of a new party. My i impression is that, if the rest of this ! gentleman's policy i.<f as sound as the j views he has publicly expressed upon | the imperative need of removal of trade j barriers, and sound monetary policy, ihe could certainly command a very j substantial block of support, and the | fact that lie has so far preferred to | walk alone, rather than keep company with any meretriciously attractive political strumpet, will be all in his favour. Simply to organise all the opposition to Labour on a hotch-potch policy compounded of these variegated views, is too negative to arouse much enthusiasm, or to achieve any worth-while aims if successful at the ballot. Mr. Hislop has pronounced in favour of world free trade. This is not mere expediency, but rests upon the scientific, natural justice basis that every man belongs to himself; that therefore his personal powers are his own; consequently, he has a natural right to do as lie wills with the products he makes by the exercise of those powers; that is. he has a natural individual right, precedent to any State right, to buy and sell his products as he desires, so long as the equal freedom of others is in no way transgressed upon. Respecting monetary matters, all monopoly here, as with trade and other things, is wholly bad] but whatever degree of monopoly or privilege banks here or anywhere else possess is first given them by Government, and the same power can restore equal freedom. This would mean free trade in finance, under which the monetary system would be self-regulating. ■ Anyone who liked should by law be allowed to issue notes, but they, and not tjie State, should make their own notes acceptable, rather than the State declaring more or less worthless paper legal tender. The result would be, as history shows, that only houses of ample assets and undoubted integrity would find their paper acceptable. And so one might go on if space permitted. In short, what we want is a Liberty Party and a Government that keeps the ring fairly, preventing all privilege, monopoly and aggression, leaving poople free to work out their own welfare, whereas both Nationalists and Labour, as hitherto trending, are both bent upon planning us into social and economic perdition. A commanding personality, with a good, robust Miltonian love of liberty, could lead the people of this country on to a great and noble destiny. Matauiata. T. E. McMillan.