MACHINED POLITICS Truth

NZ Truth, Issue 985, 11 October 1924, Page 4

MACHINED POLITICS

Truth

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There are few political-social facts m the world to-day comparable m importance with 'the machinery of democracy. When Abraham Lincoln spoke of government "of the people, by the people, for the people," he may have meant just that. If so, he did not foresee — or he may not have permitted himself to see — that the democratic /.machine would become more powerful than the people who are supposed to work it. Not only are electiqns machined, but Parliament itself is also machined. The machinery of elections — m fact, of all political things outside the four walls of the legislative halls — has been carried to the highest point of perfection by the Labor Party. 1 In Australia the Labor Party has made the fullest overt use of the system of electing which is supposed ;o be the means of carrying- on government "of the electors, by the electors, for the electors." On the surface, nothing could be fairer than that the members of the Labor 'organisations should elect the candidates ,who are to represent those organisations m the larger election for Parliament. Nothing could be fairer— until the sliding ballot boxes and other evidences of machine-manipulation came to light! Investigations under the' surface disclose that the use of the ballot and other devices commonly associated with "majority government by election" only disguises a process of machining by which the will of a coterie prevails. , # / Voting either registers the will of the majority or it does not. Incalculable harm would be clone to democracy if the idea became general among the people that the ballots and elections and all the trappings of the Parliamentary representative system are really a mere mask for government by machine-manipulation. And yet it is a fact that the way m which the party machine selects its candidates for Parliamentary election — and a candidate has small chance unless he has a party machine behind him— cripples "government of the people, by the people, for the people" by limiting the field of choice.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1924,

WELLINGTON. LUKE'S LANS

Democracy is side-tracked not only by the method of selecting candidates, by the party discipline exercised over members of Parliament, by the "gerrymandering" oC electorates, misleading propaganda, etc. Democracy is also side-tracked by the manipulation of the Parliamentary machine. For Parliament itself has become a machine, de-liberalised, de-humanised. The Labor Party has a special pro-' ficiency in — though by no means a monopoly of — : party machine tactics. But the Labor Party m New Zealand has not 3'et been m the position of a Government capable of abusing the Parliamentary machine. However, the Massey Government is showing it the way. The Prime Minister has just fixed a date for ending the session. That means a hint to members that they will be kept to their seats (a la Montecino) until they have completed the allotted tasks within the allotted time. And the time-values m the last forced month of the session bear no relation whatever to the loose time-values of the first two months. If this is not reducing Parliament itself to the mere level of a machine — and a grossly abused machine— what else is it? The initial time-waste is followed up by "legislation-by-ex-haustion." The idea of deliberation, by deliberately elected representatives of the people, is thus slain even m Parliament itself. Nothing could be better calculated to bring democracy into discredit; and the plea that "all governments do it" merely intensifies the offence. A pretence of majority rule, beginning with manipulated candidature, and ending with the forced passage of ill-con-sidered op unconsidered Bills, gives the He direct to > the principle of Abraham Lincoln. s: ■ : : : : The annual degradation of Parliament, notice, of which is given by the Prime Minister's hint of the end-of-session date, promotes- among, people — and particularly among thinking people — a degree of contempt far outweighing any set-off m the way cf problematical .gain from laws that are turned out as from a sausage machine. Nevertheless, the game of machine politics will go on, and public contempt will accumulate, tip to a breakingpoint. What will 1 happen then does not concern the party politician. Why should it? Sufficient unto the day is I the evil, '» .