THE REFERENDUM.

Oxford Observer, Volume VI, Issue VI, 22 June 1895, Page 3

THE REFERENDUM.

Switzerland may be said to possess the most perfect democratic legislation of any country ; for there the government is by the people, directly, by means of the Referendum. It is held by many people that all great questions should be submitted to the people, before becoming law. To "go to the country "in the usual way, by a dissolution is an unsatisfactory way of arriving at the will of the people on any particular question ; for there are so many side issues in a general election, that the main issue is lost sight of. The Referendum would be the means of discovering the will of the people, but obviously it should only be employed sparingly and then on such great questions as change in the incidence of taxation. Federation, colonial prohibition &c. M. Nunia Droz is an enthusiastic admirer of the. Referendum, but he recognises frankly that its success in Switzerland doas not justify the inference that it will succeed everywhere, or equally well. He says " adapted to a people fundamentally democratic like the Swiss, the Referendum is unquestionably one of the best forms of government ever attempted. The net result has been a great transquillising of public life. The debates which precede and accompany a referendary movement are a normal manifestation of the popular life. And when the ballot has pro-' nounced everybody accepts the result. The referendum and the initiative in Switzerland form part of a system of government of which all the pieces hang together. It appears to me very doubtful whether. it.would be possible to introduce these two institutions elsewhere, without introducing a mechanism of government similar to that of jjjjbich they have become part and -parcel liere." '■' '\ A [ ' "AA „Y ; . In this country,, the .popular will, i.i usually Accepted as reasonable and

fair, and though it may be against particular private interests, there is an absence of that soreness and antagonism which obtains when that will has been declared indirectly. Abo ihe public is strong and cannot be so easily \ inconvenienced or injured by private spleen as the individuals can who are the medium through which that will is exercised. The vote taken more than a year ago on the questions License, Reduction or No License was a form of local referendum. The issue was clear, and the vote was easily taken. Many arguments might be advanced against the adoption of the Referendum in this \jountry, but the arguments in its favour preponderate. In the Session of Parliament that is just commencing, the question of a loan for the construction .of certain railways will be mooted. How simply the matter might be settled if we had the machinery for submitting the question to the people thus: "For the purposes of the construction of the North. Island Central, Otago Central and Midland Railways shall the government of New Zealand borrow so much ? Yes or No 1 Bernardo.