The Daily News TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1928. SOVEREIGNTY OF PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 January 1928, Page 8

The Daily News TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1928. SOVEREIGNTY OF PARLIAMENT.

It will be generally admitted by people of all shades of political opinion that the whole structure of democratic government has for its foundation the sovereignty of Parliament. No other view is possible in face of the fact that the definition of democracy is “the rule of a people by the people themselves”; in other words, the sovereignty of the State is vested in the people. According to a recent cable, the London Tinies, in reviewing the Parliamentary sessions since the complete defeat of the general strike at Home, emphasises that “a staggering blow was dealt to the sovereignty of Parliament,” adding, that all the members are adjusting themselves to the fact that England expects them to be national representatives, not delegates of an interest. It is certainly high time that not only the people of the Motherland, but also those in every self-governing unit of the Empire should be made to realise the danger of making democracy a farce by destroying the representative character of Parliament and reducing it to the level of a mere convention of delegates solely bent upon forwarding the particular interests in which they are respectively concerned. Such a course, if allowed to grow, would bring about chaos and faction struggles tending to the dominance of brute force, instead of good government for the people as a whole. If the government of a country were to be carried on in much the same way as that commonly used by trade unions there could be nothing but civil struggles which would kill industry and impoverish the people generally. Again and again it has been stressed that there can only be one government at a time in a country. If an object lesson in this connection is needed it will be found in the state of affairs existing in China, Britain is mainly supported by her industries, so that in describing the general .strike there as a staggering blow to the sovereignty of Parliament, the Times accurately viewed the situation. If the Legislature provides legitimate means for the adjustment of trade differences and’disputes, it stands to reason that the law of the land should prevail; but if the union leaders take the law into their own hands and order the workers to strike, to hold up industry, to paralyse a country’s activities, create poverty and unemployment, as well as drive orders into the luinds of competitors, they obviously dial a severe blow at the country in general as well as at the sovereignly of Parliament. Perhaps, it was necessary for the general strike to be called, if only its effect should ultimately induce botb employers and employed to

realise that Parliament can do little to promote peace and prosperity without the co-operation of all parties concerned. There, is such a close connection between the various industries that they are like the cogs of a machine, anyone of which being out of gear holds up the whole. It has taken many years and the loss of many millions in money, as well as untold suffering and bitterness of soul and body, to convince employers and employed of the wisdom of co-operating for the general good, and relying upon well devised machinery for adjusting differences and establishing a healthier, happier atmosphere, not only in industrial circles, but also in Parliament. The dawn of a new year has certainly been made brighter on account of the changed attitude of the /leaders of labour and the main representatives of British industries. The House of Commons is evidently beneficially affected by the new movement for bringing about peace in industry. It is reassuring to learn that the House as a whole gives the impression of its competence, rather than its brilliance, and that the process of recovering balance has “at least advanced sufficiently for a suspension of all talk of the decline of Parliament.” Possibly, some of the salient points of the new move at Home may be taken to heart by employers and employed in the Dominion, where, as elsewhere, it is of prime importance to remember that Parliament is an assembly of representatives of the country as a whole, and not of delegates of any particular interest.