THE SPIRIT OF NEW ZEALAND

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23287, 24 August 1945, Page 2

THE SPIRIT OF NEW ZEALAND

National Party’s Outlook I Class Antagonisms Deplored | Special > WELLINGTON. Aug.'23. “Whether v,c can view with a sense ot satisfaction the internal | .state of New Zealand, and what cur servicemen will return to, must make the most unbiased critic pause, said Mr IV. J. Sim. K.C.. president of the New Zealand National Party, m his presidential address at the Dominion Conference of the National Party, which opened to-day. the conference is the first held by the parly since 1043, anti Mr Sim, after referring to the happier circumstances under which it was held, paid a tribute to the great part New Zealanders had played in the victory. i “Throughout the Fighting Services," he said, -the spirit of New Zealand, I as we like to think of it, lias tnaniI tested itself without flagging through six anxious years, and our Fighting Services have brought a distinction to I New Zealand, which must give to all a I sense of pride in their feats of arms.” Turning to the internal position, he said the general picture was one of frustration; delay in promoting domestic order where the be: inning oi post-war progress was possible, procrastination, indecision, arm general confusion. There appeared to be an entire absence of that prompt action and decisiveness which Nev/ Zealanders demanded in the conduct oi their affairs. The causes were not lar to seek. Making all allowance:, for the dislocations of war. the pre./.nt internal state of New •.•„ tj,< ; inevitable result of po;.'.:: ; which the governing uu'.hoii’n o! recent yean had cl en ,pu "I intend to appeal in ■ he said ’-that the free New Z-.g, spirit, which springs from the New Zealand itself, and was manifested so abundantly in the Fi<..,t.i:, Forces, both in this war and tile L . shall find its way into the governme:.: of the country--and be not merely impatient but intolerant of delay:. and procrastination. I give emphasis to the term New Zealand, and remind you for what it is worth, that we are the New Zealand National Party—a party composed of New Zealanders, and national in outlook in the sense tha. we intend, if elected to the place of Government, to govern witli no sectional outlook, but to promote as fairly as human beings may ende ivi-tu to do, the welfare of the people as a whole, with no emphasis upon any particular section of it. If the present personnel of otir Party in Parliament is examined it will be found to consist of representatives drawn from all sections of the community—farmers. civil service, journalism, lawyers, accountants, schoolmasters, contractors, having by nature the outlook of New Zealanders and who have for the most part succeeded in New Zealand by their own efforts and strength ol character.” Not of New Zealand “The other side of the picture is that for some ten years past we nave been, with frequent repetitions of the word “Democracy,” under the Government of a dominant group who have come to New Zealand from abroad. These remarks, I should add, are made in no personal sense, and we, with ail other New Zealanders, will always be

found offering a welcome to arrivals from abroad, especially when they come from other parts of the Empire Th* governing group are. however, not of New Zealand, and this in my vuw incapacitates them from understanding- and interpreting aright the r.iit-; ional spirit of New Zealand, and the mind of the individual New Zealander with his passion for independence and individual freedom. The group, in addition, have suffered from another disqualification in that they brought to New Zealand with them a set of political theories amounting to an obsession, which are not only unsuited to the needs of this country, but it may be doubted whether these theories, in their fundamental essence, can be credited to be of British origin. I refer to the obsession for State Socialism and the state ownership or control of ail the means of production, distribution, and exchange which it is sought to impose upon New Zealand.” “In our immediate post-war years we are truly faced with a time oi testing' from which there is no escape, and the issue is unmasked for all to understand. We have travelled a long way from the election night of ten years ago. when the first Labour Prime Minister, also not a New Zealander. announced in the hour of victory, “We don't intend to hurt anybody.” to the present moment when spokesmen of the extreme Left advocate in unmeasured terms the taking of the Bank of New Zealand as a means of promoting total State ownership or control of all property, and the control of all individual effort. The National Party holds the view, and will maintain it to the end, that State Socialism means the extinction of the free New Zealand spirit, which has been progressively repressed, until now it has almost lost the heart to stand up and fight for its existence.” A Call to New Zealanders The New Zealand National Party, he said, was the answer, and was a call to all New Zealanders, young and old and of every occupation and class, to unite in the next election and throw off the oppression and repression oi State Interference and control which were all but paralysing the country. In the post-war years prompt decision and action was imperative; and with the experience of the last ten years before them, they knew that there was no just place for further experimenting with Slate Socialism and its increasing confusions. The fanning of class distinction was also to he deplored, and they maintained strongly that it was possible to reduce practical Christianity into some form of organised political thought and action, without breeding and agitating a narrow reel ionalism. Along that road lay no social peace, and no united endeavour of the whole country;' nor would it lie in sowing further seeds of bitterness in trifling with the electoral system a ; was now suggested in connection with the abolition of the country quota. However much any states of the old world sought solace or hope in State Socialism it was not the i.osp-1 for a young and vigorous state such as | New Zealand, which had new a rlaw:: , ing sense of independent nationhood , and which had yet wholly to discover itself. “Tn our repudiation of State Sstialism am' the fettering of individual initiative," he said "we may look with some affinity to our American cousins, whose abundant unfettered energy proclaims that their country has not. yet outlived its pioneering stage."