The Christchurch Star PUBLISHED BY New Zealand Newspapers Ltd. TUESDAY, JULY 24, 1934, THE FASCIST LEGION.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20365, 24 July 1934, Page 6

The Christchurch Star PUBLISHED BY New Zealand Newspapers Ltd. TUESDAY, JULY 24, 1934, THE FASCIST LEGION.

' ■ ’HE PLAN of tlic New Zealand "*■ Legion for a “ Unity Government” is based on false premises and economic and political inconsistencies. The “ democratic method of non-party government ” that is its main objective is an unattainable and unnatural thing, for it presupposes unanimity of opinion among the democracy or their representatives, and even the visionary leader of the Legion does not expect that, for lie relies, in his own words, on a “ majority in Parliament ” to establish his non-party government, forgetting that as soon as any minority is detached from the mass it must become a party in opposition to a party. The party system, in fact, represents the inevitable working of a natural law, and a natural law has been defined as,“ that instinctive sense of justice and of right and wrong which is native in mankind, as distinguished from specifically revealed divine law, and formulated human law.” It is a* this stage that the cloven hoof of Fascism reveals itself in the philosophy of Dr Begg, who is still harping on his determination “to give practical effect to what we know is right.” Wherever this preposterous assumption of right knowledge or omniscience proclaims itself-—and it is a most objectionable thing in a legion that has not put forward one constructive idea of national policy—the world gets not democracy but dictatorships.

THE FASCIST DRIFT. k I 'HIS DRIFT towards Fascist thought is disturbingly obtrusive throughout the Legion's plan; in the convenient but utterly groundless statement and implication that the representatives of the opposition in Parliament have “ no effective voice ” in the framing of legislation and are merely “outs” waiting to oust “ins”; and in the further implication that policies are not really a matter for the elector’s choice if the “ rights ” in office disagree with the “ wrongs.” Without parties, or with the formation of parties banned, it would be a natural step to forbid the propagation of party ideals, from which alone the public are in a position to frame national policies. The Legion declares that it has a definite role in “ maintaining high standards of economic anti political thought, instilling a sense of public duty and service, the duty of man to man, and the practical application of Christian principles in political and economic matters,” but as it claims a sort of divine right in tlie setting of the standards, the whole thing can be written off as self-righteous balderdash. DRIVERS’ LICENSES. ■ 'HE Chief Justice’s suggestion that extended powers should exist for the cancellation of drivers’ licenses is based on sound considerations, the chief of which is the sott-heartedness of juries. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to secure a conviction for manslaughter, and the jury’s acquittal precludes any disciplinary action, however negligent the accused person may have been. In civil cases, too, evidence of the grossest negligence frequently comes out, but even a bench of judges would be powerless under the present law to punish it. BAP SERVICE. OFFICIAL JEALOUSY could account for the prohibition of the relay of the Test cricket report by a B station, and even then the motive would be incomprehensible, for the Broadcasting Board has an auxiliary station in Christchurch that has no reason for existing if it is not to take up such work in the interests of listeners. Either the board must have the prohibition lifted or do the job itself, if it has any idea of honest service.