Opinions Which Govern.

Waipa Post, Volume 47, Issue 3371, 23 September 1933, Page 8

Opinions Which Govern.

ORDERLY PROGRESS RECOGNISES THE RIGHTS OF THE CITIZEN.

EXPERTS MAY DESIRE HASTE, BUT ACCEPTANCE OF IDEALS MUST BE CERTAIN, EVEN IF SLOW.

Whether the world depression will lift soon or late, it seems likely to leave a deep imprint on existing political institutions and economic systems. On many sides democraqy itself is being challenged. There are persons who, because of temperament or self-interest, have never acknowledged any merit in the system. Massing the imperfections that recent experiences .may have exposed, they point to these, and cynically observe, "We told you so." But any assumption that democracy has failed, or is v ey.en seriously at fault, is still premature. The Liberal concept of democracy includes the right of each individual to libertiy, to equality of op-. portunity, to a share in national responsibility, the right to record an opinion, and to have that opinion incorporated with any aggregate public decision. It implicitly asserts that natural wisdom and governing ability are not .exclusive to any one class, bu|t are impartially distributed throughout the mass of human beings. Men and women nurtured in the traditions of Liberalism will never willingly surrender these rights or lightly discard these doctrines. But in the post-war years both rights and doctrines have been subjected to sev,er,e frontal attack. Thinly-veneered autocracies have been set up in a number of countries. The .institutions which are the husk of democracy may be preserved, though the kernel has been abstracted. The merits or faults of these new systems can in some measure be seen and assessed. But by methods more subtle democracy is in other directions being undermined. Against these it is essential to be on guard.

The regime of industrial laissez faiire as our grandfathers knew it is ended. Even nations still striving to be loyal to the principles of Liberalism are :|'ramling their <poliqies *on new lines. They are entering upon an era of planned economic activity, and for the experiment there is considerable excuse. Civilisation, on its material side, has the appearance of being in a state of chaos. Everywhere the dem'and is for the highest possible economic efficiency, an ideal w-th which there can be no quarrel. But in many of the varied efforts to achieve it there mingle factors hostile to the robust democratic spirit. For purposes of econonrc planning on a national scale the Government is obviously the n?;OSt appropriate administrative instrument. But statesmen are aware that industrial economic problems belong to a specialised Sphere, and for the solving of these marly of them are unfit. The aid of the expert therefore, is invoked. Tin? highly-trained technicians, economists, and scientists are available, and responsible politicians are suntooning such men to stand in behind thorn. The theorists are in many places forming alliances with powerful political forces. Although the purpose of both is beneficent it is imperative sthiat

THE EXPERT AND THE PLAIN MAN.

every 1 such combination proceed with caution. The expert's great temptation is to force the pace along the lines of his theories. The result is that between the expert and the plain man a great gulf becomes fixed. The expert sees, or believes he sees, so clearly the desirable end and the appropriate means that he inclines to be intolerant of the duller perception of ordinary humanity. Equipped with ascertained facts, the scientist is impatient of the type of politician wjhich tries to screen its ignorance behind vague generalities. Parliaments came to seem a form of obstructive nuisance. Small wonder if the technical expert prefers the political dictator: that form of authority is much more suited to his purpose. It eliminates the labyrinth of parliamentary debate; the core of any problem is promptly reached, and things get done. The process, however, creates a disastrous cleavage between the expert, plus the executive, and the plain man. At the present time the growth of that cleavage is a' very real thing; at all times it is a highlydangerous thing. The expert's desire to see done what he is convinced is best may be regarded as personally disinterested and absolutely sincere. But in his haste there are things he is apt to forget. The plain man may display perverse characteristics, but the entire superstructure of society is designed primarily for his service. In British communities at least government is still by consent, and that means the plain man's consent. Any action that ignores that fact sooner or later arouses forces which are essentially spiritual, even though their expression has on occasions been marked by unrestrained violence. The conflict between supposed authoritative efficiency and the people's passion for self-control and self-direction has been responsible for many of the darkest pages in human history. All tyrants have not been evil; many dictators have meant well. But when they have sought to achieve even their benevolent purposes by requiring the surrender of the plain man's liberties there has been resentment, resistance. It is alien to the spirit of the AngloSaxon race to adopt theories that are arbitrarily super-imposed, to apply remedies that are externally enforced. This modern combine of the technical and the political which would fain apply coercion to the plain man is not merely bad strategy; it is a dangerous philosophy. It cuts right across the fundamental principle of morals and of democracy that in the eyes of the Almighty and according to the standards of the Christian faith every rational human being is on an absolute equality with every other human being in a given community. That truth may irritate the expert; to him it may seem to w;ork out to the disadvantage of the plain nian himself. But the pyramid of democratic society becomes inverted when authority is centred in the expert without first having its source in the plain man's consent. That consent will be obtained only when the plain man is convinced, and to the expert that course may seem exasperatingly But it is an infinitely wiser and safer course than to try to drive the plain man further and faster than he is ready and willing to go.