UNION NOW

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 244, 16 October 1939, Page 5

UNION NOW

A PLAN FOR DEMOCRACIES That the 15 democracies united could restore security to a distracted world is a truth that holds out little hope at the moment. But C. K. Streit, an American journalist of world experience and world-reputation, has formulated in his book “Union Now," a plan which encourages the belief that this uniting is practicable. He suggests a union of certain democracies in these live fields: A union citizenship, a union defence force, a union customs-free economy, a union money, and a union postal and communications system. The 15 founder democracies he suggests are: The United States, Unitea Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, South I Africa, Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden Denmark, ano Finland. But the organisation is to be such that once the union is established admission to it is open to any democracy. Union of Individuals Apart from the safeguards lo the citizen which he sets out. it is impracticable for an autocratically governed State to join for he stresses that this is not to be a league ol States, thinking and legislating as States, but a union of individuals, organising for the greatest good ol individual men and women throughout the union. The democracies are still trying—with diminishing success —to save individual freedom and prevent the citizen’s becoming subordin ated to the State: all Streit's plans tend to encourage this democratic idea. He goes into detail on achieving union in each of these five fields; but he begs the nations not lo wait for the perfect plan to be worked out —maintaining that if a principle is acted on, the very attempt teaches gradually the best method. Executive of the Union The chief technical problem is the constitution of the legislature executive, and judiciary of the union, and this’Streit tackles in detail. He suggests a House of Deputies elected on a population basis, and an elected senate of two members from each self-governing nation, or with slightly increased representation to the largci nations. If the constitution allows one deputy into the Lower House for every million of population, out of the 277 members the U.S.A, would send 126 and New Zealand 2. Executive authority is to be vested in a board of five persons, each elected for live years, one each year. Three are to be elected by direct popular vote, one by the House of Deputies, one by the senate. The powers of this board resemble those of the President of the U.S.A But most of their executive authority for short-term duties they are to delegate to the Premier who will work with a Cabinet of his own choosing until he loses the confidence nt the House or Senate. All the relevant points are discussed in detail in Union Now. It is a book of 400 pages published by Cape, costing 13s 6d in New Zealand. Preferable to Present Difficulties Naturally at every turn difficulties rise, and sectional interests will fee' alarmed. But Streit makes a convincing case, to show that the genera, increase in prosperity will remove even the temporary losses caused in some groups and to remind us that if some such breach is not. made in the walls of nationalism the alternative is worse to come. Streit went from a U.S. University to the war. being given in 1918 a post in the American Peace Commission in Paris. In 1920 he went up to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. But going in a vacation to the Turco-Greek war as correspondent, for the Philadelphia Public Ledger, he gave up Oxford to be their correspondent in Rome. From that time his work has been mainly in Europe—in recent years for the New York Times. Now he launches this idea tor the peoples of the democracies to work at—each of its well-wishers making some contribution to help it on—and to bring into