DAY BY DAY.

Waikato Times, Volume 97, Issue 15895, 21 January 1924, Page 4

DAY BY DAY.

“Switzerland nas carried out two exro.rimcnl.s which have

Referendum in Switzerland.

penmcnis which nave provided other nations with valuable objectlessons,” writes Ar-

nold Limn in the Spectator. “The attempt of her Socialists to introduce the Capital Levy has caused even Mr Snowden to view Lhat particular panacea with misgiving, and the admirable results of the Referendum should have converted even the most obdurate opponents of this constitutional safeguard. The Referendum, so far from being subversive or unsettling, acts in Switzerland as a steady conservative check upon ill-digested legislation. It is destructive of the more corrupt developments of the party system, for every important measure must be considered cn its merits, and not merely as a device for keeping a particular Party in power. Its educational effect upon the average voter is obvious, for the electorate is invested with a new dignity when it becomes :n effect a Second Chamber, rather than a mere means for electing legislators. The freedom of Swiss politics from logrolling, and from the control of vested interests is entirely due to the Referendum. Moreover, the Referendum serves a less obvious but no less useful role in quietly annihilating a number of phantom measures whieh arc stillborn simply because their sponsors realise that the measures in question eould never survive an ap ■ peal to the country. Not the least important, benefit of the Referendum is the economy of time and energy whieh is effected by concentrating on Bills whieh command general support, not only in Parliament but in the country at large. Within the last year the Swiss people have proved their political sagacity cm two occasions. They rejected the Socialist Initiative for a Capital Levy, and they rejected with equal lirmr.ess a reactionary measure which had been

passed by Parliament, and which was framed to make a political strike a criminal offence. Nobody Who knows Switzerland could maintain that tho Referendum has not proved in Switzerland, at least, a valiublc constitutional safeguard. Nor is it reasonable to ascribe these good results to the superior education of the Swiss, and to suggest Uiat our own countrymen ore so incurably stupid that they could not possibly be allowed to play with this dangerous toy. I lw\o the greatest admiration for the Swiss, but 1 do not admit that a Lancashire cotton operative or London artisan is much less enlightened than the average mountain peasant. The peasant. Hows where Hie shoe pinches, and so docs In 3 British voter, and the Swiss peasant vctes In the main for the man who is least likely to pinch his shoe. Briefly, elections in Switzerland are decided, as o'.sewhere, by Ihc usual mixed -appeal to prejudice and common sense. But wben the Swiss arc asked to decide by means of a Referendum some great question of critical importance, they always seem to display unusual political sagacity. I am sure that the same result would follow in Kngland, once the Referendum was adopted. There is nothing peculiarly elevating in choosing between two gentlemen, neither of whom will probably have much effect on the country's future. Brt au electorate which is required to pass judgment on a great measure and to act as the final court of appea" will inevitably develop a'new conception of the dignity of tli-3 vote, and an instinct for sornd politics which can hardly be expected where the people are only in nominal control ot their destin'es."

The plan which has gained Mr Ed. Bok's prize as the

United Statos and World's Peace,

most promising scheme evolved by an American

citizen for bringing the United States into co-opera-tion with other nations in an endeavour to secure world peace is not marked by any features of striking originality (remarks the Otago Daily Times). The fortunate author secures 50,000 dollars down, and a like amount U the .great American public stamps the proposals with the haU mark of its approval. The disappointed competitors must find their reward in the thought that they have taxed their brains in an effort to solve the most momentous problem with which civilisation is confronted. The author of the plan which has received the approval of the appointed judges has been careful to allow for the sanctity of the Monroe Doctrine, and to rule out the idea that America can ever assume any obligations under certain much discussed articles of the League of Nations' Covenant. Otherwise, he simply offers his country to the not unreluctant embrace of the League of Nations. -Small wonder that certain self-assertive Senators have been prompt to express disapproval of a- suggestion the adoption of which has been open to their country ever since Mr Woodrovv Wilson returned from Versailles. The Bok prize-winner holds that the League cf Nations represents the best scheme of practical character before the w'orld at the present time in the interests of international peace, and many people in the United States will find satisfaction in seeing this conclusion thus thrown publicly again in the teeth of the obstructionists who wish the League to be regarded as a dead issue in the United States. The Republicans, certainly, would prefer to go to tho country upon strictly domestic issues, and Mr Bok will be in danger of being anathemised' for confronting the country with this vexed question. But Mr Bok, as a great publicist, will probably enjoy the situation.