Government by the People.

White Ribbon, Volume 8, Issue 88, 1 September 1902, Page 8

Government by the People.

The Elective Executive, Initiative, and Referendum. The Progressive Liberal Association, Christchurch, recently invited delegates from the Canterbury Women’s lnsittute, Womens Political Association, the Chiistian Socialists’ Union, the Trades and Labour Council, the Socialist Party, the School of Brotherhood, and the Socialist Church to a conference on the Elective Executive and Initiative and Referendum. Several meetings were held, and the following report was finally adopted : The method of selecting members of the Executive Government in our colony, as in all the self governing British communities, is one which was first introduced in England more than 200 years ago. It was then, doubtless, an immense advance on the system which it superseded, where the Ministers were responsible, not to Parliament or the electors, but to the Sovereign only. Since this early period there has been a steady growth of political freedom and political thought throughout the English-speaking world, so that now the old-time comparatively democratic institution has become an isolated remnant of A By-gone Political System. With the extended political franchise we enjoy in New Zealand, it is absurd to be hampered by a piece of political

machinery designed so long ago, and when the great mass of the people had no political rights. Our Ministers now are supposed to be responsible to Parliament for their administrative actions, but, in reality, the constitutional powers which they hold give them the power to dictate to Parliament. Under existing laws the Executive is appointed by the Governor, who, when occasion arises, summons to his aid the leader of the more influential party in the House of Representatives. This man, consenting to fill the office of Prime Minister, selects certain members of Parliament who will work under his command, and are likely to secure the support of a majority in the House of Representatives. The several portfolios are divided among these men, who constitute the Ministry. The people can then bring about a change of Ministry only by returning, at a general election, a majority of members of the House of Representatives opposed to the existing Government. Under this arrangement the Ministry is placed in a superior position in the government of the country to Parliament itself, for Parliament must act in accord with the wishes of the Ministry, except at the peril of a dissolution. The fact of Parliament being thus domin ited by the Ministry, and the Min ; stry, in its turn, being dominated by one man, the Premier, brings our would-be Democratic Government dangerously near to a despotism. To obviate these evils of the present system, a proposal has been made that Parliament, as the general governing body of the people, shall directly elect the Executive Government. By this means the Executive would be brought under the control of Parliament and into closer touch with the Will of the People. This is no extravagant innovation, for the principle is identical with that which guides modern societies in electing their officers. The thanks of the colony ate due to Major Steward for the persistence with which he has brought forward, during recent sessions, a proposal to effect leform in this direction. In his Bill lie proposes that a referendum shall be taken on general election day on the question, “ Shall the Executive Government be elected directly by Parliament ? ’ I bis Confe - ence heartily approves of this proposal, but feels compelled to urge the following as essential features in an Act to

accomplish the complete emancipation of Parliament from the dictation of the Ministry of the day, and to give the country the benefit of the best administrative skill it possesses : 1. That every elector shill be deenK 1 qualified for election as a member of the Executive. 2. That Ministers for the various portfolios he separately elected annually by members of Parliament. 3. That the Ministers elect from among themselves a chairman, who shall be Premier of the colony. 4. That no Premier shall hold office for two consecutive years. 5. That any member of Parliament who may be elected to the Executive shall, tpso facto , cease to be a member of Parliament. 6. Vacancies caused by the election of members to the Ministry shall be filled by the electors of the district which they represented returning other tepresentatives to Parliament. INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM. The principle of true Democracy rt quires that the people shall be able not only to veto but also to initiate and enact legislation. Among progressive people there is a growing conviction that this can be safely and effectively done by the adoption of the “ Initiative ” and “ Referendum.” By the “ Initiative ” we mean the right of any elector to introduce such legislation as seems to him or her desirable. The “Referendum” is the right of the people to have legislation referred to them for their Acceptance or Rejection. These principles have obtained in various Swiss vx Lons for many cen turies, and were adopted by the general Government of Switzerland in 1874. with results which have been most eminently satisfactory. Of all European countries Switzerland stands foremost for cautious and at the same time progressive legislation. In modified forms these measures have also been in operation in a number of the American States, and have been so beneficial that there is an increasing demand that they shall be applied to all legislation, both of a local and of a national character. In this colony, the principle of the Initiative and Referendum has been admitted in the Rating on Unimproved Values Act and in the Act for the Control of the Liquor Traffic. This conference is desirous that the same prin-

nple shall be applied to all legislation. Unless a direct voice in the government of the country is exercised by the people, there can be no true democracy, nr* real self-government; and since selfgovernment is self-control, the more direct the voice of the people in their own government, the more self-reliant, the more stable, and the more trained in habits of self-control that people will become. We feel that one of the greatest of the many benefits the Initiative and Referendum will confer is the educative effect in the training of the people to an intelligent, earnest, and continuous interest in the politics of their country. To be of any practical value in the securing of iesults so devoutly to be desired, this conference is of opinion that a Bill providing for the Initiative and Referendum must embody the following features: 1. Initiative. —If 5 per cent of the electors of the colony shall petition Parliament for legislation on any matter, then the Executive shall prepare and within four calendar months from the date of the presenting of the petition, submit to a referendum of the people a Bill in exact accordance with the Wishes of tne Petitioners. 2. Referendum. —If any Bill be passed by both Houses, and within 100 days after the gazetting of the passing of such Bill 3 per cent of the electors shall signify by petition their desire that such Bill shall be referred to the people (except in the case of Bills agreed to as urgent by both Houses), a vote of the electors of the colony shall be taken 10 decide whether such Bill shall become a law of the land. 3. No Bill passed by both Houses shall come into operation until 100 days after the date of the gazetting of the passing (except as to laws agreed to as urgent by both Houses) 4. No Bill shall be deemed urgent unless it is so agreed by the vo'.e of three-quarters of the members of both Houses. This conference is also strongly of opinion that to obtain the full benefit of the Initiative and Referendum, the principle must be made to apply to matte: s of local as well as to those of general government.