THE TYRANNY OF THE OFFICIALS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19147, 2 November 1927, Page 11

THE TYRANNY OF THE OFFICIALS.

TO THE EDITOR OT TJTE PRESS. Sir,—A refreshing and dominant note that seemed to resound throughout the whole of the deliberations of the Associated Chambers in their present session in Christchurch has been the' encroachment of State enterprise on the private business, the private entfel-prise, and the private" - liberty of individuals. To. Mr Gardner and to Mr Turner, one of our local represen-. tatives,, are due the hearty thanks of our hard-working community for their •courageous and uncompromising stand against the legalised monopolies instituted by the Coates Government. I, too, am happy that Mr Turner referred to part of my letter appearing in Tne Press recently because it showb not only that letters one troubles to write are read, but what is more important that the policy for which The Piiess stands, namely a fearless exposure of the State octopus, has materially assisted to lead our business men into action, and when the Associated Chambers of Commerce take _ action, why even our vacillating Prime Minister and his Cabinet must sit up and take notice.

In regard to the Ministry of Transport, Mr Wilson of tHe Railway Department, naturally sheltering behind the Prime Minister, said that many transport firms competing with the railways were going into liquidation through making charges which were too low. Why then fear their competition? Mr Turner, op _ the other hand, continues to be suspicious of the new move, and he quoted the bus Regulations which have been stretched and stretched like the tails of oxen in an ox tail soup factory of Heath Robinson's imagination to provide more and still more soup with which to fatten a lazy and indulgent Railway Department now gingered into action by the coming of motor traction. With Mr Turner and Mr Gardner I, too, am» suspicious, and in this _ morning s Press we note the proposed institution of a Petrol Tax, which has been conceived in tho interior of that huge wooden building in Wellington and is nothing more and nothing less than a veiled move on the part of '"Departmental officers'' to legislate motor traction into masterly inactivity. ' If, according to Mr Wilson, many transport firms are going bankrupt to-day, what will be the case, after the new tax is imposed? . Will not the Railway Department have their own sweet will and own sweet ways once more? Will not the Engineer-in-Chief, Under Secretary of State, chairman of_ the Highways Board have another million with which to purchase more slaves, slaves grinding under the tyranny ot the officials, eight slaves to one tyrantthroughout the length and the breadth of this Dominion? The setting up of a board-of enquiry composed of departmental officers to go into the whole question of transport as proposed by the Prime Minister will be a farce from the word go and would form a good setting for a Gilbert and Sullivan opera. Let us guard tho railways and support them by all means, but not by legislation, imposing such a huge tax as is proposed. We all want good roads and we all admit wo will have to pay for them, but why suddenly burst upon us with this typically departmental hurricane designed to blow us off the road onto the railway without breathing a single word to a single motor trading or transport authority or a single Automobile Association? Tyrants and nanic legislation go hand in hand and i>etray an unreadiness to temper judg:>.;ent with mercy. Ichabod. Ichabod. —Yours, etc., GADFLY. November Ist.