Elected Governors.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19176, 6 December 1927, Page 10

Elected Governors.

Mr H. E. Holland's plea for the election of the Governor-General by the people of New Zealand, reported in this morning's issue, is a good example of the curious delusion that no one elected by the people will ever thwart the people. The political functions of the Governor-General are at present limited, if not quite nominal, but Mr Holland sees behind him the evil genius of Downing Street striving, for some mysterious reason, to defeat the will of the electors. Mr Holland's remedy is to have the Governor-General elected, thus making him as powerful, in liis way, as the President of the United States, and able at any time to resist the authority of Parliament. The essential feature of the British political system, which gives greater freedom to the subject than any other in existence, is government by Cabinet and a Prime Minister, and in such a system there is no room for a President. Mr Holland's discovery that between 1877 and 1882 such eminent persons as Sir Robert Stout, Sir George Grey, Mr Seddon, and Mr Ballance voted in favour of proposals for an elected Governor is no argument for such a scheme, but merely an indication of how our political ideas have changed since then. To-day no one in New Zealand Avould seriously entertain the idea of electing tho Governor-General except a few ultra-democrats like Mr Holland, who think that it is always the voice of wisdom which issues from a ballot-box.