NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 962, 1 November 1910, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

The dictum of M. Emile Fagtjet, which was quoted in one of our articles yesterday, that "Parliamentary government, </a the base of universal suffrage, is civil war," is from his. recent book, Le Gulte de I'lncompetence, a very sharp astault upon the democratic idea. We learn from his book chiefly the great differences between democracy in France and democracy in Britain, and the points of re&cmbiance between France and New Zealand. Briefly, his object is to find some way out of the situation of incora-. pefont persons choosing incompetent governors. "The greatest interest of democracy," ho says, "is to elect tho delegates which represent .it, representatives who resemble it as closely as possible, who have no personality, and who, having no fortune whatever, have no independence whatever." This is strikingly unlike the case in Britain, but is there not a measure of truth in it as applied to New Zealand 1 Amongst the many things the present New Zealand Government is remarkable for, not the least is the perfect incompetence of several members of it. And yet we believe that a great many people will disagree with us; many who never give a second thought to the utterances of the members for Kaiapoi and Motueka, to mention only two of them, sat up straight and looked with admiration and respect when these gentlemen became the Hons. Buddo and R. M'l.bnzie. It is apparently the same in 'France. M. Faguet remembers tho story 'of a bishop who, on a ia-t-day, addressed a haunch of vcuison, saying, "I baptise thee carp." So, he says, the voter says to the incompetent delegate, "I baptise you jurisconsults, I baptise you statesmen, I baptise you sociologists." English people do not quite believe M. Faguet here. The Spectator, for example, says that the danger there is that the representatives of the people are likely to domineer over the people. "They tell themselves: 'If the people do not desire what wo say they, desire, then they ought to desire it.' " ?Sie Jos ph Ward and his friends copy the French model, and his supporters in the House are, with a few evceptions, very faithful reflections of—and also, on occasion's, reflections upon—their local districts.

"Between 12.20 p.m. and 12.25 p.m. the Estimates lor the Government Insurance Department (£tis,210), Government' Accident Insurance Account (£7110), .State Fire Insurance (£13,550), and State Guaranteed Advances (£412,749) wero rushed through." The above brief record of the closing minutes of the all-night sitting of the House of Bepresentatives a few days ago has produced a protest from a 'correspondent which wo • venture to think no ono will be prepared to say. is ill-founded. "Why," ho asks, "does the country tolerate this scandalous method of conducting its business 1 Why does the Opposition permit it 1" . The Opposition, it may bo pointed out, had sat all night in an endeavour to prevent it, and it was only the exhausted state ;of members, physically and mentally, that enabled the Government to force the Estimates through in the way stated. Tho country, we believe, is for the first time for many years fully alive to the evils of the system of legislation by exhaustion, and will at the next election demonstrate this fact very effectively. It is worthy of note, since the question I has been raised, that Parliament, in recent years at any rate, does not appear to have properly realised its responsibilities in relation to some of these State trading Departments. To take, for instance, the first of those referred to in the extract quoted above—the Government Life Insurance Department. What effort is ever made by members in the interests of policyholders to scrutinise the business of that institution 1 'None whatever._ In the private insurance companies policyholders can voice their grievances, if they have 'any, at the annual meetings of, the companies, but with tho Government Insurance Department the position is entirely different. There is no one they can look to to safeguard their interests except members of Parliament, and they do nothing. We do not pretend to say that there is any special cause of complaint at the present moment —in tho past .complaints have been made . because of tho investment of the Department's funds with tho Government —but can anyone believe that in connection with the of the Departments mentioned 'above there was not room for a single inquiry on the part of members'! The whole of the, votes for these Departments, totalling something like half a million of money, were rushed through a worn-out House in five minutes. And there will be a great deal more of this sort of thing beforo the session closes.

A VEiiY important question was raised by Me. Nohthcroft, S.M., in his references to_ the position of stipendiary magistrates, reported elsewhere in this issue. It has been considered necessary in the interests of justice that our Judges should bo placed in a position of independence of all external influences. They receive a fixed 'salary which cannot be interfered with by the Government of the day without reference to Parliament; they aro supposed to have nothing to look forward to in the way of favours from politicians ov anyono else. Their tenure of office is dependent only ; on good behaviour, and at a certain ago they aro substantially provided for by way of pension. As a result wo have a Supreme Court Bench which on the whole is generally regarded as the one institution in the country which can claim to bo quite free from any fear of any political Administration which may hold office, But the stipendiary. .magistrates!

who in their given sphere dispense justice to an even larger section of the public than the Judges, possess no such independence of the Ministry of the day. Their salaries vary; they can be moved about the country at the- will of Ministers; they are dependent on the Government for many things which may make their positions comfortable or otherwise. We do not, of course, know what Mr. Northcroft had in mind when making his reference to the position of himself and his brother magistrates; but no one, we venture to think, can fail to see the serious side to the existing condition of things. The Attorney-General has shown a commendable activity in connection with certain of the Departments under his control, notably the Prisons Department, and we would direct his attention to the opportunity now awaiting him in respect to the position of stipendiary magistrates. Not only should they be placed in a position which will render them free from any. possible suggestion of political influence, but their financial status might also with justice be improved.