THE COMING GENERAL ELECTION

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 286, 29 August 1919, Page 5

THE COMING GENERAL ELECTION

« (To the Editor.)' ' Sir,— In your review of my book /'Tho Truth of Life" you have described it as "in many-ways a. very remarkable boolc," und since my sole purpose is to proiuoto a movement for national organisation on tho basis of mutual help or "Love thy neighbour as thyself," in plaeo of pur present polioy of "Laissez iaire," which, in practice, means each for himself, I hopa you will allow me space to describe the application* of this book to tlie coming geiienal election. i am neither a leader of men nor an illuminating writer, but it has been my business for many years to study Parliamentary and Government administration, for the practical purpose of canying through transactions in different branches of national enterprise with which this administration had to do. I have also had opportunities for studying the difficulties of our leading statesmen, financiers and other business men, and my experience lias resulted in the following conclusions of fact which will, I, believe, stand any practical test. 1. Life in the umverso consists solely of the association of natural thing.? with one another iii an organised exchange of powers or qualitks. 2. In , national life • the . only thing 3 ever regarded as coming under human control are human beings, and property such as is used for food, clothing, shelter, entertainment, transport,' etc., and the land and other property essential for tho production of .these things; 60 that national life consists solely of tho mutual oxchaugo of these things. When there-, foro wo borrow from England we borrow property, and when our Government borrows locally it can only borrow property, situated here, or held for our peo. plo in London or elsewhere. 3 It is not possible for us to make those things anything else but natural things governed by natural law. Wβ may develop or degrade them; wo cannot* alter their nature 3 or avoid the operation of tho law governing them. i Civilised nations to-day have involved themselves in a dense mental fog by describing thoir human boings and property by terms such as a State, a "corporation," "money, "capital, "credit," "currency," "interest,' and "rent," and erecting a host of academio rules about' these terms. It is plain that these terms must bo merely descriptions of the natural tilings, human beings and property, because these are the only things we can control in life. Wo- have by the use of these terms been led in our difficult task of national organisation away from the truth, that in this organisation we are dealing solely with natural things, which can only;bo productively organised in conformity with the natural law governing them. It is as though we had..beon led out. of the light into the darkness to make a •aimcult adjustment of intricate mechanical machinery. All this confusion arises because' of tho innumerable separate aims into which national enterprise- is now divided. It is not found where human beings and property are organised in the common aim of supplying one another's requirements. If our natural resources were organised in this common aim, school children could follow the operation of any part of the national enterprise as easily'as they follow the operation of football to-day, ana with the same interest. 5 The progress of a 'nation, ]ust as of'a football team, depends .upon the individual initiative and enterprise of its members; and the sole purpose of national power is to secure freedom and opportunity for this individual develop6.'Tho power of every body of natural things such as a nation, an empire, or< an international body, is determined by the quality of the-,, organisation'' of its exchanges; that'is, by the perfection with which its human beings and proparty arc organised in the common aim of 'supplying one another's. requirements. Every stoppage in this organisation, tor instance"every point at which a bargain has to- bo mado in the'.national enterprise, is a source of ..waste, and in tunes of unrest,in- national life.this waste m-creas£S;;-.because!.. those who, have to fix prices are necessarily in doubt as to their is essential to the harmonious operation of national life that the members should know that the organisation of its exchanges is fair to all. In other words, that the product of tlie national enterprise should be distributed on a basis that is known and generally acceptable, so that each member may put his whole energy into the common aim, ■knowins; that his interests are safeguarded. This knowledge is only found .where people and proDerly are organised in the common aim of supplying one another's requirements. S. Human bsings may be combined, in this common aim, in national association cither nnder compulsion or voluntarily; or, in other words, either under autocratic government or self-govern-ment. Autocratic government requires military support, while the spirit of unity is essential tn self-Roveriunont.

9. In New Zealand both, of these methods of government are in operation. One is found in voluntary associations, of which proWbly the best known aro football and cricket bodies. In this method the Jeaders .are always experts in enterprise, who have, the resptpt and confidence of their associates in that enterprise; and it is found that no matter hoiy numerous may be the groups into which such a body is divided or how widely spread these groups may be, there is no difficulty and little expense or dislocation in having an annual election of,leaders, because each group conducts its own election at its own convenience and in its own way. By this process the team, club, provincial, and Dominion leaders are all chosen from ihe most trusted members, and they reflect both the experience and tho needs of the whole body." It is found also that nnder this foi'inof government the members do not, as a rule, blame their leaders for their failures; they realise.that these failures come from defects in their own methods, which they endeavour to amend accordingly. This.is the nearest approach to self-government we can have in a material life. ' :

10. The other method of .government is found in the general coiitrol of our national enterprise. We call it self-gov-ernment, but in reality we are }n the transition stage between autocratic government and self-government;, and what we have i<ow is in its nature a hesitating and inefficient form of autocratio government. Its members are not selected because they have the resuect and confidence of their associates in enterprise, but mainly because they are advocates of rival claimants for the national earnings.

11. The only way by which we canhave self-government in ouv general .enterprise is by first coming to an agreement a? to the distribution of the proceeds of this enterprise. There are three main questions! involved in this problem: (a) How much is to be paid as interest on capital; (b) What proportion is each briincli of-the national enterprise to get, mid (o) What.is eacli individual to get? A«to(n)j there is grave misunderstanding ng to' what "capital" means. It consist?, and' can consist, only of the savings of the community, and in tho ordinary use of the term it mean? saving in property as abov<> described. These savings are essotitialto the lifo of t!u< community, and the more savings a nation has that it can efficiently use the greater can bo its productive power. There is an eroneous impression that in New Zealand these savings belong mainly to, "Capitalists," but tho truth is they belonsr mainly to people of small means, and it is largely by having the use of these savings that som? "Capitalists" make fortunes.

Tho first' question then is,, what proportion of the national earnings is to be given to the owners of savings for '.he use of thoir property? This is obviously a question that can only be settled by agreement, and in arriving at n.'jrcement it must be kept in mind, both that it is an advantage to the individual to -have his savings safeguarded by the conmimiitv and exchanged for his special requirements; and that it is. to tho general advantage to encourage individual savings. The question will also arise whether special rewards are to be offered, for the use of savings in '.he more risky enterprises, and also to those who are willing to tie up their eavings for an extended period.

t\a to (b) tho question of the proportion of national earnings to be given to each .branch of the rational enterprise « obyiously one that should be deterain-

Ed from timo to time by the national coordinatiiiK body by 'reference to tlie general requirements of the community. Whilo this question remains unsettled wo offer a strong inducement to our financiers, to make our process of exchange complex, and mysterious; to our lawyers, to make our laws complex and uncertain; to our doctor.?, to lead Uβ into reliance upon them and their mechanical remedies, rather than upon our own mental control of our bodies; to our fanners, to grow such produce as will be most profitable to them, instead of such as will best make for our development; to our merchants, to supply us with commodities most profitable to them, rather than those most beneficial to us; to our 1 Parliament to lead us into reliance upon their laws, rather than upon the governinj law of the universe; and so on; all involving us in an amazing waste of power and happiness. As to (c), it is equally obvious that the national—and therefore individual—welfnre demands '.hat nil members should have those requirements provided which are essential to the production of their full power, before unessentials are provided for anyone. This is the way competent business men deal with their productive as»nts. These men find an ample supply of the'bast quality they can get of tho?e things that, are necessary, for the development of the forces they, are using, relying for a Teturn on their v authority over these forces when, thov come into productive use. ■ Examination o£ these {acts will disclose the truth that the productive course in national enterprise is to distribute the national earnings in the following; order; (i.) In providing the essentials for developing every man, woman, and child in the nation to its full productive power. ()'].) In paying interest upon savings. (iii.) Distributing or using the balance as mav be determined from time to time ,by agreement among the people, either in prizes as inducements to effort, or for, such other purpose's as may be agreed upon. , .. ' 12. The. outstanding question to-dny, ■jthen, is to get our people to agree upon & basis of distribution of the natio'nal earnings. Until, this is done we must have ereat friction and waste in our common enterprise, and we must also submit to a measure of autocratic government, which at present takes tlie form of arbitrary control by advocates lacking practical experience "of enterprise. , 13. Our present Parliament talks of an immediate general election. If that takes place we will still have, in our next Parliament, a Government of advocates, instead of a Government of experts, and many, months will be wastedpending- tho elections and until the new members settle downr-during which the country will be in a turmoil, just wheii the efforts of everyone should be concentrated upon a united effort .for production. ■ ; Instead of this wasteful procedure, let tlm Parliament constitute itself a united body, under a leader chosen by itself, iind witli its members assigned to different posts by a selection committee, as are the members of a football team. Then let it send its nlembers into every part of our country, urging our people to come together and combine their energy and their property in a common effort for production, under expert leaders chosen as in our self-governing bodies, who will fix a basis oi' distribution of our national earnings.. Bv this means we may—ns New Zealand should—give a lead to the world in the organisation of national enterprise in conformity with '.he law of "Love thy neighbour as thyself,", which is' "the whole law" of the universe. Only thus may we escape from our wasteful and unjust "wages system" and the controlling power of "money," and rid the world of the evil doctrine .of "laissez-faire" which drives us into selfseeking, and therefore wasteful, aims; Many people say that what I am suggesting is not practicable, but I am relying solely upon demonstrable facts in my experience, so that disproof of one statement will discredit what I have written. I would.warn these people that what is at the back of their minds is that this proposal will not fit in with the current practice. That is true; the current practice or thought is, Each for himself!,.but if wo. would bo great men and women, and a great notion, we must change that thought to—Each for the team!—l am, etc., , F. G. DALZIELL.