LIBERAL PRINCIPLES.

Hokitika Guardian, 28 December 1918, Page 4

LIBERAL PRINCIPLES.

A CALL *FOR RATIONAL PROGRESS. ' ; TELLING RE-STATEMENT BY ; SIR JOHN FINDLAY, HP. ( “ The first aim of- a rational progressive Liberal,party should be to avoid the patchwork of oppor- . tunistic proposals which heretofore have mainly constituted the Liberal party’s programme, and to devise a system of scientific human progress, | based upon correlated and mutually ; helpful principles of social reform.” j

Thus declared, in a recent inter- , view in the “ Lyttelton Times,” Sir { John Fiudlay, the Liberal member. ■ for Hawke’s Bay, whose maiden speech in tlie House of Representatives w.ill-long be remembered for its clear presentment .of the fundalpental principles of taxation, and for ijs candid, though constructive criticism ol the .National Government., , humanity and property. . “A fuller and clearer recognition-' of the rule that human personality and its protection, promotion, and vindication must 7 (stated Sir John Findlay to the /‘ Lyttelton Times ” interviewer) “ count for more ill the ej'e of the ■ law than mere property, iriterests. Our legal system still strikingly- reflects the view that -property- is more important than person's, wealth than the welfare of the proletariat, and offences against the former are in'/ general more severely punished than offences against/-the view expressed-' by diie of The greatest Scottish Lord Justices from his seat 011 tlie,Bench that tlie landed interest alone/lias; a, right to be represented in Government, and the view uiideriyiug-ifcarly all doctrines of orthodox' economics that wealth

and its increase was the chief conceri 1 r of legi si at ion,- have still too great a potency in - these days. Trpductioii' Has been far too'exclu-J sively regarded by Governments. Tke distribution and consumption of national wealth are almost as important as ■ its-- Aim.q'Uut. Great national -wealth colreehtrated in a. few hands, in’eails despotism.oll the one hand and, degradation on the other,^whiteywasteful; alid u vicious consumption may demoralise a nation. /' v "U y -j./; / DECREASE; HUMAN WASTE. . “ The paramount aim of govern nientj therefore, should .not be wealth aud its increase, but human /waste aiicl .its./decrease. In; .this view /true progress should' be expressed as ‘ a/progrc,ssive economy of was'.e ’T'.lor- this inakes .hunKfu well-being—physical, '.mental, Arid moral—the-cardinal aim of government,. instead of the material ope of increased wealth. A scientific or rational Liberal policy in ust, therefore, seek to secure as its paramount a reduction in tlie .palpable-waste which is* goiitg 011 in many directions. “But although increase of national material wealth hi ust cease to be the State’s'main purpose, national wealth under the policy-indicated ‘will grow far Taster than when •wealth was the State’s cardinal object;- while..a/Wider distribution; and wiser consumption .will be assured. “Enormous waste is going o t in reduced vitality on the part of the great masses of the people owing to :bad housing conditions, overwork, insufficient nutritious food aud leisure,- and the enervating anxiety as to the means of. subsistence in tfie future. Every nation has as its highest form of wealth ,a certain volume of vital-. energy, ■and the progress of the nation in the /highest sense depends upon the .promotion, conservation, and rational application,pf this energy.’ -REMOVE THE BARS, OPEN THE WAY; Tlie-keyuote struck by : : Sir ' : John Findlay \vas..the. necessity for .freedom ofopportunity. “The guiding star of this freedom;” .he states, “ is equality : to give to eaeh-iuan and woman who has an equality of capacity an equality of chalice ; to remove, the. invidious bars. of birth, and open the way to energy and ability—or, to express it in -Napoleon’s phrase: ‘Lacarriere ouvsrt aux talents,, voila mon principe.’ This involvesasystem of the! State’s, providing tools for'/williug hands, which embraces State provision for:— (a) Land lor the settler without capital. (b) Capital for those who can efficiently and productively use.it. (c) Training by . way .of equipment,for.. profitable occupation.' (cl) Any other assistance which is reasonably necessary to enable the genuine and willing worker to best employ his energies; “As ancillary to these . objects provision must be made for the promotion of co-operation and mutual help organisations. ( In,.this connection, co-operative agricultural banks,; ou tlie welLesta.blislied Continental systems, should be uude possible, the aim of which would be in proper cases to,accept the .moral risk as.seciirity, .without, requiring as at present, .a-tangible security, thus enabling the man without capital but with good character,and qualifications, to obtain requisite financial assistauce. down with Exploitation. “ Effective protection must be given to the community against exploitation.by,monopolies. Where . regulations fail to achieve this end, State competition should be in-

voked; and where both fail, State monopoly should be unhesitatingly adopted.,.; “The/whole of these proposals proceed bn the assumption that the ambit out lie State’s activities must !. be greatly enlarged; and that the fundamental principle is the reasonable subordination ' of individual interests to the permanent welfare of the whole community. “ Liberalism so conceived has no j alliance with Socialism. Socialism seeks equality of conditions for the j peqple—which means in the long / run a dead level; while Liberalism j seeks equality of opportunity—/ which affords fair scope for superior industry, energy and intelligence. Returning, then,, to the princijile with whichwe started, the aim of a vitalised Liberalism must be—not, 7

as of old, the promotion of material wealth, but of the human personality and character of the p&ople as a whole.

“ But the success of a measure depends as much-upon the sincerity* and energy with which it is administered, as upon its inherent methods as a measure,. Some easygoing defaulters sign .a, bill or promissory note for a debt, and then' ‘ Thank God that’s paid ’—and there is a disposition in Parliament to regard an evil when it lias passed a bill for the purpose.

“No liberal policy,”, he declares, in conclusion, “ is any use unless it is courageously and vigorously administered: Faith, sincerity and determination, must animate the party that supports it, or it becomes a mere worthless policy on paper.