The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 1932. NEW GUARD'S APPEAL.

Hokitika Guardian, 20 January 1932, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 1932. NEW GUARD'S APPEAL.

‘ .Many people who read the report, published last week, says the Dominion, thal the “New Guard” in New South Walds had prepared a petition to the King praying lor. the dissolution ol the New South Wales Parlia- ’• ment. have woode.ed, no dould, wliat I would be tlie effect of such an appeal to the Crown. The reply is that tbe ■ King’s pei sunn 1 intervention, in constitutional practice, is out of tne question. It is the right of any Briiisli subject to petition the King, hut his Majesty can do no more than refer the questions submitted to lus , Ministers, and in the final analysis the decision conveyed to the petitionjer is their decision. The Irish Free State, a self-governing Dominion in the Imperial sense, has sought to limit its connection with the British Clown to direct an exclusive intercourse with the King himself, The ■result, of course, is practically tne | same. In the case of New South Wales, the' sovereign independence conferred upon the Dominions by tqe Statute of Westminster does not apply for that State, part of a Federal system, the Commonwealth, recognised by the Statute, is still a colony in so far as its relations with the Imperial Government are conconcerned. Its power of legislation is concerned with the “peace, order, and good government” of its own territory, and in these respects the sovereign power lies with the people themselves. It- was the people, or a majority of them, that put the Lang Government -n power, and it is only the people who can put it out. It was King Edward I who first realised the importance of the political principle that the people themselves should be identified with their Government, and who laid it down that they must expect to be committed by their represenatives no less than if they •themselves had been piDsent. Petition; to tbe King were in those days made the basis of legislation, and led to tbe assertion by Pal IT mient ol its exclusive right to alter the law. From this developed the political philosophy embodied in the expression coined in a later day that the people get the kind of government they deserve. The cap fits perfectly in New South Wales. The British Constitution is based on the “Rule of Law,” and since it is not a written document the development of its structure follows the design of the people themselves, acting through their representatives in Parliament, As Professor Dicey, the eminent Jurist, points out, 1 “Englishmen are ruled by the law, and bv the law alone; a man may be punished for a breach of tlie law, but bo can be punished for nothing; else.” Thus has developed the transformation of the prerogative of the Crown to the privilege of the people and the passing of sovereign power from the monarch to the popular Assembly. Colonel Campbell, the leader of tbe “New Guard” in New South Wale.;, states that if their petition is not granted, “other means quite lawful and appreciated by constitutional lawyers of high standing” will be subniiitlted. These, he declares. will be “very, very effective.” Tt would be interesting to know what these are. In any event it is not easy to see how any procedure other than the constitutional one of voting tbe Government out at tlie polls could be invoked which would not, whatever the justification, encroach upon the rights of tlie people. It is no doubt true, as Colonel Campbell declares, that the Lang Government has “gravely infringed” these rights, but it must also be remembered that the power to do that was conferred by the .people tlieniiSelvers. The activities of the “New Guard” in respect to this petition may have at least the effect of rallying public opinion against a political power that lias dope serious injury to the prestige of tbe State, and ensuring that a repetition of such misgovornment will be impossible. That the petition will move Westminister may be doubted,