DEMOCRATIC RULE

Hokitika Guardian, 4 May 1932, Page 8

DEMOCRATIC RULE

CRITICISM BY PROFESSOR,

DOCTRINE’S DEFINITION

WELLINGTON, May 3,

“The most democratic Governments have proved the most stupid; in fact, they act like animals, entirely devoid of intelligence,” remarked Professor T. A. Hunter, in lecturing cn the subject, “Clan. Democracy ‘Succeed ?” at a meeting of the Wellington branch of the Australian Association of Psychology and Philosophy av Victoria College last evening. / The word democracy, said the lecturer, had become one to conjure with, and had even become stereotyped. Dpctrines accepted oqvere not always what the teacher' taught. It- was m the political realm that the term democracy was first raised. Most people thought of democracy in the terms of democratic government, but even the French revolution did not solve the problem of economic equality. The tendency had been to widen the scope of democracy, and there had arisen a demand for social equality. Then there was the claim for equality before the law. To some democracy was a form of government; to others a form of social life.

HERDING IN CITIES. The herding of people into cities had stimulated the growth of democracy. In a democratic State individuals were bound to he used as the tools of certain people. He would say that democracy was an attempt 'to raise the life of the people to the highest plane. The lessen, of toleration should be learned if the ship of State was not to be wrecked. The idea that the State should be run by the mass of the people was open to argument, continued Professor Hunter. Such an idea might have been possible in the Greek urban States, or in the early days of America. A history of the past proved that the average man did not take kindly to the responsibility which liberty brings; what he did long for was security. The great- mass of mankind did not think, but, as Mark Twain said, they only feel. The fundamental principle of democracy was that mankind was bom to govern itself, and was competent to do it. Monarchs of the past had made, their own genius the genius of the nation. The masses still remain poor, and a small coterie of rich men dominate the nations of the world.

NOT LOST FAITH IN DEMOCRACY,

He wi/ afraid that he must answer the question. “Can Democracy Succeed V' in the negative, and yet he had no>' lost liis faith in democracy. All >#fen could not he expected to he equal in mentality, but it had to be remembered where one, got more another must get les-s. The world in the opinion of the lecturer, must face the changes which had taken place in modern years. It would be impossible to outline a scheme of reconstruction. In a world transformed as ours was by science, .a system of decentralisation and , the burial of the party system was imperative. There was an absence of thought in centralisation, and, in fact, no time for constructive thought. A system of decentralisation of government would be all for the good. “There is to-day,” the lecturer concluded, “a conflict between two types of organisation in society—one based on the old idea of scarcity, with inequality a.s ait essential feature in social relations; the other based on the idea of plenty, the outcome of the application of science and invention to thq, problem of production. But this is not an antagonism between. science and centralisation ; if it were, the outlook would indeed be hopeless. But just as man through the spirit of free inquiry applied to the. investigation of the nature of physical forces lias learned to understand them and harness them to his purposes, so the same spirit of free inquiry applied to the problems of social relations will enable men to adapt his social relations to the new conditions that science and invention have produced; and will enable him to remove, the present fundamental contradiction in our social life, and provide the opportunity for the development- of the capacities of all the people that the world democracy connotes. A brief discussion followed the lecture, after which a vote of thanks was pns-ed to Professor Hunter, on the motion of the chairman.