PATERNALISM

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 305, 19 August 1932, Page 4

PATERNALISM

The commination service conducted by the secretary of the Associated Chambers of Commerce (Mr. A. 0. Heany) against the abuses and restrietions of over-government, deserves attention and will receive the approval of a large section of the community. The growing burden of taxation and officialdom has impressed upon the taxpayer for some time, the fact that this small Dominion is a very much over-governed country, and the time has come when some halt must be called in the influence of this oppressive paternalism.

Undoubtedly it is pleasant to have things done for us, but even by a henevolent Government, they are not bestowed upon us for nothing. Either directly or ndirectly, the taxpayer must pay in the end, and the fact that in many cases, the taxpayer is also in competition with the Government on one or another of its manifold enterprises, does not make the business of paying a more welcome task. It is commonly a fault of young democracies tending to the self-con-scious, that state services and enterprises become top-heavy, and New Zealand is experiencing that condition at the present time. Australia is faced with the same problem in a rather more acute degree. It may be aecepted that Mr. Heany spoke as the mouthpiece of the influential organisation which he represents, and that being so, very eonsiderable weight must be given to his uncompromising statement. At a time like the present when economy is imperative, the Government is offered an excellent opportunity to permit private enterprise a more normal expansion by restricting State services to essentials and not further invading the field of competition with private business.