The Southland Times MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 1942. Another Silent Session

Southland Times, Issue 24830, 24 August 1942, Page 4

The Southland Times MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 1942. Another Silent Session

HIKE House of Representatives reA sumed its session last Tuesday, and adjourned after three days devoted almost entirely to secret deliberations. As far as the general public is concerned. Parliament might easily have ceased to exist. It can be admitted that a secret session is frequently necessary. Presumably there are matters which the. Government believes should be brought to the notice of the people’s representatives. No one is likely to suggest that information of the kind that is discussed behind locked doors should be passed on to the public. But when the secrets have been entrusted to the members the House seems to imagine that its functions are fulfilled. No attempt is made to study, or clarify, some of the many questions in which the people are deeply interested. War policy is not static. It is constantly changing, and every new change brings social and economic reactions. The situation today is entirely different from what it was three or four months ago. Before the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway Island the dominant question was home defence. New Zealand was in danger of invasion. All other interests had to be made subservient to the imperative need to expand the armed forces, to complete the organization of civil defences, and to make the best possible use of the meagre equipment which whs then available. Today the country is facing a new set of problems. The danger of enemy action has not been removed; it will remain the fundamental issue until the Japanese have been finally defeated. But it has become less acute since the enemy lost two major sea battles. Moreover, the offensive in the Solomon Islands has given the Dominion a new place in Pacific strategy. Just what this development will mean, in its effects on the use of man-power, cannot be known definitely. It is possible to guess that the emphasis in policy will rest less heavily on military preparation and more heavily on farm production. ■ There may be minor service commitments in the new war zone, additional to those which remain constant in the Middle East. But the people can only guess about these things. The country is full of rumours. Everybody wants to know if the drain on man-power is to continue at its present rate, or if the demands of the Army are reaching saturation point. These questions are very much in the minds of the people. But the Government tells them nothing. Parliament, which is supposed to be the custodian of the nation’s interests and liberties, has evolved into a sort of secret society. The members of the War Administration, preoccupied with their new jobs, seem to go about with their fingers to their lips, breaking their long silences only to issue infrequent and laconic statements—usually to speak of new obligations, or of penalties which await those who neglect to meet them. Economic Questions

This sort of thing is not happening in Britain. The House of Commons has been unified in a genuine coalition since Mr Churchill formed his first Ministry; but its debates continue to be frequent, lively and valuable. British people believe that Parliament could serve them even better than it does at present: there are occasional rumblings of discontent when the House shows signs of lethargy. But in New Zeaalnd the functions of Parliament are visibly decaying. The tendency has been developing from .the early days of the war. Neither party seems to understand that the people, cut off from the normal flow of information by a rigid censorship, looks to Parliament as the means of removing injustices, redressing grievances, and expressing in open debate the recent trends in public opinion. There are many injustices in war time. It is inevitable that individuals and groups must suffer from the arbitrary decisions of a Government armed with a supreme authority. Redress can be obtained, under present conditions, only through an intricate system of appeals; and in too many cases the last word rests with a Cabinet Minister. Those who seek more direct means of satisfaction find themselves restrained by innumerable regulations. It is essential, therefore, that Parliament should acknowledge and carry out its representative function even more carefully and scrupulously than in normal times. Apart from the major issues of war policy (which, admittedly, would have to be debated with discretion, if at all) there are many economic problems that require discussion and criticism. The question of price control, for instance, affects every family in the country. Everybody knows that the present system of fixed prices is full of anomalies, both for producers and consumers. Yet the only reference made to it in the latest.brief session occurred when the Minister of Supply was asked if he was aware that Wellington fruiterers were evading the retail price for potatoes. Mr Sullivan replied that he was aware that “Ohakune main crop potatoes had been sold allegedly as new potatoes,” and he hinted that “a number of prosecutions would shortly be taken” where instances of over-charging had been proved. The next day a statement from the Wellington Retail Fruiterers’ Association made it clear that factors were involved which made the problem much more difficult than was suggested during the brief discussion in the House. Here was a case which could have been used to introduce the fullest inquiry into the whole system of price control —and, indeed, of the distribution of essential fruits and commodities which are frequently in short supply. Like so many other matters of public interest, it now passes beyond Parliamentary attention, and will be lost in the labyrinthine ways of departmental method. Parliament should be active, strong and alert in the public interest while the people are making so many sacrifices for victory. It has never been weaker, more secretive, and apparently more indifferent to the needs of the electorates.