OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 294, 15 May 1914, Page 4

OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.

The question arises whether in a democratic country like New Zealand the system of government in vogue is suited to the requirements and changed conditions of the age. The advanced members of the Labor Party pin their faitli on an Elective Executive in place of the present method wherohy the Prime Minister selects his own colleagues and assigns to them the charge of various departments of the State. The latter system has prevailed ,for a long period in Britain and the dominions. The main consideration, however, is whether it fulfils the changed conditions caused by universal suffrage and the recognition of the claims of the workers to have a voice in the administration of State af--1 fairs. Old customs die hard, and an alteration of the existing methods of government will prove no exception to the rule. Tt is admitted by all who study such matters, and by many who do not. that the present method of Cab-inet-making is not only out of harmony with the. altered conditions of political principles, but is alto a veritable sham. Xo intelligent person will in these days admit that the Ministers actually nil? the departments over winch they pre[side, but they will certainly agree that lit is the permanent heads of the Ueparlnient.s who are the directing force behind the guns. This means that the country is really run by officials, and that the theory of government' by the people is nothing but a delusion. The whole system of government requires overhauling and recasting if it is to he in accord with the will of the people. The representative system is faulty, inasmuch as it fails to fulfil its true function, ami therefore is not actually representative. The Ministerial system is notoriiiusly at fault, inasmuch as the <u" each Minister for his particular portfolio, or even for holding any ollice, is-not considered with reference t'i his fitness for the position, hut chiefly foi his loyalty to the party in power, and incidentally tci 'his having made himself more or less conspicuous in th'> House concerning the matters of one or more departments. As a consequence, the square men are frequently found in round holes, and vice versa. The. chief evil is that most Ministers do not possess .-.ufficicrit strength and individuality, or, what is more frequently the else, they are deficient in the ability or inclination to master the details of their Department, but are content to ha*e the official, head at their elbow and tike their cue from him, thus allowing the tail to wag the dog. Many years hack the Daily News strongly advocated the appointment ol Under-Secretaries for each State Department, and Mr. Seddon took up the suggestion, but it was never acted upon. The adoption of that system would do much towards democratising the Administration, and, in conjunction with a more enlightene 1 method of distributing portfolios would greatly improve the present unsatisfactory system. It is for the people to press these and other reforms to fruition. The intelligent interest now taken in politics should result in an all-round improvement in the administration of the country's affairs, otherwise they will remain as a testimony to the apathy and inertia of democracy.