LIBERALISM
Its Aspirations and Achievements i [ BRJEF RECORDS OF THE PAST. (Published by arrangement). (No. 1.) Now that a general election is near, the time is opportune for a review of what Liberalism has done for New Zealand in the past. This brief sketch is not to be regarded as a complete history of the Liberal movement and its successes: but it may fairly claim to provide full justfiication for our faith in Liberalism and for our confident belief that its triumph will -ensure the progress and prosperity of our country and its people for the future. LIBERALISM AND DEMOCRACY. "What is Liberalism?" Liberalism is Democracy, and Democracy is "the government of the people, by the people, for the people." Liberalism is thus a political system which would secure through the voice of the people, the realisation of Democracy's grand ideal, "the greatest good for the greatest possible number." It is this form of "government by the people, for the people" that true Democracy seeks to attain; and it is because Liberalism has in the past achieved so much for the people, by pleading their cause, and defending their rights, and advancing their interests, on purely democratic and constitutional lines, that we confidently claim the sympathy and support of the electors of New Zealand for it to-day. FIRST PHASE.—GREY. During the early years of colonisation and settlement the people were too much engrossed in the struggle for existence to pay much attention to politics; and all that, time the wealthier classes were strengthening their hold upon poli- ! tical rights and privileges, and were es- I tablishing for themselves a practical j monopoly of the land. To Sir George i Grey belongs the enduring credit of grasping all this, and of conceiving a policy which might ultimately enable this country to realise tnose Democratic ideals which that great statesman, almost alone among the distinguished public men of his age, had already come to appreciate at their true value. Sir George Grey's main work was his advocacy of manhood suffrage, and his denunciation of land monopoly. A remarkable tour that lie made throughout the Dominion did much to kindle the fire of Liberalism, and at last the Continuous Ministry which had held power with short intervals for many years, suffered final 'defeat. For Grey's propaganda, of "one man, one vote" had, by rousing the people against the limited franchise ol the time, compelled his opponents to concede manhood suffrage; and as a result the election of 1890, at the close of tiie great maritime strike, placed the first Liberal Ministry in power, with Mr. Ballance as Prime Minister. BALLANCE. When this Ministry took office, the country was in a parlous state. Its finance depended on the property tax, which taxed property without reference to its earnings. Economy, in the shape of retrenchment, was the mainspring of policy; enterprise was dead, doles were the remedy for unemployment, and the population was beginning to emigrate. THE NEW TAXATION. The new Government took hold with vigorous determination. It made good the promises of its members, hy repealing the obnoxious Property Tax. The tax-payer was freed from paying taxes on his buildings and his personal effects, the taxes on all these were transferred <o land and income. The need for checking land monopoly was not forgotten, neither was the necessity for encouraging the profitable use of the land neglected. Graduation of taxes was introduced for the first time, and care was taken not to touch the improvements. This was the touch of true Democracy. It was also the touch of sound finance—a touch which secured good balances for many years, and revealed a3 time went on the financial strength of a self-relinnt people. THE NEW HUMANISM. But the Liberal Leaders saw clearly that their chief duty was to the people themselves, and from the outset they took a firm hold of the Labor problem. The Liberal Government established a Labor Bureau, set up agencies all over the country, found where men were wanted, and sent them to the work. The Liberal Government fought emigration with immigration and relieved the congestion of the towns. Doles ended, the exodus ceased, and the people who had gone began to return. It was government of the people, by the people, for the people—true Democracy. The principle was extended in one remarkable instance by the establishment I of the Co-operative Contract system on the railways. Naturally enough this was a terrible shock to the Conservatives of those times. I Here was a shameless interference with the divinely appointed law of supply and demand, and the eternal principle of free competition! But in spite of shrieks of protest and torrents of abuse, the Government persevered, kept these men on the work in gangs carefully selected, and in the end the system went its way to success. The men made good Toads and made good money. Government of the people, by the people, for the people—true "Democracy again. (To be continued). x
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Taranaki Daily News, 29 November 1919, Page 3
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829LIBERALISM Taranaki Daily News, 29 November 1919, Page 3
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