The Daily News. TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1920. LEANING ON THE GOVERNMENT.
"When replying recently to a deputation of Wairarapa farmers, Mr. Massey said that the people looked far too much to the Government to do things for them. A statement of this kind opens up a large and important question as to where the duties and functions of the Government |begin and end. The principle of democracy, as understood in New Zealand, has been defined as government by the people for the people, so that from this point of view the people cannot look too much to the Government to do things for them, because the people are the Government. Therefore, in leaning on the Government, they are only exercising a prescribed right. Mr. Massey cannot help recognising the force of the theory enunciated above, but he resents that theory being put into practice. It was the late Richard John Seddon who expanded democratic ideas in such a way as to lead the people to look to the Government as a child looks to its parent, and the habit once inculcated grew amazingly. New Zealand, as we know it today, was in the making during Seddon's premiership. Help from the State was needed in all directions, and it was by giving that help that the progress and prosperity of the country and its people were laid on solid, foundations. If democracy is to be a reality, then the Government must always be paternal, and when the people are in trouble it is only natural that they should invoke the aid of the powers that be. Mr. Massey raised a laugh by stating that if a man wanted a pound of sugar now, he wired to the Prime Minister to ask whether it could not be sent by post, adding that "it was much the same with regard to petrol and coal; the Government was becoming quite a trading concern." Mr. Massey admits that hoarding of sugar must be going on, otherwise he cannot account for the shortage. It is no question of the Government being a trading concern, but of the people being deprived of necessaries. That the position is serious* is generally admitted, for not only are several industries being held up, but prices are soaring owing to shortage of supplies, and the purchasing power of the sovereign has fallen from 20s to 12s 9£d. Another phase of the matter of depending on the Government is the outcome of the war legislation, whereby a number of restrictions were placed on the free sale of commodities, and the Government actually became a trading concern, besides which, legislation was passed ostensibly to regulate prices and prevent profiteering, but, unfortunately for the people, the Act was practically a dead letter. In view of ajll the circumstances, it is not fair to blame the people for looking to the Government so much to do things for them._ They have been forced into this course of action by circumstances over which they had no control. It is no laughing matter, and though there is no justification for expecting the Government to i import and supply the people with the necessaries of life, there is a distinct obligation on the Government's part to see that urgently needed commodities are fairly and justly distributed and heavy penalties imposed for hoarding and profiteering. It may fairly be claimed that had the National Government performed its duty to the people in the early stages of the war, and subsequently, the present hardships and deprivations would have been materially lessened. The whole machinery connected with the supply of necessaries is out of gear, and it is not to be wondered at that the people look to the Government to straighten out the tangle, settle the coal dispute and expedite supplies of materials- for the want' of which industrial activities are being crippled. The Government exists to carry out the will of the people, not for its own glorification. During the war, autocratic methods were inevitable and the people submitted j -with good grace. Moreover, they would continue to submit to — would even welcome—a continuance of those methods until normality is reached. Surely the Government does not expect the people to resort to lawlessness and take matters into their own hands. Such a possibility is unthinkable, yet the only alternative is for the people to look to the Government for, at least, just treatment. It may be inconvenient to Ministers, b,ut it is the logical outcome of democracy, plus war regulations.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19200203.2.13
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Taranaki Daily News, 3 February 1920, Page 4
Word count
Tapeke kupu
751The Daily News. TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1920. LEANING ON THE GOVERNMENT. Taranaki Daily News, 3 February 1920, Page 4
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Taranaki Daily News. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.