STRAINING DEMOCRATIC LOYALTY.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 August 1921, Page 4

STRAINING DEMOCRATIC LOYALTY.

By using the powers of the Governor biCouncil in peace time I here fa 11 grnv'<> danger of ihe Cmmlltul ion miill'pi In;/, .lust as the eons hi 111. dropping of w<il«i on a stone will wear away 11. hole, eo will the practice of Government by Or der-in-Council tend to doNtroy derno 'eratic government. Especially fa this mo when the power is misused, for then the country suffers from a form of dictator ship that, is all the more objectionable because of its cloak of authority. Time and again strong protests have, been made against thia pernicious practice that plays into the hands of I lie extremists, but it still continues. It was only recently that this arbitrary form of government was displayed in prohibiting the importation of gas cooking stoves, but the outcry was so strong that the absurd order was speedily withdrawn. An equally ridiculous order has now been made forbidding the importation of jam into the Dominion. Why? No doubt some ingenious reasons may be given, but it is impossible to conceive why the people of the Dominion should be compelled to forego all jam except such as is made in Now Zealand. If the order is needed td bolster up up local enterprise then the method adopted is entirely wrong, while -if it is a tariff question, it is a gross abuse of the functions of Parliament. To use Or-ders-in-Council for purposes such as these brings the system into contempt, and indicates the tendency of Ministers to assume a dictatorship that is repellant to the people, who naturally pin their faith on the edicts of Parliament rather than on Ministerial dictation. As a means for meeting grave emergencies, Orders-in-Council may be justified, but not otherwise. The matter is one that Parliament, in defence of its own privileges, should deal with. It is not a question of trusting Ministers, but of undermining the essence of representative government.