"THREAT TO LIBERTY"

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 38, 15 February 1939, Page 8

"THREAT TO LIBERTY"

GOVERNMENT’S DECISION REFUSAL TO TEST IMPORT REGULATIONS I Per Press Association.! . AUCKLAND, Feb. 14. “Liberty is at stake,” said Professor R. M. Algie, organiser of the New Zealand Freedom Association, describing the refusal of the Government to grant an originating summons to test the validity of the import control regulations as a parallel with the methods of the European dictators. “For a Government which will thus ride roughshod over long established principles of justice to call itself democratic is simply a shocking misuse of language and an insult to the intelligence of the New Zealand public,” he said. “It is the liberty of the man in the street which is at stake in the long run. The law says that any citizen who wishes to test the meaning or validity of any Statute, by-law, will or deed, can do so simply by placing the matter before the courts for their decision. If then the Government is sure of the legality of its actions regarding import control what could it desire more than that its legislation should receive the approval and support of a decision of the only tribunal in the country that is entirely independent and wholly free from prejudice, politico! feelings, and influence? If on the other hand the Government has reason to doubt the legality and justice of its own actions and to dread exposure, what could be more disastrous for it than to lose its case in the courts? Why is the Government afraid to face the issue. If this recent attempt to legislate arbitrarily by Order-in-Council and to refuse ordinary access to the courts oes unchallenged and unbeaten we must resign ourselves to the consequences. We must in this event be prepared to see a diminution, perhaps the destruction of the authority of Parliament over all matters of State and economic policy and for the future must be prepared to witness the advent of important and far-reaching changes merely by the introduction over-night of autocratic Orders-in-Council. This would inevitably lead to the substitution of legislation by decree for that based upon free and unfettered debate by the chosen representatives of the people in Parliament.”