SYSTEMS OF GOVERNMENT.

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20284, 28 August 1937, Page 6

SYSTEMS OF GOVERNMENT.

Addressing members of the Chamber of Commerce in Wellington during the week the Prime Minister expressed his strong preference for the parliamentary system of government. Apparently, when travelling abroad, Mr Savage compared the different systems, and doubtless met many able men who could speak of the remarkable developments that have taken place in Europe during the last few years. Many writers have commented on the fact that, during a prolonged period of industrial depression and widespread unrest, the parliamentary system was never seriously challenged in any self-governing unit of the British Empire. Different measures were adopted to meet unprecedented conditions, but the basic principle, that government is by consent of the governed, was never questioned. Mr Savage held that the power to “correct the wrongs committed in our name” was of value. The thing was stated in other words by the great Liberal statesman, the late Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, when he said: “Self-government is better than good government.” The dictators of the day may claim that they have given their countries better, more efficient government, but British people the world over prefer to govern themselves and to work with the degree of efficiency possible under that system rather than accept a greater efficiency that is imposed. The democratic form of government is the most difficult, but if other nations can accept an alternative the British people cannot. The source of authority is the community, and Morley once said that democracy was political power cut into small pieces, every elector having a piece. It is exercised through the ballot box, but, except in a referendum, means delegating authority to the elected representatives. They, in turn, delegate authority to the Cabinet, and the degree to which this process has been carried in recent years has created no little concern in the Mother Country and some of the Dominions. When in Opposition the Labour Party used to protest strongly against what they termed government by regulation. A Bill might deal with a matter in a general manner, but power would be given the Administration to issue regulations, and these had the force of laws. It came as a surprise, therefore, when Labour gained office, to find this practice used to an extent never before known. Not only were powers to govern by regulation made more extensive, but there were special enactments that prevented some regulations and decisions being questioned in a court of law. At the Law Conference at Dunedin last year the AttorneyGeneral attempted to defend this development, and it is a fact that there has been a constant stream of regulations on a wide variety of subjects, pouring from nearly every Department. They form a volume quite ns large as the latest addition to tho Statutes. Tho authorities have issued indexes of tho statutory regulations and the items run into hundreds. The Dominion during the last two years has witnessed a centralisation of authority on a scale never before recorded and the trend continues. The most serious effect, undoubtedly, has been tho restriction of access to the courts, and if the Prime Minister will study the effects he will see that they are dangerous. It may be correct to say, as Mr Savage did, that people prefer self-government to one in which “a few individuals believe that they are big enough and intellectual enough to speak for the rest,” but there is no place in democratic government for a method that prevents uny party from seeking redress in a court of justice.