GUIDE TO THE PHILOSOPHY 1938 - 1947.pdf - Rare Books at ...

SOVEREIGNTY AND NATURAL RIGHTS 533
inspectors, teachers and officials of all grades in hundreds
of departments/ 9
This press of business exhibits the
traditional method "of transacting the affairs of State by
Acts of Parliament which are debated clause by clause
and line by line, before they are finally passed, after a
number of readings, as increasingly inadequate. Nor is
the dissatisfaction with Parliamentary procedure confined
to the critics of democracy. Democrats are increasingly
impatient with what they have come to regard not as
an aid, but as an impediment to the expression of the
wishes of the people. If, for example, the majority of the
people of this country were converted to Socialism, it
would be the dear duty of a democratic body to pass
legislation with the object of transforming the basis of our
economy in a Socialist direction. Yet experts in Parliamentary
procedure have been constrained to point out that
a Socialist majority with a clear mandate from the elector-
ate would, given the existing machinery of Parliament,
require at least fifty years to pass the legislation necessary
for the introduction of Socialism.
Mill's Aristocracy of Intellect While the advantages
of Mill's proposals on the score of efficient conduct of
public business may be admitted,
satisfied with his devices for safeguarding the principle of
it is difficult to feel
popular control. When, in the course of his argument,
Mill came to a point where a conflict between the two
principles could no longer be avoided, his tendency
was to throw his weight on the side of quality. This
brings me to Mill's second advance in the direction of
Platonism.
(ii) Reflecting upon the factors which form the public
opinion and set the standards of the community, Mill
showed himself increasingly sensible of the influence that
the few exercise over the many. He did not wish to
Hlmtnfoh this influence; his concern was to ensure that it
was rightly exercised, and that those who exercised it,
were fitted to discharge their trust.