23 JANUARY 1948, Page 5

It is as well to realise how we are governed.

I have been looking into, the number of Statutory Rules and Orders—i.e., Orders emanating from various Government Departments and having the force of law—which were issued last year. The total so far is 2,909. I say so far, because though 1947 is over there may be still one or two laggard documents to come from the printer. But 2,909 in any case is a respectable total. It means that every three hours, day and night, throughout the year a new Order burst on a largely uncon- scious public. It actually means more, because the great mass of the Orders was issued on the limited number of days on which Parlia- ment was sitting. Still, one Order every three hours is good enough.