THE FEDERATION OF LABOUR

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22507, 15 September 1938, Page 9

THE FEDERATION OF LABOUR

TO THE EDITOR THK PRESS Sir, —Mr J. Roberts accuses me of “trying to besmirch,” and says that I glory “in villifying” the characters of the leaders of the Labour Party. Perhaps it is not too much to ask that Mr Roberts should give instances of what he means; in that respect I suggest that he is writing fiction. He states that the Hon. P. C. Webb has been a great success. I must agree that he gives one the impression of having made good in the coal trade under the capitalistic system which he is pledged to destroy. He states that the Hon. W. Nash is a wizard of finance. Again I agree. If he can produce £.11,000,000 out of thin air, as Mr Roberts suggests, he is indeed some juggler. Mr Semple has “revolutionised public works.” Too right, he has. He is absolutely streamlined, ultra modern. Millions? Poof! No trouble at all. just like falling off a log. Mr Nash and Mr Semple are a splendid pair to give effect to Mr Savage’s slogan, “The sky is the limit.” I wonder if Mr Roberts has heard of the phrase, “Up like a rocket and down like the stick.” I should like to ask him if he has heard of Newfoundland, which also had some wizards of finance ‘n charge of its finances, and then had the “receivers” installed? Or coming nearer home, of the Lang Government in New South Wales, which was given its running shoes by the representative of the British Crown? Any government which ignores elementary rules of sound finance is bound to crash. It is nice to learn from Mr Roberts that “he meets with nothing but the most courteous reception from all employers”; it speaks volumes for the employers’ spirit of tolerance in view of the fact that the Federation of Labour, which Mr Roberts is allied to, is organised to put all employers out of business. Mr Roberts blows hot and cold. Why can’t he come straight out, like Mr C. F. Saunders, who is a real dinkum Socialist? —Yours, etc., HIRAM HUNTER. September 14, 1938.

TO TBI EDITOR Or THE PRESS. Sir, —“Wondering” writes from Reefton inquiring why Mr Hiram Hunter left the Labour Party. I am wondering if "Wondering” has been asleep during the last few weeks, for it 'has been made abundantly clear that Mr Hunter was expelled from the Socialist Party because he put principle before party, just the same as happened to such great men as Ramsay MacDonald, Philip Snowden, and Mr Lyons, Prime Minister of Australia. 11 the National Party wins the election, and that seems to be the general opinion. then the electors of Avon would do well to vote solidly for Hiram Hunter because he will be a most useful man in the new Government, particularly from the workers' point of view; for his tendency will be to look after their interests always.—Yours, etc., ELECTOR. September 14, 1938.