Increasing Dissatisfaction With Socialism

Chronicle (Levin), 9 April 1948, Page 4

Increasing Dissatisfaction With Socialism

•JUNIOR NATIONAL PARTY REVIEWS PAST YEAR The elosing year had seen a growing dissatiSf action with the socialistie policy, and the people of this country were tunring to the National Party for guidance into a saner way of. life, asserted the chairman of the Levin junior branch 'of the National Party, Mr. R. B. Denton, at the annual meeting of that body on Wgdnesday night. In this respect^ the Levin junior braneh had carried out its duties successfully, continued Mr. Denton. It was now two years since the branch's formation, and although growth had been slow, it was in a sound position for the extension of its activities. The eleetorate reeords gave the braneh membership as 34, but this figure, although far in advance of last year, did not give a true picture of its strength, said Mr. Denton. There were at least 70 young people in the town and district whose political affiliation made them supporters of the branch. It was now the duty of all members to seareh out these people and see that they became members. With an aetive membership of that number," the braneh would beeome an asset to the - National -Party" and also to the eommunity. This year the social activities of the branch had' been -eentred in Levin, and $ie suecess of the funetions had been dependent on the. support of the 'Levin members. This had been a departure from the proeedure of the . previous year, When all funetipns had been combined. However, the faith of the committee in the branch's supportefs had been upheld, and all funetions were well attended. With the assistanee of the senior branch, the committee ha4 held a ball during ihe year and it had been an outstanding* suecess, being attended by over 500 people. . It had been decided at a combined committee meeting that the Poroutawhao and the Levin Junior Braneh should merge into one. Thi--plan had not been in operation long enough for any eonclusions to be drawn, however. On behalf of the branch, Mr. Denton extended his thanks to the eleetorate secretary and members of the senior b'raneh, whose assistanee and adviee had been found very helpful in the activities during the year He said that he would "like to place on record the work and- guidance given by Professor F. P. Wilson who had acted as liaison officer between the senior branch and the junior committee and added that he hoped Professor Wilson would be able to continue his duties in the coming year. "Finally, I should like to remind all members that the Otaki seat is held by a margin of 44 votes. It is Ihe duty of -every one of-us to get behind our member, Mr.t J. J. Maher, -and see that it is retained jn tlie 1949 election. The ensuing j year is a very important one in that it is now time to get the maehinery jin smooth working order so that jwhen the election year arrives, it will only be necessarv .to increase the tempo. It is the future of the youth of the country • which is deeided at each session, "and youth must be prepared to fight and work to seeure ■ conditions favourable to free and unfettered development." In conclusion, Mr. Denton thanked his committee for the assistanee they had given him during the past year. The balance sheet showed the 1 branch's present eash in hand as j 17s, after having started the year with £6 13s 4d. However, this was not the true position, cbmmented Mr. Denton. The branch had the credit for the £70 profit made on ihe ball last yeaf, and all monies were handed to party headq.uarters. ; In .this way, the braneh only had-. ta worry about working' expenses. . and . did not have to trouble- . about holding large sums of money. . . . Tlie eleetion-'.af' : oflicers. for the ensuing year resulted as follows: — Chairman: Mr. R. B. Denton; deputy-chairman : Mr. D. Forster; secretary : Mr. A. Bell; minute-seeretary-treasurer: Miss A, Quinn; committee: Messrs. J. Olds, K. McLsan, J. Rankin, R. Speedy, E. Thomas, R.-Hewitt and P. Bartholomew and Misses F. Potter, A. Denton, P. Hills, M. Harrison, S. Jackson and M. Walker; liaison officer: Professor F. P. Wilson. The Year's Work The suecess of the year's work would depend entirely on the members themselves, said the chairman. The committee was only in a position to hold functions as long as the meinbers rallied round and attended the meetings. Therefore, a tentative programme had been mapped out. The advisability of holding monthly meetings eould not be t'oo greatly stressed. However, last year difficulty had been experienced in arranging for suitable halls for these meetings. It seemed advisable to book ope hall for a certain date in each-month throughout the year. If a public danee could be held eyery three months, it would give members .a ehanee to associate themselves with people who could be persuaded to join the movement. The annual ball had been a great suecess- last year, and it would be of advantage to the branch to hold dnother this year. The monthly meetings were a good idea, commented fche secretary of the Levin senior braneh, Mr. G. Fiebig. If tjbe meetings were haphazard, then members were inclined to become disinterested. . The ; ball last year had been sponsored by the junior branch. and in his opinion that should be the case again this year; said , the chairman of the • Levin senior branch, Mr. I. S. Park. He sug'gested that the members fqrm a

committee ta deal with the arrangements ' -immediately. ' .It would be possible to co-opt help fr'om senior members as had been done previously. Acting on this suggestion, the ' meetirig decided that the ball committee should consist of the executive committee, which was given power to make arrangements to . avail itself of the help of any sqnior members it thought fit. • Three other committees set up for the year will be formed by the conveners, who were chosen by the meeting. These were as follows: — Social committee: Miss M. Harrison; membership committee : Miss M. Walker; cultural committee: Miss P. Hills. The conveners will chpose their - eommittees and , repbrt back to the executive.