LABOUR DISSENSIONS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 836, 7 June 1910, Page 6

LABOUR DISSENSIONS.

the auckland election. 'candidate asked to eetiee. tn» Telecrann.—Press Association.! Auckland, June 6. 'A serious.split has occurred in the'La'bour. party in connection with the choice of a, candidate for the Auckland East seat. Though 'Mr. Geo. M'Knight was definitely chosen as the party's candidate at a mass meeting in the. Choral Hall on April 30, the decision was not as unanimous as it might have been, and, further, although prior to the ballot those present pledged-themselves to be bound by the decision,, a faction has since been - (corking persistently against Mr. M'Knight's candidature.

It appears that in this connection certain charges were made and answered, and that, although efforts were made to smooth over the difficulty, no satisfactory solution' was arrived at. Matters came to a, climax on .Saturday, when, it was decided to ask Mr. M'Knight to withdraw in favour of Mr.' G. Davis. The former, however, declined to accede to the request, whereupon it was resolved to run Mr. 'Davis as the Labour party's uominee. There are now, therefore, two Labour candidates in the field, both of whom claim the'official'support .of their part}'. -At a meeting of the Central Committee the following resolution was passed: —"That owing entirely to the fact of the \personal convictions of the selected Labour candidate (Mr. G. M'Knight) being in conflict with an important plank of the Dominion Labour party's programme, we have regretfully to request Mr. M'Knight to retire from the present contest, with our assurance that we repudiate any reflection which may be cast upon his personal, character, and extend to him our sympathy; this decision being arrived at wholly on the ground that the party's interest must take precedence over all personal considerations." '•

MR. M'ENIGHT'S STATEMENT. interviewed "Herald" -representative, Mr. M'Knight stated: "I am. tlie official candidate of tlie Labour party, and as such I am going to the poll. After the ballot had been taken at the recent meeting, by'which I bad a majority vof 39. over the other candidate, Mr. T. E. Taylor took it upon himself to ask me to withdraw in favour of Mr. Davis. I refused to do so, as I considered Mr. .Taylor's action was an insult. On Thursday last a meeting of the Dight Hours Committee was held. I was there at the commencement, but could not stay, as I had other business. I was informed subsequently, however, that Messrs. Taylor, M'Laren, and M'Cullough had spoken strongly against my character, and that charges had also been made against me on several matters. I was asked to attend a meeting on Friday. When I got there I found a denization from the Eight Hours' Committee. That deputation asked that I should be requested to withdraw, and a charge was made against me that I had sold an election while working for a labour candidate, inasmuch aS' that as secretary for the candidate, I had not put forward a special effort to win, and that this was due to -some ulterior motive on my part. The man who made.the charge was called in, but when he saw hie. there he withdrew the charge and implicated another man. Another man was called in, but he broke down' under cross-examination, and decined to hear my reply. When I. had replied Messrs. Taylor, M'Laren, ..and M'Cullough and all present expressed their admiration at my organising ability and integrity, and were pleased at me clearing my character."

They, however, asked him to withdraw, but he refused. Mr.' M'Knight added: "Another meeting was held on Saturday, and as, a result Messrs. M*Laren and MtCullough and two others waited upon me at my house, and'presented certain resolutions. Considering these resolutions an insult after the'hom-; ination I had received, I opened the door and told the deputation to 'get.'"

Asked what plonk or planks of party he had departed from, Mr. M'Knight declared that he had not departed from any. He also declared that if, the Central Committee touched any of tho ,£SO subscribed for his . candidature there would be trouble. . speech by mr. myers. an: untrammelled liberal. (Br Teleeraph—Press Association.) Auckland, June 6. Mr. Arthur M. Myers, -who is contesting the Auckland East seat Independent Liberal, opened his campaign tonight, when he addressed a largely-at-tended meeting of electors. . He commended tho measures passed by the Liberal party in the past, but, whilst giving a general support to this policy, he wished it to .be understood clearly that he was not in the strict sense a party man. Ho'believed that the time was opportune for putting patriotism before party, but he wanted them to understand equally clearly that ho was a Liberal. One salient feature of Liberalism In New Zealand ■ had been the extent to which it had increased the responsibilities of government. by multiplying the functions and powers of the State. There were still many peoplo who firmly believed that if" was a bad thing for a country, or its people, for the State to undertake anything that could possibly be done by private enterprise,' or to interfere in any way with the unrestricted course of free competition. It was becauso the founders of our Liberalism saw. the evils that must inevitably arise from so-called "free competition," where the Government refused to interfere on .behalf of the wage-earners,, that they made their first.experiments in industrial legislation. The result had, in a large degree, justified their predictions. (Applause.)

Candidate on the Land Question. He declared himself in .favour of the option of acquiring tho freehold in regard to the disposal of tho Crown lands, and thought that the present tenants should' have tho right to the freehold, subject to certain conditions.- Ho was not, bowever, in favour ot tho nlienation of the fee simple of any, portion of tho national endowment, and he also thought that the freehold of all laiid taken 'under the Lands for Settlement Act should remain vested in tho State, lie urged a more vigorous policy in regard to the opening up of Native lands. Railways in Both Islands. He thought that every effort should be made towards eliminating'political'influence in appointments to tho Civil Sor- . vice. Ho advocated a nioro equitable treatment of the North Island in the expenditure for railways, and stated that there was serious need for co-operation amongst the districts of the North Island to secure justice. It might, ho admitted, he said that railways which failed to pay interest on the: capital might sometimes be justified as a national undertaking indispensable for the development of the country, but, that was altogether a different thing from admitting that lines which did not pay, and wcro not likely to pay, should be pushed on, while lines through country which appeared likely to give a good return, and where other railways were already paying handsomely, should be neglected and delayed. (Applause.) Now that the tide of population and trade had turned so strongly to the North, it-was clearly a waste to go on spending money on railways in the South Island in anything like tho same proportion as in the North. (Hear, hear.)

A Liberal with a Free Hand, He strongly supported the nw 'defeneo scheme, and was also in favour of an elective Legislative Council- Tf elected lie would always support Liberalism to the best of his judgment, but that did not uecessarily mean that • he would ahvay;. support the Government. When lie stated that he wanted to enter Parliament as an Independent, he wished to make it quite clear that, so lons as the Government maintained what he regarded as a Liberal policy and introduced Liberal measures, he would support it, but, otherwise, he held himself free to act as be ttooght best for the'• interests of tit

country and his constituents. (Applause.) He .had had somo experience of public life, and commercial and financial nffnirs on a largo scale. Ho believed thoroughly in democratic Liberalism, and was prepared to support all reasonable, modernt'e,"and progressive measures based upon Liberal principles, but he was not prepared to vote for faddist or extremist legislation without exercising his own discretion about it. He was, accorded a hearty vote of thanks and confidence. ADDRESS BY MR. RICHARDSON. (liy Telegraph—Press Association.. Auckland, June C. Mr. Richardson, another of the candidates, addressed an open-air meeting. He was first a prohibitionist, ho said, and secondly a protectionist. .This combination,, he thought, entitled him to come before the electors as a true Labour candidate. He was opposed to the "Ward Administration, because it was working hand in glove with the liquor party. It did not strive for the welfare of the masses, and was also working against the interests of Auckland.

ME. HOGG TO PARTICIPATE. Mr. A. W. Hogg, M.P., speaking at the State currency meeting last night, stated that he was about to leave for Auckland in order to participate in the electoral conflict there. He jocularly remarked that ho had just had his hair cut, as he did not know what sort of experiences lie might have to go through. "In the battle that is now impending between Capital and Labour," he added, "Labour is not going to he trampled under foot."