"THE NEW MENACE"

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1978, 7 February 1914, Page 4

"THE NEW MENACE"

Und6ii the above heading the.official organ of the Ited Federation this week wases indignant oyer what it describes as the "cunning attempts that are being iitacle to turn the political movement into a siding." It would seem that our contemporary has been thrown into this state pf violent agitaMon by the ■ efforts of "Liberal''' agents to bring about an understanding, or working arrangement with organised Labour, and it indulges in some very unkind references to those who are attempting to engineer this little scheme to' make Labour "the rungs of tfie lacV dcr by which tho Liberal p.ariy hj.ay \ again attain , political power and patronage.''' .Evidently the manner in which the Wardists when in office made Labour, and more especially its. lead-era, their tools still rankte in the minds of those control the. destinies of the Red Federation, for the suggestion of a renewal of the old .association is spurned in unequivocal terms; That itiiy tfprbers should ho deceived at all by the Tn-etfiiceS of fricridsliii) Oil tho- -part of tlic Liberals is (the oUioiai organ of Red Fcd.-isin stuffs) to be' regretted. Undoubtedly i some wilt bo unwary enough to wnlk jllto the. t'i'a-p thus laid. If any worker > really ftiiik's there is any fujidiuneatat difference bctw.eon tho Liberal party and the Ma'sseyites they need'flhly turn their minds back to {lie recent ParliairJon.lii.ry session, Wheii.Mffssoy carried through the nmen.tf'm.<i.nls to ■the Arbitration' Act. How many Li-be.r.i'l's i voted against tihjs coercive legislation? \ Afid 50 we are told "the workers who know 'wfoare their reai interests He will not be seduced by the bj.aridisli* ■merits of the Lib.-Lsb. syren.''- The. "national -o-rgaiiiser.'' of the Social Democratic party, the political a.cV junet, of .the '■Red Federation, also: seems to be.a i.ittlc. perturbed, by the j .efforts that'-hfvQ been made id brine ■ his organisation under the banner pi Wardism. Like his, official organ, he sill have none of it His summing up of what the Liberals want is some, agreement by wlridi a. Jew .fjo.li* tteians supposed to speak for Labour Can make 4 bargain, with' eoiuo other ppliti.«oians BUp.ppsed to -speak for the .Liberal ■party, which is Liberal but not Labour,' and that the ftnti-Labour-tibeJal and the; ; Social Democrat; shall cpnsen't to divide' tho field between the two in order fo ; beat MBSjeyji wsft 5& give the Liberal party once more the control of the Gov.' eminent. Tho. Social Democrats arisin-o't-only asked to make that agreement,, but to attciii.pt to ■ enforce it amongst Sochi Democrats .in Now Zealand, This exposure of bdh'ind-the->sceUes : bargaining is very i-nieve'sting* It; would add to the interest to .'know who made' the proposal to the ppla-' tical branch of the- Bed Federation. A few days ago the member for Hutt promised a sensational announcement in the polities of the coiin-try. Was M-ft. Wiuoitb expecting an aii.,ntjuneefnont that the Wardists bad induced the Social Democrats to ..enter into an alliance on the lines disclosed above? Perhaps the ftfiowing further extract ftforn tho "national organiser's" comments' in the official organ of the Red Feds, and Social Democrats explains- the failure of the startling announcement to .materialise ;— jvo thank you, .gentlemen. At. least tho national organiser knows- the Social Democrats too well. Any Social Democrat Who would attempt to support such jl pra> lipsal fas set forth in the' extract quoted above] would be- tit oneo jo discrcdiied araouSst tho Sofia) Dejiiociats that ho Would ltoveir have the sliad'oft" of a. -cliaiiqe oiHler to ni-n-ko (his bar-gain or to jiroljo.se any other bargain o'u behalf of ■social Democracy, Thus, if the official organ And- tho "national organiser" of tho so-called Social Democrats are to be believed, the attentats, of the Wardists to sc;..

Gti.ro tlio assistance o.f the Labours«cialis4S organisation are, not at all likely to bo crowned with .■su.e.ce'B''s.' There is one other extract fr-onvtho comments of the "national .Organisci'" that is worth .quoting, .Jt : js'.as follows;— i Again it'is false to aßSirfna that nil progi'cjisiVff men are lit tlio .'Liberal .'nwiy or in tire S.P.P. 'Blew are a. very'lirgo number of progressive, voters, liiim of radical ldf.as s SV.no have been voting With, the Masscy organisation, hot that iii \<6ibig fcf Mas'sey tjiey are- voting, for -any ■positivp. ni.tji'isuref-, but it liiis been- t.Kii fiiily effective way known to those men. by. winch they could express- their di.ss.eiit from the juggling policies of flip recent tnalcQsJiift Adiiiinistratimis- conducted by tho Liberal party, This, we .should say, is the unkindest cut ef all Bis bad enough for those who profess to act for. tlio ".Liberal" party to find their overtures so contemptuously rejected: but It will 'probably hii.rt them still mora keenly to find, that even tho Social Democrats are ready, to. m> ■mi.t that it is the ;stferigth of. : tho progressives in tho ranks of the form party that has brought, about the downfall of the shoddy thing which masqueraded in the name of Liberalism.