SOCIALISM OR FREEDOM?

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 183, 20 August 1937, Page 8

SOCIALISM OR FREEDOM?

Mr. Cobbe Attacks Labour Policy ITS THREAT TO FARMERS "There is to-day a very serious con*! flict between those defending the free-j dom of tho, individual- and those at-! tempting to smother that freedom byi the introduction of revolutionary Social-j ism, " said Hon. J. " G. Cobbe, M.P.,| when spcaldng at Halcombe last even-j , "It has been wcli said," he con-! tinued, ' ' that ' individual freedom, initi-; ative and enterprise have been the lifeblood of the British raco and have' made it what it is, pre-eminent among. the races of the world beeause its nien and women can think and act for them-1 selves.' The real progress of New Zea-? land is founded.. upon and has been; built up by the ability and enterprise! of individuals. The attempt to substitute the State for the indiviiiaal is a menaee to progress, and a handicap to ability. "It must not.be forgotten that the introduction of Sociahsm in New Zea-; land means the adoption of the Bolshe-; vic system of collective farming, under1 which the prosperous farmers are simply! ordered otf their farms and the landtaken by the state without the payment' of a single penny as compensation. This statement of mine may be disputed by some Socialist who does not want the real aim of his party to be disclosed at the moment. But in support of my statement -I shall read part of a recent xha-gazine artiele by Mr. Morgan Wil-, liams, Socialist member for Kaiapoi, in which he indicates plainly what is the real aim of his party — he says: 'Many! of my friends say to me: "The Govern-' ment is doing a great dealfor the wago-' worker, for the unemployed, and for the . business people, but it is no doing much.; for the small f armer except to mako his ' life harder!" My Teply is: "What can be done for the small f armer? What can be done for the village blacksmith, the saddler, the chaffcutter and all those people who are left behind in the mareh of time?' He says further, '1 havo no doubt that the improvements in wages and conditions not only on farms but in industry generally have1 made it impossible for many smali' l'armers to employ labour, and have had'. the effect in many instances of driving; the farmers' wives and children intoj the cowsheds. From .the point of view of politieal strategy it was a great, blunder on the part of the Seddon Lib-. erals to settle thousands of. workers on the land as individual farmers. Eco-. nomic and social forces combined have doomed the small farmer .to gradnal extinction. ' "This is the written and published, .statement of Socialist member of, Parliament, representing a district iu; which there are a large number of small farmers," said Mr. Cobbe. "And is an outspaken' statement of the objective of the party in power to-day. Of course, if tho small farmer prefers to leave his farm and home and become oue of many hundreds of workers on a collective State farm, under the orders; of overseers, his best plan is to' bid! goodbye to his freedom and manhood and vote for the Socialists. On a State farm he won't have either to think or plan; he will only have to eat and sleep and do the work ordered by a Socialist inspector. It is almost inconceivable that here in this loyal, prosperous and free country, people of British • blood, and of at least 'ordinary ihtellig'erice, can be led astray by the silly vapouring of men, many of whom would not be listened to on any question of ordinary business, and who actijally have the supreme audacity to suggest that the New Zealand small farmer is doomed to extinction. On the contrary, I look forward to a great extension of the small farmer class under tho fostering influence of sanc, enlightened and honest lcgislation. Those foolish visionaries who dream of introdueing the Russian system of collective farming and State ownership of all property into New Zealand have evidently forgotten that the last thing a Britisher will part with is his property. ' ' A system that may be imposed upon hordes of ignorant men with Tartar and Mongolian blood in their veins will never deceive the New Zealand farmer be he small or large, ot ensnaro him within the chains of Socialistic dictatorship. The fact that such things are in men's minds to-day shows plainly tho need for organisation, in defence of their rights, amongst those who believe in public and privato honesty. "I assert that tho tendcncy of the legislatiou of Ihe Government of New Zealand to-day is deliuitely towards revolutionary Socialism," continued Mr. Cobbe. "One has only to study recent enaetments or listen to the utterances of members of the present dominant politieal party to learn that its object is to bring down to a lower lovol thoso whoso ability, enterprise, work and tkrift have secur *il for their i'arnilies and themseives a competcnce, aud divido their means amongst those who havo iailcd to tako full advantago of llio opportunities which a now country like New Zealand oil'ers to all Surcly commonsenso should teaeh cveryono that a policy of levelling down the competent man does not ( necessarily mean the elevation of tlio incompetent or of tho man who has not made the inost of his opportunities. "There is no doubt that the avowoJ object of tho Socialist is the abolitioa of tho privato ownership of land and ollicr property. It nccd'not be thought that what I havo said is in any way far-fetclicd. Tlio question of the abolition of the right of inheritance has been discussed at a confcrence held iu \\ ellington and is part of the Socialistic programme. It is time for every man who owns even a quarter of an acre of land to considei; .the seriousness of th#' position,". — • *