Mr Savage Holds Leadership

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 2, 25 September 1937, Page 7

Mr Savage Holds Leadership

.,u„ •M.J* igfci. SOCIALIST FORCES Vjaryiug TOTperamfnts in the Muiistry INC0MPAT1BLE AIMS In ihe following article our W.ellinBr ton correspondent gives a frank bui Bymp.atbelic survey of eome of t;li§ tpmperamental componentB of JI.ow ?aa (and's present administratarB. Whatever the baeis for the recurront stories of dissatisfaction within the Labour Party, there is oue thing which is beyond .doubt, .thpt js that Mr Savage stijl at tho head. of it und likely to stay fhere. To tho.se who haye stgdied tho V*9- ■ nouncement^ of the Prime • Misistei" over the iast two yegrs, Mve the etrapge pegations wbich hs phrase lihe affirmativgs," the impr.ob^r bilities (.such" as fhe ioyenng o"f, the exchange rafe) which he jcan djsgpgs as pomething to be ?egarded pa tllO norma! course oi Labour pojicy, 'the misfof words ip whi.ch WfPPS ®u§h things ps (h§ use of the pubiic G¥§&it, it may apbeaT tbat Mr Savage haS' n§i» ther the 'clarity of yision no? the cogp mand of realitje§ tg be a good leader. But in fajjt nothing coyld be fufther from the truth, In ei.rcumstances spch as those ruliug at present when almo.st eyery member pf fhe Cabieet is playr ing a l'Qne" hand, b.ecause of .departiiient? ali'sed adtiyities, a m.an iik§ M? ^ay.age is inyaiuabie tg ihe party, Witii varjous pf fhe Govern' ment pursuing incqmpatiblp fiims^wifh Mr gullivau auxiously pp§k|pg f.oy ways whiph wili absorb mitre labopr, even at the cost §i absorbing \§xtra purej;asiug power of the peoplp, "ha d Mr Bemple d,m terminedly mechapising Bublic. Wefhs, for instance, it 'becpines cgsegtial to hayjff a leader w.ho is able to gafher all thp stfings of ihe yariogs confuspd pokicies -in his hand and acp as spokegman for the party ivithout mj Rlliiim?; and withoqt any pogseiQBgiiegp that thgro is the possibility .of h&ying qualms, In" Mr Sav^go that i.s what L&bPur pog§§sses torday, He is a man who is able to endow almost every pnonounceipent, pven one- on- statistics, with moral force, and he still acts and taiks in that conviption that his party is fulfilling the manifest destiny pf the country which he brought to the eapital on hfs' first -vi.sit ag head pf t.he Uov* ernnient, That convietion gave hi§ return t o Welliagtop after "thp eleetjoy somethiug of ihe quality of a crusade, and the eniotional oatbursts which it provpked fr.9m a fervent crowd can neve? bo qujtp forgotten, Tljus in tho difficqlt business of reconeiliqg the di* vergoat lines of L&bour pplicy Mr age is fhe idegl man for the job,- He is, |n addifion, qn expellent chaifman, sobgr, , patienf, ti'dfeg m hobbies, complefely willing fp eftrry out the •yyijl of the majority of his paFty, A|id/daspife thp rufflours which hpve been circprating here, there is no foundation far tho stories that the leaderr sliip is paseipg from him intq tlie hands af his lieqtenants, egpecialjy Mr Fraser and Mr Nqsh, hff is still at the head of the Goyernment, he still eonvisged of Labour 's missipn, aad he ivoqld. not hesifate to deal sharply with anyone who,. by jeopardisiqg the,'sai'ety of ihe party ' in a'ny way, imperille'd that mission/

Coajipromise to Strife It is more difficult to assess the siluation of his princip&l ftides. Mr Fra* ser is pjrobably the ablest man in the Government, with the courtesy and wib lingness to work which has always marked him. What he lacks, arid lacks conspicuously, is the consciousness of his appointed mission which- cnables Mr Savage first to reproach the Opposition and then to plough thern undqr, At thq head. of tho party Mr .Fraser woiild seek compromige, and compromise wonld isad tP Ptrife in the ranks, ^ Mr Nash, whom common. repoi-t im sists is no longex popular in liis' own camp, is probably more widely esteemed iu tho party as a wholo thaii ajuong tiig Parliamentary jnemborg of it. JEle camp to' ofBce .with long preparatipn for it on commissions, administrative bodies, and by private study, Sinoe he became Minister of Finance his industry hag become famous. To-day he checks and re-checks everything-^-he went throngh the new guaranteed-prif. recommendations three times. with members of the committee, finally inviting tbem out. to his home the night beforo the ajinounce. ment wag made. He worked all the w&y out on the boat on his retura passage from England. Mr Nash not only takes his taslc3 hojne, but carries tliein on in the week-> end. He used to devote Sunday morn-. ings to his constituents aijd go for a run on Sunday afternoons, Now tho afternoong are given over to more work. He is engrossed so deeply with every Govqrumont plan of any gize tljat it is almost impogsible f'or somo of bis olfie-. ers to sce him, And he remains, in hig own vieAv and in that of his party, p conservative. it is hi§ priucipal defect in thq eyes of some of ihe more voriferous Left Wingers, but its guaranteo of careful examination of every problem bas entrenched him in the I'rimo M'uEIpf's highest regard, Fastcr Paco Souaht, But withm the party there aro also those who hold that SocialiHiu is not a mattef for gradual evolution, nor for guaranteed prices, State Iiousing seJiemes, or even control of the Reserve Bank, They seek a faster pace. a crcation of the new Utopia in our own time, They inehule the younger members of the party, some of whom did not look with favour on the rnanner in which tho Cabinet was formed, and are frankly disrespectful of men whose main claim ! to precedence, as they see it, is that they have been in tlie House for years wifchout achieving anything remarkablo, They include, also, somo of tJre okjerand temperamentally more extreme men who have eome new to the House. Their J S!M)kosmnn, tJicir leader if they can be I

eaid to have a leader, is the UnderSecretary in Charge of Housing, Mr J A. Lee. Mr Lee is also an ideailst, but owns a restless idealism. Ho 6ees the world as in a state of transition between one soeial order® and another and is not against hurrying things along. He was bitterly disappointed at being left without a portfolio, and his subsequent appointment to tbo ehuvgo of tbo bousiUg plan wa? intended in part to aalvo this woqnd as woll as to give his abilv ties more scope than they could find iu beiug merely Under-Secrotary to the Xh'ime Minister. He Is alsq articulate, with a tongue which can wound, and tbis fact has not been without its ett'ects on party hanuoriy, But he adnuts that the group of which he is a mejuber is a miuority group and thkt its views bave little chance of beiiig tbo policy of Labour until thero has been some chaiige in the structure of tho party. Too Soon for a Split. It is tkus too soou to talk of a split within the party or of a confusiou in purposes which is bringing about differencos about leadership, iu the terms that have been repeated here. Labour may be pursuing conflicting aims, but it is doubtful if some of the members of the party even realise it. Figures may show strange things happening in costs of living, in iudustry and imports, and even unemployment, but tliese can always h? answered with more figures. In any case, the way of the party is not the way of reason but that of emotion. Labour, iu the vjew of members of tho Government, must prove to be rigbt because it is Labour. The rocks of reality have not yet been reached to sliat- i ter that frail barque of failh. I