AS RED AS EVER.

Hokitika Guardian, 19 April 1923, Page 1

AS RED AS EVER.

THE LABOUR PARTY'S CONFERENCEAt the time of the General Flection a nuiiibci el people got the idea into their beads that Lt.c "N.Z. Labour Party" was ivrll.x not a Revolutionary I, dy aad that it' socialism wtis merely an ebullitii a of academic thought ml mt'lide ! to if put into o) cratimi in our time. Ii was pointed out that the | arty advo ate had moderated very considerably judging by their speeches and tiie party’.' Manifesto. Ihe Welfare League was regarded as unduly severe in its eiilieisiu when it rclei-i-ed to the party as a Revolutionary Socialist Orgaiiisatie.il Inning lor its purpose cla-s domination and di: tation. When people weie letting mre sentiment govern their attitude towards tins | art;, and talking about "poor Labour" v.e saw no res 'ii for altering our i ini; us in the lea-l. Om conviction all the time has been that the pose of moderation adopted by this extremist pin ty is simply part of its opportunist tactics of political expediency. The mock indignation of Mr 11. E. Holland, ami other loaders, over the matter ii' being called Revolutionary Socialists wa“. we are confident, merely a political bluff designed to impress the electors with the idea that the party was being maligned and tha' they stood for nothing that involved cataclysmic changes which might endanger the Nation or the Empire. Some of the parly's candidates objected to being called Socialists am! in their ; ppeal to the electors presented themselves merely as advanced Liberals. SOCIALISTS AND INTERNATIONALISTS. Tf anything were wanted to ) rove that the Welfare League was right in stating that ibis parly's p s- of moderation at election time was enly coter. it lias come out at the party s C'enfereiKO at Christchurch dining the Fa-tor Wool;. The decisions there come to -tamps the party siill the same I’ed-lh'vo-Inti' iiiary-elass-cousciotix com In nation. Though there had been a suggest ii n o toning down ii- socialist oLje live, it is still retained in the term "1 “the socialisation of the means of production. distribution and exchange. It mi- strongly ein|dia'i- d In tbe (' uiferein e that the parly i • >"it L.r Socialistic ia t cranl nmal i-m. I lie ddb' id t ; ,K i 1 out Nation and Umpire received hut v-iiut consideration, whereas the vision of rapturing tic whole world lor sc-

rialism loomed very large. V hen faced with the practical i-sue 1 I :| land policy for the Dominion the Conference si in pi v teferred the mat ter to the I'.xeeiitive to report later, a eoin-e that has been followed several times uvet. Aleaitlime the question seems unsettled whether the party stands tor the principle “that no privately oxvurd land shall he sold or triinsferod excel t to the State’'’ or whether it menus "sold through the State," which was a prn-per-ed amendment of the platform. On the practical side the party is indefinite. hut on the big generalities of affirming a policy ol iiilerm; ti( ai aL-ut which may at times prove anii-mition-a 1 ism the party i- most positive. A WAV WIT 11 DEFENCE. A resolution was carried by the ( nifercn'c to enter upon a campaign lor the abolition ol' the Defence Act. There was no siigge-tion of placing anything in its stead except abstract pronoun hunts that war i- had. that the par ty ifor peace and that it is against milil:ti ism. The line of proi'e: 1 pacifism adopted xx as to abolish our National Defence and iru-i that other nations, even if not 100 I'iiemily. wiil do the same. One thing is notable here that this party never condemns the rampant militarism ol the communists ol Russia. That is pr.-ed over as if it had no existence. Thee facts should la ahe clear to the | cade of New Zealand Imw far this party i- in sympathy with the Red Revolutioni-m. which lie- caused so much di-a-ter and untold misery in Russia. Altogether the facts show that the N.Z. Labour Party is still as Red as ever. It lias not abated its ievolutionary inten-t-i< ns in the !ea-t. AVhil-t it will prn-Iv-s tlie nust mild and ecii-ißational course of action yet the I act temains t u.'U it- professions are governed by exoedienc.v. Anything to gain power and when it gets that its true revohttionnrv eh.aiaeter will he sliev.n in drastic actions which will probably even This is a point that must never, fm J 0,," moment, he le.-t sight of by tho-e | who have the welfare ol out country at rl 11 one we cannot too -tr. tig- j pv ami frequently emptm-i-e. Tn (h- i ing so now let is hope that we shall j II ; ;,■ ;;» “tllO Voil'C of OttO ('l'yiug ill j the wilderness." Contributed Lx the N.Z. Welrare League.i