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Hokitika Guardian, 8 December 1924, Page 2

Wmi.E the legitimate efforts of every group and class of Lal>or to improve their condition are to be encouraged, there is one imperative rule : Such efforts must be consistent with the welfare of the entire communtiy. “ Neither individuals nor groups can lie allowed to advance their own interests I>y means which arc injurious to society as a whole, for if that were permitted all efforts for progress would lie nullified in fruitless and hopeless contention. We want the greatest passible freedom for individual initiative and effort and for co-operative effort, but there, must he socail order and constnnt regard for the common welfare. This condition does not narrow the field of constructive effort; it protects all constructive efforts. Not only are there ample op-

portunities for every "roup to advance its interests in liarmony with the general interests, but in fact these are the only opportunities that give permanent gains. The whole social organisation is interdependent and must advance together. Any attempt to push one section ahead of the rest results in disorganisation and slows down the progress of the whole. The labor leaders do not Hie any better than other people to he told that their policies are mistaken, and anybody who tells them so is likely to be set down as an enemy of labor, but the best friends of labor are those who give it sound advice. Time tells whether policies are sound or unsound, and time is revealing that labor has not been well guided in its insistence upon high wages and high industrial costs at a time when many industries were depressed and the great agricultural industry in particular was suffering from low purchasing power.