The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19, 1925. LABOUR POLITICAL FUTURE.

Hokitika Guardian, 19 November 1925, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19, 1925. LABOUR POLITICAL FUTURE.

Tii.k political future of Labor might, ' well engage the consideration ol all thoughtful workers. The immediate past lias disclosed the lailuro 01. the Labor policy and badership I" make material headway. Events .so 101 l out that the general election came on top of the British .Seamen's Strike. It was had stage-management on the part of Labor to allow that event to obtrude at stroll a ,tjimV. The 'Labor leaders in other respects were mild mannered on the hustings and certainly less red, and their voices less insistent • on radical matters. Hut though there was this docility for the time being, the gesture did not deceive, and the voice of the people settled the aspirations of Labor as at present led. The lesson is there for those who care (o road. But with the extinction of extremism, Labor has its chance with a sane I policy. The evolution of political thought is going on tit ]lonic. The public confessions of Mr Ramsay MacDonald, Mr Phillip Snowden. Mr J. IT. Thomas, all point to the awakening of sane 1.a1,0r, and the desire to constitute a party the loyalty of which will he beyond question. The workers of New Zealand are numerous enough to control the political destinies of the country. Tint there are two tyj)os of workers. There is the extremist and the moderate. It was the extremist who suffered defeat at the polls. The moderate for the most part with lmt few exceptions recognised where the extreme policy was heading, and so joined in helping the other parties to defeat the extremists. The law of tho land lias been very considerate to tho worker. It has helped him to create and constitute his unions, and acquire a strength which has built up Labor as a political force. There is not any ol>jeetion to that. The objection wos to the body of extremists who secured control of the party and by an extravagant policy alienated so much support of tho moderate worker. Tho political policy which would appeal most to the worker would he that which would tend to establish better relations between employer and employee and a policy which would not he an attack on soealled capitalism, hut an earnest effort to encourage industrial expansion by assuring stability in regard to work and production. One of tho great draw-hacks Labor is suffering from to-day is the readiness with which the workers of extreme views rush into strikes. Tho spirit of conciliation is dead. The lack of security is a. menace to capital, and has the effect of discouraging investment for industrial expansion. Many workers by frugality, or other means, have passed from the condition < I employee to employer. Cooperative workers and others who are fending for themselves must he realising the advantage of steady production and the benefits derived to those who are subjected to the rule of the strikers. The leaven of workers who have gained experience through such channels, must he an increasing number, and it is believable such would have an effect on the political policy of Labor. But it appears that the policy is left too often to the glib talker and agitator who makes his living by misleading, the workers. The genuine worker far too often leaves it to the man with a ready tongue to state, or perhaps mis-state the case, and the upshot and the result are disastrous. It is essential for Imtli Labor and Capital that workable conditions should exist between each. The prosperity of the country is bound up with the introduction of capital, and that can be encouraged solely by Labor being reasonable. There is a political problem to settle to bring the two forces, one complementary to the other, together fop mqtual l>enefit, nnc} n political po.

1 icy on such lines would do more for the genuine worker than all the other extraneous efforts extreme Labor makes under the guise of politics to confound tho real needs of the times for the benefit of genuine Labor.