The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1931. ENLIGHTENING.

Hokitika Guardian, 22 October 1931, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1931. ENLIGHTENING.

Doubtless when l the alarms and excursions of the general election at Home have in due course subsided, the outstanding feature of the great struggle will be the speeches of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr IJ.1 J . Snowden. Mr Snowden is not a candidate for a Commons seat at the present election, owing to the state ot his health, but he is in office still, and from his room in Downing Street he is broadcasting highly important statements on the real issue before the country. As one of the fqremast Labour leaders of the party he occupies a place an-d 'standing in the political picture, perhaps unrivalled by any other figure on the horizon. He has had always, the respect of all parties, and because of that eminence, liis words carry the greater weight. In his addresses! over the air he has traced the cause oi the present ciisis very clearly. It was not an unexpected development to him. He disclosed the position to his party in February last, but his remarks passed unheeded because he counselled economy in social services feo dear to the Labour mind. But the country continued headlong on its way, and at last in August it was revealed the Labour Party was at the parting of the ways. The party had to decide for party or country. Mr Ramsay MacDonald, Mr Snowden, Mr Tuotnas, and others, elected to take what was considered the safe course of economy, and call to their aid a Nation, nl Government. His own words aie •significant. “Some of us. all of whom have a lifetime service in the Labour movement, decided to put the country before party. We also knew that unless we faced up to the crises all we had worked for and won in the social amelioration, would he lost, and 'urther ad Vi ■ "e rendered impossible.” Here spoke the r ie friend of Labour. Thf.M he <7oes fr 1 her and traverses the election manifesto of Labour in which he shoots holes, and makes a final a P~ peal for full support of the National

Government. Of peculiar interest is his reference to the financial details of the Opposition proposals, particularly in relation to banking. He rightly says: “The Labour Party’s programme is the most fantastic and impracticable ever put before the electors. The proposal to nationalise the banks, control investments, mobilise foreign investors to finance a madcap policy, is not Socialism—it was Bolshevism run mad. If the programme be taken seriously it will destroy every vestige of confidence and plunge the country into irretrievable ruin.” Evidently Opposition Labour has lost the guiding hand of its sane financier. The declaration here quoted is worthy of note by Labour lenders throughout the Empire. All too often we hear Labour proposing to mobilise credit and cutting at the very security of a well established banking system. Mr Snowden’s words are corrective. Coming from such a source they should carry the fullest weight and bo an opinion to quote for all time.