ALLEGED CORRUPT LABOUR.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4443, 21 July 1922, Page 3

ALLEGED CORRUPT LABOUR.

STRONG DENUNCIATION BY MR. CATTS.

A bitter attack on the Labour movement was made by Mr. Catts (NS AV) in the Federal House of Representar tivos. Mr. Catts declared that the unemployment in New South Wales was due absolutely to the Labour movement. He said that the House was asked to refuse to pay the Civil servants in order to get an election, and Labour could do no good by an election at the present time. The unemployment in New South Wales had been due absolutely to the Labour movement. In 1920 Canadian financiers immediately after the election of the Labour Government offered the necessary finance for building the North Shore Bridge and the underground city railway. Both were matters of absolute urgency in Sydney. The Railway Commissioners had reported that the tramways were working 50 per cent, above, the safety point, and .the money was offered at a cheap rate. Before Queensland obtained money in New York at P er cent, the New South Wales Labour Government was offered by New York financiers £10,000,009 for ten years at 6 per cent, and if the rate o£ exchange had within that period returned to par, which it had already almost done, New South Wales would have had their money for nothing. Again, tihere was an offer of £300,000 to build a railway from Port Stepihens to Guyrn and Inverell, and the Labour Government would not accept it. Also £500,000 was offered to build the eastern suburbs railways, and that was refused. Local money was offered for the Ncrth Shore tramways, and that was i efused. Water and sewerage were required by wealthy suburbs. The municipality had offered to raise the money, and were refused. The reason was that M!r. Storey, the late Premier, said “that the rampant corruption in the movement made it impossible for the Ministers to administer their Departments.” The fatal ibiiess of Mr. Storey was largely precipitated by the onslaughts of the Tammany crowd in the Labour movement. Mr,. Storey had appealed to him to go to the conference in 1921 to save the Labour movement from a pack of savages. He bad said nothing of this before, but the timerhad cote when the New South Wales Labour movement could make no move that would rehabilitate itself in tihe confidence of the people unless there was a thorough cleaning out of that rottenness and corruption that was rampant throughout the control of. the movement in that State. He had important business of the workers to put before Parliament, and would do nothing to bring Parliament to an end at the present itme.