The Manawatu Herald. Tuesday, November 26, 1912. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1031, 26 November 1912, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Tuesday, November 26, 1912. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Mr John Robertson, M.P. for this constituency, writes us as follows:

You have a leader in your issue of the 21st (Thursday last), in which you quote a lot of stuff from the Voice of Labour, which you allege is the mouthpiece of the United Labour Parly. You have no ground whatever lor

saying that the paper referred to is the mouthpiece of the U.L.P. It is not the mouthpiece of anyone but its owners and those in whose interest they find it pays to write, and that is

certainly not the Labour Party, or indeed any, section ot the workers, I write also because you say you “wonder what Mr

John Robertson will think of this.” Well, under the circura-

stances I will tell you : I think you are extremely gullible to be taken-in by the Voice of Labour, run by Black (of Black pamphlet notoriety), whose publications in the past have been more violent than were ever the publications of the Federation of Labour, and who has always been suspected of working in the interests of money-bags (brewers and otherwise.) I also think that if you must write about me you might try to keep within

cooec of the facts. It would be I just as true to say that I had put my seryices at the disposal

of the police as it is to say I bad put them at tbe disposal of tbe Federation. I think, also, that I am utterly opposed to anarchy, and also to anarchist methods, whether used by the Federation of Labour, the Arbitraliouists at Waihi, W, F. Massey wheu dealing with the land question, or yourself whcu writing about the member for Otaki,

P.S. —I And ou looking at the Labour page of Saturday’s N.2. Times that the whole question of the Voice of Labour aud its position is dealt with, and I commend the matter to your own and your readers’ notice.

Whatkvkr Mr Robertson may say to the contrary, the Voice ol Labour claims to be a mouthpiece of the U.L.P. It may not be ihc mouthpiece of the U.L.P., and in so designating it we crave the pardon of the member for Otr.ki. Whether the paper is run by Black or Brown, or in the iuteiests of money-bags or brewers is, after all, beside the point. The paper in the article we quoted, charges the executive of the U.L.P. with truckling to the Syndicalist Federation of Labour instead ol making it plain to the people of New Zealand that the United Labour Party is a party of constitutional reform, and therefore the declared enemy of anarchism ; it further staled that the U.L.P. executive was dominated ty syndicalist sympathisers and allies of the Federation of Labour, the open champions of syndicalism, anarchy and 1.W.W.-ism in New Zealand. We asked what Mr Robertson thought of this, and instead of taking us into his confidence he talks about the ownership of the paper. We are pleased to know that Mr Robertson is opposed to anarchy or anarchist methods, because his speeches in the House on the Waihi strike would lead one to suppose that his sympathies were with the Federation.

A numbkr of flaxmillers in this district purchase their flax or raw material from owners of the land on which the phormium teuax grows, on a sliding scale. The sliding scale or price paid is based upon the High Commissioner’s report. As the demand for New Zealand hemp increases or decreases so also the market prices rise and fall and the royalty fluctuates with it. Many people are under the impression that tbe higher the market price for hemp the greater the profits for tbe miller. That holds good if the miller is operating on his own flax fields, but on royalty paid raw material the owner of the blades reaps the greater reward. However, we do not desire to deal with that fase of the question. It will be seen, therefore, how essential it is that the High' Commissioner’s cable should state the accurate ruling prices at the beginning of each month, as any cabled inaccuracy inflicts a loss on either one or other of the parlies. From enquiries we have made it would appear that the High Commissioner’s late cables have been misleading, and we would suggest that the millers cable the Commissioner that more careful scrutiny be given to the market operations in London —as a good deal of dissatisfaction is being expressed by a number of those interested.