TWO KINDS OF LABOUR.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1893, 22 October 1918, Page 3

TWO KINDS OF LABOUR.

In ;'M editorial comment on the New PL mouth election, the Maoriiand Worker remarks: — “Uni orlunalely Lahonr cannot claim a victory. Mr 8. (1. Smith, the successful candidate, is a worker truly, hut lie certainly does not seem |o have won on working-class principles. If he has been correctly represented in the press, and that stipulation is always necessary, he even went to considerable pains to dissociate himself from Labour, particularly from advanced and militant Labour. Ho repudiated the suggestion that he was a ‘Red Fed,’ a repudiation which, while something for Socialists to be thankful about, was quite unnecessary in view of what Mr Smith avowedly stood for. After the perusal of Mr Smith’s speeches we are sure no one would ever dream of accusing him of being anything other than a belated example of the almost extinct Conservative working man.

“Mr Smith made it clear that he was not a Labour ‘agitator.’ Labour ‘agitators’ must owe Mr Smith a debt of gratitude for establishing that fact. After all, Labour ‘agitators’ find it necessary to exorcise some discrimination in selecting their associates. They must draw the line somewhere. When that line is drawn by the individual principally concerned, a lot of trouble is saved. Nothing remains but to return sincere thanks.

“Mr Smith’s peculiar brand of Conservatism included the usual “win-the-war,’ ‘crush German militarism’ chip-trap. He is not in favour of repealing the Military Service Act during the war. That means, apparently, that lie is a Gonscriptionist. In that position Mr Smith is opposed to the clearly-ex-pressed views of the organised workers of New Zealand.”