THE SOCIALIST MENACE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 2702, 1 March 1924, Page 4

THE SOCIALIST MENACE.

WHERE THE CHIEF DANCER LIES.

In considering the growth of Socialism, which is intended to destroy all rights of private ownership of land and capital, there are two views of the situation which ought to be avoided. One is that the Socialists are preparing for an armed revolution and that they favour a violent upheaval to overthrow the existing order of society. An armed revolution would he speedily suppressed, therefore it is not the evil of violence we have to fear at present. The other view which we need to guard against is that where there is no violence all is safe. This view is altogether too widely prevalent at present. For the individual it is a pleasant method of self assurance requiring no effort of thought and therefore readily adopted by many. It is said, for instance, of the Socialist leaders in England— Messrs McDonald, Clyncs and others —“these are very sound men, only concerned with the welfare of the workers, and they do not really believe in the capital levy, nationalisation of industries and the rest of the socialist revolutionary programme.” This view is mischievous because it ignores the actual facts. The Socialist leaders at Home and here as well, may polish their language to suit the public taste and present their case in the most moderate terms possible, yet it is an illusion to believe that they mean anything ultimately but the enforcement of socialist policy in the direction of “the socialisation of the means of production, distribution and exchange” and “control of all industries by the workers who operate them.” They have stated those as their objectives too many times for- there to be any doubt about it. “There is danger of violence hut no fear of the Socialists political skill.” That is one false view held bv many. “As there are no pronouncements for violence there is no danger at all” —that is the other false view born out of indolence and fostered by the Reds to lull the people to sleep. Let us see where the actual danger lies. The mass of the people arc apathetic, even in the business community we find this. They do not realise what the abolition of private ownership and control of land and industries would mean in the way of social upheaval, or they think, lazily, “Oh, it will never come” even whilst it is coming by degrees in their own country. Meanwhile the Socialists are actively pursuing their course of permeation. They have in a large measure captured the Trades Unions and changed them from industrial bodies into parts of the one political machine of which they are the masters. This enables them to levy on the wage-earn-ing mass and so secure the financial means of spreading their socialist doctrines. From that base they are pushing forward into all sections of the community Universities, Schools churches, Civil Service, clubs and institutions of many kinds are being tinged with the red dye of socialism, introduced by socialist labour advocates. For a time some of these talked wildly who have since lea nit the wisdom of the serpent—without acquiring the harmlessness of the dove, or even a good watch dog—they have become astute politicians ready to use all the methods of camouflage and deception to serve.their own politi cal ends. At present they are keeping their foot hard down on the soft pedal so as to induce the public to believe they are quite good boys who could not do anything wrong. The trump card with which they hope to win to power is the pose of moderation. This is where the grave danger of present-day socialist propaganda rests, that it is so cunningly designed as to mislead the public with regard to what is intended. In a verv real way the moderate socialism jfhesented is more dangerous than the violent extremism of the communists. The latter make a frontal attack on society whereas the so-called moderate socialists use all the methods of espionage, camouflage and false professions which are calculated to hoodwink and disarm their opponents. Prominent Socialists say they aim at destroying the existing social system gradually. They will devote much time to sapping and mining the system. Because the process is not one of sudden change many are led to believe that their interests are safe in' the hands of the nice moderate gentlemen. This is the present menace that confronts us when people of all classes are prepared to ignore the actual objective for which the Socialists are strenuously working and rest satisfied with coloured political professions. In Russia the Communists did not enforce socialism first; they gave the peasants land in exchange for support and to others likewise, then, having got the power they put their socialism into operation. The much-lauded “moderate socialists” arc prepared to give almost anything for power. If the people give them this power completely then they will enforce their real socialist programme. Whether violence will ensue or not will be governed not by the beliefs of individuals—given ' a Socialist majority in office and large indus- j trial strikes the social fabric may be rent in shreds though the Labour leaders individually are opposed to all violence. What has to be kept in mind is that nation as well as individual may be destroyed by poison just as effectively as by the more brutal methods of violence. It is the evil of poison injection into the body politic we are now faced with. Because it is slow poisoning

some say there is no danger oblivious of the fact- that the dose is being constantly increased and the resistance becoming weakened. Here lies the actual menace. 4 (Contributed by the S.Z. Welfare League).