The Grey Political Campaign.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 3, Issue 43, 5 January 1912, Page 8

The Grey Political Campaign.

ArEvent of Organised Labor in the Field of Politics.

By BALLOT-BOX.

Fur tiro first time in the political history oi \Ue Grey an industrially org:iiii-.ei! i lii.rt was made to win this st.ii i>; f!i" iiiieresl* oi Labor. A political Labor consisting of liK'inl -!>rs i'roin aflilir.tcd and federatetl unii'Ds wiiiiin the electorate was formed. |:u!itir:il aeti 'i! whs debated, and f]iin; ; \ d'-itlfd upuri : sympathetic areas we;: i: i;\ .tSM.d Id- Itnids. nominations ior i;a i-ainbihiti' wvie called for and revived, a selection was made, sub-sti-iptions ci.nio in. .mil, well in time Jor the e;.mi>iiign. Labor's champion eU-w<.', into j in- jv. liLicul arena, with a, i-;.l"i .oniideiic. born of the rightconsiM ss oi die rau-e. and prepared tc appeni n> i.li Icllort workers in a iit'U'i oi imiiisxrv f-iir the common owneisl.j)' oi all national industries,, for th &:--iaiisitiou of iiie n.. ..us of productio),. i.ii.l t<, brii,-. in fiict, right dowi: into the h< Id ol j.risetical politics the gieat iiielerlying p: ;-icipl<-s of Industrial l"ui<jiiiviii ai.d tilt vi-ioiitific principle <ii .Miirxiaii <■-niuiinics. The Can-:!ielf.te. 'ill. man whs Mr. P. C. \\i-\A-. \#ll kiie.vh k> ihe readers ot "Tho'Worker, , ' well known to the w<>rk-■ i> oi the Circ\. and well known to ot those who siudy the aliairs ot L«b:ir in New or who take any not,, ol tiios-c \iliu arc out ailer tiiv siiciai ueliaie ol U«.' people ol tins Dominion. The ma;; proved him sell wo; thy of the mission; he came thioui'b <iie st niggle more aduninJ thnn !:<• entered H: he rehorted to no foul pohtieal trickery ; he fought lair: he earned the ;]>-l mto vu--- fai-t'><'f wll Kiultli<->l' ; ''l.;.!t. ; I.- uon in V »d S ami made fri.-iids e\c! y ,vl:ere : litiw out-of-Hie-way Har;'..-tnw:! -eve nini -•

vo!f'- to 2.H.i.ini him to conn' bail, iv-ain. He il'iraica Gunmen ir. Tavlomllo. a place in wmen tin; Kin-lit had reified supremo .or 2m vo-]-V \\cW' <M •". good heariny: no poiiti'-iil candidate lias over got a belter hiring tliiui in.- reeeued in the Oi i. House Gi'Vii.i.'itli, the nigiit U-l..';t iho frhy. !:■ j-.-tiH«=d hi:-soil 01l the platform. :..«! three loiijz ~,,i!!i. he JH«t.ifi.-.! throughout [h, counti-y and pi. ne.-:<*l the distnei; !,u.! i.«veJ the way ■■■ • " cxt h);!,r The Ci'g&nisaLionTh. ..rgai.isatioii worked "<)1; t!;< iin.iii' ;'i.ii uiii--:is »t Uimanga an-l l-l-i'' l.ali r.ilr-TiLcd ■" 11 and supjwrto] v.,,1!: on thp wl.-i-f. too., at Gin. \V<■.!.!•. ii':n? f:ifii(!". ' ni it is to bo ro<■;<•;;'d fiat tin/ vhifr.side wovU-.ts 11,..;.- ♦■jiimot f"'C tl' iv w.iy to join tho l-Vd.ration <>i Lalci- f.nd so knit up Ml- whole of th-t- uhiM.s on the Uiast ink, oi!f jiru::d ii>du> t vvA and politn-a! If t!-..y wouh! hut do this both B:i1!<t ami C>v> v rould oasiiy Jw marked "P.. s. "v.-.l' , for Lrb-.r. 1-.Lk iil.'iili «as soli*!. '!;;,viorvillo «a' Icyal. 'rhi.'i'o «"•■■!•<■ fju.-t triends of or;ra)iLabor in Cuinl-M. more i« lilal:*'U,\vn. and tin , i.o';.'. voters of i. : ■ <), ( t:«lo lli.d ;•. «Mat tor tin' {~;.:rvdili-d t-li.-vi'.pioii oi the cause. Runanga. P. iir..-s!>.-a st'txl .pro-f-niiimut. It do(,,l'vc. a word ap:nt. Webb. 418: (iiiinnrss 84, '\w~nt-. for itself. The ■hltlt Villas wti : i; .-:i dwinn the past Ki< n yor.vs lias iintinicl so many (Jm.s.v iiuu^urjit'<l M 1 lur.nj' hiftiu;-tii.'-is. si.i.l! an ininctus to indusiriul sent so many repi'<ni,t;itii-> and i/iiuinpions fortli to net Willi lli-ir fvllov.s i):r«ii«liout Xoiv Z'-al.-.iid, bi.'lir.v-f'd liko. it-elf on D"c 7. 11 «v.Ti vand to st-c it: nion and wuivieii all tnvniiiji out. ■ lass-roiiscH)UK : cfilnilv di-fenniiK'd. ■.■nihusiastie, n-<\]-jsitiji'lliu iwfchiijiliiii-.-- and the probahil>iies. and catching V- as it v.-ero taiw.l trym'j; to act it) of that Good Time C'oniin;:', wlu'ii organised industrial Labor's prrso-ality shall assunii' jtH proper plinjo ainoiiji; the eoimuis of tlic nations, when Labor's voice will be hoard in dictatorial oratory whore now it is only heard in the voice of lilcadinu; and supplierition, when Labor, lestint; "after its toil, shall yiyc its workers the product', of their toillull measure. realised all this. It proved for itself that organised Labor can and will support its own and the picof can.'.- true The Lessons ef the Pol!. And now, truth to toll, the poll told us soniethinj.;. Our political campaign lias its lessens for the worker; its Illicit side 1 hiivc attempted to present, but it revealed weaknesses too. They :<rc to be told here, elso this article Lad never bison written. Political action was much discussed. We found out that we began quite pooh em>ujih. Finance was hard to luise; eollvcti-ju bc::cs must be placed fit- pay offices ar.d r<t every available jilaco, and nsoney must be raised in Final! donations everywhere and right up to the next contest; social functions, both to favor the movement and ■to raise funds, must be held in Uluokb.ill. Diinollie, Kunanga, Cobden, Fiarvytown. Blakutown, Greyniouth, Taylorville and elsewhere. A political address must be given in ♦ aeh centre quarterly, or monthly if possible. The political programme must bo revi;j:xl. It is cumbersome, awkward, too wordy and too long. This is no man's fault, of course. It was struck out in a hurry, but we aie not going to be in a hurry always. The. political council must be reinforced, lit retitswitation must also

be wider. No harm in having a man from any place or part, co , long as his political, industrial, and economic doctrine is sound. '

The candidate, too, must be given more assistance- I do not mean in the speech-making so much as in tho clerical work. P. H. Hickey, who fought in similar circumstances at Waihi, had a secretary always in attendance to attend to correspondence, to answer wires, to write rejoinders, etc. Enough said. Our candidate had nothing of the kind j he had to be his own "advance" in many instances. It may, of course, be all financial reason; still, il. wo are to fight in politics we must use the ordinary weapons of politics, so long as they are clean weapons. In the press, too, it must be the object of the council to have writers ..li.) can hit home the Labor points to the ordinary mind; more time must b< , laken; the political pamphlet, short, r-mp, bright, still has a use. And. lastly, the executive of the Political Labor Council must make a big effort to meet in Grey mouth for thu last three clays before the fight. This is imperative. So many things happen at the last: wild rumors lill the air, important decisions may have to I>e arrived at in an hour; you want a ••■>f>tnil agency, you want a rallying poiu€. These words are not mere idle criticism. Remember this, readers of "The •.Vorkor" in the Grey; your opponents not to call them by any harder name) .vill run you a more costly, a more determined, and a much bitterer struggle list when they see you have a chance >f winning! The future is full of hope. Wher•vrr there was industrial organisation r .supported you. It will again ; 3G'.X : <U1 to LViOO odd only requires the turr'ug of 500 or 000 votes to make a poliieal victory: a moral victory you got ■ ast time. Tiie political forn; of Lnbor \a coining in N<'\v Zealand: people o! •oinniOM .sense :-<-v fast losing politics! !'nit-li in the old type of politician. vhose platitudes no longer tingle in r-he <>c,r. whose shibboleths ;:rc tattoreci and t■ :• 11 by Uie politi; r,l ' roi /.e, «-l'o.? puluM-; 1 gi.'ipd is falsified mi' every !:;ii J. •<:;: } v.\--u.-.v pn'i.ici! sun has ii. ■•<-•:. I:' V..!:!•: in the £ -e:.t crisis <:f :.;')H. There will be quite a few fallen po'i- ; ici:l idols in Now Zealand during the next few y<ars; tiie day is radinnt wit], jii-oniis-c; young minds arc thinking, young heaiVs are beating: the political ■is well as th ■ industrial forers arc ■i;:Ulierii;g :>r.:i solidifying: old po!itic;:J eini;:res ai. lettering ;it is not th.' i-i.si> of a new political ''party" in th;' ■1J party sense; a new system of politics is evolving; it is rapidly fructiiyng; it will soon be a coiicret-f fad: people know it. people feel it, and the worker must realise it. Workers of the Grey, the stnig;-'h= ..•> full ol inspiration and confidenco. :<j.i have .s.;c.ij'ic(jd inucJi. You have .ait up a -)-! ii'Kd example of working- ■ 'liiss folidnrity; you have shown your fellow wo;ki;;'s all through the Dominion that you can stand shoulder to :;h'.>uli!er ,ar.d tiirit the faith and trust of the wo'.kc; , ii) his own institutions remains unbroken at tho conclusion of your tir.it political battle.

You have sacrificed much, but what matter? The good done, is never lost. iDiir workiny-class philosophy lms btcu everywhere. You can put Uμ a candidate and find speakers and writer:, in tho Gr:"'y electorate any year or ;;ny time against whom the concentrated forces of capitalism cannot los.'i■jiilly stain!, andj when the scat is won and the Huik-r saat won and all other <■');;is tliat are industrially fought are ivon, tho aspect of industrial things viill be greatly changed; your position will btb stronger, your Federation will be stronged, and the revolutionary representatives of organised Labor will, in every souse, l>o the greatest power in the land. It might be well to add here that our candidate got support in other places too and from electors who although not actual members of an ind'u.si vial organisation, yet displaced towards him that spirit of fairness and impartiality which was, to say the least ol' it, wry encouraging. There wore isolated individuals, too, throughout the electorate, who used tho pencil in our favor without outward professions, which was such a characteristic feature of the larger indiutikil centres of the Grey, and to those and all others wo can feel nothing but gratitude.; the more so, too, because we feel confident that, as time goes <jn. and working-class philosophy spreads, these will ho found only the pioneers of an over-widening circle of political adherents whoso, support, once given, will never be lost to our C'uise.

All men ami women arc born into a social system in tJio constitution of uhkh thoy have had no share. That fact aLiic is a challenge to them tv study the laws and constitution of society, so as to cnablo them to leave tlieii mark on it, and mould the system to their will. Yet most human beings are content to live passive!;, uifder conditions that are a disgrace to humanity and a reproa<h to thiiiiiselves. Atscrt your right to shape thy conditions of life for. yourselves and your children.

Our life is <in apprcutirosli'-p tr> th<truth that around 'every circle auotlier can be. dnnvn ; that there is 110 <mk! in Nalr.'.T, Lv.t every end is a bepjnmnj:: that there is always srr.otlur daw 11 risci; on mid-noon, and under every doqi a lower deep o^ens. —Emerson. • • * Hast thon valued patience, oi'iiir.efs to liyht, ar.d readiness to oi'ii thy inistaktß? In wrestling with the dim, brute powers of Nature thou wiit continually loj;rn. For every nol/x , purpose tho possibilities arc diffused throughout, immensity —undiscu. erable escept tc faith.- Carlylo^

Every aye is ralh-.d v.p'>n to f.-uv r.r,. settle its own prolans. The dini<;* it to-day cannot be carried out by lisn-r.-iny to tlic Yokes of the I'iifct. »<■•■• ::uist act in accord with the Spi:;; • .' ihp Aye, which deivai.ds new tlnu-' i and new methods for ti.e solution -f i:(>w problems. * » * All Knturo is but Art uiiknowii to li.w . I't'rcl'.aiiCCj direction uiat thou c<11.. , ; not sco; All discord hunnony not undcrsUxui. All partial ovil Univorsfii yood. —Alexander Po]h.