CHRISTCHURCH COMMENTS.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 3, Issue 57, 12 April 1912, Page 10

CHRISTCHURCH COMMENTS.

industrial Exhibition—Court CaseThat Labor Column—Socialist Progress—Labor and Labor Papers. Readers will probably remember that a fow weeks before the general election,? tho local celebrities of the Trades Council decided to hold an Industrial ExhibiticD. It was realised that that

was a good time to bleed the Gov< miiiviit, and so they asked and -worn granted a subsidy or bonus of £'f>oo. No one seems clear on wltal that subsidy was granted; if it was on the pro-lits--well, they aro like snakes in Jrclainl, there ain't any; if on the takings, well it will rest with the Public Auditor to say who gets it, because it isn't quite clour who got the most of the takings. Apropos, there was a court caw here the oilier week. One gentleman who has figured largely in the- Labor movement lately, and who was engage*' to bust up the- Revolutionary Socialists, sued his comrades of the Trades Council for £73 7s. lid. (he might, have made up tJiat other penny) for what lie called out-of-pocket expenses, made up oi hire of nioUn-cars, oa-bs, shouting, drinks, gold nibs, fountain pens, and all the. incidentals necessary to_ a permanent paid ' secretary who is only getting £3 per week salary. There was a lot of "laundry work" done at the Magistrate's Court, and our friend Bishop (the magistrate who fined young Cooke double because he had a red tie on) must have- enjoyed himself. One witnoss (who is a Labor J.P.) said there was a, lot of drinking going on. Another said: "The whole exhibition had boon mismanaged from the beginning." (And yet theso gentlemen think they could run tho Dominion 1) Now, the fact is, this particular gentleman who sued the Trades Council was for a time tlie "Pooh Bah" of the little clique that is trying its hardest to wreck what was once a real good Council; he was also the secretary of the Municipal Representation Committoo, and received a large salary for so being. He is well known for his good (?) work towards Labor in Dunedin, and I suppose has served a purpose hero. Anyway, the whole thing left, a nasty taste- in the mouth. The business of tho children's sports committee and now this exhibition have had a bad effect in Labor circles, and it is to be hoped that there will be an end to it, and that before long we shall again have a united Labor movement in Canterbury; but until they find out what became of tho £179 14s. 7d. that is alleged to have gone astray everyone will bo suspicious of the other fellow. There is a deliberate attempt being made here by tho writer of an alleged Labor column to try and widen the breach between the Labor Party and the Socialist Party. This gentleman never misses an opportunity to misrepresent tho Revolutionary Socialist p&sition. One can only think this is because ho was once a member, and now regrets leaving us. Well, it is hardly kind on his part, and we sincorely hope ho will soon see the error of his way. At a social to one of his colleagues tho other evening ho said that "the Labor Party was receiving tho most o* the opposition from tho Revolutionaries." Now, that is not quite in accordance with fact. Tho L.P. opposed all tho Socialist candidates at the late elections in Canterbury, and the Socialist Party did not oppose one Labor man. Our friend does not like the word "revolutionary," and it is rather refreshing to read that Dr. Gore, Bishop of Oxford, quite recently said: "I dare anyone of you to say that what Ho (Christ) preached was not a 'revolutionary' doctrine, which wo have got over again to digest, and nwike our own." The Bishop was speaking of tho social conditions in England at the time, and said further that poverty is on a worse- scale to-day than it was in tho time of Christ. However, in spite of all theso gloomy happenings, wo Socialists have a lot to bo thankful for; we axe pushing these people into becoming Socialists themselves, and what does it matter if they aro balked by shadows? —they will soon get over thorn. Wo are having some real good Socialist meetings hero. Every Saturday ovening our young comrades take the platform in the Square to boom "The Worker"; Sunday afternoons, Square again; 7 p.m. finds us again in t?ie Square; 8 p.m. in the hall. Recently we had a lino address by our Comrade O'Bryan Hoare on "Party Politics." Tho hall was full to the doors, and our comrade got a splendid hearing. Whilst we were keeping the inside meeting going, our I.W.W. comrades were "addressing an overflow meeting in the Square. If these meetings do not soon have some effect on tho people here, I shall be much surprised. Great dissatisfaction exists in the union ranks over the methods adopted by the Labor "fakirs" re their official organ. Borne two years ago a certain Labor leader decided to boom 1 tho Wellington Labor paper (on commission). Each union was approached for money and many of them responded. Tho General Laborers voted £25, and other unions gave like sums or took up shares. The paper turned many corners in the course of its career, but they had to drop the commission to tho local boomer, and the boom burst; but still we wore assured that tho paper hod "just turned the, corner again," and everything was all right with our shares. Now wo find tho samo party (on commission again) booming a new Labor papei from Auckland, and trying the old game of bleeding tho unions. But tho unions are not being caught so easily this time. Tho new thing looks too Black. But still the unions want to know "Wba-ft'or?" At tho last meeting of the General Laborers they decided to contribute their shares in No. 1 Labor paper to the Mills Unity Scheme on

the first of April. They argued the host was good enough for them, so they decided to titko "The Worker." —THE VAG.