A LABOUR PROGRAMME

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8351, 11 February 1913, Page 6

A LABOUR PROGRAMME

The particulars appearing in ouf cable news this morning of the platx form adopted by the New South Wales Political Labour League are well worth a little study. Those people who aro too apt to generalise, and to classify all political Labour activity us so much demagogy, will, of course, spend no time in examining this programme on its merits. But tho Mother State of Australia will in a few months have to elect a now Parliament, and must choose between tho platform now presented and that which will bs produced by that unhappy party of pseudo-Liberalism led by tho unimaginative Mr AA r ade. The Now South Wales Labour Government now in of* lice has perhaps not quite covered itself with glory, and has certainly had an adventurous career, but wo doubt if tho majority of the electors do not very much prefer the McGowen Ministry to tho best that could emerge from tho Opposition fusion. There is nothing very alarming, at all events, in what Labour nowj proposes. Abolition of the Legislative Council and of tho office o), State Governor aro the boldest pro« posals. Tho latter is not without merit or reason, for it is conceivable that tho. upkeej) of six State gubernatorial establishments in in addition to that of an overlord, by four and a half million people, may strain rather than foster loyalty. The rest of tho programme is broadly on tho lines of tho Liberal policy under which New Zealand progressed and prospered for over twenty years. This broadening of citizen rights and tho franchise in respect of local government, tho widening of educational facilities, tho State maintenance of hospitals, the special care of maternity and protection of child-life —all of those might have been taken from tha policies of Ballanoe, Seddon, and Ward which wore pursued with great advantage to the community in Now Zealand. The proposal to establish State ironworks will'meet with violent opposition on tho part of vested interests, which Mr AVade and all tha Tories will defend to the -last ditch j but, whether this proposal is wise or otherwise, the days have passed when Governments need hesitate to launch into such enterprises in so far as ihe principle is concerned. In dcmocratia countries, these propositions are nowadays merely questions of arithmeticTho plank in tho Labour platform that wi]l encounter tho most violent antagonism deals with tho land question. It is proposed to stop tho sal® of Crown lands and go in for soma further taxation of land values. Ths policy of tho party on this important matter cannot, of course, bo fully discussed. without much more information, hut something drastic is certainly required in New Sbuth Wales to bring about closer occupation of tho soil. The census taken last year showed that several rural districts had actually lost population in tho last ten years. The tendency of the community to accumulate in the cities is a tragic phase of Australia’s development. It needs arresting, particularly in New South Wales, where not half of the population is rural and more than 38 per cent, is in Sydney. Tha Labour League is wise in its moderation. It does not want to seize tha earth or to abolish wage-earning, but it is, wo believe, honestly desirous of steadily improving national conditions.