PUBLIC OPINION

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8351, 11 February 1913, Page 3

PUBLIC OPINION

THE LABOUR PARLIAMENT To the Editor "K.Z. Times." Sir—No answer has appeared to my letter of January 31st, in which i ashea how many adherents the federation ot Labour numbered. At present it seems, from the very meagre details published, that Labour generally is committed to "Syndicalism. 1 think it would not be out o£_ place it some recognised exponent of Labour tavoured me with some reply to this. Syndicalism means a general strike, followed by chaos, a "revolution ot society, followed by a ‘‘seizure’ of the earth’’ by the workers, who would all produce what the spirit moved them, tou can get an exact parallel m what happens when a caterpillar becomes a chrysalis. The whole body turns to a sort of cream, and out of this the butterfly is built up. The organs ot the caterpillar are not changed into those of the butterfly. Now any student of history can tell you what a general strike, carried to the limit, would produce. First chaoo. then a provisional government, then a dictator. Hence 1 consider syndicalism pure nonsense, and I don't believe one worker in ten would support it. Ordinary unionism I believe in. tv means a continual struggle for more wages, and 1 do really believe that the mere fact of raising a man’s wages civilises his children ii it doesn’t alter the man himself. Socialism means to me merely the extension of State functions. Thia human ises the workers and makes them lit to collaborate in ■ further extension. X see nothing to fear in it. If we ever get them decently human, I see no reason why private property should not eventually be limited to what a man really produces or earns. Whatever objections thero may be to the State ‘‘interfering" with our lives, matters could not be more topsy-turvy than they are at present, when a man like Carnegie gets as his pay. say, fifty millions, while a man like Matthew Arnold, to whom we owe more than words can tell, dies poor. The American Socialists proposed to expel the syndicalists. They regard them as hopeless cranks that only do the cause ot Labour harm. Should any labour leader answer this, 1 may as well put my question again in a modified form. The following will do: Is there at present any organised body that commands the confidence of Labour generally P If so, what is its name, its official platform, and how many adherents has it?—l am, etc.. WAIKXMA.