TRADE UNIONS AND DEMOCRACY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22986, 15 September 1936, Page 8

TRADE UNIONS AND DEMOCRACY

Trade unionists throughout the Dominion are likely to be flattered, rather than otherwise, at the Ministerial attention which they are receiving. Of homilies of a hortative, advisory or scolding character addressed to them by members of the Government there has been a sequence of late. This argues uneasiness, of course, on the part of the Labour Government, which, while well content to have trade unionism to lean upon, is not happy at the idea of being pushed by it into a turbid current that might speedily carry it to oblivion. The question of the preservation of its leadership in the land of promise seems to be troubling it under pressure of trade unionist assertion. Speaking upon this theme, the Minister of Education has introduced some very interesting and portentous considerations. His observations suggest that the Government is apprehensive of being embarrassed to such an extent by trade union agitation as to be made to appear ridiculous. The Government wants industry to go on normally. But the trade unions have put it where it is, and they are very hard to satisfy. Therefore, though the Minister confesses that he does not like to have to make that kind of appeal, they have to be reminded that the duty of a good trade unionist is to see that industry is kept going “ to enable the Labour Government to carry out its programme for abolishing poverty for ever.” As the Minister of Education is not particularly given to humour this little sally on his part is quite welcome. He has warned the trade unions that

they are. making things impossible for the Government and imperilling its prospects of continuance in office, and that if they are not careful the Government will crash, and democracy will crash, and the last state of the trade unions will be worse than the first as forces step in that will not bother about the ballot box or “ any of that sort of nonsense.” So the choice placed before trade unionists is to help the Labour Government or to see it give place to a dictatorship. Mr FraseV has made considerable play with his talk of the threat to democracy—of which he seems to think New Zealand is the last stronghold—but little reminder should be needed that under a so-called democratic Government there may be dictatorship. The Ministry of Transport has already assumed the status of a dictator in a small way in this country. An interesting message from Sydney records that many trade unions in New South Wales have joined a movement for the ending of the period of “Fascist dictatorship ” directed by the executive of the State Labour Party. Mr Lang is the object of their principal attack. When Mr Lang was in power a dictatorship assuredly existed, and should he get back to power it would exist again. In some countries there is of course the danger of democracy coming under the heel of dictatorships of the kind that exist in Italy and Germany, but the sentiment of British communities is strongly opposed to that sort of thing, which is the very antithesis of freedom. Mr Fraser has made a bright effort, however, to represent the Labour Government in New Zealand as the prop and pillar of democracy and the one bulwark against a dictatorship. Ancf the trade unions are to understand that they dictate to it at their peril.