"LABOUR IN POLITICS.”

Shannon News, 11 April 1922, Page 3

"LABOUR IN POLITICS.”

ADDRESS BY MR MOSES AYRTON

A very interesting address on “Labour in Politics” was given under the auspices of the Shannon Labour Party by Mr Moses Ayrton on Friday evening. The audience, although small, was, as usual in Shannon, orderly and attentive.

The -speaker dealt with the present economic situation and New Zealand’s position relating to the markets of Europe. The safety of a nation, he contended, was not in how many warships she could launch, nor how vast a mass of armed men she could place in the field of war, but in -the way in which such nation acted to her neighbours in their political and trade relationships. Until the European markets were fully opened and free intercourse between Europe and. ourselves was reestablished, New Zealand could not return to her former business place as an exporter of primary products. The Massey Government, Mr Ayrton contended, had pursued a ruinous policy in allowing land speculation to get such a hold in the country, and its only method of dealing with unemployment was to discharge many of the public servants, thus adding to the number of men and women without employment. The Liberal Party had not a policy to bring forward, and was bankrupt, of ideas in the face ofjserious unemployment crises. .

The Labour Party was the only group seeking Parliamentary election with a sound constructive policy and a definite plan of action, and the only party that stood for human rights as opposed to the policy of Liberals and Reformers—the building up of vested interests and the lowering of the people’s standard of living.

At the conclusion of the address, Mr Ayrtoft was thanked and applauded.