CLASSIC POLITICS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 958, 29 April 1930, Page 7

CLASSIC POLITICS

SOCRATES COMES TO PARNELL A FRIEND OF PARNELL Would Socrates, the ancient Athenian philosopher, be eligible as a candidate at the Parnell by-election? What would he think of the Reform Party, the United Party and the Labour Party judging them on their usefulness to the State? The Epsom Library Hall was redolent with the classics last evening when Mr. T. Bloodwortb, the Labour candidate, dragged Diogenes from nis tub, resurrected the dry bones of Christopher Columbus and dipped 2,350 years into the past to analyse the mind of Socrates. Mr. A. Rosser was in the chair, and Mr. W. E. Parry was also on the platform. “If Socrates came to Auckland” was the subject of Mr. Bloodworth’s ad dress. The speaker said that Mr. Endean had brought the subject up by stating that according to the speaker, Socrates would not be eligible at the by-election because he had had no previous experience of local body politics. “I am by nature a modest man,” said Mr. Bloodworth, “and I hate to speak of my qualifications before a body of electors. Still, as candidates we are entitled to cite our fitness for the job. We are not in the fight of our own choice, but because ot' the tolly of Mr. H. R. Jenkins. “Mr. Endean has said that according to me, Socrates would not be eligible for election in Parnell. This campaign has been very historical and interesting so far. Mr. Donald previously introduced Christopher Columbus on the United side. Later he produced Diogenes to support his contentions. We have had allusions to tin trumpets and penny whistles, and now we are going to deal with what Socrates would do.” Reference had been made to his meagre knowledge of the classics, said Mr. Bloodworth, and the fact that he did not have a university education. He admitted it freely. He had been too busy to do so. Socrates was famous as a Greek philosopher, said the speaker, reverting to Mr. Endean’s charge. He had never written anything so that it was feasible to suppose he could neither read nor write.

“Socrates was also an agitator closely concerned with the struggles between private interests and the public good,” said the candidate. “He opposed the election by lot of the Members of the Assembly in his day, so that he was the opponent of democracy as we know it today. He held that men should be elected on their merits.”

Had there been a daily Press in those old Athenian days Socrates would have been denounced by all journalists as an agitator. At 74, he was brought up for trial on a charge of corrupting the youth of the country and sentenced to death by 220 to 218 votes.

“As far as Parnell is concerned, Socrates would not be eligible unless he became a British subject,” said Mr. Bloodworth, “and he loved his own country so much that it is unlikely he would do so. Also, his fame as an agitator would have preceded him and it is likely that the Department of Internal Affairs would refuse him admission to the Dominion. “He would also have to be a resident of New Zealand for 12 months, at least as long as Mr. Donald. In addition, unless he changed his ideas, no party would have him, as he was opposed to the democratic vote.” Socrates would form his opinion of the worth of the Reform and United Parties by the answers he would receive when he asked questions about their records.

Mr. Bloodworth then produced a number of full-page advertisements in use at the last general election, giving an outline of the promises of the two parties concerned. Their record of unfulfilled promises would convince Socrates that they were unworthy of people’s confidence, said the candidate.

“It he came tonight, I feel certain that he would range himself alongside of me in arraigning Reform and United,” said Mr. Bloodworth. Concluding, the candidate said that Mr. Endean’s statement that a man with no local experience should be the best man because he was free of prejudices, was not borne out in practice. In ordinary life, when vacancies were advertised, applicants were asked to state their previous experiences, and politics should not be an exception.

The Labour Party did not aim at the socialisation of everything in New Zealand, but believed that those things that were socially necessary should be socially owned. Mr. Donald had said that Labour rule would give the race to the slowest, and not to the swiftest, which was untrue. Neither Mr. Donald nor the candidate were in their present positions because of their slowness or swiftness, but largely because of the circumstances of their birth. The Labour Party wanted to give everybody the same opportunity. In conclusion, Mr. Bloodworth said that the Labour Party generally opposed any action of the Soviet against the Empire, but he considered that trade should be resumed with Russia to provide work for British workmen. Mr. W. E. Parry delivered a short address on behalf of the candidate, and the meeting closed with a vote of thanks.