MR TREGEAR'S SOCIALISM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8146, 2 July 1906, Page 2

MR TREGEAR'S SOCIALISM.

EMPLOYERS' FEDERATION DEMAND HIS REMOVAL. PBB PBESS ASSOCIATION. Dtoedin, July 1. The secretary of the Employers Federation, instructed by the Advisory Board, lhas wtitten to the Hon. W Hall-Jones drawing his attention, ai Minister of Labor, to a letter recently published which is a copy of one written by Mr Tregear, Secretary oi Labor, in which the writer claims tc be tho leader of a Socialistic crusade against tho employers of the Colony the employers being characterised ai " robbers," and the workers as thcii "victims." Tho letter further states that "we have barely touched the fringe of the eviled economic garment So long as the wage system endures, so long as capital holds the land, machinery and other means of production, so long is the bulk of oui population only a collection of wellfed, weil-clothed slaves." The Board is awarp that Mr Tregear, while publicly admitting the authorship, claims it to be privileged owing to its being a private letter addressed to a friend. With this aspect of the question, employers are not concerned. They are concerned, however, to know that the responsible head of a Department, one of the most important m the public service, holds the views therein expressed and publicly acknowledged. The Federation, as a body, is strongly of opinion that a porson holding such views is totally unfitted to hold so responsible a position as Secretary of Labor. The position, in their opinion calls for strict impartiality, tact, judg. rnent and sound common sense, and the holder should bo one who possesses the entire confidence of ail parties. In the light of the views expressed in the letter, and the lines laid clown as to Mr Tregenr's future course of action, the employers of the colony feel tliey are entitled to some consideration m the matter, and that under the circumstances, they are justified in demanding Mr Tregear's removal from his present position.