The Daily News. TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1920. REVOLUTIONARY PROPAGANDA.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 August 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1920. REVOLUTIONARY PROPAGANDA.

If the contents of the Maoriland Worker, the official organ of the Labor Extremists, reflect the views and principles of its supporters—as may fairly be assumed to be the case—then it is about time the pernicious aims of these revolutionaries should be fully realised, and drastic action taken to deal with a menace that,threatens the very existence of the Empire. The following is a quotation from an editorial which appeared .in the Maoriland Worker recently: "If Ireland succeeds in achieving her independence it means the break-up of the Empire. That will be a blessing to the world and an inspiration to the cause of Labor." There can be no misconception as to .the meaning these words convey —that extreme Labor would confer a blessing on the world by dismembering the British Empire, and presumably substituting the anarchy of Soviet Government with all its attendant savagery, chaos and immorality. Admitting that the extremists in New Zealand are numerically insignificant, and that their ravings are a sign of mental and moral obliquity, we can- ' not forget (that loyalty is the foundation stone on which the Empire has been built, so that to openly proclaim that it would be a blessing to break up the Empire, in defence of which many thousands of lives have been sacrificed, is an offence that is repellant even to the most callous and self-centred of the sane portion of the race. The question of Irish independence is for these extremists a mere stalking-horse. They are really no more concerned with the independence of Ireland than. with any other nebulous cause, but are ready to use any weapon they can raise wherewith to attack law, order, and good government by means which are despicable. They have courage of a kind, akin to that of vultures which tear the flesh from a carcase, or of a lowly animal that will kick a lion—wlien it is dead. They would not figlit against Germany, nor is it likely they will follow the example of the German Labor delegate (Herr Scheidemann) at the International Conference, who said that "after fighting Junkerism, he did not intend to enthrone tyrants like Lenin." The Maoriland Worker distinctly favors revolutionary principles, though it weakly suggests a compromise between reforinist and revolutionary. Such propaganda is an intolerable blot on the Dominion, also an outrage on decency, and if such seditious statements are made with impunity, it will be another "inspiration to the cause of (extreme) Labor 1 ."