The Daily News. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1920. CO-ORDINATED INDUSTRIAL ACTION.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 December 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1920. CO-ORDINATED INDUSTRIAL ACTION.

No year in history has been marked by such eventful happenings in the la'bor world as that which is now drawing to a close. The great lesson of the recent war has had a marked influence on the workers, who have fully realised that unity means power. They have also been impregnated with the propaganda of Bolshevism, the seed of which has fallen on fertile soil. In a remarkably able review of the Labor situation, the London Times' special correspondent has recently drawn attention to the trend of the workers towards communism, and he also stressed the significance of the movement which aims at co-ordination—the linking up of all sections of Labor to promote propaganda and international relations. The meaning of this is perfectly clear; it aims at world-wide co-operative action to make Labor supreme, to secure national ownership of land and capital, and popular control of industry. In the light of the Moscow dictum that "the faithful must earn fitness for affiliation by undertaking revolutionary propaganda in the army," the outlook is decidedly the reverse of cheering. If the movement were intended to back up the League of Nations in its efforts to maintain, peace by legitimate and. constitutional methods it would be most welcome, but being designed for class warfare and the dominance of the \ proletariat it is a serious menace ' both to peace and prosperity. By

utilising" the insidious process of communistic propaganda to win over the. units comprising the armies of the nations, so that these forces shall be on their side in case of a conflict, the extreme section of Labor has demonstrated that its aim is not for the world's advancement, but to place in the hands of direct aetionists the means for subjecting the world to the will of leaders of the Lenin and Trotsky type, and it is time for the eyes of all the rest of the community to be opened to the chaos and anarchy that would result from such a policy if it were allowed to materialise. The correspondent's remarks as to the developments and amalgamations ; contemplated in the Labor world 'during the coming year deserve serious attention, • not for their novelty, but on account of their indicating . the steps which are being taken to solidify the ranks of: Labor as a means of attaining the end in view.. No blame is attachable to Labor for organising, provided the community does not suffer thereby.' This, and all other important matters, call for extended vision as well as an examination into the probable outcome of events likely to ensue. The first step contemplated appears to be the establishment of a General Labor Council charged with the duty of watching industrial movements, co-ordinating possible industrial action, promoting propaganda and international relations, and to assist in this programme it is proposed to employ a secretariat costing £25,000 a year. The workers will have to find this money, as well as pay for their own separate union officials, and as every demand on their pockets becomes a reason for a claim for higher wages, it is evident that the public will have to pay for providing expensive administrative machinery that will be utilised for inflicting additional hardships on the community. The membership of the unions represented at the Trades Union Congress now totals six millions, and as the process of amalgamation continues so will the menace to industrial peace grow proportionately. If there are any who take the foolish view that the Dominion will not be seriously affected by this movement or the propaganda connected therewith, let them note well that the Communist Societies in Britain are making a great effort to capture the organisations of demobilised men; that the National Union of Ex-Soldiers is largely in communistic hands; that many of the agitators are leading a movement for the seizure of houses, baths and halls; that the demands include national ownership of land and capital, as well as the popular control of industry. They will then realise that the danger is far greater than they imagined, and may possibly come to the conclusion that to be forewarned is to be forearmed. Just as the nations are actuated by a desire to increase their fighting strength, so are the workers bent on a similar aim. No careful observer can fail to ignore the latent truth of Napoleon's maxim that victory goes to the largest battalions; more especially is that the case when unity of aim, efficient organisation and equipment are thrown into the scale. The situation appears to call for serious consideration and counterorganisation if the world is to be spared a fratricidal conflict that will put civilisation on a par with primeval times, when every man's hand was against his neighbor.