UPPER HOUSE CALLS.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 September 1921, Page 5

UPPER HOUSE CALLS.

CONDEMNED BY MR. HOLLAND.

LABOR IGNORED. By Telegraph.—Press Association.

Dunedin, Last Night. Speaking here this evening Mr. H. E. Holland, M.P., chairman of the Parliamentary Labor Party, strongly condemned the recent appointments to the Legislative Council. He said there was a law on the Statute Book, for which the present Government was responsible, providing for’ the election of Legislative Councillors by the people on a proportional representation basis. The recent ! appointments were a flagrant violation of that law, but in any case the Labor movement stood for the abolition of the Council and not for strengthening it. By the Government appointing new' members who could be relied upon to prolong the Council’s life at the present time they had the anomaly of a nominee Legislative Council without a single I Labor Party representative notwithstanding that behind the Labor Party ! were the votes of 128,000 electors- which demonstrated the class character of the institution. Referring to Mr. Statham’s new party he declared that it only existed on paper and would not be taken seriously. Its use of the name of Labor was impertinence for it did not have and never would have behind it a single bona fide Labor organisation. The ; ultimate fate of ite self-constituted leaders would be either to suffer extinction at the polls or be permitted by Mr. Massey to function ingloriously as the .political decoy ducks of the Reform Party in the vain hope of winning some votes from the Labor Party. <c lt will be known as the All Blocks,” he said, -and the other Parties will play football with it.” i