THE LABOUR PARTY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10176, 28 February 1911, Page 5

THE LABOUR PARTY.

ADDRESS BY THE REV. MR HUTSON.

A meeting under tlie auspices of I the loc'ai branch of the Labour Party was 'helld in. the Masterto,u Town Hall last evening, at which an interesting address, was given by the Rev.. Mr Hutson, of Wellington, concerning the "Cause and Cure of Our industrial System." Mr A. W. Hogg, M.P., occupied j the chair, and briefly introduced the i speaker, after apologising for the absence of His Worship the Mayor, Mr J. M. Coradine. The Rev. Mr Hutson, who was received with applause, stated tha't he was a Unionist, and belonged to a Labour Union in . Wellington. One speaker, had classed the Labour movement as hysterical, and /said that it was a new tyranny. A few men had governed our country for generations, and 1 round them have sprung up a large number, of abuses which the Labour Unions wished to remove. Selfishness Mas one of the most prominent causes of the present state of the industrial system. Capitalists had possession of the greater part of the wealth qf the country. In- America one per cent, of the people had 99 per cent of the wealth and 99 per cent, of the people heild the remaining one per cent. Mr Hutson contrasted the cramped condition in which some workers live with the mansions of the capitalists, and the way that the nhildren of poor people had to gather decayed! fruit in order to exist. There were only - 'two ways of obtaining money—either by labour or by faith. If the ev- was private legal possession of public property, then that must be abolished. He likened the race .to a pack of wolves being chased by the devil. In front of the pack could be seen the Capitalists and million- . aires and the poor workers at the ] - back. Their positions . ought : to; be reversed in order that the devil could have a ch&nce at the capitalists. /, Legislation had a great deal to do with the 'present /economical position. On the Statute Book there were a great many umjust laws. Other" causes were class legislation, and class education. The children.: of men who had prospered by send- i ing others to lieill through.their ow.n 'evils were no better than 'those of tho working men: Why did not - Labour obey its master like it did , fifty years ago? There were three causes. The first was education, the second 1 Mie church, and, the third the policy of the capitalists. Slums were the direct product ; of our industrial 'system. It was from the slums that criminals -and anarchists came. The church taught the equality of man as man, and :, the duty of the rich and strong' to i help the poor , and weak. Moses had led 1 one of the .greatest strikes on record. Abraham owned ; only enough ground in which to „ bury himself and his wife, and Jesus Chrisii was a great leader. The. church taught, people to follow in their footsteps, x'here was only one excuse to 'Strike—that was to sucoeed. The capitalists' docttfine 1 was to buy in the cheapest inarkt and sell in the dearest: In 1847 a feast day was held to pray that ,a famine be averted, -ft that time there was no sign ,of a. famine, but farmers. wanted to obtain high prices, for their wheat. The price reached £3O a ton; T3te farmers heild their stock for such a long time tiliafo it rotted. Labour wasaccused of setting class against class. The education of to-day was only of the mind. There was no training given concerning the managing of a house for a girl. The great work of labour wa's to unite employer a.nd employee. The conditions of trade forbade happiness. In America 'some corporations refused to employ any man over forty years of age. This was caused by the competitive system. The country wanted men to come forward , and demand tneir rights. J On, the mcltion of the chairman, a hearty vote of thanks was accordel the speaker for his interesting address.