THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1911. LABOUR PARTY WANTED.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10440, 4 October 1911, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1911. LABOUR PARTY WANTED.

Wdiat i® wanted in New Zealand at the present time, to .straighten out the (politics of the country and to put (the administrative house in order, is <i period in office of a Labour Party. Such a party, if returned to power, would confer an inestimable boon upon the community iby replacing "government by expediency" by "government hy the people." It does not follow that a Labour Party should be composed off wharf lumpens or .secretaries to Trades Unions. These have no right in Parliament, foi they do not possess the qualities necessary to make .successful politicians. A Labour Party might well be selected .from the ranks of the ipresA ent Opposition, for in this party may be found men who have risen from the rantks of labour, and who know <ind can appreciate the disabilities' of those who earn their living by the sweat of their brow, whether on the farm, at the desk, or in the factory. Tlvei-e is a. section of the community which entertains the opinion that labour consists entirely of the man who ■works in the coal-pit and the timiber-yard, and who contributes his •sixpence or a shilling every week to a Union. Such a narrow definition of the term is entirely (unwarranted. A man .who employs labour is often as honest and hard-working as the •mar. who works for a weekly wage.

Indeed, tlie mental and physical > strain impo&od upon him is of ton ' greater than that of the average toiler. The man who has been able, ( by honest work and industry, to, place himself in the position that he I cai offer employment to others, is . the man who is best able to direct ( I hi<» fellows to the paths of affluence ' anc success. It would be the sheen- , i est madness to place in Parliament •mei. who have .been a failure at everything they have undertaken, in life If a man is a failure on. the farm, in the field, the office or the coal-mine, he will most assuredly be a failure in politics. The people would be foolish indeed to trust their destinies to such a class. If a Labour party i® wanted which will legislate for the good otf the community as a whole, it ishould be selected from among those who have passed through the labour mill, or have made a swocess. of life. These are the rmv who know the elements which go to make for national, ias well as* individual prosperity. The Ward Administration cannot, hy any istretch of the imagination, be termed a Labour Party. It has forsaken the very .principles of economy which moke for th 3 improvecment of the condition of the people, and has resorted to legislation by expediency. The. Opposition, on the other hand, lias 'consistently urged those (public and private economies which create wealth and prosn parity, and lias advocated measures of -reform which will bring employer , and. employee closer together, destroy ! iclass distinction, enooiti-age thrift, reward industry, and establish < &.U form® of labour on a firm.and .success. • ful .footing. . If the people, want a conscientious and capable. Labour Party, they could not, therefore,' do 'bettor than return to power the present Opposition, in whose ranks may Jba numbered many of the most I bminy and patriotic labourers the j Dominion has produced.