THE LABOUR PARTY

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10541, 25 January 1912, Page 5

THE LABOUR PARTY

PUBLIC MEETING lw MASTERTON. A public meeting under the auspices of the M-asterton branch of the New Zealand Labour Party was held in the Town Hall last evening, when addresses were given by Messrs W. A. Veitch, M.P., of Wanganui, and D. McLaren, ex-M.Jt\, of Wellington. Aboiit 1200 persons were pres* <x, chiefly workers, and the chair was occupied by His Worship the Mayor (Mr J. M. Ooradihe).

Mr Veitch, M.P., said, he wa-s I .pleased to have the opportunity of 1 explaining, his position. He was a member of the Labour Party, and •was pledged to support its platform both in and out of Parliament. The time hacl come, he said, when a progressive .Democratic party was required in New Zealand—a party whiah would proceed along lines of a more progressive character than that of the past. He claimed that the Labour Party had scored a distinct victory at the recent polls, and, had : the Party been organised, at least ion or twelve members would have been . returned to Parliament. Mr - Veitch gave credit to the Liberal party of having introduced certain useful legislation, but most of this, lis as-H't-J ed, had emanated from the ranks of | Labour. He claimed that if Labour was competent to . suggest legislation, it was competent to send men to Parliament- to frame its legislation. There .were some. who■ said that Labour wonld control the politics' of the i country -during the-next few years.. He was not.sanguine that they could unless they combined. The speaker , j proceeded to state that, in spit© of I the fact that wages- had increased by I 20 per cent, during recent years, the ■ cost of living had been increased fay 25 per cent. He urged the necessity of organisation upon' his hearers.) They should not be ,giuided by exi tremists, hut should frame a policy which would commend itself to all sections of the community. He did j mot think that there would be a dis- j solution of the present Parliament ; for at Least three years. At tlie same time, lie thougjht they should be prepared for an emergency. The platform adopted. by the Labour Party 1 was one which should appeal to all. The first thing the party should do was to secure reform of the elective system. They should support that Government only which would concede proportional representation. (Applause.) An Elective Executive was , also required, so that members- of Parliament- wiould have a reasonable say in what legislation ( was brought 'before the country. There were several other reforms which were needed, included in which were the reversal of the Osborne decision, the co'ioedhg of civil and political rights, and the wiping out of the Legislative Council. One of the (principal reasons why the Upper House should be abolished was that it created patronage, inasmuch as a great many people cherished the hope that they would be called to that Chamber. Mr Veitch said that, the labour Party should not rest on the assumption that it was going to run New Zealand. It oould run New Zealand if it would only sink its differences and combine as one man. It had been said that there were differences among the workers, but he claimed that at no time were the workers more .unanimous in tie _ determination (than"atpresent' fc oomibiiiiTfior their own protection. The Labour movement had, greater potentialities than any' movement that had beefc started in the history' of the- world. It had the. power to control the peace' of the world;;. The Labour"Party, if it was so disposed, could prevent England and Germany going to war. Tt had been claimed that the workers' had prevented a war over Morocco. 'Mr Veitch maintained that, .although/ the Arbitration Courts had failed to give isatisfaction, the principle of arbitration was sound. He believed it quite possible to so arrange the Arbitration Court that it would be competent to deal with all industrial questions. It should, indeed, he (possible for the Court .to deal, with the tariffs, so that employers would (be able to make reasonable profits, , that they might be able to pay rea- ' sonable wages. Protection, should only be granted where it was necessary to foster industries. He supported freetrade generally, but would grant ( protection where it was considered necessary in the opinion of the Arbitration Court. He did not believe that the cost of living was due to the increase in wages. .It "was due, im his opinion, to land monopoly, coin--jnercial monopoly, and too extensive Iborrowiiig. .During the lifotimo of the present Government, the sum of £42,000,0(X) had been borrowed and £IOO,- j 000,000 had been added to the value of land. Was it not reasonable that 1 those whose lands had been increased t in. value should repay at least a portion of the increment created by the l expenditure of the people's money P He believed that- the land ishould be made to oav at least one-half of the £100,000,000 added value. It would 1 tllien be unnecessary to further borr-, ow. He considered it unfair that the ! national debt should be handed down to the children of the poor, while the national wealth was handed down to ! the children of the wealthy.. (Ap- j Mr Veitch urged upon his | hearers to organise with sincerity, so ' that the very- necessary reforms he! had advocated should l ; brought about. (He claimed tl;<it a State! ißank and State note issue were essential to the prosperity of the country, for. they would save thousands of

(pounds in commission akme. The speaker concluded by stating that he had not himself won the Wanganui election. His committee had worked like tigers from start to finish, and that was how the seat was won. He urged upon his hearers to join hand in hand, to sink local differences, nad to eaideavour to get the young people interested. Nothing on earth would then stop the Labour Party dominating the politics in New Zealand.( A|pplause.) ,

MR D. McLABEN.

Mr David McLaren, who was received with applause, said he had been given a holiday from politics, and he 1 was devoting his holiday to the work iof organisation. During -the last 14 i days, he had addressed twenty-eight meetings. The Labour Party was ! combining all along the line. In. three j years it had increased its Parliamenti ary vote four-fold. Had the Labour vote a fair representation, there | would he at least ten members in the | present Parliament. Referring to the I cost of living, Mr McLaren urged that this could only be regulated by the direct intervention of the State. He instanced the price of butter some months ago to show that the distriI ibution of the necessaries of life was in. i the hands of monopolies. He mainI tained that the State should come in as a competitor in the distribution of products in the same way as it had entered into the insurance business. The marketing of products, had. been, effectively carried out in, Australia..The Labour policy meant that the commodity- . createdby /the whole, of the people , - should be distributed through an agency appointed i>v : the whole of. ths people., (Beaiy .hear;)- • Mr McLaren;-pointed out how, by the'establishing of State brickworks' in 1 Australia, the price of bricks had been reduced from 42s per 1000 to 26s per 1000. The Labour party was (not out to set class against class. .There were only two classes in tie (world —the workers and the shirkers. ■He had not too much time for the latter. The boundaries of the Labour ; Party were wide. They took in ail j classes of workers. They were not esj tablishing a labourers? party, but a labour party which would include all sections. He claimed that the only true [Reform. Party in New Zealand at ithe present time was the Labour Party. Mir Massey had advocated itihe application of the system of proportional representation to the Upper House. Why did he not begin downstairs? (Laughter). He asked his hearers to remember that the label outside dad snot always indicate the | contents of the political ix>x. The proportional represenation proposed by Mr Massey was not what the Labour party asked for. They wanted constituencies which woiild return three members, so that the Labour party would have a . chance. He urged that those who had benefited by the activities of the State should 1 contribute towards the maintenance of the affairs of State. Mr McLarenthen briefly outlined the policy of organisation which was being adopted by the Labour Party. He maintained that t he party should he raised to the higher plane, of a national movement. They should organise. their, forces so that there would be one tambour party, and one only, for the whole of New Zealand. He, appealed to, the women to throw in their lot* with the Labour movement, and also advocated . organisation among the small farmers of • the Dominion. He believed that the time was coming , very rapidly when the working farmers of the* D." .. . recognise that the ; L'.v. ■*• "v - /aid/ be, their true /. : ' v ; teachers,. worses, and " . in 'tlie" IXjminion slTua onrty. whose j>roer omprcheuf ve. He i.„ v „ aiea .to the workers to sink local differences, an dto star' as one man for the amelioration' of the condition r-f the epople. He r.r;r- I ed them to get to work at once ami j organise for; the next election. j Mr A. W. Hotrg, in a characteristic I speech, a hearty vote of | thanks to .Messrs Veitcb. and Me-1 Laren. ' He spoke strongly against j the evils of land monopoly, and expressed the hope that the people would take the advice which had •been tendered by the previous speakers.

The motion was carried by acclamation, the singing of "They are Jolly Good Fellows" and "cheers." Cheers were also given for the Labour Party of Xew .Zealand.