THE REDS.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 249, 20 October 1924, Page 9

THE REDS.

" CRANKY PEOPLE." LETTER FROM HAVELOCK .WILSON. I A letter which is of current interest, in view of the British Labour Conference's I repudiation of the Communist party, has been received by Mr. George Waite, of the Sydney Trades Hall, from Mr. Havelock Wilson, president of the National Sailors and Firemen's L'nion of Great Britain and Ireland, Mr. Wilson in part writes: — "The way I look at things at the present time is that they are very much out of joint. I have no doubt that the Reds mean well, but they are cranky. Some of them arc very honest men; nevertheless there are a few who are hanging on the Red movement for what they can get out of it. Of course, that is common to all movements, but whether they are ■ honest or not, there is no rer.-son why we, I who think we are sane, should allow ' cranky people to take us to the devil. j "With regard to Karl Marx, he may ! have been a great writer, but I question whether he had much experience of the workers or their conditions generally. I have met many great writers and talkers, but I certainly would not have Imy business affairs in" their hands. We ■ have quite a lot of such men over here, and whatever business concern they have been connected with has been a rotten failure. "You will note a special article in our I paper this week, copy of which I enclose, I from which you will see that our friend Tom Mann has joined the Bolshevik Regiment, and has been measured for a uniform. The Lord help us; it is enough to make a donkey laugh. Here is a fellow who has been preaching 'Down with war, down with armies and navies,' vain enough to join one of the I armies himself, or become an honorary 1 member. Then there is the other joker —Jim Larkin-—who has been studying ! how to break trade up for years, and he I is now going to promote trade in Dublin. ] Well, I imagine before there is any trade I promoted by Larkin in Dublin the gras-s will be growing a pretty good length in the streets. "Our present Government has gone I cranky, too, much to the disgust of their own followers; they are guing to lend I Buesia forty millions to help them Day J their debts, if they like. Not a bad ■idea, is it? If a man owes you fIOO you lend him £100 to repay you if he likes! Now we shan't be long. j "Our Trades Union Congress starts in ' ■f! , ! 1 - n ? xt . week - Russian delegates and all kinds of nonentities have been invited Well, I will promise you this, although I 1 am going to Hull, I shall not waste mv time listening to their claptrap "