THE DANGERS OF THE REDS.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 307, 27 December 1924, Page 13

THE DANGERS OF THE REDS.

SIR AUCKLAND GEDDES. OK BRITISH SOCIALISM. j I from Our Oivi Correspondent." LONDON. November 14. Since Napoleon palled us a nation of shop-keepers, the Hritish have been regarded as realists, the French as idealists. It is time to change over these labels and Sir Auckland Geddes, spcakting in Manchester this week, has been telling us that we are the idealists. He spoke on an attractive subject, the analysis of which is engaging the attention of all—namely why there are bo many people turning towards the Socialist faith. Our late volcanic election, showed us a blue blooded Karl de la Warr, no less, standing up for Labour. There are. of course, a number of Labour Leaders who are of good birth. The Socialist creed is by no means one of the horny handed. Sir Auckland Geddes while he is not a Socialist, at the same time is not one of those who think that Socialists are all bad red man out to compass the destruction of the British K.mpire. The danger of the present situation, to him. lay in something precisely opposite: in the idealistic wish of growing numbers of people to do something which they honestly believed—mistakenly believed, as he thought—would benefit the "underdog." Sir Auckland considered the Knglish to be "an extraordinary race"—a race that never acted together exi*?pt in the pursuit of something idealistic: and therefore this spectacle of great numbers of people acting together to achieve the political and called Socialism, made him think very seriously what it all meant. One thing it meant to him was "an extraordinary criticism of oifr past." It showed how far the employing class had allowed itself to drift away from its fellows. It showed that throughout the years there had been lack of contact and sympathy and understanWing. These were things which must be put right now. not. in that blessed English phrase, "when the time comes." but at once. "In the lull spirit of national brotherhood." he urged his hearers. "<rr> out and get into touch with the masses of the people and show them what our national spirit is. ,. Sir Auckland's way of countering Socialism is to preach sane economic doctrines. It was. he said, well to remind ourselves of the economic facts about this country. We lived by trade carried on overseas in the face of fierce, competition. Our daily bread depended on the successful prosecution of that trade. In view of that simple economic fact, it was extraordinary thai over five million people in the la*t election cast their votes for a people whose policy would mean for them economic destruction, because the establishment of a "Socialist commonwealth" for any country would probably mean —and for ours would certainly mean—Socialist starvation, and the most poignant part of the burden would fall \ipon the very people whose votes had made the experiment possible.