EXPELLING THE "REDS."

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 285, 2 December 1925, Page 6

EXPELLING THE "REDS."

A conference of the Australian Labour party is to consider at a conference in April the question of dealing with the extremists. April is some months away, but in the meantime some of the leaders of the party are expressing themselves freely on the,subject. The extremists are replying, and the argument is instructive. Mr. Theodore, the ex-Premier of Queensland, who aspires to the Federal leadership of the Labour party, declared the other day that Labour's policy was endangered by the activity of the extremists, "men who were politically disappointed, personally discredited, and economically irresponsible"'—a comprehensive indictment. Mr. Lang, tbe State Premier, declared on the same day that no Labour man could temporise with the position. "There must be a clear line-up of Labour men who will drive the Com-

munists right away from the movement. Xot a vestige of their influence must be allowed to remain." The Premier singles out Mr. Garden, tlie Communist secretary of the Sydney Trades and Labour Council. Despite the results of the election, the council appointed Mr. Garden its representative on the board, of directors of the "Labour Daily," whereupon Mr. Lang announced that ho refused to sit on the board with Mr. Garden. These attacks, however, do not cow Mr. Harden. He accuses his critics of working in the interests of the employer*. Tlie men who work for Labour for the love of it are. he says, tlie militant section, and these people are the main for . in every union in fighting for hip'ier wages and better conditions. It is this militant useful section that tlie Theodore party wishes to expel. Another point that Mr. Carden makes is that during the election the Labour party denied that the "Red" element had any influence in the movement. "It now seems that they must have been speaking with their tongues in their cheeks, because their whole cry since thendefinite defeat is that they must clear out the Reds from the party.'' A touch of humour has been added to this by the censuring of New South Wales Ministers for daring to denounce the "Reds." The Parliamentary Caucus instructs them that they must not say anything calculated to split the Labour movement! It remains to be seen what the National Conference of the party will do. Moderate Labour will probably find that, it is one thing to pronounce expulsion an-1 quite another thing to purge the party of the influences that have dragged it down.