CLASS POLITICS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 174, 25 July 1928, Page 6

CLASS POLITICS.

The interest attaching to the presidential address of Mr. W. J. Poison at the annual conference of the Farmers' Union is heightened by his recent determination to stand for Parliament. It is true that he will stand as an Independent, and Independents are needed less than men determined to oust this Government and substitute a better one, but his ability and experience would be a valuable addition to a House that is a semi-desert of mediocrity. However, our purpose here is to congratulate Mr. Poison on his wise presentation of the case against the entry of the Union into politics. The Union could make no greater mistake. As Mr. Poison sees clearly, all shades of opinion are represented in the Union, and it would be impossible to reconcile in the fold of a political party intex-ests so widely opposed. The strongest consideration, however, is that the formation of a Farmers' Party would be a frank appeal for class representation and class government, which is a political development that is not good in any society. It is a serious objection to the Labour Party as a political organisation that it is primarily or largely a class party, though it is only fair to say that the tendency of Labour, here and in Britain, has been to extend its appeal beyond the actual wage-earning stratum. If the farmers founded a party of any strength, feelings of jealousy and suspicion between town and couiftry would certainly be strengthened, and it should be the aim of statesmanship to reconcile interests that are really not antagonistic but complementary.