LANG AND LENIN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 97, 27 April 1933, Page 9

LANG AND LENIN.

THE MASK DROPPED?

"JOCK" GARDEN'S BLUNDER.

SENSATION AT CONFERENCE.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

SYDNEY, April 22.

Though the Easter conference of the State Labour party was remarkable in many respects, its outstanding feature was the public identification of Mr. Lang's policy with Leninism. The statement that the new Langism —involving as a first step the "socialisation of credit"—is based on the teachings of Lenin was made with great emphasis and precision by Mr. Jock Garden, so that there can be no doubt about its authenticity.

Mr. Garden was trying to prove to his audience, and, incidentally, to the advocates of wholesale Socialisation, that their objections to Mr. Lang's new policy are groundless, and this was the line of argument that he followed:— "Our report goes further than the policy adopted by Lenin," he said. "Mr. Lang is the greatest leader the country has ever known. He is ahead of the god they (the Socialisation group) bow the knee to." Further to convince them tjiat "a greater man than Lenin is here," Mr. Garden proceeded to read extracts from one of Lenin's own works, published just before the- Bolshevik revolution, to show that Mr. Lang's policy is based precisely on the principles that Lenin laid down, and thus to assure the delegates that even the Socialisation groups (controlled, as Mr. Keller has said, by Communist leaders) cannot go wrong if they support Mr. Lang's proposals. Delegates Alarmed. I don't know of any public statement made here during the past 12 months, or at least since the downfall of Mr.

Lang, that has proved such a dramatic sensation as this. It was evident that the Labour Conference itself was perturbed and alarmed. A most noteworthy indication.of the general feeling was that Mr. Lang delivered his own policy speech much earlier than was expected, and that it contained not the least reference either to Mr. Garden or to Lenin. An even more significant fact was the hurried adoption of a resolution to the following effect: "That this conference stands for the complete political, religious, cultural, and industrial freedom of the Australian people." The meaning of this resolution was made sufficiently clear by the discussion, in which some of the delegates protested against Leninism as a "godless" and "un-Christian" system, and one of them declared with refreshing frankness, "Socialisation of banking or not, I will be at my church on Sunday." It is clear that Mr. Garden's rash profession of faith left the conference gravely disturbed, and was regarded in some quarters as a serious tactical blunder. In His True Colours. Of course it is not my business to excuse Garden's "faux pas," but I may at least attempt to explain it. No doubt he felt that in appealing to the Communists and extreme "Socialisationists" he was safe in using the name of Lenin. And it was not difficult for him to do so, because he was long since indoctrinated with Bolshevism, and ever since his mission to Russia he had been closely in touch with the Moscow International. It seems as if in a moment of confidence and triumph, he almost unconsciously dropped the mask of moderation, which he has worn so long ancj revealed himself in his true colours. But whatever he the immediate reason for this strange confession, it seems to be generally agreed that while it made some impression on the Communists and so helped to promote the unity of the party, it was a very serious error in judgment that may ultimately involve the most disastrous consequences for Mr. Garden and Mr. Lang and for the party that they represent. New Weapon for Opponents, The most obvious result of Mr. Garden's invocation' of Lenin on behalf of Mr.- Lang has been to supply the Nationalists with a splendid party-cry

for the referendum campaign. Already Mr. Stevens, Mr. Spooner, Mr. Martin, and the other supporters of the Reform Bill have been impressing upon their audiences this public avowal of the Bolshevik faith by Mr. Garden, too long recognised as the director and controller of Mr. Lang's political activities; and they can now safely assure the electors that a vote for the reform proposals is indispensable to save our country from the terrible menace of Bolshevism. But quite apart from the Nationalists, Sir. Garden has stirred up serious trouble for himself within the Labour camp. For the A.L.P. Conference is imminent. Mr. Scullin is already in Sydney, Mr. Theodore is expected to be present, and the anti-Lang forces will be marshalled in great strength. And now Mr. Garden has put this new weapon into the hands of the anti-Langites—his public declaration that Langism is based upon the teaching and the policy of Lenin. Whatever else the coming A.L.P. Conference may do, it is most unlikely to promote "the unity of Labour," and for this Jock Garden is, more than anyone else, to blame.