LABOUR PARTY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 231, 1 October 1935, Page 10

LABOUR PARTY.

'MENACE TO WORKERS' ATTACK MADE BY LIBERAL. ME. GTJINIVEN'S POSITION. "The Labour party lias Tjeen a menacc and a curse to the workers," said the Mayor of Takapuna, Mr. J. Guinivcn, Liberal candidate for Waitemata, at Northeote last night. Ilis argument was that despite tho warning issued by Mr. Seddon at the time of the breakaway from tho Lib oral-Labour Federation, all that tho Labour party had accomplished was to keep the Conservatives in power, because Labour was compact enough in the towns to keep anybody else out.

"Despite all the talk," he said, "Labour has no more chance of getting the Treasury benches this time than it has ever had. The majority of the people will not vote for Socialism. Make 110 mistake; if the Conservative parties are returned, they will get together and yoii will have Coates as Premier once more."

Labour Governments in England and Australia had been dismissed, and the first thing the London County Council had done was to raise the rates.

"Or take Mr. Martin, tho deputyMayor of Auckland," lie continued. "He speaks about democracy, but he will not give the people a vote 011 the £200,000 which lie i& going to get from them."

Mr. A. G. Osborne asked how Mr. Guinivcn would vote if the Labour party were returned with 40 seats and wanted only one for a majority.

Mr. Guinivcn: I would naturally have to consider the position. We are going to have a sort of Scotch mixture in the House, and if I ain elected I will use mv discretion and vote for tho party wliiqh will govern New Zealand best.

Replying to another question by Mr. Osborne, Mr. Guinivcn said the heads of tho Labour party came to him and asked if they could not reach some arrangement not to split tho vote. This was when ho had announced himself as an Independent. Mr. Osborne: Will you say whether you have paid any membership fees to the Labour Party during the last five years? Mr. Guinivcn: After we talked things over in Wellington, I paid a fee. Then they sent a man to bind me down to certain things and I refused. Sir. Osborne: I give that an emphatic denial. It is not true, and I can produce all the correspondence if necessary. When Mr. Osborne rose to ask another question the chairman, Mr. W. F. Jamieson, who is chairman of the Liberal party, said: "I think you forfeited your right to ask any more questions by your attitude to the candidate." Mr. Guiniven: I don't mind. Rub in the dirt as much as you like. .Mr, Osbprpe said lie wanted to make it ciear. No member of tho Labour party executive was sent to Mr. Guinivcn. A Mr. Forbes, who had been mentioned, was, he thought, a memlier of the Milford branch.