Advice to Labour

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15174, 12 January 1915, Page 6

Advice to Labour

Anything that pur distinguished visitor, the lit. Hon. the L'rime -Minister of Austral;;:, may have to say to the peoplo of New Zealand is certain to be interesting. Perhaps the most interesting of the 'statements he ha.s yet made was that one in Wellington in which he gave .some good advice to the people

who are managing, or trying to manage, the Labour movement in this country. He was gently satirical in his assurance that Labour in this country was not so disunited as lie had been led to believe; at least, ho eaid, they had united to present him an address, and there, was some hopefulness in that feat of unity. This was a hint of can. dour to come, and Mr Fisher was very candid indeed. His advice, sound as it was, may perhaps have appeared to some of the Labour '"loaders" very cold and iunutritious. He did not become eloquent about '"solidarity," .for example, or '•brotherhood." or tho evils of '"capital," or "'Toryism" and " wage-slavery." He pointed out that if Labour cannot win where every man has a vote, and only one vote, the fault cannot bo other than Labour's own. He has no patience, he let his hearers understand, with the frame of mind that sees a "capitalist conspiracy" behind every failure of organised Labour in politics. The time, he said, has passed when resort should be had to force; — a lesson which organised Labour, with the experience of the strike of 1913 to assist it, has already learned. Success, he went on to say. depended upon unity, and he presented a, suggestion to his Labour frieads:—

"My suggestion to you is to begin to put jour house in order, get together on a set of principles you can agree upon and act on. set out on a pilgrimage, a, campaign to explain to tho peoplo of'tbie country what that platform and policy is until they understand it. and then, but not till then, you will meet with that success, or partial success which we have mot with in Australia — which, I believe, without disrespect to other parties is the best and safest course for a democratic community to pursue. , ' •

Mr Fisher is well aware that the Social Democrats have a plsitform and principles quite clear and intelligible. He evidently believes, however, that tho 'Clearest conceivable platform ■is of no use to v party led by small politicians, more concerned with temporary inirigmsi than with permanent principles. The factious led by these ''•leaders" aro not in agreement: tho public does not know what tho Labour Party is likely to stand for whon the Labour factions have fought out their internal war. In tho meantime, ull that, anybody can .see—either Mr Fisher or the average New Zoalander—is a confusion of . Labour factious outside ■Parliament, and a small group of Labour members inside tho ■•House animated by no purpose save to ••oust the Government" and to hold the life of any new Government in their hands. Reading between the lines of lii.s cautiously-worded . advice, wo tako it that Mr lusher feels that only those who desire to stifle the Labour movement in politics would encourage orguniied Labour and Labour's M.P.'s to keep to their present course. So far as Reformers aro concerned, it i> of no particular moment what the Labour groups do. or whether they regard the ousting of the Government as of more importance than the building up of a real Labour Party. But we can all join in hoping, on the broad ground of simple common-sense, that some Labour leader-'of weight ami intelligence, some sincere and capable man such as is not visible anywhere in the great army of existing ."leader*" of Labour in New Zealand, may :iii>e and direct the process of clearing tho issue for the people. The line of division in public opinion and in polities must be drawn, a-s Mr Fisher sees, in the direction in which it was drawn in Australia ; and those who strive to delay or prevent the drawing of that line are not tho friends either of Labour or of moderate Liberalism, or, indeed, of tho orderliness and sanity in politics which the country has a right to expect.