LABOUR AND LYTTELTON

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21510, 27 June 1935, Page 9

LABOUR AND LYTTELTON

TU TVS BDITUB Of THE 1'8R33. Sir,—Mt* Archer's letter in "The Press" 1 '/-' lay is obviously intenden as propaganda for his party. He probably knows as much about the scheming and squabbling that took place in his party over who should carry the party ticket as the rest of us do. I think all of his party act and have acted on the Biblical instruction Seek and ye shall find. Knock and Ihe dooi shall be opened unto you"; or does MiArcher wish to put the blame for all the poverty and distress that have been inflicted on the people of Christehurch on to others, for unfortunately Christchurch, as a result of his party s control of municipal and tramway affairs, has a much larger percentage of tinemployed than any other town in viw: Zealand. Instead of congratulating young Mr McCombs, he should have pitied him. Mr Archer is a servant oi In parly. And what a party! There i" the right wing, and the left wing, and now we are told there is the cultural side, ana that implies an uncultural side. V/no forms the cultural side? An;! v. Im form the uncultural side? And do tin' two sides mix, except when there is an election on? Mr Archer complains about .Parliament being an old men's home for Government members. What about Christehurch Labour members? None ot them are in their 'teens, and Mr Archer himself would have been quite willing to have gone to that old men s home if he had been selected. He said Mrs McCombs had sacrilied herself. She probably did; but who urged her to do it? Who wanted a woman in a nehrate state of health to stand lor Por- j liamcnt. and to occupy positions on the City Council, the Tramway Board, and i Hospital Board, and be in Parliament at the same time? 'The Labour pmty. It thought more of tlie party than it did of tho woman, The world is sick of political parties. The leaders of such are simply opportunists who care only about their own glorification; and damn the people as Mr Archer damned the ratepayers.--Yours, etc., A.LS. June 2ii, TO lii£ siUnOSt Of HIK ITvE.i i ! Sir, —The manifesto in your correspondence columns tins morning (fot it is clearly a manifesto rather than a letter) from the Rev. J. K. Archer calls for some comment. It was natural that Mr Archer should call upon Mr T. H. McCombs and congratulate him. The value of that congratulation is much depreciated by the fact that if Mr James Thorn of Mr John Mathison had beep selected, the very same congratulations would have been given with equal sincerity. There is one very significant and arresting passage in Mr Archer's version 'of the selection of a Labour candidate. He says that if he had been selected as candidate "I should of course have contested the seat because I am a servant of the party." That frank and naive admission revals the weakness of the Labour candidate. He stands to serve the Labour section, not the whole body of the public. And then Mr Archer plays the sympathy stunt; he is particularly pleased that Mr T. H. McCombs has been chosen because he is the son -of his parents. If that is not sanctioning or approving the hereditary principle, what is it? Is it a principal part of the Labour policy to institute pocket borough?, to be held as heritable rights by favoured Labour families? ! do not question Mr McCombs's abilities, but if they are as great as. Mr Archer says, why not rely on them and cut out this sentimentalism? I quite agree thai the tlouse of Parliament is something of an old men's home, but the old members of it belong to the Labour party as much as to any other, and I would ask Mr Archer to reflect on the position in Christehurch when Labour wanted candidates for the Mayoralty. Only Mr Sullivan and Mr Archer were mentioned, When the chairmanship of the Lyttelton Harbour Board and the Christehurch Tramway Board fell vacant only Mr E. J. Howard and Mr Archer were nominated by Labour. Why? Have all these veterans to die before the young men of the party get a chance. Mr Archer says ins letter is not propaganda. Of course not: who would ever accuse Mr Archer of that? If I might say so, the non-appearance of Mr Archer on the platform to support. Mr McCombs will help the candidate; and the non-publication ot such an ex parte letter would have helped him still further.—Yours, etc.. ANDROMEDA, ; attne lilt' 3.