EIGHT OF FREE SPEECH

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21894, 22 September 1936, Page 9

EIGHT OF FREE SPEECH

MOTUEKA DISPUTE MR HOLYOAKE CRITICISES MR SEMPLE (PRESS A.SSOCIATIOS TELEGRAM.) AUCKLAND, September 21. “One has heard of the Motueka dispute,” said Mr K. J. Holyoake, MJP. for Motueka, in an address to-night. “It seems that there has been a lot of misunderstanding about it. It is to me a matter of the right of free speech which Mr Semple, among others, has always fought for in the past. “I notice that the workers have been rather incensed by what has occurred, and I agree with the unions which have passed resolutions against Mr Semple. He has put himself offside. There were 180 men working on the aerodrome from which the resolutions came. That they are a good type of men is shown by the fact that they were earning from 19s to 24s a day. Some of them are my own relatives, and they are all jolly good chaps. There was nothing obnoxious or wrong in their resolutions, which were only an expression of their opinions. The resolutions were sent to the secretary, and then. I don’t know why, to Mr Semple. Mr Semple went to the newspapers and referred to communists—right outside the matter—just to find a whipping horse. If Mr Semple has done no more than to help to pass such a resolution in his life, then he would not have much to answer for, would he?"

N.Z. WORKERS* UNION SUPPORTS MINISTER {rasas isaocunos tslxchau.) WELLINGTON, September 21. The action adopted by the Hon. R. Semple, Minister for Public Works, in the Mctucka public works dispute was that of a statesman of high standing, says a circular issued by the New Zealand Workers’ Union. The circular, which is signed by the president and secretary, adds; “Mr Semple told the mischief-makers that he would not tolerate their dirty work in his department, and he was quite right The union and 99 per cent of its membership endorse the manly attitude he adopted. The New Zealand Workers’ Union is determined to work in harmony with the Labour Government and the Minister lor Public Works.”