PROPOSED BIG DEPUTATION

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24610, 5 July 1945, Page 6

PROPOSED BIG DEPUTATION

“OPPONENTS OF NATIONAL SOCIALISM” LABOUR MOVEMENT PLANS TO TAKE PART (P.A.) WELLINGTON, July. 4. After the decision of 4 meeting held at Wellington on Thursday under the auspices of the Dominion Council of Co-ordinated Business Associations to organise a big deputation to Parliament representative of “all who are opposed to national Socialism," the national executives of the New Zealand Labour Party and the New Zealand Federation of Labour have decided that “as their organisations are most strongly opposed to national Socialism and are completely beyond suspicion of ever having been friendly to National Socialism or Fascism, they should be represented in the deputation.” Accordingly, said a statement by the two national executives to-day, they had called upon the Dominion Council of Co-ordinated Business Associations to learn the proposed date of the deputation, so that they could take steps to ensure that those who were and always had been really opposed to National Socialism were adequately represented in the deputation. “Speakers at the meeting,” said the statement, “are reported-to have declared that an attempt should be made to organise a deputation of 1000. In our opinion that number wo ’ld be entirely inadequate properly to represent the anti-Nazi people. .The deputation should consist of at least 10,000, and it is our intention so to organise the deputation that our anti-Nazi people will be fully represented. “Possible Cessation of Work” “This may entail a cessation of work during the deputation, but we feel sure that every genuinely anti-Nazi employer will be happy to have his employees, as well as himself, demonstrating their anti-Nazi sentiments on this occasion." , ■The announced purpose of the deputation, added the statement, was to protest against the Government’s proposed purchase of the privately-owned shares of the Bank of New Zealand However, it had been stated that pri-vately-owned German banks financed Hitler and helped him in every possible way during and his undemocratic seizure of power in Germany, and that the privately owned banks of many other countries gave financial assistance to Nazism. . . “The international bankers,. big employers, and big landowners have been the-declared admirers and supporters of ‘Nazism and Fascism.” the statement continued. ■ “In view of this sorry record of pri-vately-owned banking having allied itself with the enemies of human freedom, we welcome the Government’s proposal to democratise the Bank of New Zealand by transforming it into a publicly-owned institutipn. “We believe that that will be one of the best guarantees of a' continuance of popular freedom in New Zealand. “Accordingly we welcome this opportunity of demonstrating our support for the freedom of he people and our wholehearted opposition to Fascism and allJts_Wends/^__