SPYING AMONG COMMUNISTS

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27709, 13 July 1955, Page 9

SPYING AMONG COMMUNISTS

“ CONFESSION NO SURPRISE ” LABOUR FEDERATION’S COMMENT (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, July 12. A confession by a member of the Lower Hutt branch of the Communist Party that he had been a spy on his colleagues was no surprise to the executive of the New Zealand Federation of Labour, said Mr F. P. Walsh, president of the federation, in a statement distributed to affiliated unions. Over the years, it had been the stock in trade for Communists all over the world to play the role of conspirators, he said. The whole Communist Party set-up was itself riddled with spies, each spying -end informing on everyone. “The Labour movement maintains its attitude of exposing Communists for the basic reason that it is the avowed intention of Communists to subvert the Labour Parties of the world and the trade unions,” Mr Walsh said. “Of necessity, the Federation of Labour and the New Zealand Labour Party play the leading part in exposing and fighting Communists, and it is hardly necessary to deny the stupid slanders that the Labour Movement has anything in common with communism. “The Communists should be the last people to complain about undercover work. Some years ago, they planted one of their spies in the office of the Federation of Labour, and on another occasion, bored a hole in the wall of the conference chamber while the annual conference was being held, in order to obtain an accurate record of the proceedings. “They direct their members to form cells in the trade union movement for the purpose of furthering Soviet foreign policy. When, however, they are detected, they squeal and protest their innocence. The whole basis of the Communist technique is deceit, cunning, syping and lying. They hate to have the tables turned on them,” Mr Walsh said.