NEW, ZEALAND SOCIALIST PARTY

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 283, 24 August 1908, Page 8

NEW, ZEALAND SOCIALIST PARTY

ADDRESS BY MB. A. R. BARCLAY, M.P. At Hi's' Majesty's Thea.tre last night Mr. A. R. Barclay, M.P., delivered an address on "The Unrest of Labour." Mr. Barclay pointed . out- that Labour in New Zealand was, in' conjunction with Labour in other militantly. dissatisfied, and that this attitude was justified by the unsatisfactory conditions that society allowed to exist. Strikes were the expression of this dissatisfaction, 1 and, ho firmly believed that men never wont on strike without good cause.There was always < the-prospect of hunger, for the striko was, bad, and the knowledge that wives and children would suffer made it _ much greater. Labour wa.s over conscious that however good. times might be society could not guarantee a continuity of prosperity. The wolf might not be at* the door, but ho was in tho wood just over the way, and might como along at any time. Labour, he. thought,. would not, and should not, cease to agitato until this uncertainty was removed and society could guarantee to any man, who would work an income'that would adequately meet life's requirements. I The speaker adversely criticised tho Arbitration Court, and stated that it was not doing/the work it .was intended it should ; do, and that it was going'from bad to worse. The case of the>agricultural labourers was cited to prove .this. They as a union cited a case, and the Court refused to give an award, although they were as much entitled to an. award. aV any other union. This weakened the Court's position, and he thought that Parliament should step in and make an award for the agricultural labourers if tho Court could not Do made to do so. Referring to an article by Mrs. Grossman in the "Ninteeeneth Century Review,", comparing poverty.here and'in London, Mr. Barclay stated that- New Zealand must face tho problem of altering, tho state of society to prevent the development of tho awful conditions that occur in London. The present systerti would inevitably reproduco tho horrors of London slums if it was allowed to continue. The only way ; in which poverty and spasmodic employment could bo prevented was by the State employing labour and managing tho productive industries in tho interests of the public and the workers. This would ensure decent wages, regular supply/ no deception or fraud, and an enormous saving in rents, advertising, and management. generally, and in periods of slackened demand the labour could bo utilised- in developing the country. The Attorney-General might be correct in stating (that, the industries could not pay more wages, and ho thought that it was surprising that anyone should expect that they could, when they considered tho enormous waste of the; present competitive system.

. Socialism, which was at first jeered at, had now become the belief of most of tho leading intellects of tho world, and was a.dvocated by poets, scientists, -and philosophers. It was the only schcrao that_ would ensuro to all a fair and . honest living, and he congratulated the Wellington Branch on its organisation and activity in this great work of establishing the co-operativo . commonwealth that would treat men as men and not as profit mills. In tho course of his address Mr. Barclay mentioned what he as_ a particularly glaring case of "victimisation" which had como under his notice, whore a trade union secretary had been dismissed with 12 hours' notice, and a colourless testimonial, without explanation. Tho man had given his employers absoluto satisfaction for 20 years, but just prior to being dismissed had cited a' case for his union to tho Arbitration Court, and tho connection seemed obvious. On being questioned at the conclusion of his address, Mr. Barclay declined to announco the name in this caso, but offered to let anyone read the firm's lettors to the man.