DISRUPTIVE AIMS

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 124, 18 February 1921, Page 6

DISRUPTIVE AIMS

ISSUE MUST BE FACED WELFARE LEAGUE IN CONFERENCE A STRIKING ADDRESS The second annual conference of the New Zealand Welfare League was held yesterday in the Accountants’ Chambers. The president, Mr. C. P. Skerrett, K.C., was in the chair. Delegates were present representing Auckland, Hamilton, . Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, blew Plymouth, Stratford, -Kithara, Masterton, and Hastings. Apologies were received from other centres. In his opening address Mr. Skerrett said that since the league last met it had bean become recognised as a national institution, whose object was to advocate the interests of* the community, apart from political party, apart from class, or any- other consideration. It had boldly stood tor the public jveal and had been ever vigilant in its interests. It had been mindful of the fact that every man owed a duty to the community, and that the performance of that obligation was one of the chief duties of the citizen. The ' league itself had had no concern for the Interests of classes br sections of the community. It concerned itself °"D' with the public welfare, and it tested every public act and proposal by the criterion of its accordance with the interests of the country. History of the League. Mr. Skerrett went on to recall the Circumstances which led to the formation of the league and the conditions which obtained when it was brought into existence. H( stated that some years liefore the great strike of 1913 the Arbitration Court had by successive awards increased wages and reduced the hours oi work to such an extent that all (including the workers) felt that further increase and betterment were impossible The result was. that the Arbitration Court was abandoned or flouted and disused by the militant unions, and lost ' the standing it had previously possessed ■as an authoritative settler of indil-.-w*-disputes. There also came about gradually a striking change in the outlook and objects of the militant unions, lhe country was flooded with the literature of the Syndicalist, of the 1.W.U., and with literature which advocated the abolition of capital, the ruthless destruction of private enterprise, and the control of the means of manufacture, production and exchange by manual labour. The control of the Labour mov - ment passed into the hands of the extremists, and liecamo syndicalist and revolutionary in its ultimate aims. extremists engineered the general stiike of 1913 at the ports of the Dominion, which stopped or harassed all the industries of the country. No doubt was fe in the public mind as to the significance of the strike. Its success would have struck a death blow to the existing eeo-. nomic system, and would have led to the triumph of the revolutionists. people were aroused to.the significance the issue. The strike completely failed and resulted in the breakdown of the waterside unions and the temporary eclipse of the extremist leaders. Opportunity of the Extremist.

"Then came the war,” continued Mr. Skerrett, "and with it again the opportunity of the extremist. He was antimilitarist. He opposed compulsory service. His influence was everywhere working against the successful prosecution of the war. Ho put every possible difficulty in the way of the New Zealand Government’s performance of its duty oi lending every possible assistance to the Empire. He had no detestation or fear of a German conquest of New Zealand. He professed that he would he happier under German rule than under the existing system. The influence of the agitator increased and he was helped by I the shortage of labour He advocated I and persisted in exorbitant demands foi ■: increased wages and shorter hours an< - : for conditions which made for greatly reduced production. War conditions prevented strenuous opposition to his demands. The nation was in grave peril—it must have men and food -.nd clo.hing to keen the armies in the. field. All economic considerations were cast aside. Sr> the New Zealand Government and the ehipping owners, under pressure from the Imperial Government and under .he imperative necessities of war, gave con cessions unjustified 'by. reason, or economic reasons, which resulted n increased co=t and reduced production. All thlwas the work of the extremist and was k engineered by him. And by these means he obtained the leadership and control of the three unions which are usually the centre of disturbance but are con- ■ nccted with the vital industries of the country, namely, the waterside, transport, and ccal industries. "Only a Step on Their Way.” “During the war the extremist, leaders deliberately adopted the policy of securin'' the control r.nd ultimately the ownership of all the industries of Hie country'. The advocacy of nationalisation was only n step on the way to their goal. They initiated the. 'go-slow’ policy, irritation stoppages of work, and pin-prickmg m the shipping industry and Hie handling of cargoes on the. wharves; end openly Twisted that (hey would leave no place in the Dominion on which the foot oi the Capitalist could rest.” Continuing, Air. Sk'.rrett said that in pursuance of this policy', the extremis.* leaders in the year 1915 entered upon a definite scheme to ensure a short supply of coal for the country. This was done by the "go-slow” policy, by initiating stoppages, and every device, to reduce output. Two facts were most significant. The first was that the decrease in output was most marked in the production of bituminous and semi-bitiinilnons. coal on which the Dominion depended for carrying on its basic industries. The second significant fact was- ihat any Government importations of foreign coal were immediately offset by less pi odaction within the Dominion or by Labour troubles in Newcastle affecting the loadin" of coal ships- There could only bo one inference from these facts. There was a set and deliberate policy to dislocate and impede the vital industries of the country in pursuance af the design to drive capital out of the Dominion. Tn this design there was little doubt, that the. extremists were working in co-ordination with the Labour organisations in Australia. To Destroy and Unroot. These were the conditions which obtained when the Welfare League was formed. It saw the Labour organisations —with their large finances con-rolled by extremists—by avowed revolutionary Socialists—whose admitted aims were to destroy and uproot the existing economic condition and to substitute for it the control and ownership of organised labour, or, in other words, of the Soviet, It saw b this goal being furthered by strikes, go-slow, and every form of dislocation of industry—increasing the cost of production. It saw tho very increase* of cost of living which these conditions to a large extent created made the pretext for more and more exorbitant . demands. Above all, it found a pernicious propaganda inculcating these opinions widely diffused amongst the workers—unopposed. unanswered, and iineontroverted. This propaganda, unsound ami pernicious as it was, was innoculatinq Hie worker with the views of revolution. And familiarising him with the necessity’’ of uprooting existing institution--, if he were io better his comntivns. , The necessity of the country was great. : continued Mr. Skerrett. and so the Welfare League was brought into being to

combat these disruptive forces; to rouse the people from their apathy; to state clearly the case for the country; to expose the schemes and designs of the extremists, and by an extensive educational propaganda set before the worker the grave nature and consequences and the folly—from the economic and other points of view—of tho doctrines which were being promulgated. It was a significant circumstance that coincident with the formation of the league—but quite independent and without any connection with it similar movements appeared in England. Doubtlessly, stated Mr. Sterrett, similar condiiions obtained in England as in New Zealand, and the necessity for controlling the ruinous designs of the revolutionary by the means adopted by the league became apparent to those who desired sound government. As tho national secretary had pointed out in his report, the league was in correspondence with these and similar societies. Activities of the League.

Turning to the general activities of the league during the year, Mr. Skerrett pointed out that its work was largely educative. Propaganda articles issued by the league were now widely published by the Press of the Dominion. In pursuing this vigorous campaign, owing to the great measure of success it had obtained, the league had earned the enmity of the extremist. The latter commei.eed with an attempt to ridicule the name of the league, and this falling painfully flat, he adopted the policy of misrepresentation. Tho league, said the extremist, was an uncompromising opponent of Labour, and it was a capitalist league. If it had been said that the league was an uncompromising opponent of revolutionary doctrine intended to subvert the constitutional institutions of the country; if they (the extremists) had said that the league regarded strikes as ,wanton, wasteful, and useless; if they had said that the league mainv.uded that the go-slow and "ca-canny" policy and the pin-pricking of Capital were, dishonest, and exhibitions of industrial folly serving no good purpose—they would be right. "But,” added the president, "if they mean that the league is indifferent to the true interests of the sane and honest worker, they are wrong. The real truth is that the extremist and the league run on different rails. We can never meet.” Flood of Pernicious Literature. Reverting to the policy of the league, ■ Mr. Skerrett said that it “had already done much, but as its chief weapon was education the results were not shown in concrete shape. The necessity for the league, however, was as great to-day as it was on tho day of its birth. The revolutionist w'as as active and as determined to-day as ever he was. The pul>lic did not know the full extent of the menace which existed to public order and stable government. The informa- , tion department of the league was better informed, and apparently the. Government had awakened to the necessity of controlling the possession of the deadly repeating pistol and the registration of arms. The league saw to-day no halt in the efforts of the extremist to produce industrial unrest, and in the determination to dislocate and hinder the industries of, the country, so as to make tho existing economic system impossible. There had been no cessation of the circulation of a flood of pernicious literature amongst the workers. Tho Welfare League was as much needed to-day as ever it was. and it called upon every good citizen —every man who desired sound and stable government and tho true progress of the country—to give it his moral and material support.

Touching on another topic, Mr. Skerrett referred at some length to the fact that the Welfare League had vigorously opposed the attempt of the shipowners and watersiders at a recent secret conference to enter into an arrangement, handing over the loading and discharge of all overseas vessels to an association of shipowners and watersiders, to be called "The Co-operative Stevedoring Association.” One of the contentions of the league was that the public had too long been the shuttlecock of the employers and the workers in the settlement of wages and working conditions. The public was never consulted, and yet ho was the .-ultimate paymaster. Apart from this general principle tho league thought that there were grave objections to the proposed scheme. It was not co-operative in the true sense; it. gave no encouragement or incentive to, increased exertion by the worker; it would create a monopoly of the work and be a great step towards placing the control of our ports in the hands of the Waterside Workers’ Union. If this control were gained it would be difficult to avoid the extension of the principle to our mines and other great public utilities. A further objection was that it did not involve the employment of a permanent, staff—with its attendant benefits —but retained all the evils of casual employment. Services Appreciated. On behalf of the National Executive of the league the president, next expressed appreciation of the services of the national secretary and the gentleman who was in charge of the publicity department. They had both worked zealously and enthusiastically, and the propaganda carried on had been of a high character. “To you my colleagues,” concluded Air. Skerrett, “I say, “let us press on the good work, conscious as we are that we have already put a substantial spoke in the progress of revolutionary propaganda in this country.” ■ The motion for the adoption of the report, was seconded by Mr. Miller, of Auckland, and carried unanimously. The remainder of the business of the meeting was taken in committee.