APPEAL TO WOMEN

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 143, 14 March 1938, Page 10

APPEAL TO WOMEN

Mrs. W. A. Bodkin’s Address At Wanganui

FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY Dominion Special Service. Wanganui, March 12. A strong appeal to the women of Wanganui to support the New Zealand National Barty in its fight against Socialism, and thus uphold the principles of democracy, was made by Mrs. W. A. Bodkin, wife of the M.P. for Central Otago, addressing a capacity audience of about 350, mostly women, in the Savage Club hall to-night. The address was punctuated with frequent applause and there were no interjections, features which were commented upon by the chairman, Mr. J. Morrison, president of the Wanganui branch of the party.

The meeting was the first of a series which is being arranged to further the interests of women in Wanganui, with a view to forming a permanent women’s section. Mr. Morrison said he was delighted with the attendance and commented that on a Saturday night they had been prepared for a smaller meeting. He expressed the opinion that it was one. of the most impressive of the many political gatherings he had attended. A vote of thanks to Mrs. Bodkin anil confidence in the National Party was proposed by Mr. A. E. Halligan and carried unanimously- , The Woman’s Point of View. Mrs. Bodkin said at the outset that she would discuss the political situation as it existed in New Zealand today from the woman’s point of view. Before the Labour Party came into power there had always been a Government in New Zealand that believed in the principles of democracy. To-day the country had a Government with totally different ideas and whose aims and objects were to introduce a Socialistic form of government. The National Party and the Labour Party were travelling in opposite directions, and the electors were being faced with a clear-cut issue. The opponents of the National Party liked to describe it as being built up with a few old reactionary members, but people from all ranks were working in the interests of the party and were determined to preserve in New Zealand what bad been handed down to them. A contrast between Socialism and democracy was drawn by Mrs. Bodkin, who declared that every individual should have the opportunity of developing his talents. ”We believe that the nature of man is threefold —physical, mental and spiritual,” she said. “We believe that a good Government is one which enables the individual to develop in the highest possible extent his God-given faculties. The individual is the important unit of the democratic Government, and the Government, or the State, is the servant of the individual. In the Socialistic . Government the State is all-powerful and the individual fits into the pattern which is d.ecreed by the State.” The extreme forms of Communism and Socialism aimed at overthrowing Capitalism. Socialists hoped to attain that end by peaceful means, but the Communists were prepared to go to the extremes of Red revolution. The end both parties hoped to attain was the same, however, and in the Socialistic State the individual was only as important as a cog in a wheel. Challenge To Democracy. “In every country to-day there is a challenge to democracy,” said Mi's. Bodkin. “We have grown up to believe in democracy so much that we feel we are part of it. and to find it challenged gives us a rude shock. To find democracy challenged in our own country seems almost impossible. I hope that in the interests of the National Party you will all join up and work for it, and realise that you are part ot a world-wide movement to defend democracy. To return a candidate at the, next election is not everything. I hope you do, but that is not ail that is required. You must realise that you will be part of a world-wide tight for democracy, and that you are fighting a well-organised and well-disciplined body on the other side. Even if we are successful in the next election, the tight will go on, and if you are enrolled, don't think it is just for a few mouths. You are going to get a Hie sentence, and must be prepared lo fight all your lives. Can any Labour candidate really sustain his claim to be a guardiau of democracy? I’m not so sure. Without freedom of speech ami conscience democracy must jierish And is that freedom of speech and conscience the same in New Zealand to-day as it was before the Labour Government -came into power?”

The Government bad full control <>t broadcasting, with the result that it was only at the goodwill of the State that anything went over the air. On several occasions threats bad bcm made to stifle the Press. Every public man must be prepared to subject himself to a certain amount of criticism, and any move toward stilting that criticism was not in the interests of democracy. The antidote Io power was criticism by the people, which brought, the powers that were down to reali-' ties. Criticism was an essential part of a democratic Government. In New Zealand Cabinet Ministers had shown the greatest resentment to criticism, and had threatened to suppress it. Organised interruption at political meetings was another form of curtailing freedom of speech, and an underground method even more sinister was the case of the person afraid to show his hand because of organised persecution. Compulsory Unionism. This unhealthy state of affairs had never before existed in New Zealand. Mrs. Bodkin said. In a country where democracy reigned everyone, the strong and the weak, had the right to express an opinion without any form of coercion or persecution limiting his freedom. Another great violation of democracy- in New Zealand was the effect of compulsory unionism. The National Party believed that trade unions were al! to the good, but when they departed .from legitimate objects and became 'actively political, a danger was created. People with no sympathy for the Labour Government were compelled to pay their dues, and the trade unions voted large sums of money to the party. It was one of the greatest infringements on freedom ever heard of in New Zealand, and no Labour member had ever attempted to defend it.

Mrs Bodkin also dealt with the Government’s taxation policy, and gave practical illustrations of how the most heavily taxed in New Zealand to-day was the wage-earner supporting a wife and family. The ruin with three children, for instance, made five contributions to the indirect stream of taxation, and ou a small pay was

making the greatest passible contribution to the welfare of New Zealand. If the unnecessary unemployment tai and union dues were given to the housewife, she could spend the money much more advantageously.