Evening Post. TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 1905. THE ALMS OF THIS LABOUR LEAGUE.

Evening Post, Volume LXIX, Issue 55, 7 March 1905, Page 4

Evening Post. TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 1905. THE ALMS OF THIS LABOUR LEAGUE.

Tlio Labour Pnily in Uiis colony has talked so much of independence) and displayed so liltlo of il for many ye.nn, that wo woro nut disposed lo attach any very groat iniportaiico to moro declarations of the .siuno kind uhich proceeded from the Trades and Labour Conference litfit year. The. Premier showed himself v good devil less sceptical than wo were, nnd his watchful jealousy for the interests of himself and his machine induced him to make .«oiuc searching onquiiies us to the tactics proposed. Tho Conference had resolved "lluit an Independent Labour Ptuty should bo formed immediately to effectively organise and secure proper representation in Parliament and on municipal and other bodies ; to Kccnro (a) such legislation a» will bo fur tlio benefit of the people and the colony as n whole, and (b) to con.seivo and protect tlio rights alieady secured to the people." This resolution vas certainly nioio specific than the customary talk about, independence, yet wo did not expect much fiom it; and when n deputation lrom the Conference subsequently waited upon the Premier with referenco to other mullein, -thu resolution appeared to be stultified nnd the indopendenco hopelessly compromised by Iho reply given to his challenge. It was explained to him that the resolution was inspired by "a feeling that moro could ho done for (ho cause- of progiess by Iho establishment of a distinct nnd definite Labour Party," but lio «;in n'.FO assured that "there need bo no fc.ir on tlio part of the Government as to which «i d<? tho parly would support." Desiiiug as wo do lo oeo tho Labour Paity neither degenerating into Seddonian scifw, nor aspiring to wreck Pailiiiiwnlaty government by attempting to form ji third party on tlio samo lines M the. other two in a House wheie thero aro only two lobbies^ we regarded this interview «h establishing tho fact that the Independent. Labour Party, whiles avoiding the latter extreme, had definitely committed itself lo tho former. Wo arc gl.td, however, to find that it is not our fears but tho Premier's which were justified. 'Hie iirpiwtions of the Conference have now tuktn nhapo in the formation of a Political Labour Linn lie, which is being pu«hed with vigour in ninny parts of the colony, nnd may perhaps become a. real power in the land. Its aim is Iho crontion of .a Ktrong Labour Party in Parliament, which, while yielding allegiance to no political leader except ono chosen from its own number, will not endeavour to play tlic pnrt of an Islimncl in politics, but will seek alliances from timo to time in order to riTUio irn objects. "The necessity for (hi- League," wiyx n manifesto recently circulaUd nmoiifr tlio workeis by the new organisation, "lies in thn fnet that a majority in Parliament is opposed, not only to Kit) >ou r legislation, but also to the most dunocratlu principle in our land lnws — nunioly, tho nationalisation of tho laud. Tins unsatisfactory result Itti.s bepn brought nbout by want of organisation, due to your nuliffcience." Tho political bucccssw of Ittbour in Kngland and Australia aro cited n'< models for tlio workeis of New Zealand, who mo exhorted to plfico their countiy "in the foremost of dotnourntio colonies." Oil'. 1 only democrat will not caro for tho suggestion that, thcro is nny i)lnco in the universe which can givo this colony a lead in democracy or in anything elso, and thero is much beside- of a moro direct personal bearing in tho utterances of tho League's promoters winch can only strike him as a very dangerous form of lesc-majestc. "In the' past," said tho Hon. .T. Rigg, M.L.C., who has taken an active part in tho propaganda of the League, "too many inembors huvo been pledged to tho support of a certain leader, tho result being that it is not piinciplo which governs tho party, but the welfare of the leader — and the welfare of tho leader only." Tho pinking of tho labour clement in the Liberal and labour combination i.s another phuso of tho same piocess to which tho League takes strong exception. It may fairly bo said that if Liberalism has swallowed up Labour in tho Liberal and Labour Federation, il is Seddonism that has managed to do the samo for Liberalism. Tho wishes and interests of its President, aro tho only principles which control tho organisation, nnd personal allegiance to a singlo man is mndo tho test of what with unconscious irony is termed " Liberalism." Any organisation which seeks to put a check upon this unprincipled tyranny is <it least entitled to a fair hearing, und it is of course assailed by thoso for whom blind obedience- has taken the plnco of independent thought, ns though it woto opposing tho principled and tho parly who«o name the tyranny has usurped. Tho most hopeful sign about tho new organisation i.s, indeed, that its .leading spirilH are men whoso allegiance Ho Liberalism is beyond question, and who nto hune&tly endeavouring to purify tho party from within as a far preferable alternntivo to disruption. But if wo may make tho suggestion, they are far moro likely to succeed if, while refusing to narrow their programmo to a personal question, they refrain from extending it and attenuating it by tlio inclusion of all sorts of 'abstract questions which liavo no plnco nt j>rch-ont in ti practical platform, and merely have a, distracting, and therefore weakening, effect. An excellent example of how not to do it is afforded by a very thorough-going correspondent of the Lyttolton Times. In a. letter which i» headed "Political Labour Party," ho writes: "Tho abovo party owe their existenco and their Klruggles to tho existence and predatory .struggles of capitalism. The Political Labour Party must become a clearly defined Sociiili.it movement, blinding for the unqualified co-operative commonwealth, and at tho same time understand their immediate intuoM.s, or they will play into the hands of tho exploitop. . . . The formation of v Political Labour Party is only ono niorospoko to tho wage-slavo wheel. Let this now pity n+ onco give up the spongo and join hand in hand with tho Socialist Party, and .«o help the harmonious and commanding development of tho Socialist political movement-, as tbo only channel and power by which litbout in to ooino to its emancipation nnd its common wealth." Without prejudging tho question of the ultimate const ilutiou of civil society, wo nro quite satisfied that tho leaders of tho new movement will doom it lo futility if they hearken to such counsels as this. Ono secret of tho weakness of tlio labour movement on tho continont of Kuropo, as compared with Its strength in Great Britain, lies in tho fact that the ono has talked, theoretical .Socialism, and the other lias gone in for practical piogrow. While the ono baa been baying at the moon, the other has secuied its extra, shilling a day A Tho

Political Labour Lciiguo will no doubt lopicHout the advanced left wing of Libcialism, but it will make no headway — on tho contrary, it will lighten the hold of Ihe "selftah few" upon Uio so-called Libeinl foires — if it gives the impivssion of being visionary instead of practicil. Talk of an "unqualified co-operative comliionwealth" can only work unqualified mischief in a practical oignnisation at tho present time, for it will excite tho instant opposition of hundreds who sym-pnthi'-o with ilfl immediato aims but cannot share its Utopian visions, or at tho most would liko to see them realised tentatively ami inch by inch. It is Mich wild talk in Australia that servos thb Federal Premier as a rallying cry against nil reform, /and any organisation in this colony which makes tho R.inio mistake will equally play into tin) hands of our arch-obstructivu who w.«s once our arch-re former.