Evening Post

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 73, 29 March 1910, Page 6

Evening Post

TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 1910. INDEPENDENT LABOUR. During the past five or t>ix years various attempts have been made to form ] an Independent Political Labour Party in Now Zealand. By some peculiar pro- i cesß of reasoning, which must be utterly unintelligible to the Employers' Federation, certain Labour leaders have convinced themselves that th« Liberal Administration has not been working hard enough for Labour. The curbi put upon Capita) arc overlooked with a shrug by enthusiasts who hope to set up a htraightout Labour domination., In the past, the alleged led have been more shrewd than the alleged Jeaders, and have* declined to fort>ake an advantageous alhawc and allow themselves to be marched, into a political wilderness. Mr. D. M'Loren, tho folo representative of Independent Labour in the House of Representatives, hope* to exercise a power of persuasion which his predecessors did not achieve. Possibly ho is stimulated rather than discouraged by their failure, and may hop* to reach EJ Dorado by a road paved with broken promises— the promises made to tho Hon. J. Rigg and others. It is reported that Mr. M'Laren has "received maoy expressions of confidence in his scheme." That was exactly the reported experience of Mr. Rigg in. 1905. Afterkis tour in tho South Island, prior to the General Election of 1905, Mr. Rigg was confident that the seed of "Independence" which he scattered fur and wide would produce an abundant har\e*t, but in December of that year he \va» bitterly disappointed. The new party was dynamited, and only a few fragments wero left after the explosion. There was some effort at reconstruction, and last year another endeavour was made to induce the workers to vote for political isolation. The advocate* of "Indepeudencu" claimed that they had improved 1 their position, but the ysue, plain for till to see, was that the rank and file of the Labour army were not eager to accept the dictation of men who had failed to prove that they were clear-sighted. Mr. M'Lareu's method is not ao diicct : as Mr. lligg't. The present missionary's plans ure more tubtle. He aim* at consolidating the Labour forces. His primary objective is a Federation of Labour, the manufacture of a party machine, and circumstances have given him a favourable opportunity. While the Premier and Mr. Massey are wuiting for each other to hpeak, the 1-übour envoy is addressing moetiug* by the dozen. He has v record of twenty-four meetings for eleven days in L'hristchuicb, and is to bpeak much mote. We do not believe that "Independence" will be a benefit for tho Labour Party, and wo are sure that it will be a decided disad\antngu for New ZtaUnd. Tin* country i* not in a condition to be«r the bufd&B pJ » thrce-puty

«y»tem. However, Mt. M'Laren, by exciting some public interest in large national questions, notably land, may b« doing some good service.