AN INVITATION DECLINED

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 60, 8 September 1914, Page 2

AN INVITATION DECLINED

HOTEL WORKERS AND SOCIAL DEMOCRATS. The Wellington hotel workers' executive had before it last evening an invitation to support the Social Democratic Party, forwarded by the secretary, Mr. P. Fraeer. Support was solicited not only for the Party, but its candidates for election. One of the reasons given, in Air. Fraser's letter asking for support was that the recent Labour Congress which formed the new Federation of Labour had adopted^ the Social Democratic Party as its political party, and that it had called upon the workers to support that body. This letter was dealt with in, conjunction with a report from the union's delegates on the Trades and Labour Council, and an. interesting position was thereby disclosed. The delegates reported that the provisional president of the new federation had attended a meeting of the Trades Council, and had there definitely stated that clause 17 of the Constitution of the Federation of Labour was not an integral part of that constitution. The clause in question definitely stated that the Social Democratic Party is the political expression, of the United Federation of Labour ; but, according to the delegates' report, the Federation president (Mr. Sullivan) said it was only the fringe 1 of the constitution. Further, in answer to ques< tions, if was stated that not only could unions who joined the Federation set aside clause 17, but they abso were not bound to support the Social Democratic Party. Mr. Sullivan also stated to the council that political nominees of the Social Democratic Party in any electorate would have no moral right to claim support of members of any specified unions because of the fact that they had joined the Federation of Labour. " After a discussion on the matter, .in which the contradictory nature of the statements of the two Federation officials was commented upon, the meeting decided to refuse the request contained in Mr. Fraser's letter, and " it recommended members of the union to give political support to the Labour Party's candidates, whose party had consistently advocated a system of industrial arbitration and the institution of a system of compulsory military training; and it had done so in the face of tho bitter opposition of many of those now prominently connected with the Social Democratic Party. In dealing with the reports of its delegates to the Trades Council, the meeting decided to instruct its representatives on that body to strenuously oppose v any proposal that might be hereafter made to facilitate affiliation between the Trades and Labour Council and the Federation of Labour, on the ground that the decision of the meeting considered that the constitution of that body was plainly set out in clause 17, and_ that it definitely bound unions affiliating to fully support the whole of the principles and planks of the Social Democratic Party. Tho main ground given for tho instruction, however, was that it was the opinion of the meeting that it would be against the best interests of Labour for the Trades Council to indulge in any more experiments, and that Labour's interests are best promoted by continued adhesion to the Trades and Labour Councils as at present constituted.