LABOUR'S CAUSE

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 68, 17 September 1925, Page 6

LABOUR'S CAUSE

AN ALL NATIONS FAIR

OPENED IN THE TOWN HALL.

An All-Nations Fair, organised b,y the Wellington Labour Representation Committee, with the object of assisting the Labour Party's £25,000 fighting fund, was opened in the Town Hall this afternoon by the Leader of the Labour Party (Mr. H. E. Holland). For" the purposes of the fair, the Town Hall has been tastefully decorated, and the various stalls, which have been made up to represent different nations, give the hall a striking appearance, and reflect to the credit of the ladies of the party, who have evidently spared no pains in mak-. ing the fair a big success. The fair will be open for three days and nights. Mr. R. Sample, chairman of the Wellington" Labour Representation Committee, who presided at the opening ceremony this afternoon, explained that at the convention o fthe Labour Party held in Dunedin in 1924 it was decided to establish a fund to be known as the Labour Party's £25,000 fighting fund, the object being to enable the party to contest as many seats as possible at the coming election. With the object of assisting , the fund, the Wellington L.R.C., assisted, by the women's movement, decided to organise the present fair, which »was the first of its kind organised by Labour in the city.

Mr. Holland, who was warmly received, then declared the fair open. Mr. Holland said that the object of organising the fair was to obtain, funds for the coming. election campaign. Up. to date,£sooo had been received at the head office, and notable among the contribution's were the watersido workers' branches at Auckland and Wellington, each with £400, and the Cooks' and Stewards? Feder-. ation, with . £300. Tho moneys subscribed had' come from all sourcesdirect contributions from unions, voluntary levies, individual subscribers, from the extreme North to the Bluff, subscriptions had been sent. Tho allocation of the funds was in accord with the amounts'subscribed in each electorate, the contributions being held in trust until the needs of the electorate Were provided for. It was fitting that Wellington " should lead in the matter of the grouped city electorates, and Buller in the single electorates. .■'••■■. -.' , -■.■-,'■ Before declaring the fair open, Mr. Holland Baid he desired,to particularly refer to the efforts made by the women workers of the party in the different centres and Wellington, in particular was to, be congratulated on the splendid band of women workers. One.point about 'the funds could not be' overlooked. It was a national fund, set up for the purpose of fighting- every electorate. ■ If that, fight is 'to be effected, at least another' i £10,000 was-required.,.■.": ■'.■, I

1 Referring 'to': the probable date of the election, Mr.'Holland said that some time ago Mr. Coates gave him a promise that tha date of the election would be fixed so as to giye members with .large . country constituencies ample tine, to reach their electors.' If this promise was honoured, and he believed it would be, it meant that the date 5 of the! election .would be, not less than .six weeks from the rising of the House. The Liberal Party having passed ■-■■'away,.; the election would be the first straight-out. fight between the Reform and Labour Eartits. In conclusion, he urged them to concentrate all their energies on.niakV ing the: coming fight the most effective ever,put up in the histbry of the New Zealand Labour-movement. •■••

The various stallholders. are ■; as follow:—Miramar stall (representing Russia) : Mesdames W. Bromley,' E. E. Canham, A. M'Leod,: J. Townson, Carncrpss, Duffill, Troy, Codyre, and J. Thorn. Wellington Central (Ireland): 'Mesdames Costello, Fraser, Bentley, Bell, Harding, Walsh, Dawes, and the Misses Bentley. Wellington South (Scotland): Mesdames M!Keen, Black, Hawke, Larsen, Glover; Brown, Mahoney, Love, Bowden, and Miss M. Black. ; Wellington* North (England): Mesdames ; Henley, Reid, Taylor, Duncan; Lee, Smith, O'Neill, Wysocki, , Misses ■ Taylor ' (2), Callaghan, Thomson, Reid, Smith; and Morice. Maori stall. (Ngaio and Khandallah):' Mesdames Oault, Cook, and Hawthorn! Otaki stall: Mesdames:Semple, Snow, Thomas, Glover, Johnson, Nicholls,'Davies, Lutzky, and Holt; .Tearooms : Meadames A. L. Monteith, Pinder,' Jones, Siriimonds, Chapman, Savage; -Moore, Wells, Whittington, Smith, Prince, and,'Linaker.,' :.::.', '' : •'. An attraction this afternoon and evening will-be an:entertain!oeiit by a party of Maoris from Manawatu and Hawkes Bay:-: '■';■■■" -;• :'i-: ■/.-^'■■'. ■ ■"• :[■■'■"■ '..: '.;