COMMUNISM

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 112, 14 May 1927, Page 17

COMMUNISM

WILD AND DANGEROUS

MOVEMENT CONDEMNED

BY LABOUR PARTY PRESIDENT

Asked by a "Post" reporter for opinion of the condemnation of Communists by the Metal Workers' Assistants' Union and the Wellington branch of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners, as reported recently, Mr. R. Semple, president of the Labour Party, stated that in view of the tactics adopted by the Communists in the last municipal election and their avowed hostility towards the industrial and political movement of the working class, those organisations had done the only thing possible to protect the first principle of trade unionism.

"Tho Communists, the world over," he continued, "are carrying out a policy of disruption against th"c labour movement, and in order to be more effective they seek to sneak into Labour Party branches and other organisations by disguising their • real intentions.

•■ ■ . They hope by their policy of 'whiteanting' to bring about the collapse of the existing Labour Party and trade union organisations, so ; as- to exploit the resultaiit suspicion and ill-will in favour of desperate policies of sabotage and civil war. "In this they are following instructions definitely received from Moscow and formulated by the Third International and its leaders, which instructions explicitly oblige them to go the whole length of ;any deceit if needs be, and to. resort to strategy, adroitness, illegal proceedings, reticence, and subterfuge; in fact, anything to penetrate ■into the trade unions and remain in them to carry on Communist work. Experience has.proved that this policy has i been pursued even to the point of disrupting and smashing the organisations' concerned to the detriment of tho workers they represented. "WOBMJNO THEMSELVES IN." "The following instruction which is signed by the, "members of the Communist Party branch in Wellington is an evidence that not only do Communists violate the confidential business of the bodies into which they worm themselves, but they subordinate the interests of these bodies to the Communist Party. '

WELLINGTON GROUP C.P. OF N.Z. A committee responsible for the assisting and directing momhers in tho co-ordination of work within trades unions and other organisations was sot up at last meeting, in accordance with the decision of Christchurch Conference. This committee .requires the.following information, and mombers will assist by. returning this form, fully filled up, as sopn as possible. Name , Address !.!!!!!!!!! '.'.'.'. Occupation Name of Trade Union ...'.'.'.'. Other Organisations: Bodies to which union or other organisation is affiliated. Official or delegated positions held | by member in either of above. Members are requested to hand to ono of the members of tho responsible committeo, before the twentioth of

oach month, starting from May next, a report of individual activities for tho month, containing, briefly, information of the .'principal business of tho organisations to which they bolong, and a brief account of their actions and opinions on theso mutters. This will allow tho committeo to becomo acquainted with trade union matters generally, and to make a report to the monthly meeting of the group (on the last Saturday of the month) for consideration. SPIES AND INFORMEBS.

"No construction can be placed on this," said Mr. Semple, "other than that the Communists act' as spies and informers upon trade union business on behalf of an outsido body which' unscrupulously misrepresents and opposes the policy of both trades unions and the Labour Party.' ' • "Tho Communists," Mr. ■'Sen'iplo went on, "have a perfect right to form their own parties and to propagate their own ideas, on political, industrial, and social questions, but when they resort to methods which arc false, scurrilous,' hypocritical, and cowardly, it is time working-class organisations made a firm and' determined stand against this group of disrupters, who •are pursuing a policy altogether foreign to our national traditions and circumstances. If'they think they can, destroy organisations it has taken generations to build up by the faithful services of the pioneers of our movement, and which have won concessions and reforms too numerous to mention—-or-ganisations which bear the hallmark of devotion and self-sacrifice—they are hugely mistaken. The Labour movement owes the men and women who have done this pioneering work a deep debt of gratitude, and it would not be worthy of the efforts they have made if it allowed this policy of disruption and vilification to continue. I am certain it has not intention of doing so."

LABOUB. ACCEPTS THE CHALLENGE. Mr. Seinple said that the Communists, by their mothods of intrigue, lying, and slander, had : challenged the bona fide Labour movement of this country and the only self-respecting thing for the movement to.do was to accept the challenge and purge its ranks of them whenever they showed, themselves. The Labour movement had nothing in common with the tactics and policy pursued by them. They stood for violence and force, and were prepared to use any weapon no matter how foul 4t might- be. They believed in dictatorship, and they aimed to bring all existing institutions- to chaos and confusion in the hope that from o the disorder, misery, and tumult, their dictatorship would be In the process

all democratic principles n-ould bo destroyed. In .1 society liko New Zealand where the democratic tradition prevailed the franchise was wide enough to provide a constitutional remedy for all grievances. The policy of tho Communists was wildly absurd, as well as dangerous, and it was only necessary to expose their methods to show that the construction of a new society along those lines was impossible. "In contrast with, the Communists," concluded Mr. Semplc,'"the Labour movement in New, Zealand is the avowed enemy of dictatorship of any kind. It believes in democratic control, both within its own organisation and as a matter of public policy. Dictatorship means the dominance of a clique, and to this the Labour Party is wholeheartedly opposed, because it believes that the people have the right to govern themselves. The Labour Party also believes that the evils of society can only be removed by a steady educational process, and it is doing its utmost to reach its ideals through the minds and hearts of the masses of the people. This process, whatever may be said against it,- is sure. OPPORTUNITY TOR NEW ! ZEAI^&ND. "The Labour' movement, moreover, holds that each, country should guide its own d'esiirij^aceofding-.'-tb the traditions pf itslp'epple.,and their ; economic and spcial.'envirpunrient and habits,.and it • firmly holds; tp; &c: bslief Tthi* New Zealand .with its'•.wealtfcand potentiali-ties-can be made Va n" object' lesspn... in S' cialis'm. .for "the rest."6f '.|he; "world'as soon as the people -will' it.-'stf. •' ;It .is, therefore,./against policies of hate and bloodshed which' not only menace its existence, bi>t render unfit men and women for the patient work essential to tho building of a new order of society." V