ATTACKS ON LEADERS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 86, 8 October 1943, Page 4

ATTACKS ON LEADERS

Sir, —In his statement last week, Mr. F. P. Walsh, president of the Wellington Trades Council of the New Zealand Federation of Labour, referred to attacks' "made on the trade vmion movement by the Nationalists during the election campaign." Personally, I have never seen any attacks on the trade union movement. Mr. Walsh contends that Mr. Holland's criticism of certain union leaders reveals that he is fundamentally opposed to industrial unionism. This is just like suggesting that because we are fighting dictation we want to destroy women and children. Mr. Walsh says that members of trade unions have had to put up with a great deal of abuse of their leaders whom the Nationalists term "labour bosses." I wonder whether the great majority' of trade unionists care tuppence about the leaders' feelings. Numbers of trade unionists may be opposed ,to Labour, but Mr. Walsh and the Labour bosses force them to contribute to Labour Party funds. Is this democracy? Mr. Walsh should keep particularly quiet on the question of vote catching. The efforts of .his own party do not permit it to throw stones at anyone else. His suggestion that the National Party propounded the doctrine that the war could be paid for without any cost to the people of the country is just too silly for words. People on the National side in politics have borne their full share of sacrifices, both in this war and the last. Finally, I would suggest to Mr. Walsh that this is not Labour's war alone-;-all sections of the community are in it.—l a™^ RP^AY _