LABOR AND THE GOVERNMENT.

Evening Star, Issue 13102, 7 November 1908, Page 11

LABOR AND THE GOVERNMENT.

POLITICAL SUICIDE. VIEWS OP A LABOR LEADER SOME- GOOD ADVICE. - [Special xp the Star.] WELLINGTON. November?. The position which Labor, with its divided counsels, occupies in the politics of the Dominion >t the present time has given serious thought to well-wishers, pf the cause. Some interesting observations on the question were made. f New Zealand Times ’ interviewer by. .Mr W, H. Westbrooke, whose long association with .Labor ..as president, of« the- .Wellington Trades and Labor Council,, and as their secretary for three years, together with his connection with trades unionism generally, enables him to speak \vith considerable authority. Mr Westbrooke, then in the- RaU\ray Department at Westport, was amongst those who went out on strike in 1890, and suffered for the Labor cause, bince that time.be has been a sympathetic worker in the interests of- Labor, and has often pleaded its cause with success before the Arbitration Court, —Liberal and Labor Combination.—

ti 11 seems to me,” said Mr Westbrooks, ‘that Labor has just about committed political suicide by withdrawing its support from the .Government.: Tfiere can' be Jio doubt that the Liberal-Labor combination has done more for the workers of the Dominion than any Government have done I *L a nj r other country. Many measure for the benefit of Labor are eagerly sought after by Labor nien in other countries, and sought in vain. I feel certain 1 that much progressive legislation in the interests of Labor would have been passed if the Government could have depended on a solid Labor vote behind them. But the withdrawal of Labor has forced the Government to seek support from other sources, and the churlish attitude of Labor has alienated the sympathy of many of Labor’s best friends. Let me say that 1 many of the best friends Labor, ever had

were not drawn from the actual working classes, or from the men who profess to voice the aims of Labor. To-day we hear such remarks as these: ‘The only way for Labor to get justice is to put men into Parliament from their own ranks,’ and ‘lf tile workers were alive to their own interests and would vote solid Labor could capture the political machine and make laws to. suit themselves,’ etc. Now if by the term ‘workers’ is meant all who work then the. political machine has always been theirs, for the idle rich and the professional vagrant are not numerous enough to affect the position in this country. Probably' the term ‘ wage earners ’ would better convey the meaning of what is generally termed ‘worker,’ and, if so, the statement is absurd.

—Capturing Parliament.— It must be apparent to any thoughtful person that with democratic representation no particular class can ever capture Parliament in order to work its own ends. Let any interested person stand at a point where residential and business streets join —such as Clyde quay terminus—between 7 and 9 a.m., and you will sec two distinct classes going to their work, one class from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. and another from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. The first class are composed mainly of skilled tradesmen and laborers, the second almost entirely of commercial people, such as clerks, salesmen, etc. Very few of those who oome under the latter category have much sympathy witli Labor legislation, A great many of them are looking forward to having a small business of their own, and do not think that purely Labor legislation will be in their best interests; Although one might easily imagine circumstances that would caase these two classes to vote together on a given subject, I do not think it possible to form a permanent combination. The only class Labor can hope to get a solid vote from is the skilled tradesman and the laborer.

—The'Danger'Ahead.— Now, supposing the Labor candidates can get a solid vote from this class. pnd assuming the number of members sent to Parliament are sufficient to form a Labor party strong enough to seriously embar|»ss the Government, the result would probably be the coalescence of the two present parties, and Labor, like the present Opposition, would be hopelessly in the minority. Or if three parties remain and Libor *is strong enough .to hold the balance of power, alt if would get would be by supporting legislation of'which it does not approve. In proof of this, I need only instance the position which has arisen in New, South Wales, where tbp three-party system has proved an absolute failure as far as Labor-is concerned. —The Women’s Vote!— *_ Again, look at the woman's vote. Very, few of these voters sympatbisewith Labor. Take the domestics, for instance. The conditions of employment are. such that a domestic is very isiich under the personal influence of her employer, and my post experience, of domestic workers (and I may say l spe&k_.with some authority cm this subject, because I endeavored two dr three years ago to organise the domestic workers of Wellington) is that very few

of them have any practical sympathy, with Labor matters.

■ —The Solidarity of Labor.—It is often assumed that by organisationall the workers can be united into one solid body and run New Zealand in the interest of the class known as * the workers.’-: This, however, is purely chimerical, and a few figures taken from t-h| Registrar-General’s returns show it to bo a complete fallacy. Our industrial world contains 85,000 men and 15,000 women, the agricultural 63,624- men and 2,000 women, and transport 24,000. This gives a grand total of 189,624 “ workers.” and. contains all the classes that are likely to vote for Labor legislation. The whole of the votes on the roll of the Dominion would be about 498,654, and the Labor vote, if solid, 189,624, leaving as those not likely to support Labor 309,030. —The Political Labor League.— Some years ago the Trades and Labor Council found that politics interfered with their internal working, and the Independent Political . Labor League was formed, as a means of taking politics out .of the hands of the Council .and giving Labor men aii dppoHuinty oC Voicing theirpolitical aspirations." But the movement did not prosper, and, strange to say, although, one of the “planks” of the Labor party has been for many years the abolition of the Upper House, It fell to the lot of the Hon. J. Rigg to stump the main centres to try to galvanise a little life into the movement for the purpose of the last General Election. The movement failed miserably, and for this election the . Trades Council in Wellington set up a Labor Representation Committee, composed of delegates from all the unions, to run some Labor candidates. The Independent Political Labor League were not in a posit ion-.to do- so. That does not look like capturing the political machine. —A Great Change Predicted. — Present events point to a great change in the trkdes union movement. A number of unions are federating their industry right throughout the Dominoin, and the general tendency is in that direction. Unless a union is a very strong one, the financial harden of capitation fees to their own federation and subscriptions to the Trades Council is too. great. 1 believe the days of Trades and Labor Councils are numbered. Probably each trade federation -will-have a central executive to control'its affairs, and perhaps there will be an annual conference of all trades to discuss matters of general interest. If this comes to pass, I trust organised Labor will take a more rational view of politics and practise a little walking before trying to run. The time when Labor will be able to run a partv of their own in the New Zealand Parliament may come, but that lime is not yet.”