The Evening Star FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1939. COMMUNIST MENACE.

Evening Star, Issue 23444, 8 December 1939, Page 6

The Evening Star FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1939. COMMUNIST MENACE.

Mosi New Zealanders will be -wondering how hiuch longer the Government is going to allow-Mr Semple to bear the burden of the attack on Communism. It is becoming obvious that, unless something is done Soon to relieve a position fertile in - amazing Ministerial vehemence, Mr Semple will run short of adjectives. After that, what? Does official protest against revolutionary and traitorous' utterances dwindle away to innocuous neutrality, or does, the Minister.of Justice take, up the cause of our democratic land and make life more pleasant for . everybody except the obnoxious handful of near-fanatics who appear bent upon making trouble? Not for one moment is it thinkable that more than a fraction of those who pass pfb-Ce.mmifflist resolutions at workers’ meetings realise the true import of what they are doing. In all probability they are merely temporarily contaminated by dangerous Left Wing leadership and are inclined, in the thrill of debate, to forget that the people of this and other British countries are gradually and surely having; their social system improved without recourse to the “ direct action ” favoured by the Reds. Let them dwell thoughtfully on the methods and benefits of democracy and take note of the straits into which the aggressive pagan creed of Stalin and Molotov is leading the unfortunate people of Russia, at greater cost to the still more unfortunate Finns. Mistakes, it is true, have been made in the name of Christianity, but these have had more to do with omission than commission. There are signs, in any case, that the world is ripe for a spiritual' revival on a new and unprecedented scale; The paganism of the present Soviet and Nazi leaders is a force that has to bo beaten down before we tread again the path of peace and enter the new era* To defeat this evil wo must have national unity. At the moment there are encouraging indications that the people of New Zealand are finding the subversive resolution of the West Coast Trades and Labour Council almost as distasteful to them as reports of the Russian invasion of Finland. From Greymouth comes the news that the State Miners’ Union unanimously passed a resolution emphatically dissociating itself from the “ seditious and mischievous resolution arrived at by the Trades and Labour Council.” The union goes still further by stating that, until the resolution in question is rescinded and expunged from the minute book of the council it will refrain from representation at any future meeting. In view of this forceful and honest step and tho Federated Seamen’s Union’s denunciation of “ the whole shameful story of Stalin’s intervention in world affairs,” there is good reason to believe that most of our people are now wide awake to. the insidious menace of Communism. Failing 'an immediate and desirable armistice, in party strife, internal political argument In New Zealand will no doubt continue, but as long as it is recognised that this is purely a family affair tho harm , done will not be great. Tho main thing is that the activities of Communists should be suppressed , by every direct method provided! by the ■law* Any , talk of interning German aliens, some of them residents of long standing, is ' inconsequential compared with the necessity of putting an end to the loathsome machinations of the enemies of the State who take advantage of the freedom they enjoy under the British flag to undermine the spirit and character of the people. Close police surveillance over .suspected Communist leaders, whether they bo scholarly men suffering from this form of intellectual snobbery or extreme Left Wing trade unionists, would appear to ,)>e very much in order..