COMMUNISTS ASSAILED

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 December 1939, Page 2

COMMUNISTS ASSAILED

“AN ARMY OF WRECKERS.”

CAMPAIGN BY MR SEMPLE.

[per press association.]

CHRISTCHURCH, December 8

“To them, murder by Hitler is pure unadulterated massacre;- but if Stalin goes it, you have to take it as a compliment, in the interests of humanity.” This was one of the many comments on the attitude of the New Zealand Communist Party on the war, made yesterday by the Minister for Public Works. Alter explaining the reasons for his campaign against the Communists, Mr Semple declared that their statements on their war attitude were irreconcilable, and he characteised them as an ‘army 01 [ wreckers.” He was amused aud amazed, said the Minister, at the tone of the Communist Party’s letter, accusing him of making a violent attack on them and pleading, in the interests of justice aud decency, that he should' use his influence to> assist them to persuade the powers that be to allow the Communists to give an address at the Otahuhu railway workshops. “The Communist Party should be the last in the world to'talk about violent attacks. They have done nothing else for years but make violent and slanderous attacks upon the party with which 1 have the privilege to be associated. It is very well known that.for years they joined with the reactionary forces of this country to prevent Labour from gaining the Treasury bencfies, and since we have been in power they have continued their attacks.” lhe Labour Government, including the Prime Minister, had been slandered by the Communists. They had sung the praises of a foreign dictator who had proved himself an invader and murderer, and had sung hymns of hate against the Prime Minister of this country and his colleagues in Parliament. “They now deny having tried to incite the people of New Zealand not tty pay their'way, and have made the hypocritical excuse that the /document- referred to the soldiers. There is not a mention of the name of soldier in the cause, vQiich. is a definite declaration. Clause 6 of the programme foo the war reads: —‘A suspension of internal debt payments (mortgages), nowise payments;, payments on furniture and cars during the period of the war as from September I.’ The public will see for themselves that there is no mention of the moratorium being for soldiers alone, and that was made clear by one of their own supporters who spoke at the Trades Hall in Auckland. A DEFINITE INCITEMENT. “The Government is quite capable of protecting the soldiers, and will lake no advice from that party. That document is a deflnite incitement to the people not to pay any debts during the war. I did not say that State houses were mentioned in the document. I mentioned the State houses as an illustration. We had spent £5,000,000 on bujlding for homeless people, and this kind of propaganda was an incentive to them not to pay their rents. My ‘violent and unprovoked’ attack was made in defence of a set of just principles for which the Labour Party .and the Government stand. The Labour movement of this country is not composed of highwaymen, but of thousands of hard working men and women, supported by thousands of decent business men and farmers. What would happen if people did not pay their way? The whole economic and social system would crash —which was what the Communists wanted it to do, because their philosophy was to destroy the present system.” Some of the inconsistencies of the Communists on their attitude to the war, which all regretted, had to be pointed out. Everybody who knew him knew of his hatred of war and all that it stood for. The Communist Party had allied itself with a foreign Power, had become its mouthpiece and plaything. That was proved conclusively by the documents issued by the organisation. A leaflet issued by the National Committee after the pact was signed' between Hitler aud Stalin claimed, “We have signed no pact with Hitler.” “We,” Mr Semple held, meant the Communist Party of New Zealand. They had formerly declared hatred of Hitlerism, but by some strange line of reasoning, their attacks upon Hitlerism ceased once Stalin crossed the border of Poland and robbed the country and homes from the vanquished people, and' they also told the world that Stalin’s intentions in Poland were in the interests of the Polish people. ■ Before it was clear to what extent Russia was behind Hitler, the Communists’ organ assumed that a war against Hitler was a righteous war. Now that the Russian policy was clearly not to oppose Hitler, they had made a volte face. On September 22, the party had proclaimed: “. . . the working class of New Zealand wants to see the defeat of Hitler Fascism in this war and the early conclusion of a just peace”; but. by October 27 they were saying: “To start the war because of ‘destruction of Hitlerism means committing criminal stupidity in politics.” This was only one sample of their switching propaganda. MOST-COWARDLY INVASION. Referring to the Soviet pact, the Communists had published that “only deliberate liars and agents for the Imperialists could accuse the Soviet Union of sympathy tor the aggressors.” How could they ju,stit’y that in view of the attitude of the peaceloving Stalin towards the Finns? Would they say that the invasion by Russia with its 200,000.000 people and army of 18,000,000 of a little country like' Finland, the burning down of their cities, the wrecking of the homes of innocents and murders oi women ami children by the thousands were in Hie interests of the Finns, or of Stalin and his bloodthirsty crew? Could they explain to New Zealanders, the difference between Hiller’s conduct in Poland and Stalin’s conduct, in Finland’.' This mostcowardly and vicious invasion in history was perpet rated by the Continuiiisls’ so-called ambasador of peace.’’ ‘‘And as still further proof of I heir hypocrisy, cant, and pomposity, I have in my possession a manifesto front Hit' Communist Party in Australia. standing ‘for the full weight of Australian man-power and resources being mobilised' for the defence of

Australia and aloug with other British forces for the defeat of Hitler,’ whom the Australians called the head of ‘The savage Nazi Fascists.’ But the scene has changed here since Stalin joined the bloodhqund.” Mr Semple said Hitler’s pre-war attacks on Bolshevism as “an intolerable danger,” '“a bestial, mad, doctrine.” and the ‘incarnation of the spirit of destruction” were well remembered by the British people; yet in August, the Nazi-Communist fusion had come to a full circle and Hitler said' ‘the pact of friendship between Germany and Soviet Russia will not only render possible peace, but is a happy and permanent co-operation.” “FOUL DOCTRINE.” The Minister said he would refuse to continue further discussion in newspapers with the Comumnists. As to their request to be allowed to go into the railway workshops, he would not lend them any assistance to go into the workshops of this country to preach their foul and filthy doctrine of sabotage and destruction. He wanted no other Minister to have his experience of cleaning out the Communists, but it was to the credit of the Public Works employees that they would not have them in the camps. The maximum production was wanted in the workshops for the benefit of the nation. “Their conduct has always been damaging and destructive to New Zealand,” Mr Semple declared. “In my opinion they are an army of wreckers, armed with, the gospel of hatred and despair, and more loyal to a foreign country than to their own. I regard some of them, as real enemies of the nation. In one of their documents they say that ‘with the aid of compromising leaders in the Labour Party, they (the leading circles of New Zealand reaction) hope to exploit the war, to break down living standards, strangle democracy in New Zealand, and so pave the way to assume power which they are unable io achieve in peace-time.’ It was wicked and infamous even to suggest that any member of the Parliamentary Labour Party woujd descend to the depths of degradation of their principles of the betrayal of the people. New Zealanders were not lighting despotism and tyranny within. They live in the freest country in the world, vJiith the highest standard of living, and the greatest benefits for the sick, aged, aud unemployed.”