THE LABOUR PARTY.

Grey River Argus, 19 January 1912, Page 2

THE LABOUR PARTY.

MR. VEITCH 'ON THE FUTURE OF LABOR, ":■

(Per Press Association)

WANGANUI, Jan 17. In the course of a speech which •he made at a social, -Mr. A. W. Ve'rtch laid, stress on the need of >the Labour partly- organising -for the future. It was work and enthusiasm that Avon 1 a hard fight nowadays, for a candidate could accomplish litt'.'e by himself. It seemed •still to be believed that it was the. head of a political party that did everything-, but that was a mistake, .because even the great esti of men were but • ordinary • mortals after all. To-day was the- day of great movements, rather than of great men. In older time it was the leaders who stood out", because the rank and file were ignorant and had no say, but to-day people thought, and they had votes, and in future it would be the great parties themselves which would win fights rather 'than leadersThey must organise or the Labour party would not succeed. They must get together, organise, and sink their differences, and jealousies. One ■ef the first duties was to learn to trust each other. He was proud "of the result of the election in Waiiganui, not merely as a compliment -to himself, but ibecause it was another step forward for Labour, which would be sti'oti'ger in every successive. Parliament. When people thoroughly understood wliat the party and its aspirations were it would secure and retain its hold. It was natural that the party should be misunderstood -at first, because, hitflierto, extremists and Chose with the loudest voices had been the most active in it, and the ' opinions of , the extremists had, unfortunately, been attrilbut'ed to the whole party. They must avoid the danger of, allowing these extremists and loud-mouthed men to run tho show. They must be reasonable and just above a.!l .things. For ihimself he was not breaking his neck to be a Cabinet Minister. His ebject. was to devote himself " to the 'Labour 1 movement, and he ■wanted to do his share tb'help it on. If he could get a portfolio without sacrificing his prmci pies he would take it, but not otherwise. • His first' duty "v was to %c Labour party, and thity could rest' assured that he. would faithfully carry out his platform pledges. He had seen good- men rise and then go down, and nearly always they went down because tdiey acquired a habit of acting on expediency, instead ' of on principle. Thatl was the danger that confronted every public --v. If a man con^nued to acti on prin^ipj", the people would learn) ..to U". st him, and though his career miff lit not. be so brilliant, as the man;vho followed expediency, it would, reflet greater ■ credit on him, and dast longer. : j