NATIONAL SECURITY TAX.

Grey River Argus, 3 August 1940, Page 2

NATIONAL SECURITY TAX.

[To The Editor]. Sir. —As a student of politics and •?. supporter of the Labour Party and the old Socialist Party, which was the parent of the present Labour Party, I always read the columns of your newspaper, as it is the only Labour daily in New Zealand tiled in the Wellington City Library. I would like to express my appreciation of the letter appearing in youi? issue of the 29th July, signed by F. L. Turley. I should say .that the writer ably expresses the views of every worker in this city who is in receipt of £5 weekly and under (and they are in the majority). One often wonders whether ( the better-paid workers in the country ever realise our position in the cities. I need not enlarge on our net wages after all deductions are made, as they are well-known to all wage workers, but do they realise that after they pay rent, which is anything from 30s to £2 in this city, and then tram fares to and ffom work, they are in many cases back to depression level, but with this difference—the cost of living is higher; so I agree with your correspondent that the Labour Government has brought about something akin to the previous Coalition Government. I happened to be in the House when the amendment mentioned by your correspondent was moved to prevent the extra shilling in the pound on wages applying 'to workers receiving £5 or under per week, and there saw the sorry spectacle of Tory and Labour flocking fin the same lobby—the Coalition had arrived. I had also sat in the Gallery of the House and seen the fight put up by the Labour Party against the previous Coalition Government’s attack on wages, and one marvels at their change of front. 1 have also been reading some of my old pamphlets and books of the Red federation, and there is only one verdict for it all—their present perfor-r-»ance is tragic, for, as your correspondent says, "they are where they are” through the pennies of the poor. It is about time the industrial worker woke up and found some medium of expressing the rank and file opinions. Railway workers and the watersiders are the only ones in this city who have so far broken away from the official “Yes man” tactics and are forming their own opinions and expressing them in no uncertain voice, but the remainder of us are looking for a lead from our officials —but they seem too busy looking for plums to be concerned about the plight of the lower-paid rank and file. I am, etc., W. J. CLEMENT. Wellington. 1/8/40.