The Grey River Argus SATURDAY, May 20, 1944. GO-SLOW POLICY.

Grey River Argus, 20 May 1944, Page 4

The Grey River Argus SATURDAY, May 20, 1944. GO-SLOW POLICY.

It is amusing to contrast the vzay in which those who are bigoted against Labour are prone! to plume themselves upon the very things which they condemn in the workers. The apologists for the anti-Labour ticket in the local municipal elections are at present proclaiming the of the go-slow policy as exemplified in civic administration during the past term. It is said _ that the Council has-lived .within its' means, and small wonder when its work is said to have been so much “underground” that it has escaped public attention. Nothing is said, however, about the neglect of things above ground. It appears as if the idea of the majority on 'the expiring Council is to await a return of the times when the Government financed so much of their undertakings, before wiping Urn sleep out of their eyes. “Some development schemes have been deferred,” it is said, and at the same time it is suggested that if Labour Councillors were in a position to go ahead with such works, they would not do so as economically as the opposition element. There is absolutely no warranty whatever for the suggestion. Labour candidates, taken as a whole, have at least as good a practical knowledge of how such works should be completed as those who bank on a go-slow policy—and hold up stagnation as the exemplar yf progress. Other municipalities ■have, a better notion of the meaning of progress, but do not adopt as their motto the slogan of the , Australian bl ackf cllow— ‘ ‘ (I im—* me!” In a bur.3t of candour, our contemporary said it is not difficult for many townsmen to name the most neglected street. As a matter of fact, it actually is difficult. So .many are the streets that have been neglected that it would take a practical worker to form an accurate judgment. He might even need to go underground to find out. Lt is an insult to say working people are not capable of as good service on the Council as those who would deny them Labour representation. New candidates in the opposing camp are commended as capable upon one sole qualification—that they have no sympathy for- the Labour Movement. It is even sought to excuse the ' retiring Council for going slow by saying that, the quality of labour—spelt with a small I—has not been at times entirely satisfactory. If there are, however, people living in expectation of a renewal of subsidised labour, the electors would be very shortsighted to rely on such people to keep Greymouth abreast of the times. It may prove payable to have a league whose objective, is progress, but if the idea were simply to stake the future of the town upon what pressure is going to exact from the Government, progress would be pretty slow. Grey mouth must adopt a self reliant policy, the same as do other towns of a go ahead type. It is a helpless, stick-in-mud attitude to say that the 40-hour week must keep Greymouth back. No other municipality is going to take the stand that decent working conditions are an “industrial luxury,” the extinction of which mlist be

made a condition of municipal progress. It. is the same as saying that the larger a town becomes the more must its affairs be dominated by vested interests and people' whose eyes are glued to figures. The town needs practical works, and the direction of these calls for practical workers.