LABOR MANIFESTO.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXV, Issue LXV, 23 December 1913, Page 5

LABOR MANIFESTO.

In his final address to ;the members, Mr P. Hickey says:^ '•■ - ' ■' 'With regard to the struggle through which we toe passed^, we have no, 4rf6logierto make or nothing tc> recant. The fight was forced "Ron P« th ilie action* of the employeijs Huntly and Wellington. Organised. liabor, represented by the unions in*olvedj has tiut;Wii mjaguificent struggle' against lerrific Todds. There is no doubt but tihat thos^ employers who participtated in tha; struggle were .absolutley beaten' tiy the organised workers. It. was only byfrtK© Unfair, if iqt tinsci?ipulous use n»i^'by;-i!h«t'^te'or!%^;JMWe^:ve6ted iniit'&* ropport;i«f the fimjwpyers that the^ fight fendfed^as it did. There is not a shadow of doujbt, but that for that gross misuse of the powers of government; vic+ory would have been with us. that in the teeth of the forces arranged against us we should have fonght^eo. | unitedly and whole-heartedly, deT^ori-;! strivtes-beyond-cavil that the worker^ ojf: New Zealand have grasped the significance of working class solidarity, and that 'faith in themselves and in i"ir cause that will carry theny to the supreme heights «f complete 'freedom and liberty wherein the'forces of law and order so-called will be controlled by''the working people j »ji& wherein no small group* r6f-: monbp&lists to serve their own selfish andy «oullp.ss ends can coerce by the assistance *pf the armed State those who create the wealth upon whiVTi these social parasites exist. . "Chp.racteristic of 4;his trouble has been the manner with which the ArT>itration Act has been used as ai accepted weapon of oppression. ThU dark stain uoon onr vaunted legislation, pennittinq; legalised sca^bery. rnust.'emi if unionism is t^'bejoth^r than a t^ol }in *fche hands of >»irecl Ji^iasps of !>■« ! employing class. The nearly *me WReVs of the battle have .been so full of ii^ident that it is impossible +o deal with ;.Hit twoi of the most arresting fe^t"re4. ,The : *wo oustanding: features, deserv.jn£, of s*ywial att^ri+ion are:— "t.. -The DraH-ionl /le»ii/OD? +ration of \fVe- correctness of-'the' form of orpanisa»tion"as renreserited bv'tli^'United' federation ;- To-lie at^cked when only fo^r jnontho; estpWiahedi arid to put \m the we .did, bea?:R:,ekiqueijt te^Mrn^nv in tWis respect. ''^ Giyen * year «f y\nwterrupfSed organisatiori' We would be almost impregnable. jtoi: vividly *Jr<mso ,m& avdrkerss tri> tlre^mj^raiiw tieed of active, intelligtofc; participatiou as a

class in the politics ,oE the l^couutcj&. - Hitherto that action has'not been isfce«* other than .spasmodically. ,Frota new on to the next election organisation and ' determination must be the, keynote. Let Labor at the ballot box, where all are peers, strike an effective blow, against those who would humiliate it. "The \ cry Has resounded throughout . the, columns of newspapers' of thiscountry that 'Red-Feddism' will be do- *•• stroyecL It cannot be killed. The epiiit- > in its favor is a thousand times greater, than ever, and that spirit grows apace* "We caniiut regret that we did Ufet secure an immediate, victory. Yet We feel convinced that those thousands lef gallant men and women, whose devotion to principle and unflagging loyalty ' has been one of the most inspiring'features of the whole grim struggle, will retain that spirit, and in the'near fat- '" ure added militancy, greater determination, and a more intelligent understanding will establish a movement that • . will sweep New Zealand in the interest* of the Sons of Toil. "The employers may'boast of their victory- But it is at best but a'hollow* one. They have given -the workers an r education for the need of\ completer unity industrially and politically 'than' ■ has been ..the case hitherto, -and the workers will learn the Tesson. "We believe in the invincibility of the Labor movement; we believe in the ab- ' solute necessity of working class independence; BeEeving this, and holding; , ' to it as a fundamental truths we, at. ' the close of Labor's greatest buttle in New Zealand, call upon all workers \<& rally together, close up the mnk?. *>wh and all being a more -sturdy fighter* than ever in the arm of deliverance."