RETURNED SOLDERS' ASSOCIATION

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXVII, Issue LXXVII, 29 May 1919, Page 8

RETURNED SOLDERS' ASSOCIATION

"POLITICAL -it'IIOX" EIQI.T

NEGATIVED

CHRESTCHURCH, May 28. The question of political action was discussed at tthe N.Z. Returned Soldiers' Conference, "political action" be.ng defined to mean activity which is connected with the election" of candlid^tes for Parliament.

Mr Read (Auckland) moved: "That (the article dealing with the scope of fthe association be altered % the deletion of Wie word 'non' tha/t appears in front of the word 'political.' He Iliad bec-n opposed to political action, but Pariiictmen* had completely failed in its responsibilities. Local 'a'sscxfcations hud redressed thousands of grievances, ibuit the executive bad been a failure, except to secure an inadequate imufii allowance, at ithe price of selling the claims of the first 20,000 men who had . returned. Realising fthat every pledge made by Parliament ■had been broken, he became a convert to political acUlon, but not party action. If in one electorate there were Ithree cr more, candidates, dlhe asisocia-* Jtion should place a pledge before the)m: to sign, and if all signed the members' of the 'association could support whom Ithey pleased. If one refused to "sign i the aissociation should endeavor to 6e- | cure his defeat. • Mr Cowles (Wanganui) moved an amendment that 'u non-party" be sub- i st'ituted in the motion for "poKtical " This was accepted. ' i mP"*!?* Was a -very lon S discussion. ! ITe A l. er.nt "ews are expressed by i the following extracts: Mr Wills (Hawera) said the associa-' tion should not adopt political action ' as far as the election of members was I concerned, but should try to cleanse politics. Mr Long (Auckland) said he could unci no other means of reform save by political action. The association had arrived at a dead end, and the expense ot the conference would be waste if no action was taken. i Mr Malone (Napier) said if the ac- ' I tion was taken as proposed they would alienate a large amount of public support. It would be the first step to- . -wards the end of the association Mr Harfe (Wellington) said if by political action they would get unity in the association he would soon support it, but he doubted if unity would be attained that way. Australia had taken political action, and had failed. Success would lie in getting the general public behind them. Many people had assisted the association . be- i cause it was non-political, and mem- ' bers would be false to their trust if . they departed from the constitution. Mr Walter (Christchurch) said the1 principal planks of the association i were non-political and non-sectarian- j ism. To depart from these would re- j suit in the loss of public support. Mr Percy Brandon (Wellington) said I he understood that, under Civil Ser- j vice regulations, no civil servant could | belong to a political organisation. If the .association formed itself into a political body, every civil servant in it would be obliged to resign.- He would strongly oppose the motion if such a disability were placed upon civil servants. He did not think the time ripe for the association to form itself into a political association. Mr Washer (Tauranga) said that there were a number of members of the association in the military forces, and, according to army regulations, no soldier was allowed to take part in any political association. The remit in favor of political action was negatived by 57 votes to 25. Mr Andrews said his side was beaten, but not discouraged, but there would be no split. He intended to work fairly to reverse the decision in the next conference.