CORRESPONDENCE

Huntly Press and District Gazette, Volume XV, 10 April 1931, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE

(TO THE EDITOR.) Sir,—l think I quite understood Mr Bowen’s plan of dealing with Mr Lee Martin and choosing his successor; but even with his further explanation I do not agree with it. Mr. Martin was to be invited to be present, not to subnut any defence, but just to have sentence pronounced against him. All I have previously said about Mr. Martin, so far as I am personally concerned, still holds good, but even so, I am not prepared to pass sentence on the strength of what the N.Z. ‘‘Herald” has had to say about him. In any case, although our member does not seem to have been very prominent in the recent finance debate, he has at all events been in the light camp with his voting. In this controversy, we both, up to the present, have accepted the N.Z.L.P. as the appointed mouthpiece of Labour, so we must be governed by its constitution. Before any candidate can be nominated for the selection ballot, he must have been a member of the Party for a fixed period (it used to be 18 months or 2 years) immediately preceding nomination. This was done with a view to checking opportunists coming forward at the last minute, and to my mind is a wise provision. So, in accordance with the constitution, only members of the Party can vote for, or be nominated as candidates. If the small Ruawaro Branch is still in existence, and the Huntly and all other branches in the electorate are dormant, then the full privilege of both responsibility and power to act rests in the hands of the Ruawaro Branch. If dissatisfied with this position, the remedy is clear. We must either join up as industrial units, or, as individuals, create branches in our immediate localities. The subscription is 2/6 annually. As bad as things are, the financial aspect is not formidable. I was very much taken with Mr. Bowen’s plan of meeting any reduction in wages, by deducting a similar amount from all bills becoming due. This, however, would require a greater measure of organisation and solidarity, than does our present methods of resisting these reductions, and would largely shift the responsibility from the men’s shoulders to the women’s, as they usually pay the bills.. New r weapons of defence, or even attack, are ahvays worth consideration, so this or any other should be considered on its merits, and not ruled out just because it is new. There is one matter we are in full agreement on, and that is, so long as the system for profit continues, unchecked and unabated, then the workers* position must become progressively worse and

Improved machinery, rationalisation, or any other speeding up process, are, under present conditions, a menace so far as the workers are conce. i.ed.

In my last letter, I mentioned 8 billions as the amount of Great Britain’s war debt. This should have been 8,000 millions, and in British numerals a million millions make a billion. So I was considerably out; but in any case, these figures are so vast that they convey no adequate impression to the average mind. In the middle stages of the war, long before the daily figures had reached their maximum, that arch patriot, Rudyard Kipling, was so amazed at the expenditure, that he predicted it could fiever be repaid. So he suggested it should be redeemed by conferring titles and other honours on the big holders of bonds. This is not a socialist suggestion, but is a worth while one, and should be gone on with. Mr Baldwin, ex-Prime Minister, is credited with having handed in a big parcel of these bonds,' no doubt with the idea of inducing or shaming other holders into doing the same. The gross results have, up to date, been less than negligible, but this only adds to the merits of the few' who have done something in this direction.

This inflated money, with often only paper credit behind it, a substantial rate of interest, and frequently free of income tax (another concession to the very rich), is now to be regarded as the only source of wealth that is sacred and inviolable. Every other form or source of wealth from big squatters, employers, property owners, and right down to the lowest paid wage worker, must all submit to a substantial cut, but interest alone rules supreme. Thank goodness we have a Lang in the Labour movement, and any Labour Party that attains office and intends to carry on the economic and social machine as they find it, is both a delusion and a snare, and won’t get the workers anywhere worth while. Thanking you once again, I am, J. MELLING. (MR. J. MELLING.—Your letter is far too lengthy. In future, please curtail to half tho amount, otherwise we will be compelled to close this correspondence.— Ed.)