LABOUR MOVEMENT.

Manawatu Times, Volume LXV, Issue 1883, 31 March 1913, Page 5

LABOUR MOVEMENT.

WEEK-END SPEECHES.

Four well-known Labour orators, Messrs Semple, Hickey, Parry, and Anderson, held an open air meeting at Palmerston on Saturday night, and addressed a full house at the Oddfellows' Hall, last evening. The speeches were of a decidedly interesting character. Mr Hickey, in liis speech, last night, in some criticisms of fanciful education, confessed that his own linguistic studies had been sadly neglected. He knew no German, no Chinese, no Japanese. He knew only two languagesEnglish and profane.—(Laughter). But for that evening he would restrict himself to the former. He knew, however, a few remarks in Irish, and he might give them a specimen or two before he finished talking. He alluded to evidence alleged to have been given before a recent commission that many of the flaxmill hands were moral degenerates and said whenever they met this man they ought to give him a bit of their minds. Answering an interjection on this point, Mr Hickey replied: "Oh, no. I said I would stick to English to-night. (Laughter).—On general politics he advised the workers to gauge the

country's prosperity not by the number of sheep we sent abroad for the foreigner to eat, but by the aocial status of the workers themselves. The tactics of the present Government were calculated to effect no improvement in the workers' conditions. The Massey Government was elected to uphold the interests of the squatters, and the land monopolists; and right royally was it carrying out its work. These labour meetings were going to be a

permanent feature of Palmerston life. The party which they were organising would entertain no alliance with the Tory party of land monopolists nor with the discredited Liberal party, but would be a Labour party solely. He particularly blamed Mr Massey for his attitude toward th 9 Waihi strike and Sir Joseph Ward for his compulsory service legislation. The other speeches were crisp and •omprehensive, and received a good hearing. The audience included a score of ladies.