REPLY TO "VERITAS."

Manawatu Times, Volume LXV, Issue 1903, 24 April 1913, Page 6

REPLY TO "VERITAS."

(To the Editor). Sir —My first impressions on reading comrade "Veritas" effusion in to-day's Times were of pity for the , lamentable ignorance of the alleged i "middle class" ; but on getting to i the employers and owners ot house , property part of the joke, I realised I was up against the good old portly port-swilling Tory. This type happily is rapidly dying out, and in a few years will be as extinct as tne Dodo or the Pterodactyl. He, with most refreshing candour (for a Tory), admits he knows nothing ot Economic Determinism, although he thinks that syndicalism may possibly be a scheme for extracting chestnuts from fires. If he is sincere in his thirst tor knowledge of these apparently meaningless terms let me commend to his notice a course including the works of Eugene Debs, Fredk. Engels and Karl Marx. If our esteemed comrade really wants to know what we are being robbed of let him consult the Official Year Book and note down the amount of produce officially recognised, and place under it the amount of wages paid for the same period. Then by a simple method of subtraction he can accurately ascertain the total extent of the robbery. This gentleman, although a miserable failure as a live exponent of the capitalist system, would, with a little training, form a valuable adjunct to any paper specialising in the burlesque, and would contribute enormously to the gaiety of nations. In fact it is only his scyle of un conscious humour which prevents my dealing with the subject- in a rather harsh manner.—Yours etc., TIM THE MILKER. College Street West. To the Editor. Sir,—l have seen labour so often Misunderstood by those who know aothing of its aims that the misstatements of your correspondent "Veritas" occasioned me no surprise. They call, however, loudly for correction, and if space permits I ask your co-operation in this matter.^ Dealing with his last point first, that we hold nothing sacred: The one thing that we do hold sacred is tae cause of labour. We seek to uplift mankind not by giving individuals. the property of others, but by the just and equitable proposition of each man receiving the fruits of his own labour. Surely there is nothing anarchistic about this. I agree that we seek to destroy that which we have no intention of replacing—the system permitting child slavery, ruined homes, and the stifling of all longings for an intellectually higher life. .... There are no monkey tricks about labour and your friend's subtle sophistries re Mr Hardisty's campaign would be more to the point had he adhered strictly to the true position. It is not necessary to recapitulate the phrases meaningless to our unenlightened friend as they are fraught with a meaning to all students of working class economics, a study which our poor friend Juts evidently ignored in his pursuit of the elusive bawbee. In conclusion, as "Veritas" appears to have a command of the Latin tongue, let me commend the signature "Cum Grano Salis" for his consideration should he ever launch into print again.—Yours, * i °" WARRIOR.