P. FRASER, M.P., ON TOUR

Maoriland Worker, Volume 10, Issue 422, 9 April 1919, Page 5

P. FRASER, M.P., ON TOUR

. . »'•--'"'-—-7 -——-7 ■ — Peter Fraser, M.P., came to New Plymouth on Saturday, March Bth. Plans for a week's campaign were mapped out, and the work begun on Sunday morning with a meeting of txade unionists in the Good Templar Hall. About 80 were preaent. Mr. Fraser sketched the histsry of trades unionism in England. He showed that the present conditions governing 1/abor (organised and unorganised) . had only been obtained by arduous toil on the part of reformers, many of whom had given their lives. He urged j all those present to work inside their I union by urging affiliation with the J local L.R.C., and outside by studying i

industrial and economic conditions with a view to convincing others to Socialism. In the afternoon two car loads went out to Waitara. A meeting was held in the open air, the Mayor presiding.. Mr. R. McKeeu, secretary to the , VVelliugton L.R.C, gave an instructive address on what was being done iv Wellington by organised Labor. -Mr. Fra'ser touched on land aggregation, cost of living, free trips to England, and showed how the part ice at present iv control "would endeavour lo so organise thing;: ihat thc-y would { remain for ever on top of the worker. , and that the only hope for the useful . i people v-fi-j to join the N.Z. Labo: I Party and return men to Parliament . | pledged to the Labor Party platform. . ! On Sunday evening the largest poli'ical meeting held in New Plymouth s-Ftembled at Everybody's Theatre Mr, P. B. Fitzbcrbert presided. Mr. Fraser described the evil influence of the press, proving that, the writers of editorials were not free—they must write in accord with the capitalistic, policy of their paper—and, therefore, to get free and unbiassed reasoning and facts from the papers as at present constituted was an impossibility. The main theme of Mr. Eraser's address was "National Housekeeping." He likened the nation to an ordinary family, and said that a system whereby some members of the family lived in affluence whilst others struggled for a bare existence, could not last. He also recited the sins of omission and commission of the pre-; sent Government. ; The meeting concluded with three: hearty cheers for the Labor Party. j Collection and donations brought the receipts up to £11/10/-. On Monday Mr. Fraser visited the I various schools of the district in com- ! patfy with Mr. S. G. Smith, M.P. At; night a special meeting of the local ' branch of the Labor Party was held. : Mr. Fraser gave an interesting ad-1 dress on branch organisation. j On Wednesday, at mid-day, a large j meeting of warkers was held at the ; Smart Road Freezing Works. Mr. J Fraser urged the necessity for all branches of industry linking up with the Labor Party. At night a meeting was held at Inglewood, organised by Messrs.-Stock-man and Gordon. The Mayor (Mr. G. | Young) presided, and, in introducing j the speaker, extolled tho good work j done by the Labor Party during the j epidemic, saying that for this reason j alone Labors case was worthy of ' earnest consideration. Mr. Fraser t gave an inspiring address on "Labor's j Ideals." The meeting was very enthusiastic, copies of the Party's plat- j form were distributed, and a branch i of the party will probably eventuate, j On Thursday, at 8 p.m., Mr. Fraser i addressed the local branch of the | Taranaki Tailoring Trade Union, re- j citing woman's progress from the in- j ception of the industrial revolution j to the present day. At the con- j elusion of the meeting the union de- i cided to affiliate with the L.R.C. At: midnight Mr. Fraser addressed a full! meeting of Tramway employees. He j congratulated them on the success of i their negotiations with the Borough i Council. He emphasised the unity of Labor interests and c-aid that Labor':: ; goal, Socialism, could be attained. A \ hearty vote of thanks concluded the \ meeting. ! On Friday, at mid-day, a. meeting of j Watersiders was held at Moturoa, at i which Mr. Eraser urged all present to j join the Labor Party as individual! members. ! On Friday evening a well-attended meeting was held at Waitara. Mr. i Taylor, president of the Freezing Workers' Union, presided, and an instructive address was given. A question on "Sir Edward Grey and foreign policy" brought forth a delightful ten minutes' address on secret diplomacy, which was heartily applauded. Both the meetings at Waitara were held under the auspices of the local branch of the Freezing Workers' Union, who made themselves responsible for all the arrangements. Mr. Fraser left New Plymouth on Saturday morning. His short visit has shaken New Plymouth very much. New Plymouth was asleep—it is now awaking—anything may happen in the next twelve months. fDXTOIf BRANCH. A meeting was held by the above branch on Tuesday, Max-ch 18. Mr. E. Rowlatt, president, introduced the speaker, Mr. P. Fraser, M.P. Mr. Fraser said that the Labor Party did not stand for retrogression, and stated various facts where the wealth of the country was being wasted by men. who were supposed to understand finance, instead of being put to better use/as, for instance, the U.S.S. Co.'s whole fleet could have been bought for far less money than had been paid them for the hire of ' their boats. . ' Mr. Fraser, in a very convincing > manner, put forward his facts and figures as to how the country's fin- ' ances, etc., should be handled, and said he hoped the day was coming ' when the people of this country would ' awaken to the fact that the Government in power at present was not a .

j j people's Government. The Masse: i> J and Ward (.Governments had had thei; \j try, and now was the time for tin I people to give their only real repre , j sentafives of themselves a try, and the j only manner in which they could dc ! this was by voting Labor. i The meeting listened to Mr. Frasei i very attentively and without interpeej tious. After the address only om ; question was forthcoming, to the cf- ~ i feet that ihe rise in wages was nc j : good to the worker when the cost oi ■ living was increasing out of all pros j portion, a question which Mr. Frasei s ! answered to the entire satisfaction oi -1 the questioner. j We are sure his visit will prove a c | great help to the branch here. Ali; j ready it has caused a considerable mi- ! crease in our membership. | Mr. Frasei: was afterwards eiiter- . j tamed to a supper by members of the > I local branch. | OTAIO. i- I The N.Z. Labor Party's organising 1. campaign opened in the Otaki clec.i foratc on Wednesday night, March 13, ! when Mr. P. Fraicr. M.P.. addressed ' a record meeting iv Bright'". Theatre. t, 71 le spoke on the platform and objects jof the Party and dwelt on tho fact J that the Labor Party stands for a ; ; more equitable distribution of tho i wealth of the country, whereas the .: present Government enriched the few !' at the expens of the many. ; I The meeting, which was a thorough|ly appreciative one, carried a unani--1 mous vote of thanks to Mr. .Eraser for . I his address, and also expressed the ; -1 wisn, that Labor speakers would visit .! Otaki more often in the future. j 3LSXXKAV. [ \ Mr. P. Fraser, M.P., addressed a j well - attended open-air meeting at ! Manakau, and received an attentive ; hearing. Manakau is recognised as • j one of the most conservative little j towns in the Manawatu, and the fact I that the people turned out to hear the | Labor speaker is something to be j proud of. At the conclusion of the j address, Mr. Fraser received a hearty ; vote of thanks.—C.X. LEVI2S7 Mr. P. Fraser, M.P. for Wellington ! Central, addressed a public meeting in i Oxford Street on March 2L\ on the . aims of the N.Z. Labor Party. Mr. J. : Taylor, president of the local branch, : presided.