LABOUR PARTY’S FIGHTING FUND
MR DOIDGE’S FIGURES CHALLENGED “ABSURD AND MISLEADING” (hr Telegraph—Press Association) A.UCKLAND, 3rd October. “Absurd and misleading” was how men 'in Labour circles this morning described the figures quoted by Mr Doidge, the defeated National candidate in the Manukau by-election to show that “by the time the General Election comes the Socialists will have a fighting fund of more than £1,000.000.” “We are in a quandary
to know how Mr Doidge arrived at the estimate that 450,000 workers had been forced to become trade unionists, the law permitting them to contribute up to Is weekly.” Officials said that on the last available returns membership of unions was only 161,850 to-day. Labour supporters resent the suggestion that union fees, or a large proportion thereof, are being diverted to political channels. There was nothing compulsory about unions affiliating to the New Zealand Labour Party, and some of the biggest unions including the Cooks and Stewards’ and the Seamen’s, were not affiliated. If the majority of members of a union wished to do so they had the right to affiliate, even with the National Party.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NEM19361005.2.32
Bibliographic details
Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 5 October 1936, Page 3
Word Count
185LABOUR PARTY’S FIGHTING FUND Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 5 October 1936, Page 3
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Nelson Evening Mail. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in