“GOOD OLD EMPIRE."

Northland Age, Volume 25, Issue 14, 30 July 1925, Page 5

“GOOD OLD EMPIRE."

Speaking in Parliament, Mr. Bell denied having broken his political pledges. He joined the Labour Party when he thought it was working in the interests of the masses of the people, but when he found that the party was prepared to disrupt the Empire, and its members did not care a damn which flag they lived under —his unfinished quotation read: “He at the earliest possible moment severed his connection with the partjr.” “False to my principles none ever knew me. They could not hold me in the Labour - fold, j nnodlhe movement for the uplift of masse-, n I found the Labour lions led by assess. My zeal grew cold ' That this was a wise move for me, Was illustrated by the way I polled. Had I remained the movement would 0 have queered me, And brought me under disloyalty’s cloud, With the disruptive Labour crowd. I severed my connection. And when they chaired and cheered me, Wasn’t it enough to make a fellow proud? And what finer vindication could one see. Sheer loyalty to Empire—sterling worth —these are the passes That raised me to the Parliamentary stage, Not zeal for the uplift of the toiling masses, Nor solicitude for all who earn a wage. And thus to vindicate my honour, and my character to clear, I quit the Labour movement—l tore myself asunder Because they didn’t "care a damn which flag they lived under. " lam a dinkum Royalty man—a trueblue patriot— I throw the lie into the teeth of him who saj\l’m not; I brand hinges a slanderer and stamp him black and tan— A voice: "You were a Republican!”