INDEPENDENT LABOUR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19833, 31 December 1927, Page 9

INDEPENDENT LABOUR.

MR. SNOWDEN'S SECESSION PARTY SUFFICIENT. REASONS FOR THE STEP. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. A. and N.Z.-Sun. LONDON", Deo. 29. Mr. Philip Snowdert, M.P., and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Cabinet, has resigned his membership of the Independent Labour Party, to which he had belonged for 34 years. In a letter to the secretary of the party, Mr. F. Johnson, he says: "The Labour Party, since it permitted individual membership and adopted the Socialist basis, adequately fulfils the purposes for which the Independent Labour Party originally existed. The latter has served its purpose and its continued existence is neither necessary nor useful and involves waste of money and effort." Mr. Snowden, in further explaining his resignation, says that correspondence shows that the branches throughout the country are experiencing difficulty in keeping the organisation going, because local Labour parties are much more powerful and are now capable of more effectively accomplishing without duplication the work for which the Independent Labour Party was created.

Mr. Johnson, in a reply to Mr. Snowden, regretting his decision, says: "The party will always remember your work as a pioneer propagandist, and the distinction with which you twice occupied the chairmanship, but the mass of members do not agree that there is no necessity for the party. On the contrary, they are sure it has still a separate function greater than the Labour movement."

He recalls that Mr. Snowden, as a member of tho National Council, decided in 1922 that continuance of the party was necessary to maintain the Socialist movement and adds: "It has been known for some time that you were out of touch with the party. Nevertheless, lam sure you will continue to work for Socialism in your own way." Mr. J. Maxton, M.P., chairman of the Independent Labour Party, expresses the opinion that the recent surtax dispute hastened Mr. Snowden's resignation, and says: "We cannot regard him nowadays as a Socialist agitator, which ia at present mostly needed. The resignation removes some restraint from the Independents." Mr. J. Wheatley, M.P. for Glasgow, Shettleston Division, said it was evident Mr. Snowden's mind was no longer running on Socialist lines.

Mr. Philip Snowden was born in 1864. He joined the Independent Labour Party in 1894 and worked on local government bodies until 1906, when he became Labour M.P. for Blackburn and held the seat until 1918. He was elected for tho Colne Valley in 1922, 1923, and 1924. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer in the MacDonald Cabinet. From 1898 to 1922 he has been a member of the National Council of the I.L.P. Many important works on social and economic questions have been written by him.