SOCIALIST AND LABOUR MANIFESTO.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7048, 9 February 1910, Page 6

SOCIALIST AND LABOUR MANIFESTO.

ADULT SUFFRAGE, ABOLITION OP PLURAL VOTING. AND PAYMENT OF MEMBERS' DEMANDED. A CRUSADE AGAINST POVERTY. The following, is the full -text of the manifesto issued by the Independent Labour Party on the eve of the General Elections: — To the Electors of' Groat Britain. In - view 'of ' the approaching -General Election, tho Administrative Council of the Independent Labour Party desires to .place before the electors its views of ’ tho political situation,. and of tho issues • involved. ' , POLITICAL REFORM. The I.L.P. is a Democratic Party, and therefore in favour of Adult Suffrage. Its support will meantime be given to any measure promoted to enable men and women to vote on equal terms, abolish plural voting, shorten and simplify registration, and make provision for the payment of members and election expenses, .... THE LORDS. Tho I.L.P. is apposed to tho House of Lords, and docs not desire to mend,, _ but rather to end,-it. It regards the claim of the House of Lords to control tho finances ‘of the country as an outrage on popular liberty to be stubbornly resisted. Tho I.L.P. will strenuously resist any attempt to strengthen the House of Lords By reforming it, or to increase its power of obstruction in-the manner proposed by the late. Prime Minister. ' A SOCIALIST PARTY., - The Independent Labour Party stands now as it always has stood, for Socialism. It rejoices to see that the political, issues now being ■ raised ; are causing Socialism to be better understood by tho people; Socialism docs hot mean robbery, but justice; it does not mean tyranny, hut liberty; it does not mean class hatred, but fellowship; and Social-, ism is our objective. SOCIAL REFORM. The Independent Labour Party is ready now, ns it always has been, to support all measures of political, industrial, or social reform from whatever quarter they may come if they will lighten the burden of poverty and hasten the advent of Socialism.

The demand for Social Pefcrni which has led to a partial recognition in the present Budget of the necessity of appropriating the unearned increment of land and the taxation of large incomes, is largely due to the agitation carried on by *the Independent Labour Party. The Presence of the Labour Party in the llon.se of Commons has made this demand more effective than it otherwise would have been, and as the Labour Party in'Parliament grows in numbers and strength, progress towards Sociai-

ism will ho more tapid. Therefore, in the coming oonfliesti, the ; Independent Labour Party will*ploc® its candidates in tho field with the r,solo object ol strengthening . the 'Labour and Socialist forces in the ;, House of .Commons. It is- fully persuaded that'' by so doing, it; will not only bo working towards it* objective, but it will also’ bo In a hotter position to compel, til® .upholders of th« present industrial system ; _to t recognise the;, evil conditions for which, they are responsible, and ibo press for measures of Social Reform to aJlcvia.to those conditions. J : . TAX-THEI RICH! AND NOT THE POOR. The money necessary to pay for Social Reform must he provided by 1 taxing tho rich, and not by laying, further burdens on tho poor. Therefore, the I.L.P. is determined to reeiet by all means in, its power what is now cailed Tariff Reform. The I.L.P. denies the contention that by the y taxation of food, clothing, and other products work will be provided for the unemployed. So long as .'industrial concerns are conducted by individuals whose main and dominating object is to secure a profitable sale for their particular commodities, who make no attempt jointly to adjust, their rate of production to meet the effective demand, and who accept no responsibility for the workers they no longer require' when they haveovershot ■ their market, the problem of ,the unemployed will remain, whether taxes are levied hy a Free Trade or a Protectionist Government. Huge displacements of Labour caused by the application] of , new methods to industry, new, inventions, and changes In the requirements of the public, arc by no means less frequent under one fiscal system than under another. The distress caused hy such; changes would be more and not loss acute if additional taxes were put pn food and clothing. THE BIGHT TO WORK ‘AND THE EIGHT TO LIVE. Not until the community organises iti own work will it be possible to remove the evil of unemployment, and this can-' not be done until land and industrial capital are owned by the community. In the meantime the I.L.P. will continue to press upon the attention of the’ Government the problem of unempioyment. The workless man is the product of , the system which tho Government supports, and the responsibility for dealing with him is theirs. Therefore, the I.L.P."will do everything possible to influence the unemployed to demand work or maintenance, and to create public opinion in support of the demand. With "The Right to Work and the Eight to Live" as its battTe-orJv it will take the field at the General Election with the utmost confidence. j * : A CRUSADE AGAINST POVERTY.

Against the present As or Law system, with its Bastille, its stigma, and its doterents, the X.L.'P. records: its .undying hatred. Poverty is:not Crime, .but a social disease. It 'not|only deprives human beings, of the anatprial; filings of life, but it deprives-them, of hope and joy and all that makes; life ..rebUy worth living. To the 1.L.P.. a'Getoval Election is a crusade against poverW, audit appeals to ail who share ife ideals and believe in ' its mission- to ‘j rapport its candidates and those 'who are standing under the auspices of the labour Party Alliance. ' • ■ '