LABOUR AND POLITICS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7446, 22 May 1911, Page 1

LABOUR AND POLITICS

INDUSTRIAL DRILL FIRST. SPECIAL TO THE -'‘TIMES.” AUCKLAND, May 20. The attitude of tho New Zealand Federation of Labour towards politics was explained to a “Star” reporter this morning by Mr E. Semple, organiser for the federation. Some special interest attaches to this on account of this body not at the moment joining forces politically with the Trades and Labour Federation. “It is generally rumoured,” said Mr Semple, “that the New Zealand Federation of Labour is a'body that takes up an antipolitical attitude. _ That is not so. The federation recognises _ that the workers must be first drilled in the field of industry to have a knowledge of what they want and how to get it. When they are so drilled their political party will naturally be.the reflection of an intelligent and organised industrial democracy. Take, for instance, the referendum in Australia., We contend that the defeat of' tho Labour party in that effort was due to the-fact that. the industrial organi-i gations ..had been neglected—that the’ Labour party had gained political supremacy merely through momentary enthusiasm and not through continuous agitation and education in the industrial field. The very people who thrust them into power when appealed to to give them! power te do what they thought their duty to do refused them that power. That proves oonolusively that the workers were not well organised and did not know exactly .what they wanted. The New Zealand Federation. of Labour, profiting by the experience of Australia, is determined that the educational work shall be done in the industrial world first, and when we realise that sufficient work has been done there we will turn our attention to the political machinery.”