UNITED LABOUR PARTY

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 8655, 13 February 1914, Page 10

UNITED LABOUR PARTY

A MANIFESTO POLITICAL ACTION VERSUS DIRECT ACTION. The following manifesto has been prepared for publication by the president and secretary of the United Labour Party;— We think the time is opportune for drawing the. attention ot the workers and the people in general to some recent events which bear strong testimony in the direction of inculcating the value of political action on constitutional lines instead of what has been called “direct action.” At tho Unity Congress of July, 1913, tho representatives of our party protested strongly against the strike craze, which was being inculcated vehemently by the advocates of revolutionism. In our judgment anarchy is tho direct enemy of Labour, and we have not hesitated to advise the workers that a clear line of demarcation must be drawn between Labourism and Revolutionism. The recent strikes with their absolutely mad-brained appeal for th© general strike which the vast majority of the unions treated as pure silliness, has demonstrated the soundness of .the position which our party has taken. Shrieking militancy, that has mapped out no real constructive course of action, is not an advance guard of Labour, but rather a yielding of Labour’s true interests as a sacrifice to the self-laudation of certain deluded theorists. The conception that the economic and social order of society can be remodelled by the simple process of taking by force the property from those now in possession is a sociology worthy of emanation from a lunatic asylum, but from no rational school of thought. We draw the workers’ attention to the fact that all Labour parties and true socialist parties cry out continually against capitalist tyranny in taking the form of trusts, and syndicates, by which class domination is effected. This class-conscious tyranny we condemn as an evil. Let us at the same time clearly recognise that to substitute another class rule is no cure. That which is evil when done by capital is not made good merely by being done by Labour. If it is wrong for capital to act bn syndicalist lines, then Labour must repudiate syndicalism and not stoop to copying the vicious example of capitalism. For tho syndicate we must substitute society, and for class we must substitute humanity.

This, we maintain, is the true collectivist doctrine of Labour. It is the ground upon which our party takes its stand. We are justified to the full in pointing out that tho leading Labour men of Australia, the Hon. W. M. Hughes, the Hon. A. Holman, and others all condemn the creed of red revolutionism. If our policy is wrong, then how comes that so many of the very ablest labourites and sbcialists indorse it? At the British Labour party’s conference of this year, in Glasgow, p, resolution disagreeing with syndicalism was carried unanimously. What does that mean? Are all the Labour men in Great Britain, Australia and elsewhere wrong, and a small number of direct actionists here and elsewhere the only true prophets? The results tell us. The syndicalist methods have produced nothing but havoc and disruption. This is tho reason why the thinkers of our Labour movement all over tho world condemn in scathing terms this enemy of the workers’ cause. Because the business world in certain instances adopts the methods of the foot-pad and relieves the public of its purse by tho process of direct action, is no reason why Labour should follow this bad example and become a foot-pad in turn. It is a good reason, however, why we should secure legislative power in order to place legislative restraint upon all such nefarious proceedings of business exploitation. To paraphrase the weighty words of Mr Ramsay MacDonald, Labour M.P., we want to change the whole mental attitude of the Dominion towards our Labour movement.” It is not true, and never has been true at any time, that the Labour movement of New Zealand stands for anarchy, or direct action, or syndicalism, or social disorder. Daily papers, from time to time seek to convey the idea that this is the character of our Labour movement; but that is a total misrepresentation. The facts are all against any such view. Even taking this last strike into consideration—and we much regret its occurrence, as we advised its settlement—yet, there has been far less industrial trouble in New Zealand than in Australia or Great Britain. Of tho 346 unions in New Zealand, 304 remained at work during the recent trouble. In the main our Labour movement practically ignored the call for a general strike. After the call was issued only three unions responded. No, ifhe movement is against the syndicalist policy. There is another danger that the workers must beware of. Let us not in repudiating revolutionism allow ourselves to be caught in the meshes of reaction. Mr Ramsay MacDonald, M.P., has spoken wisely in advising that “big things are ahead, and we must maintain the civil liberty of the men engaged in industrial disputes.” He adds that “direct action is unable to do that, as has been proved throughout the world- during the past twelve months.” Let us. then, avoid the di-. rect actionist policy and concentrate our full attention upon political action. This is necessary even for industrial purposes. In our country Conservatism and reaction is all alive and* is making all the political capital it can out of any industrial trouble that arises. We strongly urge the workers to avoid playing into.the hands of the Conservatives, who are their enemies. Conservatism will talk much of lair and order, but make no mistake, the Conservative monopolists are more enamoured of law than of justice, and the order ther want to maintain is principally their own order. However, we again advise, let them have no excuse.

Our Labour cause must use the legal •weapons even when they are forged by our opponents. r We must concentrate on political action for our country’s sake. The exploiters are busy appealing to false issues of mock patriotism to carry with them the public confidence 'o that they may effect more fresh deals in land-grabbing, money-gambl-ing, and all the gentle arts bv which special privilege is upheld. "We are out for political action, for true democracy against class monopoly and special privilege. Labour against reaction and revolutionism the twin enemies of the people; that is what we invite the workers to fight for. as in that direction there is hope of benefit for all.

D. McLAEEN, President J. McKKNZIE. Secretary,