Campaign Of Country Party

NZ Truth, Issue 994, 13 December 1924, Page 12

Campaign Of Country Party

A Fourth Dimension

No Protection, Unless It Protects A Farmer

The Grass-Conscious Group Stands For Economy (With

Reservations In Its Own Case)

The political theatre of war m the Auckland Province has now ( been invaded by a new organisation of unknown strength and resources which threatens to upset a lot of calculations. Where it was hoped to avoid three-partyism and to present a straightout issue to the electors, a four-cornered fight now seems ' inevitable m many country electorates, and things are going to be a bit mixed.

The brand new "Country Party" is headed by Mr. A. A. Ross and most of the "heads" of the Auckland Provincial Branch of the Farmers' Union. This movement is not, approved or authorised by the national organisation of the Farmers' Union, but the Auckland fireoran'ds don't give i a hang for that; they are out for independent political action and are collecting political scalps with cheerful impartiality, regardless of existing parties or whether the cranium covers are labelled Liberal, Labor or Reform. The sellappointed leaders of the new party have been holding forth at Dairy Flat, Kaipara Flats, etc., and. some of these farmer flats would believe the earth was flat and the moon a dairy product if told so by one of the executive of the A.P.F.U. Conservative Communists. I The new Countrified Party are extremists of the worst type politically, [being at the opposite extreme to the Red wing of the "official" Pink Party. In the absence of an Irish Party here, the colors of the new party should be a glaring green, for their political ideas are as green as the grass- areas they claim to represent. ' So far as any sense or' logic can be gathered from their opening verbal barrage, the policy of the Countrified crowd is a definite blend of ultra-Conservatism and super-Socialism, combined skilfully with . Free Trade and Protection. They are ultra-Conservative m opposing State interference m any form; they object to State officials (especially tax-collectors, policemen, and inspectors) butting m and disturbing the peaceful producer on the land with "collective" or restrictive intent.. They are super-Socialists when it comes to superphosphates, free railage on lime, or free State veterinary services. The new Party declares for Free Trade and opposes protective tariffs for building up secondary m,- , dustries at the expense of the farmer; but is strongly m favor of ' taxing the .workers' daily bread to ' protect the wheat-farmer from unfair competition. ' ' Anti-borrowing by the State or local bodies is another flimsy plank m the brand new platform. The national debt is breaking the . back of the poor farmer who is carrying all the dead wood, and future loans must be limited to those needed for advances to settlers, roads and bridges, 1 a Farmers' Bank with unlimited credit, and the development of our primary industries. In fact the policy of the new Countrified Partyv is so saturated with statesmanship and political science that some of the candidates are hopeful of saving their deposits when the numbex-s go up. .-. , • ■ ■ ' Several cockies whose defective political vision debars them from seeing beyond their barbed v.he fences have attended the organisers' meetings and announced, their Intention of -supporting the movement 1 . They^are firmly convinced that the woi-ker m the town is the natural and deadly- enemy of the worker on the land and nods approvingly 'at the loquacious agitat.or who wants war betwee.i ,the city and country producers for his own political aggrandisement or advertisement. Certainly, the dust disturbed by these pioneers, of the new Party may blind a few ignorant farmers to the fact that town and country producers have everything m common— including the common enemies of Monopoly and Vested Interests; but' very few thinking farmers r/ill be fooled by the frothy fulminations of fiery 'evangelists of the class-war, no matter, whether they are extreme Communists or extreme Conservatives; and when extremes meet there' will be a lot of skin and hair flying— but the average plain man Avill stand aside, enjoy the scrap, and chortle loudly when both crash badly. v .■.<•, The New Mussolini. Meantime the new Mussolini of the Mugwumps has selected the Thames

as his stumping ground and is after the political scalp of Mr.' "Toby" Rhodes, the Independent Reformed Liberal who follows m the footsteps of the late Jimmy McGowah and the now Rev. PJ. H. Taylor. Why the barren peninsular ranges of the Thames and Coromandel have been selected as General Headquarters for an alleged Farmers', Party is as mysterious as the, political origin of the party itself. There are quite a lot of disused holes there remaining from the good bid mining days, and they should be useful for strategic tactics when the Town v. Country war becomes too hot. Ohinemuri, the.neighboring mining district, is now more pastoral than metalliferous and is earmarked for a Countrified candidate, but Hugh Poland is losing no sleep over the awful apparition. Meanwhile some people are wondering whether a frank farmers' candidate from' the new Party will fight Franklin against our G. 0.8., and whether Good Old Bill will be bitten by the Country crowd he has championed for over a dozen years. The new bonehead brigade have no earthly hope, o£ course, of doing much damage, but will add to the gaiety of life while they last. Incidentally, the Hollanders are organising feverishly to fight every seat; Reform organisers have been cruising around the country, but so far the Liberals have made no move since the pre-sessional campaign. If the Liberal -Labor Party wish to avoid the tragedy which buried the Liberals . at the recent Imperial elections, they want to get busy, or a similar knock-out may await them m a three-party fight. ''' /