TRADE UNIONISM AND THE LABOUR PARTY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19969, 10 December 1926, Page 16

TRADE UNIONISM AND THE LABOUR PARTY.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— One must fee! grateful for the open channel of the press through which human (houghls can Ireely flow, carrying crude ideas inlo the ocean of human lile, as if just to test their bouyancy. For the attempt to justify an harmonious existence between the trade unions and the Labour Party has eventually led into avenues, which it might never, have been intended to approach. Still, personally, lam thankful for the interesting questions “Sincerity” wishes me to answer. First, in my declaration that capitalism has already almost brought every country to its knees, and civilisation to destruction in its tight for markets and profits, do I include the United Stales of America and the Commonv„mlth of Australia? Yes. • Secondly, do I regard Russia as a country whose policy should he adopted in the interests of humanity? “Sincerity” would do well first of all to outline the Russian policy. If the-gathering of individual wealth be inconsistent with the socialist regime, and we are to condemn Krassin, the Russian leader, for nccomnnilating three millions sterling under the Socialist regime, the only logical conclusion to bo arrived at is that the new regime is superior to the old regime, for the ambition of the, present age is to accumulate gold. Would I, like to live tn Russia or see similar conditions exist in tliis country? Emphatically, No. I have worked with the Russians in the mine; I have heard in broken English their tale of woe; I have seen indications of that smouldering fire which the Volga boatman feels burning in bis mental chamber, as ho slowly trudges his weary way, yearning even for that degree of freedom winch to-dav wo enjoy as the outcome of the British Constitution, obtained for us at a pri.e almost impossible for the human mind to comprehend. The tendency gives the appearance that we view too lightly the large amount of sacrifice which has already been made for the betterment of human life. And as the spirit and ambition of the people to beepmo a capitalist wanes, so surely will they advance in social progress. . the rapid rate at winch the material seems to flow from the tip of Mr Tennent s pen gives to one the indication of express 1 bought. A little slower might allow the faculty of cautiousness to operate. There is no need to hurry; tlie wheels of ptogiess move exceedingly slow, but sure. A, majority of intelligent people believe that we as human beings are advancing upward, and the question to be decided upon, in my opinion, is this: Is the ideal of the Labour Party in relation to wealth production superior to the present form of wealth production? Quite naturally my answer would bo in the affirmative, ami it would take a very largo amount of faith to behove that opponents of the Labour*! arty would introduce legislation helping to bring about a realisation of that objectivo-an inference which Mr Temicnt is trying to hud a home for. Is the State .hostile to Hade union organisations? C pimons upon th s question may greatly differ, for f reasons. lam fully convinced that the present Government is hostiio to the iraclo unions, and is out to ’ to curb them, to keep them \vithm the hounds of reason, ■ and to regulate their demands —all with the best of intentions of course. For these men are statesmen, unselfish, and free from ambition. llio industrial and social upheaval every time must of necessity arise out of somc delusion which the worker was trying to nurse, when there was no real grievance at all, such is the humming tune of Mr iennent s epistle,, skilled workmen taking shelter behind trade union yules. British sailors who refuse to work for less than a month, the coal minor, the wharfic those arc the poor toilers upon whom Mr Tennent wishes to pour condemnation and find consolation for the struggle in life. In the eyes of the just there is no condemnation upon these people. -the guilt ami responsibility for the industrial strike lies, wthout a shadow of doubt, upon the heads of those people who effectively equip themselves to debar these people from obtaining those privileges which they themselves enjoy. The marvel of it all seems to be that the worker gently bows his head to what he believes to .be the me. liable task, that of just obtaining his weekly allotment, which is very often insufficient to meet the essential needs of life. With regard to the anti-imhtarist. altitude of the Labour Party, all air-minded people wll resent the inference that wc arc cowards. The question arises, \\ ho composes the Labour Party?. Is it not the political expression of the industrial workers of this Dominion, and, though slogans and catch cries may have blurred our- cause wo still plough on. believing the foundations of our cause to be just. \\ e, therefore, give Mr Tennent a hearty welcome to devote his surplus energy to the defects of the Labour organisations if defects theio be. It is gratifying to know' that he admits that dirty, mean tricks are being perpetrated upon the community m business methods. To (he unbiased mind, the industrial 'system is far from being free from them and for this reason wc, as members of tiio Labour organisations, intend to fight, on, knowing full well that the future holds better dayg in store.-! am, etc., Ralph Harrison. Dunedin. December 8.

Sir. —-In your issue of the 3rd inst. a correspondent gave your readers his opinions on the present relationship between / trade Unionism and the Labour laity. e wrote: They seem to be very much one and (ho same thing, and, although their interests are entirely distinct and, in tact, antagonistic, it is hard to say where one begins and the other ends. Lan ill W J Tennant say whore anything social, moral, or physical starts and ends, or can no draw a dividing lino between any of the two halves which is necessary to make a whole in all things' For example, where is (ho dividing hue between good and bad, love and hate, yes and no, thrift and thett, or evolution and revolution.' btudy anything and one finds when trying to define or separate one-half from another, that the words -but” and “if’ are continually appearing. Wo can no more halve things and get the good by itself than wo cun t»ot an inside that has no outside or a light without a shadow, or groat wealth without great poverty, or pleasure without pam. All wo can do ~ to try and balance the field of force between the two halves, thus creating a path of less resistance by which both halves may attain that which they need or desire. Tho inventive faculty of man has always been devoted to tho solution of one problem—how to detach the sweet from tho sour, tho strong from tho weak, the good from tho bad, to get one end without the other. It is thought that to be great is to possess only one side of nature: the sweets without tho bitters. Life invests itself with unavoidable conditions which many seek to escape. If they evade them m one pans they are attacked by them in another and more vital part. Vou cannot cut oil that which you would have from that which you would not ha-vo. In nature nothing con bo given; all things are sold. Your correspondent says: Ine ettoits or the Labour Party must result in a decrease in tho prosperity of this country and a consequent decrease in tho available wages fund.” May I ask him if there is not with tho present political parly in power an apparently decisive decrease in the piospenty of the country? Take, for example, the unemployment evil and look for the cause. Has everyone adequate housing? Are all man’s reasonable desires satisfied? If they arc then, and then only, should we have unemployment; but if they are not, then w® must find the causes why unemployment exists. There can he only two causes: First, nature has failed to supply that means by which man can be kept in work# or, secondly, man has abused his rights in the appropriation of natural resources. Nature testifies very plainly that there is an abundance of everything required by man. There is, in fact, no limit to the resources in Nature or her productive powers, but sho is very conservative, and gives nothing away without labour being given to her first. A few days ago I saw a strawberry patch, covering loss than half an aero, anil from this patch the owner expects to get three tons of berries.« At, say. Is per lb, this half-acre will return £356. Yet we have unemployment, with thousands of acres of land capable of returning the same amount, Lnd it requires working, and a lot of work. Therefore, it must be the abuse of appropriation that is tho cause of all our social evils, such as strikes, lockouts, and tleprossioncs in trade with- their attendant greater evil, unemployment. Your correspondent says, further, that “capitalism is not dead.” But if the capitalist is not very careful, capitalism will die a natural death without being murdered by labour. Every system has within .itself the, seeds of it; own destruction. There can ho no permanency in any social system. As tribal communism gave place to slavery, and out of slavery feudalism was evolved, to bo replaced in its turn by the capitalist system, so. in due time, capitalism will have to give place to some new order of thingsEach serves its destined purpose, and when it is fulfilled it gives place to a new order in which social organisation more fittingly adapts itself to economic evolution. I believe .that the system which;

divides society into two classes —capitalists and labourers—is but a temporary one, and that the industrial unrest of our time is the result of a blind struggle towards a democracy of wealth in which the tool-user will also bo the tool-owner, in which labour will hire capital, not as at present capital hiring labour, in which men, not money, will control industry as they now control in Government.—l am, etc., A. Gordon. North-East Valley, December 6.