PARTY SOLIDARITY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24022, 22 January 1940, Page 6

PARTY SOLIDARITY

The Labour Party naturally appreciates the importance and the need of solidarity within its ranks if it is to maintain its strength and work out the high destiny to which it makes pretension. Presumably, as is not surprising, it considers that the people and its supporters have not latterly had just that powerful and convincing evidence that it is bound together by hoops of steel as an indivisible entity, which it is desirable to place and keep before them. Some recent incidents and exchanges of opinion and exhibitions of feeling within the party have undoubtedly been calculated to open the eyes of the public to the existence of conflicting ’ party undercurrents. The ripples that have been created ’ have been more than perceptible. They have forced themselves upon public attention. To vary the metaphor, un.mistakable discords have attested the existence of a very definite rift within the Labour lute. From the party viewpoint this, of course, is regrettable. The thoughts of a meeting of representatives of Labour organisations at Auckland last week turned to the utility of a mass meeting of workers, at which the Prime Minister should speak, by way of demonstrating loyalty, unity, and solidarity within the party, and it decided that the idea was good. The need for precautions was, however, recognised. It was laid down that speakers at this gathering should be careful in their utterances, and that they should on no account be permitted to exploit the occasion by making attacks on any particular section of the working-class movement. In a word, nothing should be permitted to happen that would impair the perfect harmony of the gathering or damage the manifestation of a united front. From the platform there must proceed nothing but a consonance of sweet party sounds. In this there is a frank admission that discipline must be enforced to ensure that the mass demonstration creates the right impression on the public mind. But the notion which seemingly obtains, that a mass gatherinig of the kind will have a usefully corrective effect on popular opinion, is amusing. The Labour Party has been revealing very plainly that complete solidarity does not obtain within its ranks. Even among Ministers themselves differences of opinion probably obtain in respect of the war policy to which the Government is committed. The fact that the Government party in Parliament has its two wings has been fairly paraded before the public. Upon such matters speakers at the projected mass gathering are to be enjoined to silence. No doubt the mass meeting will be an interesting ’ affair. But, for the purpose of impressing public opinion demonstrations of party solidarity, however well stage-managed, do not follow altogether satisfactorily upon revelations of the lack of it.