MR BARCLAY IN THE MINISTER FOR LABOUR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2785, 31 July 1907, Page 36

MR BARCLAY IN THE MINISTER FOR LABOUR.

Th» Otago Trades and Labour Council has received the following letter from Mr A. R. Barclay, M.H.R. : — The President and Members Trades and Labour Council, Duuedan. Wellington, July 22, 1907. Dear Sirs,— l am writing to thank the Dunedin Trades and Labour Council for its P* o ™!?* »nd spirited action in cooneotaon mUi tneUte incidaatt between the Hon. Mr MxUar and myseM in the House of Representativee, and for the loyal support it has given to m* in this matter. . „ There is, however, some misunderstanding as to tfo/e Premiers port in the incident. As a matter of fact Sir Joseph Word was quit* willing to allow me to have a division, and, though be was speaking, he stopped and sat down to enable fiiis to- be done. Curiously enough, it -urn* tb« Minister of Labour -who insisted >n preventing wh«t apparently the wiole House desiied. Why? When JAr Millar remarked that nobody outside a lunatic asylum would support such a proposition he must surely have forgotten (1) that 14 members of the House supported the same proposal last session, and that two of tibese supporters were his own colleagues — the Hon. Mr Hall-Jonea and the Hon. Mr M'Gowan. I wonder what these gentlemen will think now of Mr Millar s dictum; (2) that Ma: Millar himself had previously—a* election time— pledged himself to practically the same platform. I would like to say now a personal word. Mr Millar has for years given me his help and support in every w«y ihat he could, and often with much effect. The last thing in the world that, I desire is to do any injury of any sort to one who has always been my friend, and to whom I wish well. Bat surely the time has now come. My record is such ' that I am entitled when I speak in my representative capacity to be listened to seriously 2 ' and to have what I say treated with atben- | tion. If tfhis is denied I shall have to endeavour to prove that the fact is so. For my j part now I am anxious to regasd tihe in- , cident as closed feeling that Mr Millar hastily uttered an unguarded sentence that he did not mean — as most of ue do sometimes. If, however, I ivere to tell you that I was convinced that the Radical element is as active and vigorous a force in the Government as of old I should not be saying what I honestly think. But we may hope for the best. Perhaps la>t«*-we shall have more cause to rejoice. In the meantime my word would be — " Keep a watchful eye on the political -world, and prepare carefully for the next battle." — Yoture faithfully, A. R. Bakclat.