LABOUR AND POLITICS

Otago Witness, Issue 3043, 10 July 1912, Page 27

LABOUR AND POLITICS

LONDON, July 2. The Labour party intimates that in the event of three-cornered contests at Hanley and Crewe, all the Labour M.P.'s will participate in the election meetings, their absence from Parliament thus imperilling the Government's position in the House. July 3. The Labour party's ultimatum has j caused jnuch ill-feeling amongst the ! Liberals, particularly after a number of ' Ministers and Liberals supporting Mr O'Grady's motion on Monday. The Hanley Liberals have adopted Mr I R. L. Outhwaibe as their candidate. j The Labourites have decided to support an independent Labour candidate. Mr Philip Snowden says the party's decision on the Hanley contest means war to the knife. My Clynee says Hanley is a Labour seat, and " it shan't be filled j without a fight." I Mr Jowett says the decision will be acted on thoroughly, and Mr Lansbury says it is high time that the Labour party fought the Government, i July 4. j Mr E. G. Hemmerde, in opening the Liberal campaign at Hanley, said the I Labour party had contested a number of j Liberal seats recently. It was childish ' to go on sulking over the- strike because the Liberals hit back. The Labourites are strongly denunciatory of the Government, and there is no sign of compromise. Mr Finney, presiI dent of thejocal Miners' Association, is l the Labour candidate for Hanley. Tho Daily Chronicle considers that Mr Outhwaite, who is announced as a Liberal candidate, should withdraw. The Labour correspondent of the Daily News says the quarrel is deeper than tho misunderstanding regarding Hanley and Crewe. It dates from the employment of troops during the railway strike, and was accentuated by the Government's refusal to accept the 5s and 2s amendment to the Miners' Minimum Wage Bill, while Mr Asquith's refusal to intervene in the dockers' strike caused great resentment. There is also the suspicion that he favours compulsory arbitration. ' The Government has intimated to the j Labour party that if they withdraw en i masse from the House for electioneering I purposes a Trade Union Bill will be im--1 mediately introduced. j A memorial is being prepared at the instance of Sir A. B. Markham and Sir H. H. Raphael (Liberals) pledging all I Liberals not to support the Trades Union j Bill or any other Labour measures if the I Labour party withdraw from the House i of Commons, as they threaten to do, in order to take part in the Hanley election, i Mr George Roberts (Labour member for Norwich), at the annual meeting of j the Council of Federated Trade Unions, said that whatever happened the Labour I party intended to defend its right to the ! Hanley seat. July 5. . The Labour party at Crewe has adopted j Mr Holmes, of the Amalgamated Society i of Railwayman, as it s candidate. A meeting of Labour members of the I House of Commons disclosed marked dif- ! ferences of opinion in regard to the situai tion. It was finally resolved to help the Hanley and Crewe candidates without ; special parliamentary action against the i Government. j July 6. Mr Ramsay MacDonald, speaking at Derby, said there had never been a more disreputable action than that of the Liberals -in claiming Hanley. The Labour party had paid organising officials, whom the Liberals were now using. Ho be- , lieved tho question would cause a split I in the ranks of the Liberals. July 7. Mr Outhwaite (Liberal) is basing his . campaign on the taxation of land values. j Practically his chief support is a band

of enthusiastic M.P.'s, including Mr Uro (Lord Advocate of Scotland) and Mr J. 0. Wedgwood. Mr Outhwaite has aroused no enthusiasm, and possibly will not be nomii nated after all. Twelve Labour M.P.'s are speaking on behalf of Mr Finney on Monday, and nine Unionist M.P.'s are supporting Mr Ritt-i ner (the Unionist candidate). The Labourites have selected Mr Holmes, a barrister, to contest the Crewe vacancy against Mr Harold Murphy, (Liberal) and Mr Ernest Craig (Unionist).' July 8. Mr W. Anderson, chairman of the Independent Labour party, in a speech at Wigston and referring to Crewe and Hanley elections, protested against a small section of the Liberals seeking to impose all the burdens on the unearned increment on land and to remove the burdens on unearned income and capital.