Party Politics

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19693, 27 July 1938, Page 16

Party Politics

Sir, —Your leader of Saturday although cleverly written, too evidently submerges wisdom and truth in propaganda. The issue is not as mentioned, socialism or non-socialism, but definitely, party versus party, and party..is logically opposed to individuality and to that "free will" bestowed scripturally which is the beloved hasis of true democracy. The suggestion that the National Party's candidate is as independent as Mr. Lysnar himself, is, of course, evidence of your admiration of independence, but it is illogical, as no candidate accepting party nomination can escape party caucus domination. The National party's persistence in nominating a candidate, for party purpose only, is alone responsible for a three-cornered contest in this electorate. Intense organisation is necessary to impose upon a people something which it knows toothing about, is dubious of, or does not want. Intense organisation is the keynote of the Labour and the Nationalist parties. Two great evils confront us, 'both of definitely autocratic nature, completely eliminating democratic government. One is the open door to Tammanyism, as prescribed toy political Labour, and the other the surrender of all securities to the Reserve Bank, prescribed toy the National Party's predecessors. In the first, we reject our individual rights and vest them in an international Labour political organisation. In the other, we reject free operating of trade banking and the ability to control domestically our own productive effort. The incidence of international labour is to destroy trade unionism and the rights of labour. The incidence of reserve or gold banking is to secure to international banking precepts the whole of New Zealand's individual and collective securities. It behoves every labourer, farmer, and general trader — even the adolescent "flapper"—to reflect upon these evils of political party organisations; to know that the solvency of trade banking is involved in the people's productive effort and that the solvency of gold, or so-called reserve banking, is involved in a Government's ability to extort an overflowing measure of taxation. Only a strong and fully qualified independent voice and action, across the floor of the House, can arrest or delay the imposition of these evils. —Yours, etc., JAS. MORRISON.