The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 1917. THE EXTREMISTS’ FOLLY.

Southland Times, Issue 17920, 27 April 1917, Page 4

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 1917. THE EXTREMISTS’ FOLLY.

If any proof were needed that those responsible coal strike did an ill service to Labour it is to be found in the result of the municipal elections. More harm is done to the cause of Labour by rash and irresponsible leaders than by its opponents, and in this case Labour has suffered a severe blow through the ill-advised action of a minority. It is unfair, perhaps, that the whole cause should suffer for the delinquency of a few, but it is impossible to dissociate the general cause of Labour from such an episode as the coal strike. Sane, level-headed leaders realise whither such acts lead. Mr Veitch, of Wanganui, who sits as a Labour member in the House of Representatives, appealed to the miners to return to work, pointing out that their action would prejudice the whole Labour movement and retard much-needed reforms. In the earlier stages of the war, strikes were by no means uncommon in Britain, and Mr Lloyd George in his speeches to ; the workers again and again urged them to do nothing which might alienate that section of public support which was necessary to the success of their movement. His reasoning was undeniably sound. Neither in Britain nor in New Zealand, nor in any other part of the world, can Labour win its battles alone. If it attempts to stand alone, setting public opinion at defiance, it is courting defeat. The strength ot Labour is the strength of 'its cause. So long as it is moderate and reasonable it will always command the sympathy and support of the moderate and reasonable section of the community—a powerful section in numbers and influence. It is the vote of this section combined with that of Labour which makes the strength af Labour. It was this strong sympathetic vote which was alienated by the coal strike and the loss caused the defeat of Labour at the polls. We have been told that the leaders did their utmost to prevent the strike, that it would have occurred long ago but for their influence, and that it occurred in the end only because the West Coast miners got out of hand. That may be so, and we do not pretend to be able to distribute the blame. Whoever was responsible, did the cause of Labour serious injury, and those who attempted to defend the strike were but little less at fault than those who Instigated it. In one of his speeches (we think it was delivered to the Welsh miners), Mr Lloyd George said that the actions of Labour during the war would exercise a profound influence upon the progress of the Labour movement after the war for several decades. That is absolutely true. That is what Mr Veitch meant when he declared that the strike was inimical to the cause of "Labour. The one thing that the people as a whole will not stand for during the war is anything which savours of disloyalty to the Empire or to the men at the front, and when Labour acts in such a way as to obstruct national effort, interfere with military operations, and embarrass those upon whom falls the heavy burden of administering public affairs in this crisis, it is makng enemies where formerly it had friends, it is losing ground that it took years of work to win, and it is putting obstacles in the path of its own progress after the war. In this war the common interest is superior to the interest of any class, and any class which sets its own interests above those of the rest of the community is riding for a fall. It is, as we have said, an unfortunate thing that the ill-advised action of a minority should so prejudice the whole cause. That was inevitable, however, and the only remedy is for those who have the true interests of Labour at heart to obtain firmer control of the organisation, to insist upon discipline in the ranks, and to prevent the blunders and indiscretions from which the Labour movement in New Zealand has suffered in the last four years.