LABOUR AND SOCIALISM

Southland Times, Issue 23152, 19 March 1937, Page 8

LABOUR AND SOCIALISM

To The Editor Sir, —I must apologize to your correspondent “Ajax” for my somewhat belated reply to his letter of March 11. 1 notice he takes me to task for a statement I previously made, namely that “Labour may trv to fool the masses in the belief that Socialism is their aim, but such is nothing more than an electioneering stunt.” Your correspondent says that this is exactly what the Labour Party did not do. I might state for his benefit that such statements have not only been made from platforms at pre-election campaigns but in pamphlets from Labour members. The following books are listed as procurable from Wellington: “The Case for Socialism,” “Socialism and Co-opera-tion,” “Socialism for Today,” and “The Heart of Socialism.” These are only a few of the many obtainable. Furthermore practically every Labour Party branch has a circulating library where such books are available to its members. Again I might mention that at one meeting where a Labour member was giving an address prior .to the election, tickets for membership to a certain organization outside Labour were being sold. Labour members were not afraid to use every means possible to obtain their objective. Their socialistic cry of “Away, with poverty and misery” was soon forgotten, and in its stead they introduced or rather tightened up the already existing system of classification of the masses. Our correspondent says that “the official objective of the Labour Government is ‘socialism of production, distribution and exchange’.” Space will not permit me to treat these matters at length nor do I think it at all necessary to do so. Suffice it to say that under Labour government production will still remain speculative while distribution must continue to be only possible according to the extent of toe individual pin-chasing power. Again, no government, no matter how socialistically-minded it may be, can institute a socialistic era. Such a move is only possible by the workers themselves, represented not as at present by over 700 different unions, each a law unto itself, but by their united action. Who today prevents a united action? The Labour Party adherents themselves. Your correspondent accuses me of advocating Socialism and says, for my benefit, I presume, that these ideals cannot succeed because we are only human. That is nothing less than an insult to our mentality, John Bunyan’s man with toe muckrake idea! He says that “if we were perfect beings, Socialism would be toe ideal condition.” There has never been a necessity to become more than human to realize our future under Capitalism with its enforced poverty and misery on those who labour. In an attempt to misguide me from my ideals he states that Socialism has been tried several times during the last 2090 years and has always failed. Why go back to toe dark ages? What of Robert Owen’s scheme in 1817? Why did it fail? On the existing facts I maintain that the Hon. A. Hamilton and his supporter, “Ajax,” are absolutely wrong when they allude to our Labour Government as a socialist party. As “Ajax” says, Socialism is for toe perfect. Then let go the muckrakes and go towards our goal, perfection!—Yours, etc. ONE OF THE MOB. March 17, 1937.