“DISCREDITING N.Z.”

Southland Times, Issue 23978, 20 November 1939, Page 8

“DISCREDITING N.Z.”

MISSION OF LEADER OF OPPOSITION “PARTY AGREEMENT NOT ADHERED TO” “Predicting a crisis, decrying the Government, and discrediting New Zealand seems to be the mission of the Hon. Adam Hamilton, who has just returned from a 2000-mile tour,” said Mr W. M. C. Denham, M.P. for Invercargill, when addressing a meeting of the Southland Trades Council on Saturday night. “Although both sides of the House of Representatives agreed to bury the political party hatchet during the war period, there is ample evidence to show that this agreement is not being adhered to by the Leader of the Opposition and his party,” continued Mr Denham. “A meeting of employees has been convened in Invercargill and it has originated not from the employees themselves, but from another source. Certain firms have threatened their employees with dismissal unless the import restrictions are modified or removed and have urged them to attend a meeting of protest on Monday night. The secretary of the Employers Association, Mr L. S. Alsweiler, has been busy on the telephone inviting his friends, and The Southland Times expresses the hope that the meeting will be well attended. A DEEP CONCERN “I am agreeably surprised to learn that The Southland Times and the Employers’ Association have developed a deep concern about constant work for all employees, and have suddenly become solicitous for the welfare of the worker” stated Mr Denham. The dismissal of boys and girls who qualify for a higher wage is a daily occurrence. On the eve of the last election unnecessary and wholesale dismissals took place. This was done for a special purpose. A national campaign, with similar motives and for similar reasons, has now been embarked upon.” He was well aware that importers of luxury lines would be “hard hit as a result of the Government’s policy of import restrictions, th, speaker said. It was equally true that manufacturing industries were rapidly expanding in New Zealand and were employing more hands. Unfortunately, the outbreak of war had created grave ana serious difficulties. The great need today was co-operation and the willingness of all to make sacrifices. “What sort of patriotism and cooperation are we getting from those people who are surreptitiously trying to precipitate a political crisis? he asked. “I have no faith in the promise of co-operation; it is obvious that Mr Hamilton is making use of the , war situation to score party advantages. [The Southland Times has not made the statement which Mr Denham attributed to it, or any statement of the kind.]