THE LABOR PARTY

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 100, 1 September 1923, Page 8

THE LABOR PARTY

MR HOLLAND AT DANNEYIRKE.

POLITIC AJ, «SH AND Y-GAFF.” Per Press Association. Uantevirke, September I. Ah' H. E. Holland, loader of tlie Labour Party, addressed a well-at-tended meeting at Dannevirke last: evening, when he explained the Party’s land policy. He dealt with the recent legislation reducing taxation, which he claimed would benefit only the wealthy, and propounded various planks of the Party platform. Dealing with the Electoral Reform Bill which was placed before Parliament in the dying stages of the. session, he referred to it as a political “shandy gaff," designed to keep an unpopular Government in power. It proposed to conduct city elections on the basis of proportional representation, with preferential voting in the single country elections. He claimed that the idea was evidently to secure the Reform Party’s quota of representation in the cities, where Labour at present had the advantage, while debarring Labour getting its quota in the country', where Labour was at a big disadvantage. The proposal was similar in purpose to that of the Italian Insurrectionist, Mussolini, who having secured governmental control by unconstitutional methods, sought to hold it by a faked political system. Mr Holland said that only a few mouths ago Mr' Massey strenuously denounced preferential voting as the worst possible system. Some years ago Mr Massey was wholly in favour of proportional representation, but latterly he had bitterly denounced it. Now he was offering a “shandy gaff” system, including both preferential and proportional representation that would please nobody. When the Bill got on the floor of the House, the Labour Party would fight it to the last ditch. He claimed there was no difference between the Reform and Liberal parties, hut the line which divided Reform and Labour was very marked, and the gulf would never bp bridged. A vote of thanks concluded an orderly meeting.