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Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16505, 5 August 1919, Page 2

The congratulations of all newspaper men in Now Zealand will he extended to Mr. George Fenwick, managing director of the Otago Daily Times and Witness, upon having conferred upon him the honour of knighthood by the King. Through him the New Zealand press, of which he is one of the oldest and most respected members, is honoured. Mr. Fenwick, coining to New Zealand in 18,56 from Melbourne a few years later, entered the office of the (Uago Witness, the second oldest* paper in the Dominion (the Lyttelton Times is the oldest, and the Taranaki Herald comes next to the Witness on the list) In 1877 he and a partner purchased the Witness (weekly) and the Otago Daily Times (daily) and in the following year formed the business into a company, of which Mr. Fenwick became managing director, a position ho still retains. If not actually the oldest journalist of the Dominion press he is regarded as its doyen, and lie was the loader of the journalistic party which a year ago was invited to England by the Imperial Government, a fact which no doubt has led to his being selected for the honour now bestowed. Besides being an accomplished journalist ho is a thoroughly sound man of business and his advice is greatly valued by both newspaper proprietors ami his fellow journalists. Outside of his newspaper work he has identified himself with public life in Otago, especially in connection with philanthropic institutions. An ardent lover of Nature and no mean botanist, bo has traversed a great portion of New Zealand, nothing delighting him more than a walking tour through the forests. The honour now conferred upon him is thoroughly deserved, and wc hope he will live many years to enjoy it.

The newest Labour 'Party in Australia has put forward a programme, which practically agrees with that of the extremists in this country. Tho object of both these organisations is tiro establishment of a co-operative commonwealth in which tho organised workers would own and control the entire means of wealth production, such production to bo for use and not for profit. It is well for the public to understand exactly what this proposal means. The organised workers are, of course, those of tho workers who belong to trades unions. In this country at least 99 nor cent of tho adults may fairly be described as workers, but the vast majority will not count at all under tho new regime. All employers, those engaged in the professions, the farmers, and all women who arc not members of trades unions are regarded as belonging to tho capitalist or bourgeois classes, and therefore as having no interests worthy of consideration. Democratic government, as we understand it, means that every man and woman in the country should have a voice in determining tho laws of the country; the extreme Labourites consider the members of . trades unions are the only persons fitted to direct tho government of the country. The proposal amounts to a change from democratic government to government by an oligarchy consisting of tho leaders of the trades unions. No one objects to every trades unionist having a vote like everybody else, but tho impudent demand that this particular class shall dominate the' country has no justification whatever, except tho baseless theory that members of tho trades unions produce all the wealth of the country. It may be argued that in a country like New Zealand, where

everyone can vote, there is no danger of the Labourite programme being carried out, but tho example of Russia shows that a few resolute and unscrupulous men can seize pbwer and succeed in holding it against very considerable odds. Lenin and Trotsky have actually established the co-operativo commonwealth which our extreme Labourites regard as their objective. That the average trades unionist in the Dominion desires to see changes of this sort made is of course absurd, but like the rest of tho people he is apt to let the management of his affairs fall into ihe hands p£ a few men who can talk,

and many of these are disciples of Lenin. So long as it is clearly understood by tile men and women of New Zealand what the official Labour Party here stands for, there will be no need for argument.