WELFARE LEAGUE

Timaru Herald, Volume CVIII, Issue 16883, 2 August 1919, Page 4

WELFARE LEAGUE

REPLY TO LABOUR, PARTY

PLATFORMS AND PROFESSIONS

The follow u 1 !, icply Ins licon made b\ llio Now Zealand Welhuo League t<> tlie lion 1 T Paul, president ot tlie Lahom p.uty.—

The ''oificiar loply of the pii'sidcnt of tlie La bow p,u ty to Ihc address of the piesadent oi the Wclraie League haidlv demands an answer. It consist, mainly ol in elegancies, oi: lagiie insinuations thai. Iho league ai«" actuated o.\ motives other than those, which they piotc=s. and by the giatuitous assumption tint the* Labour ~part\, a£ a* piesent rontjoiled, is repie s enia'.ive of tlie aims and ampliations ol the Hi eat body of sane Labour ii> tm= country, ifr Paul s\>s that the league's condemnation of the punciples of T/W.W.-isn,, of Red Fed-is.ni, ot Bolshevism is unnecessary, and i* the meie cisntior. ol goblms and scareoiows t 0 fiightm electois. The league wonder -whether Mr Paul is really smcpte in this, and whether bo expects the coaritiy to behe\e that the accredited loadeis ot his party aie iiot men who not only liave openly cxpi essed disloyal opinions Tin: . a-\ owed their sympathy with revolutionary doctunes. Mr Paul is sufficient?/ cautious to" ipfiain fiom deirvinj: that tlio lcndeis have c\pie«sed these views. Indeed., ha. cou'd hardly do, so The fact is inebntj ovei tible". Tf co'voliolr.tion were needed, the "unanimous and .'euthunsi'istic" ,peac3 manifesto H'cently issu°d by the party i-, demonsiiable proof of the spu it Which controls -thc-sp whe* arc now guiding its destinies. Mr Paul will find it impossible to convince the electors that the dangcis to wliieh the league lia\ e c idled 'attention are fanciful or 'mere alarmist cries of "wolf/'

OPINIONS PROGRA^nrBS

Mi Paul,suggests that whatevoi ex-ti-enic opinions the Isadeis or xho LaLoin party hold does' not matter. What mattcis. he sajs, tlicir oth-ciai-inogianime The president of the Liibom party mutt under-ratc bcili the intel ligenca oi the elector-; and tlieir knowledge oi lecent happeningsIf is no function ot the Wolf sa e League to ciiticise the piogramme of Mr Paul's pr.rty. The lpagife aie quite content to lean e the„plector& to judge it. Ihey aie concerned chieflv with their own pi ogi amine. Mr Paul applies the epithet ol caunuflage to + ne programme of the league;" but that expression' exactly fits his party's programme. , Wliat.the, Welfare League say—and thehVvvoids will x ' ba eehosd thioughout the-'country—is that the avowed opinions of the~leadeis or the La'oour paty would make' it ruinous tor electors to commit the government of the country~into their hands, and that they aie not.,the men to .guide its destinies in what Mr Paul prupeily calls "this critical hour."

INDUSTRIAL UNREST. Mr Paul pretends that the league are the opponents of Labour. It is clear that lie has cithei not read or has conveniently ignored the addre-s of our president, in which" the just aims and aspirations 'of 1/abour wcie adequately lecognised, and in which piactical suggestions were made to,give them an improved status Arid a fair voice in the management of the industiies in which thev are engaged. It is significant that no practical suggestion has come from the La bom party to remedy the existing conditions of industrial unrest, or the dclibeiate system of limitation of output so disastrous to the progress of the couutrv. Until they show an honest desire to find a leniedy, and until they disavow "direct action'' and the i evolutionary principles of their leaders, the Labour party must remain under the stigma of desiring industrial unrest for class purposes, and of seeking t'o usurp the government of the counti v not in the interest of all but, sn the interest of class. NATIONALISATION.

The Labour paity nave suddenly displaced a geat solicitude tor the t-mali farmer, which is unlikely to deceive the objects ot their solicitude. The small iarnier will wonder whether men are likely to protect their interests who pursue a system which impedes increased pioduction, imposes harassing leatrictions on eveiy form of industry, laid prevents the carriage ot their products to the market. Tile sincerity of the ' advocacy ot expensive State expenments by those whose deliberate aim is to lessen production, and thereby the inoonie of the State, may reasonable be doubted. Mr Paul is an advocate of wholeso-ne Ptato nationalisation; but what the league think is the legitimate ?nd effective province of the State in this direction has been stated by our president, and need not be repeated here.

Mr Paul was singularly unfortunate m his comment on the attitude of members of the league during the warMany of them were in the firing hue, and all stood shoulder to 'shoulder to help the Empire in its struggle for justice and freedom. It was left to. the leadeis of the Labour party by disloyal utterances and other devices, too well known to require stating, to place every difficulty in the way of the Empire in. its life or denth struggle, and after the> conclusion of peace to constitute themselves the advocates of German interests.

One -word more: The Labour party, before they can be entrusted with the confidence of the electors, must reform themselves and must change their leaders. They must recognise that the true interests of Labour are inextricablv bound up with the welfare of the country, and that no system of government which has a single eve to thei interests of onv one class at the expense o! the community will ever be acceptable to a sane commonwealth.