PLAIN, BLUNT SPEECH

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 18084, 19 November 1924, Page 10

PLAIN, BLUNT SPEECH

ADVICES: TO BRITISH SEAMEN

There .are a good many people in New Zealand who are possessed of the strange idea that to speak or write against the Reds, is to “attack Labour.” How they have got hold of such an illusion we fail to understand. Some of the very strongest condemnations of the Reds have come from prominent nlen in the Labour movement. As an example we; present here . title and all) a leader from “The'Seaman” Official organ' of ■The British National Sailors’ and Firemen’s .Union (August 29th, 1924.). “THE REDS.” “We sincerely hope our m,any readers will not, on 'reacting the Heading of, this article conclude mat we have an extra dose of ‘lied lVerves or Microbes.’ Far from it. \Ve understand tne •Reds’ and- what their policy stands lor, and- we do not complain of either thenpolicy or their principles. “Have not some ot them stated very clearly that in their opinion Trade Unions are Camoullaging institutions which hinder the progresai of what they call the ‘Forward Movement,’ and should be openly lougnt and destroyed. These are men who may be described as the' ‘Out and Outers’ of the Red Movement, but there is another section, who, although holding the same opinion of Trade Unions, believe that tlieir destruction can be best brought about from the inside. These men say to the workers, ‘Don’t leave your Union, stay in, and ginger up and harass the leaders and committees, as much as ever you can.’ By these means they hope to start a rebellion that will ultimately destroy the Trade Union movement. Tlieir policy is to kick out all the moderate leaders and then give their positions to men who are painted led from head to foot.

“The men who preach this gospel are those who have lived on Trade Union funds all their lives, but never have attained any 'position or -success in the particular unions they have joined. They have generally managed to lead the Unions they have been connected with up the wrong road, and in addition, have helped to impoverish tho working man hy their preachings and policy. Some of them are not ashamed

to confess that this was tlieir ultimate a.in and object, because tney say tile worse tney can make tne conditions ot tiie worire-r, ,tiie sooner will lie be ready lor wliat they term the 'Glorious Revolution. 'after winch, a-Government will be set up similar in form to that winch exists in Russia to-day. “'lhere is much connict of opinion as to whether the Russ.an people- are better or worse otf to-day tnan they were -under the late Tsarist Government. If you read the ‘Keel’ papers it \would appear that all is O.K. regarding the .Workers• of Russia, if you read other papers, even socialist papers, you are given to understand tnat the Russian workmen are practically slaves. Not having been to Russia recently we cannot an old to be dogmatic on this question, but there is one thing that is certain and that is that: Russia is a bank,iupt nation and that they are now apjiealing to Capitalist Governments 4o 'finance tlifeih. This appears to us to be passing strange because many of the seafaring men' who knew Russia before the Great War and the Revolution, will tell you that in tlieir opinion Russia is one of the richest countries in the world, but that the country needs to be developed. “We have thought, going by the descriptions given by the ‘Red’ journals, that gentlemen at the head of affairs in Russia were more or less magicians, and that a little thing such as the development of a rich country without the aid of outside help, would have been a mere bagatelle to them. However, it appears that thej r are only human after all, and life not able to do more than other people .”

“Last Saturday there was an “All Red Conference’ in London, and Mr Tom Mann delivered the goods. Trade Unions have to be gingered up, slow leaders have to be pushed out and new methods are to be adopted in tho 'Trade Union movement. We have often heard this claptrap before, and one object in writing on this Red question is witii -a view to preventing the workers from being deceived by such rubbish. Evolution is a slow process and the passing of long windy resoluions will not hasten it on the contrary, it will do much to retard it.”

t Contributed by the N.Z. Welfare Leagued