BRITISH AND AMERICAN LABOUR.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18501, 24 February 1930, Page 16

BRITISH AND AMERICAN LABOUR.

A SIGNIFICANT CONTRAST. American organised Labour has always emphatically declared against Political action its policy being "by education and information to enable workers to use their votes intelligently.” British organised labour, however, have evolved a class party and elected representatives to Parliament to push their class interests. In short American Labour is intensely patriotic and has a National outlook which British and New Zealand Labour parties stand for class interests and many of their leaders have been distinctly antipatriotic and preached Internationalism rather than nationalism. The word “Labour" in politics has .:ow lost its meaning both in England and New Zealand, it is still used to attract the working man. but it is no longer a workers' party, it has become purely Socialistic. This was admitted by Mr Ramsay MacDonald when ne addressed the convention of the American Federation of Labour at Toronto —He said:— “l want you to feel that, whether Prime Minister, or not I am still the old workman as I was born. The workman is distinguished not by the clothes he wears, not by the softness nor the hardness of his hand. The workman is distinguished by his mentality and his point of view upon life.” American Labour's View. Mr Mathew Woll vice President of the American Federation strongly disapproved of Mr MacDonald’s definition of “workman” —he pointed out that, “It is clearer than ever, in the light of that declaration that is the I intention of J Ramsay MacDonald to ! throw open wider the doors to those ! who are not Labour, so that it will become what it already strongly resembles—a party of intellectuals and not of workers. It is necessary to discuss the British Labour Party. In this country (U.S.A.) for two reason* one of which is their constant effort to beguile us into the same adventure and the other that America may have to bear the consequences of that party's policy when in power, so we must understand the British Labour Party. But we are not going to be fooled even by a Labour Government— we are not going to be led to believe that any Party is “Labour” Just because it bears that label— and no party built upon the qualificaion set forth by J. Ramsay MacDonald can be truly a Labour Party. It may have wage earners in its membership--that does not guarantee its purity. Not a Labour Party. Mr Woll then went on to say that "a British Labour Party built on the theory that working does not make a working man but that a peculiar line of thinking does make a working man. may make a Socialist or a Liberal Party but it will not long be a Labour Party, if indeed it is at all. It seems to be more and more definitely coming under the sway of men who are not wage earners and never have been wage earners, end who will, in the end carve out a policy which must be Socialistic or capitalistic. It cannot be truly Labour. “American Labour” he continued "holds fast to the idea that a working man is distinguished by work. He who is chosen to leadership must be chosen .from those who work. We shall continue to lead a genuine Labour movement.” An Important Distinction. These different ideals are most important .for it has resulted in the Socialist Intellegentsia capturing the British Trade Unions for socialism, | thus while American Labour has kept j clear of Bolshevism our leaders have toyed with it. Again American Labour forces are not directed towards subverting the Constitution or wrecking our economic order as our “Labour” parties have been, nor has American I Labour superseded the parties Stars | and Stripes for the Red Flag as they have in England. In short. American I labour is patriotic. British and New Zealand Labour is Socialistic, and internationally inclined and ofter antipatriotic. (Contributed by the N.Z. Welfare League).