“IN A FRENZY”

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21154, 29 September 1938, Page 8

“IN A FRENZY”

Government on the Run Professor Algie’s Opinion By Telegraph—Press Association CHRISTCHURCH, September 28. The immediate effect of Socialism in every State which had adopted it was the abolition of representative democratic government, said Professor R. M. Algie, organiser of the Auckland Provincial Freedom Association, during an address in the Riccarton Town Hall to-day. Professor Algie quoted the experience of Russia, Germany and Italy, and declared that the statements of members of the New Zealand Government, both written and spoken, indicated clearly that Socialism was the objective of the Labour Party. The speaker was given an enthusiastic reception by an audience of more than 250 persons. Professor Algie said that the issue at the coming election was fundamental, as it was nothing more or less than the issue of freedom. "Ministers of the Crown keep telling us that this is not the issue,” said Professor Algie. "They insist that New Zealand is freer to-day than it has ever been before, and that nothing the Government has done has tended to take away freedom. If that were true there would be no need for me to be talking of freedom I and you would not consider it necessary to come and hear me. "I have never known of any Government in office to be so completely on the run. The whole Ministry is obviously in a state of frenzy. If this Government has done as much as it says it has, why is it necessary to devote so much time to the criticism of its predecessors? If it had done any good that good would cry out aloud. Have you ever heard of so many Ministers dashing about to all parts of the country? In Waimate, for instance, they have had every Minister of the Crown there except Mr Nash, and he is coming next week. I would put this down to absolute frenzy and panic.” “Issue Is Socialism” It was quite incorrect for the Government to claim that the issue at the coming election was not Socialism. Ministers and other members of the Party had consistently said it was, and consistently described themselves as Socialists. Mr J. A. Lee, in a book he recently published, had set out the Socialistic objective of the Party in a way which, by comparison, made the utterances of the Prime Minister on the subject simply a weighty cloud of obscurity. Mr Lee must be admired for his directness when he stated in his book that he believed that there was no alternative to Socialism in New Zealand. New Zealand was now on the high road to Socialism, Mr Lee said, and unless the country continued to build Socialism It would lie in ruins. “The opinion of Mr Lee counts for the very simple reason that he just missed Cabinet rank and, in fact, controls a Department as powerful and influential as if it were a Ministry of its own,” said Professor Algie. "We know that he is the leader of the Left Wing of the Labour Party, and that if necessary, the mantle of leadership of the whole Party might fall on his Shoulders. Mr Lee says plainly that there is no alternative to Socialism, yet the Prime Minister goes about saying that the issue is the guaranteed price and social security. The issue is dominantly what you will be asked to pay for the benefits being offered you. The price is forfeiture of democracy and the establishment of a complete Socialistic State."