The Star. TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1922. AN IMPOHTANT BALLOT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16694, 28 March 1922, Page 6

The Star. TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1922. AN IMPOHTANT BALLOT.

'Hie. statement made by the Hon .T. G. Coates yesterday regarding the -a. .Or to be* taken by the officers of the Post and Telegraph Department im the question of joining up with the Alliance of Labour was an important* one. Mr Coates, who is PostmasterGeneral, expressed the official riew- of the Department, which is that the proposed affiliation would be not only “ serious mistake from the Post and Telegraph point of yiew, but one which would never be agreed to by the people of the country. It may he interesting to recall the circumstances leading up to the movement for affiliation. The I ost and Telegraph officers have an association, which has acted m the past as intermediary between the Service and Departmental administration. It has taken up various questions in the interests of its members, and on the whole has played a part of some importance in securing and enlarging their rights and privileges The change in heart came about when the pruning knife had to be applied, and the Post and Telegraph officers, along with other branches of the Public Service, protested vigorously when the retrenchment scheme was introduced and passed. The Labour Party seized the opportunity to endeavour to attach the rank and file of the Public Service to their organisations, * opro,-;ontin ££ that if they wore in power there would be no reductions in salaries. and that the demand for economy m expenditure was neither necessary nor desirable. This sort of talk found a ready audience, and there were occasional declarations that an attempt would be made to induce the 1 Oct and Telegraph officers, and other Public Service organisations, to give their support to the Labour Party the quid pro quo l>eing higher salaries and better conditions when Labour came into power. We think that there will be strong support for Mr Coates’s t iew tnat the Post anil Telegraph officers should remain outside the proposed entangling alliance. That is possibly the view of the majority of the officers themselves, but many of them may be inclined to express their resentment of the recent retrenchment policy by giving the proposed affiliation their votes. It cannot bo too strongly represented that the Post and Telegraph officers, in the interests of the country, should not put themselves in the position of being required to take instructions from any body or organisation except the Parliament of New Zealand. We do not think that there are many officers who would hesitate if faced with a choice between loyalty to their country and loyalty to the Alliance of Labour, but they will be wise not to put themselves in the position of having to make that choice. Associations of public servants should not he allied with any political or industrial body, because there is always a possibility that they will l>e used as pawns in some dangerous game bv intriguers or agitators. If the Post and Telegraph Association barter: its independence for the extremely doubtful mess of pottage offered by the Labour Party it will be inviting trouble of a far-reacliing kind.