LABOUR REBEL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 March 1940, Page 5

LABOUR REBEL

MR J. A. LEE EXPELLED FROM PARTY ACTION BY THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE. CONTROVERSY REVIEWED. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON. This Day. The most, sensational, decision in 1 lie history of the New Zealand Labour Party was made at the annual conference in Wellington last night with a resolution, stated to bo adopted by a very large majority, to expel Mr. J. A. Lee, 31. P. for Grey Lynn and former Parliamentary Undersecretary, from membership of the party.

The resolution read: "That Mr J. A. Lee, M.P. for Grey Lynn, having been guilty of conduct and acts inconsistent with his position as a member of the Labour Party, this conference, in the interests of the Labour movement, hereby expels him from the New Zealand Labour Party.” The debate on this matter lasted from 7.15 p.m. to 9.50 p.m. The decision automatically debars Mr Lee from going forward for selection as the party candidate for his present seat or any other. It is authoritatively stated that this decision is the beginning of a general move to impose discipline in the party on members who have hitherto acted in a manner considered contrary to the declared policy of the Labour Party. There was a full muster of Cabinet members at the conference, which is attended by 750 delegates, the largest gathering in the history of the party conferences.

There was a large number of speakers on the subject, including Cabinet Ministers. EXECUTIVE REPORT. That section of the annual report of the national executive which dealt with Mr Lee was also adopted, in conjunction with the expulsion resolution. It set out the history of the events leading up to last night's sensational decision in these words: —

“At the first quarterly meeting (July 18, 1939), of the executive, consideration was given to the resolution passed by the 1939 conference, which read as follows: ‘That this conference condemns in the strongest terms -the action of Mr J. A. Lee, M.P., in issuing a circular in December, 1938, which the conference considers to be a breach of party loyalty and discipline, an unmerited reflection on Mr Nash in particular and the Government in general; conference directs the incoming national executive, after consultation with the Parliamentary Labour Party, to take whatever action it deems to be appropriate in the circumstances, and which will safeguard the future, and to report to next conference.’ ” The report continued: “No decision was arrived at other than that Mr Lee should confer with Mr David Wilson (then secretary of the party and now Leader of the Legislative Council) to prevent any further sale and distribution of the letter. AN ARTICLE CONDEMNED. “At the third quarterly meeting, January 13 and 14, 1940, the article ■Psycho-Pathology in Politics,’ appearing in ‘Tomorrow,’ of December 6, 1939, was discussed, and the following resolution passed: ‘That the national executive places on record its complete and emphatic disapproval of Mr J. A. Lee’s article in ‘Tomorrow’ and of the disgraceful inferences and innuendoes contained therein, and declares Mr Lee’s action to be a definite breach of party loyalty, and deserving of the severest censure and condemnation. Further, the national executive reaffirms its complete confidence in Mr Savage as Prime Minister and congratulates him and the Government upon the manner in which the party's policy has been implemented.” The report proceeded: “ A resolution proposing to terminate Mr Lee's membership of the party was discussed, and at 1.45 p.m. after Mr Lee had pledged himself to abide in future by all resolutions of the annual conference and of the national executive, the meeting adjourned to ascertain if there could beany settlement short of Mr Lee’s ex--pulsion. “By direction of the' national executive the Hon D. Wilson conferred with Mr Lee and at the resumption of the meeting at 10 a.m. on January 14 the following report was made by Mr Wilson: ‘I conferred with Mr Lee yesterday afternoon for 1| hours and have to report that Mr Lee has agreed to the following conditions: (1) That he will submit to the national executive allarticles, pamphlets, etc, dealing with the party or affecting its interests and will not publish same without the national executive’s approval. (2) That he will apologise to the Prime Minister. (3) That he never has in the past and never will in the future do anything to wrongly influence the appointment of delegates to the annual conference.’

"Further,” said Mr Wilson. “Mr Lee and I have agreed upon the terms of the statement which Mr Lee will hand to the newspapers, in which he declares his loyalty to the Government and the party, and expresses regret for having published the article which reflected on the Prime Minister, Mr Savage. STATEMENT TO PRESS. “Following is a copy of the statement which it was agreed should be issued to the Press by Mr Lee:—Tn regard to the recent article which he had caused to be published in the journal ‘Tomorrow,’ on consideration he had decided to say publicly that he regretted having published the article, which was ungenerous and not fair to the Prime Minister, and he was sorry ■that the inferences had wounded the feelings of anyone. The greatest need of the time was a united and strong Labour Government, and, while, with every member, he had a voice in helping to shape Labour's policy, he wanted. to assure everyone of his loyalty to the Government and the party.’ The report then went on to state: “After discussion of Mr Wilson’s report, it was eventually resolved: 'That in consideration of the pledges given by Mr Lee the resolution to expel him from the party be withdrawn.’ "Between annual conferences the responsibility for direction and administration of the party is vested,” continued the report, “in the national executive, and. though it has to make decisions that are sometimes liable to misinterpretation, the national executive was determined to insist on loy-

alty to the party, the Government and to its elected leader. “The national executive also decided that while the utmost freedom must be given to party members to express their views at branch or Labour Representation Committee meetings and at the annual conference, no member was entitled to make an attack on any other party member or to oppose any part of the party’s policy from the public platform or in the Press, and thus endanger the unity and progress of the party. "To this end the national executive has declared upon many occasions that majority decisions of the annual conference or the national executive must be loyally accepted by all, as without, some measure of healthy discipline and the submission of the individual to the collective will there can be no democrarcy but only anarchy and disruption. "The national executive is confident that conference will support that action taken to preserve and maintain the unity and solidarity of the movement.”