SUPPORT & LOYALTY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 April 1940, Page 5

SUPPORT & LOYALTY

TRADE UNION & LABOUR PARTY RESOLUTION ADDRESS BY MR J. ROBERTSON. SURVEY OF RECENT POLITICAL EVENTS. "That this meeting of trade union and Labour Party members pledges its support and loyalty to the Prime Minister, the Hon. Peter Fraser, and the party he leads. We also wish to iecord our appreciation of the valuable services rendered by Mr Fraser during Mr Savage’s illness and will co-operate with him to carry on the great work to which Mr Savages life was dedicated. We also wish to icafllrm our loyally and support io Mr J. Robertson, in whom we have the fullest confidence as the New Zealand Labour Party’s representative in Masterion.” The foregoing was the text of a resolution carried without dissent at the conclusion of an address given in the Social Hall, Municipal Buildings, last night by Mr Robertson on "Democracy and the Labour Party,’’ Mr J. Dwyer presided. Explaining the reasons for calling the meeting and why he had chosen "Democracy and the Labour Party” as the subject for his address, Mr Robertson referred to the difficulties confronting tlie party, the principal ones being that it had just suffered the death of a great leader, the fact that Britain was at war /and that amidst those difficulties drastic steps had to be taken to deal with treachery within the party. Mr Robertson, in tracing the commencement ..of the trouble, pointed out that immediately after the 1935 election the Parliamentary Party had. empowered Mr Savage to elect his own Cabinet. That was the unanimous decision of the party in caucus and no suggestion was made during the 1938 Parliament to make any alteration. Immediately after the 1938 election a resolution was moved at caucus that caucus should then proceed to the election of a Cabinet. The late Prime Minister, Mr Savage, opposed this, but it was carried by two votes. The Prime Minister refused to accept the decision on the ground that it was unconstitutional and caucus was terminated. Provision was made in the constitution o the party for such a situation arising as then existed, said Mr Robertson, and the constitutional course was followed and a settlement of the difficulties arrived at, this 'settlement being unanimously agreed to by all members of the caucus. This settlement was subsequently endorsed at the IJ3J annual conference of the party. If was because of the action of Mr Lee subsequent to this and his failure to abide by the decisions arrived at, to which he had previously agreed and the attacks made by him on his own Government, its leader and his colleagues in newspapers and in other ways, which eventually developed into the situation that led to his expulsion at the last conference. Dealing with the whole question of democracy, Mr Robertson pointed out that the resignation of Mr Barnard and the expulsion of Mr Lee both arose from their refusal to accept a democratic decision of the party as a .whole. Mr Robertson contended strongly that for a small group of members of Parliament to claim the right to decide who was to be Prime Minister of New Zealand when just a month previously the electors of New Zealand had unmistakeably decided the issue was the very antithesis of his conception or democracy. Mr Robertson teadily acknowledged the great ability and ta■lents possessed by Mr Lee, which made it all the more regrettable that a bad-ly-controlled egoism should have led u*p to his taking up an attitude calculated to undo all the good work he had done in the past for the Labour movement and to hinder the realisation of the ideals he professed to serve. At the conclusion of his address, Mr Robertson replied to a number of questions.