The Wanganui Chronicle WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1927. AN AGITATOR REBUFFED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19768, 16 February 1927, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1927. AN AGITATOR REBUFFED

Evidence that the rank and file of the workers are sane and sound enough if only the agitator will leave them alone comes from Christchurch, where a meeting of unemployed, held a, couple of days ago, deposed two men who have been acting for some time as their leaders—perhaps misleaders would be a better term.

At least one of the men referred to virtually constituted himself the leader of the men out of work in Christchurch, and, by dint of making much noise, induced them for some time past to listen to the Communistic ravings which were the raison d’etre of his pushing himself forward. When men are hungry, their families destitute, and the outlook black, they are, unwisely but perhaps naturally, ready to listen to anyone who promises them a better time, and this is when the men who talk big and violently seize upon the chance to mislead. However, the self-constituted leader in Christchurch overdid it. He talked too much of the happy state of Russia, and did too little to ensure the obtaining of bread in New Zealand. So, at a meeting the other day, the men unanimously threw him and his lieutenant out, one of them remarking bluntly that they had had enough of Communism and Bolshevism and that they wanted some practical ideas. Nor did the men stop there. Evidently sick of firebrand tactics, they passed a resolution that, in future, they would pursue strictly constitutional methods to obtain their ends.

It may now be hoped that elsewhere in New Zealand the unemployed men will similarly get rid of those who are only using them for their own ends. As before remarked, the men are sound enough at heart. It is the agitators, who care nothing for the men but a great deal for their own personal aims and ambitions, who are at the root of most of the workers’ troubles.