The Wanganui Chronicle THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1939. THE MEETING AT CLAUDELANDS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 289, 7 December 1939, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1939. THE MEETING AT CLAUDELANDS

'JUE mass meeting which was held on Monday at the Claudeiands Showgrounds, outside Hamilton, cannot be ignored on the ground of numbers alone. Six thousand private citizens cannot be induced to devote a day to Ihe pursuit of a futile effort. The second aspect of this meeting to be emphasised is that it was not a party political meeting. It was not organised nor in any way associated witli party politics, and the political ambitions of individuals were in no way operative to promote the effort. The third aspect of this important meeting which cannot be ignored, is that the whole of the effort, was opposed by the Government. A Minister of the Crown addressed a meeting, entry to which was obtained by trade union card, and the Trades Hall influence was exerted in opposition to the meeting. The Waikato District Trades Council invited the Labour movement and supporters of the Government to ignore the meeting entirely. The comprehensive nature of the assembly is also to be noted. Importers, retailers, farmers and employees were represented. If. can, however, be said that the genesis of the whole movement lay in the fact that the employers and employees engaged in the retail trade in Hamilton are faced with reducitons in supplies, that the businesses will be unable io carry on at the present rate, and that some businesses will be ruined, while unemployment will consequently become widespread. In plain, simple, straight-forward English language, these people are asking: “What are we to do for a living?” To this simple question the Government has no answer, For Mr. Nash to indulge in facetious remarks, for Mr. Savage to call for co-operation, for Mr. Sei'im.'eour to promulgate his blasphemous bleatings by talking party politics under the guise of religion, is not. enough. Men and women who have qualified for positions in the. distributive trades have a right to be considered. They are skilled workers, and they know that there is a growing shortage of goods. They are not concerned with monetary theories nor with the niceties of national finance—the more is the pity, because therein lies the root cause of present-day disabilities to import—but they are concerned about earning their living in their chosen trade. Speaking for the employees, Mi’. W. Harrison said: “From personal knowledge as assistants, we know that even to-day there is a definite shortage of a large, number of commodities. With this shortage becoming more acute, we are naturally very concerned regarding our future, employment.” The issue for those affected is a simple one: the Government’s present policy promises widespread unemployment, and the victims of this policy go no further than to point this out and to ask the Government to modify its present policy iq some measure in order that the threatened danger shall be averted, or at least minimised.