The Wanganui Chronicle. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1949 THE COMMUNIST MENACE

Wanganui Chronicle, 16 December 1949, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1949 THE COMMUNIST MENACE

A USTRALIAN opinion lias been disturbed by the comparatively large vote given to the Communists during the elections. Superficially the vote is small, but the Communists have never been very much worried by their being in a minority. It is possible that in no country do they represent a. real majority, but that does not alter the fact that they are in control. The Communists have grasped the fact that a modern community is an interlocking organisation and that a disruptive force rightly placed can throw the whole organisation out of operation and can be kept under control by those occupying key positions and acting ruthlessly.

In Australia the Communists have their strength not in the wide, open spaces, but in the key positions in the Industrial field. A light weight put on the end of a long lever may lift a very heavy weight and the* Communists are all the time contriving to be at the vital position on the economic lever. It is significant that the Communists were directed to vote not for the Liberals in accordance with the thesis advanced "by the Labour Parties in Australia and New Zealand but for the Labour candidates. This significant fact should be kept well in mind in New Zealand, where it was claimed that a vote for the Nationalists was a vote for Communism. In New Zealand the Communist vote was very small indeed and it may be assumed that the Communist Party is not very strong numerically. But what is the relationship between the Labour and the Communist Parties in this Dominion? Mr. Semple was vociferous in his proclamation, “I Fight Communism.” It was hinted in Labour circles that the Communists, Messrs. Barnes and Hill, would soon be ousted from their offices. But what happened? The elections over and the Nationalist victorious and the opposition to Barnes and Hill was immediately withdrawn and they return to their offices of directors of the New Zealand waterfront unopposed by any move whatsoever from the New Zealand Labour Party. Significant, indeed!