INDEPENDENT LABOUR PARTY.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXI, Issue 12187, 7 June 1907, Page 4

INDEPENDENT LABOUR PARTY.

A bEcnoK oi the Labour clement in this col'iny i)l stiong Socialistic tendencies per sistp in : ts endeavour to create an ludepeu'lent l.ab.nir Party, with a view ol running member pledged to support revolutionary jiiea^moH. Jn the course of an address ,it C'hmtchurch the other evening Mr D. McLaren, a member ol tlit> Wellington City Council .tud secretary of the Wellington Wharl Labourers' Union, urged the workers to uniU* and send their own lepresenlatives both to Parliament and the City Council. Mr McLaren did not niinro matter", and lett no doubt as to his Socialist ie views. Labour, he said, would be satisfied with nothing but revolution, which he explained meant an entire change. He complained that the reforms which had been given by Pailiament were, merely in the- way of palliatives, and ho is far irom satisfied. So tar ac the dissatisfaction is concerned, Mr McLaren is not alone in his views. A 'very gieat majority ol the workore would like to <see further reforms given effect to, and we are in entire sympathy with them. But we are by no means assured that the methods suggested by Mr Me Lai en Are the widest and beat for bringing- th«?s» ipl'orms nljout. Mr McLaren would have the workers appeal to tho .conntry as a class party, in the belief that their policy is the only policy that the country requires, and that legislation should be introduced solely for the benefit of one class without consulting the interests of the community as a whole. Mr McLaren surely forgets the moral of the political situation in Australia. Owing to the extreme attitude of a section of the Labour Party in the Commonwealth, the o»use of Labour has receded, most notice-

ably mi the List IVik'ral c-U-aiuiu. In *li" ! luent Qiueti.sland contest Labom li.td .. <.i-{-b.ick. Labour h.id !"> s>Mts in tho \,\>\ Queensland Parliament to-day it li"l.X only lrt. In Vi(tnii.« and in Wr^l Vutrali.i, likewise, the- tide of I.<iboui ha- ] similarly ebbed. The cxplnnatoin •* that the Laborite<» ol modrrate viows have bom compelled to disassociate themselves tiom the extreme Socialists who, like the Independent Labour Leaguers of New Zealand J wish to force their views on otheifo who are likewise animated by a sincere desire to benefit their fellow-men, but prefer to work with the Liberals for the common good. Had the Laborites ol Australia amalgamated with the Liberal Parties, they would have gained much more than rhov tun possibly accomplish bj forming a third political party. In New Zealand the rol'iima in the interests ol Labour that have own instituted havp 1 ccn carried out as the result of a wi-<-combination of the Liberal and Labour parties, and it would be a fatal mistake if a cleavage occurred. Although a good de:;l has been accomplished, there fitill remains much to be done before Labor is satisfied, and its ends will be gained much more hpeedily by spurring the Liberals on than il it creates a separate party such aa MiMcLaren suggest? and fights a lone hand. It would be a thousand pities for Labor to adopt an irreconcilable isolation towards the rest of the political world, and attempt too hastily to pass legislation of a revolutionary nature before the time m ripe for such a change. There arc, however, big constitutional reforms which Labour should insist on. and which can be given effect to by the allied torces of the Liberals and the Laborites. As progressives, they havo a clear claim to wide sympathy and support, and so long a» legislation is not confined to one section of tile community, so long will they continue to retain the confidence of the majority ol the electors of the colony. The genuine Labour element in Parliament has been invaluable, and it must not be forgotten that but tor its pressure the advancel legiilation so much envied oi otherufountrles would probably never have been placed upon the Statute Book. But the organisation ot au independent party with extreme vie.vs and revolutionary impossible ideals will stultify the powers of Labour and Liberal wm and result in other parties combining to pievent turther necessary ref onus.