LABOUR’S OBJECTIVE.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 18005, 28 April 1930, Page 3

LABOUR’S OBJECTIVE.

A NEW SOCIETY. ■ ' f “ PRACTICAL POLICY.” MAIN ASPECTS OUTLINED. Labour’s objective in relation to the existing economic system and the present political situation in New Zealand was outlined by the national president (Mr J. Thorn) in his address at the annual conference of the New Zealand Labour Party at Wellington. “Plainly stated.” said Mr Thorn, “the aim of the New Zealand Labour Party is that the country’s natural resources and,the labour of its population shall be socially organised in order to assure to every man and woman who renders useful, service the elements of a full life. Our purpose is to create a new society in which the workers shall not be subordinated to the power of any selfish monopoly or vested interest. Security of Employment. “The Labour Party’s conception of Industry is not that of a class possession operated primarily for individual enrichment, but that of a social organisation which gives to the people security of useful employment, just remuneration, and encouragement to serve the public interest such as they ' can never feel under any system of exploitation. Such an aim, when reached, will transform industry by giving it a new and humane purpose, and it will raise society to nobler, levels by safeguarding the whole population against the countless anxieties and degradations which belong naturally to 'Our present materialistic civilisation. 1 “The -vitality of this new social principle which animates the Labour : Party may be seen in its growth within ; the existing economic system and the ever-present tendency to expand it. Quite apart, from the overwhelming case that can be made, theoretically, for the essential idea in the Labour .Party’s objective, it would be easy to /establish its justice and wisdom from •a mass of legislation which is already jon the Statute Book, and from economic developments which, from one cause and another, have been accepted by the public as essential to their welfare.

“Fundamental Encroachments.” “Shops and Factories' Acts, mining 'and quarrying laws, wages boards and (Arbitration Acts, legislation governing •accommodation, and a multitude of similar enactments are all fundamental encroachments on the tendency of the private capitalist to arrogate power to himself and to do 'what he likes with his own. They arei 'in fact, a legal ; declaration that industry shall not be i carried on at all unless it conforms to /certain human standards, and thereI fore, they admit the truth of the I Labour Party’s contentions that the / human interest must be the prime (consideration. \ “Moreover, this social principle has j projected itself within capitalist i society in the form of a large variety of State and .municipal services which have proved so successful as to have become a fixed part of the presentorder, although in the • principle _of their ownership and administration they oppose the very basis upon which private enterjinse rests. In the main these services have effected economies, they have improved facilities and conveniences, they have studied the public well-being, and have even passed the ■ test of success set by the critics of social service—that of ability to make , a profit. : And they have done this although frequently administered byauthority with a hostile political outlook. “The Labour Party’s ideal is thus supported by precedents in the law and in the organisation of the national and municipal business, and those only , need -to be amplified, infused with the ■spirit of the common life, and reinforced by an educated public opinion ' to bring about the changes we desire. But the strongest justification of the Labour Party’s policy is the failure of the present economic system. If the aim of society’s industrial organisation is to utilise its resources wisely, and to provide abundance for all the people, then the present system is a failure. And its failure is the more condemnablc when the tremendous increase of its powers during recent years is taken into account.”

Attacking a Social Problem. Mr Thorn claimed that the policy of the Labour • Party approached , the social problem with the intention of "gaining the greatest possible concession to the humane ideas on issues on which a wide and favourable public response was certain and which presented no difficulty to the average citizen’s understanding. There was not a worker in the country or a person of social conscience who did not sympathise with a claim for an improved pensions system and for one which would cover invalidity as well as old age and widowhood.'* Very few people to-day would'disagree with the claim that as the unemployed were the victims of a faulty individual system they should npt be penalised by destitution and starvation. Only the ignorant and the malicious, therefore, would object to the demand that work must be foynd for the workless at satisfactory rates o£ wages and conditions, and that failing that they and their wives and children should be afforded maintenance.

“The Labour Party,” said Mr Thorn, “insists that the workers at their various occupations., shall receive wages which will provide everything necessary for a decent human life, and that their conditions shall be such as not to make excessive drains upon their health and strength or undermine Iheir self-respect. How many people in this country will- assert that such i claim cannot be justified? “The Labour Party advocates a practical policy which not only places it in line with the bulk of public opinion, but which is wholly in conformity with its conviction that no social system has a right to persist at the expense of the aged, the unfortunate, the unemployed, and of the workers, in town and country, whose labour makes life and progress possible. To the extent the Labour Party succeeds in these, directions a genuine human advance will have been made, social tendencies strengthened, and finances now too often wasted in senseless luxuries and stock investments diverted to the real purpose for which labour created them. Such a policy is not merely a palliative—it is an assertion of the workers’ needs and a means by which they can be met. It is indeed a process of social growth in conflict with the central principles of the prevalent economic system. “A Brighter Future.” “If we want a new society we wall have to create a public mind that will insist on the application of different economic and social principles. That (Continued in next column.)

is what the Labour Party is for. It wishes to create a brighter future bj work, by the spread of knowledge, by resolute organisation, by the enlivening of the democratic spirit—in short, by an unconquerable will to destroy evil and establish righteousness. My point is that we must adopt the view that capitalism is inadequate to satisfy the people’s needs and aspirations, and that although it may collapse there is no certainty of anything better unless we will it and work for it with all our strength and enthusiasm.”