“ MILLS OF MILWAUKEE.”

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3328, 21 September 1911, Page 2

“ MILLS OF MILWAUKEE.”

“WHY A LABOR PARTY IN NEW ZEALAND?”

AN INTERESTING ADDRESS,

Owing to the wmtry conditions which prevailed last night, there was only an attendance of about 200 people at the Garrison Hall last night to hear the opening address by Professor VV. 1Mills M.A., of Milwaukee, U.S.A.. who is touring New Zealand in the interests of the Labor Party. The Mayor of -Gisborne (Mr A\ . 1 ettie) presided, and, in introducing the lecturer, stated that his visit had been awaited with interest, as all questions affecting the welfare of the workers were engaging the attention of the thinkers of all countries at the present time. He hoped the weather would be more propitious for the remaining lectures, and allow many people who desired to hear so celebrated a lecturer the opportunity of doing so. _ Professor Mills, who was received with applause, said that the question he had to. answer that night was W liy a Labor party in New Zealand r It thev raised the question of organisation at all, it might be asked, why have organisation for any purpose ? T he answer was that there were some things which could be done better with help than by individual effort. _ For the accomplishment of those things which it was only possible to achieve in groups organisation existed. The difference between an army and a mob; the difference between a machine in the knock down state and in the make up. When the component- parts of a perfect machine had been put together, each wheel was in its place, and last of all the power belt was put on. It was, however, a dangerous thing _ to put the belt on before the machine had been properly set up. but when all the parts had been placed in order instead 1 of being a thing of danger, the machine became a tiling of service. A large group of people who were all anxious to secure the same end would be utterly helpless unless organised. It was necessary for labor to organise because there were tasks which were impossible for the individual workers to carry out, and it was only when properly equipped and skilfully organised that the greatest service could be effected. If they studied the method of labor organisation it would be found that it had an historic purpose. It had been necessary to change while building to. suit altered conditions. In the beginning the iabor movement was confined to small disconnected groups of workmen engaged in the same trade, hut as industries developed labor became more subdivided. This could be understood when he told them that in an American shoe factory there were eleven distinct and separate occupations in putting the heels together. As time went on the workers saw that these, scattered groups could achieve nothing, and by degrees organisation was begun. Groups of men became related to groups, larger groups to still larger groups, and in time the cementing process took in districts, countries, and nations. The pro-,, cess had been one of gradual evolution. The small bands who organised in the beginning had rude and simple tools. The jack plane did not need, to be large, but in time the jack plane grew into the great modem planing (mill. In the beginning the product belonged to the worker who produced it, but the savings of a worker for a lifetime would not buy a planing mill, and a world wide market was too* small for such a large industry. The trade union, became necessary because the men hadj, common interests to protect. The causes which affected the workers in an industry in one country affected the same workers in other countries,' and the time had arrived for a world-wide organisation. It would be admitted that labor organisation was necessary if the worker was to be properly protected and provided for. It had been asked why it was necessary for labor to take part in politics. The reason was that the ballotbox would not let the jack plane alone. What was meant by politics? Politics had to do with governments. What was the reason for governments? Why had they municipalities, counties, school districts, and harbor boards? If the working. man could get along without these things surely the rest of us could. If they were necessary, was it not better to give attention to them. Government existed to transact business. Government did not mean gold lace and ceremony. The Federal Government of Australia bad done away with gold lace, and the only thing they retained was the mace, and even this had mysteriously disappeared. The people of Australia had become so interested 1 in the government that they had lost interest in the playthings of their childhood. It was the duty of the government to transact that business which directly concerns all of the people.“Don’t tell me,” said the lecturer, “that you are a poor lot. Don’t tell me that you are without property or power. Every voter in New Zealand is a shareholder in the richest organisation in the Dominion. Look and see how rich you are if you only get your eye on your own stuff.” Proceeding, thle speaker said that all of the people owned more than any one of the people. Any political campaign was, only a discussion among the shareholders as to what they were going to do with their own. The man who lets politics alone was a man who neglected his own business. There were vital interest's which affected all working people, and it was imperative that they should: organise, with one head which had final authority to act on behalf of all labor. It would scarcely be said that the bushman who kept his axe sharp was a, fool. .Tlie first problem labor bad to solve in Mew Zealand was' the perfecting of organisation. Not only should it be able to negotiate with employers and defend its members from injustice, but it .must be able to strike, and if necessary fight tlie issue in the ballot-box, and do it without .swopping horses while crossing the stream. It was not sufficient to fight the issue out in one hall, and then go on to another and debate the whole subject over again. An- organisation with two heads was only a piece of an organisation. There were tw r o groups of people in New Zealand—tlie people who were useful and the people who

were not—but it was safe to say that 95 out of every 100 people in the Domijiion quitted eating when they quitted , working. The miner, ' agricultural la- I borers, • engine-drivers, and artisans 1 could 'not be spared, and if they left New Zealand it would he a serious matrtr, but there were many who, if they went away, the, fire would not go out. When he spoke of the organisation of labor he included the people of any sort who were of service essential to the welfare of New Zealand. Up to the present the five people had been compelling the 95 to petition for any measure they wanted. Would it’ not be better, the speaker asked, for labor to get the government in their own hands, and let the five people ot the other sort send petitions to them. Neither the Conservatime nor the Liberal party were in sufficient agreement to settle one single question of importance. There may have been a time when the Conservative party had been really in favor of something, but it must have been a long time ago. Whatever may have been true of it in the past, it had outgrown its usefulness. The members of the Conservative party were not returned because they were in favor of anv policy advocated by Mr .Massey, but because they were opposed to Mr Ward. The same could be said of the Liberal party, which was but a rudimentary survival of what was at one time a useful organisation. What New Zealand needed more than anything was a rearrangement of its political parties. Professor Mills then stated that he would like to touch on three important questions: Land monopoly, industrial and commercial monopoly, and education. Regarding the former, he stated that it was a peculiar fact that the richest land in ail the earth is always cultivated by the toil of the poorest, people. The cold storage for butter fat between this country and England and the improved system of transportation had resulted in the value of dairy produce being doubled within the last ten years, but the wages of the fellow who milked the cow had not been doubled. Twenty years ago the value of the land in New Zealand was 75 millions, but now tlie same land was in such demand that the unimproved value stood at 175 million, which meant an increase of five million a year for twenty years. This increase in value had come about by the presence of the people in New Zealand. The people, had created the increase, and the owners had got it. Every new immigrant and every new babe that was born increased the land value by £5 a year. The whole policy of closer settlement at its best only meant that a larger number would do the people as the others had done. They had eleven different land tenures in, New Zealand, not one of which gave the tenant the value he creates. America was considered to be a trust-cursed country, but lie considered they had far worse monopolies here. A small pot of vaseline cost Is in New Zealand, while it could be purchased for 2ld in San Francisco; and a tin of salmon costs 8d here, which sells at 2-1 in Vancouver, where they considered a monopoly exists. “There is not a thing on your back, not a piece of furniture in your homes, not a cradle or a coffin that isn’t touched by monopoly,” declared the speaker. The speaker urged the necessity for higher education. The real citizens of to-morrow depend upon the school of to-day. Longer hours were necessary for leisure in order that they might so develop the dome of the brain that the base would 1 at last go to sleep • to permit the ape and the tiger to die and: the man to live.

Professor Mills will deliver his second address at the same-hall this evening, his subject being “Union of Workers.”