New Zealand Labour S

Feet Of Clay

The average observer of the political see-saw in the Antipodes will find John A. Lee's new book a fascinating document.

BRILLIANTLY, bitterly and merci- B lessly written, it tells the story f how Joe Savage, Peter Fraser and Walter Nash in turn became Socialist rime Ministers of New Zealand and, aw each—according to Mr. Lee— t down the Labour side and sent ieir party into the political wilder -sss. The book’s 280 pages accuse icm of incompetence and inability ) understand the fundamental prin ples of Socialist Government ad linistration.

Mr. Lee is a gifted writer and he lakes of his autobiography a ramatic story.

He was reared partly in the gutter ae says so himself), and partly in a oys’ reformatory (he had been con icted of theft); spent his early orking years as a lowly farm bourer; served in World War I ivhere he lost an arm and gained ie DCM); and, before he was 30, as one of the liveliest figures in the eftist section of the NZ Labour arty.

Riddled With Dry Rot There is no doubt that in the dirties the NZ Conservative Gov rnment was riddled with dry rot nd due for defeat; but, also, it is ell known that the clever, tireless ropaganda and the fiery oratory of ick Lee contributed much to abour’s great victory in the 1935 lections, and the personal triumph f M. J. Savage.

Lee seemed a certainty for a high ortfolio in Savage’s first Cabinet; ut when he was dumped by Savage lere began a vendetta which con nued for years, and virtually de troyed the NZ Labour Party as a olitical force.

Lee was a convinced academic ocialist, with a wide grasp of conomics, while Savage, Fraser and lash were not; and Lee apparently eld them in contempt, accordingly, 'or what probably is the first time, nd with brutal frankness, Lee lets ae light in upon the blunders, in rigues and human weaknesses which ndermined New Zealand’s first at smpt at Labour Government.

Savage and his followers proposed to give effect to Labour’s policies by merely re-shaping the capitalistic system. Lee led the majority of Labour parliamentarians in insisting that Savage’s Government should

own or control the little nation’s credit system (banks, overseas ex changes, selection of imports, credit issues based on goods, and so forth).

Savage fought back and defied the Labour caucus. The struggle under mined his health and he died of cancer at the end of 1935. His friends raised a fearful hullabaloo, and publicly accused Lee of “mur dering Labour’s beloved leader”.

The Labour Party’s executive met and expelled Lee.

But Lee was around for many long years after that, and his deadly, uncompromising criticism of men

and machines contributed to the downfall of Fraser and Nash.

The chief purpose of Jack Lee’s eminently readable book is, of course, the white-washing of the parliamentary and party rebel and fierce red Socialist that was Jack Lee in his prime; but it still remains a valuable contribution to political history. Sociological researchers in the future will find here some re markable examples of what happens when individualists come into con flict with caucuses and shibboleths.

Jack Lee, for example, tells the story of how two Labour leaders who were notorious as law-breakers and strike agitators in New Zealand 50 years ago, Paddy Webb and Bob Semple, were included in Labour’s first Government—from which Lee was excluded by Savage. Lee tells, with pawky glee, of how Semple promptly equipped himself with a morning coat and top hat; and here is what he says about Webb (who was Savage’s intimate friend):

"Enough Loving For Two"

“Like Savage, he was a confirmed bachelor; unlike Savage, he did not resist women. An eligible MP racehorse-owner, a man of wealth, it was said he would hold out marriage prospects to any woman to get her into bed.

“The number of women he coaxed into bed was extraordinary. If he was the Prime Minister’s Siamese twin, it could be said he did the loving for both. He could be generous with money up to the edge of marriage, and was never beyond trying to give a dole of entertainment to the flames of the years gone by.

“Moreover, he never grudged generous financial aid to an old Labour pal. Never did Labour saint become metamorphised so rapidly into Labour playboy ... he be came an alcoholic, a chain-boozer, a chain-lover, inveterate racecourse gambler.”

A remarkable record of politico economic history is enlivened by much of this bitter, cruel but enter taining stuff.

Lee, a man of great natural ability, who should have been a distinguished New Zealand leader, but missed, dropped out of politics some years ago, and is now a well-endowed book seller in Auckland. He is the author

of seven books.

R. W. Robson.

(SIMPLE ON A SOAPBOX. Published by Collins. 30/-.)