1872 - 1940
Michael Joseph Savage was New Zealand’s most
loved prime minister. His kindly face, avuncular personality and genuine warmth
generated an intimate relationship with the people that no other leader has
matched, before or since. He embarked on a nationwide tour in 1935 as the
country was clawing its way back from the deep depression which had peaked in
1933, convincing people that he was just the man put the country back on its
economic feet. Voters flocked to his Labour party and he was swept into power on
6 December, 1935 with 55 of parliament’s 80 seats. It was New Zealand’s first
Labour government.
Behind the mature benign image lay an earlier
young radical socialist firmly committed to the interests of the worker and to
state involvement in the welfare of the wider community. He was influenced by
the writings of Henry George and others who advocated state control of
distribution, exchange and credit.
Born in 1872 he was the youngest of eight
children and lived in Australia until the age of 35. Misfortunes in early life
included the death of his mother when he was six, and in 1891 two of his
siblings also died – his sister Rose who had cared for him as a child, and his
favourite brother Joseph whose name he then added to his own. Although short in
stature he was wiry and strong, becoming well-known as a boxer and weightlifter.
His interest in socialist theory was well established in Australia and he was
involved in union activity first as a labourer and later as a gold-miner. This
led eventually to membership of the Political Labour Council of Victoria.
Another member was Paddy Webb who later emigrated to New Zealand and suggested
that Savage might wish to do the same. Disillusioned by the closure of the
Rutherglen mines and the creation and break-away of the Socialist Federation of
Australasia from the PLC, Savage took up Webb’s suggestion and arrived in New
Zealand on 9 October, 1907 – fittingly, Labour Day.
He secured work in an Auckland brewery and his
union interest deepened as he rose through the brewing employees union to become
president of the Auckland Trades and Labour Council by 1910. He moved to the
more radical New Zealand Federation of Labour the following year. He was also
active in the newly established Socialist political party. Around this time he
met Peter Fraser who had just arrived from Scotland and their lives quickly
became intertwined. Fraser supported Savage’s early attempts to enter parliament
and Savage reciprocated when Fraser was involved in an Auckland labourer’s union
strike in 1912. The same year both supported the Waihi mine workers in their
lengthy but unsuccessful industrial struggle and both were among the firebrand
union agitators throughout the highly confrontational general strike of 1913 to
which the new Reform party prime minister William Massey reacted with a heavy
hand.
Savage was quick to join the
newly formed Labour party in 1916, becoming its national vice president in 1918
and its first permanent national secretary in 1919. A major policy of the party
was opposition to wartime conscription and four leading members, including Peter
Fraser, were imprisoned under draconian laws forbidding anti-conscription
speeches. It then fell largely to Harry Holland and Michael Joseph Savage to
keep the party functioning. The country was war-weary and the party’s
promotional efforts began to pay off in 1918 when Holland, Fraser and Bob Semple
were all elected to parliament in by-elections. Savage followed, winning
Auckland West in the 1919 general election. Other Labour candidates were
successful in the same election and brought the party’s total MPs to eight. Bill
Massey’s Reform party was still in power.
Savage had spent the best part of twenty years
in union activity and had mixed with men whose radicalism could only be
described as extreme left-wing. Once in parliament, Savage softened somewhat and
became a calming influence in the small Labour caucus, taking the chair when
leader Holland was absent and often even when he was there. His
deputy-leadership was formalised after the 1922 election when he defeated Dan
Sullivan 11–6 for the position. The hapless Liberal party, punished in the 1919
election, attempted to portray Labour as a tool of union extremists but Savage’s
early speeches and his moderate tone dispelled that image. He was not a dynamic
speaker. His voice was thin but his eloquence and reasoned arguments served his
party well. Until Walter Nash entered parliament in 1929 Savage was finance
spokesman.
Going from an eight member caucus in 1919 to
becoming government in a landslide in 1935 looks like a rags to riches story and
indeed it was. But it was also an intense struggle. While Labour’s star
continued in its ascendency in the 1922 election (its parliamentary
representation almost doubled to seventeen), a spirited campaign promoting new
Reform leader Gordon Coates reduced their caucus to only twelve in 1925.
Unperturbed, Savage never lost faith in his party’s core values. As finance
spokesman he was calling for increased pensions and a free health service. A
family allowances act passed by the Reform government in 1926 was clearly
modelled on three earlier bills moved by Savage. But as he became a more
seasoned politician Savage realised that to increase Labour’s vote they needed
to appeal to a wider demographic. He persuaded the party to recognise the right
of freehold in its land policy - an essential move to gain rural support. The
party’s base indeed widened and at the 1928 election their representation leapt
to nineteen. This gave them the balance of power and by promising to support the
new United party they helped bring the 16 year Reform government to an end.
As depression loomed Labour
was increasingly seen as the party of the future. They withdrew their support
for United over restrictive industrial legislation passed with the support of
Reform. By 1930 Savage was urging the party to be more active in attacking their
erstwhile allies as the possibility grew for Labour to govern alone. Now it was
both United and Reform that felt threatened. They commenced talks with a view to
forming a coalition to contest the 1931 election against Labour. Coates
initially resisted but gave in to pressure. The coalition won the election but
Labour took 34% of the vote and secured 24 seats, their highest to that point.
Labour’s day was coming - it was only a matter of time.
Harry Holland had led Labour
since 1919 but by now the party was looking at his dour style, not to mention
his failing health, and considering a change. Since United and Reform had begun
coalition talks in 1930 Peter Fraser had become Labour’s de facto tactical
leader with Savage and Walter Nash completing a ring-fence around Holland.
Savage was the party’s most effective organiser and was presenting simple but
attractive ideas. He urged caution, lest Fraser’s radicalism scared crucial
middle of the road voters. When Holland died suddenly in October 1933 neither
Fraser nor Nash considered contesting the leadership leaving the way open for
Savage. Fraser had nominated him for the position and Fraser himself was elected
deputy leader. Savage’s friend from his Australia days, Paddy Webb, won
Holland’s vacant seat of Buller in the resultant by-election.
The depression was at its
peak and Savage set out to see the misery for himself and show empathy with the
struggling population. He traversed New Zealand repeatedly with an intensity and
evangelical fervour never seen before in New Zealand politics, not even in
Seddon’s time. In the months leading up to the 1935 election he came to
personify the Labour party's commonsense humanitarian approach. He spoke with
sincerity and eloquence, convincing many voters that he and his colleagues not
only understood their problems but could be trusted to solve them. His audiences
adored him. The mere utterance of his pet phrase “Now, then!” would send them
into a frenzy. And it wasn’t just Savage. The whole campaign was energetic,
well-organised and by year’s end had met with spectacular success. With the
inclusion of two Ratana MPs, Labour came to power with 55 of the 80 seats in
parliament.
The incoming government
immediately paid a Christmas bonus to the unemployed and charitable aid
recipients and approved seven days' annual holiday for relief workers. In 1936
there was a landslide of legislation, much of which, by increasing community
purchasing power, stimulated the economy, thereby creating jobs and, in turn,
further demand. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand was made a state-controlled
central bank and union membership became compulsory along with the restoration
of the Arbitration Court’s full powers. A programme of state house construction
was initiated, railways and commercial broadcasting were nationalised and
guaranteed prices were paid for dairy and other primary products. Labour had
arrived. This was Richard Seddon with whipped cream and a cherry on top. And
Maori were not neglected. The political alliance between Labour and the Ratana
movement was cemented with some elements of discrimination removed and increased
attention given to Maori employment, education, health and land settlement.
In a brief hiatus after this
avalanche of socially oriented legislation, Savage travelled to London to attend
the coronation of King George VI. At the accompanying Imperial conference he
ruffled feathers by criticising Britain's appeasement of Japan over its invasion
of Manchuria, Italy’s over the conquest of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), and Germany’s
over that country's rearmament. The British, Australians, Canadians and the
newly formed New Zealand National party all criticised Savage's remarks. The
following year Savage was even more scathing over the British appeasement of
Germany with the signing of the Munich Agreement.
Back in New Zealand the
Labour government continued to break new ground. Legislation improving the
working conditions of agricultural and factory workers was enacted. Government
involvement in construction, scientific research and transport continued to
increase the nation’s purchasing power and by the end of 1937 the economy was
picking up. Commentators would later claim that such heavy government
involvement in infrastructure led directly to a bloated public sector which had
to be painfully dismantled decades later.
But the Savage government
continued apace with its reforming agenda. In September, 1938 it passed a bill
that rendered the raft of 1936 legislation almost of minor significance in
comparison. This was the social security bill. It was world-leading and provided
for a universal free health system covering general practitioners, hospitals and
maternity care; a means-tested old-age pension at age 60 and a universal
superannuation payment at age 65.The twist in the tail of this proposal was that
it wouldn’t be implemented until 1 April, 1939, giving the opposition the option
of shelving it should they win the 1938 election. Conversely, if the voters
warmed to the idea they knew a re-elected Labour government would implement the
bill.
Intermingled with the 1938
election campaign was the issue of building New Zealand’s defence capability.
While the left-wing anti-war movement saw Labour as its natural home, Savage was
well aware that New Zealand had to be prepared as the clouds of war loomed in
Europe and, more seriously, in the Pacific. Against protest from the party’s
radicals Savage strengthened naval and air defences and troop readiness was
developed to the point where they were capable of performing creditably if
called on as indeed they were from 1940 to 1946.
Meanwhile Labour’s election
campaign was conducted robustly with the party claiming credit for lifting the
country out of its financial woes. Opponents warned that nationalising farms
would be Labour’s next step in its sweeping socialisation agenda but Savage was
able to bat away such scaremongering. He promised “freedom for all including
freedom from want”. His speeches to crowds of up to 30,000 were among the most
moving and inspiring ever made in a New Zealand election campaign. He warned
that only a vote for Labour guaranteed the passage of the social security bill.
Their opponents in the campaign were the newly-named National party, launched in
1936 with the merger of United and Reform. National’s campaign, led by the
uncharismatic Adam Hamilton, was weak in comparison with Labour’s. The
government was swept back into power with an increased majority – 56% of the
vote, up from 46% and the best of any party since Seddon’s 1905 win.
But celebration was
short-lived. A fall in export prices coupled with high demand for imports
resulted in a foreign exchange crisis in 1939. Finance minister Walter Nash
responded by implementing import licensing – a practice which lasted more than
four decades. The demand for imports was heightened by the purchasing power
generated by increased government spending. Tariffs also kept prices high, wages
struggled to keep up and inflation soared. But the government’s popularity never
waivered. Utilising the latest technological novelty (radio), Savage’s cosy
“fireside chats” maintained his trustworthiness and intimacy with the
population. And it boosted the war effort. Stirred into action by their popular
leader men were volunteering in sufficient numbers to avoid any consideration of
conscription in Savage’s time – something he would have been reluctant to
implement in any case.
It was little known at the
time but well before the 1938 election Savage was showing signs of serious
health problems. X-rays later
detected colon cancer which required urgent surgery but he repeatedly delayed it
until pain forced it on him in August, 1939 – a full year after the condition
was first diagnosed. It had by then become incurable. There was no public
announcement but more and more responsibility had to be taken by his deputy
Peter Fraser. Savage’s famous speech following New Zealand’s declaration of war
on 3 September, 1939 (“Where Britain goes, we go, etc”) was recorded from his
sick-bed.
A major issue within the
Labour party ranks came to a head during the final months of Savage’s life. It
was a serious rift between Michael Joseph Savage and a firebrand, outspoken and
energetic member of his caucus, John A Lee. It dates back to Labour’s 1935 win
and Savage’s choice of ministers for his first cabinet. In consultation with
only Fraser and Nash he chose largely party stalwarts from the days of Labour’s
early struggles and settled on a cabinet with an average age of 57. Both Fraser
and Nash recommended that 44 year old Lee should be included but Savage
adamantly refused. His dislike for Lee went back to earlier caucus disagreements
in which Lee’s supporters sometimes outnumbered Savage’s. Things deteriorated
and Lee was constantly critical of Savage and also of his right-hand men Fraser
and Nash. Nash in particular was berated for not going far enough with the
government supply of cheap credit – pure social credit was Lee’s mantra and he
was relentless in pursuing it. His energy was utilised as undersecretary of
housing but he remained on the back bench where, in the words of historian
Michael Bassett he became “a brooding, unforgiving trouble-maker”. In 1938, by
which time Savage’s health was failing, Lee successfully proposed a motion
requiring cabinet appointments to be made by the full caucus but Savage simply
ignored it. In 1939 he appointed one more minister and it wasn’t Lee. By now
Lee’s venom was in full cry. He wrote a vindictive letter to his party and, as
Savage’s health further deteriorated and he became increasingly disorientated,
published an article “Psychopathology in Politics” claiming, without mentioning
Savage, that physical illness can lead to mental instability.
From his sick-bed Savage
wrote a memo to be read to the delegates and party faithful at the annual
conference which included the words: “I have been attacked through the public
press with all the venom and lying innuendo of the political sewer...” The
conference resolved to expel Lee from the party by 546 votes to 344.
The vote against Lee was far
from unanimous and a brief digression is justified to consider the faction he
represented and what became of him after his expulsion. John Alexander Lee was
an outspoken, exceedingly bright politician and the only member of the Labour
caucus who ever declared leadership ambitions during Savage’s reign. He had
served with distinction in the first world war and was also a talented writer
with a range of books to his credit. Two were autobiographical:
Children of the Poor (recording his formative years of financial
hardship), and Simple on a Soapbox
(covering his political career and scathingly critical of Savage). He
represented the far left of the party, believing Savage’s nationalising
programme did not go anywhere near far enough. Among other things he wanted the
entire banking sector to be nationalised. He also called for more democracy
within the party (probably justified – the Savage/Fraser/Nash triumvirate was
indeed often closeted away from the cabinet and wider party). But Lee was
strongest in his opposition to New Zealand’s participation in the war,
especially as the leadership never explicitly ruled out conscription.
“Conscription of wealth, not men” urged Lee. A minority in the Labour caucus
(about seventeen in total) remained staunch Lee supporters but it was only after
the expulsion that the high level of support for him within the wider party
became clear. Lee’s Grey Lynn branch voted solidly to condemn the expulsion and
other branches, mostly in or near Auckland, did likewise. Labour party
membership dropped sharply between 1940 and 1943. Many trade unions also voted
to condemn Lee’s expulsion. In 1941 Lee set up his own party (Democratic Labour)
which initially attracted a rush of former Labour supporters but Lee’s
autocratic style (ironic considering his criticism of Savage) resulted in
members soon drifting away. Nonetheless the party managed to field 52 candidates
in the 1943 election. None were elected and Lee lost his Grey Lynn seat to Fred
Hackett with his new party winning just 4.35% of the vote. Lee’s political
career was over. He continued writing, became a bookseller in 1950 and long
outlived his 1940 rivals, finally dying in1982 aged 90.
Any possibility that Lee and
his supporters might have caused a damaging split in the parliamentary Labour
party in 1940 was avoided. The Lee faction was not unanimously anti-Savage –
they simply felt Lee should have remained in the party to draw in a wider range
of voters. Even the most radical members realised that any split would be an
invitation for National to slip through the gap. Labour settled down under
Savage’s successor Peter Fraser and the parliamentary party saw the expulsion of
John A Lee as no more than a blip on their phenomenal success under Savage’s
leadership.
Savage died on 27 March,
1940, 30 hours after Lee’s expulsion. He was 68 years old.
It was a premature end to a
ground-breaking political career.