Hiram Hunter
Hiram Hunter (1874–9 May 1966) was a New Zealand politician and trade unionist.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Born in Christchurch in 1874, Hunter was a farmer, storekeeper, carter, and trade unionist.
[edit] Political career
Hunter stood for the Christchurch East electorate in the New Zealand House of Representatives in 1911 (New Zealand Labour Party, NZLP), 1914 (SDP) and 1919 (NZLP). He was President of the LRC (1911–13) and SDP (1913–15). In 1931, he contested the Mid-Canterbury seat as an Independent Labour candidate against Jeremiah Connolly, but was unsuccessful (Gustafson, p. 159).
During the 1930s, Hunter became increasingly disillusioned with the NZ Labour Party and argued that: "We have learned much of socialisation through its application in Russia. The result has been servility for the workers under the domination of dictators and, what seemed a book of beautiful ideal in 1915 has turned out to be in practice, a horrible reality" (The Christchurch Press, 6 October 1938).
Hiram Hunter was a member of the Christchurch City Council for ten years (1911–15; 1917–23).
[edit] Death
Hunter died in 1966.
[edit] Further reading
- Labour's Path to Political Independence: The Origins and Establishment of the New Zealand Labour Party 1900-1919 by Barry Gustafson (1980, Oxford University Press, Auckland)
