SPGB Meetings (1934)

From the November 1934 issue of the Socialist Standard

Blogger's Notes:

Baritz, Kohn and Lestor were all 'profiled' in the September 1954 Special Anniversary issue of the Socialist Standard.

• Moses Baritz
• Adolph Kohn
• Charles Lestor

S.P.G.B. Lecture List For October 1911. Johnny Holmes

Unlike the posts for A. Barker and Frederick S. Leigh, this October 1911 Socialist Standard adjacent post is not connected to Keith Scholey's founding members document.

Johnny Holmes was not a founding member of the SPGB. He first joined the SPGB via its short lived Earlsfield Branch in August 1909. A regular outdoor speaker for the Party in the period of 1910-1911, he primarily spoke at outdoor meetings in South and West London (Battersea, Tooting, Paddington and Peckham). There is no record of when he lapsed his membership, but we do know that he rejoined the Tooting Branch of the SPGB in April 1921. Sadly, there's no record of when he left the Party for the second time. 

'John Henry Holmes' is briefly mentioned in a couple of books I have encountered on my political reading travels. His son, Len Holmes, speaks of his father in the Hugh Jenkins' 1980 book, 'Rank and File'. Jenkins was the Labour MP for Putney from 1964 until 1979 (defeated by David Mellor at the 1979 General Election) and was firmly on the left-wing of the Labour Party. 

'Rank and File' was a collection of interviews with Labour Party members in his Putney Constituency Labour Party, and the purpose of the book was to give a human face to that much maligned figure in the 1970s and 1980s: the left-wing Labour Party activist. During this period of political history, the tabloid press had the scent of blood in its nostrils at the notion that student radicals and 'bedsit revolutionaries' were infiltrating the Labour Party up and down the country in order to deselect such sedate centrist characters as Reg Prentice and Bob Mellish. There's no denying that Trotskyists were sending their members into the Labour Party during this time - the Militant Tendency being the best known example - but Jenkins - and most of the people interviewed in his book - represented a longstanding Labour Left tradition rooted in left-wing reformism and such single issues as nuclear disarmament and anti-apartheid.

Len Holmes was one such left-wing local activist, and he said the following about his father:

". . . I was born in Wandsworth and my father, Johnny Holmes, was a well-known leader of the unemployed workers’ movement between the wars. He was a great character but no one would employ him and so with seven children and my mother dying of cancer we had hard times. My wife was born not far away in Wimbledon.

. . .  You mentioned your father?

"Yes, Johnny Holmes was well known as a pacifist in Wandsworth between the wars. During the First World War he drank a lot of water before medical examinations and was always rejected because this increased the pulse rate. He was a street-corner orator and he fought a parliamentary election in Wandsworth as an independent although he eventually joined the Labour Party. He was a friend of Saklatvala who held Battersea briefly for the Communist Party and at one time was a member of the Socialist Party of Great Britain. He was put in Wandsworth Prison for six weeks after leading a demonstration against Wandsworth workhouse. He marched into the institution and demanded that the inmates be fed proper food instead of pigswill. Once he lead a 50,000 strong demonstration of the unemployed to the Cenotaph. He was stopped by the police because he had a banner which read: For those who are dead and not forgotten and for those who are here and are forgotten. My father brushed the police aside saying that they would fight their way there if necessary and he successfully led the demonstration to Whitehall. However the demonstration was broken up there by mounted police and my

father was kicked in the head. He was injured quite badly but eventually recovered and was soon attacking the Royal Family from a soapbox on the corner of Magdalen Road. My father wanted clean sheets and bed linen for the workhouse inmates and porridge and bacon and eggs for breakfast. When he was taken to Wandsworth Prison there were demonstrations outside every night with singing of the Red Flag until the authorities removed him to Brixton. When he came out there were several thousand unemployed to meet him and they marched all the way to our house in Wandsworth.

Quite apart from the fact that there was no money for it, my father did not believe in paying rent to private landlords and was always being taken to court for non-payment. He accumulated £500 in arrears and never paid it. He argued his own case and the landlord said he wished my father was on his side. He was a very clever man. He studied what the magistrate had said on other occasions and quoted him. Once he was offered a job on condition that he changed his politics but he would have nothing to do with capitalism. He was an ardent socialist and knew all the leaders of those days, Lansbury, Greenwood and Bevin but he became a bit disillusioned with the Labour Party. They were not nearly socialist enough for him." (pages 54-56.)

I can't find any record of his father standing as an independent candidate in Wandsworth at a parliamentary election, and I have to wonder how plausible it could have been that a long term unemployed man could have raised the money for an election deposit in the interwar years. It would have been a substantial sum of money. Maybe Len Holmes misremembered. It happens.

The second mention of Johnny Holmes is in Harry Wicks' posthumous memoir 'Keeping My Head: The Memoirs of a British Bolshevik'. Published in 1992 by the independent Trotskyist publisher Socialist Platform, 'Keeping My Head' is a very readable account of Wicks political journey from his teenage political awakening in Battersea in South London just after the end of World War One to the YCL sending him to the Lenin School in Moscow in the 1920s to his central involvement in the earliest days of the British Trotskyist movement.

As a Battersea boy, Wicks encountered members and ex-members of the SPGB. One of those was Johnny Holmes. As he recalls:

Unemployed agitation in the years of 1918 and 1919 emphasised the indignation felt by the ex-servicemen at the conditions they met on their homecoming. The long dole queues and the paltry demobilisation payments never matched the politicians’ promises. The old comrades’ association was most vociferous in its demands for mass protest. When the short-lived postwar boom ended inSeptember 1920 the unemployed agitation discarded its ‘No charity, give us justice’ image, and took on amore aggressive tone. From all over the country, local unemployed committees and associations met in conference and launched the National Unemployed Workers Movement with the demand for ‘Work or Full Maintenance’.From the first, Battersea’s NUWM became widely known, a constituent part of the local labour movement. Hunger marches from all parts of the country found shelter and sustenance ready for them at Latchmere Baths. A Battersea contingent were always marching in the London demonstrations, which in those days all too frequently ended with a police baton charge. 

A host of speakers and agitators sustained the ceaseless campaign at the local guardians for outdoor relief. The memory of one or two is vivid to this day. Johnny Holmes was one such agitator. A short, rather tubby man with a sunshine face, he was on and off unemployed platforms for a decade. His early training as a speaker had been in the SPGB. In his pocket, he always carried a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings which functioned as his speaker’s notes. Many still remember the meetings he addressed during the 1921 miners’ lockout. Johnny talked on the income of the Duke of Northumberland, a big coal owner. Thirty bob a minute was his income, as much as a miner received for three days’ work at the coalface. He had an infectious smile, as though he was laughing at his own speech:

‘Imagine, 30 shillings each minute of the day. Whatever the Duke was doing, going to bed, eating his bread and cheese or sitting in his bathroom having a sh-sh-sh-shave.’

Each itemisation of the crowded minutes in the Duke’s life brought fresh convulsions of laughter from the crowd.

. . . Another outstanding unemployment speaker in the 1920s was Tom Waller, affectionately known as Workhouse Waller. He too had got his Socialist education from the SPGB. Like his voice, his speeches were strong and rasping. Wage slavery and capitalism were his enemy, a Socialist society his objective. When the local board of guardians said that there was to be no more poor law relief without task work — which meant the workhouse — he was ready with the answer: ‘We enter the workhouse all together.’ (pages 20-21)

Wicks' book also provides a brief biographical note of Holmes in the appendix to the book:

Holmes, Johnny. Ex-SPGB, Secretary of Wandsworth Unemployed Committee and member of Communist Party. Very active in 1921 and 22. See Michael Ward The Unemployed in South West London 1918-23 (draft manuscript), and Red Flag over the Workhouse, Labour and Social History Group, 1980. (page 199)

The South London Impossibilists (2026)

A wee 'As Others See Us' post.

If you click on the linked Brixton Buzz post mentioned elsewhere on the blog, where the SPGB local election candidate, Anya Krycek, lays into the hypocrisy of the local Lambeth Labour Party, and scroll down to the comments section, you'll find the following interesting post:

Nette says: Mon 5th October, 2026 at 12:21 am

It’s heartening to see the SPGB out campaigning here again. This is where the party was born (the impossibilists of the old Battersea branch walked out of the SDF in 1904 ) and it’s good to have a tradition back on its home streets. They make no promises they don’t intend to keep: just the argument for abolishing the wages system, put honestly at hustings and on street corners. In an age of careerist triangulation, that plainness feels like a breath of fresh air. Good to have them keeping the argument alive where it started.

It's always nice when a friendly critic 'gets us'.

Blogger's Note:

For a flavour of those early impossibilist comrades in Battersea (and elsewhere), click on the following links for a couple of activity reports from the Socialist Standard from its first year of publication: October 1904 and November 1904 .

New Premises Fund (1936)

Party News from the October 1936 issue of the Socialist Standard

Again we have to remind readers that we need money urgently for our New Premises Fund. When the present renewal runs out, in about six months, we shall be faced with the need to secure other and larger headquarters. Our freedom of choice will be strictly limited by the amount of money we have in hand to enable us to meet removal and furnishing costs, and to pay the higher rent until our extended activities make it possible to pay the higher rent out of current income.

Send your donations to the Treasurer, 42, Great Dover Street, S. E. 1.

A list of donations is printed below: -

SPGB Meetings. (1909)

Party News from the January 1909 issue of the Socialist Standard

Light, More Light ! (1912)

Party News from the December 1912 issue of the Socialist Standard

An Economic Class is held at the Head Office on Friday nights at 8.

* * *

A Central Speakers’ Class has been established in order to equip more comrades for the platform. The classes are held at the Head Office, 193, Grays Inn Road, every Saturday evening at 7.30. It is urged upon all comrades to attend.

* * *

BATTERSEA BRANCH are holding a course of economic lessons on Wednesday evenings at 8, at 184, High Street, Battersea. Non-members invited. No charge.

* * *

TOTTENHAM BRANCH are holding discussion classes every Wednesday evening at 8.30 in Branch Rooms at 224, High Road, Tottenham. Strangers welcome.

* * *

TOOTING BRANCH are holding an Educationn Class on Saturday evenings at 8 o’clock, at 15, Gassiott Road, Tooting, commencing on November 30. Comrades from other branches invited.

* * *

NEW S.P.G.B. PUBLICATION. We have to announce that we have in the Press for publication in the course of a few days, a report of the debate which took place at Tooting on May 21st between our comrade, J. Fitzgerald and Mr. Samuel Samuel, prospective Conservative candidate for Wandsworth, on the subject of “Socialism v. Tariff Reform.” The pamphlet consist of 48 pages, and the price is—for democracy sale, 1d.

Battersea Branch. (1908)

Party News from the December 1908 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Meetings (1908)

Party News from the November 1908 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Meetings. (1908)

Party News from the March 1908 issue of the Socialist Standard

Blogger's Note.

The speakers at the S.P.G.B. Club in Ilford (Romford Branch) in March 1908 were not as well known as the speakers featured that month at the Battersea and Islington Branches, so here's a wee bit of background on them:

H. C. Phillips was a founder member of the SPGB. The following information about him is from Kaz's document on the founding members of the SPGB:

"Phillips [of Fulham Brnach] was a member of the Provisional Committee of May 1904, of the EC in 1904-6 and was an outdoor speaker from 1904 to 1908. Previously he had been secretary of the SDF Mile End branch (1901-3). He is presumed to have lapsed membership around 1914. He rejoined Central branch on 3rd November 1931, finally leaving through being lapsed on 1st December 1936."

J. H. Kennett was a member of Romford Branch, joining the Party in May 1905. 

W. A. Cole was also a member of Romford Branch, joining the Party in April 1906.

Myles O. Bartley was also a member of Romford Branch, joining the Party in September 1907.

A. Reginald was, of course, Augustus Snellgrove. He originally joined the Peckham Branch of the SPGB in September 1905. In 1908 he would have been a young school master, which may explain the subject of his lecture. He resigned from the SPGB a couple of years later over the 'W. B. of Upton Park affair',  rejoining the Party in April 1933.

SPGB Meetings. (1908)

Party News from the January 1908 issue of the Socialist Standard

Obituary: Bert Mayes (2003)

Obituary from the July 2003 issue of the Socialist Standard

We regret to have to report the death in June of our comrade Bert Mayes at the age of 86. He was not in fact our oldest member but he was the one who had been a member the longest, having joined the old Battersea branch in 1934 while a teenager. He came from a told pro-working clan background with two of his uncles being members. As a socialist he refused to be conscripted to fight fellow workers in the Second World War. After the War he transferred to Ealing branch and took part in that branch's intense canvassing for the Socialist Standard in the 1950s and spoke from time to time on the outdoor platform as well as being a Conference delegate. He was an active member of the TGWU and in fact tended to think that socialists should take more interest in the short-term problems confronting workers under capitalism. For instance, he took the view, when the Tories brought in the notorious 1957 Rent Act that drastically reduced rent control that it was not enough to argue that in the long run this would not make much difference since if rents went up wages would follow. Right up to the end he used to call into Head Office in Clapham to pay his subscription to the Socialist Standard.

The Party was represented at his funeral in Morden and our condolences go out to his wife and family.

Sunday evenings at Battersea Branch. (1907)

Party News from the December 1907 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Meetings. (1907)

Party News from the November 1907 issue of the Socialist Standard

Municipal Election Notes. (1906)

From the December 1906 issue of the Socialist Standard

The S.P.G.B. ran 12 candidates, 9 in Battersea and 3 in Wandsworth.

o o o

The Battersea results were, Latchmere Ward : Craske 117, Moody 117, Money 113 ; Winstanley Ward: Blewitt 57, Roe 49, Witcher 45 ; Church Ward: Greenham 93, Fawcett 88, Hunt 77.

o o o

The Wandsworth poll (Tooting Ward) was, Barker 94, MacManus 77, Dumenil 59. Of these 50 were plumpers, voting solidly for our candidates alone.

o o o

All the candidates fought on the Election Manifesto of the Party published in our October issue, a few of which were distributed in each ward. They had no program of ear-tickling, side-tracking, vote-catching “palliatives” and did no canvassing. The candidates were practically unknown and had not climbed into popularity on the backs of the working class, by posing as “leaders” of unemployed deputations, “right to live” councils, and similar confusionist conglomerations.

o o o

The defeat of the “Progressive” and Labour candidates in London was undoubtedly due to the fact that the promises they had so profusely made had not been carried out. The unemployed problem is still with us, slums are being created at a faster rate than they are being destroyed, the shopkeeper is being pressed more heavily each day between the trusts and the rising rates, and so the pendulum swung round.

o o o

Keir Hardie is reported to have said he regretted the defeat of the Progressives. Progressives are simply Liberals, and Mr. Hardie regrets their defeat ! Why did the I.L.P. help to secure it by running candidates?

o o o

The “Progressive and Labour” candidates in Battersea ran under the auspices of the Battersea Trades and Labour Council, which consists of various trade union branches, Liberal associations, Radical clubs, etc. Many of the T.U. branches are also affiliated to the L.R.C., and therefore, while working with the Liberals, subscribe with the ostensible object of fighting them.

o o o

In 1903, out of the 36 members elected to the Woolwich Council 28 were Labour candidates. This year only 13 Labour candidates secured seats. The Labour Party thus lose their control of the Council. As 72 per cent. of the electors voted it is obvious that the men who voted for the Labour Party at the last election and sent Will Crooks to the House of Commons have now voted for the Moderates. Why ? Because they have no guiding principle to work upon and Crooks, Hardie & Co. have been too much concerned about getting in to endeavour to implant it. Hardie says that the Labour Party have lost at Woolwich because of the Arsenal dismissals, but if the Labour Party had not given the electors to understand that these dismissals would cease and the unemployed problem would be solved if only the workers voted “labour” there would have been no disappointment and no reversal of the position. But you cannot ensure the continued confidence of the working class unless you play the game straight. There is no cure for the evils of capitalism except the abolition of capitalism. Tell the people that at all times and under all conditions, and, although it may take somewhat longer to gain their confidence and support, you will retain it when you have gained it.

o o o

Mr. George Belt, recently the paid organiser of the S.D.F. in Scotland, contested the Starch Green Ward of Hammersmith. He did not run as a Socialist, but under the auspices of the L.R.C. “Labour” was writ large all over his election address. He suppressed his membership of the S.D.F. and described himself as of the “Federated Builders’ Labourers.” But then, of course, it is one thing to be paid by the S.D.F., and another to be seeking the moral and financial support of trade unionists. This is a glaring instance of what the Pearson Paralyser called “The Fraud of Socialism,” but, as a matter of fact, it was only the Fraud of George Belt.

o o o

Our old friend, Free Maintenance, received a very severe twisting at the hands of S.D.F. candidates. Belt made no reference to it. Fulham S.D.F. candidates declared for State Maintenance, as did also those of Battersea, Islington, and parts of West Ham. Rogers and Wilkinson at Southend whittled it down to “The provision of at least one good meal daily to all scholars.” The Southwark men favoured free meals to all destitute children attending the public schools, whilst in Camberwell State Maintenance was boldly advocated. In Lewisham, however, it got back to “Free Meals for Necessitous Children.” It is quite evident that these people have not made up their minds about their beloved palliatives.

o o o

At Northampton the S.D.F. ran 6 candidates, but only one (J. Gribble) was successful. W. Pitts lost his seat. Gribble is their only representative now. Their total poll was 2,912. Last year it was 3,221 in the same wards,

o o o

After the poll A. G. Slinn said that the more revolutionary the candidate, the more disagreeable he was to the capitalists, the more likely was success. No man was more hated by the opposition than Gribble, yet he had been elected by a majority that struck terror into the hearts of the capitalists,

o o o

This was a little unkind to the other candidates.

o o o

Matters were somewhat complicated in Islington. The S.D.F. branches decided to run their candidates ”on their own,” apart from any other bodies. Two of their members, however, C. Cook and R. E. Jupp, were invited to run under the auspices of the Islington Trades Council, and after consultation with the E.C. of the S.D.F., accepted the invitation. They were expelled by the Islington branches of the S.D.F. and promptly joined another. There will be developments.

o o o

These two candidates were not only endorsed by the E.C. of the S.D.F., but were supported by such tried, trusted and true Revolutionists as W. T. Wilson, M.P., C. W. Bowerman, M.P., W. Steadman, M.P., A. Henderson, M.P., J. E. Gregory, and others. And still they did not win !

o o o

The Stratford S.D.F. ran J. A. Bassett in Park Ward, and J. Andrews in Broadway. Separate and greatly differing election addresses were issued by each. Andrews advocated the provision of free meals as is done in Paris, and Bassett was in favour of Free Meals, and, when necessary, of Free Clothing.

o o o

In South West Ham Ben Cunningham ran as a Socialist, but the S.D.F. refused to support him. J. Jones, A. Hayday, and other S.D.F. men backed a local official (a non-Socialist) of a powerful and wealthy trade union against him. Explanations, votes of censure, alarums and excursions are in the air !

o o o

One of the chief concerns of the I.L.P. candidates in East Ham was the cheaper burial of the dead. Said they, “The making of personal profits out of the dead is certainly anything but ethical. Our dead should be interred as cheaply as possible, and any profits accruing to go to the community.” So cheer up ! we’ll soon be dead ! and if only a sufficient number of us die quickly, why, look how the rates could be reduced !

o o o

Justice points out that its members in Burnley, who ran under the auspices of the L.R.C. all ran as avowed Socialists. It is somewhat amusing when a body, claiming to be Socialist has to draw attention to the fact that certain of its members ran as “avowed Socialists.”

Jack Kent

SPGB Meetings (1931)

Party News from the March 1931 issue of the Socialist Standard

Party Notes. (1906)

Party News from the October 1906 issue of the Socialist Standard

The Party Outing, at Watford, on Sept. 9th, was a great success ; so also was the meeting, held in the evening, in the Market Place.

***

Several members of the Islington Branch having been expelled, the branch is being reorganised, and any person living in the Islington district who is prepared to accept our Declaration of Principles is invited to communicate with C. H. Wilcox, 25, Mountgrove-road, Highbury, N.

***

A fresh supply of Party Emblems has been obtained, and can be procured by members from their Branch Secretaries.

***

No. 2., of the “S.P.G.B. Library,” “From Handicraft to Capitalism,” is selling well. Branches should push this at all their meetings.

***

The Delegate Meeting will be held at the Communist Club, on Saturday, Oct. 27th., at 4.0 p.m. Branches should see that they are represented by their full quota of delegates.

***

Our Comrades at Battersea and Tooting are contesting the local elections in their respective districts. The Election Address on which the candidates will run is a fitting answer to those alleged Socialists who say that we must adopt a palliative programme when we contest municipal elections.

***

To-morrow (Sunday, Oct. 7th) a debate will take place, in Finsbury-Park, at 3.30 p.m., between Mr. .J. Davis (Liberal) and A. Anderson (S.P.G.B.) Meetings every Sunday at 3 p.m.

***

On Friday, Oct. 26th, at 8 p.m., the Peckham Branch will commence a series of meetings in the Public Hall, Rye-Lane.

On that evening J. Kent will speak on “The S.P.G.B. and Municipal Elections.”

***

Open-air meetings will be held during October at the usual stations if the weather permits.

***

During October the following meetings will be held in Manchester :—Sundays, 11.30, corner of Tib-street and Piccadilly; 7.30, Trafford Broadway ; Mondays, 8.15, corner of Russell-st. and Stretford-rd.; Tuesdays, 8.15, corner of Liverpool-st. and Trafford Bridge-rd.; Wednesdays, 8.15, corner of Medlock-street and Trafford-road ; corner of Russel-street and Fridays, 8.15., Trafford-Road.

***

Battersea branch will run a special series of out-door meetings this month. Every Tuesday and Friday evening at Prince’s Head ; every Wednesday evening at Battersea Square ; every Thursday evening at Plough Road. T. W. Allen, J. Fitzgerald, T. A. Jackson, J. Crump, F. E. Dawkins, H. Newman, and our municipal candidates will be among the speakers.

***

Tooting also will hold meetings in The Broadway every Sunday. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday evening to advance the course of their municipal candidates.

W. G.

Blogger's Notes:

Gilbert McClatchie ('Gilmac'), who was not a member of the SPGB in 1906, (he joined in 1910) wrote a historical article in the August 1954 issue of Socialist Standard on the 'Islington Dispute' mentioned above in the Party Notes. It mentions at the bottom of that 1954 article that the article was "to be continued". It wasn't.

Donations Received. (1933)

From the January 1933 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Meetings. (1906)

Party News from the April 1906 issue of the Socialist Standard

Battersea. (1906)

Party News from the March 1906 issue of the Socialist Standard

Battersea will hold a Social at Sydney Hall to-morrow (Sunday) evening, at which all comrades and friends will be welcomed. On Sunday the 11th, an open discussion will take place on the contents of this issue of the Socialist Standard: on the 18th they will hold a Commune Celebration; and on the 24th H. J. Neumann will deliver a lecture on "The 2nd and 3rd Books of Karl Marx."

Party Notes. (1906)

Party News from the February 1906 issue of the Socialist Standard

The Bexley and District Branch has been officially formed and commenced its public career on January 17, when J. Kent delivered a lecture under its auspices at Coverdale Hall, Bexley Heath.

* * *

Similar meetings will be held on the 3rd Wednesday in each month, the speaker for the present month being A. Anderson.

* * *

In the Summer a vigorous campaign will be conducted, the Broadway, Bexley Heath, being an almost ideal spot for open air meetings.

* * *

The arrangements for the debate between our Comrade Fitzgerald and Mr. Doody, representing the Southend Branch of the Social Democratic Federation, are being proceeded with. It is expected to take place some time this month or early next.

* * *

The statement which appeared in several Tory papers to the effect that one of Mr. Shirley Benn’s nomination papers was signed by the Secretary of our Battersea Branch was untrue. This is what happened. W. E. Clark was met by an agent of Mr. Benn’s and induced “on the spur of the moment,” as he regretfully admits, to sign a nomination paper. At the following meeting of the Battersea Branch (Jan. 15) Clark was, of course, expelled.

* * *

We are sorry to lose any member, but in such matters as these, prompt action is absolutely necessary. No distinction can be drawn between one who thoughtlessly and one who deliberately departs from the straight line of conduct which we of the S.P.G.B. have mapped out as the only one that can be safely and successfully pursued by the working-class if they are to work out their own emancipation. All the time, our class must “wage war against all other political parties, whether alleged labour or avowedly capitalist.”

* * *

H. B. Holding, a Tottenham Fabian, has agreed to debate with our Comrade Anderson “after the election.” The arrangements are being made by the North London District Council.

* * *

Peckham Branch held a good “No Vote” meeting at Deptford Broadway on Sunday the 17th Jan., despite the attempts of local S.D.F. members, who were supporting Alderman Bowerman, to “hustle” them.

* * *

Romford Division, with the aid of Comrade A. Anderson, also held a good “No Vote” meeting on Wednesday the 17th Jan. at Barking Broadway.

* * *

It is not true, as has been asserted, that Mr. E. E. Hunter has become a member of the S.P.G.B. He has returned to the S.D.F. fold, through the Stratford Branch of that body.

* * *

Our General Election Manifesto was well distributed and has been the means of bringing the Party before the notice of a number of persons, who have since written us for further information. No doubt practical results will follow in the near future.

* * *

By arrangement between the West and South West London Branches a Social Evening will be held at Sydney Hall, York Road, Battersea, to-morrow, February 4th. The proceeds will be devoted to the general funds of the Party.

* * *

Back numbers of the Socialist Standard can be had through any Branch Secretary.