Obituary: Ernest Jesper (1967)

Obituary from the July 1967 issue of the Socialist Standard

We regret to announce the death of Ernest Jesper of the Birmingham Branch. He died at his home on Friday 5th May 1967 at the age of 84 years.

Our comrade was a founder member of the Birmingham Branch having joined the Party on 26th May 1909. During the years between the wars he became a mainstay of the Birmingham Branch and was Secretary when the Branch was forced to discontinue its activities at the outbreak of World War II. Ernest Jesper had furthered the knowledge of the members by the many talks he gave on developments of History, a subject in which he specialised. Unfortunately advancing years had curtailed his activities, but his enthusiasm remained unchanged. Sympathy is extended to his family.

L. Y.

Obituary: Our Comrade Bowie (1967)

Obituary from the July 1967 issue of the Socialist Standard

We are sorry to learn that another old member of the Party passed away on 24th February. Our comrade Bowie was a member of the Southend Branch. He joined the Party in 1928, was active up till his death, and was a delegate for his branch to Conferences and Delegate meetings for many years. He was also their very efficient Treasurer.

Soon after the last war, Southend Branch considered putting forward a candidate for the General Election and he was their prospective candidate. Although they ran an active campaign and Bowie did a considerable amount of speaking, lack of funds prevented them from finally nominating him.

At one time a summer school was held at his home in East Wakering at which members and visitors were encouraged to take part in discussions about Socialism. He was keen on canvassing, always carried Party literature about with him and put the case for Socialism to everyone with whom he came into contact.

A curious expression of his intensive interest in the propagation of Socialism is the fact that he named his bungalow “Mareng" as abbreviation of Marx and Engels.

The passing away of old members like him leaves a gap and are a sad loss to the Party. We extend to his relatives our sincere sympathy and we very much regret the loss of such a stalwart supporter of the Party.

Gilmac.

Don't say you weren't warned (1966)

From the July 1966 issue of the Socialist Standard

Many who voted the Labour Government into power in 1964 and with a much increased majority earlier this year are wondering if they did the right thing. They knew what they wanted: steady or lower prices; higher wages, shorter hours and longer holidays; more houses, lower rents and mortgage charges; bigger pensions and sick benefits, and, of course, no unemployment. Obviously not extravagant demands because all the leaders, Labour, Tory and Liberal, promised much the same things. How could the voters lose, whichever way they voted? But in the event the majority decided that Wilson was the man to do it.

Now the voters are not so sure. They read the Labour Party election manifesto promising a 25 per cent rise in living standards in the next five years and many of them (including, of course, the seamen) cannot understand why the glowing promise turns into a Government refusal to concede more pay and shorter hours in the merchant ships and the threatened use of Emergency Powers against the strikers. They also see that most of the other promises have gone into oblivion. Almost the only favourable sign is that unemployment has so far continued at a low level.

But perhaps the present troubled state of affairs is just a passing phase and before the end of the year all will be well? ,

There are indeed signs of change before the year is out, but according to a report in the Observer on June 5 it is likely to be a freeze on prices and wages.

In the previous week a story was leaked to the Press (put out by the Chancellor of the Exchequer according to one view, though it is denied) that if the seamen’s strike continued the Government intended to take drastic action in the form of a “freeze”.

The leading article in the Observer added its own interpretation of Government tactics.

  The Government seems almost deliberately to be encouraging the Machiavellian explanation of its attitude to the seamen’s strike: that it half-welcomed this dispute as a pretext for tough and unpleasant economic measures which the Labour Party would otherwise find difficult to swallow. Already private hints are being dropped—accompanied by public denials—that as a result of the strike, and particularly if it ends in a messy compromise, the Government may have to introduce a wage freeze.

That fact is that the Government’s “incomes policy by persuasion” is in ruins. The increase of production in the still-born National Plan has not taken place, exports and imports have not adjusted themselves and foreigners holding pounds sterling are as jumpy as ever about the prospects of devaluation. So what will the Government do? Impose a freeze? Or let things take their course and rely on a few hundred thousand unemployed to help to keep wages down?

We can be quite sure of one thing. The Labour Government which took office to “put things right” will blame the workers for the failure. The magician who can’t produce the rabbits out of the hat will lay the blame on the audience!

It is an old story, repeated in every Labour Government here and elsewhere. It was told first when the Labour Government came into office in 1929. One Minister, J. H. Thomas, addressing the National Union of Railwaymen, of which he had been General Secretary, told them: “We ask you not to expect too much, nor attempt to force from us, because we are a Labour Government, what you would not force from a capitalist government.”

By “Capitalist government” Thomas meant Liberal or Tory, but from the working class point of view it is a distinction without a difference. We live under capitalism whether administered by Tory, Liberal or Labour, and capitalism operates through profit. It is therefore the function of all governments to enable profit to be made. With enough unemployment to put a brake on wages the government need take no special steps, but when unemployment is too low attention turns to an “incomes policy” to do the trick.

Has something gone wrong that the workers should be faced with this dilemma? Would another government be any better?

Nothing has gone wrong. This is capitalism running true to form. This is the way capitalism works.

The Socialist Party of Great Britain, at and between every general election, points to the way out by replacing capitalism with Socialism. All those who chose capitalism by voting Labour, Tory, Liberal (or Communist) have only themselves to thank. They have got what they voted for.

Edgar Hardcastle

Abertillery (1965)

From the July 1965 issue of the Socialist Standard

Abertillery is said to be the constituency with the largest percentage of Socialist voters in the country. If only it were! Certainly the Labour Party has dominated the area for over 30 years but that’s a different matter altogether.

Labourism came to the mining valleys of Wales, in one of which is Abertillery, through the activities of the Independent Labour Party before the first world war. In South Wales, with over one hundred branches, the ILP was the leading light of the popular Social Reform movement which arose from the miseries and indignities the miners had to suffer. After a period of pre-war “Lib-Labism” all the mining constituencies fell to the Labour Party, which by 1922 had become the largest party in Wales.

The local councils too came under Labour control in this period. The Labour and ILP pioneers were at least sincere —although confused—men and women. Some had a very adequate knowledge of capitalist society and were well-versed in the theories of Marx. Today’s Labour people are of a different calibre.

For over thirty years the Labour Party has controlled the local councils of the area; only in the last ten years have they been opposed at election time. Many Labour candidates are still returned unopposed. The fact that the South Wales coalfield is a one-party area has had its inevitable effects on the Labour Party. Today in this area it has ceased to be even a sincere, if confused, popular movement for Social Reform and has become an organization for running the local government machine—right from the selection of councillors to administering the Water Boards.

The old pioneers with their idealism have disappeared and a new generation has taken over. The new men—the councillors, the county councillors, the aldermen, the JP’s—who include the Labour MP, Alderman Clifford Williams JP, still speak the language of the pioneers. In the past by-election they have freely talked of Socialism and said they were Socialists. They have described their party as that of the people against the property-owners. They have declared that the forces of wealth are trying to smash the Labour Movement (if that’s not pure rhetoric what is?). Financiers have been called mad dogs. It’s the sort of language that would make the slick efficiency boys who are remodelling the Labour Party’s image throw up their hands in despair. But they needn’t worry; it goes down well. It’s doubtful if these people really know what the words they uttered originally meant. In any case it is an open question who are more despicable: the arrogant councillors mouthing the phrases of the Labour pioneers or those who don’t attempt to disguise the fact that they have capitulated to capitalism completely.

It is often said that the working class have a short memory. Certainly there are many grounds for such a conclusion but the working class of the mining valleys of Wales remember alright. They remember what the Labour candidate described as “the dark, desperate years” of 1920-1939 which were years of “misery, want and privation During this period the mining communities did suffer—from the attacks on their living standards by the coal-owners and from the unemployment and destitution of the years of the great depression.

At one end of the valley, where the Abertillery constituency is, lies the mining village of Nantyglo which in English means “coal valley”; today there are some eight pits in the constituency. Indeed Abertillery may well be the constituency with the highest percentage of miners on the register in South Wales, perhaps even higher than in the more famous Rhondda valley further west. The proportion is not what it used to be and an increasing number of workers are employed in nearby steelworks and factories. Nevertheless the mining tradition is dominant.

Unfortunately, Abertillery’s remembering of the past has taken the form of an unshakeable faith that the Labour Party is their Party and has their interests at heart. Nothing the Labour Party has done, or is doing, seems to shake this faith. Questioned over Vietnam, Alderman Williams said that as the Labour Party was “dedicated to peace” it must be right in what ever it was doing over the matter — and the audience cheered! On another occasion he declared that the Labour government had reduced the arms bill by £50m—and nobody questioned him.

The Conservative Party in an area such as this is in a hopeless position. The few thousand professional and tradespeople who make up its support are not organised to present a challenge to the Labour Party save at national elections—and then their election machine is manned mainly by outsiders. In between such elections the Conservative Party ceases to exist, though in recent years those who vote Conservative have been organising themselves into so-called “Independents' Associations” to contest local elections.

Nowadays the real political opposition to the Labour Party locally comes from Plaid Cymru, the nationalist party. Surprisingly, Plaid Cymru has been making headway in the mining valleys of Wales—they have councillors in Merthyr (which was Keir Hardie’s seat) and in the Rhondda, once the home of Noah Abblett and the syndicalists who wrote The Miners’ Next Step. This may be a sign that a political change is coming to these valleys after decades of one-party Labour domination.

The fourth political party operating in the area, the Communist Party, did not contest the by-election. The South Wales coalfield is one of the few areas where the so-called Communist Party has acquired a few seats on the local councils. However most of their councillors have been elected by Labour voters for multi-member wards. In the by-election campaign, an attempt was made to smear the Labour candidate by claiming that he was a Communist Party member or supporter in the 1930’s.

Whoever started this rumour was obviously unaware of political conditions in the mining valleys of South Wales; even if it had been true it would have helped rather than hindered the Labour candidate. For the Communist Party, by being militant trade unionists in the NUM, have earned the respect of many miners—the nickname “commo” has exactly the opposite connotation to the American one “commie". What support the Communist party has won has not been so much on its "principles" as on its trade unionism. Thus it is more a trade union pressure group than a gang of Russian nationalists like the CP in the industrial towns.

Adam Buick

Flights of Fancy (1964)

Book Review from the July 1964 issue of the Socialist Standard

To The Keepers of the Slaughterhouse, by Walter Gore. Mitre Press, 14s.

This book consists of two short stories—“Novellas” the publisher calls them —which are “. . . addressed to all those who think that fundamental problems may be settled, once and for all, by the application of violence.” The theme of the first story is not new. The world has become divided into two massive armed camps, each under the domination of a military clique although ostensibly governed democratically. Eventually they go to war and the result is the obliteration of the human race by nuclear weapons. Not quite, though, because somehow about six dozen people manage to survive on one or two islands miles from anywhere, and start the painful job of reconstructing their lives and the rebuilding of humanity.

Well, it is a distinct possibility. The destructive power of nuclear bombs is massive, but in putting the proposition, the author has ignored some rather important facts. First of all, the military do not exist as a separate entity, answerable to no one but themselves. The capitalist class of this and other major powers have long ago brought the armed forces firmly under governmental control. Even the popular General Macarthur found this when he urged the use of atomic warfare against China during the Korean War and was promptly recalled by President Truman.

Then again, never has the fate of the world depended on the maniacal whims of a single man (Field Marshal Van. Rogen, Chief of Staff of one of the armed camps in the story), and there is no evidence to suggest that it ever will be, never mind the contrary propaganda with which we have been assailed from time to time when it suited our masters. Admittedly a short story cannot cover every point, but Mr. Gore has left far too many gaps in his narrative for us to take it all that seriously. The prospect of any war, big or little, nuclear or conventional, is a horrifying one, but when we have said this we have not said anything very original. Modern war is capitalist society in conflict, not just a few high-ranking, trigger-happy brasshats in the Pentagon or Kremlin. If the author could even have hinted at that, his book would have been of more value.

His second story is a bit more off the ground than the first. A sort of modern Noah’s Ark tale. A space expedition reaches a far distant planet and finds a form of conscious plant life. That is to say, the beings have similar shaped bodies and move around just like humans, but are constructed of plant matter, not animal protein. It is an entirely non violent society yet it plans to destroy the human race, which is regarded as a threat to its existence. So the space travellers hurry back to earth to warn us of the approaching disaster.

Quite honestly, we find it hard to take any part in this one seriously, despite vaguely expressed ideas earlier on about “international cooperation’’ and “world government." The write-up on the dust cover assures us of the author’s ' . . . numbing bitterness against the social forces around him, awakening to the discovery that if man is to cope with those forces he must first carefully study their nature." Fine. But what is their nature? Socialists have grasped the answer to that one. and we gladly offer Mr. Gore the benefit of what knowledge we have, for we realise the vital urgency of the task before us. First of all, however, let us keep our mental rockets firmly in orbit, and not lose control of them in far off flights of fancy.

Eddie Critchfield

Letter From Jamaica (1963)

From the July 1963 issue of the Socialist Standard

One year after the achievement of Independence, it is worthwhile spending a few moments looking at the situation in Jamaica and Trinidad. Local politicians have been telling us for many years that the Colonial riders were the stumbling block on the road to progress. Now, a year after this stumbling block has been removed, how much nearer are we to the Promised Land?

In Jamaica it is certainly still far beyond the horizon. The army of 80,000 unemployed is larger than in the days of colonial rule and is increasing day by day. Instead of creating new jobs, several firms have closed down. During the Freedom from Hunger Campaign, a march was organised by the unemployed demanding food and jobs—stressing that “charity begins at home.” At the last moment the march was banned by the Government and, when it took place in spite of the ban, was followed by armed police patrols—demonstrating that, whether Colonial or Independent, Governments represent the interests of the capitalist class and will ruthlessly use their power to suppress any working-class protest

Very slowly, and too late, workers are beginning to realise that Independence; for them, has brought about no change for the better, but rather the reverse. They have learnt that their rulers—like those in all other countries which fought for and won their independence—tell them that, now that their country “belongs to them,” they must work harder, produce more, refrain from going on strike, etc. It could, of course, be added that although the workers must work harder and be satisfied with less, this does not seem to apply to our political leaders who do little to justify their place in society but get themselves photographed at as many cocktail parties as possible (for a politician to be photographed constantly with a glass in his hand, is no disadvantage here!)

Jamaica is now going through the same phase as other newly independent nations, who never anticipated the consequences of their independence. One would think that the position is clear enough for the workers to see. There is no future worth having for mankind under Capitalism. It cannot be reformed, it cannot be toned down or made to work in the interests of the working class. The only cure for Capitalism is its abolition. Socialism is the only logical next phase in human society; and by Socialism we do not mean the systems masquerading under that title in Cuba, Russia and elsewhere, but the joining of hands of all the workers of the world in co-operation, to produce and partake of the wealth of the world.

The farce of Independence is becoming clear to more and more workers in Jamaica. However, when the next election comes, will they realise the root cause of their troubles? I doubt it. However, we few Socialists in Jamaica hope to be strong enough in numbers by then to put before the working class of Jamaica the only road for them, and the workers of the rest of the world, to follow.

Yours for Socialism,

George Dolphy.

Editorial: The Ghost Walks Again (1962)

Editorial from the July 1962 issue of the Socialist Standard

Our capitalists have seen a ghost, a ghost they had thought banished for ever, the ghost of 1929. It showed itself only for a moment, just long enough to revive terrible memories and turn optimism and complacency into fear and uncertainty.

The Chairman of the London Stock Exchange, with true British stolidity, denied that there was anything like panic. But the Americans have not been nearly so reticent and are quite ready to admit that at one stage on that horrible Monday only a hairsbreadth separated them from panic. Not for years were there such scenes on Wall Street, the ticker tape falling behind by 34 minutes at one point with prices dropping catastrophically. Although according to a correspondent of the Economist there was a wider price swing in 1955 when President Eisenhower had his heart attack, never since 1933 had so many small investors tried to get out of the market all at once.

The economic experts, so-called, have naturally been hard at work telling us all about it. The hacks were in right away discounting fears that it might be another 1929 and doing their best to keep up flagging spirits. Some of them were even describing the next day’s partial recovery as a boom. More sober assessments were being made by the end of the week, though they did not add much more to our knowledge than the wilder fancies earlier. Some blamed the crash on the small investor, others on President Kennedy’s recent harsh line with the U.S. steel companies, others comforted themselves with the thought that it had given a much needed shake-out to the market and that things would be healthier for it. But, even more than usual, none of them seemed willing or anxious to commit reputations to anything more than vague speculation.

It is, of course, the easiest thing in the world to read too much into stock market fluctuations. A fall in share prices, even a violent one, is in itself no indicator of a slump. The 1929 depression is superficially remembered by the Wall Street crash, but it was not caused by this. The crash was only the dramatic culmination of complicated economic forces that had been working themselves out for some time before. Thus the recent events on the world’s stock exchanges do not add up to a slump nor do they indicate necessarily that one is on the way. They are essentially the reflection of the present economic state of world Capitalism, in particular of American Capitalism.

After seventeen years of comparative prosperity, brought about largely by the need to make good the destruction of war and by the huge expenditure on preparations for another, the momentum is now slowing down. Goods are getting harder to sell, profit margins are having to be cut, and many industries are working well below capacity. The confident assumption that things were automatically going to get better was in fact already being questioned before the recent big break. It should not be forgotten that there had been a similar severe fall on Wall Street only a few weeks before and that the share price index had been dropping steadily for some months before then. It is against this background that we must look for the significance of the crash

Although basically reflecting the economic forces of Capitalism, the stock exchanges can, of course, react upon those forces in turn. It is almost certain, for example, that the recent shock has put paid to the belief of the Capitalists that prosperity was going to go on and on. On the other hand, it could just as easily convince them that things are actually going to get worse and thus help tilt the downward trend into a real slump.

The really interesting thing is to see the reactions of the Capitalist class and their advisers to the crash. In spite of all the talk about how Capitalism can be controlled, about how much has been learned about its workings since 1929, about Keynesian planning and the rest of it, they have been really shocked and frightened. They have seen a ghost they thought they had theorised into disappearing.

And they are not at all sure that their theories will be enough to prevent it coming back again.

Election Manifesto (1961)

From the July 1961 issue of the Socialist Standard

Extract from the Election Address of the World Socialist Party of Ireland, Duncairn Ward, Belfast.

HOUSING

There have been innumerable Acts of Parliament aimed at ending the workers' housing problems; the Unionists have tried their way and we have the record of Labour parties in Britain and other countries. Yet homelessness and slum-dwelling have become an accepted thing in our society. House building, like every other productive activity under capitalism. is pursued for the purpose of profit-making, human needs are as nothing beside the great god profit. No party will solve the problem of bad and insufficient homes while profit remains the accepted system of social organisation. Only in Socialism, where production of all things, including homes, is solely for the satisfaction of people's needs, is a solution to be found.

UNEMPLOYMENT

Why are the unemployment figures getting greater every day? Certainly not because everyone has a sufficiency of the things workers produce, or can produce. Unemployment is just another permanent feature of a buying-and-selling capitalist society. As we have demonstrated, the capitalists employ the workers solely for the purpose of profit-making; if there is no markets wherein the things that the workers produce can be sold and profit realised, then workers are laid off. In Socialism, where human needs will be the only factor governing production, when a point is reached at which a sufficiency of all things has been produced. it will simply mean more leisure time for the producers without the attendant hardships of today.

"THE BORDER"

This is a question that the politicians use in all elections to good purpose. The World Socialist Party maintains that the so-called Border is yet another expression of our present society, and we as members of the working class neither gain nor lose by its removal or retention. The problems of the workers North and South of the border are similar and are not caused by the geographical Border, but by a division much more evil in its effects—the class border between us of the working class, who produce everything and own nothing, and the capitalists, who produce nothing and own everything. This is the “Border” Socialists wish to abolish.

The Belfast Campaign (1961)

Party News from the July 1961 issue of the Socialist Standard

With the object of creating opportunities for propaganda activities, bringing the name and object of the Party into prominence and demonstrating that they were not just another “left ” group, the Belfast Branch of the W.S.P. of Ireland decided to contest a ward in the Belfast Municipal Election. The deposit for nomination of candidate was £25. Though the Branch realised that they would lose their deposit, they considered the resulting propaganda would justify the expenditure.

They contested Duncairn Ward, as it was only in this ward that they had enough members to sign the nomination paper. It is a very thickly populated ward but not particularly suited to their purpose.

Voting locally is restricted to the occupier of a house and wife. Families living in dwellings that are sub-let, and adults other than the occupier and wife, are denied the right to vote. On the other hand a “property” vote enables businessmen and company directors, with branches or diverse business interests, to vote as many as eight times.

There is no free election postage in Ireland. Consequently the small group of Belfast comrades had to name and address the ten thousand Election Statements, and deliver them to houses over an area of 16 to 18 square miles. This was a colossal task, which took well into each morning, after holding meetings in the area during the evening and night. Their opponents contented themselves with touring the constituency with music, processions led by bunting-bedecked lorries, and loud-speaker exhortations telling people how to vote.

Every night, in spite of bad weather, a number of meetings were held. The first meetings were accompanied by three car-loads of police, motor cycle police, and several police on foot. Eventually it was reduced to a single motor cycle policeman. Places were visited where opposition was usually violent, but only once was a voice raised in anger against us.

When polling day arrived our comrades were astonished to find that the W.S.P. candidate had polled 824 votes — 11.4 per cent of the total votes cast. They also saved their deposit.

At the conclusion of the poll the W.S.P. candidate made the following statement:

   "The Unionist and Labour Parties represent capitalism and the continued exploitation of the working class . . . this is an historic occasion; for the first time capitalism in both disguises has been challenged . . .  we are at the bottom of the hill, you are at the top, but we are ascending, you are retreating down the other side."

The fact that there were 824 votes (the bulk of whom may not yet be socialists), in one ward in such a conservative area as Belfast, is a harbinger of the progress of enlightenment. In their literature and from the platform, the Belfast members urged voters only to vote for Socialism if they understood it and wanted it, as outlined in the Election Address.

We congratulate our Irish comrades on the tremendous and self-sacrificing effort they put in with such good results, (t augurs well for the progress of the socialist movement in Ireland, and is heartening to their comrades in other lands.

News From The Belfast Front (1961)

Party News from the July 1961 issue of the Socialist Standard

The following item appeared in the Belfast Telegraph for the 8th May:

Future Bright for Socialist movement

   “For the first time in Ireland, the Socialist movement has now reached the stage where it is capable of offering a Socialist alternative at the polls, said Mr. William Skelton, chairman of the Belfast branch of the World Socialist Party, at a May Day meeting in Blitz Square, High Street.
   “It was a modest beginning, but the future was bright for the cause.
  “Mr. Calvert Moore, World Socialist Party candidate for Duncairn Ward in the forthcoming municipal elections, said it was sad to think that under the aegis of the Labour and Communist parties, the revolutionary ardour of the workers had been canalised into the safe stream of reformist politics. The only way to end the economic anarchy that was capitalism was to institute a Socialist society."

From the Branches (1960)

Party News from the July 1960 issue of the Socialist Standard

Nottingham.

Three London members left for Nottingham during Whit week-end to assist the propaganda efforts of this go-ahead provincial branch.

Most of the local population were out of town for the beginning of the holiday— obviously not anticipating the efforts of Party members—which depleted the audiences at the meetings held on the Saturday and Sunday. The Monday evening meeting well rewarded our speakers, and with an attentive and interested audience listening to the Socialist case and asking questions, our members could well have continued indefinitely. As it was, they delayed their return to London until Tuesday morning. In all, 24s. of literature was sold. On the Sunday evening the Comrades had a very interesting discussion in a member’s home. All concerned are looking forward to a "repeat performance” in the not too far distant future.

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Ealing

It is some little while since any account of Branch activities has appeared in this column, but this does not mean that the members have been inactive. Far from it. Over the past few months, Ealing Branch has been extremely busy. Members have given consistent support to the writers’ class which was run during the winter at Hammersmith, and the worthwhile results of their efforts have appeared in the Socialist Standard. It is hoped to continue this class shortly on a monthly basis, to enable branch writers to develop their style and exchange ideas. Throughout this period also a very fine series of fortnightly lectures on economics by Comrade Hardy. Members were well pleased and appreciated this golden opportunity to brush up their knowledge (and plug some of the gaps as well).

So far this year, three films have been shown at Ealing. On January 29th there was “Shadow of Hiroshima.” followed by “Man one Family” (February I9th), and "African Conflict” (April 29th). In each case, the usual Socialist comments on the film were given by one of the Party members and much useful discussion ensued. A number of interested non-members have attended these events which we took care to advertise in the local press. Our success here has been due in no small measure to the excellent co-operation and help received from the H/O films committee.

One of the contacts made at the film shows turned out to be a member of the “Socialist Labour League” who gladly accepted our invitation to a further discussion. This took place on May 13th in a crowded branch room. The event was conducted in a very orderly manner and branch members acquitted themselves well in a discussion in which no holds were barred. A return visit from this opponent is anticipated. Branch canvassing has been revived, and good sales have been made in Greenford and Harrow. It is hoped to build up substantial regular subscribers’ lists in these areas, in addition to other permanent contacts elsewhere which have been made by literally years of hard work. Meetings at Gloucester Road were opened by the branch at the beginning of June, and we are hoping for a season as successful as last year’s. This station has certainly been “tamed” since the old days and generally, a far better hearing is given now than in the past. The Branch welcomes support from any comrade who can come along on Thursdays at 8 p.m.

Phyllis Howard

50 Years Ago: Lloyd George's Budget (1959)

The 50 Years Ago column from the July 1959 issue of the Socialist Standard

Judging by the noise made about the land-tax clauses in the Finance Bill, one might think that something vital were at stake, yet it is all nothing more than a squabble between sections of the capitalist class as to what share each shall bear of the cost of their class government. It has long been the policy of one section in these semi-comic scuffles, to squeal “Revolution!", “Socialism!", “Confiscation!”, when called upon to pay its share by the majority for the time being; but only the ignorant are duped by it. We are also becoming accustomed to finding the Labour Party, the tail of the Liberal cur, out-doing the regular representatives of the Masters in spreading confusion among the workers. And now because there is a pretence of taxing unearned increment on land values for the support of capitalism, these “Labour” members hail it as Socialistic. They ignore the fact that all taxation imposed by capitalists on themselves is a taxation of unearned increment. The Masters have already squeezed the workers dry in the factory, so to pay for their new Dreadnoughts the propertied class have, perforce, to tax themselves. That, indeed, is all the budget amounts to; and in what, pray, is it Socialistic? . . .

Yet Mr. Victor Grayson said (according to the Daily Telegraph of June 23rd) that the Finance Bill contains “a good chunk” of his personal principles. Mr J. Ramsay MacDonald stated that if need be he would go into the lobby to support the Chancellor of the Exchequer. And Mr. Keir Hardie, consistent with his denial of the class struggle, said, “Labour men and Socialists would be cowards if they did not tell Mr. Lloyd George that they stood solidly behind him"

From the Socialist Standard, July 1909.

A Voice From The Past (1958)

From the July 1958 issue of the Socialist Standard

  "Our intentions are to assist, as far as our abilities are competent, the cause which has been so well begun, and which must finally prevail if its advocates persevere with fortitude and consistency. One principle, in particular, we should wish to inculcate, which is, that the people have nothing to expect from any exertions but their own. The choice of liberty or slavery rests with them, and on their virtue and perseverance depend the probability of their triumph.”—(The Gorgon, No. 1, May 23rd, 1818.)

Party News Briefs (1957)

Party News from the July 1957 issue of the Socialist Standard

London Propaganda. A series of indoor meetings are being arranged to be held in many parts of London it is to be hoped in Ealing. East Ham North. Lambeth, etc., in addition to the meetings held in June at Denison House. More details will appear in the next issue of the Standard. The Propaganda Committee is planning these meetings on an extensive scale, and the areas affected will be well supported by the local branches. The last of the series will be at the time of the Autumn Delegate Meeting.

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Ealing Branch has taken over responsibility for the outdoor station at Gloucester Road (8 p.m. on Wednesdays). First experiences have been very encouraging, and meetings have been well attended, with good literature sales. Members are asked to support the branch in this venture, which promises well.

Sunday, 16th June, was a very pleasant and successful occasion for the Branch. A visit was made to the Wallace Collection in the afternoon, followed by a social in the evening at a member’s house.

The first propaganda trip this year to Southsea will be taking place in July, and there will probably be a second visit in September.

Will all members note that as many members will be away on holiday during August, it has been decided to close down the branch for three weeks; i.e., 16th, 23rd and 30th August.

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Swansea. During the Whitsun week-end a London member visited our Comrades in Swansea, the idea being to hold some outdoor propaganda meetings. Unfortunately the weather decided not to co-operate, but despite a cold, windy evening on Saturday and rain on Sunday, two fairly successful open-air meetings were held. Sixteen current Socialist Standards were sold and a number of back issues and leaflets, Introducing the Party, were given away. An indoor address was planned for friends and sympathisers, but due to the bad weather only members turned up, and they held a useful discussion on Parliamentary activity.

The week-end, however, was pleasurable and worthwhile. It is hoped to arrange a full week's propaganda before the end of the summer.

The members of Swansea Group are keen and hardworking, and are planning a canvassing drive for the Socialist Standard in the near future.

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Wood Green and Hornsey Branch challenged Lyn Mostyn (Labour) and Lady Gammans (Conservative candidates—in the Hornsey by-election—to appear on Socialist Party’s platform at Rokesley School, Hornsey, to state their views in opposition to the S.P.G.B.

Mr. Mostyn replied that owing to pressure of by-election work he was busy and could not attend. No reply was received from Lady Gammans.

Neither Mr. Mostyn nor Lady Gammans appeared, although the challenge was published in the Hornsey Journal, and our challenge letter had indicated that their representatives would be welcome instead if they were busy.

However the meeting was held by us and was well attended.

Indoor and outdoor (Muswell Hill Broadway) meetings will be held during the summer.

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News From Glasgow (City and Kelvingrove Branches).— “We don’t deal in emotion and sentimentality; we adopt a scientific attitude,” quoted the Glasgow Herald. The speaker was Comrade Shaw, addressing an interested audience in Queen’s Park Recreation Grounds on May Day. While Comrade Shaw was presenting the revolutionary proposition, Mr. Frank Cousins, the official May Day demonstration speaker, was dishing out the sentimentality in the Bandstand in Queen’s Park. Our audience, however, showed their appreciation of the scientific attitude by donating £2 for the purpose of carrying on the good work. It was a grand start to a promising May Day. The Glasgow membership were more active than in recent years, and about 16 members scurried busily about Queen’s Park selling literature to the tune of 11 dozen Socialist Standards. The evening meeting was held in St. Andrew’s Hall, in opposition to the Communist Party and a Skiffle Group competition. A lively audience of 70 heard Comrades Richmond and Higgins expounding “ The Socialist Way Out.” Several nights before the meeting the centre of the city was “decorated” with whitewash advertising our activities, but the Fates and the rain were against us.

A fortnight later, at Rothesay. Comrade Richmond, on behalf of the Party, addressed a Week-end School of the Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers. His subject was “Modern Trends in Marxism.” The school consisted of about 40 trade union branch delegates, and provided Comrade Richmond with an alert and interested audience. Socialist literature was sold at the meeting, and the venture seems to have been very successful. This is the first time a Trade Union School has requested a speaker from us, but judging by the amount of interest Comrade Richmond’s incisive lectures aroused, it does not seem like the last.

All during May the Socialist Platform has been erected in West Regent Street, where large and interested audiences have gathered to hear the antidote to Capitalist Propaganda. Literature sales and propaganda collections have been encouraging, and there is a possibility of some more members airing their vocal chords there during the rest of the summer.

Phyllis Howard

Party News Briefs (1956)

Party News from the July 1956 issue of the Socialist Standard

“Socialist Standard” Sales. Much has been said over the years regarding increasing the Standard sales, a certain means of putting over the case for Socialism. Ten thousand copies per month has been a target to aim for. but so far, a target not achieved. However, a special effort was made this May and 6,500 copies were ordered from the printer, and it is gratifying, particularly to the members who worked so hard, to know that they were all sold. Perhaps our target of 10,000 copies per month is not too ambitious, and if the result of the May sales drive is anything to go by bodes well. Comrades will be stimulated to add to this success by increasing the sales in the future.

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Ealing Branch. The Branch’s special May Sales Drive was extremely successful. Over One Thousand Socialist Standards (1,006 to be exact) were sold during the month, and 13 canvasses were held in all. New areas such as Northolt Park. Stonebridge Park, and St. Margaret’s, Twickenham, were canvassed, as well as parts of other areas already known to members. The Branch undertook to take and pay for sixty dozen Standards, i.e., there was to be no question of reclaiming from Head Office for unsold copies, but at the same time the Branch Literature Committee set itself the further and higher target of 1,000 copies. In spite of the strain which showed itself towards the end of the campaign, the excellent results thus far obtained encouraged members to carry on and reach the target. Such campaigns can obviously be made only on special occasions, but they do show what can be done when a real effort is made, and the scope that lies in canvassing for increasing the sales of the Standard.

The Branch’s summer outing this year to Littlehampton took place on 10th June, and as usual proved very enjoyable, though a heavy shower of rain immediately after arrival, seemed to bode ill for the rest of the day. Fortunately, it was the only shower, and the weather afterwards. though not conducive to sunbathing, certainly acted as a stimulant to members’ latent cricketing abilities.

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Members may be interested to learn that Comrade Evans of the W.S.P. is visiting London on July 25th for a stay. Comrade Evans is an energetic and active member in Los Angeles.

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Rugby. Encouraging news is to hand from Comrade Walsh who reports good literature sales. Members have attended public meetings in Coventry and Rugby and have sold a considerable number of May Standards—several of these were sold at a meeting addressed by Father Huddleston, who bought a copy for himself.

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Swansea. During the past twelve months, members of the branch have had 27 letters published in the “Swansea Voice,’’ a local weekly paper. Numerous letters have also been published in other local newspapers, namely The South Wales Evening Post, Western Mail and Llanelly Star all stating the Party’s attitude to questions of the day and topical events. The branch has received invaluable publicity as a result of these activities, and the Party’s name is becoming well-known in the area. It is suggested that other branches, particularly those with restricted propaganda activities due to small membership, should take advantage of this useful means of publicising the Party.

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Southend Branch has been well maintained, meetings commencing promptly with good attendances. Some new faces have done much to inspire the regular members and regular Sunday meetings have been successfully held over recent months. Canvassing for the Standard has been undertaken with success. The Branch looks forward to expanding activities in general and in addition carrying out a programme of outdoor meetings on the Sea Front. Members from other areas have in the past rendered assistance at these meetings at week-ends. Offers of assistance in advance would be most welcome. Write or telephone H. G. Cottis, 109 Kingswood Chase, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. Tel. Leigh-on-Sea 75404.

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Bloomsbury Branch. Meetings will be held during July, but as usual will be discontinued during August as Conway Hall closes during that month. Branch members look forward to welcoming sympathisers and other members to the first meeting in September (Thursday 6th).

Phyllis Howard