SPGB Meetings (1961)

Party News from the February 1961 issue of the Socialist Standard

Blogger's Note:

There was a report of the April 'Demonstration for Socialism' rally in the June 1961 issue of the Socialist Standard. Harry Young and Cyril May were the speakers at the meeting, and they spoke to an audience of 400 people.

SPGB Meetings (1963)

Party News from the December 1963 issue of the Socialist Standard

Branch News (1962)

Party News from the July 1962 issue of the Socialist Standard

Wembley Branch has continued active and has seized the opportunity afforded by finer weather to step up efforts. Regular canvasses are still being held at the rate of one a month and a combined canvass and meeting was held at Portsmouth on June 17th. Alternating with Ealing Branch, meetings are being run every other Thursday at Earls Court throughout the Summer Season. All members arc urged to give these their utmost support.

Locally, the branch has plans for advertising its meetings by poster on Railway. Station hoardings in the area and suitable posters are being designed. Lectures and discussions are held every other Monday and these are always advertised in the local press. Often, outsiders attend and help to liven proceedings. A film show “The German Story" was scheduled for June 18th, but we go to press too early for a report on it. We hope to do this next month.

Glasgow have made a very good start and by the end of May four outdoor meetings had been held, average audience 100. Literature sales and collections amounting to nearly £5. The last indoor meeting of the winter season was held at Woodside Halls where the audience was 57 and literature sales and collection was £4. Stimulated by the activity of the elections in the Kelvin Ward, the Comrades are working harder than ever to get Socialist message over to the workers.

Comrades McCarthy and R. Mitchell went to Belfast to assist the World Socialist Party of Ireland in the recent election campaign. Fourteen members attended and supported a meeting in Blitz Square on Sunday, May 27th. Some comrades travelled from Armagh. Two sympathisers assisted the Party members and the audience at one time numbered 100. Literature was sold and a collection taken. In addition a door-to-door distribution of leaflets was made; a tour of the constituency with a public address system, stopping on the way at various housing estates to hold meetings. Leaflets were stuck on all suitable spaces—as one comrade said: "The public must have thought we were paper-hangers gone mad but to us it looked good".

The result was that the W.S.P. of Ireland polled 62 votes. Press statements had been given and three papers reported them in full. Our comrades Mitchell and McCarthy were most impressed by the well-organised hard work put in by the Irish members and commented on the pleasure it was to be of some help to them.

Coventry Group are still going strong and have moved to better premises which they feel sure will be advantageous. The Group has written to Party members in nearby Rugby and Leamington Spa with news of the Group’s activities and it is hoped that they will be able to join in and before long form the nucleus of a Coventry Branch. The Group is also contacting Birmingham Branch with a view to pooling their resources for propaganda generally.

A comrade writes from Wellington, New Zealand that several sympathisers are scanning local newspapers for reviews of the January Socialist Standard which contained articles on the Common Market as copies were circulated to the press. The main point of interest at the moment is the tape recorded lectures which members are able to pass around and so interest many more people than if they had to travel long journeys for discussions. Wherever possible members attend meetings of various organisations in order to meet people and discuss the Party case by way of questions and talks after meetings.

Swansea Branch recently had a debate with the local Liberals. 6 /- worth of literature was sold. Forty people attended and many showed great interest in the Party's point of view. A member met the prospective Liberal candidate recently and he agreed that Socialism would come eventually and that the Socialist Standard was the finest political journal on the market. It is likely that another debate will ensue before very long. In general the Socialist Party is becoming well known in the district. Maybe it won't be all that long time before another branch functions in Swansea?

. . . 

Last but not least. An appeal in last month’s issue for donations to help our propaganda work has resulted in some donations from London. Let more follow. Two comrades from Australia sent £10 to help the cause. This example will be encouraging to all those who wish to bring Socialism nearer.

Phyllis Howard

Party News Briefs (1955)

Party News from the September 1955 issue of the Socialist Standard

August Bank Holiday Meetings. Camberwell and Fulham Branch jointly organiscd two very successful meetings. In the afternoon, from 3 p.m. to 6.30 Comrades Garnham, Keys, Baldwin, McCarthy and Cash, spoke to an attentive audience of about 200 in Hyde Park. In the evening 12 members went out of London to Heron Court. Richmond, where Comrades Keys, Robertson, Baldwin and McCarthy addressed an audience of almost 200 from 7 o’clock until 10 p.m. About 10/- worth of literature was sold at the two meetings.

* * *

Under the heading: “A London Bus Worker tells of one of the earliest struggles for the Right to Unionise.” the July 7th edition of the Samasamajist, an English language paper, published in Colombo, Ceylon, reprints Comrade Waters article in the Socialist Standard, “The Story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs.” It is hoped that the Samasamajist will reprint other articles from the Socialist Standard in the future.

* * *

The Swansea Branch prepared a programme of activity for August which was to include outdoor meetings and an indoor public debate with the Welsh Nationalist Party. Whilst the outdoor meetings are underway with the visits of Comrades from Cheltenham and London, unfortunately the debate has fallen through owing to the inability of the Nationalists to finalise the arrangements. The national headquarters of the party threw the onus on their Swansea Branch who declined under pressure of work. Swansea Branch have challenged the Communists, Labourites and Welsh Republicans by personal letters and an open challenge in the Press but have had refusals all round. We now look forward to the visit of Com. Ambridge from London.

* * *

Provincial Propaganda Tour. Nottingham was visited by two London Comrades for a week from July 31st to August 7th. Thirteen meetings were held, with audiences averaging 300. Twenty dozen August Standards were sold in addition to pamphlets and back issues of the Standard.

Dundee is being visited by two London Comrades who report very good meetings held—more details next month.

* * *

The Autumn Delegate Meeting is being held at Denison House. Vauxhall Bridge Road (nr. Victoria Station) on Saturday and Sunday, October 8th and 9th, commencing each day at 11 a.m. It is hoped to arrange a social at Head Office on the Saturday evening—more details will be given in the October Socialist Standard.

* * *

Obituary. We regret to announce that another old member of the Party has recently died. Comrade A. Maskell, of Paddington Branch, who joined in 1927. He had been ill for a considerable time.

Prior to the war, he engaged in all Branch activity, and sold many copies of the S.S. to personal contacts. He was Branch Treasurer for more years than one wishes to recall, and throughout the war years was one of the most regular Branch attenders. In two election campaigns in N. Paddington he put his flat at our disposal for us as Committee Rooms, and it gave him great pleasure to feel that, despite his enforced inactivity, he could still be of assistance to the Party. Many of the older Paddington members will recall the assistance he gave them at all times and we should like to express our sympathies to his wife and family.

* * *

Documentary Films at H.O.. 52, Clapham High Street, S.W.4 (near Clapham Common Tube Station) every Sunday at 7.30 p.m. These films will be followed by a short talk by a Party lecturer. Questions and discussion follow. Admission free.

Oct. 2nd. Public Opinion. Speaker, R. Coster.

„        9th. The Beginning of History, W. Kerr.

„       16th. Mediaeval Village, V. Phillips.

„       23rd. The Story of Money, E. Wilmott.

„       30th. We’ve Come a Long Way, J. Trotman.

Nov.  6th.   Man-One Family, J. Read.

Phyllis Howard

Blogger's Note:

Comrade A. Maskell's obituary had previously been posted on the blog as a standalone post.

SPGB Meetings (1961)

Party News from the April 1961 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Meetings (1958)

Party News from the April 1958 issue of the Socialist Standard

Branch News (1963)

Party News from the August 1963 issue of the Socialist Standard

To give full details of the amazing work being done by “Our Man in Cornwall” would fill a whole issue of the Socialist Standard. Here we can report only briefly the activities of our comrade in St. Austell, St. Blazey, Callington, Looe, Bodmin, Liskeard, Wadebridge, Rylla Mill (Village Fair), Par, Saltash and Torpoint. He is circulating our literature throughout the West Country. Think of all the work involved in getting from place to place, talking to workers, attending political meetings, day in and day out, sending lengthy reports to Head Office. Our comrade can have little time for rest—his leisure is propagating Socialism. Due to an illness, this member was prescribed a diet, but this does not explain his recent loss of weight from 13½ stones to 11½ stones. He comments that he feels fine and hopes that before long, new branches will be formed in the West Country. When this happens, the work he has done will have speeded the day.

After 20 years existence as Ealing Branch and 10 years in its meeting place near Eating Broadway, the Branch has changed both its meeting place and its name. Over the years, particularly after the promotion of Wembley Branch, many members have gravitated away from Ealing and it has become inescapable that a move nearer the centre of London would be generally more convenient. And so the die has been cast! The Branch is now the West London Branch and meets at Westcott Lodge, Lower Mall, Hammersmith, a few minutes’ walk from Hammersmith Broadway. All members have been informed of the new meeting place and it is hoped that many of those who found the journey to Ealing too inconvenient will be able to attend the new premises. more easily. A cordial invitation is also extended to those members formerly belonging to Fulham Branch, and to all other members and sympathisers resident in the area.

The Branch is also optimistic that the new meeting place will be a convenient point of contact for sympathisers from the outdoor meetings at Earls Court. These have been very successful so far, the weather has been generally kind, with good audiences and literature sales. It is hoped to follow up this activity with a particularly wide range of lectures, discussions, and film shows during the winter season.

Wood Green and Hornsey Branch have been active in Tottenham. Branch members attended a film-show organised by Tottenham C.N.D. and effectively criticised C.N.D. policy before an audience of 50 people. This criticism was repeated in a letter printed in the local press. The Branch was also invited to send a speaker to the Tottenham Young Socialists and a comrade addressed an audience of over 50 who showed great interest. A further address is being arranged on the subject of C.N.D. Please note change of branch address in the Branch Directory.

Camberwell Branch, with the Propaganda Committee has organised at Battersea Town Hall on Wednesday, August 14th at 7.30. Title and full details advertised in this issue. All available comrades should make every endeavour to support this meeting by bringing along friends, selling literature and as much cash for the collection as they can afford.

The title of the meeting is Labourism or Socialism. Comrades C. May and D. McCarthy are the speakers. Battersea Town Hall is near Clapham Junction.

World Socialist Party of Ireland. Good work is being done in Belfast. The members are holding a Seven Days for Socialism during, the third week in September. The idea is to devote an entire week to Socialist propaganda work. The Branch members will canvass the Socialist Standard and Western Socialist with a suitable leaflet. At least two outdoor and one indoor meetings will be held. The Branch is contesting Duncain and Shankhill Wards in the Municipal elections next May and the week of propaganda will be held in these areas and will be the start of the election campaign. An election fund will be opened and candidates will be selected in September.

Armagh Branch continues with its canvassing with good results. Press advertisements inserted in Dublin, Belfast, Portadown and Armagh have brought in good results and it is expected that the results shown from Dublin will help Comrades to become even more active.

Phyllis Howard

Branch News (1964)

Party News from the June 1964 issue of the Socialist Standard

More news from Belfast and Glasgow.

Danny McCarthy reports that the Belfast members had good literature sales at both the Easter CND parade and the Conference of the Northern Ireland Labour Party.

A recent demonstration over redundancy was used as an opportunity to put over our case. Danny went along with Comrade Montague, who stated our attitude to the television and radio reporters who were present. Alas, this was not included in the television programme that same evening.

The Irish comrades put their usual hard work into the recent local elections, in which we had a candidate in the Duncairn ward. Danny reports that the response of the Duncairn workers to our appeal for election funds was “truly staggering”.

Glasgow report that they had an audience of about eighty at their debate with the Young Liberals, when R. Donnelly put our case. The theme of our May Day meeting in Glasgow was “Abolish the Wages System”. The audience numbered over a hundred, seven pound collection was taken and over £2 worth of literature sold.

The Branch contested two wards—North Kelvin and Knightswood—in the municipal elections. Publicity at North Kelvin was limited to intensive canvassing of the Socialist Standard—over 450 copies were sold during the previous three months—and the distribution of eight thousand manifestoes. The party polled 134 votes which, Glasgow Branch think, must have contained comparatively few “mistaken” votes.

In Knightswood again our publicity was restricted, although we did get a mention on TV. The Glasgow members slogged away here under tremendous difficulties—they sold the Socialist Standard around the doors and they distributed twelve thousand manifestoes. The party polled 297 votes but, as the Branch puts it, “How many of these were Socialist votes is difficult to say in view of this being the first time we have contested the ward.”

Glasgow Branch are a living witness to the fact that hard work for Socialism is the most invigorating thing. Far from being tired after their exertions, they arc already planning “a greater effort next year.”

We hear from Sunderland that our comrade Clifford Allen addressed the Hylton Estate Workingmen’s Club (or rather their Debating Society) last month on the subject “Karl Marx—was he a dreamer or a realist?” His lecture was very well received by an audience of 50, of which 5 were members of the Sunderland Group. The address was followed by extensive discussion and many questions. 11/6d. worth of Socialist Standard were sold.

Comrade Allen and the members of the Sunderland group were much encouraged by the results of the lecture and intend to concentrate their efforts on similar activities in the future. There is a move to establish a number of debating societies and discussion groups on the numerous new housing estates in the Sunderland area, and the group hope to give further addresses to these. It is heartening to see such a good start being made to the activities of the Party in the North-east.

The debate at Bromley with INDEC attracted an audience of about 45, of whom half were non-members. Literature sales were only nominal, but there was a collection of £3 4s. 6d.