SPGB Meetings. (1932)

Party News from the October 1932 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Meetings (1930)

Party News from the October 1930 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Meetings (1990)

Party News from the October 1990 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Meetings (1983)

Party News from the September 1983 issue of the Socialist Standard

Blogger's Note:

There is an audio recording available of the debate between E Hardy (Edgar Hardcastle) and Arthur Johnston of the Conservative Party. The debate was hosted by the Islington branch of the SPGB. I haven't listened to it (yet), so I cannot vouch for the audio quality:

Friday 7 October, 8.00 

Capitalism or Socialism? 

Debate between the Conservative Party (Arthur Johnston) and the SPGB (E. Hardy) 

Prince Albert pub

Wharfdale Road, King's Cross, N1

SPGB Meetings. (1931)

Party News from the February 1931 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Meetings. (1930)

Party News from the January 1930 issue of the Socialist Standard

Blogger's Note:

There was a report of the Stratford meeting - organised by the West Ham branch of the SPGB - in the February 1930 issue of the Socialist Standard.

SPGB Meetings. (1929)

Party News from the October 1929 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Meetings, Debates and Lectures. (1927)

 Party News from the November 1927 issue of the Socialist Standard

Blogger's Note:

The Economic League's Major H. J. Gillespie D.S.O. was an ex-Fabian who'd recanted his longstanding Labourism and was now taking the Economic League's shilling. It happens. Ken Weller mentions in his excellent book, 'Don't Be A Soldier', that Frank Grainger left the SPGB in the late 1930s whilst he was the prospective parliamentary candidate for the SPGB in the East Ham North constituency, and later turned up as a lecturer for the Economic League. 

The December 1927 issue of the Socialist Standard gives a brief report of some of the meetings listed above.

The Comrade Jacobs mentioned above who was lecturing at Bethnal Green Library on the subject of 'Political versus Industrial Action' was either longstanding SPGB outdoor speaker Alf Jacobs, or it was Dick Jacobs, the secretary of the Bethnal Green branch of the SPGB. Alf Jacobs joined the SPGB in its earliest days and was known in the East End of London as a popular SPGB outdoor speaker. (Especially at the outdoor speaking pitch in Victoria Park, where in 1914 he repeatedly took to the outdoor platform to denounce the war.) Dick Jacobs had only just joined the SPGB in January 1927 (he'd formerly been a member of the Labour Party), but was to remain a member of the SPGB until his death in 1977. If I was to hazard a guess, I'd say the speaker was Alf Jacobs.

£1000 Fund. (1922)

 Party News from the October 1922 issue of the Socialist Standard

Obituary: Fred Allen (2020)

Obituary from the December 2020 issue of the Socialist Standard

Sadly we report the death on 11 September of comrade Fred Allen, aged 91 years. 

He joined the Socialist Party when aged 17 having decided ‘there was no god and the SPGB was the best thing he knew of’.

In later years he was a member of East London Branch and then for some years an active member of the East Anglian Regional Branch. He served a short time on the Executive Committee and was an assistant to the Treasurer, taking seriously the collection of dues.

Fred was an enthusiastic supporter of the annual Summer School held in Birmingham probably enjoying the social side as much as the meetings. He was ready to help out wherever he could. A member recalls how a couple of years ago he helped her with the catering for a conference carrying the heavy shopping and spending the day in the kitchen rather than at the delegate meeting saying he was ‘not interested in the chit chat, I prefer to get things done’.

Fred would have been at HO for the Conference in April – he rang to arrange that we travel by cab – but sadly the lockdown meant that it did not take place.

We extend our condolences to his wife Barbara and family.

Obituaries: J. P. Broderick & G. Martin (1985)

Obituaries from the April 1985 issue of the Socialist Standard

It is with sadness that we report the deaths of Comrade J. P. Broderick of Peterborough, who joined the Party in 1948 and was a member of Islington and Central Branches, and Comrade G. Martin of East London Branch, who became a member in 1923-4. We extend our sympathies to their families.

Obituary: Norman Deutz (2019)

Obituary from the November 2019 issue of the Socialist Standard

We regret to have to report the death of our comrade Norman Deutz at the end of August at the age of 83. Norman joined the old West Ham branch of the Socialist Party in 1954, shortly after his 18th birthday. At the time men of that age were liable to be conscripted into the armed forces for ‘national service’. Norman refused and spent short while in prison. He worked as a small shopkeeper in London’s East End and later a pet shop in Redbridge. After his retirement he moved to Billericay in Essex and was a member of East Anglia regional branch. Latterly he was a familiar figure at Head Office, providing much appreciated catering at conferences and other meetings there. Our condolences go to his wife, our comrade Pat Deutz, and their family.

From Our Branches. (1904)

Party News from the October 1904 issue of the Socialist Standard

Reports from Branches for insertion under this heading must be in before the 20th of each month, otherwise they cannot appear.

Battersea.
Sick and weary of the conflicting tactics and vacillating policy of the S.D.F., the members of this branch, some of them veterans in the Socialist movement, were among the first to come and raise the red flag from the mire through which it was being dragged, and are proud of having assisted in the formation of The Socialist Party of Great Britain, which now so worthily bears that flag aloft. To combat the confusing effects of the compromise and opportunism of the S.D.F. as well as the influence of that Tammany Hall-like organisation of the "Statesman of Labour” and his “heelers," we have all through the summer conducted a vigorous campaign, holding three propaganda meetings every Sunday, besides the usual weeknight meetings. As a result we are able to report a gratifying increase in membership. In addition we have an Economic Class, meeting on Thursdays, and a History Class, meeting on Fridays, both commencing at 8 pm., to which all members of the party are heartily invited. The only condition of membership is regular attendance.

We of the Battersea branch fully realise that all our time and energies are required for the work of educating the workers to a clear conception of the causes of their misery, and of organising them so that they will concentrate all their efforts upon the capture of the political machine which is held and used by the master class as an instrument of oppression and exploitation. We have no time, therefore, to waste in appeals to the capitalist class for measures of reform, because we know that nothing short of complete economic freedom, and nothing short of the overthrow of capitalism, will put an end to the system under which the robbery and oppression of the worker goes on.

No, comrades, what we want the oppressor will never give. The workers themselves must achieve their emancipation. “He who would be free must himself strike the blow." It is our part to show the worker how the blow must be struck.

We echo the cry of our comrade Lehane. The watchword is Onward ! to the Socialist Republic. —The Man with the Red Flag.

East London.

This branch is not very large in numbers, but we try to make up by energy what we lack in that respect. The district we are working is, perhaps, the most poverty-stricken in the metropolis, and should by a lot of hard work and well organised, offer good ground to spread the seed of Socialism and build up a strong branch of The Socialist Party.

The far eastern portion, viz., Poplar, Bromley, Stepney, is the hot-bed of the alleged Labour leader, who. so far as possible, does everything to confuse the minds of the working class as to their correct position, and as a consequence the working class are apathetic and indiffercnt regarding their social welfare.

The work of this branch is to give a clear exposition of the conflict of interests between the working class and the master class, which in this district is made most intensely manifest, to arouse that enthusiasm which arises from class consciousness, and to organise the workers into The Socialist Party determined to wage war against Capitalism and all its supporters, with the ultimate object of securing its complete overthrow.—W.Woodhouse.

Edmonton

One of our most successful meetings was held on Sept. 4, addressed by Comrade Lehane. I mention it particularly because at that meeting we introduced The Socialist Standard and sold it in large numbers, because the current issue of Justice had a reference to us in which the comic element strove in vain to outdo the false, but which our comrade, a comparative stranger to the local circumstances, was easily able to thoroughly discredit; and also because as a result of the foregoing, the meeting was made the occasion of those silly S.D.F. attacks we had hoped were things of the past. We realise that for some time to come considerable clearing away of misconceptions will be necessary before the Socialist party shall reap the full reward of its labour.—A. Anderson.

Fulham.
Despite the fact that we have had to open up a station for our open-air work, our propaganda meetings have been well attended; the number of The Socialist Standard we have been able to dispose of being very good, considering the disadvantages under which we have laboured. Judged by the character of the questions we are called upon to answer, especially in regard to alleged labour and semi-Socialist bodies, our work is beginning to tell, and there is every possibility of our numerical strength, small though it is at present, being considerably augmented in the near future. If all good Socialists, attached or unattached, would but appreciate the importance of being associated with an organisation such as ours, based as it is upon sound principles, and pursuing as it does a straight and clearly defined policy, how much more effectively would we be able to accomplish the work we are called upon to do in this district! However, we have made a commencement, and are on the way to overtake, perhaps to beat even, the Islington record.

We are endeavouring to have a series of meetings at Fulham Cross on Thursday evenings at 8.30, and if any speaker happens along that way we shall be pleased to greet him and utilise his services.—E. J. B. Allen, Sec.


Islington.
The Comrades of “Merrie Islington” are certainly justifying their existence as a branch of the Socialist Party of Great Britain, and can, without undue egotism, look back upon a month’s hard propaganda and feel highly satisfied with the results thereof.

Our morning meeting of Sunday, September 4th, in Finsbury Park, established, I believe, a record for the party. A large audience listened while Comrade Lehane stated the case for Socialism as the only solution for the many evils and problems that exist around us, and at the close of the address subscribed 15s. 4½d. to our war chest, besides purchasing 8 pamphlets and 69 copies of The Socialist Standard. The rest of our Sunday meetings, although not quite such financial successes, have resulted in good sales of literature. Plenty of questions are always forthcoming, and are always satisfactorily dealt with.

Wednesday evening meetings at Highbury Comer are also making good progress, in fact, the encouraging feature of all our meetings is the increasing number of men who stay throughout, buying our pamphlets and putting questions, while in the result some have reached that stage where they deem it to be their duty to join us and help in the fight.

All things considered, we are going strong. Since our formation we have had the best mass meeting, the best ordinary propaganda meeting, our list of guarantees for the Press Fund is the highest, we have accounted for 247 copies of the paper, and we believe that by the end of the season our number of recruits will be the greatest of all the branches. To put it briefly, the Islington Branch of the S.P.G.B. promises to be the “greatest thing on earth.”

A. E. Dowdeswell, Branch Reporter.

Peckham.
I can with pleasure review the work put in by our members during the last month. We have good branch meetings and members turn up well at our propaganda meetings. On Peckham Rye on Sundays it is sometimes difficult to get a meeting at first; but we always succeed eventually. Take last Sunday as an instance: E. J. B. Allen gave an effective lecture; he was followed by H. Martin and H. Belsey. The audience showing no inclination to disperse Allen continued and finished up. Some good spade work by means of impromptu discussion followed; by this means new members have been made.

I should like to call the attention of all comrades to our Friday evening discussions, which take place at our branch rooms, 33, High Street. We promise all comrades and friends who attend these discussions an enjoyable evening; like Oliver Twist, they will want more.

We have been pushing The Socialist Standard well, and have already sold over 200 copies, and if we do not sell out our stock it will not be our fault.—W. Russell.


Watford.
A month of plodding endeavour, with good meetings every Sunday—good in point of attendance, good in point of literature sales, with good speakers stating the case for inadjectival Socialism so clearly that a wayfaring man though a fool could not make a mistake as to the issues.

As well as may be, we are doing the work the Socialist is called upon to do—the preliminary spade work necessary to the organisation of a class conscious working class party—and doing it in face of the added difficulties that the existence of a perfect shoal of peddling reform parties—born of the ill-informed and misdirected exuberance of a few local reformers—inevitably create.

For a comparatively small town the number of these parties is, to put it mildly, abnormal, and it is no great wonder that, with so much to distract and divert their attention from the consideration of the real problem underlying their condition, the workers should not readily appreciate their class standing and the necessity for organisation upon the basis of the class struggle as the indispensable condition of successful conflict with capitalism.

If our ardent local new-party mongers (a brand new reforming body is turned out about every month) would but stop to think sometimes, they might be able to understand that every one of the insignificant and ludicrous little parties is simply a further factor making for working class confusion—simply one more division of the available working class intelligence that might otherwise be focussed upon first causes of, and real remedies for, working class ills; one more obstacle that will have to be overcome before Labour can enter into its own.

What the workers of Watford and elsewhere want is a straight lead upon a clear issue, and it is precisely because they have never had the one given them, and the other kept plainly before them ; it is precisely because they have been led to follow the fantasy of reform, and have found themselves at the end of their journey in very much the position they formerly occupied, that they to-day are sullen, disconsolate, and recalcitrant.

And so the reformer must go into the category of working class enemies, and must be fought as strenuously as the hard-grained proletarian ignorance and apathy, the more so because he is the apathy producer, the ignorance perpetuator.—Alec Gray.


West Ham.
Going strong! Held meetings every Sunday night, with one exception (speaker disappointed) since last report. Standard and pamphlets selling well, latter a good sign. Assisted with meetings at Poplar and Ilford. At latter place the Romford Division Branch has been formed. We are now endeavouring to arrange a combined attack of the two branches (West Ham and Romford) upon the new town of East Ham, where a Socialist Party is urgently needed, the distress being very great. Unemployed demonstrations and deputations to the Council have already started. The numbers of the unemployed all over the area covered by the West Ham Union are already growing rapidly, so that they promise to be very large indeed as soon as winter sets in. I should not be surprised if the local administrative bodies do not find that they have a little more than they can handle when they attempt to deal with the “Unemployed question” this year.—G. J. Hodson


Wood Green.
Since my last report, in addition to excellent meetings on Jolly Butchers' Hill, we have extended our activities to the West Green Corner of High Road, Tottenham. Our first meeting on this spot was held on Sunday evening, Sept. 4, and was certainly a success both from the standpoint of numbers and of interest, as shown by questions touching our principles. The Socialist Standard sold well. Meetings have been held every Sunday since with equal success, and in the very near future the Tottenham Branch of the party will surely be formed.— John Crump.


Printed by Jacomb Bros., 2a, Wingfield Road, Stratford, E. for the Proprietors, The Socialist Party of Great Britain. Published by C. Lehane, Secretary, Communist Club, Charlotte St., W.

SPGB Meetings (1930)

Party News from the March 1930 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Propaganda Meetings (1929)

Party News from the February 1929 issue of the Socialist Standard

Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Obituary: W. Griffiths (1977)

Obituary from the March 1977 issue of the Socialist Standard

We recently learned with regret of the death of this veteran member. S. Goldstein writes:

It came as a great shock to me. I had for some time thought that if a loyal and consistent comrade is needed in East London to help revitalize that area with Socialist propaganda. Griffiths is that person. Alas, our comrade died only three or four Sundays after I last spoke to him at the Hackney Library. He had borrowed two books on Marx and, on encountering me, showed them to me and displayed rapt attention to conversation about them.

Comrade Griffiths had joined the SPGB in 1929, about two years before I joined. We were both in the East London branch, and he became a member of Hackney branch later. I would run into him in all kinds of places — getting a bus from Hackney Baths, at Whipps Cross (he told me his sister lived nearby) and on Sunday mornings in Club Row market. He would invariably acquaint me with all that was going on, and he was sympathetic whenever I expressed personal difficulties to him. He was never falsch to me.

His genuineness arose not only from his character but from an absolute intellectual conviction that, the sneers of renegades notwithstanding, the party in which we met — the SPGB — was the only party for the working class. As long as I live I shall remember him with respect and affection.

Solomon Goldstein

Obituary: Solomon Goldstein (1994)

Obituary from the October 1994 issue of the Socialist Standard

We have to report the death of Solomon Goldstein. Goldstein (as he was known in the Party) joined at the age of 16 in 1931 after listening to Party outdoor speakers near Brick Lane, in East London, where he lived all his life. Soon he himself was speaking both outdoors and as an indoor lecturer where his specialist subject was Marxian economics, contributing in no small way to the Party’s reputation in this field.

Coming from a Yiddish-speaking family he was easily able to learn German and became as fluent in it as he was in English. Indeed, he used to claim that you couldn’t understand Marxian economics properly unless you had read Capital the originaL

When he was ailed up to take part in the second world slaughter he applied for registration as a Conscientious Objector but was turned down and decided to go on the run. His health suffered and after the war he was never the same, having to spend long periods in hospitaL Although he had ceased to be a member some years ago he still bought the Socialist Standard and corresponded with the Internationales Fries Wort the German-language socialist journal published by our comrades in Austria.

Party Activities (1930)

Party News from the October 1930 issue of the Socialist Standard

During the summer there has been an encouraging increase in the propaganda activities of the branches. Old stations have been maintained and several new ones opened up for outdoor meetings, with considerable success in some cases.

#    #    #    #

BATTERSEA.

The Battersea Branch has been holding good meetings on Clapham Common on Sunday evenings. Owing to the failing light, these meetings are now held at 3.30 in the afternoon. Sales of literature have been, fair, and efforts have been rewarded with a few entrants to the Branch.

The Buckmore Road meetings on Friday evenings were abandoned, as the pitch proved unsuitable. Mossbury Road, the new station, shows signs of being more useful. Interest in the principles of Socialism, as opposed to the quackery and confusion preached by the Labour leaders, is made apparent by the questions and keenness to hear our case.

#    #    #    #

EAST LONDON.

The East London Branch continues to hold meetings in Victoria Park. Keen interest has been maintained, despite counter-attractions round the platforms of Hot-Gospellers and other upholders of wage-slavery.

Audiences, large and attentive, gather round us, and questions are put from many who are beginning to appreciate the correctness of our case.

The L.C.C. ban on literature and collections hampers the extension of the Branch’s activities, but does not damp our enthusiasm. The mid-week meeting-place at Stepney Green Gardens is a new station for us. We anticipated great difficulties in the district, but it has, from our propaganda point of view, proved a great success. Audiences have been regular, and the inquiries intelligent. Questions have been mainly on Labour Party policy and upon matters that appear problems to those unacquainted with our case. These, and opposition from Communists advocating violence as a means of emancipation, have been effectively met by facts and Socialist arguments.

The Branch have obtained the use of the Bancroft Road Library Lecture Hall for their coming winter campaign, commencing October 2nd. (See notice in this issue.) Here will be an opportunity for all who take an interest in our propaganda to hear our message undisturbed by the distracting influences of the street corner.

#    #    #    #

PADDINGTON.

The Paddington Branch have been very active. Sales of literature and collections have been good, and several new members have been gained.

#    #    #    #

HEAD OFFICE.

The Sunday evening meetings which are to be held throughout the winter began in September and promise to be as successful as those held last year.

Particulars of forthcoming meetings are advertised elsewhere in this issue.

#    #    #    #

SATURDAY EVENINGS.

Meetings are being arranged on Saturday evenings at Head Office, 42, Great Dover Street, for the discussion of questions of interest to members and sympathisers, varied by an occasional social. Admission is free to all our meetings.

#    #    #    #

MEETINGS.

EAST LONDON.

Bancroft Road Library,

Lecture Hall

Thursday Evenings 8 p.m. PROMPT.

Commencing Thursday, October 2nd

Date. Subject. Speaker.

October 2nd           E. Hardy.

   'What the Socialist Party Stands for.'

October 9th            E. Lake.

    'Socialism and the Meantime.'

October 16th            W. McHaffie

     'Socialism and Religion.'

October 23rd             Gilmac.

      'Socialism and Parliamentarianism.'

October 30th             A. Jacobs.

       'The Labour Party and Socialism.'

          QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION.

Admission Free.                                                                                                             All Invited.

Note For East London Readers. (1915)

Party News from the May 1915 issue of the Socialist Standard

With a view to recommencing at the first available opportunity, and with renewed vigour, the propaganda that has boon carried out so successfully in Victoria Park by the East London Branch, local sympathisers are requested to communicate with A. Jacobs, 78 Eric Street, Mile End, E. The Branch meets at the above address twice each month (see "Branch Directory" on back page) and the comrades are anxious to enrol all those those who agree with the principles and policy of the Party for a concentrated and sustained attack upon the enemies of tho workers.

Death of A. E. Jacomb (1946)

Obituary from the November 1946 issue of the Socialist Standard

We regret to inform readers of the death of A. E. Jacomb, who had suffered from heart trouble for many years. He was an active member of the Social Democratic Federation at the end of the last century and the beginning of this, and was a member of the group which came out of that organisation to form the Socialist Party of Great Britain in 1904, helping to shape the Party’s fundamental principles and policy. He was a compositor by trade and in the early years of the Party, in fact up to the beginning of the ’twenties, he was responsible for the printing of the Socialist Standard and pamphlets. In this work he was a tower of strength, for the job was certainly not a sinecure. Often enough there were not sufficient articles to fill the paper and Jacomb had to make up the rest, under various pseudonyms, as he was doing the composing.

For many years, up to the end of the first Great War, Jacomb was a member of the Executive Committee and the Editorial Committee. He was a fine writer with a keen and caustic humour, contributing many excellent articles to the Socialist Standard. He also drafted two of the Party pamphlets : “Socialism” and "The Socialist Party: Its Principles and Policy.” He gave the best he could do to the Party although his life was one long struggle against financial difficulties.

It was a pitiful business that, towards the end of his life, Jacomb found himself in opposition to the Party about his attitude to the Spanish upheaval and to the last Great War, which led him to make a number of extravagant statements in the heat of controversy. But although he believed the policy of the Party was wrong, he still held fast to his fundamental socialist convictions. The vehemence of his criticism was due to his belief that the Party was on a wrong and fatal track, and to his anxiety to put it back again on what he thought was the right track.

Jacomb was a very fine character; simple and sincere, and a genuine and earnest champion of socialist principles for the whole of his long life. The good that he has done will live long after him.