SPGB Meetings (1952)

Party News from the April 1952 issue of the Socialist Standard

Blogger's Notes:

• Fulham Branch's meeting on "Sex and Sin", with Tony Turner as the featured speaker, apparently generated a lot of interest.
• The June 1952 Socialist Standard carried reports of the SPGB May Day rallies which took place in London and Glasgow.

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 (1954)

Party News from the November 1954 issue of the Socialist Standard

Party News Briefs (1954)

Party News from the October 1954 issue of the Socialist Standard

Our Anniversary Number. Owing to the difficulties in the course of preparation our special anniversary number for September was much delayed. We regret the inconvenience caused to readers. Copies are now available, 32 pages. Price 4d. (Post free 5½d.) Readers are again invited to send donations to cover the large additional expenditure incurred for the special issue.

The Autumn Delegate Meeting will be held on Saturday and Sunday, November 6th and 7th, at Denison House, Vauxhall Bridge Road (Victoria Station), 10.30 to 5.30 p.m. each day. Will members please make a note of the venue and times, particularly as the meeting is not being held at the same hall as previously. A Social will be held on the Saturday evening from 7.30 p.m., at Head Office—all welcome.

Fulham Branch is commencing a series of lectures and discussions to be held alternate Thursdays from October 7th. Members, sympathisers, and readers of the Socialist Standard are cordially invited. The Lectures and discussions will be held at 691, Fulham Road. S.W.6, and will commence at 8 p.m. Details of subjects are given elsewhere in this issue.

Successful outdoor meetings have been held by the Branch at Earls Court and at Gloucester Road. The number of meetings unfortunately has not been so many this year due to the bad weather.

The Overseas Secretary reports: From Victoria, British Columbia, an old comrade sent us this, with an enclosure: “Taking note of your appeal for funds for the commemorative number, we have made a collection from the remaining few old timers in the movement residing in Victoria. Every one is now on the scrap heap, but all agreed it would be proper for us, too, to celebrate by sending you along £4 10s., or 12s., according to the exchange rate when I reach the Post Office, and would like to wish you all the success possible Yours for Socialism, C. Luff.”

The same letter informs us of the death of Comrade Olsen, of Vancouver, who was killed in a motor accident while on holiday in July. He was only 26, but was, in our correspondent’s words, “a tower of strength to that Local.” Our sympathies go to his relations and his comrades.

Head Office Lectures. A series of Sunday evening lectures at 52, Clapham High Street are being held. Time 8 pm. The first is on October 10th. Will members help to make these meetings well attended by giving details to S.S. readers, sympathisers, and to members who cannot always get along to their branches. The first list of titles are topical and should provide a good opportunity for discussions. Please make a note, the first meeting is on Sunday, 10th. October, at 8 p.m.

Treetops Week-end. A very enjoyable week-end was spent at Treetops on September 11/12th. Discussions were led by Freddie Clark and Billy Iles on the Party’s present ideas and future. Another week-end has been arranged for October 30th/31st. Those desiring to attend must reserve accommodation by writing direct to Mrs. Plant, Treetops Holiday Camp, Farley Green, near Guildford.

Phyllis Howard

SPGB Meetings (1954)

Party News from the October 1954 issue of the Socialist Standard

Obituary: Julius Merry (2003)

Obituary from the October 2003 issue of the Socialist Standard

We regret to have report the death at the end of August of our comrade Julius Merry at the age of 80. The son of immigrants from Tsarist Russia and brought up in the East End of London, he joined the party in 1941 after listening, as a young medical student, to Party speakers in Hyde Park. Medical students were exempt from conscription until they qualified, so it was not until after the war that he was called up and became a conscientious objector to the process of being trained to fight and kill fellow workers from other parts of the world. At first this resulted in some difficulty for him in finding a job, but he eventually rose to the top of his profession as Professor of Psychiatry at St Thomas's Hospital in London and at the University of Surrey. He was one of the pioneers of group therapy in Britain and also argued for the legalisation rather than the prohibition of drugs.

Being an eminent professor did not alter his socialist views, and he continued to engage in the unprofessorial activity of handing out leaflets at meetings and leaving back copies of the Socialist Standard on trains or sending them to all his friends and acquaintances. Among these was the anglophile multi-millionaire Sir Paul Getty whose entry in the book of famous last words could apparently read "Julius, do please come and visit me again - just don't bring me another Socialist Standard". One of comrade Merry's last wishes was that copies of the Standard should be handed out to all those who attended his non-religious funeral, a wish which was respected.

Our sincere condolences go to his family.

Blogger's Note:

An obituary for Comrade Merry also appeared in the March 2004 issue of the Psychiatric Bulletin, which goes into greater detail about his life.

Battersea Social. (1906)

Party News from the January 1906 issue of the Socialist Standard

In this, the alleged festive season, it is pleasant to find that some people enjoy themselves. Truly, on Dec. 10th, with a fog so thick without that it might have been a blind man’s holiday, it was surprising to find Sydney Hall. Battersea, teaming with such a joyous gathering.

The occasion was a tea and social arranged between the West and South West London branches of the S.P.G.B. The Battersea, Paddington, Tooting, Fulham and Peckham branches were well represented. Clerkenwell was also represented, and contributed materially (or should it be immaterially?) to the amusement of the evening.

But I am anticipating.

After the tea had been hidden from view, Comrade Leigh of Paddington was prevailed upon to take the chair, and an excellent and varied programme was gone through. It would be invidious to praise particularly, because where all were excellent none could be more, and, (let me confess it) I have forgotten many of their names.

Suffice to say, the Social was a great success, and all were of opinion that this, the first joint Social, should not be the last; for such a pleasant relaxation from the stern uphill fight against Capitalism, cannot fail to bear fruit in better knowledge of each other, in closer comradeship and increased enthusiasm for the cause we have at heart.

The fun still ran high, when the stalwarts from the outlying branches carved their way through a dense London particular to the railway station in time for the last train home, to snatch a few hours sleep before commencing another week of drudgery, brightened, however, by memories of that evening, and by hope for the time when all shall be better than well.

Bolus o’ the Ditch.

From Our Branches. (1905)

Party News from the October 1905 issue of the Socialist Standard

Fulham.

A slight increase of membership, fair sale of manifestoes, and an increase in sales of Socialist Standards are the chief items to report for the month. A Bye-Election is taking place for Sand’s End Ward. The “Labour” Party are running a candidate (I.L.P., Ethicist, well-in-with-Progressives, etc.) Unless his opinions have considerably changed since the local L.R.C. was formed he doesn’t believe in the Second Clause of the Declaration of Principles upon which he is supposed to run.

“Shall refreshments be sold in Fulham Parks on Sundays?” is the burning question, one of very great importance to the workers. The members of my own Union, for example, work such long hours, and the working-class in general, for whose recreation Public Parks are supposed to exist, work so hard that on Sundays they want a nap in the afternoon to recuperate, and if they come out in the evening they can get refreshments elsewhere. Needless to say we shall utilise the occasion to point out the uselessness of such candidates to our class, the contradictions and confusions arising therefrom, and to emphasise the only basis upon which a sound working-class party can be built.

E. J. B. Allen

Tooting.

No great things to report from this district owing to the tremendous amount of confusion that exists, and the limited number of propaganda meetings held. (Only one a week Comrade Lecture Secretary.) And yet with all we are building up a good branch, our membership is steadily increasing, our literature sales are good, thanks to the straight talk we get at our Sunday evening meetings from the speakers who never leave any doubt in the minds of the audience as to the position we occupy in the field of politics, always keeping the line of demarcation broad and clear. We are thus able to prove to the workers that their only hope lies in the application of the principles of the S.P.G.B.

The “alleged” Socialists have been trying to discredit us by telling the workers at one time that there is no difference between them and us, and at another, calling us an organisation of half a dozen discontents who want to have all their own way—Anarchists under another name. In answer we ask the people to read the Socialist Standard and our Manifesto, which they do with such good effect that “The Welcome Hall” no longer holds out a welcome to our traducers, it having been concluded apparently that they no longer deserve the confidence of the working-class.

Unless another Countess or some other novelty comes to their aid their life will probably not be of much longer duration. In any case our success is assured.

A. Barker

From Our Branches. (1904)

From the December 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.

Edmonton.

Another month of good work well done fitly sums up our position here. Since our last report although three meetings had to be abandoned owing to the rain, nevertheless we have held four meetings in Waltham, four in Edmonton and three in Tottenham. These meetings have been very successful and, as a result, the Edmonton Branch is not only stronger in every way but a sound Branch will soon exist in Tottenham also.

On Sunday, November 20, we had a field-day, the meeting at West Green Rd. lasting nearly four hours, during which five critics—two from the Temperance Party, two from the S.D.F. and one from the Primrose League—had each a turn on the platform. Needless to say the criticism, which was more or less friendly and certainly courteous—in striking contrast to that which greeted us in the evening at Edmonton—was effectively answered, so much so that a resolution thanking The Socialist Party of Great Britain for the addresses delivered and pledging the meeting to work for the realisation of the object of that Party, moved and seconded by two of the audience unknown personally to any of us, was carried unanimously by the meeting. A good sale of THE SOCIALIST STANDARD and an increase of three to our membership were also pleasing features of an all-round good meeting. In the evening at Angel Road, Edmonton, we proceeded to hold our usual meeting, but before half-an-hour had elapsed the local S.D.F. had planted their platform on the edge of our audience and commenced a series of antics that compelled almost everyone to laugh. We have entirely failed even yet to learn what was the matter with them. They put up Mr. Thomas, Mr. Pearson, and Mr. Mercer, each of whom had two trials to take the attention of the audience from our speaker but in this they absolutely failed ; abandoning their platform they tried to break up our meeting by entering the audience and trying to incite a portion of it to riot. In this they failed also and eventually when close upon 10 p.m. the police, as usual, had to make us close our meeting, it fell to the lot of the revolutionary Social-Democratic Federationists to cheer the police and to exhort them to “lock the–––up.” However, the police are not yet the servants of the S.D.F. no matter how anxious one of the latter evidently is to become the servant of the former.

Still, be those things as they may, the Edmonton Branch of The Socialist Party of Great Britain is in high spirits and full of confidence. We have no desire to bluff ourselves nor yet another body, but the steady sale of THE SOCIALIST STANDARD and the foolish tactics of those who, to suppress an opponent, would jeopardise the right of public meeting by trying to turn orderly meetings into bear-gardens, will yet, and we believe very soon, show effectually that our Party is right, that our Party is justified and alone worth of the confidence of the working-class. Speed the day!

A. Anderson.

Fulham.

The meetings we have held here have been successful from the numerical standpoint, and the sales of our paper have been fairly good considering the large number of men there are unemployed in this district. The week-night meetings that we hold at Fulham Cross at 8.30 on Wednesdays are better attended than the Sunday morning meetings and have been very successful. Once the summer comes again (as the poet sings) this branch will be placed on a firmer footing. We are getting well known now and a good number of men are beginning to undertand which is The Socialist Party

E. J. B. Allen.

Islington.

With the departure of the last leaves of autumn and the arrival of hoar winter with his chilly blasts comes a falling off in the attendance at our open-air meetings. Too great are the temptations of the cheery inglenook and the fireside’s genial glow. No longer do the opening buds of spring, the full-blown flowers of summer, or the many hued leaves of autumn bring the people out to the parks clad in their dainty raiment. No longer the proletariat dons his “Sunday best” to stroll through the thronged avenues——[We have cut out thirteen foolscap pages of similar matter to the above.—EDITORIAL COMMITTEE.]

So we may explain to ourselves the falling off both in the number of our meetings and in the number of the audience at those meetings. We have, however, done something in this direction and shall continue while the weather allows. We are somewhat hampered in our work by the fact that a number of our members are working in enforced overtime. It is not for us to point out the anomaly of such overtime in view of the number of people at present unemployed. Suffice it to say that it is this very unemployment which the capitalist employs as a lever to force men to work excess hours.

Fraternal greetings and a promise of rare doings from the merry village of Islington.

Percy O'Brien MacTavish.

Peckham.

I am sorry I was too late for you last month. It was not because there was nothing doing, for, as a matter of fact, things have been very lively in Peckham. The Liberals have been holding open-air meetings which we have attended, and we have asked pertinent questions, which have been talked round. The Liberals allowed opposition, so Comrade Belsey and others put forward our position, and this was well received by the audience. I may say the Liberals were discussing the fiscal policy, and we challenged them to a debate on the subject, but this was not accepted.

We had some handbills printed and distributed at their meeting, announcing a mass meeting of The Socialist Party of Great Britain to take place at the same spot on the following Monday. We wrote Comrades Lehane, Kent, and Anderson, but owing to its turning out such a wet night they did not put in an appearance. It left off raining by the time for starting, and in spite of the weather we had a good meeting, which was adjourned till the following Monday. At the adjourned meeting Anderson turned up and met with such success that we had a third meeting, when Anderson was again the speaker. Our audience was quite as large as that of the Liberals, and Anderson, in spite of the bad weather (all three Mondays were wet), was kept until past 11 o’clock answering questions.

We are still carrying on our outdoor meetings. We had a good meeting at Peckham Rye on Sunday (13th) morning, and we intend having one on Sunday next, weather permitting. The branch meetings are well attended, as are also our Friday night discussions. We have also made several new members and altogether are going on satisfactorily.

W. Russell.

Wood Green.

Since my last report of the Movement in Wood Green several really good and successful open-air meetings have been held, both from a standpoint of the numbers attending them, and the intelligent interest shown by numerous questions and lively discussion. Perhaps the most important of those meetings was the one held on Oct. 23rd, when there was a debate between C. Horn, of New Southgate, and comrade A. Anderson, of Edmonton.

The debate arose out of a previous meeting at which C. Horn was present, and at which the speaker, Anderson, referred very plainly to the conduct of C. Horn (who claims to be a Socialist and is a late member of the S.D.F.) in actively supporting a Liberal capitalist candidate for parliamentary honours, thus betraying the working class. Now the two men meet, the one to defend opportunism, the other for uncompromising revolutionary Socialism. It was a sight never to be forgotten to see the great mass of faces turned towards the speakers, eager to take in the whole argument, and anxious to show their appreciation of the many good points.

Comrade Anderson was never in better form, and never before have the workers heard in such plain language the principles of Socialism. This evidently told, not only upon the audience, but upon Horn himself, for his last words were “It is quite true the emancipation of the workers must be the work of the working-class themselves.”

At the conclusion of the debate the meeting did not break up, but nearly the whole of the audience remained to listen to another address. The meeting commenced at 11 o’c. and closed at 2.30.

Another feature in Wood Green is that THE SOCIALIST STANDARD is going well, many people asking for the first and second numbers,

John Crump.

Carry On Up the SPGB. (1952)

Excuse my jokey self-indulgence but this wee notice from the back pages of the May 1952 issue of the Socialist Standard caught my eye. 

Of course a public political meeting in 1952 entitled "Sin & Sex" would have drawn in a bigger than usual crowd. I bet Fulham Branch didn't have to turn people away from their public meeting at the same venue the following week because of lack of space: that meeting was entitled "Geography and its Effects Upon History".

I also love that they retitled the "Sin & Sex" meeting to the more mundane "Socialism and Human Nature". That was one way of ensuring that the more prurient - but less political - proletarian didn't turn up for the follow up meeting. 

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: Stanley Killingbeck (1971)

Obituary from the February 1971 issue of the Socialist Standard

Our comrade Stanley Killingbeck of Westminster Branch has died accidentally as a result of a dental operation. Stan Killingbeck was 48 and had been a member since 1954. He worked in various parts of the country as a telephonist and always argued the Socialist case and sold Socialist literature. His help in the struggle for Socialism will be missed.

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.

Obituary: Syd Wilcox (2014)

Obituary from the June 2014 issue of the Socialist Standard

Syd, a long-standing member, died in April. He was born in Pimlico in west central London in 1925 and joined the old Paddington branch in December 1943 while still a teenager. After the war (in which he was a conscientious objector) he was active in the Fulham branch. Latterly he was a member and regular attender of West London branch and had only just been re-elected as one of the Party’s trustees. He had worked in various jobs, including as a professional  jazz musician, but ended running a successful antiques business in Fulham. When the ‘Ban the Bomb’ movement started in 1958 with the first Aldermaston March Syd took a minority position within the Party. While most members criticised CND for implicitly supporting ‘conventional’ weapons of war, Syd saw banning nuclear weapons as a step (of sorts) in the right direction. He was also moved by the plight of the Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli state.  A staunch socialist to the end, it was Syd who came up with ’everything free’ as a definition of socialism in as few words as possible. We extend our condolences to his family.

Party News Briefs (1951)

Party News from the December 1951 issue of the Socialist Standard

Reference was made in the November issue regarding the work being done by Party members during the recent General Election. Wherever possible branches made a special effort to get the literature distributed and to hold additional propaganda meetings during the three weeks of the campaign. S.W. London Branch report that on receiving the information from Head Office that 10,000 Socialist Standards and 50,000 Election Manifestos were to be disposed of, a call was sent to the Branch members asking them to take as many additional Standards as possible, also to assist in a door-to-door sales campaign and to attend other, political parties' propaganda meetings to sell our literature.

These ideas were put into effect with the result that a number of meetings were attended where our members put the Socialist point of view, our Election Manifestos were distributed and Socialist Standards sold.

Local trade union branches were canvassed by circular in order that a speaker could put the Socialist Case. Four of these were successful.

The greatest measure of success, however, was obtained in what the Branch believed to be the most effective means of Party propaganda, selling the Socialist Standard from door to door and this was the method used to dispose of the bulk of 37 dozen copies sold during the month.

A lot of new ground, as well as old, was covered during the literature drive and it should be emphasised to Branch members the need for as much of their time, effort and enthusiasm in the future in order to keep up this good work.

#    #    #    #

A number of interesting lectures and discussions are bang held by branches, and details of all of the December meetings are advertised on other pages of this issue.

In particular a public meeting is being held at Kensington Town Hall on Monday, December 17th. The local Conservative and Labour Party have been invited to oppose us from our platform.

Please make a special note of the time, date and place of this meeting and come along with friends, sympathisers and opponents.

#    #    #    #

Ealing and Paddington Branches are holding socials and dances during December, full details on other pages.

The first of a weekly series of Saturday night socials was held at Head Office (52, Clapham High Street) on November 10th. Nearly 100 members were present, music was provided by four members of Fulham Branch. Apart from being a happy evening the social provided the General Fund with £7 6s. 0d. by means of collection, raffle and canteen. These socials are being held every Saturday evening—please make a note and come along and enjoy yourselves.

The Socialist Standard subscription form is specially included in this issue in order that members and sympathisers do not forget to ensure a regular copy of the Socialist Standard during 1952. If you have already sent in your subscription form, why not treat a friend to a year’s subscription as a gift? It is an excellent way to introduce new readers to the Standard. If you know of sympathisers or friends who occasionally read a copy, why not ask them to be regular readers and get them to send in a subscription form.

At the same time please have a look at the list of pamphlets available and make sure that you have all of them in your possession, if not, all the pamphlets advertised can be obtained from the Literature Committee at Head Office.

Phyllis Howard

Obituary: Harry Clements (1979)

Obituary from the December 1979 issue of the Socialist Standard

Members will be saddened to hear of the death, in late September, of Harry Clements at the age of 76.

Harry joined the SPGB in 1947 and was a member of the old Fulham Branch, later transforming to West London (formerly Ealing) Branch. He had a friendly, out-going personality which he used to advantage to put over his deeply held socialist views. His work as a plumber enabled him to meet a cross-section of the working class and he took every opportunity which this gave him to get his ideas across; he was also a keen member of the Fulham Bowling Club and there were many animated discussions in the club-room started by Harry’s outspoken comments on capitalist society and the socialist alternative.

Our sympathy is extended to his wife Lill (as she was affectionately known to Harry’s friends) who joined him in the social functions of the Branch.

H.E.

Party News Briefs (1956)

Party News from the December 1956 issue of the Socialist Standard

Propaganda in London. On Sunday, November 18th, a well attended meeting was held at Denison House, Victoria. The subject—Suez and Hungary. Comrades D’Arcy and Read addressed the meeting, and there were good questions and discussion. This meeting had been arranged at short notice, and its success was largely due to the work put in by many Comrades. A further meeting was also held on Thursday, 22nd November, at Ealing Town Hall. The Ealing Branch members did most of the preparatory work, and details of the meeting will be in the January issue.

Fulham Branch organised a debate with the Independent Labour Party, Frank Maitland represented the I.L.P. and Comrade R. Coster represented the Party. The debate was held at Fulham Town Hall, and the audience numbered two hundred people.

#    #    #    #

October Sales Drive. Six branches took part in organising a special sales drive, and despite the fact that the number of outdoor meetings is less after the Summer, when sales usually fall, 5085 copies of the Socialist Standard were sold. The deficit on cost was reduced to £14 10s.

These sales drives could become a permanent feature of Party activity. The more Standards sold, the more successful our propaganda, also a reduction in the cost of producing them.

#    #    #    #

Wickford Branch. A correction in the News Briefs for November. The reference to the Provincial delegates should have read: " . . . the only Provincial delegation was from Birmingham, Southend and Wickford.” Sorry, Wickford Branch!

Ealing Branch are holding their Christmas Social at “The Ealing Park Tavern,” South Ealing Road (full details under Notices in this issue). Members are sure of a most enjoyable evening—book up with the Branch Secretary: E. T. Critchfield, 48, Balfour Road, W.13.

#    #    #    #

Hackney Branch. Members’ and sympathisers’ notice is drawn to the changed branch meeting venue—12, Mare Street, Hackney, E.8. Buses 6, 170, 555, 557, 106 and 653 pass the door. Branch meets Mondays at 8 p.m.

#    #    #    #

Meeting of Party Speakers. As the first two meetings proved so successful, it is hoped to arrange regular meetings. The last meeting of speakers was held on Monday, the 12th November. About 15 speakers and six non-speakers attended, and the discussion that took place—on the recent events in Hungary—was interesting and lively. Speakers exchanged information about the history of Hungary and recent events, and discussed interpretation of these events and methods of dealing with the matter on our propaganda platform.

Those who attended found the meeting of great interest, and it was agreed at the time that a further meeting would be called to discuss aspects of “Democracy.” This subject arose out of the discussion on Hungary and our attitude to workers who are struggling for democracy.

Phyllis Howard

From Our Branches. (1905)

Party News from the August 1905 issue of the Socialist Standard

Peckham.

Peckham and adjoining districts were once described officially as “a huge dormitory.” The observation contained more truth than it was intended to convey. To awaken the workers out of the slumber of hopeless apathy which capitalist politicians, aided by reformers and pseudo-Socialists, have induced, we of the Peckham Branch are advocating the principles of the near approaching social revolution, especially by insisting on the necessity of a clear recognition of the class-war, in working-class political action, in practice as well as in theory. If in the determined pursuit of the object we have before us we have been compelled to regard and to treat as opponents the speakers of the S.D.F., the I.L.P., and the L.R.C. or other persons aggrieved, let them understand that we never shall cease to oppose them so long as they continue to obscure the plain teaching of Socialism that the political ascendancy of the working-class is the prime condition of working-class emancipation, or even of the alleviation of the miseries suffered by the workers.

Meetings have been held at Elm Grove on Thursday evenings when speakers were available, otherwise we have attended the meetings of the local Trades and Labour Council, and effectively elucidated the class-war principle by means of questions and criticism. The meetings of the S.D.F. have also been attended with the same object, notwithstanding unsuccessful attempts in this quarter to prevent criticism by the S.P.G.B. “Let truth and error grapple” is evidently no motto of the S.D.F., or why should they be so particularly anxious to avoid opposition? At the Kenuington Triangle on Sunday mornings good meetings have been held. This spot must have persistent attention if the mischievous advocacy of nostrums, based on the assumption that the capitalist-class may be persuaded to legislate itself into political oblivion, is to be counteracted. No more fitting term than “impossiblism” could be applied to the wretched reform propaganda upheld by the S.D.F. speakers here. Large and successful meetings on Peckham Rye on Sunday evenings have to be recorded. The sustained interest shown at these gatherings proves how the straightforward exposition of revolutionary Socialism by our speakers is better understood than the delusive “palliation” propaganda.

On June 27th several members attended a lecture on Labour Representation by Mr. J. J. Stephenson (treasurer, L.R.C.). According to Mr. Stephenson, the election of Messrs. Crooks and Shackleton foreshadows the coming triumph of Labour in Parliament. Evidently conscious of his utter inability to meet the criticism offered, this protagonist of Labour evaded the points raised by deliberately bantering and irritating those who disagreed with him. We have publicly challenged Mr. Stephenson to debate, under conditions in which his discreditable tactics will not enable him to conceal the significance of facts or to ignore the soundness of Socialist principles.

The mass meetings of Sunday, June 18, on the Rye, addressed by Anderson, Belsey, and Lehane, were highly successful. About 800 persons attended the evening meeting, which was justly described in the Dulwich Post as “one of the best Socialist meetings ever held to our recollection.” The report referred to concludes: “So finished one of the most intellectual treats we have ever had to listen to from young men supposed to be in a hurry. These young workmen are in earnest.”

Indeed, we are in a hurry; we are m a hurry because we are in earnest.

W. G. Killick

Islington.

In Finsbury Park “the happy hunting ground of quack theorists and freak showmen, ranging from the riddlers of perpetualism to the riddlers of Sissle, Frissle and Fryers of the soul in torment,” we have carried on our propaganda of discontent with and revolt against wage-slavery and capitalist profit-squeezing. Whilst having opposition from and debate with representatives of both Liberal and Tory tricksters, we have practically given the “order of the boot” to those pseudo-Socialists, who, after many years of vain effort, have had to quit the field. All the capitalist champions and political fakers have strutted up nobly week after week to defend their “honorable” and ''religious” system of pauper-making, and to quash this (small?) party of straight hitters and straight thinkers. We are desirous not so much of vanquishing our platform opponents, as to win the working-class by logic, reason, and common sense to a consciousness of their position in this class-struggle, and eventually to swell the ranks of the S.P.G.B. “The harvest is great and the labourers are few.”

Our audiences have ranged from 200 to 800 in Finsbury Park, while the interest manifested at our Wednesday night meetings at Highbury corner, gives us great encouragement. Other branches please note that our one endeavour is to be the strongest branch of the Party, both numerically and financially, and to capture the “Northern Heights” of London for Socialism and the S.P.G.B.

"Forward."

Watford.

In reply to numerous enquiries (kind and otherwise) I beg to state that Watford stands pretty much where it did and the Watford Branch is moderately well, thank you. Not very strong, perhaps, as men count strength (i.e., by the number of heads that can be paraded), but strong enough to keep in good evidence through the medium of public meetings of our own and others, — the latter providing us with opportunity for awkward question asking, of which we gladly avail ourselves. Indeed, so awkward do these questions appear to be that speakers on platforms which were once claimed to be “free,” are fearful of dealing with them (although they are intimately connected with the subject matter of their addresses) preferring rather to take the damaging course of refusing to answer. Thus it will interest many to know that Mr. Daniel Irving, S.D.F., declined to reply on the ground that he knew the questioner (who happened to be Comrade Fitzgerald) so that we were reduced to fetching a platform of our own out and addressing a large audience from that. Mr. Glossop, S.D.F., questioned on the subject of the help his organisation has given to capitalist candidates, replied that he was prepared to support “Masterman, Dan Leno, or any other fool against a scoundrel like Rutherfoord Harris.” Thereafter, with the connivance of his chairman (a local character afflicted with hysteria) he declined to deal with the matter further, or to our discuss in public the unhappy position to  which his organisation has brought itself, notwithstanding that he was appealing to his audience to join that organisation. They do not, they say, propose to wash their dirty linen in public, failing to see that a public organisation can wash its dirty linen in private only at the expense of any reputation for honesty and straight forwardness they may have, and failing to understand that the statement involved the admission of the dirty linen's existence, which hitherto they have been concerned to strenuously deny.

However, the editorial injunction (forcefully imposed) is that brevity should be the first law of branch reporters. Therefore I cannot give further incidents of the position here. But space may be allowed me to say that whatever our numerical strength may be, we can he relied upon to the last man to carry on the fight against capitalism and its supporters—cynical or sycophantic, conscious or unconscious — to the best of our ability.

Ess. Rationis.

Wood Green

Without a doubt the past two months have been marked by earnest hard work so far as propaganda is concerned. Our usual meeting place — Jolly Butcher’s Hill — has witnessed some really good enthusiastic gatherings. The way our Party speakers encourage questions and opposition is highly appreciated, and has been taken full advantage of. The latest development of the Branch activity is the opening up of meetings on Friday night at High St.. Hornsey, which, so far, are a notable success. Our paper and the Manifesto sell readily, the first issue of the latter having already been disposed of.

In concluding this very brief report we record the satisfaction we have, in common with our comrades in other parts, in seeing the worker waking up to his true interest, and surely beginning to understand the hopelessness of the old capitalist political parties, and all those sections that are dragging at their tail. Our confident hope is that our Party membership will be considerably increased in the near future from this district.

John Crump

Fulham.

Although we have not reported for the last few months, it is not because of dry-rot by any manner of means. We have had some splendid meetings, our ordinary audience several times outnumbering the attendance at the mass meetings of other bodies claiming to be Socialist. Our straight propaganda, our keen criticism of the local “Labour” party, combined with an outspoken attitude on Trade Unionism, is beginning to tell. The sales of The Socialist Standard have increased and a large number of Manifestoes have been disposed of. Our progress is slow but sure. We believe in making Socialists first and members afterwards. We hope by the time the propaganda season is over that we shall show an increased membership. Our Economic Class, though small, is regularly attended, and the knowledge gained is sure to be valuable to the Comrades attending.

E. J. B. Allen

West Ham.

We have had a lively month in West Ham, winding up with a visit from that promising young comrade, Dick Kent, who told us that he could not speak, and straightway got up on the platform and made himself out the biggest fabricator of the truth in the party. Keep a watch on this young man, Mr. Lecture Secretary; send him out into the highways and byeways. We are getting considerable opposition now, and needless to say we regard this as a most valuable aid to us in our work, and we are nursing it and nurturing it with tenderest care and affection. Efforts are being made (not by us) to organise this opposition, and if these efforts are successful, “That will be Glory—” We have lately had two striking illustrations of the internationally fraternising power of the Socialist Movement. A short time ago a comrade from Poland, a member of the Polish Socialist Party, claimed the fraternal handshake and greeting. He understood very little English, but he understood that Socialism breaks down all national pride and prejudice, jealousy and hatred, that our platform is a barricade erected against the enemy that drove him out of his own country, and does not cease to grind his face in this, and that all are brothers in arms who march and serve faithfully under the red flag. It was sufficient for him that we are doing that, and for us that he was doing that, even if we could not understand a word of each other’s tongue. The second instance occurred on the last Sunday in the month, at Forest Gate, when a young fellow came forward and said “I’m an American, and I’m a Socialist.” “Shake!” says one comrade, “All round” says another, and all round it was. The new chum is a cowboy from the place that is said to be separated from hell by a sheet of brown paper, and he says he might feel “prutty wal at home en London ef ther durn brown paper edn’t took fire.” He was constrained to speak to us because he found us, to put it in his lurid language, "goin' fer it bull-headed en buck-eyed.” which linguistic caper from the Wild West is not altogether unintelligible even in prosaic West Ham. The wild and woolly one has had our position made clear to him, and he seems anxious to ”take a hand in the great ‘round up.’ ” Having got the East Ham Branch into working order, we are leaving them to their own resources what time we look round for new worlds to conquer. We have put aside the spade and are taking a steam plough to the virgin soil at Leytonstone and Woodford. There is good prospect of our being established in both these places by the end of the present season.

A. E. Jacomb

P S. Does any branch want that spade?

Obituary: Ken Smith (2012)

Obituary from the August 2012 issue of the Socialist Standard

We are saddened to have to report the death in June of comrade Ken Smith in Cheltenham at the age of 89. Ken first joined the Socialist Party in London in 1944 after moving in anarchist anti-war circles. He had been conscripted but, in his own words, “was invited to leave the Army after twelve-month’s service and a jail sentence for mutiny.” He worked at various jobs and ran a number of businesses. (He was a pioneer of Sunday trading when it was not yet legal).

Over the years Ken was in and out of the Party for various reasons, including a period when he lived in France. In the 1940s and 1950s he was active in the old Fulham branch. Thirty years later he was in Bristol branch and hosted a number of Party Summer Schools in his place at Stow Hill in Gloucestershire, the part of the country he hailed from.

In retirement, he published two books Free is Cheaper (1988) and The Survival of the Weakest (1994). He also wrote for the Socialist Standard. Free is Cheaper is an attack on the waste of the market system, making the case that a socialist society, in which there would be no need for money, would use up much fewer resources. Its claim in passing that capitalism was not a necessary historical development raised some eyebrows but, then, Ken was anything but conventional. His other, less successful book argued that the agent for the change to socialism would not be, as traditionally assumed, the working-class movement but rather the Green and environmentalist movement.

From Our Branches. (1905)

Party News from the May 1905 issue of the Socialist Standard

Wood Green.

It is some time since a report from this branch has appeared in The Socialist Standard, but that does not mean that we have been idle by any means. In addition to our ordinary outdoor propaganda, which we have kept on all through the winter, except when the weather positively refused to allow us, we have entered upon a new departure in the direction of indoor discussions. To these we specially invite men outside our organisation, and purposely go so far as to import opposition. Not only does this seem a useful means of assisting in crystallising our more general propaganda outside, but is a necessary educational force for our members. A comrade's education, it seems to us, should not cease when be joins us, on the contrary, it is but just beginning. To this end then one of us opens a discussion on some aspect of the Socialist position, and the discussion which follows is a powerful means of developing young speakers in addition to its educational qualities. With regard to our outdoor propaganda, one is forcibly reminded of the truth of the assertion that the outer ring of London's suburbs are its dormitories, whose inhabitants only go there to sleep, for apathy and indifference are the characteristics of this huge sleeping-chamber. A revival is certainly needed here, and it shall be supplied by a strong and vigorous Socialist propaganda on right lines during the coming season, when a determined effort will be made to rouse the proletariat of Wood Green to a due consciousness of its true position.—Dick Kent.

Paddington.

Since our last report we are able to report progress. A steady and persistent propaganda has been maintained and carried on throughout the winter. The meetings are generally well attended by members of the working-class, and a keen interest is shown in the sound and uncompromising declaration of our principles. If this is continued we shall no doubt considerably increase our membership. The Socialist Standard has been selling very freely of late, due to a large extent to our energetic Librarian, Comrade Hutchins, who attends all the public meetings that come under his notice and disposes of a large number of copies. The current number contains the address of our Librarian, so readers in West London will be able to obtain our paper by sending him a postcard. We have several embryonic speakers in the Branch whom we hope to develop so that they may be able to render greater assistance in propaganda work.

The root of the bogus Socialists in our locality seems to be complete, at any rate they give no sign of their existence. The spread of Socialist enlightenment must, we are confident, convince the working-class of the hopelessness of their position under capitalism. The task we have set ourselves is the education and organisation of the proletariat, and we look forward to the coming season with confidence.—T. W. Allen.

Fulham.

During the last two months we have carried on our Wednesday night meetings at Fulham Cross when the weather would permit, and by distribution of specimen copies of The Socialist Standard and in other ways have kept Socialism under public notice. Local labour councillors (I had almost said fakirs) have been challenged to debate, but although, or perhaps because, one councillor and one guardian are members of the S.D.F., they have been afraid to accept this challenge. Yet one of these gentlemen makes a terrible fuss when a parson declines a debate with him.

According to Justice, T. Wall, who stood for the Borough Council recently, was the S.D.F. and Labour candidate. But none of his posters indicated his connection with the S.D.F., or even made it clear that he was supposed to be a Socialist. He was simply the "Labour Candidate." However, this is a small matter when one knows that the S.D.F. was affiliated to the local L.R.C., and did not protest when that body pledged itself to support two Progressive aldermen in 1903 in return for support of a "Labour” man.

But though Wall had the Irish vote he did not get in, which, the glowing report in Justice, notwithstanding, is very significant, because the Nationalists voted Progressive at last election.

Our Branch has had the compliment paid of being responsible for the defeat of the "Labour” candidate. I hope we deserve it. Meetings were run showing the real Socialist position, and a few questions were asked through the local Press.

Though small in number we are doing sufficient to cause a flutter in the Socialist-cum-Labour-cum-Liberal dove-cote, and so far we have progressed to the extent of getting ourselves well disliked by showing up some of the games of the alleged Socialist and Labour bodies, so we must be doing good. An increase in the membership and an enlarged circulation of regular subscribers to the Standard are some of the results of our winter's work.—E. J. B. Allen.

Battersea.

The Red Flag is still flying in Battersea, and our meetings during the winter months in Sydney Hall and other places have been successful. On the average we have sold between 8 and 9 quires of The Socialist Standard each month. We have made since the Party started thirteen new members. Our Economic Class has been well attended, and through it our members have been equipped for a more effective fight against working-class ignorance and apathy. We are now looking forward to the time when we can commence operations on a wider scale outdoors. We have no fear as to future of The Socialist Party of Great Britain in Battersea. Our members are fighting all the different sections of the capitalist-class, and echo with enthusiasm Comrade Lehane's word—"Onward! ”

Press Committee.