BRITISH LABOR PLATFORM MAKES SOCIALISM THE ISSUE
British Labor Platform Makes Socialism The Issue Arms Parley Gets Demand Of Socialists Interest Aroused by International Stirs British Torv to Outburst of 0 Protest IB? » Mew...
...Unlike other parties," says former Premier Ramsay MacDonald, "the Labor Party is not concerned with patching the rents in a bad system but with transforming...
...It needs the support of public opinion, of the active will of the peoples...
...capitalism into Socialism...
...Churchill, concluded Mr...
...If its opponents care to rehearse once more a time-honored fiction in which even the most ignorant of them no longer believe, j they are welcome to such tainted profits as mendacity can bring to i their bankrupt exchequer...
...De Brouekere (Belgium), Renaudel (France) and Wei* (Germany) went to Geneve, where they were received by Mr...
...If given power It will establish a national economic committee to advise the Government on economic policy, a national development of national resources and a commission to prepare a scheme for the reconstruction of the cotton industry...
...This was indeed a masterly speech of Mr...
...WDLEXSB forgive the bunk," is tbe ¦*¦ substance of the British Labor's Party's declaration On Freedom of the 3*as, addressed primarily to the Amerclan people, in a booklet sent to The New Leader by Arthur Henderson, secretary of the party...
...To readjust taxation in such a | * way as to secure that due provi- j sion is made for the maintenance and improvement of the material apparatus of industry and that sur- j pluses created by social effort „ shall j jbe applied by society for the good of...
...and although rules for the polite conduct of desperate men may on occasion mitigate the beastliness of war, they are always liable, when violence is let loose, to be treated as scraps of paper...
...Nationalization Is Proposed ~ To establish peace, freedom and "^justice by removing from among the nations the root causes of international disputes, by conciliation and arbitration, by renouncing war as an instrument of national policy, by disarmament, by political and economic co-operation through the League of Mations and by mutual agreements with states which are not members of the League...
...Only with the final abolition of all private national wars will freedom of the seas ever be fully realised, is the contention...
...Churchill's Interjected comments and his exchanges of remarks with colleagues that Mr...
...London replied' "You speak m the asms of one of the greatest labor associations in the waked...
...your incessant labor, and your influence as its powerful auxiliaries...
...How can we avoid coming to the conclusion that it is political reasons which now prevent the realization of the necessary agreement of those of food wliL Mr...
...Snowden felt bound to protest...
...Free The Seas?'Yes,' Says British Labor...
...Labor's policy is that established peace is the only assurance that a nation can have that it is secure against the menace of other nations...
...citation from Mr...
...Churchill apologized tor incommoding his crlUc...
...The Labor Party is therefore sceptical as to the value of any attempt to codify the rules of private war...
...By his return to the gold standard he had raised the cost of Treasury bonds and had so lowered the national credit that it was impossible for him to convert with any saving to tbe State...
...More correctly the Labor Party stands for transfer to public ownership of coal, transport, power, life insurance and land...
...MacDonald appears as a foreword, adds: The Labor Party, since it holds that creed, is a Socialist Party...
...Snowden Tears Churchill's Tory Budget to Shreds (Br » New LeiSrr CarrespanScat) J LONDON.—In little more than half the time that Winston Churchill took to present the Budget and build up his defence of his own financial record, Philip' Snowden carefully dissected the whole, scheme, retold the story of Churchillian finance, and exhibited the "bribery budget" as all of a piece with the five years of a profligate career at the Treasury...
...The party is essentially one of action...
...I have a striking pi oof of this in the very large number of letters which I have received for several past weeks in my capacity as Chairman of your Commission...
...It will, in its own words, use its power: 1 To secure to every member of -"••the community the standards of life and employment necessary to a healthy, independent and self-respecting existence...
...Our task Is difficult, our task will be a long one...
...3. Increase of the death dues on large estates...
...So marked has been the Interest stirred tip ay the Socialist International, that Lord Cushendun, head of the British delegation, could not suppress an expression of resentment against what he termed "interference" of "non-official organisation...
...he had reduced the benefits for unemployment...
...In the name of the deputation De Brouekere declared: "We come to draw your sympathetic attention to the thousands and thousands of petitions which have been sent to you from an corners of the world...
...and in addition he had appropriated £24,000,000 a year of the ordinary revenue from taxation...
...It believes that if the attempt is made, the negotiators are likely either to quarrel over a problem which is In truth Incapable of satisfactory solution, or else to reach a worthless and Illusory agreement...
...In the opening session of the Commission, the President referred to the communications received from workers' organxatioas, in which public opinion makes Itself known in a very satisfactory manner...
...It asks for power in order to lay the foundations of a new social order and to relieve immediate distress...
...It goes on: "The Labor Party is concerned with grave realities, not with picturesque fairy tales...
...To become a potent principle, tt Is asserted, freedom cf the seas must be built upon a substantial groundwork...
...It bears a foreword by Ramsay McDonald, former Labor Premier, in which he stresses the Interest that the United States has always had In this problem...
...He demanded measures by which the commission should be excused from the reception of communications from unofficial sources...
...We hold that the development and the codification of international law should be made on the assumption that private war and private blockade...
...Mew Ciiliimtwll ENr.VA...
...We ask you to believe, Mr...
...all...
...Instead of being a legitimate exercise of national sovereignty, Is an international crime...
...Pubor attention rivet ted on' the preparatory disarmament con-j ferenee through the efforts erf the Soct-I aiiat and L*bor International has tnade j (orernmaBtal representatives- here con-j actoua of the neeessitr of taking some' effective steps...
...A communication read by Mr...
...Reaffirmation of devotion to this bankrupt principle by the great nations of the world, the Labor Party holds, is almost meaningless, since such lofty pretenses break down under the stress of war...
...Snowden, to ringing Labor cheers, would leave a legacy of very bad Inheritance to whoever succeeded him...
...The statement concludes: "The Labor Party stands for the complete renunciation of the right of private war and private blockade.' "We stand for the full acceptance of the new doctrine of Freedom of the Seas, Le, that the high seas should only be closed by International agreement for the enforcement of International covenants...
...Is any good purpose likely to be served," the thesis asks, "by renewing attempts to devise rules tor private war...
...If a state begins a private war, Labor does not admit that any of its belligerent practices are legitimate...
...and maintenance during unemploy-: ment, in the absence of which the in- j dividual is the sport of * economic , chance and the slave of bis environ-, ment...
...We stand -for loyal and effective cooperation in tbe League's sanctions against a State which resorts to war in breach of Its covenant...
...hailed with relief by people of all parties and all who had some regard for sound and just taxation and for honest finance...
...His dismissal from the stewardship that he had abused would be...
...In each maritime war each country's standpoint has changed according as It happened to be a neutral wanting to trade, a belligerent wanting to cut off Its enemy's supplies, or a belligerent wanting to be supplied...
...With a view to stabilizing prices it proposes to transfer the import of meat Into a public service administered by an import board appointed by the Ministry of Agriculture or by the Board of Trade...
...The futility of teaching "mad dogs" polite behavior, or rules of war, is also tersely deplored...
...Loudon from the International Aviators' League gave the British representative...
...The Socialist program provided for the deputation, which consisted of Albaxda (Honend...
...Governments, hampered by political considerations, cannot possibly do all that we feel that mankind, crushed by the bloody and devastating conflict ten years ago requires of them...
...What disconcerts public opinion is that precisely since the discovery of these methods the work appears to have ceased...
...he had robbed the soldiers and sailors of their sick and disablement fund...
...will of the peoples to stimulate the s-tton of Governments with a view to real reduction and limitation of armaments...
...Thus in direct and simple language, the British Labor Party has made Socialism and nationalisation the issue in the British general election...
...Standing as it does for the complete renunciation of the right of private war and private blockade, the Labor Party is little Interested In the labelling of this or that practice of private war as legal or illegal...
...Lord Cushendun, the excuse to demonstrate publicly his displeasure at the action of the International...
...Free It From Bunk', Official Labor Party Declaration Hits at Hypocrisy of Empty Tory Mouthings, Demanding Outlawry- of Private Wars—Doubts Value of "Rules" on Warfare...
...Five General Planks The Labor Party proposes to advance to the establishment of the Socialist Commonwealth along five roads...
...It was the swan-song of the British delegatr to the Preparatory Disarmament Commission, who if the elections In Great Britain fulfil the hopes reposed In them, will not be able to function any longer ts the representative of Great Britain...
...A full Bouse followed it closely, tbe Labor party, from the ringing cheers with which it greeted the rising of its champion to bis closing words, heard it with delight, and the Chancellor was only too obviously perturbed and Irritated...
...In its financial policy it stands for 1. Progressive reduction of expenditure on armaments...
...Labor is represented as standing "for the unqualified renunciation of war and of blockade as a private weapon...
...So constant were Mr...
...Its numerous studies, those of its subeommjasfcma and of its committees, if they have not led to agreement among all the experts, have at least proved that ¦disarmament is technically possible and thstsponrreta and precise methods exist permitting it to be brought to a successful issue...
...Fully 7,000 petitions from literally millions of workers demanding disarmament stare the conference in the face...
...Party Wants Govt.toTake Over Mining Nationalization of Power, Railroads and La n d Would Also Be Among First Steps (Br a Ntw leader Oomspaadeat) LONDON.—"The Labor Party is a Socialist Party...
...It believes that, in so far as we continue to claim license to close the common sea-ways for our private ends, we antagonize America and the rest of the world and impede progress towards all-in arbitration, cooperative security and radical disarmament...
...Without these...
...It will never be fully achieved the Labor Party booklet declares, until the nations of the world determine to ;urb the belligerents in private wars and proclaim the right of neutrals...
...American policy as regards privateering, British policy as regards contraband, are but two amongst the many examples of a total reversal of national policy within the space of a few years...
...MacDonald Writes Foreword The booklet is an official pronouncement on the question and the most comprehensive ever issued by a British political party...
...His swan-song was as unpleasant as bis other activities on the Disarmament Commission...
...and the attitude of every Government toward such a code must be determined by calculation of the Incalculable—calculations liable to be falsified by every change in the grouping of private enemies and4n the technique of destruction...
...A pamphlet issued by Labor beadquarters In definition of the party's aims, in which the foregoing...
...These letters come mainly from Labor organizations in different countries, some of them representing not thousands but millions of persons...
...He had raided every national reserve...
...your Commission have not been expended in vain...
...Snowden proceeded to a final summing up of the five years' story of Churchillian finance...
...tiva governments represented and in favor of the parties affiliated with thaj International prominent among which are j the British and Belgian labor parties soon to enter general elections in their respective countries...
...TUm morning, one* stein, you nsssd me mentfcm the mine I attached to the tm.naotnily strong and widespread manifestation of th...
...Moreover, even if the rules of private war could be based on stable foundations, they could only represent an unstable compromise between Interests diametrically opposed...
...Snowden's—close-knit ia Its argument, sharp in its invective, restful and confident in its tone...
...On the other hand President Loudon, presiding over the sessions, ignored the Cosheodun outburst and1 praised the activities of the International, referring to It as "one of the greatest labor associations in the world...
...President, that the petitioners do not fail to appreciate the difficulties of the task...
...It stands for control of the Bank of England by a public corporation, including a representative of the Treasury, the Board of Trade, industry, labor and the co-operative movement and the management of co-operative and municipal banking...
...he had taken away the thrift savings of National Health...
...o To convert industry, step by step, * and with due regard to the special needs and varying circumstances of different occupations, from a sordid j struggle for private gain into a co-op- i erative undertaking, carried on for 1 the service of the community and I under its control...
...He had Imposed more new taxation than any Chancellor In the last 20 years...
...The pamphlet derides the "Red bogey" of skull and crossbones, clanking chains and bloody daggers...
...Failure to do this is: certain to react immediately and tre-i mendously against the various conserve...
...All this is logically a part of Labqr's policy of all-in Arbitration, pooled security, and disarmament to the level strictly required for the maintenance of order...
...he had cleared out the Road Fund of £20.000.000...
...j o To extend widely and rapidly j * those forms of social provision, j namely, education, public health, housing, pensions, the care of the sick...
...it regards that State as committing a crime against the community ol nations...
...Prosperity in Boston Hoover prosperity replacing the Coolidge brand means that Boston is spending $76,000 more for the family of the unemployed and that the total for 1929 may run to $300,000...
...It would take years of careful husbanding to bring back national finances to a condition of stability...
...Spektkal on Boles for Warfare "Any code of rules' for private war must, of necessity, be based on shifting foundations...
...Certainly the efforts of...
...Freedom of the Seas, forwarded by the British Labor Party as a principle dear to tbe heart of the American people, has for many years remained an illusory ideal...
...Loudon on the afternoon of the 15th of April...
...5. Establishment of an additional graduated surtax on incomes from property of over $2,500 per annum, 6. The taxation of land values...
...2. Abolition of taxes on the necessities of life and of protective duties...
...4. Further graduation Of income tax so as to relieve the smaller and increase the contributions from the larger incomes...
...Be pointed to a table behind him, on which the many thousands of petitions from the organizations of the L. S. I. heaped themselves up into a mountain, and said: "Public opinion la becoming impatient, and Justly so...
...Continue to stimulate the action of governments and allow me to tell you that the Preparatory Commission will very rightly consider you...
...By the Chancellor's first Budget he squandered a surplus be inherited by lavish gifts to his own friends, and In every succeeding budget he had imposed new taxation or Increased the old taxation...
...Its aim is the reorganization of industry and the administration of the wealth which that industry produces in the interest not of the small minority (less than 10 per cent of the population) who own the greater part of the land, the plants and the equipment without access to which their fellow countrymen can neither work nor live, but of all who bring their contribution of useful service to tbe common stock...
...Boldly and frankly confessing the speciousness of previous British declarations on the subject of freedom of the seas, tbe booklet recounts different Incidents in the recent world war in which that principle was bankrupted by combatants who overstepped the rights of neutral shipping...
...PesiUon Is Summarised The Tory position that the British Empire must "keep open the paths across the ocean," is "debunked" by tbe Labor Party with the interpretation that the Tories would reserve the right not only "to keep open," but also to close the paths of commerce...
...From a contemptuous analysis of the new Budget proposals as a taking of the taxpayer's money for the Tory election campaign, Mr...
...The bunk," for which apology is made, refers to smug declarations on the subject Issued by different conservative and liberal governments of Great Britain...
...And the reply is given, "The Labor Party does not think so...
...it must stand solidly immune against the melting passions of war...
Vol. 8 • May 1929 • No. 16
