The President of the Congress was Mr. Arthur Pugh, He is a member of the Trade "Union Gen ere] Council which was. primarily responsible for the General Strike, and 12 months ago he was cone sidered a bold leader of the left wing of the labour movement. Since that historic event he has been exceptionally prominent in opposing fan inquiry into the way it was planned and carried through. His presidential address was a marvel of ingenuity in its skilful avoidance of controversial issues within. the movement. It opened by pointing out that the Government had now thrown over all pretence of sympathy with the policy of shorter hours by passing the Miner's Eighe Hours Bill and trying to escape the obligation of honouring the sivnature of Great Britain to the Washington Eight Hours He blamed the Gi fulfilment of its of reconstruction as the immediate cause of the General Strike. The mining dispute was but the climax to this, in his opinion. There would be a little more point in this reayasonable criticism if it were not tre that Labour has since had spell in office in which it achieved Bittle more.in the way of reconetruetion: than the political parties it is 30 prone to criticise. From this Mr. Pugh went on to attack the Government for its proposed interference with the trade unions. But hhis most revealing allusion to the Yone topic of interest to the delegates was his statement that "this Congress does not meet in any mood of penitence or with consciousness of defeat delegate in the hall was aware, this was the merest face saving rhetoric. The "mood of penitence" was the predominant mood of all the erstwhile left wing leaders who were led away by the bold resolutions of the last Congress, and "the consciousness of defeat" brooded over the whole Congress from the first day of its deliber ions to the last. One delegate Miss Ellen Wilkinson, fused to be satisfied with the President's platitudes. Why, she asked, was it that the General Council had tried to get the miners t accept lower wages if it wa: against the spurious' remedy of lower wages." The disconcerted President escaped from the quand-jary by promising to give her an opportunity to air the question Inter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.