Led by Discredited Men wit No Policy: Many Workers Turning to Liberalism By Our Lanour Manchester, Oct, 9.
Despite all the publicity the press has given it, the 27th annual conference of: the Labour Party only mildly has Interested the general, public in' Great Brits The Labour leaders now are discredited men who are known to have no Policy, litre courage, and very Vimited mental attainments. realised thut their chance of achiev ing political power depends entirely on the mistakes and shortcomings gf, their political opponents. They! liffer no constructive policy to the electorate for national betterment find they pour cold water on all aspirations for an immediate improvement in social conditions. The clumsiest of tactics for the winning of trifling political plouts over their opponents has taken th place of all the generous if imposible idealisms and utopian dreams of the past. Twenty years ago Labour was winning its thousands of young converts with the dream of building @ new social order in the immediate future, and its preachers had the passion of early vangrlists, Our pedantic Scotish Tender with his "inevitability of gradualness" and his "continuity of foreign policy" has successfully damped all that curly fire down, To-day the rank and file axe more pathetic than ever before, and the Tenders devote the whole of their fgnergies to putting the worst Possible construction on the words ud actions of those who disagree with them, The three existing varieties of Labour spokesmen and publicists were all represented at this year's conference in Blackpool.
The first) and most predominant clement was fast rowing, eton of Labou lerahip that is Liberal-Labour in ita attitude and " aspirations. It ants to quietly drop Socialism and
Incrically weaker Liberal party.
also wants to shed all its old working alliance with 8 Zovolutionary elements into a discredited Communist party and beoine as T spectable and orthodox 19 one of the older political purties.
\couraging amicable relations employers and their convinced that, with ud-take, the existing Inst for another generation. Its Prominent spokesmen are Clyne Snowden, 'Thomas, Bevin, Hender-fon, Cramp; and' this year' ference chairman, Mr. F. 0. Roberts, v., of the Typographical Union, "Mr. MacDonald always has been too astute openly to associate himself with the Industrial Alliance section of the Labour Party, but he chooses all hi personal friends dram its partisans, The Contradictionists 'The second and contre section of Labour leadership represented at' the conference was the LIP. Its Tenders, (Brailsford, Brockway, Lansbury, Maxton, Ellen Wilkinson, and Oswald Mosley) want to make: the best of both worlds. In the fame breath they denounce the existing capitalist system for its hutter inability to provide a decent Rtandard of living for everyone, and at the same time assert that immediately could pay ani Adequate living wage to everyone until we get Socialism, No more curious contradiction "exists in politics to-day. All its periodicals: Rud spokesman daily denounce the capitalists as grasping villains who could put an end to poverty to-day by disgorging some of their ill-then calmly go Jgm is it possible to abolish the evil poverty.
The smallest, but not the least Nociferous clement at the confer-fence was the Communist party. Its! representatives were only there be-Rouse.the Labour Party has to accept any representative its affliattrade unions care to send. Mr.
Hitt is its chief spokesman and the conference provides him with annual opportunity to expose magical attitude of the LIP. spokesmen, and to tease the Right Wing leaders into making statements that can be exploited to their disadvantage in the Communist periodicals, Small Chance at Election The student of polities is able to get some idea from the conference of the chanees Labour has to wi office at the next General Election. Taking all things into consideration jwe should say the chances were amall. There will be a change over {in seats, but it will be the Liberal party that will benefit, All the indications point to the Consorvatives being able to retain a small majority over the Liberals and Labour combined. The private ses sion dealing with the finances proved a depressing affa to the delegates, Not only was there very little money in hand to fight the next General Election, there was also a general realization that party feeling among potential contributors ws at zero and that it long as organized Labour' thought that it might get some tangible return for the money it ut into the political fund, it was vitubility of gradualness.
Labour will have little money at the next election to make poster capital out of the anti-working-class legislation of the Baldwin Govei ment.
The Chairmai was noteworthy by ranson of its fierce attack on the Minority movement. The latter is the name given to the extreme Left Wing move-cit, which is inspired and directed by the Communists here. "Among other charges, Mx. Roberts accused them of undermining confidence in the existing responsible Labour if Mr, Roberts wus a in_contact with the ordinary organized workman, he Would know much better than this. The most biting of our, existing Labour leadership comes from those trade unionists who take little interest in polit shave heard of the ment. Their first contact with our leaders occurred during the great strike and after that was finished there was little in the way of their: reputation for the Minority or any other movement to destroy. It is) this type of worker who is going to vote Liberal at the next election.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.