The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-02-12
LabOrites Have Been Active in England for Past
 Six Years
PROGRAMME WILL BE
 MORE EXTENSIVE
Have Enacted Trades Disputes Act, an Act to Provide for Feeding of School Children-COmpen-
 sation Act and Others

| London. February 11.-Since the liberal party returned 10 power in 1905 and par | tcuarly since it has depended for it's political life on the support of the labor and nationalists parties, more legislation of the kind advocated by trades unions has been acted than in any similar pe- | riod in the history of the country. Still | labor, or at least. the independent labor party which is largely dominated by the | socialists, is not satisfied and has ar | ranged a programme which as last years president of the party, Ben Turner. ad-
 mtted, contains expectations much great CT than the possibilities.
 Lacks Numerical Strength l Mr, Turner said that the party had
 rot done all that 1t should have done. l the fault lying in the fact that 1t lacked | numerical strength, It's business now Is, | he added. to make 1t the dominating.
 controlling. guiding and ruling party of | the state
 | In the last few years the laborltes have enacted Into the acts of parliament | the trades disputes act which permits
 peaceful picketing during strikes; an act
 
 dren; the compensation act, which pro-
 vides for the payment of persons in- Jured while at work; a fuller adoption of the fair trades resolution, which makes obligatory the payment by government contractors of the union rate of wages: an improvement in the position of the workers in the government dock yards. the provision of work for the unem- ployed; the old age pensions bill: the payment of members of parliament which relieves the trades unions of the payment of members who represent their inter- ests in the House; the establishment of labor bureaus, where men and women in search of work may register and be supplied with information as to work obtainable and insurance against illness and unemployment, which bill, although l It does not meet altogether with tine apeteNef ef the tradsS uniaus, has t3sn
 accepted With the Understanding that an
 effort will be made 10 improve it. Future Plans For the immediate future the parties platform contains blanks looking to tho further improvement of the conditions or labor a right to work bill, that Is a law making it obligatory upon the government to provide work for those desiring it; the abolition of night work as far as possible; a land policy, which would place the workers on the land un- til the standardization of land has been aecomplished the standardization of rail- ways and mines, and bills for the ini- proVement of the housing of working men.
 The members of the party are bend- Ing their efforts 10 secure legisla ton re- versing the Osborne judgment that trades pOI1ll haf. funds to the support Of the labor party. IL has been suggested that the party should make the support of this measure the price of their support of home rule. 1 that an alliance should he formed be-
 tween the laborites and natlonaists look ing to the passage of home rule and bill 10 reverse this judgment. Opinions Differ i On the extension of the franchise there | is a wide difference of opinion among 1 the leaders. At a recent conference tho | delegates from the miners federation let l it be known that they would be satis- | fled with the bill to be introduced by | the prime minister granting manhood sui | frage. As the miners form nearly haif | the membership of the party this deci- ! sion caused somewhat of a sensation. but | not such great one as speech by l Phillip Snowden, the socialist member | for Blackburn. who told the conference | buntly that there was mo demand for
 the extension of the suffrage to unen- | rolled men and that there were more
 votes for men than there were men who | could intelligently use their votes The motion was not passed. so that the party | Is officially Tn favor of womans suf- frage, although nearly half it's members ship is against it.
 Socialists Encouraged The industrial unrest of last year ro. suited in great numbers of workers ioin- ing trade unions and socialist bodies Further impetus was given to the move- ment by the success of the socialists in Germany whom the Englishmen are now hoping to emulate The propagandists are busy in the country rallying men to the unions and threatening strikes unless non-unionists are prevented from work ing side by side with trades unionisis
 Two labor daily papers are about to make their appearance. One. the Daily Herald. is to take the place of the Morn ing Leader which Is to be amalgamated with the Daily News. The other is 10 be the Daily Citizen and it will be the official organ of the party fund of
 T50,00o Is being raised to make start and the party has subscribed s3o000 to- wards this
 The leaders have set themselves to the task of increasing the labor representa- ton in the house of commons from 42 to 142 and with this concrete party they believe they can dominate not only homo tz,.t ,1e f..,