The New York herald., 1922-01-01
To Foster Discomfort
Is the Propaganda Purpose

a very good example, and one on which
Mr.. McManus prides himself considerably is
the present agitation concerning unemploy-
ment and the dole" The unemployment
problem in England would have been grave
and dangerous enough were there no Com
munists at an The skill with which they
have taken advantage of 1t shows that the
Communist leaders are men of no small abil
ity The riots which have been taking place,
notably at Bristol Dundee and Liverpool, art
very largely due to Communist manpula-
tion At Liverpool, for instance, the dis
turbances were largely due to the efforts of
one man, John Braddock, one of the local
Communist leaders, who was supplied with
ample funds for the purpose from the party
headquarters. 1t is interesting to note that
he learned the art of Communist propaganda
in America, where for a time he lived in
Chicago and was deported some three years
since.
But the mere bringing about of local dis
turbances is a very small part of the Com
munist schemes and one which many of the
leaders look upon with actual disfavor. Their
official" scheme. to put 1t. is very much
more subtle. At the moment it is concen-
trated upon the East End of London and the
present state Of things in that part of the
world nicely eXemplihes how well conceived
is the Communist program.
Unemployment is rife throughout indus
The English method of dealing with unem-
pioyment is to leave relief measures in the
hands of the local authorities as being best
able to judge local needs and conditions.
For administrative purposes London is
divided into number of borough councils
directly elected on very wide franchise and
having practically absolute power in local
matters except for those general for the
whole metropolis, such police and educa-
ton, which are in the hands of the London
County Council.
The poorest boroughs in London are prob
ably those of Poplar, Shoreditch, Islington
and Woolwich, where also unemployment is
most general. For years these borough
councils were the preserve of the small
trader with an AK TO grind as presenting
opportunities for such graft as is not un-
familiar on the other side of the Atlantic
also. More recently, however, the various
labor groups have paid considerable atten-
ton to them and the councillors now include
a number of working class men and women
in their. ranks. mostly sem-educated, am-
iitious. filed with a sense of their own i'm
portance. and thus peculiarly open to
1}olshevist propaganda.
IL is a curious and as IL now turns out an
unfortunate convention in England that the
amount which may be expended I'm relief of
unemployment is left TO the judgment of the
local councillors and guardians. who are
empowered to expend such sums as they
consider necessary" The Government only
reserves the right TO disalow any grants
which II considers excessive The Boshe-
visit leaders, understand. by the way, that
Miss Sylvia Pankhurst deserves the credit
Of the idea in the first place-clearly realized
the opportunity thus presented. tft Is a
curious proof of the internecine warfare
which RACES among the British Communists
as among all similar revolutionary groups
that Miss Pankhurst has just been expelled
from the Communist party for a breach OF
discipline" and has carried with her a num-
Der of It's former stalwarts and one at least
of its newspaper organs).