The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-11-03
A Labor Victory in Spite of
Macdonald

In spite of MacDonald's treachery and oppor
tunism, in spite of the weakened and coward!
policies of the late '1abor" government, British
labor scored an important victory in the parlia
mentary elections. Out of total of about 20 mil
lion votes cast the labor party candidates re
ceived 5,536,000, that is, gain Of one million
votes. Large sections Of the working masses O.
Britain have thereby shown clearly and unmis
takably that they do not trust the parties Of cap
ital, and that they want government Of their own
British labor has been badly deceived and mis-
treated by its own official leaders and worst of al
by its late '9abor' government. The attacks o.
Baldwin and Lloyd George against MacDonaldt
government were certainly not dictated by love
for the working masses, nevertheless the charge
Of these gentlemen remains true that MacDonaldi
government was in no way better for the workers
than government of conservatives or liberals, anC
no amount Of apology and explanation will change
the fact that MacDonalds government was moth
ing more than servile tool in the hands of British
Imperialism.
Macdonald came into Office by grace of the iber
ais and conservatives Balwin and Lloyd George
both agreed to permit the labor party to form q
government Why? Because at the beginning Of
this. year, when Macdonald assumed 'power,
British Imperialism was on the verge of serious
breakdown 1t was confronted with mass unem
ployment at home, troubles of great magnitude in
its colonies, critical relations bordering on wal
with France and with a state of general insecurity
all around. British capitalism in the beginning OF
this year was in very bad way. The liberals and
conservatives, the parties Of British capitalism
could no longer rule successfully.
This alone explains the astounding" fact why
British capital aequiesced in labor becoming the
I.I-.-s,, INxvI
George knew quite well the stuff that Macdonald
and his friends were made of. They knew just as
well as we did that in time of crisis, of mass
dissatisfaction and restessness, the interests of
British Imperialism might be more secure in the
hands of Macdonald than Baldwin, Curzon,
Churchill or Asquith.
Macdonald and his crew of opportunists and so
cial imperialists were permitted to become the
government of England in order to keep the masses
in check and to save capitalism from destruction.
Macdonald and his friends accepted the job and
fulfilled their mission to the best of their abilities
And now. having stabilized somewhat the rule of
British capital abroad and to lesser degree at
home, MacDonald's government may go. British
Imperialism 10 longer needs, for the present at
least, the "labor" services of MacDonalds govern
ment
Now British capital, big industrial and financial
capital is itself assuming leadership. This is the
meaning and significance of the conservative vic
tory in the recent elections. Heavy mOnOpolized
industry and big finance capital which are repre-
scented by the conservatives have succeeded in win
ming the support Of the independent businessmen
and petty bourgeoisie. These latter groups have
formerly followed the lead of the liberals, but the
bankruptcy of liberalism has been apparent for a
long time and the middle classes are definitely
breaking up. The Weather sections are going to
the conservatives while the poorer sections are
moving towards the labor party.
The present standing of the parties is Conser
vatiyes 403, labor $50, liberals 36, others H. This
gives the conservatives a majority of above 200
seats over all other parties in the new parliament
which undoubtedly secures their parliamentary
power for some time to come. However, their total
vote of 7624,OOO is only two million more than the
vote cast for the labor party, which is of immense
significance for the future development of the
class struggle in Britain.
British labor must now learn its lessons. Brit
sh labor is on the right track as long as it con
tinues (which it does) to hold fast TO the idea Of
independent political action. The working class
must have its own party and its own government
But the lesson yet to be learned by the British
workers is that not every labor party is party
serving the interests Of labor and that not every
labor government is government Of the working
class The truth of this latter contention can be
best seen from the doings of the Macdonald govern
ment
For party to be a real working class party il
must believe in the class struggle against capital
ism and in the substitution Of capitalist rule by
the rule of the workers. that is, the proletarian
dictatorship. For labor government to be a real
working class government II must Immediately