The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-04-18
WIDE RIFT IN
BRITISH LABOR
PARTY'S RANKS
Labor Weekly Flags the
MacDo naId Government
CONTINUED from page u

kOOAtlhuDu AAOul page -
responsibility for whatever sins OF
omission or commission can be char
ged against that government They
must not be held up to us as the ones
who were always on the side of social
list policy and not responsible when
the labor government went astray.
Kneebreeches and Swords
We must not in our days Of opposi-
ton forget that court dress, court
functions and social gatherings, such
as dinners, luncheons and receptions,
were as well attended by the I. L. p.
ministers as by other people. The
cooked hats. tin swords and other
tomfool paraphernalia appeared to be
as beloved by some socialists as this
sort of guy worship is by tories and
liberals. There were some splendid
exceptions, but these we're exceptions.
During the labor governments exist
ence the party in the house was tied
hand and foot, owing to the WORKOUT
methods and rules of the commons.
We hope the Easter conference will
back up Fred Jowett in his demand
for root and branch change. The
whole cabinet system must sooner or
later give place to a system which
will allow men and women to speak
and vote according to conviction and
not as now be guided solely by ex-
pediency.
1--WE Are Just The Same"
But they must be prepared to treat
their own people to the same measure
Of criticism as they give to other
parties. If we would escape the evils
of the past, we must be prepared to
face frankly the issues involved. Our
view is that the late government did
do valuable work for the people, but
it was handicapped from the start,
because its leaders, with one or two
exceptions, like parrots, went about
the country declaring that a labor
government was exactly like all other
governments. Bankers were quite
safe, capitalists were quite safe, the
monarchy was safe, and so was the
empire.
This latter was handed to Lord
Olivier and J. H. Thomas. both of
whom only appeared too anxious to
prove that, so far as they were con-
cerned, the imperialists had no cause
to fear. In addition, the prime minis
ter himself, in his first letter on India
and his dispatch to Zaglul Pasha,
proved that Indian policy and Egypt
ian policy were very largely to be
carried on on lines similar to those
already laid down.
Enough Of Self Praise
In the things that count most of all,
that is in national and international
policy, members of the I. L. P. must
not attempt to prove themselves more
consistent or virtuous than other
people. The labor party as a party,
including the !. L. p, gave whole
hearted support to the ex-premier's
foreign policy, which included the
Dawes report, the snubbing of ZagIul
Pasha, and the statements that the
Suez Canal and the Sudan were out
side the realm of discussion. The
bombing of homes, buildings, and
sheep in Irak, India and Egypt, was
accepted and defended as a painful
necessity by I. L. P. ministers, who
were formerly pacifists and conscien-
tious DIRECTORS against war More
cruisers were added to the navy al
most without protest. This policy
also was accepted by out-and-out paci-
fists. AS to India, the Bengal ordin-
ance under the abominable act passed
over a hundred years ago, under
which people may be arrested with
out warrant or charge Of any kind.
and held in prison for long terms, was
issued while Lord Olivier and Pro-
fessor Richards were at the India
Office, and was defended by them.