The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-05-16


when the British trade union move
ment, as a result of the continuing
economic crisis and the lessons of
the Macdonald period, went over to
the left wing of the Amsterdam Inter
national. The entire trade union
movement of Great Britain entered the
opposition to the traditional policy on
a very essential and extremely inn
portant question Of the world labor
movement: whether the united front
with the Soviet trade unions should
be established, or the hostile acts
against the revolutionary trade unions
in general and the Soviet Union in
particular should be continued.
THE action of the British delegation
4 displeased the reformists to such a
degree that the entire international
social-democracy and the reformist
trade union bureaucracy attacked the
British delegation and requested as
sistance from their colleagues In the
labor party and in the right wing Of
the trade union movement in Great
Britain itself, in order to divert the
British trade union movement from
its "pernicious role" This entire
campaign came to an end at the last
session Of the executive bureau of the
Amsterdam International (Feb. $50
with the acceptance of the allegedly
compromise resolution" of Steen-
huis, against which the British dele
CATION voted. Even the most lenient
critics had to admit that this revolu-
ton was nothing but very stupid
and clumsy maneuver. Politically,
this resolution signifies the victory of
the right wing over the left, which
was well understood by the general
council of the British trade unions,
when it decided to hold conference
with the Russian trade unions for a
discussion "of the difficulties, which
have arisen in consequence of the
session of the executive bureau Of the
Amsterdam International" The state
OF excitement of the social-democrats
over the British trade unions is dem
onstrated by the unashamed attacks
of the Russian mensheviki Tin SOFIA
listitchesky Vestnik" Of March 49,
upon the report of the British delega-
ton. The mensheviki write in an ar
ticle headed A Dishonest Book, that
this report sis a deliberate conceal
ment of the truth and a leading
astray of the reader" etc, etc. That
is the tone employed by the Russian
menshevih in speaking of their col
leagues of the Second International.
THE leaders Of the British trade
L union movement could not let such
attacks go unanswered. In the first
number of the monthly International
Trade Union Unity, which is published
by the labor research department,
Purcell writes as follows: 1.-THE so
called socialist press of the continen-
tai countries cannot serve as a reIi-
able source of information at present
II does not give an unpreju-
diced account of the facts" And later
on "Oudegeest, as well as JOuhaux
mot to mention the Vorwarts) have
shown beyond all doubt that they con-
slider the so-caIled compromise mo-
ton cunning step which is intended
to thwart our 9 months of effort for
the establishment Of international
unity" He calls the methods of the
right Amsterdamers "trickery."
In the official organ of the Amster-
dam international Oudegeest (the
secretary ridicules the statements of
the president and states that the
bureau of the Amsterdam Interna-
tional gave no instructions for the
writing of such an article. This en-
tire polemic shows that the differ
ences Of opinion in the Amsterdam
international are INCH more serious
than many people believe.
THE world trade movement was
4 never entirely united, neither ideo-
logically, nor from the point Of view
OF organization. At present the trade
un{ono ara dfefaranfiofad along nolfff.