The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-02-28
The Lessons of "MacDonaldism'

This exactly characterized MacDon-
AIDS actions in Egypt
z Item 5, as we'll as 4, is an admis-
VI sion of a great negative achieve
ment. 1rak is one of the sore spots
of the empire. It's theft from Turkey
has resulted in Turkish incursions,
and it will be miracle if war is
avoided. Oil, and proposed cotton
cultivation are the excuses for bomb
ing innocent tribesmen and peasants.
Mr.. Leach's statement of no change
in policy was honest, but very modest.
His government treated Irak worse
than Curzon ever dared to-. Coercion
of the national assembly thru repris-
ais and gold failed to persuade even
an assembly owned completely by
England, until last minute military
action. A labor protest forestalled a
tory mandate over Irak, which Mac
Donald put across. Curzon and
Churchill tried a trick in Persia which
failed; Macdonald succeeded, as else
where.
THE rest of the labor governments
1 foreign policy can only indicated,
for lack Of space. Included in this
record Of achievements was: fog
ging, forced labor, and shooting OF
natives in New Guiena; broken
pledges of selfdetermination for Cy-
prus; fomenting revolution in Brazil;
melting instruction in the Turcoman
steppes, to discredit Russia and
alarm Persia; doing the same in So
Wet Bokhara, and spending enor-
nous sums on Afghan rebellions; sup
pressing more Communist papers in
the Cologne sector In four months
than the tory government dftl In q
year; interfering with the military
in Ruhr elections; deporting German
workers from Cologne; falsely impris-
oning Communists to q years in jail,
prohibiting meetings Of the Rhineland
factory councils during the election
campaign; answering, in March, a
protest sent in January, with the re-
ply that Macdonald was obliged for
the information; attempting thru its
ambassador on the Inter-allied Dan
ube Commission to make all strikes
and lockouts illegal in Hungary when
the Hungarian government, of bloody
Horthy tried to make illegal only
strikes in public service; upholding
Mrs. Evans in Mexico when she ac-
tually took up arms against the Mex
lean naturalization law, and sup
porting the oil agent, Cummins, there
to the extent of breaking off relations
with Mexico; interfering with gun
boats on the side of the Canton fas-
cisti against the South China govern
ment OF Sun Vat Sen; compelling
Premier Theodore of the Queensland
labor government to withdraw the
just taxation of great estates; well
coming the royal murderers OF fascist
Italy and Rumania; merciless slave
driving in Kenya; ETC., etc. II I've
left out few minor achievements"
| think we can Judge the situation
from what has been presented.
DOMESTIC POLICY. /. The mill
- tary policy has been discussed
under foreign policy. item 8. As TO
Singapore, it was chosen as a naval
base, after the Washington agree
ment forbade such bases in the Pa
cific. Singapore is about 200 miles
beyond the limits Of the agreement,
and is practically, II not technically,
violation Of the agreement. The
Macdonald government gave up the
naval base project ostensibly; but 1t
was kept as an oil tankage station.
Lord Haldane said Of 1t that 1t would
be something of great offensive pos
sibility." It viii yet see a naval base.
q AS to the budget, and the prom.
Il Use Of free breakfast table, 1t is
interesting to note that the taxes on
working mans f2-1Oa. waa email