The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-08-07
BY WILLIAM F. DUNE

~ W A[EtfNW - GONlNE
TIME British general strike smashed
L the thin veneer of "stabiization"
which the capitalist class Of Europe
had set UP around their shaking sys-
TEN like stone smashes a mirror.
But 1t revealed not only the weakness
of capitalism but weaknesses in the
basic organizations of the working
class which must and will be correct
ed,
It revealed something else some
thing Of such primary Importance to
the working class that It must be
examined most carefully and thoroly
understood. The British general strike
has given US a new insight into the
role Of the trade unions during
period of revolutionary struggle in
highly industrlalized country where
the working class is well organized.
A LTHO the weak and treacherous
"A leadership of the British general
str1ke-the officials of the Trade
Union Congress general council and
the labor party-denied the accusa-
ton of the Baldwin government to the
effect that the strike was a challenge
TO the constitution" and that the
trade unions were setting up a gov
eminent Of their own, the fact re-
mains that in many industrial centers
the trades councils did take over gov
ernmental functions and became the
only power recognized by the workers.
INTO less an authority than George
~ Lansbury, a pacifst and certainly
no propaganda for the dictatorship
Of the proletariat, but one closely in
touch with both the trade union and
parliamentary wings of the British Ia
Dor movement, makes the following
categorical statement in the July "a
issue of Lansbury's Weekly:
The outstanding achievement of
the strike was certainly not its con-
troll by the national leaders, who
were from the first afraid of the
great force they had called into ac-
tivity The big and successful thing
was the local control-the swift and
instructive unification of all the local
labor forces under the impulse of a
common spirit of solidarity. Not
merely did the Trades Councils all
over the country take up suddenly
their proper position Of responsible
ity and power; all the other work
ing class forces in each district
rallied quickly round them. Under
various names, Of which council Of
/ action was the commonest, there
came to be in each place a single
body to which the whole working
class movement of the district look
ed for guidance and control. The
barriers which usually keep our diff
ferent sections apart were flung
down; solidarity found meaning
4 in organization as well as in the
spirit of the workers. Emphasis
mine).
DUT the direction of the strike itself
II was only minor role of many
of the unions and trades councils. In
number of districts they took over
control of the food supply, transpor-
tation, communication and the neces-
sary policing.
In one district at least the govern
ment apparatus collapsed completely
(altho in general sense its apparatus
functioned well nowhere) and it had
to depend" upon what was &C
tually the governmental apparatus of
the trade unions.
TEE testimony of a score or more
L of eye witnesses who saw the
strike in various sections of the coun-
try is that the real authority passed
into the hands of the trade unions
local unions, trades councils and strike
committees, committees of action.
Trucks, (lorries as they are called
in Great Brittany loaded with provi-
sions of all kinds, were allowed to pro-
coed only il they bore the permit of
the general council Of the Trades
Union Congress. Even these were
sometimes held up by the piekets and
searched to see If they were trying to
evade the trade union regulations by
! IdIl ylUB dlAANANDs IL AAAAa
was found to be the case even the
general council permit availed the cul-
prits nothing.
TIME sole exception to this rule were
l. the troop lorries. These were
allowed to pass the lines only because
the strike leadership was obsessed
with a pacihsm with which the gov
eminent was not afflicted. 1t is evil
dent from all reports of the temper
of the strikers and sympathizers,
mixture of good-natured contempt and
resentment against the display Of
armed force, that single order from
the general council would have been
sufficient to have stopped troop move
ments. w
] From the first moment when It was
apparent that the rank and file OF the
trade unions were determined to sup
port the miners by a general strike
quiet but none the less severe strug-