Evening star., 1933-11-05
London Sees Possible
Labor Dictatorship
BY A. G. GARDINER.

LONDON. November 4.-Parliament
meets next Tuesday with its prestige and
that of the government generally en-
HANGED by the steady decline in unem-
ployment and unexpectedly satisfactory
revenue returns. These things indicate
a definite turn in the tide of trade and
remove all anxiety in regard to the next
budget.
This state of affairs is peculiarly i'm
portant at the moment when public
opinion is exercised by the question of
dictatorship. Great Britain and France
are now the only two great nations in
Europe which have escaped dictator
snip and are governed by effective par
liamentary institutions.
It is felt in some quarters that the
fall of the Daladier ministry may be the
prelude to the establishment of some
thing like a Tardieu dictatorship in
France. I do not share that view, but
Parliaments have collapsed so sensa-
tionally and INTERESTINGLY all over Eu-
rope that it would be hazardous to pre-
dict that France will escape the opera
ton of what seems almost like a general
law Of nations in time of disruption
and upheaval such as that through
which the world is now passing.
That law. If it be a law. is not with
out its hot gospelers here. Parlia-
mentary government is being attacked
from both the Italian and the Russian
angles, and though the attacks have so
far made little visible impression, there
is not wanting evidence that they have
behind them considerable potential
backing. If you go into the news Gin
emas in London. the chances are that
,x-;I G,,I H.
lating on the screen before mob OF
Fascists and that there will be not in
considerable burst of approval from the
audience. Sir Oswald. who, through his
wife. now dead, inherited some of the
Letter millions, Is one Of the most am
bilious and romantic adventurers on the
British stage. He entered politics as
Conservative, then became the idol of
Labor and now worships at the shrine
of Mussolini He is the self-appointed
dictator of the Fascist but so far has
failed to win any considerable political
figure TO his standard.
X
1t is safe to predict that the cause will
remain negligible unless two things
happen. One is the accession to its
ranks Of some one of the stature and
momentum of Winston Churchill. who
in his present unattached position is the
most incalculable potentiality in British
politics. The other is the capture of the
Labor movement by what may be called
the Russian wing Of the party.
This latter possibility cannot be ruled
out. Since the collapse of the Labor
government in 1881 and the loss to that
party Of Macdonald, Snowden and most
Of its other prominent leaders. Labor
has been leaderless, resentful and disor-
ganized. Now it Is coming to life again
under the inspiration Of q little group of
intellectuals calling themselves the So
calist League. Its only representative
in Parliament Is Sir Stafford Gripps. an
eminent barrister, but 1t aims at impos-
ing a revolutionary program on the
trade unions which compose the main
body of the Labor party. The program
is thinly disguised dictatorship Of the
proletariat" to be achieved by abolishing
the House of Lords. putting the mon
archy In cold storage and reducing the
House Of Commons to something like the
position of the Reichstag in Germany.
and establishing Socialism on the Rus
sian model by administrative decree.
y 4 ~
A fierce battle is raging in the Labor
party over this program and the official
caucus, fearing that the adoption OF
such q policy would destroy their pros
poets at the next general election. have
publicly repudiated the aims Of the So
cialist League. But they have not dared
to eject the league from the ranks OF
Labor and at the recent conference OF
the Labor party evaded the issue by con-
senting to consider the leagues pro-
gram.
Nothing Is more certain than that il
Labor becomes suspect Of aiming at
sort Of dictatorship Of the proletariat.
there will be a landslide toward Fascisn.
And in such . clash Of forces there is
little doubt that Fascism would be tri-
umphant But do not think the dan
ger Is serious. The wiser elements OF
Labor know that an attack on the SOW
ereisnty Of Parliament would be fatal
to their movement. It has come to
norer ia Gngls1ad by virtue al the pAI.