Evening star., 1948-04-18
BritainHurt
BySocialisrn
Half of Population
Benefits but Rest
Have Problems
By Ernie Hill

Some are good. Many are bad.
There can be no doubt that
socialism is improving the wages,
working conditions and living stand
ard of the bottom half of the popu-
lation.
But at the same time, it is
threatening to wreck the country's
economy. 1t doesn't mean to. 1t
doesn't want to. But it is.
For the past five months, I have
been watching socialism in opera
ton. At close hand, have talked
with Britons, Scotsmen and Welsh
men of every political faith and
have tried effectively to under
stand what 2Aa years of socialism
has meant.
Socialist leaders themselves are
becoming frightened at the system
they have set in motion. They find
themselves pleading with fellow
Socialists and Laborites who elected
them to relax their demand for a
time and think of the country first.
Defeating Itself
The coal miner In Wales, per-
sonally, is better off. He knows it
and likes it. But he either doesn't
understand or doesn't care about
what is happening to Britain.
Production costs-because Of high
er wages and shorter hours-are up
to the point where Britain is finding
1t difficult to compete on the world
market. And Britain must live on
trade export.
Socialism is defeating itself. 1t
Is trying to do too much in too
short time. And 1948 is the wrong
time.
This is the time when production
should be increased because of world
shortages. Britain is missing an
opportunity to get back into the
world market with full-scale pro-
duction.
Socialism-which is based on a
theory of overproduction-is fixing
it so that Britain is working at
about half or possibly three-quar-
ters speed.
Incentive and initiative have been
dulled to the point of lethargy.
Half-Hearted Work Spirit
Particularly in England there is
a half hearted spirit toward all sorts
of work. This includes taxi drivers,
walters and shop attendants. 1t
includes busy executives.
Socialism has imposed so many
regulations and is keeping taxes SO
high that there Is whats the
use" attitude.
London laundries take from two
to three weeks to wash your shirts
and sheets. Cleaners will get cloth
ing back in 10 to IA days. The
competitive spirit even in such
services seems to have perished.
People line up to get into movies,
restaurants and buses. There is
little of the zip in London that
characterizes many of Americas big
cities and even those of South
America.
Sir Stafford Cripps, Chancellor Of
the Exchequer and the biggest gun
in todays Socialist lineup. has ap-
pealed to the trade unions Of
Britain to suppress new demands
until things get better.
Sir Stafford, Ernie Bevin and
Clement Attlee were the top Social
lists who led the party to victory
along with a coalition OF the labor
party. They promised too much
and now have to say "slow down. -
Modernization Resented
England is a strange place under
Socialism.
1t is even more lackadaisical than
Latin America. Shops, restaurants
and bars open for few hours in
the morning. Then they close for a
few hours and then reopen for a
time.
Socialism has reduced hours OF
work to about 40 a week But
where the United States runs swing
shifts to fill in the gaps, the British
just close everything and sit down.
There is strong feeling against
moderniZation, too. The British
like to do things the way they have
been done for the last two
centuries.
There is an effort to modernize
coal mining. But the British work
only one shift day. American
coal operators who work two or
three, particularly in Southern
Illinois, are blocking the shipment
of new equipment here because the
same machinery will produce much
more in the United States.
How the Tories Play 1t
A favorite drawing room argu-
ment is whether Socialism is halt
a step toward communism OF
whether it is Britain's best guaran-
tee against communism.
Such discussions usually end with
a partial agreement that British
socialism may be headed in the
direction of communism as Kar
Marx conceived it, but that it will
never wind up as totalitarian com.
munism as Joe Stain has developed
it. Most freedoms are preserved ir
Britain.
1t is generally agreed, too, that
British socialism has done enough
for the bottom half of the popula.
ton to break the appeal of com.
munism.
Would the Labor Party show {
majority in an election today?
The general opinion is that i
would. The middle = of the roae
Liberal Party is rapidly disappear
ing and it is the consensus tina
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