I m *C [Reflections “No good ever came from law. on Anarchism - p. 2 All reforms have been the off­ spring of revolution. ^ s w i o n g —HENRY T. BUCKLE. in Sicily - p. 3 to the Editors - p. 4 ANARCHIST WEEKLY P O N o , 44 October 31st, 1959 Threepence Party been obliged to listen to its garrulous Douglas Jay advocate in CALLING ALL SOCIALISTS! print for all to read, that it should drop nationalisation and change its p is week we again return to the in a lot of thought and action if in Trade Unions and the Labour Party.needs are Public Relations men, name, but the reappraisals of some Pjbject of the Labour Party’s the meantime they want to make So that what with the policies it advertising experts and psychologists of the other top intellectuals is T^n post-mortem we hope no some progress along the road to­ advocates and the imaginary policies (not forgetting “experts” like Mr. far from reassuring. For instance, R will infer that we are either wards the free society. ___ attributed to it by the gutter press Robert McKenzie who was busily Mr. R. H. S. Crossman (sacked |sted in resuscitating the corpse. Mr. Bcvan was quite right when to chill the spines of its gullible, carving up the Party in last Sunday’sfrom his column by the Daily Mir­ ror who have also been rethinking J offering advice on how to win he declared that the defeat of the respectable, readers, the present Observerf so that apparently, it R xt elections. But we are in- generation’s picture of socialism is, could function better next time). their pro-Labour policy in the light Labour Party did not imply a final of a falling circulation), writing in fed in reaching the socialists rejection of socialism by the British understandably, more likeThe Pic­ More national advertising and less the 12 million people who ture of Dorian Gray than The Soul nationalisation; more Public Rela­ the New Statesman explains Lab­ electorate. Had the Labour Party our’s loss of votes in these terms: pLabour and among the 7 mil- campaigned on an uncompromisingof Man Under Socialism! tions Officers and less of the Public who didn't vote at all. And the socialist programme, it may well Ownership nonsense; more socialites In this era of Tory prosperity a p i e to try to remove illusions have lost more votes than it did. in the Party and fewer socialists! Labour opposition has to run very fast Socialism-via-the-ballot box is i t talready seems clear that the But that was not the problem, de­ Not only has the prostrate Labour W C—liaised on p. 3 [ now and not at election-time, Labour Party’s “re-thinking” will clared Mr. Bevan. The programme r though admittedly people are on which the Labour Party fought develop along two lines, at least. f. politically conscious, their the election could only be describedOn the one hand the fanatical ballot- gvity is pitifully taxed by senti- as similar to that of “pre-1914 liber­ boxers for whom winning elections 1 political loyalties, promises alism brought up to date”* has become an end in itself, on the < W o rk e rs of the W o rld . Jo f the parties on issues which other those who believe (until the eel strongly, or simply because But welcome as Mr. Bevan’s de­ next election?) that the raison d’etre TT is not easy to understand the Coloured men and women in a would bate the local Tory to claration is, the fact remains that for of the Labour Party is the imple­ X mentality which totally disre­white comunity having to compete ^ the one vote they might not a very large section of the public, mentation of socialist policies, accor­ gards the most elementary needs offor jobs against each other as well Jinst him! socialism is represented by the ding to their understanding of social­an already under-privileged group.as white labour cannot really be ex­ pected in the difficult atmosphere of t Labour leaders have got a •We quote from his article published in ism, of course! Yet the 200 workers at a factory in re-thinking to do between the Paris weekly l'Express (Oct. 16), Derbyshire now on strike to force coloured prejudice to always prac­ Re-thinking for the former will tise principles of solidarity against fad the next elections—if they which we assume to be a translation of not involve re-reading the socialist the dismissal of seven coloured the N ew s of the W orld article of Oct. such odds. But it is only in the Ho win them—equally socialists texts of Blatchford, Morris and Cole. workers are preparing to hold out 11—which unfortunately we have mis­ exercise of these principles that pre­ umcM sts will need to engage laid. For them what the Labour Party until their “black brothers” are left jobless. No complaints have been judices will be broken down and made against the men, their onlycompetition between workers elimin­ fault is in being coloured. ated. Up until last week six coloured * * * WHICH WAY IN CUBA workers were employed by Glow Quite another story is reported Worm Boilers, Ltd., who had offer­ about white and coloured relation­ BRING the last three weeks, FIree- sellers out of work, while more seriously, one set of chains for another; at worst, ed an assurance to the rest of their ships from Birmingham where 30 feoM has published an account of the Rem Laws have resulted in a with­ they will simply have one more set of ^favhiuorj *n Cuba which at the be­ employees that no additional col­drivers and warehousemen came out drawal of investment in building, andofficials living off their backs. Further­ on strike because a coloured worker a t this year resulted in the over- 80 thousand builders are without jobs. more there are alternatives which are oured labour would be employed on |a t the Batista regime and its re­ A fifth reform said to be in the air con­ worth canvassing from a libertarian work for which white labour was was dismissed, not, it is stated, for nt by the government of Fidel cerns the armed forces, but the report angle. On a small scale, any voluntary available. According to an official reasons of colour but because his The report was prepared by the remarks that replacement of Batista co-operation between neighbouring far­ of the Company, a seventh was em­ temporary job had come to an end. nan Association of Cuba, and is officers by Castro officers is more appar­ mers, any effort to set up research units, ployed as no “alternative (white) Mohammed Ghulam is so popu­ ■M. concise story of the events ent than changes in Che set-up of the or implement sharing groups, indepen­ men were available.” lar among his workmates that their ely connected with the change forces. dent of state control can be regarded as The seven men (at time of writing) actions have brought an agreement eteminent, and the realisations of All these facts are only to be expected, a step towards freedom. On the larger, new government, as seen by the in looking at the results of a revolution long term scale the anarchist way is to are still officially employed and thefrom his employers to keep him pie at libertarian sympathies who are from an anarchist point of view. The try to propagate and, demonstrate the 200 men are back at work. But until the end of the year, when the ally living in Cuba, and directlycurrent issues are, how should they be need for a revolutionary social trans­ Jack Wathall, secretary at the fac­ Union will try to find him fresh k h d by the type of government. interpreted, and what should the anar­formation, controlled by the people tory of the National Union of Stoves, work: — It is clear that from that point of view chist attitude to them and to the gov­ themselves. Yet it is impossible to Grates and General Metal Workers ‘Ghulam, who is called “Bill” by his great change for the better has taken ernment behind them be? From this advocate this at the same time as one said that: “Talks between union and workmates, had been employed as a tem­ place. For seven yean the people of point of view, it seems that the Libertar­ is urging the peasants to trust in the management can go on after our porary labourer for a year, but he was X u la have been subjected to concentrated ian Association are far more sympathetic state’s schemes for their betterment, the return, but all our members are given three weeks’ notice on Thursday. ; brutality, including arbitrary arrest, tor­ to the allegedly “•Revolutionary” gov­ state's instructions on how to increase He had become one of the most popular production, or the state's schemes for determined that the seven Coloured ture and execution, and burning of ernment than a thorough-going anarchist men here must go. Our return workers at the firm, even though he can­ houses Now this has been removed, approach would allow. Its report em­ educating them. not speak English, and Mr. Thomas although the Libertarian Association phasises that Castro and his immediate An objection to the above point of makes no difference to that view.” Budding, a Transport and General Work­ qualify this a* being "at least for the associates arc men of undoubted inte­ view is that from a peaceful position in It is even more depressing, if ers’ Union shop steward, said: ““We re­ present’ The army and police force grity, a fact which has resulted in an the British Welfare State, one cannot accounts are true, that the original gard him as one of the most helpful and are Mill in existence, with their security important clearing up of administration.