London and Socialism.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 27, 8 September 1911, Page 9

London and Socialism.

In a letter to Bob Hogg, Wellington, J. Hunter Watts, of London S.D.P., writes as follows:—

"London still lacks a central Socialist club or institute, and its indispensable adjunct, a reading room liberally supplied with copies of the party newspaper organs published in all and sundry parts of the world. Some of our recruits and young members would gain a clearer conception of the vastness of our movement, already organised in 24 different countries, with a membership of close upon 7,000,000 men and women, if they could get a little closer in touch with thedr comrades in different quarters of the- globe, and "a freer change of ideas by more liberal exchange' of newspapers would help to widen the mental horizon of those who, perforce, are condemned to-limit their own activities as Socialists to the corner of the earth in which they happen to be performing the daily round of toil imposed upon them as victims of the competitive struggle for existence." After complimenting the Socialist Party of Now Zealand for the stand it has taken for Revolutionary Socialism, he . continues:

"Middle-class And very middling and muddling, politicians, both in this country and in France, are busy just now pushing upon the workers certain schemes of insurance devised to cover up a few of the sores created by capitalism, and the varied reception with which the proposals have been greeted on the different sides of the Channel is strikingly illustrative of the disparity in economc knowledge between the French and English workers. ,The former appreciate the force of the maxim 'Beware of the Greeks when they come bearing gifts, , though for 'Greeks' they read 'bourgeois, , and they are making bonfires of the tickets certifying their right to pensions at 65! 'Pensions for the dead , they term them, since from 90 to 95 per cent, of the workers die at an earlier age. But the English workers axe still bubbling over with gratitude for pensions of ss. a weak at 70, granted nearly two years ago! And they were accepting Lloyd George's Unemployed and Invalidity Schemes of Insurance, which bristle with points dangerous to the future of trades unionism, with childlike faith and simplicity until the Socialists roused thean to some sense- of the fact that this legislation may run trades unionism on the quicksands instead of guiding it into the workers' harboar of refuge.

"Cannot one or other of you comrades who some years ago left the Old Country to find o'sewhere a more decent livelihood, drop an occasional letter to 'Justice' to tell us something of your new surroundings and to keep us informed whether the lot of the worker is any brighter in the colonies than in Europe? I conjecture that in a new country industry is not so absolutely confined, to production for profit as in those countries in which capitalism holds undivided sway. I fancy in New Zealand a good deal of production for use is still carried on. Is it not a fact that your small farmers first supply the needs of their own households and townships, and only seek markets for their produce after they have, so to speak, filled their own'larders? If so, New Zealand must still enjoy a measure of the rough plenty that was common in Britain till capitalism created 'Poverty out of Plethora. , But come, tell us how much truth there is in the emigration agent's description of Australasian paradises for the workers. 'Justice' will give your communications space, and I, or some other comrade will reciprocate."