LABOUR IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 105, 27 January 1908, Page 6

LABOUR IN GREAT BRITAIN.

The chief interest to New Zealand of the' British Labour Conference at Hull is its revelation 'of the fact that there is a decided difference in principle between Trades Unionism and Socialism. The recent Labour Conference held m Christchurch was in reality a Socialistic Council of War,'and, while it professed to speak in the name of Labour, its most important resolutions were almost entirely foreign to, the sympathies of all sensible' Labour men. ; In 'Great Britain, however,. the Trades Unionists by no means allow themselves as a body to be led by the nose into the camp of Socialism. Months ago it' was known t.hat an _ attempt would be made ■to foist Socialism upon the Labour party, which was born of Trades Unionism, and the executive of which has a large majority of Trade? Union representatives.' The HuH Conference wa3 looked forward to'as an occasion upon which Trades Unionism would have to decide whether it would accept the Socialist doctrine, or whether ; it' would be' faithful, to, ite function' as is, movement concerned . only with upholding the rights of the workers.. The Conference has not'helied the expectations formed'of it; arid the partial success of the Socialists has already'led to the projection of a nonSocialist Labour party. The resolutions' which have been carried are in some rdspects puzzling, nor is the position made much clearer by the widely-differing opinions that have been expressed .upon them at Home. The first important move of the Socialists was the proposal that " the ultimate object of .the Labour party shall be the obtaining for the workers the full results' of their labour bjr the overthrow of the present competitive system of capitalism,, and the institution of a system of public ownership and control of all the means of life." This proposal was overwhelmingly defeated, as was also the proposal of Mr. Will Thorne that' the Labour party's programmes should be based upon resolutions passed by the annual Conference. The significance of the,defeat of the Thorne resolution is in its rebuff to the Socialistic attempt to dethrone the Trades Union Congress and set up the Conference as the Dirr ectorate of Labour;' It was accordingly a surprise to find the Conference subsequently adopting, even though only by a narrow majority, and a doubtful one at that, the most_ advanced Socialistic doctrine submitted to it. This resolution proposed that "the Labour party should. have as a definite object the socialisation of the means of production, distribution and exchange, to be controlled by a democratic State in the interest of the entire, community." The use of the word j "socialisation" is noteworthy, for it is many degrees in advance of " mumcipalisation" and "nationalisation." By the adoption of this resolution, and of the further resolution in_ censure of the attacks made by publicists upon abstract Socialism, the_ Labour party, as it exists at present, is committed to undiluted Socialism. The immediate result has been a chorus of prophecies of disruption, in the midst of which some of the M.P. delegates are explaining that the, resolution "means nothing," being merely a pious opinion. But that the great body of Traces Unionism is not wholly in sympathy with the Socialistic doctrine is evidenced by the promptness with which the preliminary steps have been taken to form a non-Socialist Labour party. The difficulty in which the forces of Labour have been placed in Great Britain is one that may have its parallel in New Zealand r before long. The Christchurch Labour Conference made it clear that the workers who oppose Socialism—and they-are the workers who are self-respecting and self-reli-ant—must sooner or later look for other guidance than they will obtain from the Trades Hall Socialists. Trades Unionism is by nature no closer akin to Socialism, nor more dependent upon it than is Prohibition, or any other sectional movement. It is this fact that, the Hull Conference and its results have emphasised, and it is a fact that our Trnde6 Unionists should jiot aliflw; themselves to forget,.