THE LABOUR PARTY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 163, 3 April 1908, Page 7

THE LABOUR PARTY.

GROUPS TO CO-OPERATE. POLITICAL WORKING ALLIANCE. 'NO VOTE-SPLITTING, or lELEonArH—riiuss association—coriiiionT. (Rcc. April 2, 10.28 p.m.) London, April 2. Tho Labour groups in tho House of Commons liavo formed an alliance, limited to tho life-timo of tho present Parliament, for united action on Labour questions. Thoy also uudertako that no group shall interfere with another group regarding sitting mombers or selected candidates at byelections. ENGINEERS NOT TO.ATTEND TRADE CONGRESS. London, April 1. . Tho Amalgamated Socioty of Engineers will not be represented at the Trade Union Congress at Nottingham in September. TRADE UNIONISTS AND SOCIALISTS. Acoor'ding to tho "Daily Mail Year Book," tlioro aro 55 Labour members in the House of Commons, excluding Mr. Burns. Of these 55, 30 aro paid bv tho Labour Party, and do not accept tlio Liberal whip.. Mr. A. Henderson is their ohairman, and Mr. Ramsay Macdonald is their secretary. . This group "represents 998,338 workers, of whom 975,182, are Trado Unionists, and 2271 aro r Co-operators." : . The "miners' mombers" form a group of fourteen in the Labour following. Tho "Daily Mail" places Mr. Richard 801 l (genoral ' secretary iof tho Amalgamated Sooioty of Railway Servants) and ten others, inoluding .'Mr; Grayson, - in a " Liberal and Labour group. . While tho Labour party group of'thirty is chiefly representative of Trade Unionists, ; many of .its members are individually Socialists. Many of tho Trade Unionists aro also., Socialists, but .in tho ibody of Trado Unionism as. a whole tho purely Trade Union and tho Socialist wings are liable to como into conflict/ snch. as occurred at the Hull Conference of tho (Labour party, in January. At Hull, a resolution seeking to alter tlio constitution of tho -party; by putting Socialism into it was lost. It "was argued that this Would drive'out; of tho party Trade Unionists' and Co-operators who, woro not Socialists. ■At tho same' conference a day or two later a motion-was carried, by a narrow majority, calling. on the . Parliamentary Labour party to declare, in favour' of 'Socialism! Somo of tho Trado Unions that took 'part in the Conferenco resented tlio passing of this motion as being a coup by tho Socialists. ' Tho mover was a delegate (Mr. Stephenson) of tho _ Amalgamated Society of Engineers, which, it is now announced,' will not be represented at tho Trade Union Congress next September.