LABOUR AND RUSSIA

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 April 1946, Page 7

LABOUR AND RUSSIA

LASKI DOUBTFUL REGARDING COMMUNISTS OPPOSITION IN BRITAIN LONDON, April 17. The formation of a Socialist Inter-

national depended on the attitude ql Russia, said Professor Harold Laski, chairman of the British Labour Party executive, addressing a press conference in Rome. “Unless we know whether Russia is ready to accept the past 25 years’ experience of SocialDemocrats we shall not take any steps towards founding such an International.” He said authority would be sought at the British Labour Party conference on June 8 to send a British delegation to Russia for a series of roundtable conferences with the Communists to ascertain their attitude towards the democracies; Unless they had the same ideals of democracy and liberty the. formation of an International would be very difficult. “The Labour Party directorate has launched an intensive drive to destroy the Communist Party,” says the Daily Mail. “Mr. Herbert Morrison is directing a high-tension campaign to defeat the Communist Party’s application for affiliation, which will be considered at the Labour Party conference on June 8, and to make it a final decisive rebuff which will destroy the Communist Party in this country. “The Labour directorate has invited representatives of every Social-Demo-cratic organisation in the Dominions and Europe to London before the conference to form an Anti-Communist International. The Russians were not invited.

“The Labour directorate hopes to confront the June conference with the fait accompli of a Dominions and European alliance in which the affiliation of the Communists is forbidden. “The Communist Party, if its application is refused, is expected to disband. The members will join the Labour Party as individuals and seek to obtain control of key positions in the Labour Party and the trade unions.”

GERMAN COMMUNISTS BEAT NATIONALIST DRUM LONDON, April 17. The German Communist Party was beating the nationalist drum and proclaiming its desire for centralisation, said the Lord Chancellor (Lord Jowitt) in the House of Lords. .It would be poor consolation if, instead of the doctrine, “Ein Volk, Ein Reich. Ein Fuehrer,” there develoepd “Ein Reich, Ein Kommissar.” The Potsdam agreement, which recognised this danger, remained unqualifiedly the British Governments policy, he said. Britain desired a middle road arrangement between excessive centralisation and the administrative disintegration which existed when the Allies entered Germany.

MOSCOW DENOUNCES GERMAN LEADER (Rec. 1 p.m.) LONDON, April 17. The Moscow newspaper Izvestia, to-day denounced Dr. Schumacher, leader of the German Social Democrats, who is at present strongly opposing the fusion of the Democrats and Communists in Germany, as a traitor who betrayed Russian prisoners to the concentration camp authorities at Dachau. Izvestia alleged that 95 Russians were shot as the result of information Dr. Schumacher gave the Germans.