COOK REPLIES.

Grey River Argus, 25 February 1927, Page 6

COOK REPLIES.

lo His Critics. (Special to .Mine Workers For several years 1 have been the object of various attacks by practical!' all the capitalist journals. On my return from Russia, liaviiq, seen and felt their great comradeship, 1 have read the article by Cole, where he charges me with bad generalship, the speech of Mr MacDonald in the House of Commons, when he told the world that Mr Cook was incompetent and 1. have read also the Forward where again (as he did during the stop page), MacDonald made an attack on myself and the leadership of thM.F.G.B. Likewise have I seen the statements of Mr Snowden, Robert ’Williams, Havelock Wilson, Mr Baldwin, and Mr Churchill, that I am all wrong. Com rades, I do not think I am wrong. Should I have advised the miners to accept longer hours, lower wages and district agreements, which, according to my critics, was necessary to carry on the industry, and in the miners’ own interest? The strange thing to me is that these, supercritics during the whole of our struggle did not tell us what to do, and even now do not tell us what we ought to have done in resisting threatened reductions in our standard of living. Every criticism of me that has been made in respect to the policy and programme of the Federation is a criticism against the whole Federation. It is quite true that MacDonald, Snowden and Co wanted thminers to accept reductions in wages, but they bad not the courage to tell us openly what reductions in their opinions would be justified. I know Ramsey MacDonald believed we were wrong in 1921 in seeking a wage increase, ami

T know he opposed the amendment of the Minimum Wage Act. Then T sup pose we were wrong in .1925, when we refused to accept reductions. And the T.r.C. General Council must have been wrong also in supporting our decision to fight for the maintenance of status quo. We were wrong in 1929 ami so was the whole Trade 1 nion Movemen. in deciding that the Miners’ standard should not be lowered. Comrades and fellow workers, I have never claimed to be a genius; I have never claimed to be perfect. I have made and will make many mistakes, as all leaders will. J have done no more and no less than to carry out to the best of my ability the decisions that were made on behalf of a million miners, the decision of the men who have fought isolated, and who have been betrayed by many of the leaders of the Labour . Movement. Hither the Miners were right in resisting these demands, or they were wrong. According to my critics they we V wrong; I believe they were right. When history is written it will be proved that they were right.