SOCIAL STUDY SOCIETY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 210, 3 August 1935, Page 8

SOCIAL STUDY SOCIETY.

I At the weekly meeting of the Pnl- { merston North Social I'rtudy Society, 'at the Rialto Hall, on Wednesday night, tho speaker invited was Mr .JStevens, of Wellington, whose subject was “What is Communism ? He roughly divided bis subject into three heads:* First, the theory ; secondly, the strategy : and, thirdly, the international aspect, lie pointed out that Cominun- : ism was not a new idea, but the logical .outcome of the system that came into 'existence at the close or break-up ot the feudal system. He stated that this system, witli its two classes, the ruling and employing class, and the working class entirely dependent un the empioying class for their existence, was hound to lead to a development of class instinct even if the average man did • not think of it, and the part the Comi nninist Party was to play was to organise that blind intinct to a plane on which everyone would have at least a living standard. As far bark as 1848, the speaker ; added. Marx and Engels issued books foretelling how this class struggle I would grow and how a collapse would inevitably come. Since then the question of tho welfare of the working class had lapsed while the working class movement was •developing on Parliamentary lines, hut now a change of economic and political iorces had collie. ■Monopolistic groups, now controlled the ! whole world and with the development ;of those monopolies they were no . longer able or willing to give the small surplus to the workers,” consequently : the depression and the need of a party to organise the workers to struggle for 'a better condition of tilings. Their main object was to bring up all tjie workers of all races to one leadership, i drawing in behind them those classes who did not think they were “working 'class” but who really were so, and so gain the greatest possible unity of all classes of workers to develop and form a classless society. It was a choice between the last refuge of Capitalism, Fascism or a Communistic. State. I lie speaker dwelt on the subject ol Fascism and its ultimate narrow Nationalism and wars. At the conclusion of the speech tlieie was a very animated discussion, the speaker receiving a number of queries from the audience to answer, and there was considerable discussion due to the fact that a number present did not (agree with the speaker, hut all agreed that the speech was well worth listen- [ in<r to and that it contained many I lessons although one might not agree altogether with what was expounded.