THE COBDEN RESOLUTION

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10715, 8 October 1920, Page 4

THE COBDEN RESOLUTION

A resolution of Cobden residents has given, a-broad hfnt of its dislike to certain sectional support given in this country to tho disloyal tactics of the Council of Action. Those, tactics havo received severe condemnation in the House of Commons, not unmixed with the- saving grace of ridicule. They have been, moreover, discredited by the turn of events which havo placed tho sound policy of Poland and the heroic valour of a nation fighting for its long-lost recently-gained independence in their true light: Even the Council of Action will probably be now regretting its mean want of appreciation of the magnificent fighting spirit of this fine nation, which placed its freedom above every other considera*. tion. Be that as it may, the Council, Before the Polish victory, acknowledged tho force of public opinion roused to the defence of tho constitution, by abandoning its original plan of a. general stride. It substituted refusal to permit manufacture and transport of munitions tfnd troops. But as-no troops aro likely to bo sent, the substitution was probably a- bluff for saving- face, for; if Carried, out seriously, it would, of course, lead to a general strike. As to tho mainspring. of this movement, tho Lenin message by. Sylvia Panthurst shows that to ho a fraternal sympathy with Bolshevik propaganda. Tito coolness ivith which this systematic proposal -was made for revolutionising Britain, is amazing, and would bo terrify-ing-hut for-the small effect it has had upon the great body of British: Labour. This failure, having its counterpart in Franco, accounts for the desperate fury of M, Tchitcherin's attack on' the French Government. As an appeal to the French; proletariat, it will bo discounted as a despairing screech from the' lafrt-■ ditch of Soviet anarchy, beaten to earth by the -Polos, and nowthreatened by the progress of Wrangel's forces. Oh the whole, the Sbyal common-sense of those Cobdenites can hardly be snid to bev "barking up tho wrong tree."