THE SYNDICALIST MOVEMENT

NZ Truth, Issue 56, 14 July 1906, Page 7

THE SYNDICALIST MOVEMENT

And Its importance

(By J. B, Askew.) I have more than once called attention, m my " International Notes," to the movement m France and Italy which is known aß.the Syndicalist Movement, or to put it into English, as. tha trade union movement. It is that movement which came into being to express over against the political party the revolutionary and Social -Democratic character of the . mission of the- trade tifiibns. It was at once a protest a^aihst the over-importance attached to Pavliamantarism and the confidence m the ranks of the proletariat that their aims could bo* Won through Parliamentarism alone, also a reaction against the attempt to degrade the trade unions to the subordinate posltpn ' of obtaining for the workers a few temporary concessions under capitalism fo< a select number of workers, and to cleiy altogether any revolutionary role to then. On the one band, we had those who, as m ' Germany, were i. ,so anxious to rmke the trade unions all-embracing that Jtfey were almost afraid to mention the wed Socialism, and who anxiously proclaimed that the trade unions were politioalv neutra,l^-a policy of Dvhioh the facts 'f Ufa have daily shown the absurdity- jfe is absurd for bodies like the trado union . to think they can be independent) <£ - any political party. They must be eitfer Socialist 6? anti-Socialist. Neutrality ii impossible. The capitalists make tint quite impossible. On the other hand, « i had those who asserted that tbe role of the trade Unions Was completely played oat.; Capitalism had made trade unionism impossible. Now, apparently, they had to trust to Parliamentarism, assisted by street - revolutions. Kautsky, it may be remembered, m the " Social Revolution," was one of the first to call attention to another view of tirade unionism, and its value for Socialism. Russian experience has done much more since then, and haa shown us to value tbe possibilities of the mass strike as a means of bringing pressure to bear on tbe governing classes,, even m the absence of--^~ Parliamentarism, and now we have a movement m France and Italy whioh more or less deliberately advocates the substitution of ttade Union methods for those of (he' Parlifttoentiiry Party — proclaims the -v»e» lessness of political methods, advises tha' dissolution of the political party and th« concentration of energy on the organisation of ttade unions, and tlie recognition of their importance as the sole instruments by „ which the sooial revolution can be brought about. Ido Hot desire here to lay stress on the , . exaggeration Of this theory or point out '""'- --specially its weakness. I hold, as I have said m li Justice, *' that if the worthywriters who advocate it had lived, say ie Saxony, where the suffrage was deliberately raised a few years ago to destroy tbe Parliamentary influence of the Social-Demo-crats, they would soon learn the folly of thinking it possible to leave so useful a Weapon as Parliamentarism wholly m tha bands of our enemies. Neither d 6 I attach, much value to their attempted revision o£ Marx. It might be possible to learn what Marx teaches before we set out to revisa < what he has to say, and a little more exaob knowledge of the third volume of "Das Kapital" would have spared them at leasb 'One blunder* But apart from that, the movement has, m my opinion, much to recommend it, especially m a land where the trade unions are capable of so much, if they will recognise their own importance^fc^ a3 m England. The trade unions have to /I recognise that a very important part can ■ ba played by them as the organisation of the workers m the sooial revolution— in = other Words, m the emancipation of N their biaftg. To quote the words of a friend* of mine : "The trade Unions should recognise that m the transformation of industry from a private capitalist form to a Socialist cooperative, the principal part should fall to tbeuV' We should be able to call, for example, on the Railway Workerakprganisa. tion to reorganise the rail ways.Hfie textile . workers their industry, and so pn—oertiiinly m due consultation with the reprc* Sentatives of sooiety as a whole, and with due regard to the interests of so riety as consumer. But the principal point to be ' h brought out is that the workers as prdducers must be recoffnised as m the first place more to ba consulted m the reorganisation of any industry. Of ootrse, where children are concerned, society will make its ydioe felt The great advantage of this accentuation of the importance of tbe trade unions is ■ that it at the same time accentuates tha distinctly proletariat character of our move* ment, and its aim, ''The 'world for tha workers," and teaches the workers that . they must, and can, rely on themselves ' alone', and on their own organised' might; that Parliamentarism must be valued chiefly as a means of warding off reaction, and less as a positive means of obtaining social reform. They shotdd learn to oulti- ' vate a healthy raiatrust of the complicated ' machinery of law proposed to be set up by many so-called measures of social reform, and to trust more to direct action for an improvement of their position. Trade unionists, so far , from agreeing with the _ employers' opinion that they ought not to interfere with the management of business, should aim at increasing more and more th« - extent of their interference, with a view to> ousting the employer altogether. Moreover, ill alliance with the co-opebative movement, the trade unions Could do even more, especially where co.-operative bakerie* and SUch; like exidtdd. On these lines thatfade unions would take on no new fun - - tiona. Only tbe function? which they now Would be seen m the light of: a ideal;^ and their power to attract tneusbers into theit ranks would be proportionately raised. A trade noionism \ Which has lost all v\6&\, and haa become' a J mere aristocracy of labof^ cannot jiope-^i^ draw all the workers infa:^itß^r6.nks, imt that can only be achieved^ by one which sets out to play its part m winning the, worid for the workers. — "Justice."