: British Communists

thousands of acres belong to a
few rich families. Such a coun-
try, which locks up and shoots
its fascists, is more democratic
than one which lets them live
and organize in large country
houses, where a Labor Govern-
ment refuses to publish the
names of Nazi supporters in
Captain Ramsay’s Red Book, or
the names of highly placed Brit-
ish supporters of Hitler found

in the Nazi archives of Munich.’

“Tt is a democratic advance
at this stage te nationalize cer-
_tain industries with compensa-
tion for the capitalists. We Com-

munists quite agree that it is’

an advance, but we do not pre-
tend that it is complete democ-
racy.

“If we compare it with the
immense, bold planning of re-
construction in the Soviet Union
- + + we shall understand that in
the matter of democracy we are
only at the beginning of the
road.”

Mr. Pollitt was not under-
estimating the value of capital-
ist democracy. On the contrary,
few understood as well as did
the Communist Party how much
the fullest use and extension of

capitalist democracy could assist

the advance towards Socialism.
His argument was that instead
of attacking and refusing to
recognize countries whose de-
mocracy was so evidently great-
er than ours, the Labor Govern-
ment should use the democratic
means at its disposal for the
speedy fulfilment of its declared
policy:

“The country will not be trans-
formed by a stroke of the pen
and then leaving it to the Civil
Service and the police. The org-
anized workers, the people as a
whole, must ‘understand what
the plans are, and must be given
the chance to use their skill and
initiative to overcome them.”

“Tf the Labor- Government is
to carry out its policy, it will
have to promote real democratic
jeadership and control in all the
decisive positions of the State
machine, in the Civil Service,
Foreign Office and armed forces.

“How can: the Halifaxes (am-
bassador to the U.S.) and Leep-
ers. {ambassador to Greece)
carry out a real democratic
foreign policy? How can the
people who fundamentally be-

lieve in private enterprise- carry |

out policies that involve the na-
tionalization of the mines and
the Bank of England?

“How can a die-hard Tory like
Sir John Anderson be allowed to
continue as the Labor Govern-
ment’s official in charge of atom
research ? we

“How can a Labor Government
be truly democratic when it re-
fuses to grant democracy to the
colonial peoples?”

Speaking further of the dif-
ference between “Western” and
“Eastern” Socialism, Mr. Pollitt
said:

“For many Labor leaders the
idea of Socialism is one which
leaves. untouched the fundamen-

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tal question of abolishing the
system of rent, interest and pro-
fit, of the exploitation of man by
man! It does not. include the
ownership of the means of pro-
duction by the people or the
liberation of the colonial people.
Their conception of Socialism
is nationalization with - compen-
sation. Profit is still to go to a
privileged class. This goes. along
with a conception of ‘gradualism’
in achieving socialist aims,
_which in practice leaves the
capitalist class free to overthrow
;democracy before any funda-
imental changes are made.

“The fact remains that no La-
: bor Government in any part of
_the world has yet achieved So-
{cialism . . . Only in the Soviet
| Union under the leadership of
i; the Communist Party, has a
classless society been achieved.
That is the real difference be-
tween ‘Western’ and ‘Eastern
Socialism’.”

|THE GROWTH OF THE

; COMMUNIST PARTY

| In this section, Mr. Pollitt
traced the growth of the Com-
munist Party in Britain. It arose
out of the need, felt by the best
and most resolute workers in the
Labor movement, for a _ clear
working-class theory which could
guide the movement to its ul-
timate goal.

“The Fabians, the Social-Demo-
cratic Federation, the British
Socialist Party and the Indepen-
dent Labor Party all tried in
their various ways to supply this
leadership and bring the young-
er trade unionists to socialist
understanding. But the fatal

Cont.

weakness of all of them was
their own lack of Marxist out-
look.” 3

It was not an accident that
the growth of the Communist
Party had gone on side by side
with an immense strengthening
of the whole Labor movement.
It ‘was not an accident that in
many of the most important
trade unions today Communists
hold leading positions. —

“The support behind the Labor
Government would be immeasur-
ably increased through a firmly
united Labor movement. It is this
fact which now makes the af-
filiation' of the Communist Party
to the Labor Party one of the
most urgent questions.

“The chief political feason
why the Communist Party should
be affiliated to the Labor Party
is that it is essential still fur-
ther to strengthen the Labor
movement as a whole by the -con-
sistent class outlook of Marxism.

“We here, by our activity, lead-
ership, personal and _ coliective
efforts, must build up a great,
mass Communist Party. We are
confident that the forces of de-
mocracy and Socialism are in the
ascendency, and that the British
Labor movement as a whole has
the power to solve all the prob-
lems of peace in the interests of
the common people, that it can
rally to its support all the pro-
gressive sections of the nation.
The Communist Party, in lead-
ing the struggle for a happy and
prosperous Britain, is assured
that this will still further streng-
then workers’ democracy and the
mass movement for Socialism.”

CA

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his bedside.
Mr. had won

world fame for the challenging

Dreiser, who

realism of his novels, had re-
cently joinéd the American Com-
munist Party and had declared
his conviction that the basic solu-
tion to American social and eco-
nomie problems only in
Socialism.

lay

In his original novels, notably
“The American Tragedy,” Dreiser
expressed a pessimistic social
outlook. In recent years, how-
ever, he had discovered the pos-
itive force in American life and
had taken his stand with the la-
bor movement.

Death of the famous writer
came shortly after he had com-
pleted two novels, his first in
more than twenty years.

Theodore Dreise
Fighting Author
HOLLYWOOD, Callt-— Theodére Dreiste |

ous American left-wing author, died at his home
lowing a heart attack. His wife, Mrs. Helen Dreiser .

off the press in March.
he named “The Stoic”

from making speeches
following statements =
to him in which he 3
cized the foreign poli
Chamberlain ny
Great Britain,
nounced as ‘“Uimperiahg
scheduled Toronto. lec
to be cancelled. :
Little public support
progressive movement i
accorded Dréiser at
however, duc to the ill
the Communist Party
close censorship exercis

government.

B.C.'s outdoor workers
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rather than ruggedness, are demanded of wearin ?

Resourcefulness and enterprise can be put to worl :
bringing further variety and employment opportuni |
ties to her already varied industrial life. 14

Published as a contribution to the discussion ~ A
of Canada’s post-war future by a

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FRIDAY, JANUARY —