During an election there are Tory and Liberal capitalists, and all of
them are friends of the workers. During a strike there are no Tories and
no Liberals amongst the employers. They are all capitalists and enemies
of the workers. Is there any logic in you workers? Is there any
perception in you? Is there any _sense_ in you?
As I said just now, you never elect an employer as president of a
Trades' Council, or a chairman of a Trade Union Congress, or as a member
of a Trade Union. You never ask an employer to lead you during a strike.
But at election times, when you ought to stand by your class, the whole
body of Trade Union workers turn into black-legs, and fight for the
capitalist and against the workers.
Even some of your Labour Members of Parliament go and help the
candidature of employers against candidates standing for Labour. That is
a form of political black-legging which I am surprised to find you
allow.
But besides the conflict of personal interests, there are other reasons
why the Liberal and Tory parties are useless to Labour.
One of these reasons is that the reform programmes of the old parties,
such as they are, consist almost entirely of political reforms.
But the improvement of the workers' condition depends more upon
industrial reform.
The nationalisation of the railways and the coalmines, the taxation of
the land, and the handing over of all the gas, water, and food supplies,
and all the tramway systems, to Municipal control, would do more good
for the workers than extension of the franchise or payment of members.
The old political struggles have mostly been fought for political
reforms or for changes of taxation. The coming struggle will be for
industrial reform.
We want Britain for the British. We want the fruits of labour for those
who produce them. We want a human life for all. The issue is not one
between Liberals and Tories; it is an issue between the privileged
classes and the workers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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