The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 29, 1924, Page 12

The Lessons of MacDonaldism I shall speak presently of the pro posed loan to Russia, and I want you to be very clear in your minds what the essential difference is between those two loans, The loan proposed to Germany is a loan to be raised by private subscription, with no form of government guarantee. That means that the liability for loss, if any, will fall on those alone who subscribe to that loan. “But all the same, there is a real risk to our trade in this country that Germany, relieved as she has been of all her mortgaged debts and prior charges, may have such an advantage in competition that we my find that her exports may do us serious dam- age. “But there are opponents to the carrying out of the Dawes report. There are opponents to a loan to Ger- many. ‘There are opponents to the rehabilitation of German trade, Now this has not been pointed out before, but itis a matter of very great im- portance. Who are the opponents to that arrangement, negotiated by the labor party, supported by us, and sup- ported—I have no reason to think otherwise—by the liberals? The op- ponents of the Dawes report are the Communist Party. Two days ago there was a whole column in the daily press reporting a meeting of that party, full of objections to the carrying out of this report on the ground that it made Germany a servile state. But why do (Continued from page 1) I have not the least doubt that it was one of the chief aims of the far-secing representatives of the Eng- lish bourgeoisie, to compromise the labor party in the eyes of the English colonial people, in the first place in Ingia, Egypt, Irak and now also in China. Has the bourgeoisie achieved this aim? Yes, to a considerable ex- tent. The MacDonald government is seriously compromised in the eyes of colonial peoples. As regards Egypt, India, and particularly Ireland and now also China, it has carried on the old policy, the same predatory, imper- ialist, slave-holding policy as was car- ried on by Curzon. How pathetically MacDonald expressed ‘himself over his own policy in his speech in Derby on the 27th of September, when he de- clared that not a single tory or liberal can prove. to the intelligent electors of our country, that the name, the respect, the stability, the prospects and the position of our country have suffered in the least in the eyes of the world under the labor government. This was as much as to say: I am no worse than Curzon or Lloyd George, what more do you _ expect from me? That is the import of the} speech of MacDonald. For What Purpose Did the English Bourgeoisie Need the “Labor Government”? If. anybody had asked us for .what purpose the English bourgeoisie -had ventured on so hazardous a game as to.let MacDonald take office,—which it is-true is a first class menshevist) government but still connected with the working class—we already see that the ganfe was worth the candle. To compromise the increasing power of the working Class, the only power in which: the. suppressed colonial peoples believed,—this was some- thing worth while to Curzon and Lioyd George. Paris is worth a mass. In this respect they have achieved serious results. And when the Eng- lish working class will have settled with the traitors, when they have not a royal labor government, not a sham labor government, but a real proletar- m6 ian workers government, then they will have considerable pains in wiping out from the consciousness of millions of colonial slaves of England the im- pression left behind by MacDonald. The English bourgeoisie considered it necessary to meddle in Chinese pol- itics.. They ‘were far better able to carry this out under MacDonald than they would have under Curzon. You could see that the English working class hardly reacted at all to the im- perialist policy of MacDonald in China. The proletariat of our Soviet Union formed a “Hands off China” League; in Germany this organization met with great sympathy among the working masses. The English work- ing class hardly raised a finger against MacDonald’s policy in China, If-Curzon had done the same as MacDonald it would have been easier to rouse a protest amongst the work- ing class against this policy. Finally, if you are familiar with the notorious Dawes plan. This plan was. almost~hailed as a victory for “‘con- structive socialism;” at-any rate as a victory for pacifism. As a matter, of fact, it is becoming continually clearer that it is a noose round the neck of the workers of Germany and of a number of other countries. It was more convenient for thé ¢apitalists to have this “work” carried © out by MacDonald than by Curzon. In this question England outwardly played the first fiddle. It was not without reason that the leader of the conser- vatives, Baldwin,.at the annual con- ference’ of the party in Neweastle, fully approved of the policy of MacDonald in this question and dis- closed the true reason for the neces- sity for carrying through the Dawes plan. This is what he said regarding it: “The Dawes report has shown clear- ly that the first preliminary step is in the negotiation of a loan for Ger- many. What kind of a loan is that? ject to it? Because they have their orders from Moscow. Why does Mos- cow object to it? Because Moscow has ‘never repudiated the ideal for which she has stood for the last few years, to cause world revolution, and she knows that a settled Germany and a conterited Germany will be a barrier to her ambitions, that a Germany in its present condition cannot be feared. “Western Europe has a civilization to preserve, and it is our duty to do ‘all we can to preserve it in these days. The barrier of western Eur- opean civilization must be made strong and firm against any subversive onslaughts that may come from the east, and there is no surer and no bet- ter way of @oing that than to begin by carrying out the terms of the Dawes report and bringing once more that great German market into contact with the markets of the world. No one knows better than I do the cheap and easy argument that may be used against doing this, but I ask you to think seriously and deeply on this sub- ject.as to whether our plain duty to Burope and to the world is not to strengthen that common civilization to which all of us belong in the west of Europe.” (“Times,” October 3rd. 1924.) The Dawes plan which was held up before the working masses of Europe as a triumph for democracy and pac- ifism, this robber plan, which was chiefly dictated by the English imper- ialists, could most conveniently be carried: out through the mediumship of MacDonald. In a number of funda- mental foreign political questions therefore, the menshevik labor gov- ernment was the tool of the’ English bourgeoisie. The. Attitude of the English Workers ; ‘Towards Us. But there was oné question fegard- ing which the English bourgéoisie was not quite satisfied, that is the question of the relations between England and the Soviet Union. We haye learned something of this” question to our own cost. We still remember all the interventions in which England took such an active part. The Russian revolution was so big a factor that it even stirred the heart of the most backward, petrified, the reception accorded our trade union representatives in~ Hull. Eyen the | most moderate English trade union- ‘following effect:. "The Russian Bol- sheviki may be as bad as you please, they may have destroyed a good deal, they have often called us social trait- mest moderate English worker. This|{- was especially to be seen from the |) ists have been speaking lately to the|—f > ~ ors, but one cannot deny that they have overthrown the bourgeoisie, they have created something new, they have settled with the czar, they have not ‘dealt with him so politely as MacDonald and his ministers have dealt with their king, The English workers have perceive this, Why Do the English Bourgeoisie Wish To Prevent Our Loan? MacDonald’s allies in the camp of the conservatives and liberals are cry- ing out on account of the treaty with the Soviet Union and proceed to wreck it in parliament. Discussion was particularly heated regarding the loan question. Why? There is a good deal of nonsense talked about it. It is claimed that it is a loan for the Comintern. The liberals and conser- vatives know perfectly well that it is .a question of a loan for the recon- struction of our national economy and not for the Comintern, Why then did they wish to prevent the loan? Perchance on account of the 30.or 40 million pound sterling which they are to give? Nothing of the kind. These people know quite well that the treaty signed by MacDonald and Ra- kovsky is not without advantages for them. We had to make large con- cessions. It created a certain amount of opposition within our own ranks, because we have-been too indulgent towards the Bnglish. But taken as a whole it was and remains accept- the Communist Party in England op-|#ble for both countries, From a purely business and commercial standpoint it is perfectly acceptable for the Eng- lish capitalists. The assertion that it would be dangerous to invest a sum of 30 to 40 million pounds in a loan for Soviet Russia is absurd. Our regime is more stable than any other, and the obligations entered into by our goy- ernment are more secure than the ob-| ligations of many other powers. Eur- ope grants loans to Poland, Roumania etc. although it is clearly seen that. the days of the Polish bourgeoisie and of the Roumanian landowners are numbered. Why then this opposition to the treaty? In the first place I be- lieve that here the consolidation of the interests of the English and Amer- ican imperialists is making itself felt. Pressure has been exercised here by the American imperialists. Pressure was certainly exercised on the part of Mr. Hughes. Only today we re- ceived telegrams from America, ac- cording to which all the most influen- tial New York newspapers, even such an ultra-conservative paper as the Sun, characterized the activity of the first labor government in England as being very successful. The American press in the leading articles devoted to the English crisis, speaks of the “great service’ rendered by the Hnglish labor government regarding the question of home and foreign pol- tics—with the exception of the treaty with the Soviet Union, which it describes as being ‘‘a great mis- take.” The English lords and the Amer- ican millionaires are beginning again to form a block against the Soviet Union. You know the policy of the American foreign minister Hughes, who wants to force us to our knees, and obstinately declares that Amer- ica will never recognize the Soviet Union, This is what the English worker must understand. I mentioned already that the treaty is more advantageous for the English capitalists than for us. They want markets and know that our country will develop into an enormous market. Our national economy is on the up- grade. They follow very attentively such petty prosaic details as the de- mand for textile goods. It is known thruout the world that we cannot suf- ficiently supply our market with tex- tile goods. It it known to the Ameri- can capitalists that we are buying ‘many millions of gold roubles worth of cotton from them. Some of them say that we do. not purchase cotton in order to extend our. textile indus- try,, but in order. to gain de jure recog- nition from America. But they are’ mistaken- For us, cotton is: a much more valuable product than recogni- tion. We-need cotton in order to produce textile goods and to supply the villages with them. It is therefore obvious that. the English and Amer- ican bourgeoisie, the richest in the world, do not always allow.themselves to be led by immediate business and commercial considerations. They can sometimes look: beyond ‘their im- mediate pocket interests and judge these things from the point of view of the “broad-mindedly” conceived. polit- ical interests of their class. And from this standpoint they have come to the conclusion that the treaty is political- ly undesirable for them. They hate the Soviet Union with a savage hate on-account of the victorious revolu- tion. (To be continued.) CHIGAGO SOCIETY FOR TECH. AID TO RUSSIA NOW FIVE YEARS OLD The Chicago Society for Techni- cal Aid to Soviet Russia will cele- brate its fifth anniversary on Satur- day, Dec. 6, at 8 p. m. in the as- sembly hall of the Soviet School, 1902 W. Division St., Chicago. Rus- sian labor organizations are invited to send their representatives to the celebration. An interesting program ‘Is being prepared. Dancing by Rus- sian children in costumes, a musical Program, etc. workers of all nationalities are invited to partici- _pate in the celebration. Admission _will be 35 cents. 2 Y NEW LIGHTS | ON CHINA! A most iasiebiting interview with a great Lg hed the. sat ot this country in © | “A brie Ff a a : tht. 3: “Yo gam ena 1 Down ber MONTHLY, anrene venenneanes The Walden Book Shop 307 Plymouth Court (Between State and Dearborn Just South of Jackson) CHICAGO Telephone Monroe 2284 Genova Restaurant - ITALIAN-AMERICAN 1238 Madison Street N. E. Cor. Elizabeth St. » Spaghetti and Ravioli Our Special Arrangements for Parties on : . “Short Notice aaa ‘Trade Where Your naa : Buys IG iz. ifs oF O28 a ig 2 ia 651 ‘West North is East of Halsted St.