The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 10, 1927, Page 8

pou THE BRITISH MINORITY By JAMES MANNING ATTERSEA Town Hall is ablaze with color to- day, banners of red and gold, banners marked in strange Chinese characters and red banners of the Russian workers bearing messages of fraternal greeting to their British comrades. This is the opening of the Fourth Annual Con- ference of the National Minority Movement of Great, Britain. There are seven hundred and sixty-three dele- gates seated in the body of the hall and they hail from four hundred and _ thirty-three different branches of the various unions and cooperative so- cieties. Men and women from the mines and textile industries, delegates from the engincers, agricul- ture, garment workers, railway men, clerks and teachers; every workers’ organization of any im- portance in Great Britain is represented at the con- ference. All are obviously on their toes and ready to take an active and constructive part in the pro- ecedings. On the speakers’ platform is seated the Executive Committee, among whom are Hairy Pollitt of the boilermakers, W. Hannington of the engineers, Nat Watkins of the miners and Alex Gossip of the furni- ture workers, and there, modestly in the back- ground, is Rutland Boughton, famous composer and author of the Immortal Hour. The conference is presided over by none other than our old friend and comrade, Tom Many. Tom is speaking now, making the address which opens the conference. The words snap from his lips like shots from a machine gun as he outlines to the delegates the tasks that confront them and the workers of Great Britain. Tom catches up his audience and carries them with him, bursts of ap- plause halt the speaker at intervals as the delegates are carried away by the eloquence and virility of this old and loved fighter in the revolution. A capi- talist reporter sitting next to me gapes up at the speaker and is carried away with the rest of us, he comes back to himself again in a few minutes with a sudden start that was rather funny, picks up his pencil and turns to his task. Tom speaks of the intensified exploitation of the workers in every part of the world, he outlines the merciless aggressions of British imperialism and amid the thunders of applause from his hearers he calls attention to the new attitude that is being taken by the workers of Great Britain, an attitude that scorns patronage and charity, demands the own- ership and management of indusiries by and for the workers, a disciplined, fightine attitude that will add a new dignity to the working class cause and lgave the forces of reaction floundering in the mire of their own futility. “We must face death vather than fight for the capitalist class!” declares Tom as he concludes his address and the audience risés and cheers him to the echo. Clearly, things are beginning to stir in old England, the attitude of these men and women bodes a very lively time for the bosses in the near future. A resolution was next offered on the judicial mur- der of Sacco and Vanzetti. The crimes of American capitalists were denounced in no uncertain terms and the various speakers on the resolution drew graphic lessons to be learned by the workers of Great Britain in order to mak> impossible similar outrages in their own land. The space available in The DAILY WORKER does not admit of my giving a detailed account of the business taken up by the conference, Resolu- tions on all the vital subjects that are of interest to a militant working class organization were taken up and discussed with a degree of understanding and business-like ability that I have never seen equalled in any similar gathering. No groping for words or phrases here, these men and women knew the conditions existing in the various industries which they represent down to the smallest detail, situations were explained with a clarity and brevity that delighted me, especially as I had paid a visit to the House of Commoné only a few days before andslistened to the colorless bleatings of the home secretary and his troupe of performing sheep. Arthur Horner, of the Miners’ Federation execu- tive, made an eloquent speech, in which he called attention to the necessity for the formation of a Workers Defence Corps. He reminded the delegates of the tactics of the police during the Sacco-Vanzetti demonstrations thruout the country; his suggestions were adopted and willbe carried into effect. No pacifist tendencies are noticeable in this gathering, these men and women are girding themselves for a struggle that they know will be grim and re- lentless, and they are constructing a machine that will, I think, eventually drive a goodly number of the exploiters of England to join their friends of the Russian White Guard in the dives of Paris and New York. The feature that marked the second day of the conference was Tom Mann's report on the situation in China. It will be remembered that he was one of the members of the International Workers Dele- gation that went to China in January last and re- turned in July of this year. The following are the 2 CONFERENCE Message from Tom Mann to American Workers few words of greeting to our American com- rades. At our Minority Movement Confer- ence last year Comrade Earl Browder was with us, and took part {n the conference.’ Since then I have traveled (with Comrade Browder over We have had much venomous hostility shown us by the reactionaries in the trade union movement but in spite of all we grow and the effect is We are fully. alive to the machinations of the boss class and we are fighting them and will con- tinue to fight them confident in our ability - to grapple effectively with the enemy forces. Long live the revolutionary forces of the United States. Long live the revolutionary forces of Britain. Congratulations to all revolutionaries in America, and may capitalism and all its ramifications be speedily and forever over- many miles throuzh Siberia and China. showing itself markedly in the movement. thrown. Goed luck to all American reds. Tom Mann. London. August 28th, 1927. a names of the delegates: Earl R. Browder, America, Tom Mann, England and Jacques Doriot, France. Sydor Stoler was secretary to the delegation. Tom gave a graphic picture of the six thousand mile journey thru the snow from Poland to Vladi- vostok. He told of the hopes and struggles of the Chinese workers and peasants and of the betrayal of these same workers and peasants by the passing procession of military overlérds. He emphasized the part played by British imperialism in the ex- ploitation of the people of China, and told of the corruption and bribery that is commonly practiced by the representatives of British imperialism in ‘their efforts to Strangle the aspirations of the Chinese workers, It was a tragic story that Tom told, but a note of hope was sounded when he said that the people of Manchuria had begun to take things into their own hands, and were forming workers’ and peas- ants’ Soviets there; he further gave it as his opinion that the Chinese workers, to a great extent, are conscious of the class nature of their struggle and “are anxious to cooperate with the workers in other lands in the struggle that must, sooner or later, become universal. A stirring message of greeting was read from the Chinese workers and their revolutionary banners were shown to the delegates, After his address Tom sang the Internationale in Chinese. He does not pretend to be any too familiar with the Chinese language but, he said, continual repetition had im- pressed this upon his memory. This conferenc2 was a notable one in many ways. The outstanding feature, to me, was the perfect knowledge of their subjects shown by the various speakers, and the ease and perfect tempo with which addresses were delivered. A speech by Hannington of the engineers on imperialism and an analysis of industrial conditions by Harry Pollitt of the boiler- makers were worth coming a long way to hear. Charles Ashleigh, a graduate of the Federal Peni- tentiary at Leavenworth, gave a spirited and in- structive address on the Workers’ Press. Charles, by the way, wishes me to extend his greetings to all his old time friends of jungle and jail in Amer- iea, The conference concluded with the singing of the Red Flag and the Internationale. I really think our _ Voices must have been heard over in Buckingham Palace. I hope so, it might have caused George to do a little heavy thinking, something his job rarely calls for. These men and women delegates, who represented over one million workers, have returned to their factories and mines with new ideas and determina~ tions. They are alive to the difficulties and dan- gers of the task ahead of them, nevertheless, they are convinced that their united fighting strength can, eventually, overcome all opposition and make their ideals realities, Having these convictions, who shall say that their battle is not half won? DEVELOPMENTS IN CHINA (Continued from page 8) resentatives to Peking to negotiate with Chang Tso- lin. The whole hide-and-seek game with the triple alliance negotiations is in reality a maneuver on the part of the “young group” to deceive the “old group” of the Chang Tso-lin clique (Chang Tsung Chang belongs to the “old group” and the “young group” have long wished to annihilate him) and a deceit- ful maneuver on the part of Chiang Kai-shek against the revolutionary masses in his territory and his party comrade, Feng Yu Hsiang. If Sun Chuan Fang captures Nanking and Shanghai, Chang Tsung Chang’s power in Shantung and Chili will be strengthened; the fight among the northern gen- erals will, as a result, assume more violent forms. The Revolutionary Insurrection in Nanchang. Every revolutionist will be of the opinion that a government consisting of elements treacherous to the revolution and supported by officers and *big landowners, must in all circumstances be over- thrown. The revolt in Nanchang under the leader- ship of Generals Yeh Ting and Ho Lung is the be- gitming of the fight against the Wuhan government. A new revolutionary centre is being formed. Yeh Ting is the most capable general of the former so- called iron revolutionary 4th army corps. He has long been a member of the Communist Party. After the failure of the revott in Nanchang, the troops of Yeh Ting and Ho Lung numbering 20,000 bayonets proceeded on the way to Kwantung. Perhaps they will succeed in capturing the old revolutionary head- quarters, In spite of the most fearful Suppressive measures of the dictator of Kwantung, Li Dji Chin, many villages in the province, even including those quite close to the town of Canton, are occupied by armed peasants. In other provinces also in which power- ful peasant risings have taken place, as Hunan, Kiangsi, Hupeh, the peasants, especially in those parts far removed from means of communication, still have the power in their hands. The present time is particularly suitable to a further peasant movement. The harvest has commenced. The land- owners are demanding the immediate payment of the high rents. It will of course come to a sharp strug- gle between the peasants and the big landowners. The armed peasant troops who are in hiding will again appear in order to conduct the fight against the landowners. There are sufficient revolutionary forces available. The counter-revolutionary Wuhan government and the treacherous Kuomintang leaders are the play- thing of generals who are greatly divided even among themselves. The group of the Hunan gen- erals are nominally under the leadership of General Tang Sen Dji: as a matter of fact, however, Gen- eral Ho Tien has a great power. An old Hunan general, Tan Yen Kai, is likewise attempting to overthrow Tang Sen Dji and to go to Wuhan as ruler. The reactionary coup of May 20th in Chang- cho was organized by Tan Yen Kai and -originally directed against Tang Sen Dji. oe General Ho Tien, who is in Wuhan, is again sharp- ly menaced by Feng Yu Hsiang. If Feng is unable © to capture Peking he will, driven by lack of funds and munitions, of course seek to win Wuhan for himself.. The treacherous Kuomintang leaders, as Wang Ching Wei, Kuo Min Yu and Chu Tien, are more inclined to feng Yu Hsiang than to the Hunan generals. Kuo Min Yu and Chu Tien are acting openly as representatives of Feng Yu Hsiang in Wuhan. As we see, the bloe of these traitors is also crumbling.