REVOLUTION OR REFORM Part two: Lenin saw the mould on Ramelson

In his whole piece discussing the current political situation, Communist Party industrial organizer Bert Ramelson does not utter one word about the world economic crisis, which is the starting point for any analysis.

Instead of determining the character of the period we are living in and making an assessment of the necessary tasks facing the working class, Ramelson produces useless subjective impressions of what he thinks workers are ready for.

In 'What is to be Done?' Lenin attacked the 'Rabocheye Dyelo' tendency, which supported spontaneity, in the following way:

'We need only point out that the "Rabocheye Dyelo" considered that it was impossible to set the overthrow of the autocracy as the FIRST task of the mass working-class movement, and degraded this task to that of a struggle for immediate political demands.' (Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow 1950, pp. 7677.)

Describing another mistake, Lenin wrote: 'The "stages theory', or the theory of "timid zig-zags" in the political struggle is expressed in the tollowing way: "Political demands, which in their character are common to the whole of Russia, should however at first correspond to the experience gained by the given stratum of workers in the economic struggle. Only on the basis of this experience can and should political agitation be taken up"' (Ibid p.77.)

Lenin categorized these confusions as 'the programme of a whole trend, expressed in the words: That struggle is desirable which is possible, and the struggle which is possible is the one that is going on at the given moment. This is precisely the trend of unbounded opportunism, which passively adapts itselt to spontaneity! (Ibid pp. 79-80.) Not ready for General Strike Lenin writes of the very earliest activities of Marxists in Russia that although they zealously carried out economic agitation, 'they did not regard this as their sole task. Right from the very beginning they advanced the widest historical tasks of Russian Social-Democracy (the revolutionary movement) in general, and the task of overthrowing the autocracy in particular' • (Ibid pp. 52-53.)

Can Ramelson explain what Lenin was doing 'imposing tasks beyond the level of political achievement' more than 20 years before the October Revolution and at a time when only the tiniest minority of workers supported Marxist "political objectives'; which are the two crimes he accuses the SLL of?

Ramelson implies that conditions are not ready for a General Strike in Britain.

Lenin wrote of the Ramelsons of his day: "The Economists want to shift the blame entirely upon the "absent conditions" , upon the influences of material environment that determine the road from which it will be impossible for any ideologist to divert the move'What is this but slavish cringing before spontaneity, but the infatuation of the "ideologists" with their own shortcomings?' (Ibid. p.55.)

Addressing those who claimed, like Ramelson, that 'the mass of workers themselves Ramelson. Above: Jones in disı March 5 Special Congress had nothing_ strategy, originally acc have not yet advanced the broad and militant political tasks that the revolutionaries are attempting to "impose" upon them', (Ibid. p.169) Lenin wrote:

'Plekhanov was a thousand times right when he not only pointed to this revolutionary class, not only proved that its spontaneous awakening was inevitable and unavoidable, but also when he set even "workers' circles" a great and lofty political task. But you refer to the mass movement that has sprung up since that time in order to degrade this task the order to narrow down cussion thrown :epted with his delegation after the out the General Council's doby Jones and • Scanlon: The energy and scope of activity of the "workers' circles".

'If you are not amateurs enamoured of your primitive methods, what are you then? You boast that you are practical, but you fail to see what every Russian practical worker knows, namely, the miracles that the energy not only of circles but even of individual persons is able to perform in the revolutionary cause.

'Or do you think that our movement cannot produce heroes like those of the 'seventies? But why? Because we lack training? But we are training ourselves, will go on

A NAME LIKE GUINNESS Tha lont of " AX - Д training acquire ing.

Unfortunately it is true that mould has formed on the surface of the stagnant waters of the "economic struggle against the employers and the government"; people have appeared among us who kneel in prayer to spontaneity, gazing with awe (as Plekhanov expresses it) upon the "posteriors" of the Russian proletariat.

'But we will get rid of this mould. The time has come when Russian revolutionaries, guided by a genuinely revolutonary theory, relying upon the genuine revolutionary and spontaneously awakening class, can at last rise to full stature in all their giant strength.

'All that is required is that the masses of our practical workers, and the still larger masses of those who long for practical work even while still at school, shall meet with scorn and ridicule any suggestion that may be made to degrade our political tasks and to restrict the scope of our organizational work.' : (Ibid. pp.173174.)

The Socialist Labour League is dedicated to breaking workers from their trade-unionist way of thinking and from all the individual influences of the bourgeoisie, whether reformist, revisionist or Stalinist.

Keep workers at present level Ramelson, the reformist, does not want workers to go beyond their present level of development.

This is nowhere better illustrated than in his praise for the Liaison Committee the Defence of Trade Unions, 'the most significant achievement of any rank-and-file movement in nearly half a century'.

And what has the LCDTU done? 'Since it came into existence seven years ago, it has succeeded in winning the organized trade union movement for the major plank of its policy: that only on the basis of militant action involving the organized movement will it be possible to frustrate the ruling-class attempts to deprive the unions of their right to use industrial action', Ramelson writes.

In other words, more militancy and protest strikes but nothing else. No suggestion of a qualitatively new struggle on a political level to defeat the Tory laws.

And what is Ramelson boasting of anyway? The Tory pay laws have taken away the right to use industrial action on the most fundamental question of all, wages.

This Tory attack is unprecedented in over 100 years history of trade unionism in Britain. It accurately reflects the unparalleled political and economic crisis the capitalist class are facing. Yet here is Ramelson blindly wittering on about the 'achievement' of the LCDTU.

The total inadequacy of pure 'militancy' on its own could not be better exposed.

And what in fact was the LCDTU doing while the basic right to strike for wages being abolished in Britain?

It was, in true Stalinist fashion, calling conferences (attended by ever-dwindling numbers) at which no real discussion was allowed, resulting last time in a 20-minute brawl between Stalinists and revisionists at the Friends Meeting House, London.

Ramelson claims that as a result of LCDTU pressure, Tack Tones and Hugh Scanlon, leaders of the Transport and Engineering Unions, have pushed the trade union movement to the left by getting the TUC Special Congress to call a national day of protest and stoppage on May 1.

Another curious 'achievement' to claim credit for. Tones and Scanlon put up their protest proposal at the Special Congress on March 5 precisely to head off any cal for a General Strike after the shock defeat of the TUC General Council's policy (originally backed by Jones and Scanlon) of no action at all.

After the protest, it was their intention to get back to friendly negotiations with Heath, and that is exactly what they have done.

But Ramelson is insistent: •The decision would never have been taken at all if the main enemy had been seen as the lefts within the trade union movement rather than the ruling class.' Leaving aside for one moment the demagogic slander at the end of that sentence, Ramelson must again be corrected.

Jones and Scanlon did nothing to help the mass campaign the trade union movement defeat the General Council's members of the TUC's leading committees which drew up that policy, by their silence they in tact condoned it.

That the AUEW and T&GWU delegations to that Congress voted against the General Council was due to the political campaigning carried out elsewhere and despite the personal roles of Jones and But why doesn't Ramelson deal with the much more important issue of what Tones and Scanlon did in practice to carry out the decisions of that Congress?

On the May 1 stoppage, Jones failed to instruct his union, the biggest in Britain, to come out on strike. This alone could have made an enormous difference to the effect of that protest.

On the even more crucial question of united TUC industrial action in support of the hospital workers, which was the other decision of Congress, the Jones-Scanlon record not just deplorable, but raises fundamental political questions that must be answered.

At meeting after meeting called by the TUC just to discuss aid to the hospital workers, not one proposal of solidmade by Jones, The Scanlon, or arity strike action was ever anybody else. The Special Congress policy was treated with contemptuous disregard within weeks of its passing.

Not once did the Communist Party take up this question with the two men most responsible, Jones and Scanlon. And Ramelson is silent about it now.

Defending the labour lefts' And when the Special Congress was finally completely betrayed by the TUC pleading with the government for special treatment for. hospital workers on a promise that no one else would get TUC support to defeat Phase Two, the Stalinists remained totally silent once again.

By their actions, the 'lefts' opened the door for the Tory government and drove the hospital workers to the Pay Board.

But Ramelson goes out of his way to defend Scanlon and Jones for 'pushing the labour movement to the left'.

'Of course, from time to time, they will pursue policies which may be justifiably criticized. But the hallmark of genuine revolutionaries is to distinguish between allies who commit errors of judgement from enemies of the working class,' he adds.

Ramelson's amazing claim to be a 'genuine revolutionary' could not more effectively be ridiculed than by the rest of the sentence.

Jones and Scanlon have never made a secret of their total hostility to revolution. Their whole aim in life is to steer the trade union movement away from revolution. CONTINUED TOMORROW IT JOLLY SUP ER OUTING Should be an absolutely super speech day at Bishop's Stortford on July 14. Will you be there this year?

The host is Sir Kingsley Collett, chairman of the school's governing council. There have been Colletts at Bishop's Stortford, except for a short spell, since 1905. That comes to tens of thousands of pounds in private school fees.

Each year the speech day is distinguished by an 'outstanding' guest speaker. They have included Sir Norman Kipling, leading figure in the old Federation of British Industry (now the CBI) and director of Joseph Lucas Industries, Pilkington's; Major General Sir George Burns, the Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, the former ADC to the Viceroy of India; Lord Soper, the evangelical Labourite who speaks at Hyde Park Corner; and Sir Dick White, the former chief of MI6, who came in to clear up the discredited security service after Philby and Blake's defection.

Who can match this illustrious assortment? Collett has invited Mr Paul Dixey, the chairman of Lloyd's, the biggest broking house in the Perhaps he can tell the young Nigels and Ruperts about the 'ugly face of capitalism' and the recent exploits of his friend Sir Denys Lowson who has been involved in a £6.5m share coup.

FAIR COP

On the day two New York cops were indicted for murders while on duty-one victim was a Negro boy, aged 10 -the police commissioner announced he had a list of 150 officers considered by their superiors to be 'violenceprone, excitable or unstable' They should extend the survey to the White House... 1 ne last Issue O1 monday News', , the publication of the right-wing Monday Club, carries a front-page article on Enoch Powell's extraordinary 'vote Labour' speech at Stockport. It appeared under the headline: 'Powell at Stockport —By the Rt Hon Jonathan Guinness' The title 'Rt Hon' is only used by Privy Councillors. News that Guinness had been Pick Tones HEATH AND HIS FRIENDS Three months ago there were angry scenes in the Commons. Indignant MPs from all sides of the House were shouting indignantly about the fact that Heath's photograph had been used to advertise a new hotel.

At question time he explained that he was 'surprised' by the advertisement and went on to express his displeasure. David Frost, the businessman, was so incensed that he took the whole business to court. Injunctions, the lot.

THE MONDA CLUB elevatea to tnis omce no doubt caused alarm throughout the land-particularly as Guinness is on record that he is in favour of capital punishment even to the extent of taking an axe and cutting off people's heads. The Monday Club assures, however, that the use of the 'Rt Hon' title was a misprint. Sighs of relief from nicks all over Britain.

Surprise, surprise to learn that Heath went to another new hotel, the £7,250,000 Skyline Park Tower in Knightsbridge, and opened it himself. lhe picture will no doubt be widely circularized for advertising purposes.

Isn't there a double standard here?

The point about the Skyline and why Heath was so glad to open it is that the chairman of the developers is Sir Richard Thompson, Tory MP for Croydon South. It was just a favour for an old friend ...

FORD SCORES Things can't be too desperate for the Ford Motor Company. Through agents Jones Lang Wootton they have obtained new 'London executive headquarters'. • The néw office is in Mayfair and involves about 15,000 square feet of floor space. Rent is estimated at around £100,000 a year.

BIG JOHN John Wayne is running out of friends. His spirited defence of Nixon a couple of weeks ago has made him a laughing stock. Now a group called the Advocacy of Survival of American Indians has hit out: 'With overt racialism towards the native American, Wayne is the nation's number one Indian killer.'

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