Workers Press no. 243

compromise Peace talks

INCORPORATING THE NEWSLETTER • PUBLISHED F

What we think THE AUGUST 30 'Sunday Times' supplement feature on 50 years of the British Communist Party is a direct attack on Trotskyism, aided and abetted by those leading Stalinists who collaborated in its production.

The feature proves that Stalinists like Palme Dutt approved of Trials, the Moscow though they knew Lenin's old even comrades to be innocent of the charges heaped upon them.

But it from carefully refrains political analysis of the any For Stalin had only one target when he trials and purges. staged the 1934 Kirov assassination, which then became the pretext for all the and subsequent frame-up trials purges. That target was Leon Trotsky and the Fourth Inter- national. Trotsky was the main defendant in absentia at all three Trials.

In each case, the theme, endorsed by the leaders of British Stalinism, that Trotsky had was collaborated with im- perialism to overthrow Soviet power and restore capitalism in the USSR. The feature tries to create the false impression that the Moscow Trials are a thing of the past, in which the present leader- ship are not implicated. Dutt and the 80-year-old Page Arnot are presented as the leaders mainly concerned with this phase of the Party's historv.

Secretary Gollan, Party who in fact was one of the most servile Stalin worshippers in the entire leadership, is built up as a man who has Kremlin. stood up to the But the most fulsome praise is reserved for the 'active theorist' Monty Tohnstone. state ca Johnstone, after joining the Young Communist League 12, in 1940 at the of of the became a member

SEE PAGE F

Trotskyist Revolutionary Communist Party in 1945. and left it in 1946 to rejoin the Stalinists. We asked Johnstone, in Workers Press of Novem- ber 12, 1969, to explain his record publicly. Was he in the RCP as working Stalinist agent? We are still waiting for an answer. And naturally, the 'Sunday keeps well clear Times' of this delicate question. His obituary to Stalin, written for the journal 'Chal- lenge' in 1953, and his justification of the Slansky trial which sent ll innocent Czech Communist Party leaders to their death in 1952 not touched on. are The role of 'liberals' like John- is quite clear and conscious. In his own words he savs: •I believe it is only the Com- munist Party that can pro- kind of Marxist vide the leadership that is necessary, but it has to find ways of convincing young people thinking, that it is a live, party.' Marxist The 'Sunday Times' feature is designed to do just that. Tohnstone, however, still his allegiance maintains to Stalinism intact. He upholds the Kremlin crushing of the Hungarian workers' uprising of 1956 as justified by geo- political considerations', and naturally defends the Stalin- anti-Marxist ist, theory of "socialism in one country'.

Lord Thomson, the millionaire reactionary owner of the 'Sunday Times' leaves unturned stone his attempt to discredit revolu- tionarv Marxism. In a section devoted to ex- Communist Party members, Peter Fryer is given prom- inence as a former editorial for worker the 'Daily Worker', who left the Com- munist Party after his dis- patches from Budapest during the 1956 revolution go on were suppressed. He then became editor of the newly-founded "Newsletter', the forerunner of the

THE

Motor Industry Joint Press. Faced with Workers Council-the body national whose struggle to turn the paper proposed settlement of towards the working class the GKN-Sankey strike was and the fight against the shouted and voted down by Party Labour right wing, angry strikers at a mass meet- Fryer deserted the Socialist ing in Wellington Friday on Labour League and, after (seen above-is expected to visiting Portugal to write make another attempt to find book on that country, de- a formula for ending the three- vote himself to the study week-old dispute. of pornography. • The Council is likely to This anti-communist now today London meet for used by the capitalist press talks on the men's claim for against Marxism: = 4c 3d-an-bour increase in 'Where does this ex-Com- basic pay. from King munist Officials of the General and Street? • Fryer did try Municipal Workers' Union.

to Trotskvists the for two which the majority the of years but "a found them 5.000 strikers belong, are to caricature of the Commun- caricature meet shop stewards in Well- ington The union tomorrow. Stalinism and Trotskyism are arranged has also a mass the same, says this rene- meeting of its members to gade. take place before the factory The 15-year struggle of Trot- meeting on Friday. mass sky against Stalinism, with Union officials are desper- its purges, show trials, be- ré-establish ately trying to traved revolutions and control over the strike. Many collaboration with the im- Sankey workers are now perialists during the last tremely wary of the official's war, are placed on the same efforts to reach a compromise level bu Fryer. The victim settlement. is equated with the exe- Last Friday's strike méeting

• PAGE FOUR COL. 9

PAGE FOUR COL. 9

UBLISHED FROM TUESDAY TO SATURDAY • NUMBER

TRADE UNIONS

expect nothing but a can squalid compromise when TUC general secre- Victor Feather meets Prime tary Minister Edward Heath today. te case Having 'accepted' the

BY THE EDITOR

Tory government, wel- its

E PAGE FOUR

comed economic ensure mme survival of tne approach and assured it ol his willing co-operation, go the foremost amongst unese, There reason granted by stantl assume that Mr Feather the win, at wais late stage. dIs- may his friends in the Tory and onse to this ware and bigge cabinet Whatever Mr Feather with (and the Stalinists) may Policy of intoned

BY JOHN SPENCER

tnink about nis per panacea of 'expansion' and 'high 1hE ISLE or Wight pot festival broke up in more wages. une ories are In too deep a crisis to give than one sense-yesterday.

his plan' more than vroups ol anarclists coully prices. manding tree music tore cursory glance. down corrugated iron fenc confidence strangest Tor Tortions and very aar.

ing round the field and gate and very far and of investment. reaching ones - in order crasned the resuval. Tory chian of the 'Model' got free The port not ate coming down. strike employers eof the working spreads class to fight back. three yo Hampered

THIRTY,

Rot-

THOUSAND

terdam dockworkers are now Not so gentle an unsetsted e ine slapo the crated :™ Ployers Prosai tained dividends this quickl Contingents "Hell's credit restrair se industry to in the efforts pat pied the securi and Corda ; Industry, . ultra-right reac it took ways be an England and Tim of Hope of Glory Creations Foure 15 gord is saying make postpone the trip, aken to way Indonesia uharto held yesterday POSt- poned his state visit to Hol- ister Malik Cotee bout condestros land after bitter clashes (rom Moscow at the prest the festival. between Indonesian students Djaka prate residence in But, as the 'Sunday Times' ana watch police erupted outside the officia. residence If the as decided that right of the Indonesian Ambas- Bad vibrations is no has sador in The Hague. Presidental Party may se out of the presen by intensity out this evening. All Trades Unions Alliance Conference

MINERS

marketable commodity sl prisoners Sunday, September 6 Competitive wanam note munists. High St The Tories' to freeze as nouncement Last 30 30,000

DONCASTER

exports emote on island corera make Britishe coMey are being driven to

DERWENT

PAGE FOUR COL. 5

The daily organ of the Central Committee of the Socialist Labour League PRICE 6d. August Fund goes over arms the top! swoop Total raised £1,054 19s Gd Feather WE NEEDED £299 14s 9d and over the weekend you raised £354 14s 3d, giving us

CORRESPONDENT

the magninicent Total £1,054 19s 6d.

POLICE

and troops Many, many thanks for this raided houses the Catholic Fall Rd district tremendous response. of Belfast yesterday in one This month, we not only of N Ireland's biggest-yet raised more than £1,000 over arms searches. Trotsky Tae larget lor the Memorial fund, we completed Ten Deople were arrested the Appeal fund and even alter a search of more than went over the tol one shotgun, Thank you once again for e-talkie this tremendous suport. material tor a bomb Three unemployed labourers 20, 19 and 21 azed were re until Manced in yesterday Beltast accused making bombs. 19-year-old also remanded in custody until youth En 1.000 rounds Dormont Povernment's conunued swing the right Royal Institution the recent ban and paraded through Belfast Sunday and marched Omagh.

CORDON

By our Middle East correspondent In Belts, tats troops cordoned Unity THE ISRAELI cabinet postponed until today Orane on went past. Ireland government a decision on the return of its representative yesterday announced une hIt- ane Tekoah to the New York 'peace' talks.

restricting liquor sales CurICW alter o p.m. extraordinary An sess- ion of the cabinet is taking place, at which the appar- ent division between Prime

SOCIALIST

Minister Mrs Golda Meir and Defence Minister Moshe Dayan on the talks

LABOUR

is to be discussed. It is reported that Dayan

LEAGUE

threatened resign the went on without alleged voations cease-fire being taken up by Trotsky Washington. While possible that Israeli internal diffe do erences exist, the likely Memorial caplalla- tion of the delay talks 1s that It is almed conces- Meeting rurtaer the Egyptians 110m ally Wildl settlement I Wasting ton who returned from Sunday, stressed in

GLASGOW

the weekend the basic friend- ship Israel and the US Partick Burgh Hall how serous problems which we nr Merkland St Underground over Leon Trotsky's have misunderstandings. Starts 7.30 p.m.

REVIEW

last words: Admission 2s. US ixon. 1 am confident of is meeting top-level officials discuss Middle East today. Lne Sunday the victory of the They are expected to review proposals Fourth International September 6 police the Go forward'! Despite statements that such plans "under con-

OREV

ideration', Boon worked

MOSCOW

denied earlier reports tails had already Trotsky Memorial Lectures out. 'Solidarity'

IKUIS LAST WORDS

IAM CONFIDENT OF

THE VICTORY OF THE

silence

FOURTH INTERNATIONAL

GO FORWARD....

on Nasser

1965 THAT MEANS FORWARD YO

THE FIRST DAILY TROTSKYIST PAPER

THE ROGERS

Middle

197 THAT MEANS BUILD

East acceptance Arab states the

RS PRES

dilu Soviet Union, Have been con- Isoluton massed public on, Palestine callee tne Solidarity Campaign. Speakers from the General Union Monday, 14 September Arab Students. Workers' Association Inclan

PSC

denounced and Itse t. "Trotsky's struggle against Stalinism' stab peace the back for the Arab tion and the Palestine Monday, 21 September movement, but Nasser$ liscussion role. Trotsky's fight against revisionism'

ALL TRADES

BEAVER HALL

UNIONS ALLIANCE

GARLICK HILL

MEETINGS

Near Mansion House tube

LONDON:

Starts 8 p.m. HOmISSIOn 2S Fren. The tories and te ne!

Both lectures given by G. HEALY (SLL national secretary)

workers press

INCORPORATING THE NEWSLETTER

PUBLISHED FROM TUESDAY TO SATURDAY

NUMBER

243 •

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1979

Feather meets Heath today What we think Lord Thomson TUC looks joins the anti-Trotskyist crusade for Tory THE AN i She Comin Party in a dire Tertal stainers litect attack compromise (Soviet power and restore capitalism TRADE UNIONS can expect nothing but a squalid compromise when TUC general secre- GKN strikers is resent for the ree Feather meets Prime Minister Younstone. Edward Heath today. state case after Having 'accepted' the 01940 wel- Tory

BY THE STOR

Pop

• SEE PAGE FOUR

comed economic approach and assured it of ensure ine survival or their go the willing co-operation, these the questi ротанту reason the dues which asked Press of Novem there is assume That Mr heather beautiful will, at this late stage, dis- Class securing bigge working may nis irends in the tory o this cabinet. profits the capitalist Whatever Mr Feather Stalinists) may policy of infation aencate quesuon tand the think about his pet panacea

BY JOHN SPENCER

abated are has furthe and 'high monetary expansion THE ISLE of Wight wages, the Tories are in stande reamion lesuval broke up-in more fenders to nei than one sense-yesterday.

too deep a crisis to give depression more than Groups of his plan' de- role liberals like loon manding free music' cursory glance.

LUTC

down corrugated iron tenc. The Tory government faces ing round the field and gate- "order to anun of considerabl I believe crashed the festival. stallio 'Model' press music anyway. o animes to port profit rates coming down.

event. тодеу on l strike of sing working daserto fight back spreads Hampered THiam doctorers are Дот- Not so gentle - of Then toe and red barges od to be pay charges course] astias, and a large rea the eters of must a Rotterdam has often men securits. held -p as norast tial: example Merseyside and London Talks Wicks. ultra-m t rein Ten reat the serene Land of Hop Suharto's Dutch dissipate some of the go on visit in doubt ould read i a of eat rend Ben to postpone loe rip, PRESIDENT SUHARTO of Indonesia yesterday to postpone soned his state visit to Hol- s7 te one it person the festivalbour to destroy lanc arter bitter clashes Dakara nate residence is between Indonesian students and Dutch But, as the 'Sunday Times police end sending the he SIOn outside the official residence The has decided that ther

TOR

Bad vibrations the ndonesian Ambas sador in The Hague. One Is stud id the embassy staff host- All Trades Unions Alliance Conference also

MINERS

idealist, is a before Escapists Sunday, September 6 9 mary thousands of com- ne cinciais Danum Hotel Competitive the

DONCASTER

to reach a compromise official's order Communists are exports more erned on island concentra- tien Briday's strike meeting are being driven to exe- which POSE FOUR COLot

• PAGE FOUR COL. 8

• PAGE FOUR COL. 9

many of them

CASTLEFORD,

death.

PAGE FOUR COL. 5

The daily organ of the Central Committee of the Socialist Labour League PRICE 6d. August Fund goes over arms the top! swoop Total raised E1,054 19s 8d Fenther WE NEEDED £299 14s 9d and over the weekend you

BY A

raised £354 14s 3d, giving us

CORRESPONDENT

magnificent total of une £1,054 19s 6d.

POLICE

and troops Many, many thanks for this raided houses in the tremendous response. Catholic Fall Rd district of Belfast yesterday in one This month, we not only of N Ireland's biggest-yet raised more than €1,000 over the target for the Trotsky arms searches. Memorial fund, we completed Ten people arrested Were the Appeal fund and even after a search of more than went over the top! nouses • naa revealeo sIx DIstos One Shotelin. ammunition, ten hand-gren- Thank you once again for ades, three walkie-talkie radio Heath this tremendous suport. and material making bomb. Thre manded CUSLOGy UnLu Friday Belfast yesterory petrol accused making

DONDS

19-year-old youth also remanded in custody until Friday charged ing 1,000 rounds ammuni- Undoubtedly emboldened by Stormont Berniell s continued vinci Black Royal Insuitutor Che anel paradee Sanded in athland med marched Rathfriland Omagh.

CORDON

By our Middle East correspondent Belta tato troops cordoned off Unity when the THE ISRAELI cabinet postponed until today Orangeme past. announced ere nine- a decision on the return of its representative month-old drinks Tekoah to the New York ' peace' talks.

curfew restricting liquor sales atter 8 p.m An extraordinary sess- ion of the cabinet is taking place, at which the appar- ent division between Prime

SOCIALIST

Minister Mrs Golda Meir and Defence Minister Moshe Dayan on the talks

LABOUR

is to be discussed. Dayan

LEAGUER

resign if

W CALL

without aleced "gyptian violduous The by cascue bene taken un Trotsky Washington. possible that Israeli internal differences the explana- Memorial exist, tion of the the talks alice squeezing Meeting rurther COnces sions the Irom final settlement. Meir returned from Washington on Sunday in a TV interview suressed

GLASGOW

the weekend the basic fri ship between Israel and no Partick Burgh Hall US serious noW problem ThA which nr Merkland St Underground we t have misunderstandings. Leon Trotsky's Starts 7.30 p.m.

REVIEW

last words: Admission zs 'I am confident of Nixon is meeting top-level US officials Sunday Middle East today. the victory of the They are expected to review Fourth International Ior a Joint US- September 6 Aiddle East. Go forward'! Despite statements that such plans were uncer con- sideration',

AVIOSCOW

has denied earlier reports that de calls had already been worked Trotsky Memorial Lectures UlL. 'Solidarity'

IKUISKYS LAST WORDS

TAM CONFIDENT OF

THE VICTORY OF THE

silence

FOURTH INTERNATIONAL

GOFORWARD....

on Nasser

965 THAT MEANS FORWARD TO

THE FIRST DALY TROTSKYIST PAPER

THE ROGERS

Middle East

191 • THAT MEANS BU UP

plan, its acceptance and

4 WOLERS PRESS

Arab Soviet Union, been dema plinic resting in toed

LOR-

called

LIC

ralesume Speakers from the General Monday, 14 September Union Arab Students, Workers naian

ASSOCIABOR

PSC

denounced Itsen. "Trotsky's struggle against Stalinism' 'peace' talks as a stab in the for the Arab revolu- tre back Palestiné libera toning the Monday, 21 September tion movement, any discussion Nasser's role. "Trotsky's fight against revisionism'

ALL TRADES

BEAVER HALL

UNIONS ALLIANCE

GARLICK HILL

MEETINGS

Near Mansion House tube Starts 8 p.m. Admission 2s Both lectures given by G. HEALY (SLL national secretary)

PAGE TWO

Prices and Incomes Board report, specifically aimed at 'a study of efficiency of the coal industry', made it abund- antly clear there is to be no let-up in intensive exploitation of the miner and no end to job- decimation in the pits. In fact, the process is now only coming to the end of its first stage. The next stage-Phase Two, as it would be called were this the docks—is already in pre- paration. Phase one involved mechan- ization automation reduc- piece- to match up to fast and continuous produc- tion. noW to be placed on cois i placed on control and discipline of miners them- selves. Run-down Thue as a rate of lo per continue cent per and "madeeater efforts traight-jacke wages using leasured-Day Work The PIB demands that the Coal Board gets on with exact- g a second pound of fles] nineworkers; its repor is pre-occupied with an appar- 'decline in the rate increase in productivity'. Out- put rate of increase in outpust not falling, just the Bernard Franks studies the latest F than, say, seven years ago, but to continuously raise out- put... and at an accelerating pace. To increase output by less Method-study, is well as this than last month means known, is merely a first step failure. towards putting all work on a continuous basis in The far as the prepara- answer so tion for, advanced time-study report is concerned 1S techniques to be introduced.

strengthened management 'bet- ter able to exert its authority PIB sees The the elimina- in certain areas of operation' tion of piece-work, at a time when productivity is continu- Up to the end of the Second World War, mining was still a ally rising, as an essential basis for holding down wages.

pick-and-shovel operation.

Thus: period following In the 1947, nationalization in the "The introduction new of drive cheapen coal techniques is made easier to 11 with heavy investment in possibility of associated the labour-saving machinery. The amount of coal cut by mechanized methods increased from 20 1955 to per cent in over 85 per cent in 1969.

New face-working, power- loading and roof-supporting developed, techniques were and, in the early 1960s, experi- ments were made linking these remote-control systems use of including the closed- circuit television. of new The enormous cost equipment—f100,000, for mechanize instance, one to coal-face and £250,000 to install remote control-meant that it was inevitable that the of the main aim employers would be to cut manning. Eliminating Such new systems were not assisting the directed towards and in his dangerous miner difficult job but towards elim- him inating from the work- It is altogether. in process this continuing situation that

PIB

for increased the calls strengthening of management.

advised is increased Also of method-study. The use report states: 'Method-study techniques A modern control unit. have an important role to play in such a labour-intensive industry as coal-mining. found that ample scope disputes over is piece-rates existed for extending their use removed. The removal of face-work and our study on wage drift resulting from local of labour productivity among bargaining that means the non-face workers also indi-. Board has now a more effec- for some cated scope useful tive means of controlling wage gains in productivity by this costs.' means. 'We therefore suggest that While the

PIB

wants the Coal Board's method- wage freeze- -and at the same study branch be strength- time can advocate raising the ened.' price of coking coal by 15-16 I would like information about Fill in the form below and send to NATIONAL

SECRETARY, SOCIALIST

LABOUR

LEAGUE,

186A CLAPHAM HIGH ST, LONDON, SW4.

Name Address s the latest Prices and Incomes report on th per cent-there is naturally no discussion of the enormous interest payments made by the industry. Like, for example, 'the 1968-1969 payout of £37.5 million which turned a surplus for the industry of £28.6 mil- lion into a deficit of £8.9 million. Participation The report goes on to sug- gest an extension of 'workers' participation'. Employers, of course, always want the best of both worlds. On the one hand they expect total rights of hire and fire, of wage freeze and work control. On the other 'face conferences, participa- and various tion committees, chummy get-togethers are arranged in which the employ- ers can pick the brains of a section of workers on how to increase production and on how to fix redundancies with the least opposition. While the PIB wants a con- tinuous run-down of jobs, it wants this to be done entirely at the employers' convenience.

The report makes this poin lear as follows The Coal Board has paid Lems of morale which acom- pany redundancies and has maintained that a planned which tions, cause able péople to report on the coal industry.

leave the industry prematurely and make it difficult to main- tain projected rates of pro- ductivity growth? It further advises against introduction of any incentive scheme. Instead, further increases in productivity should be brought about by 'improvement supervision' and "joint con- sultation' on the basis of the day-work system. The history of coal-mining is one of starved and dust- choked men, women and child- ren working the most arduous form of manual labour for avaricious employers. Hundreds of miners died every year in roof-falls and explosions. The Transicionai Programme adopped by stie ounding Conference and the Fourth Intarnational: with te statures of the ternation si fourth tasks of the 4th International

LABOUR LEAGUE

Avallable from New Park publications 186A Clapham High St. SW4.

WORKERS PRESS

Lack of ventilation, con- stant seepage of water and a heavily dust-laden atmosphere caused rheumatic diseases and Even now, pneumoconiosis. every area has its memories of major disasters. The growth of trade union- ism and the fight back by the working class in the 1840s led to vicious repressive measures, arrests and lock-outs. Engels, in his book, 'The Condition the Working Class in England in 1844° shows us that nearly all the Justices of the Peace in the coal-mining districts were either mine-owners themselves or relatives or friends of mine- owners and possessed almost in unlimited these power regions, 'acting as judges in their own causes'. It was the same in other countries. In the USA, miners on strike were barred from com- pany stores and were beaten and shot up by the owners' private armies. But with the rise of the unions, concessions and improvements forced were from employers and legislation safety on health and were wrung from governments. Carnage This slowed, but did not stop, the carnage. In modern times-particu- the advent of larly with mechanization-aspects of the work changed, but the ruth- lessness of mine-owners the remained. Now it became not only a question of exploiting the miner at work, but throw- ing him out of work alto- gether. This special operation was carried out under capitalist 'nationalization'; generous compensation was paid to ex- and the industry owners became a cheap service to the 'private sector' of industry.

Nor is this process limited to Britain. In Belgium, automation beginning in the late 1950s led to the end of 20,000 jobs in one area alone in the year 1959-1960. The total number of miners in the country drop- ped from 105,000 in 1958 to Production 64,500 in 1963. rose in the same period from 1,262 to 1,820 kilos per man- shift. But possibly the most dra- matic effects of modernization have been seen in the United States, where a $200 million investment in mechanization put hundreds of thousands of workers out of work. In West Virginia alone, than more "molly- 200,000 subsisted on grub' — a special handout of starvation rations - and surplus foods 408,000 needed to stay alive in the years 1960- 1961. Queues of 7,000 men, women were lining up and children Tuesday, September 1, 1970

COALMINING OUTPUT PER MAN AND NUMBERS EMPLOYED

Output per manshift Year Output per man Average

AMOUNT

Percentage іст888e wager arners end of year previous yeal employer tons 000s cwt 576 1963-64 33.4 1964-65 34.8 381 36.1 1985-66 390 1966-67 39.0 1801•00 1968-69 43.4 Source: NCB tion nerenort notes improvement in output made mulcized burner system head ta op operation 'spear- developed in several countries, ers key factor in the employ- could bomand ford 'coa bring about specially chosen unemployment on such a giant These are fault-free which has been the faces arre collaboration the union intensively worked using al tries. leaders in all the schemes.

the most Mad ide equipment LorIes. with Their available. idea that plans to scrap workers like so Lewis, head these should act pace- out-dated machines, It was jonn l of the must be defeated. united Mineworkers fr setters for the entire industry.

the USA, who, more than any The current claim for higher other man, made it possible for Output shorter hours wages mechanized the Hulls the face Vilal struggle # so snor a unne It is clear that the aim of l orles ine alms step His was not he Tory government is not to policy ronts oy speeding up Drool oppose mechanization long lose thi down, but Rut if this is not to el to coal with those mall labor socialist higher force merring must will stated the loss of iobs top speed in a number would This would end once and for not be as great as the 'theo.

memy-mechaned DILs. and ists' claimed is not an all the record coal. or retreat obsolete fuel source. enthusiastic collaboration with Research into new combus- the employers. that pits mean and uneconomical Have close caus or the uS goer causing

JUST OUT

and employers have paid ment Lewis's times Illall) the way for smoothing a run-down of iobs. Tribute

NEW PARK PUBLICATIONS

In the same way, the Cut- rent PIB report tribute leadership of the Mine- National Workers in Britain. It says: The closure ot uneconomic collieries has made a significant coon the positive ductivity growth mine- addition, aecade. have workers co-opelalcu extensive v with management s efforts to efficiency, line with the policy not Ke ing costs preserve com- down to petitive position of coal has runaown invo ved no malor strikes is a tribute to the redundancy and transfer arrangements and th which

NCB

has

A TROTSKYIST ANALYSIS

the closure pro- the well as cramme, as

BY ROBERT BLACK

by leacersnio snown

NUM.

A glowing tribute to the of Horner erimy poncies post-war the Paynter and Daly in later years. TV вВС 1 12.30 om. Cricket. County Chamoionsnio. ourev v worcestersnre except 4.25-4.25 cha6.01-6.23 Shen 1.33 Watch with mother. 1 45-1.53 News and weather. 1.55-2.20 wall. . 3.00-4.15 Cricket. 4.20 Play school. 4.40 The scissors col0.30 interview. L.00 Horatio. 1.55 Anima magic. 5.20 Shazzan! abayda. X1.30 Weather. LUNN. Natonwide : With Julie Felix. 0.40 INC OrINNChO Plllow Talk'. With Rock Hudson and

THE LAUGH PARADE.

7.10 Doris Day. Romantic comedy.

Yorks. 2 is London 4.30 Angla 8.50 NEWS and weather. 9.10 'TEST PILOT'. Behind the scenes of a test pilot's life

MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS.

10.30 24 HOURS.

Bon., SL. 30 PD. 1:38 ReBi

REGIONAL BBC

All regions as BBC 1 except: IRe News Sea Northern Wales 4S Wales.

BBC2

11.00-11.20 a.m.

• PLAY SCHOOL.

7.30 p.m. NEWS

AND

WEATHER.

CONAN DOYLE'S SHERLOCK HOLMES. 'The

8.00 SIR ARTHUR

solitary CycIST. 8.50 LOOK. STRANGER. 'Selborne'.

9.10

PREMIER.

Sunshine Patriot'. With Cliff Robertson and "The Dina Merrill. A master spy is trapped in Eastern Europe.

NEWS

and weather.

10.50 LINE-UP.

ITV

Racing from Epsom. 4.17 The enchanted house. 4.30 Crossroads.

O.UZ

IVVAT

THE GHOST AND MRS MUIR.

6.30 7.00

TUESDAY SILMI

"Hue and cry. with Alastair sim, JacK Warner and Harry Fowler. Comedy thriller.

8.30 NEVER SAY DIE.

"The New Sister'.

SPECIAL BRANCH.

Miss International. 10.00

NEWS

THE DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY. 'We are the Masters'.

First

IU.SU

orooramme in a new sanes lookine al ine years 1940-1900 11.30 TURNING POINTS. RUsSia.

11.50 VANTAGE POINT.

The telephone

REGIONAL ITV

98. 4. 00 : 6.0 tuesday him. Pol London. to Chame.

Tuesday, September 1, 1970 NEWSPAPER critics by and large have dismissed the play presently run- ning at London's Cri- terion Theatre as child- ishly blasphemous. Called 'Council of Love', the play is an adaptation by TV writer John Bird from an 1894 work by the Ger- man playwright Oscar Pan- izza.

EROS

The Criterion, appropriately enough, is 20 yards south of Piccadilly Circus's Eros statue and slightly to the left of his arrow's aim. 'Council of Love' is, on the surface, a satire on both men and God — with God given pride of place. It is set in heaven, hell and the Vatican.

The Holy Family. hearing reports that the world is approaching a moral relapse, decide to look in on the Court of Pope Alexander VI-one of the most dissolute of Borgias — on Good Friday, 1495. They discover scenes of the wildest licentiousness and God the Father, egged on by the Virgin Mary, resolves to do something about it. The problem is—what? His creative genius has long since evaporated, and he therefore calls in Satan to devise an appropriate punishment. The result is syphilis. Panizza set about his work with real bitterness and pro- duced a lasting satire.

CARICATURES

If religion is in reality the creation of men, then the Holy Personages of the official church must be faithful cari- catures of the ruling class. So the Almighty is a senile, bronchitic Jehovah; an incom- petent theologian constantly hypo- quarreling with his chondriac Son. The sophisticated more Virgin Mary keeps the peace between them and chats inti- mately with Satan - cunning, cynical, narrow; no longer scene fre

UNCIL OF LO

by John Bird currently showing a the Criterion Theatre directed b lack Gold an Eleanor Fazan. young but still viciously go.

The judges who sentenced ahead him must have sensed well what For When the play was first pro- they were doing. when "blasphemy' is duced, Panizza most was sentenced it to two years' accurate comes sharply jail for 'blas- down to earth and becomes phemy' under Article 166 of sedition—-a crime even the Munich criminal code.

more serious in the of eyes the The wrath of his church. prosecu- tors is understandable he Bird's Anglicised version, catches in his Holy Family the which is much 'jokier' than essence of the capitalist at the original, in fact loses its home. theme among the wisecracks.

The boredom of the rich, who can see nothing more than

ATTITUDES

an unchanging future of luxury and waste, is neatly elevated In their attitudes to God the into the quarrelsome stupidi- European middle class hold up ties of the Trinity; with eter- their 'national character'.

nity and omnipotence hanging heavy their hands. The French long ago showed lampoons Him reasonably to false consciousness the door, by moking it the ce in tess and allowed Him to leave no who figure in it. And more than a whiff of incense it the same time, because by behind as deodorant for their definition God cannot worship own smellier deeds. The Eng- anything, he strips all lish bluntlv away ignore Him six the canting "idealism' days a week and conclude their and virtue. devotions in good time for

WORKERS PRESS

Warren Mitchell as Satan lunch on the seventh. But the Germans, whose predecessors so tactlessly announced that He was dead, insist on trying to redeem themselves by dig- ging up the corpse and pester- ing It back to life. This goes, at least, for the 'respectable' section of the middle class. On the question of religion the English contempt for theory reaches a high point: God is just a collection of wrong ideas, to be jettisoned as far as good form permits.

And Bird's offering is made in the same spirit.

HOUSEWIFE

Mary is reduced to a prim, complacent housewife. With Jesus, he tries his hand at a long-haired, self-pitying layabout ('A Second coming?

He hasn't got over the first one yet!') Only in Satan is there any- thing like a coherent char- acter-—a savage parody of the "technocrat', prepared to turn his skills to the most mon- strous requests ('the specifica- tions') of those who licence him. Syphilis-the crime lead- ing directly to the punishment —is just a neat solution to the problem set by a stupid mas- ter. But God deserves better than this mistreatment. From the first day on which man was able to scratch a fraction more from this planet than was needed to keep him alive, his finest and most deeply-felt work was placed at feet of his the dreams. In class society man's greatest sacrifices and best works of art have often taken a religi- ous form. It was the atheists Marx and Feuerbach who explained how' this could be so. Enslaved and held in misery in class society, man imagined himself liberated - projecting onto Gods the power, beauty and freedom that he lacked.

And in front of his own creations he prostrated himself afresh, in their name and accepted the cruelties of class rule. God is both the supreme slave master and the reflec- tion of man's age-long struggle to make himself supreme. In this sense 'he' is both wonderful and terrible.

REVIEW BY

DAVID

BARNES

This is why the fashion- able middle-class 'atheist' (really an agnostic) can never write God's obituary, so that Bird's 'adaptation', seeing God as just 'nonsense' does not rise to the necessary heights.

Only an outlook based on the working revolutionary class, grasping the material basis of human ideas, can reveal the roots of religion.

But there is real strength in this production (by Jack Gold and Eleanor Fazan), and especially in Warren Mitchell's acting of Satan—with a thrust- ing limp, swivelling eyeballs, Mephistophelean glee and pre- cision. Where Bird gives them human beings to get their teeth into, instead of 'foolish' doctrines turned into people and paraded as Aunt Sallies, they really bite. And what they bite-quite properly — is the hand that condescendingly feeds them.

Even the 'public' was made useful. The Vatican orgy scenes had young dandies of peacock showiness which held up a mirror to make even the sop- histicates of the first-night audience seem slightly dowdy.

'UBA THE KING'

Some time ago I saw another_play—-'Uba the King', by the Frenchman Alfred Jarry -also written at about the turn of the century. Jarry inflates for all to see the "logical', self-seeking des.

tructive madness of bourgeois society and then pops it with words, again and again. He is rich and agile in ideas, but he knows too that ideas —and particularly the ideas of the exploiter-make their way not only through the brain but also through the belly, behind, the boot and even less mentionable parts of the anatomy. So 'Ubu' is full of action: isticuffs, slapstick and acro batics. A play, as the impres- sarios say, for all the family.

dictions are laid bare. on such a play-there would be theatre to draw blood!

NOTHING IS so calculated to turn the stomach as a good dose of bourgeois hypocrisy over atrocities' committed by the workers' states. Since 1917, when the work- ing class of Russia committed the most unforgivable atrocity by violating the sanctity capitalist property rights, imperialism and its agencies have waged an unceasing war against the Red devils with every means at their disposal.

And if the 'Red Menace' kick begins to pall, there is and nowadays more always frequently) the 'Yellow Peril'.

The trials and tribulations of Reuter's Peking correspond- ent Anthony Grey was there- fore good stuff and his forth- coming book 'Hostage in Peking' has been given the maximum boost in the press.

His 777 days in Peking, which began in August 1967, during the Cultural Revolu- tion, and ended last year, is the subject of the tale. * He was knocked about by Red Guards-—who 'had been for building a reputation intimidation and terrorization', sloshed with black paint and -horror of horrors!-his pet cat was hanged, an event to inflame the blood of any true Englishmen. Finally, he was placed in solitary confinement where he until his release. remained Said Grey: 'I have turned more to God than ever before. I pray twice every day for deliverance from this.' He was finally delivered, so we take it that God had his way on this particular occa- sion. professional Canadian god- brotherer, Bishop James Walsh, from was released China after 12 years and was received by the Pope 'with tears in his eyes'. Which brings back to us the question of 'atrocities' ...

those committed by the Catholic church in the name of imperialist philanthropy.

Following victorious the Chinese Revolution in 1949, the reality behind certain mis- sionary work which had been carried out by teams of nuns was brought to light. Here is part of a report on three mis- sion nurseries—one in Canton and two in Nanking - pub- the April 16, 1951, lished in edition of 'People's China'.

The Canton orphanage for infant girls was run by five Canadian nuns, headed by one Antoinette Couvrette and all Missionary Sisters of the Im- maculate Conception. "The investigators found the quarters for the children filthy and lice-ridden. The food was so rotten that it stank. Two of the children lay dead in their beds though the care- taker tried to pretend they were only ill ... 'From January 1950 to February 1951 ... the orphan- age received 2,216 infants, and over 97 cent died. per Antoinette Couvrette has her- .

self estimated that more than 4,000 died in the past two years'. * It was impossible for any outsider to record accurately the total number of infants and children who had died as a result of the criminal neglect of those in charge since the orphanage was set up in 1933.

On March 5, 1951, the Canton branch of the People's Relief Administration of China was authorized to take over the orphanage. At this time there were only 48 infants under two still alive and 29 of these were seriously ill, most of them One of the three death pits

PAGE THREE

from pneumonia. There were 47 above the age of two, and, besides the older charges, this included blind, number lame and dumb adolescent girls who looked after the infants.

All the charges were dressed Journalist GREY in rags, and nearly every one suffered from severe malnutri- Home for babies, the sister-in- tion and skin and other dis- charge admitted that from eases caused by neglect. January 1949 to June 1950, Even the most rudimentary the received 242 nursery rules of hygiene were ignored infants—of which 153 died. Sick babies were not isolated, The records actually indicated thus spreading the epidemics.

that the death-rate was over Three death-pits, about 30 78 per cent. feet deep and five feet wide, Nuns made a standard prac- were found near the orphan- tice of selling the children for age. 100 adoption in for of catties fine white rice (worth $6.82) per child, and records for the five- nursery Two were sealed and filled.

month period preceding the The trap-door of the third, still investigation showed consider- in use, was forced open. In- able 'earnings' from such sales.

side, where they had been The high death-rate was dumped, were the bodies of caused by a starvation diet of dead children. powder and rice gruel, bean regulations Orphanage while the nuns made sure they required parents or relatives to themselves were well pro- sign a statement absolving the vided for. orphanage from responsibility in case of death. Poor could parents never see their children nor find out When the what had happened nursery to them. investigated in August 1950, If word leaked out that their over 95 per cent of the child- child had died, they were con- ren were found to be suffering soled by the nuns that it was from malnutrition, and one the 'will of God'. child, than a year old, more Those who survived worked weighed less than ten pounds.

in order to earn money for the the other Nanking nur- orphanage. sery, 372 children out of 557 They were told that all passed through between who human beings were sinful and January 1948 and June 1950 had to live a life of denial. perished under similar circum- Needless to say, the sisters stances. had every comfort. Nevertheless the nuns They obtained money for involved in this last slaughter 'charity' from Canton were sentenced to six months' business houses as well as imprisonment: of execution from Canada, and, whenever the sentence being deferred for possible, extracted payment one year pending deportation.

from their charges' relatives, Yet, as we have seen, the sometimes on a monthly basis.

religious traders in death and The nuns were well fed, human flesh continue to comfortably housed - with operate. Of course, the price is pianos their living-rooms, 1n a little higher today, especially dressing-tables in their bed- if holy flesh is on the market and carpets on their rooms To buy a nun from a poor floors. Indian family can cost £300 In Nanking, in the Tze Ai or more. The trade in human misery goes on and the vultures con- tinue to circle at the behest of His Holiness and in the service of imperialism. As Pope Paul said to Bishop Walsh: 'It is the Pope who receives you back and who thanks you in the name of Christ for all you have done and suffered So shed a tear for Mr Grey, Sister Couvrette and all those who suffered so cruelly at the hands of the Red barbarians.

Top: Antoinette Couvrette, head nun at the orphanage. When the trapdoor (above), was opened heaps of dead bodles of children were found. 97% of the children received Into the orphanage over a period of 13 months died.

PAGE FOUR

BY A FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT

SPECIAL SECURITY

units of the Jordan army have attacked Palestine guerrilla forces in Amman. This came less than 24 hours after King Hussein's TV statement that any attempt by the guerrillas to 'destroy the national unity' would be met by force. The fighting followed the Palestine National Council 500 Yorks emergency session, at which the guerrillas de- textile jobs clared their intention of carrying on the fight, de- threatened spite the US-Soviet "peace' plan, and of making Jordan base for their oper-

THREE HUNDRED

workers the employed and at Carrington ations. Dewhurst's Mark Nutter Mill Skipton, Yorkshire, However, guerrilla leader threatened with the sack.

Yasser Arafat avoided any Hussein or David Whitehead's open break with 1s to Nasser, who close three mills in the Ros- are suporting the New York talks. sendale area, so a further 200 will have to Jordan tanks and workers go. The army mills affected are Newhallhey heavy artillery took part in Mill, Higher Mill and Broad.

Sunday night's battle. It is a wholesale attack,' said an Al- clough. Fatah spokesman.

RE-CALLED

The special security units were supposed to have been disbanded

FROM PAGE ONE

after the fighting in Amman in June, hibited by considerations of and their Hussein's organizer, anything other-wordly uncle SO Sharif Nasser, dismissed.

as universal love. Roman emperors used to However, when Hussein US lay on gladiatorial contests agreed the proposals for talks Israel. Sharif to keep their subjects with Nasser was re-called. -and keep them in amused- subjection.

WEATHER

Selling dreams Today the sale of dreams London area, SE, SW central streamlined, E and wential northern is but nortueni England, Midlands, Chan- there are still what one Dry sunny spells. called 'gamblers paper on Below normal. Max the beautiful weather and NW England, Glasgow the animation of the beauti- Ireland: Sunny periods, ful people' forthcoming to showers. Below normal. (61F). 'make a killing'. In the circles of the beau- Edinburgh: Cloudy mostly dry, perhaps Belte normal. few showers Sunn tiful people, capitalist eco- iods. Max. 150 nomics reigns supreme, and (59F). at £3 a head their dreams Outlook for Wednesday and Thurs.

be protected by day: Dry first, but cloud and can Alsa- spreading from the west rain to tian dogs, policemen, secur- districts later. all lemperatures ity guards and Hell's Angels.

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Two editions Full subscription £10 a year (For any two days OR (Posted daily) you select {2 10s for three £1 for three months {4 a year months Press, 186a Post to: Circulation Workers Organizer, Clapham SW4. (Tel: 01-720-2000) High Street, London, I would like to subscribe to Workers Press for Name. Adress.

LATE NEWS

definitely postponed the visit.

A statement said: 'The Dutch government must com- Suharto

AMBOINESE WANT

pel to commence

SUHARTO MEETING

with our political discussions 48 hours,

GUARANTEED

president within of the under supervision (See page one) Holland mediator of The Hague, Monday- -Fifteen and If these Amboinese who earlier the United Nations. young talks do not come about, then seized the residence of today there will be a second victim.'

Ambassador the Indonesian here, threatened to shoot one hostages if they of their re- de- ceive no reply to their mands, a spokesman for them warned. said Unconfirmed reports come the Amboinese, who from Indonesia, were demand- their a guarantee that ing leader, Dr Manumusa, 'prest- self-styled South dent' of the Moluccan Republic' - which independence from seeks -would be able to Indonesia- Indonesian President Registered *Workers meet • Published newspaper Post Office Suharto on a visit to Holland.

Press. LOOk Casuall street The President sched- Lonoon. S.W.4 uled to have left Djakarta Printed by Plough Press Ltd. (TU), IR0b Clapham High Street, London, today and was due here to- S.W.4. morrow. but he has now in- By a Workers Press Reporting Team 'WE'RE being paid agricultural rate and it's about time it was changed.

It doesn't cost any less to live here than it does in Coventry or Birming.

ham: bread's Is 3d a loaf here like it is anywhere else. But we're being paid far less than workers get for similar jobs in these other towns.'

Talk to almost any one of the strikers from GKN-Sankey's Welling- ton, Shropshire, plant and he'll tell you the same story. Top rate for an engineer at the plant is Ils 9d an hour and production workers, who make up the bulk of the factory's 5,000 employees, get only 9s 8d.

Friday football erdund contes meetinly rejected the tz a mass meeting on offer London package worked out in by the Motor Industry Joint Council and union repré- sentatives.

AEF

district secretary Joseph Diaz Was shouted down and the workers voted 4s 3d across- whelmingly to stay out for their the-board pay demand. Like a lot of other car component plants up and down the Sankey's has for many country, years been making high profits and paying low wages. But workers there make it plain that they be will no longer continue to treated as the poor relations of the main car companies. Though less than an hour's drive from the industrial heart of the W Midlands, Wellington are f10 behind those wage rates or more 1n the assembly factories. 'You can see Birmingham car workers driving through here

AEF

any weekend.' one shop G&MWU steward No steward said, 'with a caravan at the back of their cars, and as like as not a boat on top.

wife and daughter, have to work all through the week-end just to last week. He equal their basic rate. Tee employerode tharm we'ré bloody farm ing back without getting what labourers. The press call us we want. "country bumpkins" "othing of the sort, but we're 'We seem to supply every- body with a bit of everything.

The . can add car companies Talks lights and glass after they've completed assembly. But Sixteen months ago at San- they've got to have a chassis key's and wheels to put the car on the workers struck for get it before they can a wage increase but were per- sembled. suaded to return after a week pending negotiations. Advert Eventually, officials of the concerned- chiefly the unions "The men won't be talked

G&MWU

with a membership back this time. They have been of 3,000 and the

AEF

pushed into a position whére achieved a £2 wage rise tied they further. That can go no job and pro- this just shows you what ductivity strings. like. Despite firm is really 'We be are not going to what they claim, there is taken for a ride again, one absolutely between no

TRUST

said Friday's worker after "This they meeting. time won't be able to get us back work with useless some formula.' Inside the factory, discon- tent over the low wages, and workers there describe what bad conditions- 'machines as dripping with oil, a high acci- dent rate and generally primi- ratoditions it- tive working one press operator put brought i forward has new stewards, who young shop have succeeded in unifying the THE LATEST report on the farming factory around wage demands.

effects of modern techniques on farmland soils One such steward is G&MWU member Noel Byrne, leaves little doubt that capi- who voted against the official talist agriculture puts profit ahead of recommendation to accept the long way production of food for 'peace' when local human consumption. officials brought them back from the London meeting. An official inquiry has re- vealed that the result of in- 'This strike has discredited farming with the the local leadership' he told tensive has latest equipment re- Workers Press at the caravan- duced fertility broken and site home he shares with his down soil structure to wife and baby. 'dangerous proportions. At one time we had very little unity in the factory. We The deterioration of the had our own claims, shop by soil in areas where there is shop and we won some gains. a high proportion of clay, But we've got a chance now in Warwickshire and as make some real changes to Northamptonshire, has with everyone united reached the stage where arable farming will probably Determined have to be abandoned. The of these organic content heavy clay soils is often The press campaign against as far be- the strikers has only in- low as 3 per cent, creased their determination.

low the recommended 8 per The taunts about country cent minimum. bumpkins from the 'Financial and 'Daily Express' Times' Compressed have failed to make dent strikers' the morale. The weak soil is easily on the that And knowledge compresesd in wet weather the they can put pressure on by heavy farm machinery San- firms to force major car and little crops can get key's settle has raised to nourishment. their enormously. spirits The result has been that of 'We've got position 2 Midlands farmers had al- intend strength here and we 1968 most no harvests in hold onto it, Noel Byrne and 1969 and face the same 'Until this strike began, said. prospect this year. of us real- I don't think any According to Emrys Jones, ized just what a key position chief scientific in the motor industry Sankey adviser to occupied. Now that we know the Ministry of Agriculture, our strength wè won't be go- is a major the only cure Tuesday, September 1, 1970

WORKERS PRESS

Thomson

FROM PAGE ONE

colas collaboration, variety. treatesy used student and yo This a the The Stalinists are denounce them shes must agement don't seem to have t the message yet that

BORDEAUX

Schreiber to so far the come armants come stand in mark round Were at for a by-election * Care so muc The unints. the unthe IN THE Bordeaux by-election, where first-round polling is fixed for September 20, the most notorious political rogues of the Fifth Republic are now engaged in their habitual political manoeuvres and false promises.

CORRESPONDENT

nounced, 15 minutes before were laids off by the night, that he would stand dispute. mmediately re- As one shop stewardead t

'CKN

thought the en the as 0 here Sankey's are the bigges employed. Artur London loses Czech the cos compand the derk citizenship mily turni

BY A FOREIGN REPORTER

ARTUR LONDON, ex-Czechoslovak Deputy Foreign Minister and one of the three surviving vicums the 'Slansky' trial in 1952, has been deprived of his Czechoslovak citizenship by the Stalinist regime in rrague. This action is a direct re teston which deserbes hit by any standards. The mar 1951 until he was broug Capitalist farming with ing industry and tacost the falling rate of profit.

uses London a cau Contradictions destroys land ітит асеад ти і increasingly as lones admitted ricu ixed aditional shift DaCk loose larmers wao want systems controt tons nake the switch back to t old methods. nuch throughout the Stain, n mass and livestock. alone hardly crisis of capitalist srice une "Partlined with their 'expansionist chat- Feather refused to take up birday, however, the credi

• FROM PAGE ONE

taxed hree monars This raid to one ened. ferocity of comperea Talks leged for European

• FROM PAGE ONE

surest road the shorestr shortest incies and British exporters. Today's compromise ce here rome can nother rotte Counceather and the ublime Fee a con det har Te to uses, he hepromin involves the Sauty and dea Localy and bureaucrats' plans and le General on Feather preseak the unity Saney they can then ud remises Ten years ago tha the Tories turn