Workers Press no. 67

A YEAR FOR ACTION

AGAINST THE TORIES

INCORPORATING THE NEWSLETTER • PUBLISHED FF

BY ROBERT BLACK

THE WORKERS PRESS, like its forerunner, "The Newsletter, is a paper that fights for socialist principles and revolutionary leader- ship within the workers movement.

1969 saw many decisive struggles either begin or undertaking" to do binding develop in both Britain the dirty work'. and throughout the world.

And so, right through to the December 31, when Our record as a fighting Press warned: Workers 'Hands off trade union rights!

Marxist can best be papel TUC "Guide- the No support for judged by way we lines" measured up to these struggles, in terms of both analysis and To underline the gravity policies. the

TUC

retreat on the de- "The Newsletter' began the fence of the trade unions, and to place the fight for working- year the Workers Press ended it: by warning the work- class rights and conditions in of historical and ing class the treacherous their inter- role being played by the TUC *The News- national context, leaders: letter' ran a series of articles on the rise of fascism in Ger-

TUC

preparing to accept Italy and Spain, each many, anti-strike laws' (January 7).

series showing how the weak- Defence of the trade unions nesses and often treachery of that loomed issue the working-class leadership en- all the big strike large over abled fascism to come to struggles of 1969. and destroy all the power On January Il we warned working-class organizations.

"TUC will capitulate azall. as indeed they did.

HISTORY

The Stalinists, as we also pointed i out time and again,

AND THEORY

were busy building up the The point cannot be made

TUC,

and particularly the too often or too sharply that 'lefts', as a focus of opposition leaders of British the the to the Labour government's trade unions-right, 'left' and attacks on the unions. centre —are following in the same footsteps as their fore.

FORD STRIKE

runners in Germany and Italy.

Under the leadership of Only 'The Newsletter' (now AEF president Hugh Scanlon the Workers Press) struggles and T&GWU general secretary to take these vital, and often Jones, there was a retreat in complex, historical and theor- the national Ford strike.

the questions Into both accepted the They workers movement principle of penal clauses in Without such under- the new deal: standing, the working class is •Ford deal opens door to doomed to defeat, despite its anti-union laws (March 22).

militancy and strength in terms of organization. That is why on May 10 we again warned: 'A rotten com- "The Newsletter fought for promise on the way' and in- working - class international sisted on May 27 that "Trade solidarity throughout 1969.

unions must oppose the TUC It was the only socialist plan'. ournal to demand Withdraw The final deal between troops now' (August 16) when Feather and Wilson we British imperialism intervened condemned roundly the as TUC giving a • "Solemn and

• PAGE FOUR COL. 7 →

NEW PARK PUBLICATIONS ANNOUNCE A

For seven days only Commencing Monday, December 29, 1969 The Age of

THE AGE OF

PERMANENT

Permanent

REVOLITION:

Revolution

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ANTHOLOGY

A TROTSKY

ANTHOLOGY

Editor Isaac Deutscher PRICE 9s 6d USUAL PRICE £1 15s Revolutionary Silhouettes By A. V. Lunacharsky Lenin, Trotsky, Sverdlov and many other leaders alive in these of the Russian Revolution come descriptions by a leading member of the Bolshevik Culture. Party the first Commissar for

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The offer will end on Monday, January 5, 1970 HOCVeR : 1972 The daily organ of the Central Committee of the Socialist Labour League

THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 1970

PRICE 6d.

JBLISHED FROM TUESDAY TO SATURDAY

NUMBER 67

By the Editor

NEW YEAR GREETING

STOP WILSON'S VISIT

Bilsorali bad of the or es Pres all our realers trom the THE GREATEST single crime of the Labour is our 67ir issur in our fourteenth week of publication. This

TO WASHINGTON

government during 1969 is that it has opened the and tip pese pcil ei e te al ite to have fousht for Forward to 19701 door for the return of a Tory government.

attaking the By continuously who standard of living of those voted it into office in 1964 and 1966, it has already lost hundreds of thousands of votes in vital marginal constituencies. can be expected when W hat ese see dividend restrictions litted Thev and Tory shareholding idlers living on the fat of the land without ding a Wilson's planned THE CAMPAIGN to stop stroke or work. The New Year's message of Wilson

VICIT

the New Year with details of a succesful cam- and company should read—-'the harder you work, the poorer you get.

aign by supporters of the Workers Press on the North-East coast. Reformism and Fabianism have once again revealed their betra when it has entered ora Saran the working class Ts Best seilts ilsis cmdiled for er this misi, visit, who contantly cl nese senemen their on if life', , are paving to the va yi forc Tory Party erse conineros trom Nel all aganls the of acmocialc ligls tidud won over the last century un une coulse ecdats 138 ol tne most orer strugsie aşalst Driusa the vietna capitalısm. Wilson and company have no objec- The 30,000-strong the role of Her Assistant Masters, Newcastle malestv s loya- opposiuon.

nur sien134 Frustration with sixth- ave also This would enable them to provide a then Steelworkers petition 'left' face in a sham anti-Tory fight.

teachers' pay break down. serara s Su derlahop form No playing around British ave added chir signatores to be made she firs Korla Chicotr i may Tos aid aaty heb s. did throughout the the government's minster this 1950s and early But it would -ment not ndnt cenes to exa Pine the prob Penis mistake to imagine for developments will suffice, assuming the in ham fehmica coleges we Lals old stam contemporary

SUTENLE

respon THE DECISION of the Iron and ni the Preasu i.to the handsr colleges tores become tne governmenu Steel Trades Confederation to dis- There is going to be no playing around cr Tom T cipline its members involved in the Either we go forward to socialism by unofficial Christmas strike at the from atten-telease co-reses alternative British Steel Corporation's (BSC) e dan tornale more and mate sapit ested eadership to

AT HALA

reformists, or Port Talbot steelworks is the first Commi inist Party members the working class ; can suffer a defeat at blow struck for the TUC General the hands resweastle. tulte dnadus c Council's 'guidelines' issued today.

eshead the 1926 General Strike. The disiplining directly That 1. Weteh. Transport Minister on salsing recommendation that

DECEMBER

Nde viskers e working class through "he iteward uc tevard 1

FUND OVER

Reaney instruct

THE TUP

FROM SOUTHAMPION

semtes indud the iyonst lehlers, siles

WITH £1,006

inte e Tebe- Responsibility ProvArab ISC 1 ce tanene s te THE LONDON central All our Pes ei i nday, busmen's committee yester- dav called off the one-day tinue their action. strike planned for today.

An donesan arny spoces Corpora- and epos es The strike But it was still not known hem's de malnd fol By our industrial correspondent 'ASB" ran chair ted in Djakart: balanee ene RES b neans that oryism. nanagement hav But the torces, bu ed over froi PAGE FOUR CUL. b → Conidase the decind tecent iveeshs. offered a meet M the mortars Pressean with Luton dustmen's inereases yin prode bon power to call off the of supporters Mersey docks Wil leht or is the central bus delegate ihh od paper, ag mat tes. what conterence strike eges o ai atina, bur New Year's suth an ou coma des for variance with union policy, or culdsls aY, arY r y spo cemtan sedd grows sponse. Eve ounci the e re at Baciken o ene yesterday. e toS- botar Boce enis he Cami walk-out Pressure ot space forces us postpone publication 1 rejected ohd parity Makanda's , O1 was cheaper in tintn of ivin " which

MOST

Thursday feature : atic eseraca aban vecbrated ReV ears 61 Red herring "Class Struggles in jobs yesterday atte mo the sunmer Africa dansere insuri pent no ice imanual assault with intent taday andak ch aroes of " he pors ob0 ocker. This will appear in Satur- evi able and o cores the bad. hertig day's issue, for lass mer hich unions reported for work after lunch.

sure of your copy by and the General an , Mit. Cell ys pi sguad at a der rade to support ito workers 15s. placing a regular order now!

It woud de a big mistake nothing Me nispal enmarsomake Lai. ome 8,000 men had turnes

• PAGE FOUR COL. 6 →

• PAGE FOUR COL. 1 →

Dusten's pickets at Luton's

workers press

A YEAR FOR ACTION

AGAINST THE TORIES

INCORPORATING THE NEWSLETTER • PUBLISHED FF

• '

BY ROBERT BLACK

THE WORKERS PRESS, like its forerunner, "The Newsletter', is a paper that fights for socialist principles and revolutionary leader- ship within the workers' movement.

1969 saw many decisive struggles either begin or undertaking" to do binding develop in both Britain the dirty work'. through and throughout the world.

And so, right to December 31, the when Our record as a fighting Workers Press warned: rights! best Marxist paper can be judged way we neasured up to these struggle: n terms of both analysis an‹ of To underline the gravity policies. the TUC retreat on the de. fence of the trade unions, and 'The Newsletter' began the Press the Workers to place the fight for working• year as ended it: by warning the work- class rights and conditions in historical and roie being played by the tod class of the treacherous their inter- 'The News- national context, leaders: letter' ran a series of articles on the rise of fascism in Ger-

'TUC

e lawsing to accept Italy and Spain, each anti-strike laws' (January many. series showing how the weak- Defence of the trade unions of nesses and often treachery was the issue that loomed working-class leadership en- large over all the big strike abled fascism to come to struggles of 1969. power and destroy all the January warned working-class organizations.

On 11 we again: 'TUC will capitulate' as indeed they did.

HISTORY

Stalinists, The as we also

AND THEORY

and pointed out time again, building the were busy up The point cannot be made

TUC,

particularly 'lefts', as a focus of opposition too often or too sharply that British the leaders of the to the Labour government's trade unions- -right, 'left' and attacks on the unions. following in the same footsteps as their fore-

FORD STRIKE

runners in Germany and Italy.

Under the leadership of Only 'The Newsletter' (now

AEF

president Hugh Scanlon Workers the Press) struggles and T&GWU general secretary to take these vital, and often Jones, there was a retreat in complex, historical and theor- the national Ford strike. the etical workers merems into accepted the movement. They both principle of penal clauses in Without such under- an the new deal: standing, the working class is 'Ford deal door to opens doomed to defeat, despite its laws (March 22). anti-union militancy and strength in May 10 we terms of organization. hat is wh On rotten come again varned "The Newsletter' fought for and in- promise the way' international working - class May 27 that 'Trade sisted solidarity throughout 1969.

unions must oppose the TUC the only socialist was plan'. journal to demand Withdraw The final deal between troops now' (August 16) when Feather and Wilson we British imperialism intervened roundly condemned the as

• PAGE FOUR COL. 7 →

TUC giving a • "Solemn and

NEW PARK PUBLICATIONS ANNOUNCE A

For seven days only Commencing Monday, December 29, 1969 The Age of Permanent Revolution

A TROTSKY

ANTHOLOGY

A TROTSKY

ANTHOLOGY

Editor Isaac Deutscher PRICE 9s 6d USUAL PRICE £l 15s Silhouettes By A. V. Lunacharsky Culture.

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HOOVER

: 1972

• THURSDAY, JANUARY 1

JBLISHED FROM TUESDAY TO SATURDAY

•

NUMBER 67

By the Editor THE GREATEST single crime of the Labour government during 1969 is that it has opened the door for the return of a Tory government.

continuously attacking the By standard of living of those who XI voted it into office in 1964 and 1966, it has already lost hundreds in vital of thousands of votes marginal constituencies. can be expected What else when see dividend restrictions lifted they and Tory shareholding idlers living on of the land without doing a the fat stroke of work. The New Year's message of Wilson and company should read-'the harder the poorer you get. you work. Reformism and Fabianism have once again revealed their capacity to betray the working class when it has entered its most serious crisis. These gentlemen who constantly prattle on about their 'democratic way way for a Powel- of life', are paving the lite Tory Party to wield the full force against all the capitalist state of the democratic of the rights trade unions won over the last century in the course of the most bitter struggle against British capitalism. Wilson and company have no objec- the role of Her tion to returning to Majesty's loyal opposition.

This would enable them to provide a 'left' face in a sham anti-Tory fight.

No playing around This is what they did throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. But it would be mistake to imagine for one moment that this old sham will suffice, assuming the Tories become the government.

THE DECISION of the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation to dis- There is going to be no playing around cipline its members involved in the next time. Either we go forward to socialism by unofficial Christmas strike at the building the alternative British Steel Corporation's (BSC) revolutiollar y leadership to the Fabian relormists. Port Talbot steelworks is the first tne working class can suner a deleal au blow struck for the TUC General Tories analagous to hands of the the Council's 'guidelines' issued today.

the 1926 General Strike. The disciplining directly That why fight council's Toryism, raising implements the against class-consciousness

DECEMBER

recommendation that the through working Class 'Meetings of members are useful and authorized method within the

FUND OVER

Lory agents

DUT

are nol aDour movement

WOO

are entitled to take decisions. making possible tor instruct shop. stewards Tory to make a comeback in

THE TOP

ake which are the year ahead.

WITH £1,006

Responsibility 120 craftsmen at the BSC's Panteg stainless steel rorks near WITH ONE DAY to go our All our readers car December gone been Workers hand. rest assured that with €1,006 in Sunday, everything Press will do

LIC

power to live up to this per- I nal remarkable are especieu le TOmman ce wien Lake

1ALU

recommendalun account effects une The Wilson Xmas holidays. exposure The strike was called and company integral men's demand for It means that we start into Lne art of the struggle against with z) bonus, Toryism. alance january Cal management have oll the ried over from 1969. only offered meet hal at the the demand and are insist- ing on tying the bonus to orkers production. Mersey docks team who will fight for their WД0 paper, odds are no matter wwalue azalst us. New Year's variance with union policy, or Thank you comrades for is parents to which the such an encouraging union sponse. Teuc Eve challenging to take action floor Slud Pressure of space forces us walk-out any nowever pressins of the union postpone Dubicanon executive. N. Makanda's regular Thursday feature : Red herring

MOST

MerseysidYear's cocrers celebrated Save 'Class Struggles in The levelled from their at accusation obs yesterday afternoon. strikers Africa' the thaT Enev en- dangered the plant's safety left ships This will appear in Satur- through insufficient notice rity-seven were idle when only about complete and day's issue, January 3. reported for work after ochers of the obscures the i dockers Be sure of your copy by It would be a big mistake placing a regular order now!

Some 8,000 men had turned

• PAGE FOUR COL. 1 →

in yesterday morning. The daily organ of the Central Committee of the Socialist Labour League PRICE 6d.

NEW YEAR GREETING

STOP WILSON'S VISIT

TO WASHINGTON

Off to a good New Year start THE CAMPAIGN to stop Wilson's planned visit to Washington gets off to a good start in the New Year with details of a succesful cam- aign by supporters of the Workers Press on the North-East coast Briefly -credita tor later this mont does not take place. Chancellor possible Breach of th teachers and nurses. The Masters Frustration with sixth- "talking-shop' Five workers and one shor form from w nitenall talk the oi the Council for Eduattend conference The treme The campaign. contemporary From Gateshead ng into the hands of 40 sides, attendielease corelea

HAIFA

she ich tent bee Newcastle -a memster of the Other le Zionist Gahal party Tube and bus crews sournes of the israel he sea approaches to the por leaders back Pour DATA members-i

THE

down

LUNDUN

central She Workers signeditio busmen's committee vester- day called off the one-day Blow,. strike plannea lor today.

SienTran By our industrial correspondent but it was still not known Strong, chair- vesterdav atternoon whethe iro the able this eleventh-hour decisior

• PAGE FOUR COL. 6

could be put into effect because the only body with Luton dustmen's to call off the strike central bus delegate strike The T&GWU's national bus ecall delegates orests dam Killed by shery spel grows London last night council's • Боса -. long she come Lone dame any wit for parity with London attinge to their clacouscirs council refuseder Ber today and ar charges of 222 to commit murder. 15s. and - Call was plaquad at My Mitchell wa

PAGE TWO

LYSENKO emerged from the 1939 conference on genetics with his position considerably strength- ened. However, in spite of this, research into neo.

Mendelian genetics was still proceeding in various institutes. As late as 1945-1946, the Academy of Sciences was considering whether the best way of dealing with the con- troversy would be to create new Institute of the Academy, under the neo- Mendelian Dubinin, in addi- tion to the Institute of Gene- tics, which had come under the control of Lysenko. The bureaucracy had other plans. The devastation wrought by the invasion of Hitler's armies, reinforcing the catastrophic effects of Stalin's turn to collectivization, forced now made it imperative to find some short-cut solution to the problems facing Soviet agri- culture. Lysenko's work seemed to offer a solution which fitted the Soviet bureaucracy's every requirement. His theory could be summed up in the following statements by Michurin: 'We cannot wait for favours from Nature; we must wrest them from her. ... It is pos- sible, with man's intervention, to force any form of animal or plant to change more quickly and in a direction desirable to man'.* This integrated was with the theory of 'socialism in one country' in its most ultra- phase and became nationalist synonymous with the state- ment: biological 'For Russian science, nothing is impossible.'

suggest otherwise - in particular, to believe that neo- Mendelian genetics was any- thing other than a foreign con- spiracy—was unpatriotic and tantamount to treason. The stage was therefore set to destroy neo-Mendelism once and for all. In 1948, the neo-Mendelians were invited to express their Views in the columns of the Literary Moscow Gazette. Several took the opportunity of restating the case genetics and were attacked by Lysenko and the phliosopher Prezent. Having brought the neo- Mendelians 'into the open', • a special session of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences was called to deliver the coup de grace. Academician B. M. Zavadov- sky's contribution to the dis- cussion on Lysenko's opening report indicates the nature of the 'debate': 'I think that the conditions under which the session has been organized have not been quite normal, for all those deservedly placed - and par- undeservedly those ticularly placed - in the category of Weismannist-Mendelists have not been given adequate facili- * The Situation in Biological Science'. Proceedings of the Lenin Academy of Agricultural Sciences of the USSR. Session: July 31-August 7, 1948, p. 34.

Despite Soviet propaganda claims of rich ha of Lysenko's theories to Soviet argriculture culminating in the disaster of the 'virgin lai ties to prepare themselves and reality to give free and full expression solve to their views... only on July ing 'sc 30 [the day before the opening the co sitting] did I receive official counti intimation that this session Of was to take place' (Proceed- the he ings, p. 335). Lenin, Thus, from the beginning of conde idealis the session, the neo-Mendel- lans were put on the defensive mater and for eight days were the subject of a blistering attack, mater which spared nothing in dis- lution tortion and abuse. The main nature attack on neo-Mendelism was peopl outlined in Lysenko's opening As article address: agriculture, Socialist the the e state farming, collective and organi rise to a Soviet has given direct biological science, founded by but ir Michurin • in selecti a science new not reflecting principle [i.e. mutat objective reality!]-developing Let in close union with agronomi- descri practice Morgan's the p cal feeble metaphysical "science" precis .. can stand no comparison light with our effective Michurinist excluc agrobiological science' (Pro- coveri ceedings, p. 18. Our emphasis).

ment mecha The insistence on scientific dom' theory having an immediate, direct link with scientific prac- Nei Possib tice (completely at variance intera historical develop- with the viront ment of science) leads to a completely pragmatic approach mater The to problems and a rejection of proce: theory. The following inter- ther change reveals this clearly.

nique. 'G. A. Babajanyan: ... Who what by their very wants

ACC

nature are useless Drosophilas [fruit flies used in breeding Cer experiments]? the hered 'J. A. Rapoport: But there above are useful mutations, and many be r of them. Why do you shut leads your eyes to them? gene 'G. A. B.: Firstly, because Any they are useful mutations for a the m (Applause)' useless object. then (Proceedings, p. 163). Ho Throughout, 'the unity of a mer theory and practice' is used to geneti science in favour of reject lower 'what is useful'. with run, Stalinist In the long nounc wishful thinking could not cal ! change the nature of objective Pre astray analo atom Far c betwe the in Lys natur ists a isolat any r subje 'Cl they to m "scien demn fruitl effect With possi ward out 615). Th ning Th proce by n tific Me statis at a proce genet Ly lent chem laws the (quar bilist Sir insur late l fact predi deatl being In claims of rich harvests, the application viet agriculture ended in failure, as a of the 'virgin land' programme.

devel

WORKERS' PRESS

The second of two articles е те- completely into idealism by shall revise the syllabuses of fit 'the facts' into a biological institutes, rithin trying to bearing in pseudo - Marxist formalized mind the interests of Michurin- 1 one scheme. ism. of the ss has • be The hereditary In other words, the com- of ; and to be a function plete liquidation genetics the organ- id to ism 'as a whole'; the organism and its adherents was proposed and its environment have to be and rapidly carried through taken as a unity. with traditional Stalinist bar- urin's The interaction process re- barity and thoroughness. ology Why bother Many western scientists, by ctical mains mysterious. problems about such when no means unsympathetic to- revo- *Michurin teaching • • eluci- wards the Soviet Union, were nging profound (!) theoretical dates repelled by the f the events sur- problems by solving important rounding the genetics contro- problems agricul- last socialist versy. ture' (p. 616)? The geneticist, 969), 1948 Julian Huxley, his The conference in book living went 'Soviet on its nightmarish and Genetics and World way

CULCI

Science' (1949) says: reached the inevitable ange, clusion. have been very ¡tural , appreciative of the efforts and In summing up the 'discus- netic sion', Lysenko begins: of

USSR,

achievements the 'Comrades, before I pass to especially since my first visit this my concluding remarks, I con- 1932. to the country in es of sider it my duty to make the *But appreciation does not more following statement. The ques- exclude criticism; and as the asked one of and believer does tion is in scientist in i dis- handed [how I cannot help notes to me internationalism, opportune!]: What is the atti- being critical of many aspects elop- the tude of the Central Committee of the genetics controversy P.

"ran- to my report? I of the Party x) ... such suppression is in long The Central Commit- the disastrous' (p. run e the tee of the Party examined my 224). and direct report approved it. (Stormy applause. Ovation. All rise.)' (p. 605). enetic The bureaucracy had spoken.

The approval had of such been given to the main lines of fur- Lysenko's report even before tech- the session had begun and any ering. illusion that the participants had been involved in a discus- was finally sion on genetics of ce shattered. the Nothing was left but the ribed expected recantations and las to 'the great torrent of praise for and friend and of f the science, our leader and teacher, over. Comrade Stalin'. aining Following Lysenko's closing would partici- speech, three of the Julian Huxley d. pants, Academician such Zhukovsky, S. I. Alikhanian However, no criticism could of on and I. M. Polyakov, confessed s fol- be tolerated and the Stalinist their sins and pledged them- parties of the west were in the baby selves to fight for Michurinism.

forefront of defence of the d de- A letter to 'the great Stalin, Lysenko and the first to con- physi- the leader of the people and demn his critics as agents of coryphaeus of se led progressive US imperialism. science, followed by a resolu- Two in particular, false books, tion calling for all biological published Lawrence and by risible reorganized in line work to be gave full Wishart, and un- gene. finally with Michurinism support to Lysenko conditional alogy brought this obscene charade and attacked the 'scholastic- and to an end. ism' of genetics. living James Fyfe in his book Right' (1950) re-

PROPOSALS

'Lysenko is organ- the Michurinist itous, peats argu- The proposals for the re- against neo-Mendelism ithout organization of all work in the and adds: s and biological sciences were 1m- 'Heredity for the farmer is On implemented. mediately "the property of a living body 26, 1948, the Prae- August definite conditions to require Cience of sidium the Academy of for its life, its development This Sciences met and 12 passed definitely and to react to con- resolutions to the effect that: various conditions" rs to and this is • The cell-research labora- T. D. Lysenko's definition of is no tory, headed by N. P. Dubinin, heredity (1946). If an agricul- lence. shall be abolished as unscien- turist is asked to venture an IS 1m- tific and useless. opinion on what the potential k to- • The Bureau of the value of a new variety or strain rules Division of Biological Sciences or even species is likely to be, shall be charged with the pre- he will not ask "What genes has it?" paration of plans for scientific but "What is its begin- years 1948- history?" ' (p. 6). research for the indom 1950. In this the Bureau shall And again: be guided by Michurin's teach- 'Here that the level we see ing and shall adjust the view fits hand-in- Michurinist scien- scien- of bio- tific, research work glove with the approach of the 7. "mere logical institutes to the needs practical worker (p. Our of the national economy. emphasis). g out f The composition of Scien- how joyfully the Note real English embraces at the tists' Councils at biological empiricist roots' institutes and editorial boards the Stalinist 'grass approach! quiva- of biological publications shall of be checked with the object of Fyfe emphasises that Mich- ws se the removing from them the par- urin was not alone in his and ion of tisans of neo-Mendelism conclusions: rticles porters of progressive Michur- replacing them "The American fruit breeder, Luther Burbank, although his proba- inite biology. breeding methods very le for • The Division of History different from Michurin's, Philosophy and shall be summed it up in the following calcu- "My own studies have ite the charged with its words:

SCUS ON

of popularization that ble to led me to be assured programme of the of of the achievements of heredity is sum ner Michurinism and of the critical environments all past numan pseudo-scientific (Howard, 1945-1946)' (pp. 13- exposure of 14). delism neo-Mendelism. of Expressed precisely, urther The Bureau the SO Division of Biological Sciences Lysenko's conclusions gIve etreats everything to the theoreticians fascist counter- revolution. This does not escape Huxley: "If the effects of the environ- ment are imprinted on then centuries of poverty, disease and oppression ance, should have engrained a most undesirable heredity upon the vast majority of the human species, and engrained it so firmly that a few generations of improved conditions could not be expected to effect much amelioration' ('Soviet Genetics and World Science', p. 187).

The reactionary nature of the philosophy behind pro- Michurinism' gressive went 'unnoticed' by Lysenko's apol- ogists, in line with their 'suspension of critical faculties' over the liquidation and de- portation of Soviet national minorities and the anti-Semitic abuse surrounding the post- There could be war purges. no examination of the con- sequences of 'socialism in one country'. In fact Fyfe justifies this theory as best he can, using the crudest arguments: "There is a very close paral- lel between the idea of genes in biology and the political idea of an elite; a "chosen" ruling class . . . The two errors have a common origin— contempt of labour ... Any sixth-form schoolboy can cor- rectly explain that Greek science came to an end because it developed in a slave society in which manual labour was held in contempt (!) ... The true. A science converse is which recognizes labour as the ultimate source of all progress can never end in sterility and must come closer to the truth' (pp.38-39). The building of socialism as the international task of an proletariat, based on the high- est development of the pro- ductive forces achieved under capitalism, is here degraded and turned inside out to fit in with the national requirements of the Soviet bureaucracy.

Perhaps Greek science would have continued flourish, given the efforts of a battalion of Stakhanovites! Fyfe's book quickly was followed by Dr A. G. Morton's 'Soviet Genetics' (1951).

Morton takes up the scien- tific and philosophical ques- tions in some detail and in developing Lysenkoism sticks his neck out: 'Indeed, to speak of the self-reproduction of the gene betrays an extraordinary con- fusion of thought. For a molecule of nucleoprotein can no more reproduce itself than can a molecule of water. The reproduction of specific : sub- stances is a property of living systems and not of nucleo- protein ..? (p. 52). Here Morton who it is betrays an extraordinary con- fusion of thought, for if reproduction is a property of *living systems' alone, the questions concerning the de- tailed processes within such and how life arose systems from inorganic matter cannot be answered, except in a circular way or by an appeal to 'spontaneous generation'.

VITAL FORCE

In any case, Morton comes close to the 'vital force' which, he says, 'finds its last refuge in the gene' (p. 52). Moreover, in order to avoid the problems of cell structure, Morton tries to make out a case for no persistent structure at all. Briefly, he argues (pp. 128- 130) that structure appears when cells are interfered with or damaged. It suffices to say that the fifties and sixties have yielded a wealth of knowledge concerning both cell-structure and the finest details of the (see reproductive process Workers Press, December 4), without the aid of Michur- inism. Stalin's Fabian friends could, of course, be relied upon to 1949, back Lysenko. In Bernard Shaw wrote an article supporting the action of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

states that In it he criminal militant reactionary can be excused on the ground that his actions are not his ... The real issue is own between the claim of the scientific profession to be exempted from all legal re- straint in the pursuit of knowledge, and the duty of the control it in the state to general interest as it controls pursuits'. all other As usual, the generalizations thinly conceal the most abject before the vilest grovelling excesses of the bureaucracy, which remains the hallmark of "left' today. the official scientist Not Party every could bring himself to toe the official line. The geneticist, J. B. S. Haldane, the 'Modern Quarterly' (Vol. 4, No. 3), came down unequivocally on the side of neo-Mendelism: I am a Mendelist-Morganist ... Morgan and his colleagues made the very great advance of showing that heredity has and not a meta- a material physical basis ... a Marxist can no more deny a material than for basis for heredity sensation or thought. Professor J. D. Bernal, on the other hand, in an accom- panying article, evades the that genetics issue and says seem due for a change' being Radiation can change the genetic structure of white carnations to produce a red bloom, thus disproving Lysenko's claim that the gene was hypothetical.

in a state of 'most unsatisfac- tory confusion'. Bernal, undoubtedly a bril- trimmed liant physicist, has his apologetics to the prevail- ing wind with the passing years. the 1954 edition of his In 'Science in History', Bernal gives Lysenko an eight-page boost and tells us that the controversy involved 15 years of debate (1)' (p. 669). Just in case we might have

I.T.V.

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Bugs 4.30 Crossroads. 4.55 Bunny. 5.20 Magpie. 5.50 News. 6.03 The Flying Nun. 7.00 A Present For Dickie.

7.30 The Thursday Film: 'Law 12 mid

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CHANNEL:

3.00 ling. 4.08 Puffin's Birthday Greetings. Place. 4.50 4.40 Puffin's 4.10 Peyton Birthday Greetings. The Lone 6.00 Channel Ranger. 5.20 London. News and Weather. 6.10 Police File. 6.15 Channel Sports Round-Up. 6.35 Crossroads. Film: 7.00 The Thursday Station' with William Holden "Union and Nancy Olsen. 8.30 This Is Your "Elmer Life. 10.30 Feature Film: Gantry' with Burt Lancaster and Jean smart-talking Simmons. Lancaster is Bible-thumper. 1.00 salesman turned a.m. Weather. SOUTHERN: 11.55 a.m. Under The 1.00 . p.m. Seaway. Southern Cross. ( 1.55 "The Yearling' with Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman. 4.15 Diane's Magic Theatre. 4.30 Crossroads. 4.55 Skippy.

6.35 5.20 London. 6.00 Day By Day. Castle Haven. 7.00 The Thursday Film: Panther'• 10.50 Southern "The Pink 9.00 London. 10.30 Facing South. 11.55 News Extra. 11.00 Peyton Place. Forecast followed by The Weather Inquiry Into Christmas. Channel except at WESTWARD. As News following times: 4.08 Westward Headlines. 4.40 The Gus Honeybun Show. 6.00 Westward Diary. 1.05 a.m.

Faith For Life. 1.11 Weather. HARLECH: 12.10 p.m. It's Time For Concert. Me. 12.15 New Year's Day 1.30 Professional Wrestling. 2.30 'Cone with Michael Craig and Of Silence' Peter Cushing. 3.45 The Adventures Of Seaspray. 4.10 Arthur. 4.26 Castle 4.55 The Forest Rangers. 5.20 Haven. London. 6.01 Batman. 6.35 Crossroads.

7.00 Midweek Movie: "Drive A Crooked Road' with Mickey Rooney and Dianne Foster. 8.30 On The Buses. ( 9.00 10.30 When A Nation Said London. "Welcome'. "The Mad Magician' 11.00 Vincent Price. 12.15 a.m. with Weather. Harlech (Wales) as above except: 4.29-4.55 Crossroads. 5.20-5.50 p.m. Tins A Lei. ANGLIA: 12.15 p.m. New Year's Day Concert From Vienna. 1.30 Professional 'Lassie Come Home' Wrestling. 2.30 with Elizabeth Taylor. 4.05 Castle 4.35 Haven. 4.30 Anglia Newsroom. Skippy .20 5.20 London. Paulus. 4.50 Arena. 6.35 6.00 About Anglia. Pink Panther' Crossroads. 7.00 "The Peter Sellers, with David Niven, i Robert Wagner and Claudia Cardinale, 9.00 London. 11.00 Survival.

Capucine. 11.30 Reflection. ATV MIDLANDS: 11.50 a.m. Abbott and Costello. 12.15 p.m. New Year's 1.30 Professional Wrest- Day Concert. 'Call Me Bwana' with Bob ling. 2.30 4.00 Survival. 4.55 Peyton Place. 4.40 Paulus. London. 6.00

ATV

Stingray. 5.20

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11.00 a.m. Daktari. 11.45 Win- ners At The Wheel. 12.35 p.m.

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1.45 News and Weatherman. 1.5e Laurel and Hardy. Scarlet Spear' with John Bentley African Martha Hyer. and 3.30 Ski Jumping adventure. From Garmisch: The Inter- national 90 Metre Jump. 4.20 Play School. 4.55 Blue Peter.

5.20 Journey To The Centre Of The Earth. 5.44 Hectors' House.

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11.00-11.20 a.m. Play School.

4.55 p.m. 'The Mudlark' (film).

6.30 New Year's Day Concert From Vienna. 7.30 Newsroom and Weather.

8.00 Call My Bluff. 8.30 The Money Programme.

Thursday, January 1, 1970 misunderstood the first time, the 1969 Penguin edition emphasises the point. The genetics controversy is condensed into two paragraphs and Bernal states: It would be absurd, how- ever, to wait for the unravel- ling of these [reproductive] mechanisms and to give up attempts to alter heredity by more empirical approaches to its control by varying environ- mental factors. This apparent contradiction, which is essen- tially one of emphasis, was the basis for the opposition in the Soviet Union, for instance, of [Michurinism] to Mendelian genetics' (p. 957. Our emphasis). And again: 'At its height the contest- ants were mostly talking at cross-purposes' (p. 957).

Yes, it was all a big mis- understanding! Perhaps Prof.

Bernal would include the Moscow Trials, the purges and the betrayals of the 'Popular Front' period in the same category? After all, they fall within the '15 years of debate'-a 'debate' carried out with the labour camp and the hring squad, as Prof. Bernal well knows. The application of Lysenko's theories to Soviet agriculture ended in failure, culminating in the disaster of Khrushchev's 'virgin land' programme. With the fall of Khrushchev, receded into the Lysenko background, the crisis of Soviet agriculture remaining unresolved. After 40 years of collectiv- ization, there be can no solution within the context of country, 'socialism in one whatever pseudo-science may be brought to its defence.

of the Lawless'. With Dale Robertson, Yvonne de Carlo, William Cabot, Bendix, Bruce Maclane, John Barton Kent Taylor and Agar, judge Lon Chaney. struggles to maintain law and order in a Kansas town. 9.00 The Dave King Show. 9.30 Whicker In Europe:. Monsignor Carrol-Abbing. 10.00 News At Ten. 10.30 Cinema. 11.05 I Spy. 12 midnight Outlook "70. Cuff In Scotland Movie: Today. 6.05 6.35 Crossroads. 7.00 Star Action 'Sergeants 3' with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Ir. 9.00 London. 11.05 The Saint followed by Weather Forecast. ULSTER: 4.30 p.m. Romper Room. 4.50 Ulster News Headlines.

4.55 The Of The Seaspray. 5.20 Adventures London. 6.00 UTV Reports.

6.35 Cross- 7.00 'The Pink Panther. 9.00 roads. London. 11.00 Dangerman. YORKSHIRE: 12 noon Diane's Maric Year's Day Theatre. 12.15 New ).m Professional Wrestling. Concert. 1.30 2.30 'Call Me Bwana' with Bob Hope and Anita Ekberg. An American moon probe capsule goes off course and lands 4.00 Lost In Space. 4.55 in Africa. Forest 5.20 London. The Rangers. 6.00 Cliff 6.30 Castle In Scotland. Haven. 7.00 'The Pink Panther' with Sellers. 9.00 London. 11.00 Peter Manhunt. 11.55 Late Weather.

GRANADA: 9.50 a.m. 'Time Of His Thunderbirds. 11.50 Life'. 11.00 Diane's Magic Theatre. 12.05 p.m. The Magic Boomerang. 12.30 London. 1.30 Julia. 1.55 Feature Film: *Yankee Cartoon Time. 3.35 eft Chandler.

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TYNE TEES: 12.15 Bienna. ).m. New Year's Day Concert From 1.30 Pro- Wrestling. 2.30 'Great fessional North Newsroom. 6.00 Today At Ivanhoe 5.20 London. Six. 6.30 Peyton Place. 7.00 'The ] Pink Panther' (film). 9.00 London. 11.00 The 11.30 Late News Face Press. Extra. 11.47 Gate Of The Year.

Diane's Magic SCOTTISH: 12 noon Theatre. 12.15 p.m. New Year's Day Concert From Vienna. 1.30 Profes- Wrestling. 2.30 •Call Me sional Bwana'. 4.05 Mr Piper. 4.30 Cross- roads. 4.55 The Adventures Of 6.00 News Superman. London. 7.00 Panther'. Feature London. 11.00 Late Call. 9.00 GRAMPIAN: 10.05 a.m. Ivanhoe. 10.30 "Tommy The Fantastic Four. 10.55 Vienna. eW Year's Da Toreador, 12.1 32.15 Concert 1.30 Profes- "Call Me sional Wrestling. 2.30 Mad Movies. 4.30 Land Bwana'. 4.05 The Giants. 5.20 London. 6.00 Of The Ghost And Mrs Muir. 6.35 Cross- "The Pink roads. 7.00 Feature Film: Panther' 9.00 London. 11.00 Journey To The Unknown. 9.10 Sinatra: Just Frank. 10.00 24 Hours. 10.30 'A Night At The Opera'.

With the Marx Brothers. 12 midnight Weatherman. programmes as BBC-1 excepi Regional at the followins times: and East Anglia: 6.00-6.45 Midlands Today, Look East, Midlands p.m. 12.02 a.m. Nationwide. Neather. News Summary and Weather.

ntre Of North of England: 6.00-6.45 p.m. Look 12.02 Northe ever Nationwide. Weather. a.m. Today, Wales: 6.00-6.45 p.m. Weather, Nationwide. 6.45-7.05 Hed- diw. Scotland: 6.00-6.05 p.m. Scottish News.

6.05-6.20 Sportsreel. 6.20-6.45 Nation- Around Six, Weather. wide, Scene 12.02 a.m. News Headlines, Weather.

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Weather, 9.10 The Six Wives of Henry

VIII:

Play about Catherine of Aragon. 10.40 Edmundo Ross: Latin American music. 11.20 News and Summary Weather. 11.25 Line Up.

THE THIRD PART OF CLIFF SLAUGHTER'S REPLY TO HALLAS

Thursday, January 1, 1970 THIS is the third article in a series in 'International Socialism' 40, 'Buil Party' by Duncan Hallas.

HALLAS

attacks the Socialist Labour League for having continued to base itself on the Transi- tional Programme on which the Fourth Inter- national was founded in 1938. According to him, the Trotskyists should have abandoned this programme because capitalism after 1945 found a great lease of life.

Because the SLL continued, however, to stand on the its founding programme, theory and practice hardened into a dogmatic 'orthodoxy' which characterizes it today.

In the two earlier articles in this series we have shown that Hallas' interpretation of the Transitional Programme opposed to Marxism. He is, in fact, attacking the whole theory of Marxism on the nature of capitalism and the necessity of proletarian revolution. He approaches these questions with the empiricist methods of opport- unists who adapt to capitalism and support it. Hallas, after referring to the strength the Communist International in the 1920s and its ability to correct its mis- takes says: 'If Trotsky's economic per- spective had been correct the International FI (Fourth might have been in a similar position. Now we have already seen (second article in this series) that Trotsky's views on capit- alist economy, like Lenin's, were essentially of an economic system in an epoch of decay and revolutionary crisis within which periods and areas of growth were not excluded- indeed they were recognized as a central feature of its un- evenness and its explosive nature. But Hallas and Cliff con- sider that an economic expansion of capitalism is in contradiction to the assertion that capitalism is decaying and doomed. • the conclusion They drew in the late 1940s, therefore, that capitalism was expanding and that consequently the call made in the Founding Pro- gramme for a new International of revolutionary parties was out of date. Conclusion This conclusion, and the whole opportunist course of all those who agreed with it, is the reality behind Hallas claims that there were reason- able and objective men like him, who recognized the facts of the boom, and 'dogmatists', like the founders of the SLL, who refused to do so because they adhered to the Tran- sitional Programme. in the 1940s, Hallas was, Tony Cliff (from 1946- like member of 1949), the a majority wing of the Revolu- tionary Communist Party, the organization Trotskyist whose Britain at that time, general secretary was Mr 'Jock' Haston. leadership The of the Socialist Labour League today were at that time a minority in the RCP. The minority were in favour at that stage of 'entry' work inside the Labour Party, on the grounds that the radical- ization of the British working class would not by-pass Labour Party politics, and that in that period the most fruitful field for Trotskvists was to work within the left wing of the which would Labour Party emerge as a result of the Attlee government's policies. This left wing emerged, of course, in the shape of the and the Bevanite movement support for the paper 'Socialist Outlook' This tactic was, of course, related to the basic positior of Marxism in Britain since Lenin wrote 'Left-Wing Com- munism': we must fight for 'Labour to power' in order to break the working class from social-democracy. 'majority' dis- In 1949 the solved itself and went into the Labour Party. Hallas tries to turn this to support his own argument. According to him: Maurice Thorez, French Communist Party and open advocate of smoothing the path f e in a series replying to the article Ism' 40, 'Building the Revolutionary The minority position was the economic impasse that would produce a mass radical- ization of the workers who would flood into the Labour revolutionary crisis Party. A was imminent and there was no time to build an indepen- dent party from scratch.'

The essence of the minority's position was derived from the Transitional Programme and Lenin's 'Imperialism': reform- ism in office, in this period of capitalist decay, will inevitably find itself exposed as the in- strument of imperialism, which only be of can a system destruction and oppression; revolutionaries must direct their work to the effects on the masses of this develop- ment, and not to the temporary ability • of the capitalists to make wage concessions to certain sections of the inter- national working class. Once a socialist takes the latter course, he is surely and irreversibly on the road to Lenin insisted opportunism. that opportunism began as the pursuit of the sectional or temporary interests of workers in opposition to their general, historical, revolutionary in- terests as a class. opportunism The form of against which he led the fight 1914-1917 was that of in international social-democracy, which in virtually every bel- ligerent country preferred the supposed common interests of the workers . with their own national bourgeoisie to the common class interests of the world's workers. Alternative What was Hallas' alternative to the revolutionary orienta- tion of the RCP minority, with its tactical application to work in the Labour Party? Once we extract his meaning, its class essence is very clear: 'The majority rejected this fantasy, predicting a continua- tion of the economic upswing that was already obvious but, they partly because under- estimated its duration and extent, failed until 1949 to conclusion draw the that an independent revolutionary party could not be built in the period'! (My emphasis).

At last the cat is out of the bag! The whole purpose of insisting that there was continuing economic upswing is to conclude that the inde- pendent revolutionary party cannot be built in such a period. And the hysteria of the attack on the SLL, which 'by rights' ought long ago to have disappeared because of its founders' 'wrong perspectives' is precisely because it showed the exact opposite to be true!

'upswings' Economic are only phases of the epoch of capitalist decline, giving a more pronounced character to its uneven and contradictory character. The real effects on class consciousness, the temporary lease of life given to centrist and bureaucratic formations by boom conditions - all these have to be taken account of and fought against. only a revolutionary And party, determined to build the alternative leadership under all conditions, to develop Marxist theory in all conditions, can do this. ( Hallas very naturally skates over the history of what hap- pened to those who in his opinion had a 'correct' econ- omic perspective, i.e. the RCP majority behind Haston. Mr Tony Cliff lent his doubtful literary and statistical talents to Haston's insistence on the revitalized nature of capital- ism, right to the very brink of Haston's open capitulation to the social democracy in 1950.

Haston, after having opposed the tactic of entry into the Labour Party, made it clear in political 1949 that the con- clusions of his 'economic per- spectives must be drawn. He quit Trotskyism forever, reformist settled the to the 'modern' capitulation capitalism of the Labour Party, set foot on the course which has now brought him to the unenviable distinction educational director of the Electrical Trades Union under Messrs Cannon and Chapple!

Mr Haston is to be found at the centre of innumerable 'educational' schemes for the domestication of shop stew- ards, and suchlike activities.

ommunist Party leader, (centre left with Duclos on hi thing the path for imperialism, preparing the way for He would call himself an empiricist, one who starts from the given "facts', today, just as he did when he was in the RCP. Today, Mr Cliff says that he is indifferent to whether other members of his International Socialism group are dialectical materialists or empiricists. In other words, he is preparing the ground for future Hastons.

Certainly Haston drew very thoroughly in 1949 the con- clusion suggested by Hallas: revolutionary party that could not be built. N.B., not that 'it could only be built in different ways from the SLL', or 'it could only be built on different perspectives from the SLL' but it 'could not be built'.

That is the conclusion from this history, according to the The destruction of Nagasaki by the atom br forces stagnate, and that technical developr imperialism. 'state capitalists' precisely the long It is struggle against that con- all its clusion, in various revisionist forms, that historic- ally defines the Socialist Labour League and its pre- decessor in the group which entered the Labour Party in 1947 published and the 'Socialist Outlook'. that Hallas says about All 1949 is 'In 1949 they (the RCP minority group, working in the Labour Party) were reinforced by many of the members of the former RCP majority, after the RCP had voted to dissolve itself, enter the Labour Party fuse with the group' and Hallas knows this is sheer trickery. He does not even mention Haston and the blat- ant opportunism which forced the hasty abandonment of the Further- majority's course. he knows that only a more, handful of his 'correct' tiny majority remained Trotskyists at all. mention He cannot these things, because it would mean the question of opening up the political support given by Hallas and Cliff themselves to Haston against the minority.

Their economic 'objectivity' their mechanical conception of rith Duclos on his left was the most brazen ring the way for the post-war boom.

WORKERS' PRESS

'economic upswing—-no revolu- of Trotsky, he omits entirely politics-the general the essence of the question: tronary nature of the epoch is irrele- Trotsky's contribution to vant', all this had placed them the Russian polution, particularly in of Russian his entirely at the service the struggle for the continuity of the thoroughgoing opportunist Marxism and Leninism in course of Haston. the 1920s, It was the first manifestation Bolshevik Party in the of the liquidationism (attack and above all the struggle to the revolutionary build the Fourth International, on party and need for the party which all the basis of his and Lenin's characterization of the has been the essence of anti- Trotskyist revisionism. epoch as a revolutionary one.

'liquidationism' always knows This Hallas thinks he hides behind talk about 'new better: reality' the 'changed 'Trotsky's unique contribu- and objective situation'. taclics. hostility his uncompromising The fundamental problem Stalinism, reformism, facing Marxists is decided by kind of totalitarian- to of the revolutionary nature ism, give him a stature which the epoch we live: 1N which no mere mistakes can it is the building of revolution- diminish. In that ary parties to take the power; Marxist revolutionary today parties which consciousiy learn must be Trotskyist, just as i by the atom bomb is a vindication of Marxist theory that the productive chnical development turns into a force of destruction in the epoch of he must be a Leninist' (Hallas, from the the experience O1 D. 31. My emphasis). and from the working class development of society The one virtue of this piece whole in all the different phrases and of offensive rubbish is that it sections of the struggle, which, defines unambiguously very in all these phases, train their just what Hallas and his 'state members on the basis of this capitalist' friends and revolutionary historical task.

what they do not mean when The 'state capitalists' tell us they describe themselves and 1970s followers of Lenin and Trotsky.

that in the 1960s They are telling all their The conseauences of (the permanent war economy), petty-bourgeois and reformist the contradictions of neo- friends that they do not neces- and capitalism, prospects with Lenin and sarily agree its limits; the basic these are Trotsky on: the revolutionary faced problems be by nature of the epoch, the build- Western [?] revolutionaries ing of revolutionary parties today' (Hallas, p. 31). and the revolutionary inter- national, the fight for dialec- Perspectives tical materialism against bour- the of geois ideology, defence Here are two opposed per- the October Revolution and its spectives. The two but they are all 'in gains . opposed perspectives certain sense' revolutionary fronted each other in the Trotskyists and Leninists! of 1945-1949, concen- period trated on by Hallas The ability of capitalism to to prove expanded the 'dogmatism' of the Social- accumulate at an rate in the post-war years and ist Labour League. into the 1960s was, of course, Mistakes in the estimate of possible only on the basis of the tempo or incidence of the destruction of productive process of capitalist crisis may the forces, and the have serious consequences, but removal from funda- the capitals, they cannot lead to of many scene of Marxism resulting from the unprece- mental revisions of the and betrayals working dented economic crisis of the class, if they 1930s; the Second World War, are made within the framework of revolutionary on the world scale, accentuated the effects of the crisis.

preparation against all opport- within the conception the epoch of of capitalist Requirements decay. But if adjustment to the Military requirements, satis- business cycle, and wage fied by monster state budgets, employment levels, or even conditions had provided the strike statistics (cf. T. Cliff, during the Second World War Perspectives' IS 'On in 36. for hitherto unequalled tech- April-May 1966) within the nical inventions and discover- conception that capitalism has crowned, of course, by the ies, entered new period called splitting of the atom to release neo-capitalism (what is more, nuclear energy. with its prospects and limits The scientific basis of this Hallas, according still to to and other advances had al- be determined then they are ready been laid for some years, 'tactical' not the basis of could build but capitalism adjustments. but simply steps technologically on this on the road of capitulation to through the state basis only reformism. control of all available re- That is the 'state why sources for the production of capitalist' group is in fact the means of destruction (the haven of all those on the left atomic bomb). who find it necessary to cover Atomic energy and the elec- their reformism with a sort of tronics and engineering bases academic-Marxist phraseology.

of automation are only the It is for important and obvious these reasons that most examples of this vindication when Hallas his of gives own version of the political heritage Marxist theory that the the productive forces stagnate, and that technical development turns into a force of destruc- tion in the epoch of imperial- ism. War economy, the planned creation gigantic death machines by the monopolies, the banks and the state ... this is the acme of what Lenin earlier, Marx) described (and as the socialization of produc- tion, but within the bounds of private property, thus creating even greater contradictions for the capitalist system. Is it true, as Hallas and Cliff suggest, that the years after 1945 manifested, not those deepened contradictions, but a new lease of life for capitalism based on the 'per- manent arms economy' which made the building of the revo- lutionary party impossible?

Trotsky had concentrated, in the Transitional Programme, on explaining that capitalism emerge from re- could only current critical situations and maintain itself because of the unresolved crisis of leadership in the working class. It is not possible as a Marx- to define the post-1945 ist period without starting from relationship. of the political class forces which made pos- sible capitalist restoration and renewed expansion. Secondly, it must be said that the effects on class con- sciousness of a period of boom (or of slump) are not auto- matic effects of the immediate economic conditions, but de- pend upon the immediately prior political experience (de- feat or absence of it, destruc- tion of leadership, etc.).

Unprecedented Hallas and Cliff simply write as if capitalism restored itself in 1945, showed itself capable expansion' of 'unprecedented and that there naturally fol- lowed 'a rising standard of liv- ing' and 'reformism flourished'.

This is a worse caricature of Marxism even than that of the bureaucratic leaders of the German Social Democracy be- fore 1914, and marks a much later stage of degeneration. It is simply a justification for reformism. It blames reformism on the working class. On a world scale the Stalin- ist apparatus was able to pro- vide the principal basis for the restoration of the bourgeois order in Europe. Was not this a confirmation of Trotsky's basic conclusion in founding the Fourth Inter- national, what the Transitional Programme calls 'The definite passing over of the Comintern to the side of the bourgeois order, its cynically counter- revolutionary role throughout the world'? When the French Commun- ist Party leaders entered de Gaulle's government in 1945, and Thorez, the CP leader, condemned strikes as a weapon of the monopolies, was he not confirming this perspective?

When Thorez ordered French workers dissolve their militias in 1945 and Duclos called for the unity of "all Frenchmen and French women of good will, wherever they may come from, provided they desire to work for the re- naissance and greatness of France' (speech at the Con- gress of the 'National Front', February 3, 1945) were they not confirming the perspectives of Trotsky? These actions by the French Stalinists, providing a political stability, within which the capitalist order was restored, were part of an international counter-revolutionary role.

In Italy, Togliatti and the Communist Party acted iden- tically. Europe was divided into "spheres of influence' at the Potsdam and Yalta summit conferences, and the mutual interest of the Stalinist bureau- and the imperialist cracy powers in preventing a prole- tarian revolutionary solution of the contradictions arising from the 'anti-fascist victory' were precisely expressed and formulated. Germany must be divided. working class, The German already politically beheaded by Hitler, who had profited from the betrayals of Stalinism up to 1933, was now to be mili- tarily and politically divided for a whole generation. In other capitalist countries, the Communist Parties went to extreme conclusions as part of this accommodation to 'democratic' capitalism. in the The British CP, General Election of 1945, ad- vocated a coalition govern- to include the 'pro- ment, grassive' (i.e. Churchillian) section of the Conservatives.

The • CP factory branches were disbanded In the USA Browder and the right-wing of the CP drew the full conclusion: scrap Communist Party and form a propaganda association. international Stalinist The 'corrected" bureaucracy this over-enthusiasm, recognizing that to maintain its relation- with imperialism in all ship conditions, it needed a party dependents political who could actually mislead those workers who did seek com- munist solutions. The Stalinist cadres in the trade unions of every country implemented this line, assur- ing the restoration of 'normal' production and encouraging a considerable strengthening of the trade union bureaucracy.

The thousands of CP recruits won during the later years of the war were trained in this school. 'academic' socialists Those ('International Socialists') who see the class struggle and class- consciousness only as the auto- matic results of economic statistics can ignore the effect of these political relationships on the course of capitalist economy after 1945. A Marxist cannot. the economic 're- Not only vival' itself but also the possi- bilities of a revolutionary fight back by the proletariat were affected decisively by these relationships for many years.

Maurice Thorez was only the most brazen and open advocate of this Stalinist role of smoothing the path for im- perialism, an imperialism now decisively dominated by the US monopolists. Economic When he returned to France from the Soviet Union to speak in Paris on November 27, 1944, Thorez said to the workers: 'Make war; create a great French army: work like blazes; rapidly rebuild industry ..

His Party, of course, was in a position to make this 'leader- ship' an "economic factor of the first importance. It was this political question, and not the rise of a perma- nent arms economy' which laid the basis for the long boom into the 1960s. But HaHas says: "The essence of the problem simple Marx's was a one. economic model is a closed system'. And he goes on to quote Kidron's explanation that the production of arms, which do system', not 're-enter the makes crisis unnecessary.

'Simple' is not the word!

The crudeness of this argument

EDITOR R. PALME DUTT

MAGAZINE OF INTERNATIONAL LAB

SEPTEMBER 1941 VOL. 23 No. 9

PAGE THRER

is frankly • hair-raising. The whole of Marx's analysis in 'Capital' is to show that by 'productive', the capitalist system: means 'productive of surplus value, and thereby of augmented capital' and not 'productive of goods as use- values'. The talk about capital- intensive goods 'being drawn off' the market is quite beside the point. From the point of view of capital they 'flow back' in exactly the same way as any- thing else! The capitalist, having invested both variable capital and constant capital in their production (as values), realizes their value in a sale and appropriates the surplus- placed in them value by labour. surplus-value is then This put back into the capitalist system once again in the form of capital. Thus they 're-enter the system'. Whether the arms produced are stockpiled, blown up or and made into melted down not of the ploughshares is slightest account! According to Kidron, arms production prevents crises be- cause it stops the tendency of the rate of profit to fall, a tendency revealed by Marx.

In addition to what we have already said, it must be pointed out that arms production nor- mally expands in industries where the proportion of con- stant capital to variable capital is higher than average. Thus, if arms production is taking a larger share in total production, then that tendency must increase the total average organic composition of capital (proportion of constant to which variable capital—in case the tendency of the rate of profit to fall is accentuated, since it results primarily from the heightened organic com- position of capital! Gibberish And it is on the basis of Kidron's gibberish that we are asked to reject Trotsky's and Lenin's analysis of the revolu- •nature of our epoch tionary and the prospects for capital- ism. No! The post-war years were a conclusive proof that only the treacherous counter-revo- lutionary leadership of the working class, above all the Stalinists, provided con- tinued basis for the existence of capitalism. Reformism and Stalinism, says Hallas, emerged from the war 'stronger in numbers and support than ever before. Reformism flourished in the countries on the advanced of a rising standard of basis living' (Hallas, p. 26). What we have demonstrated is that these purely quanti- tative and descriptive impres- sions of the post-war situation, with the appearance of 'hard facts' so beloved of all empiri- cists, were only appearances.

They were the products of contradictions essential 'facts' which the economic were real battling class forces, with the nature of their leader- ships proving decisive at that stage. European capitalism was on its knees in 1944-1945. It was allowed to get up and contribute to the fulfilment of US imperialist supremacy, for exactly the reasons foreseen by the Transitional Programme: the unresolved crisis of work- ing-class leadership. The fight in the British sec- the Fourth tion of Inter- national in the 1944-1949 period, with the SLI's pre- cursors on one side and the 'state capitalists' Cliff-Hallas and Haston on the other, was between those who saw this perspective confirmed, and fought to build the revolution- who ary party, and those abandoned the perspective and found it 'impossible' to build the party. When we have compared, in our next article, Hallas's 'state capitalist' view of the role of Stalinism and the USSR after 1945, and its interpretation in the Trotskyist movement,.

we shall be in a position to piece together in their real context selected and distorted 'facts' of the history of the struggle between Marxism and revisionism presented by Hallas. Part four of the reply to Hallas will appear in next Tuesday's January 6 issue. The British Communist Party's 'Labour Monthly' openly

ITERNATIONAL LABOUR

advocated support of Churchill's

PRINCIPAL CONTENTS

imperialist war Notes of the Month and later called by RP.D. for a coalition The Needs of the Hour government to Mobilise the People by D. N. PRITT, K.C., M.P.

include him. War on Two Fronts: The Stalinism thus Immediate Issue My ' STRATEGIST" played the decisive role in

IOW TO INCREASE

VAR PRODUCTIO

1. The Campaigh in she establishment of capitalism by JACK OWEN 2 Orgarising Producion in the post-war by JOHN AUSTIN years. Diate Mercialism e by 1. B.S HALDANE, FR.S. No. 3.-Quality and Quality Book Reviews 6"

PAGE FOUR

In Spain and Britain Stalinism prepares new betrayals. end-of -the - year

GENERAL FRANCO'S

speech dashed the of those who hopes have been banking on the fascist dictator's early retirement and Spain's gradual evolu- tion towards parliamentary democracy.

I shall be with you, working for the fatherland, as long as God gives me life', he said and attacked 'those who doubted the continuity of our movement-a clear Steel- relerence to the revolt in the ranks of the doctrinaire fascists of the ruling 'Falange'.

workers spain s economic development.

rranco msistea. could only be maintained by association with or entry

• FROM PAGE ONE

into the Common Market: street describing the cannot ise i continuation of past the sıde-lines of the great operation

BY ROBERT BLACK

works who had re strike. their a executive claimed tha Franco Spaniards Challenge precede as in rel stated that while Links forged with I resented to res co ti Significance same ith East Europe are increas And this is perfectly true.

fascist regime Stripest bu 'attacks' on Franco Stalinist bitterly productivity seal. of Spanish deals ground bureaucracies Major struggles Background i al an are may te set becke bureaucracy to Timely reforms a deal between if purely East obe vation hat one or he Burope and cre Soviet Unist 'attack' Limely retoma regime According to the 'Statiber monarchist as well as li

KEEP LEFT. WEEKEND RALLY

, a former Franco Saturday and Sunday, January 10 and 11 scation or to to the tormen we sari paper in newspa Bar of the a circulation of it is the foremost youth paper abour movement todav. Hence their current 'oppos- "The petition ition'.

KEEP LEFT INVITES ALL ITS READERS TO THE

Commons a

ANNUAL GENERAL

an Spain alans the

MEETING

a Pact of or tyreement East India Hall London, E.P..1l p.m. no spana stam as have do Saturday, January 10 2.30 p.m. Young Socialist National Speaking Contest

DANCE IN THE EVENING

other nord dated me es with • Kremian The Crescendos And, minis- ss of the Critish The Element of Truth collaboration, Special appearance opposthe line of tre Spa makinsm

LONG JOHN BALDRY

No Whee tever of at principle: hind the scenes. East India Hall 8 p.m.-11 p.m. Same method Treacherous

FILM MAKING AND THE

i as that adopted method right-wing sections l*

YOUNG SOCIALISIS

their heritage left all Sunday, January 11 9.30 a.m. (This sis, aided).

CLASSIC CINEMA, POND STREET

HAMPSTEAD, LONDON, N.W.3

union the leaders i Measured:

STOP WILSON'S WASHINGTON

determined noti the corking casspotation of tomatic requiremen e

VISIT!

the Stalinism is an international oviet bureaucracy

FOR THE DEFEAT OF US

WEATHER

IMPERIALISM IN

VIETNAM!

the East suropea Stalinists dividend London E an

DEMONSTRATION

right intervals.

SUNDAY JAN. 11

Wide Very cold. Maxi (34F), ASSEMBLE: Speakers' Corner (Marble Arch), 2 P.M. Cather Islands, SW casiona

MARCH:

via Oxford Street, Regent Street, Trafalgar Sauare past Downing Street Stalinish interests of • Stry lo late on MEETING: Lyceum Ballroom, near Aldwych, 4 P.M. central Nobely England: Details from 186a Clapham High Street, London, S.W.4 in the % sear one bright sunny inter Tickets for the whole weekend 12s 6d

WORKERS' PRESS

Thursday, January 1, 1970 Let 'the nettle' sting 'GRASPING the nettle for the nation's good is a wiser approach than steering clear of a difficult problem in the vain hope that it will disappear, says Harold Wilson's New Year message to Labour Party members.

Stop Wilsons' The nettle, of course, is

BY DAVID MAUDE

The trace union movement and bare to d visit to Nixon the ponies i anground continatidnaio the and 1wo accounts must be demands plans. settled by trade unionists Labour Party attacks re cons in 1970 wetenut I nere can be in 19/0. working class. Firstly, with coe employers and th *Laboul government fire remined benches warm for the Tories and G. Tudor Socialists PAGN brought building e kers ine Wilson t Vauxhall plant. capitalist nation-state. Bus Feather panacea for with cea paints th leaders Lind to ane very state. back Our record down Dance.

• FROM PAGE ONE

2 2 million strike" (Novem- The

• PROM PAGC ONC

union guida like

FORECASTING

i to ectly to prop up tae Urd Don course be tions merely egand to tea out concaring out concerning and job-power running of London's over the aid last monts Jack Jone tall those opposed war sisod up to hane obe and air back. • a rude" the work. move- a mighty Washingtons November 29).

h that fact firmly in mi Forelorn hope catedals per do least inew year message That is spain

STRIKE WAVE

why such -he the take in the taming the Brish tran throvement Trotskyst movement a proud yeat today's the Fleet Street nade ect uckle a news for of secrets of surgence teneration conti Statinisn mast always redun- the banner headine wave with Betray Staiworking class.

next few been ble ao achiese in Britain.

ASSURED

•Police provoked ciples and lead Marxisin th

DOES NOTHING

class stands or abhe Communist Party, Panthers' Tonde ne A REPORT compiled by the American Civil Liber- readers give by sell " 1970 is the year in which ing in the bat ties Union strongly sup- ports the Black Panther three -U.S. report leaders' that net a sharp sting accusation they are not only har rassed by the police, but challenge that ent commission headed by subject to deliberate police former Supreme Court Jus- made capitat provocations. tice, Arthur Goldberg. revolutionary ship. Theres at, coverine Place however Philadelphia

ATUA-YS

New York, been repression Panthers.

PUBLIC MEETINGS

tics In addition Stop Wilson's New York visit to of five black Congress. Washington transport The ACLU repor dese bes Police plants strikelooms

HULL

the police Thursday, January 1 NEW YORK faces the pros- : of a transport strike as 7.30 p.m. talks to sette a ne Woody every ton dice neared breakdown.

ORDER THEDAILY

tract unions two transpor laps, getaway Transit Uns Union-

BIRKENHEAD

- Tour day we an imposed Monday, January 5 8 p.m.

NOW

Observatory Hote Oxton Road ted allyin

OXFORD

vo days OR Tuesday, January 6 s. for three §1 for three months "Illegal searches 7.30 p.m. early. • would like to subscribe to vorkers rress 1ol Small tal Blackbird Leys Community centre ecomin de. Near esteral Speakers: Maximum SC (41F) Name (leading local trade unionist) Ellindy: Rain Glasgow: cloudy. sound Whd mot hoaresS oung sociali an, S. Hish Woree