RADCLIFFE REPORT

THE Radcliffe report is merely the latest of many attempts by both governments and individuals to find a way to iron out the trade cycle.

In all fairness it must be said that the members of the Radcliffe committee are under no illusion that this will be done easily—or even that it can be done at all.

In fact they visualize the possibility of a catastrophic slump, and admit that in such an event monetary measures would be ineffective. In such circumstances ‘a government must place its main reliance on other measures’.

The report does not, however, specify what these other measures should be, nor how effective they would be.

The main emphasis is on monetary measures and what is the best way to use them in achieving stability and the growth of the economy.

No plan is laid down, no blue print given, but amid the welter of minor pieces of advice there is one major piece of advice given to the government.

That is to take the operational control of Bank Rate into its own hands and, using also its powers over the National Debt, to regulate the economy by putting pressure on the whole liquidity ratio, or by easing that pressure.

In other words the government is advised to put itself in

of the poorest houses there are no curtains at the windows, the occupants making do with newspapers.

If you were unemployed, as my father was for six months last year, you would receive for yourself and your wife the sum of £2 a week while your stamps lasted.

When your stamps ran out you would have to go to the assistance board—which is renowned for its ability to belie its title.

No room for bed For the old people the position is truly horrifying. A typical case is that of my aunt, whose husband fought with ‘Connolly, suffered imprisonment and went on hunger-strike.

This man, who fought like a lion for the Republic, died in the ‘spike’, the paupers’ home. My aunt is now trying to eke out a miserable existence on a pension of 27s. 6d. a week.

The cost of living is in many respects higher than in Britain. For example butter is 4s. a pound—the same as Britain despite the fact that Ireland is an agricultural country.

Rents in the towns are just as high as in Britain. Under a new differential scheme, rents can go as high as £2 a week, and drop to 6s. if the tenant is unemployed.

* * * In the north of Ireland, except for higher social benefits because of its direct control by Britain, the position is no better. Housing if anything is worse.

The slums in Belfast were described in a report published in the Sunday Press of a man and woman who had not slept in a bed for six years. They were packed with their family into one room, and there simply wasn’t the space to erect a bed.

Population cut by half As in the south unemployment is chronic. Emigration keeps pace with the south, though the direction may vary a little. Many of the northern emigrants make for Canada instead of Britain.

Emigration from both north and south has reduced the population, despite a very high birth-rate, to half what it was a hundred years ago.

* * * While I was in Dublin the Press reported that new elections were being held for the executive committee of a new union, and that the ballot was being conducted under the auspices of the ‘Labour Court’.

Despite its title this body hasn’t the slightest connexion with organized Labour. It is a government-sponsored body on which serve employers and hack trade union officials, equipped with degrees in social science obtained after a complete repudiation of socialist ideas.

It was brought into being to try and soften the unions up and break the long tradition of militant action which stemmed from the great struggles led by Connolly and Larkin.

It was aimed in particular at destroying the legacy of Larkinism, which stood for the sympathetic strike by other sections of Labour not directly involved in a dispute.

Unions have. spiritual advisers Most of the other unions have their spiritual advisers, who keep a discreet check on possible ‘Red’ elements.

One local rag has the happy knack of taking pictures of militant workers, and ‘printing them over the caption: ‘Should a Christian employer succour the Anti-Christ?’

Earnings are low. For example, while the rate for skilled workers in the towns is as high as in Britain without overtime or bonus, the actual difference would be as much as £5 a week.

The trade union movement in the south is now reuniting after being split into two congresses for the last ten years. The basis of the reunification is very much a pedlar’s deal from the top; it is not aimed at uniting workers for struggle.

* * * Northern Ireland is the heart of the Irish industrial working class. Based on the shipyards, linen and aircraft, they are potentially the most revolutionary force.

In fact, despite the industrial militancy displayed in the recent strikes against redundancy, this great working class is under the leadership of the most reactionary Tory organization —the Orange Lodge.

It is a safe bet that nine out of ten shipyard workers in Belfast will vote Tory in the next general election.

These men were fighters All of this is a very big change from the days of Connolly and Larkin. In their day they united-the working class, both north and south, into the Transport Union.

They fought and held their own with an employing class whose hatred of trade unionism, as exemplified by Larkin, knew no bounds. In 1913 this employing class locked out every man and woman who held a card in the Transport ”

(To be concluded)