The Newsletter, vol. 9 no. 465

THE YOUNG SOCIALISTS are magnificent. What other socialist vouth organisation mobilise ilse 500 of it members in today MORE WilD all the finance passport dificulties were not yest and transport PHOTOS but from places as a due Belgium? Aberdeen, to Liege in see page 2 aemon in vietnaed.

Its t that the headquarter time inecc 1 NATO ne of the deman Belgium. insisted upon again and again our readers may fromo In You no So higists truggl Leadershipe DO 19651964 1. right-w Vilso Sencial youth moment. Vol. 9, No. 465 October 22, 1966 Price 6d.

of the 1964 Beieral Ehetoy.

In France tee splendid cont gent revolutionary youth we the om the politics of Stalinis elled wing o the social democracy.

others origin of ticipated in saranon v. either against the Stalinist or social-democranic variety Small wonder HunvIvid the memories or revolunonars youth.

tially directed alinins bureau- revoluton cracy-che bureaucracy.

The appearance of banners commemoratin volut one was entirely line with bresent-cal exDer1ences of youth. The fight the no House can only be end the in Vietnam. anc can only waged by those who wage, da struggle against bureaucracy ta mortal movement.

At this point in the Liege monstration when youth Jinine uo march, thes as do the real role of Pabloiso tear dgy, the ungdias, and the led violently revolution When name dom leaded down. ine de lepon to haul the assistance copinist:

down. Bup abloise so co could be expected 220 rejectec need to struggle build ternative revolutionary leaderand renaced it with olicies toward!

ha Carlinict and socia demi cratic bureaucracies more san the consort MANDEL (left) looking for his forces.

*oor to the bie capitalist.

Strike call Since rejected enlist against revolutionary youth. Bul the refused he workers on arian banners down ahinite tounc themselve scornfulls isolated amongs some 3,000 young people. • See story page four→ tip for hall barners Ists and Pierot gave the Socialis This decision mile not be amount to a the Pohloits linni. neen hy the it was let in nation of young of 1956 Man dest Franea and the SWP were exposed Liege as the handmaidens imperi the Younst bureaucracy. TOTO I hc foetor di al the struggles against capitalism bureaucratic agencies ir the vears nerdi MAILE L6/S IN WITNAM Belgium October

THE TEMPERS of motor car workers are rising.

At Vauxhall Motors, Luton, thousands of car workers have militantly demonstrated against the management as the entire industry moves closer and closer to unemployment day-November 4.

Meanwhile leading shop stewards in the industry have lobbied their union leaders meeting the engineering employers in York a few days ago. Under pressure, Sir William Carron and Co. were forced to register a 'failure to agree' over workA • MASS THE MINISTRY of Labour has Pressings (wednesday relented now intervened in the four-weekthe call by 100 stewards for fivery men and is to begin talks strike action against sackings due with union representatives.

CAXTON HALL (nearest tube St James Thursday November 17—7.30 p.m. sharing.

Everyone knows that this policy is by no means adequate so far as constituting a defence of the future for car workers. Nevertheless the recording of a 'failure to agree' at the highest level provides an opening for an all-out official fight with the employers on November 4.

STRIKE IF NECESSARY

All the shop stewards engaged in the motor car factories affected by unemployment should now see to it that this 'failure to agree' is applied to the hilt on November 4.

In practice it means that not a single worker should be made unemployed and that strike action, if necessary, is taken to see that this policy is carried out.

For how else can the 'failure to agree' be implemented? To permit men to be sacked under conditions that are contrary to the policies of the unions would be nothing short of desertion of the unions on the eve of a real struggle.

This issue is one of union policy and in turn the trade union leaders must be forced to officially recognise all strikes called against unemployment on November 4.

Nobody should care two hoots as to whether or not the Labour government Will be embarrassed by a strike in the motor industry. It is Wilson and Co., operating capitalism on behalf of the capitalists, who are responsible.

An official strike would therefore be a political strike against Delivery cho wore moment ras.

strike talks a demand for the nationalization of the engineering and the motor car industries.

Nothing less will suffice.

It is a thousand times better to fight now than to let tens oi thousands of workers be driven back to the degradation of the • See story page four→ 'hungry thirties'.

• Implement the 'failure PUBLIC MEETING to agree by strike action on November 4. • Nationalize the motor car industry.

NATIONALIZE MOTORS-CALL BIRMINGHAM No. 4 Amalgamated Engineering Union branch passed the following resolution at its meeting last Friday (October 14):

In the present acute crisis of capitalism, resulting in shorttime and redundancy for tens of thousands of workers, we demand the nationalization of the Speakers will include engineering and motor industries under workers' control.' MICHAEL BANDA, Editor, 'Newsletter' This is to be sent to the Birmingham district committee of the union and Birmingham Trades Council.

REVOLUTION HST PRAWNG BUILD INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP Says 'Keep-Left' editor AT THE MEETING, Aileer Jennings, editor of the Young Socialist paper 'Keep Left', who brought greetings on behalf of the Young Socialists' National Committee, said:

I am pleased to have been in the leadership of a contingent of 500 Young Socialists who have worked night and day over the past month to make this intervention a success.' Many more youth would have been on the demonstration from Britain, but had faced difficulwhole number of passports—a with their members had been unable to obtain visas because of their own governments.

NATO exposed

The demonstration had been called against the US imperialist war against the peoples of Vietnam. In doing So NATO, which was part and parcel of imperialist exploitation of colonial peoples, was being exposed, she said.

'This involves much more than a demonstration, even one SO great as we have seen today,' she said, adding:

It requires the construction of revolutionary parties in all capitalist countries, and can only be carried out through the developliege OCTOBER 15 AGAINST NATO AND THE Page

ARIAN TOAS IN VIETNAM October 22, 19

BY A NEWSLETTER REPORTING TEAM WITH ENORMOUS IMPACT, approximately 500 British Young Socialists linked up with 400 of their comrades from France to form hal ora gane demonsaanon unrouxn uicke. Del iul, lase weekend, against the Vietnam war and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. it special train and boat; the remainder arrived independently b Four hundred and fifty-eight of the British contingent travelle Links were between elocialist couth uropean country in a joint effort whic will have the most adore wo reing cussions for the international socialist movemen though the issues mas lled by by the Teones overn ardeso Socialistes of Belgium demonstration. whic Youth, particularly from Britain, had travelled for hundreds of Young socialists " nous of, saturday the early hours of Saturday. they again boarded a train to whisk them through the Belgian dawn into Liege, just a few miles from the German and Luxemburg borders. Attempts were made to Meals had been arranged for them by the Jeunes Gardes and take this banner off the later they congregated on the march. But the Young Place de l'Yser for the demon- Socialists triumphed. stration. There was a great amount of fraternisation, many of the British comrades renewing French and German acquaintances, and newspapers were exchanged and sold.

Many of the European youth eagerly bought the badge of the British Young Socialists.

Almost immediately, a section of Danish followers of Pablo attempted to provoke the Young Socialists around the English banner 'Long Live the 1956 Hungarian Revolution-Forward to World Socialism', knowing full well that armed police were around and would gladly intervene.

The youth, rallied by Newsletter editor Michael Banda, formed an unprovoked, stonewall defence.

The Danes gave up, and many left the Place. British, By now, French, Italian, German and other Sections of European youth had been waiting almost an hour with their banners poised ready to march.

DELAY

But the Jeune Garde were not in sight; just a few of their blueshirted organisers appeared now and again.

Still there was a delay.

It was soon obvious that this was due to the fact that the Jeune Garde were negotiating with the police to exclude the British and their 'offensive' Hungarian banner from the march.

Slowly Jeune Garde supporters began to appear and hurriedly sorted through and erected a few banners and red flags. About 30 marched oft, but were held up by the British youth, who refused to march without the Hungarian banner.

With the threat of losing over half the demonstration, the Bel gian organisers were defeated and forced to declare over the public address system that the Hungarian banner would be allowed.

Immediately the British and French surged forward banners waving chanting 'Long Live the Hungarian Revolution', "Trotskyism In-Hungarian Workers in— Stalinism Out'.

INTERCHANGE

This was just the beginning of a tremendous interchange of positive English and French chanting against the Vietnam war, NATO, the Geneva agreements, Stalinism, peaceful co-existence, US imperialism, etc., and demanding solidarity with the Vietnamese workers and peasants and the world working class.

'Vive la quatrieme internationale' was taken up, not just by the French and English youth, but by many working-class onlookers who crowded the pavements of the town applauding the demonstration.

These slogans and demands were kept up throughout the long march which took the youth to the Place St. Lambert for a meeting. Later the British Young Socialists left for their second night of travelling to return home.

The impact of the British and French delegations was expressed by one Jeune Garde supporter who told our reporter:

I hope that the next demonstration the Young Socialists come to is called by the Fourth International. Our members are weak and the Young Socialists have helped us tremendously. I agree with you wholeheartedly in your support for the Hungarian revolution.

FE, CONTINUATER TBRE NE LENINE, ME TRETSKY THE DEVELOPMENT of the 'cultural revolution' in China has served as a pretext for yet another attack by the Soviet press upon Trotsky and Trotskyism. Without any direct reference to the recent events in China, 'Pravda' of September 16 links the unrest amongst youth today in both the Soviet Union and internationally with the appeal made by Trotsky to the youth in the first stages of his fight against the development of the Stalinist bureaucracy.

This article, written by a Dr. Soviet bureaucracy attacks S. Kovalyov, has deep significance for the Trotskyist movement and it calls for clear answers to the following questions.

Firstly. What is the historical background of the events referred e clearly set down in his book, to in 'Pravda'? iterature and Revolution', Secondly: Why are these nere he states: questions raised now by the "The working class strives Soviet bureaucracy? to transform the state apparaFinally: How do these attacks tus into a powerful pump for upon Trotsky and the founders of quenching the cultural thirst the 'Left Opposition' relate to of the masses. This is a task the present stage reached in the of immeasurable historic imwork of the Fourth International? portance. But, if one is not Briefly, 'Pravda' claims that to use words lightly, it is not Trotsky, together with those as yet a creation ot a special other communists who signed the proletarian culture. "Proletarian 'platform of the 46' (the first culture" , "Proletarian art" , etc., Bolshevik manifesto of opposition in three cases out of ten is to the growth of bureaucracy), used uncritically to designate was opposed to Lenin on the the culture and the art of the question of the development and coming communist society, in nature of culture in the Soviet two cases out of ten to desigUnion. nate the fact that special *Pravda' asserts catagorically groups of the proletariat are that Trotsky and the Left Oppo- acquiring separate elements of sition allied themselves with the proletarian culture, and finally, 'Proletculturists' who were in five cases out of ten, it reunder the theoretical leadership presents a jumble of concepts ot A. Lunacharsky, Commissar and words out of which one for Education in the first Bol-. can make neither head nor shevik government. tail.' The basic premise of this It would appear impossible to trend was that with the over- link Trotsky with a trend about throw of capitalism, the working which he wrote so scathingly.

But this is precisely what class had to begin anew the con'Pravda' has to do in order to struction of a purely 'proletarian' culture which owed nothing to carry out the job of slandering its old exploiters. They thus dis- Trotsky. carded all the highest points of The relevant passage from all previous cultures. including 'Pravda' begins by stating that: the writings of Pushkin, the 'Denying the classical art culgreat Russian dramatist and ture, treating the classics of poet. literature and art as a repreTrotsky's views on this ultra- sentative of the nobility and the left tendency, which had little bourgeoisie, the "proletculturists" or nothing to do with Marxism, often implemented the extremist Above right a French and English comrade ride on a car taking turns to lead the slogan shouting in both languages. With them are Italian comrades. On the left Christian Pinot of Révoltes interprets for "Keep Left' editor Aileen Jennings as she speaks at the meeting after the march. On the right is seen just a small section of the huge European audience at the meeting. Afraid of political radicalisation forms of primitivism in all spheres pi artistic creation, representing this as "proletarian culture":

So far, so good.

The article then begins to construct its fictitious bloc between Trotsky and the 'proletculturists'.

'A most harmful manifestation of this petty bourgeois distemper was the Machist* idea of universal distrust of, and contempt for, edut ced monists preached bected * 'Machists'-This refers to the ultra-left faction within the Bolshevik party who took over from the idealist philosopher Ernst Mach certain subjective theories which they used to bolster their political line. It was the leaders of this group, Bogdanov and Lunacharsky, who after the revolution formed the 'proletculturist' tendency. Far from Trotsky being sympathetic to Machism, it was in fact Stalin who attempted to weaken the effects of Lenin's fight for materialism in the party against the Machists. This information is to be found in the new Soviet biography of Lenin under the editorship of P. N. Pospelov, pages 160-168.

kyism also to the old school specialists bein buttract of socake part in Again, this is hardly a charge that could be levelled against Trotsky. At the 8th Party congress in 1919, he and Lenin fought and routed the so-called 'Military Opposition' led by Voroshilor and guided from behind the scenes by Stalin.

It was the Military Opposition which carried on a running battle with Trotsky against his policy of placing ex-Tsarist officers in the staff of the Red Army, with special responsibilities for training new, working-class cadres for the armed forces.

LOYAL

Always under the strictest supervision by the Political Commissars, the vast majority proved loyal to the Bolshevik government. The small minority that betrayed the trust placed in them were made the pretext for attacks upon the conduct by Trotsky of the military affairs of the republic.

Lenin and Trotsky, though at one stage in a minority at the Congress, won over the majority and finally isolated the Voroshilov-Stalin clique, which The main banners of the British Young Socialist contingent are seen above as the march moves through Liege last Saturday. Their comrades of Révoltes in France are seen left with one of their many banners. The message is plain in any language.

of youth was soon to become the core of the bureaucracy and to destroy Bolshevism and the Third International.

So we can be nothing but amazed when the next paragraph tells us that: pursuit of their antiHeir ought a ato me. the left secto make use of immature young people [just the charge made against Trotskyism by all varieties of bureaucracy today] by converting them into a weapon in the struggle against the party.' (Emphasis added.)

Members of the Young Socialists and the Socialist Labour League should take careful note of these words. They betray not only a scant regard for historical accuracy: that has never been the Stalinist strongest suite.

Far more important, they reveal an acute fear within the Stalinist bureaucracies of the coming together of the programme of the Fourth International with the world-wide rebellion of the youth against the bureaucratic of both Stalinism and social democracy. 'Pravda' does not take up such VIETNAM PER I LAVURA BATTERSI CONTRO OGNI again questions without very good reason. It would much rather, if that were possible, leave them well alone.

But precisely now it feels compelled to drive a wedge between Soviet youth, being they are an integral part of the international working class, and the history and traditions of Bolshevism and Trotskyism.

That is the warning 'Pravda' gives the bureaucracy when it refers to the appeal to the youth made by Trotsky in a series of articles published at the end of 1923 under the title "The New Course.

•Pravda' refers glibly to the resolution of the 13th Party conference of January, 1924, a conference already dominated by Stalin's nominees and yes-men, which took Trotsky to task for the views which he expressed in 'The New Course'.

Yet it requires little historical hindsight to see who was right on the question of the dangers and growth of bureaucracy.

In 'The New Course', Trotsky said the following:

'Bureaucratism in the state and party apparatus is the expression of the most vexatious tendencies inherent in our WAR RILUTTARE VUDL BIRE BLACK situation, of the defects and deviations in our work which, under certain social conditions, might sap the basis of the revolution. And, in this case, as in many others, quantity will at a certain stage be transformed into quality.' ('The New Course', page 41.)

Contrast this sober assessment of the problems before the party and the state with the smugness of the resolution which condemned Trotsky, falsely attributing to him the view 'that the party "barometer" should be the young people at school'.

The degeneration of the Bolshevik party and the organs of state power remains an eloquent testimony to the political judgement of both Trotsky and the faction that coalesced around Stalin at the time of the 13th Party conference.

But precisely because the Soviet bureaucracy owes its very existence to the triumph of the Stalin faction over the Marxist perspective of Trotsky, 'Pravda' is forced to concede the real nature of the discussion.

Having done its hatchet work, the article resumes its humdrum course, complete with quotations from Lenin and the demolition of straw men.

But the main point has been made and, we are sure, duly noted.

We always knew that Stalinism

FOURTH INTERNATIONAL October 22, 196 NEWSLE Three

feared both the youth and Trotskyism like the plague.

But we now have concrete evidence, direct from the pages of 'Pravda', , that the bureaucracy now considers the unification of these two forces a real and not distant possibility.

The 'Pravda' article has no other purpose than to alert the various layers of the bureaucracy for whom "Pravda' mainly , written and published) to this danger and to stiffen its resistance to a political radicalisation of the youth.

The bureaucracy realises from its 40 years of accumulated experience of struggle against Trotskyism, that this radicalisation, which at its present stage is passed off as "hooliganism' (once again the same reflex that the Labour bureaucracy in Britain showed towards the first stirrings of political consciousness amongst working - class youth), is at its core an instinctive reaching out for the youth's heritage of revolutionary struggle Marxist xist leadership, rapidly be- with intervention by come a rallying point for the entire Soviet working class.

This political turn in the Soviet Union is a qualitative change, and has deep international significance.

We must draw great encouragement from deepening the crisis within the bureaucracy, as it now turns more openly towards some form of deal with US imperialism via such intermediaries Brown and de Gaulle.

What is new is the bureaucracy's identification of the revolt of the youth with the opening phase of the Left Opposition, struggle by the theoretical blows struck by Trotsky in 'The New Course'.

This unification of the programme of the Fourth International with the world-wide radicalisation of youth has now become the most important task facing all those who are serious in the struggle for workers' power and socialism.

AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF REVISIONISM in the United States today is the protracted and relatively low political development of the working class. The post-war inflationary boom strengthened temporarily many illusions in the viability of American capitalism. At the same time the cold-war witch-hunt resulted in the best militants being expelled from their trade unions and sacked from a large number of the most important industries. The Socialist Workers' Party suffered very severely from these setbacks.

The break-up of this situation became discernable in the early 1960s with the emergence of powerful movements amongst student youth around civil rights and later the war in Vietnam. In some respects this development resembled the CND movement in Britain during the late 1950s. They were, and are, predominantly middle-class movements which indirectly reflect the re-emergence of the working class into class politics in the metronolitan capitalist countries.

But for a revolutionary Marxist party to orientate itselt exclusively on such manifestations ot struggle Is a fundamental error in terms of Marxist theory. In practice it means basing the activity of the party around the idea that the middle class can change society, when, in fact, this is the task and the task alone which the working class has to perform under revolutionary leadership.

This does not in any way mean that the working class no longer needs the support of such middle-class layers. It does indeed, but here again the venicle tor consciously guiding such support towards the working class is the Marxist party which on matters of principle bases itselt on the revolutionary role of the working class.

The political degeneration of the SWP internationally was greatly accelerated by its about turn towards the petty-bourgeois radical movement inside the USA.

From here on it was only a stone's throw to sympathising with the late President Kennedy's wife when he (the President) was assassinated and from demanding that Federal troops be sent into Mississippi to aid the Negroes. This also marked the uncritical turn towards Malcolm X and later the slogan of Black Power.

Whilst it is the duty of the revolutionary party to provide critical support for such movements in order to direct them towards the working class, the SWP completely capitulated to them.

And yet, without the intervention of the powerful American working class, all these movements are in a blind alley from which there is no way out unless the revolutionary party mobilises this working class against capitalism.

It is at this point that we can see the real political implications of internationalism for the SWP. The Fourth International-its theory and organisational conceptions-is the only force capable of guiding and rectifying the course of a national section when it starts from impressionism and begins to capitulate to its capitalist environment.

It was precisely when such a need arose that the SWP broke of all its relations with the International Committee of the Fourth International and turned towards the Pabloite revisionists.

Only the International Committee could have at this stage assisted the SWP to overcome its difficulties, but Cannon, Hansen and Dobbs were contemptuous of the Fourth International outside the United States.

They had become arrogant American nationalists who were now hopelessly entangled with the politics of the petty bourgeois in the USA. They wanted the kind of international they could utilise for their own revisionist ends and Pabloism filled the bill.

When the Fourth International was founded in the summer of 1938, it based itself essentially upon the revolutionary potential of the international working class.

Into its theoretical armour Trotsky poured all the lessons and principles derived from the struggles of the modern proletariat against the forces of international capital.

Revolutionary internationalism is inseparable from the Marxist conception that the working class is the only class capable of overthrowing capitalist society and establishing socialism. tional in 1953, maintained that sections of the petty-bourgeois Stalinist bureaucracy would, under pressure, move into a leftward direction and substitute themselves for the revoRobertson The revisionist Pabloite conception, which produced the split in the Fourth Internalutionary party by taking the power.

Here is the essential revisionist bond which binds the SWP to the rump Pabloite outfit of Germain, Pierre Frank and Livio, which masquerades as the 'Unified Secretariat of the Fourth International' operating trom Paris.

From its intancy the group in the USA, which is now led nurtured in the worst environment of petty-bourgeois politics, the Shachtman group which denounced the derence ot the Soviet Union in 1940 and split trom the Fourth International.

The group joined the SWP in the late lyus at a ume when Cannon and Co. were rapıdly moving away irom ine Fourn International. Hence the early anu-internationalst training which Rooerison's group brougnt with it Irom Shacntman now blended with the anti-internationalsm of the SWP.

Back to revisionism This did not at all mean that trom then on relalions between Robertson and the SWP leadership would be plain sailing. The basic core of Robertson's group is first and foremost clique of peltybourgeois frienas whose politics are determined by the need to maintain at all costs their own little group.

If the preservation of this clique sometimes takes on the form of abstractly defending the correct principles of Fourth International, then they will turn enthusiastically towards defending them, vided it does not interfere with their little friendly circle.

At the time when Robertson joined the SWP the party leaders having made up their minds to capitulate to Pabloism, were busily turning their attention towards the liquidation of all opposition to their policies.

They saw in Robertson's group a potential source of such opposition and this immediately raised the future of the clique.

For time Robertson appeared to move politically in the direction of the Socialist Labour League and the International Committee.

Then came the crucial test.

Since the struggle of the SWP was essentially being waged against the International Committee of the Fourth International it became essential that all those who supported Committee should work under its leadership.

This is something which Robertson would not tolerate.

He and his clique wanted the right to say and do as they liked inside the SWP and the USA without any interference from the international movement.

In other words they wanted the political authority of the International Committee without in any way being organisationally responsible to it.

Naturally, bearing in mind the anti-internationalism which was prevalent in and around the SWP, we could never agree to such a position.

Accordingly, the Committee drew up a list of proposals in 1962 which we insisted must be agreed by all the US participants in the political fight The dnois Of the against the revisionist SWP leadership. These were as follows:

1. The tendency expresses its general political agreement with the tendency of the International Committee which has agreement around the 1961 international perspectives presented by the Socialist Labour League. It must therefore begin from the standpoint of its responsibilities towards the political struggle of this tendency in relation to the construction of the revolutionary party in the United States.

The tendency recognises that the building of the SWP as a revolutionary party depends on and derives from its adherence to the revolutionary international perspective a n d approach.

All discussion and disagreement within the tendency is part of the discussion within the international tendency. Patience will have to be exercised so that while time is allowed for such differences to be adequately discussed internationally, the political aims and functioning of the tendency remain unimpaired.

For this purpose, there will be facilities available for all members of the tendency to express their opinions in a special international tendency bulletin to be published by the Socialist Labour League. This bulletin will have a limited circulation amongst leaders of the international sections who will be invited to comment and participate in the discussion inside the tendency. All written discussion must be carried out within this bulletin.

2. The tendency must pay particular attention to the development of a perspective for work in the United States in relation to the trade union and the Negro movement. The main political work of the tendency within the party will be to patiently explain the nature of the Pabloite revisionism and liquidationism as a method, and its relation to the problem of developing a concrete revolutionary perspective for work in the trade union and Negro movements. Such a policy must be carefully presented, not in an artificial factional way, but in a way that will make sense to the activists in the party. The elaboration of the policy is therefore a matter that can only be carried out by most careful preparation.)

The more careful and thoughtful the preparation, the easier it will be to convince people i is ctired othe preparation factional and subjective way, then barriers can be raised between the tendency and the rank and file which will slow down the rate of clarification.

The main political fight of the tendency must be directed against the right-wing elements The sixth of a series of articles by G. HEALY National Secretary Socialist Labour Leaj in the party, the Weiss group Swabeck: tendency.

This does not in any way mean that we make the slightest concession to the centre element in the party who up to now have been trying to have the best of both worlds, but who have gradually shifted this position, for the time being at least, in a leftward direction. Because this shift to the left on pacifism is carried out empirically, it can easily become a shift to the right under different conditions. What does is to open a favourable opportunity for a real struggle against the right-wing elements.

An analysis of the Weiss position adopted by the Pabespecially French Pabloites, on Cuba will show a very clear difference between them and the majority of the SWP.

strategy should be to establish political cohesion of our tendency in a way that can effect united front where possible with the centre elements in the SWP against the right.

3. The tendency must recognise that the SWP is the main instrument for the realisation of socialism in the United States. Inere is no other OIganisation outside that movement which can decisively aid the struggle for socialism at the present time. Our comrades must theretore work as loyal party members; conirlbute to all aspects of the work, literary and practical, taking part in all its electoral activity and sub-drives and accepting the administrative decisions ot the leadership even thougn we might be very much against them.

Members of the tendency must recognise that the Swp is their party, and they must speak as possible for their parare rese difficulties of the party not be exploited in a factional way. This must be seen as the overhead price for lack of policlarification. Since the responsibility for this clarification now rests squarely on the shoulders of the tendency, to make factional capital out of the party's difficulties would be nothing more than shelving that task which is the main purpose for the existence of the tendency.

The tendency must not make premature characterisations of the leadership of the SWP except of those groups such as Weiss and Swabeck who have clearly revealed their Pabloism in theory and practice.

The centre group which is, of course, the majority cannot be described as a finished centrist tendency in the same way as the Pabloites. To be sure there are elements of centrism in its thinking and activity, but these do not predominate. To characterise the SWP majority tendency as a finished centrist tendency is to give up the political battle before it has begun.

We must believe that by common work and political discussion it will be possible to win a majority of the party to adopt a correct line on Pabloism and for the building of the revolutionary party in the United States.

4. The present tendency shall dissolve and shall reestablish itself on the basis of the preceding point.

5. Only those comrades who accept these conditions can be members of the tendency.

Robertson and his clique rejected these proposals out of hand. They were not really concerned with the struggle inside the SWP to clarify the party, they were more concerned about what was to be the future of their own little group, which was now being pressed to make up its mind by two irreconcilable and antagonistic forces-the International Committee and the Pabloite revisionists of the SWP.

Caught by his unprincipled politics in this trap, Robertson beat a hasty retreat into the camp of revisionism.

Right in the middle of the most critical stage of the political struggle between the International Committee and the American Pabloites he preferred to split the weak forces of the Committee within the SWP rather than accept the international recommendations on how the struggle should be conducted.

Thus, Robertson's anti-internationalism played right into the hands of the revisionists and correspondingly strengthened them.

This was a serious warning to the International Committee and the Socialist Labour League as to the treacherous middle-class nature of this group. Still we resolved to proceed in a most patient way to try and educate Robertson and as many of his supporters as possible.

A few days after the split from comrade Wolforth's group we replied to their arguments justifying the break as follows:

London Dear Comrades, We have received a letter dated November 4 in the names of L. Harper, L. Ireland, S. Mage, J. Robertson, S. Stoute written on behalf of a majority of the New York section of the Revolutionary Tendency of the SWP.

There appears to be some misunderstanding amongst you about the proposals which we submitted through comrade Phillips. You appear, for example, to be labouring under a misapprehension that these proposals were draited after we listened to an attack upon you by comrade Phillips.

This, of course, was not the case. If we had any criticisms to make of your goodselves, we would do so in writing. We would certainly not listen to any kind of gossip in relation to your activity. We start from the assumption that you want seriously to construct the revolutionary party in the US and we would like to assure you that we are only too happy to discuss with you about the best possible way to do this.

We ourselves have, as you know, a long experience of working as a minority faction inside the British Trotskyist movement. We began this work in 1943 and it lasted for seven years. We did not assume leadership rights in England until 1950.

The proposals are based upon experiences we had during that time and are certainly not dictated by comrades Wolforth and Phillips. During this period we accepted on a number of occasions advice with which we ourselves disagreed, but which we operated in practice because we accepted the revolutionary integrity and rich experience of those comrades. wno gave it to us. In this way we began to understand the real value ot international collaboration.

Between September 1943 and March 1944, we tought a sharp struggle tor the unitication of all the Troiskyist groups in Britain. At the conterence of our organisation the Workers' Internauonal League in September 1943, 1 was in a minority of one supporting this proposal. Then advice came from comrades in New York which laid down the terms for unification. These terms were presented as final and could not be dedated or discussed. They had to be accepted or rejected as they were by all parties concerned, including our minority. • Since the unprincipled majority of our section wanted to deprive us of an opportunity to continue the struggle against them, they immediately opened up relations with the opportunist elements in the other groups and decided to accept the terms. Their reasoning was that by moving towards acceptance of such terms they could isolate us by an unprincipled combination. They did just that. When the unification congress took place in March 1944, we were deprived of minority rights on the National Committee of the fused organisation, the Revolutionary Communist Party. Prior to this conference we raised the matter with the comrades responsible for the fusion terms but they told us that we could not insist on any rights and that we had also got to accept the terms as they were.

So reluctantly we accepted the terms and went ahead to make the fused organisation work. History has since revealed that the fusion was in side of those who were our favour and not on the manoeuvring and intriguing. If we had not accepted the terms and split from the fused organisation because we were not given any rights, then surely our tendency would have been destroyed.

I might add that we did not receive minority rights on the National Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party until almost two years later. Everything was done to persecute us as a faction but we refused under any circumstances to split no matter what the differences or to be driven out of the party. Our people were the best workers and nothing could be done to take this right away from them.

Early in the fusion it became clear that the leadership of the Revolutionary Commun ist Party contained a mixture of ultra-Lefts, opportunists and centrists, but we resisted attempts to characterise them premature characterisation i premature characterisation STUR aescribuon DUOM nave acted as a barrier between ouruanaoue seatos ape pue suew sapenmos u! имо tendency lem surongly aboul 947 majority ing tney had 01 their feelings in order Suo1 UIa1 JO YIOM 01 e pe danz den lauch stag.

anz [0 international struggle IsUrede IOTHOISTASA which resulted in the split of MOT SEY 5561 • WIO] •TOd 10 tical clarication mnoqe [ne nature or tis revisionism. une leadership IO tne aMS tendine to succumo to it as al prodields stal ing ou e sueat clear-cut aevelopment. VY e WAI MOY reaaine the docu ments and Duducallons or tae RiJed ina certaln TAne se se ueseH pue opaem aevelopea a rounucu vul tau loite approach. Others - are however, still very unclear Suor signing for SOaNT altnough it cannot, because the Voorhis Act, participate in international activity.

Untortunate v activit ot the Pabloites nas Uaaa some extent successiu in pro voking a lacuonal atmospnere between anasa pue majority. A g00C percenlage ISIA SIE SUT GOSMOCT in will misrepreMans Suns factional •points which Welc then relayed the US in order to sharpen up difterences know only )01 well the шлеч that •op The „1ж oz I0ddo expose SISSeOme Kired 01 ST uo pue ror unIs эм nave to snarden up ine invernai lac JMS au! no mallel whal tie provoca •uon inn эр SDIPMO1 DaUAS LuIS ered une with our past experience We impose them on you. 1I you uke to accepi tnem, inen inere DAATOIT TTTAYT1 inose comrades OUM PROOP OTA se этэм эм Ino To ST 10 San pue 10u IPPORS groupings. The SLL as part o world movement every right to establish tendency re lations when it feels these are aq 07 ITO ON.OS OlIR ing sapasa Sapeo of OUM PIIOM eAeu patnas S! II bute in all the al tens trist nature of the SWP leaderAn pue dg p Asna Ii cuss them with vou ansa of in o n internal struggle the minority that „ ved vd de efforts towards clarifying the struggle. We feel sure that at is pue СТ 11 this под inox 07 seM/ op this we make important gains in the tuture We would like to ask you L Due suiaz tis hea. : a written discussion witł were nossible you may be able to arrange ISIA some time spring or earlier if it could be managed.

Acceptance of the term. SAOD tou mean vou ever an UROA Soso aTod to ao wnal o1 peu "sed that te national experience pue St5n yan ue Io tendency tanas no pana

NEWSLE Octob 1966

THE DISASTROUS weakness of official trade union leadership in the unemployment crisis affecting Midland car workers has shown itself this week in the attitude of the Transport and General Workers' Union towards the official strike of Longbridge car delivery men.

This struggle, the first industrial action taken by workers to save their jobs in the crisis forced on them by Wilson's policies, has lasted four weeks.

Over half the labour force em loyed by the Longbridge Grour ot Delivery Agents were sacked. All 748 drivers came out on strike. It has since been announced by the management that there will probably be further sackings, or at best shorttime, in the near future.

The workers, backed by their union, demanded the withdrawal of all redundancy notices. They wanted work-sharing the basis of one week on, one week off, an arrangement already being operated between the union and another firm of delivery agents.

On Tuesday a letter appeared in the 'Birmingham Post' from Harry Urwin, regional secretary of the T&GWU. This declared:

We accept the inevitability of some redundancy but this vicious action cannot be justified either economically or socially' It concluded with an assurance that the employers would find a readiness on the part of the union to work out a practical and mutually agreed solution.' The 'Birmingham Post' hailed this as evidence that efforts were being made 'behind the scenes' to end the strike.

This is a positive retreat from the position of demanding withdrawal of all redundancy notices.

The previous day it was reported that BMC was moving export orders of cars on trains loaded at the platform inside the factory (unusued since 1960) and taken to Halesowen. They were also ferrying vehicles to stations by British Road Services. The number carried had been reduced to less than 600 by an overtime ban imposed by the T&GWU.

Urwin was on record that all this was being done 'with the full knowledge of the union which has no dispute with the British Motor Corporation but with the Longbridge Group of Delivery Agents!' compromise with their class enemies, who are preparing to strike out as hard as they can for higher efficiency, which can only mean higher exploitation.

Cousins argued that there was a lack of communication in the country. The crisis was caused by the export of capital and overseas arms expenditure, but Wilson did not see that.

He thought that the Labour dous rat of in incomes, prices approall dividends.

Even Cousins must know that this is not true. The Declaration was simply the first tentative step towards the state intervention into the trade unions in order to rob the workers of their organised strength.

Somehow, Cousins said, the had been into considering the control of incomes only. This change in emphasis had finally resulted in the declaration of July 20 when the total freeze on wages was announced. He had then resigned to lead his union in a fight against this.

Cousins then pointed out that cort of commodier wa export due entirely to the export o apital and overseas military ex. penditure, he maintained.

But his argument fell to pieces.

He pointed out that the freeze fraud because such measures as the Selective EmPegment Tax Were designed 10, to cut wages, and that 'redeploy. nent' and Wilson's 'shake out' into export-producing industries was nonsense.

Contradiction But instead of concluding that these measures were a ruthlessly planned attack on the working class, he suggested that unions should fight for higher productivity.

This, of course, contradicted his previous assertion that it was the export of capital etc., which caused the economic crisis.

To make his increased productivity proposal, which he termed a 'charter for progress', more acceptable to union members, he said that all productivity agreements should include a minimum of £15 for a 40-hour week, with three weeks paid holiday a year.

It was at this point that the increasingly restless union members intervened—provincial buswanted to know why Cousins had not pressed for such wage figures for them, and dockers saw this as a cover for the acceptance of the Devlin Report.

Cousins finished up by stressing that nearly all meaningful union work was done on the shop floor now, so his proposal for joint works productivity committees were just the thing.

But such committees could only be the prototype for the fascist-type organisation of production by which all workers' independent rights to organise are taken away-which is what the employers want anyway.

At this point all the press and television left-even the 'Morning Star' only reported Cousins' But it was in the questions from the floor that the real voice of the union could be heard.

Of the 20 or so questions asked all were at least plicitly hostile to Cousins' speech.

Dockers wanted to know what the role of the T&GWU leadership would be if they could not sell the dockers the Devlin ReCousins hoped it would never come to that.

An engineering steward wanted to know what would happen to a shop steward who got into trouble while submitting a claim without the permission of his District Officer.

Cousins said the leadership would endeavour to prevent stewards from getting into trouble. not a measure for locking up trade unionists!

A number of other workers from the building trade, road transport and buses asked detailed questions about their earnings and the freeze. All received the same evasive answers.

The clearest statement of the meeting was made by a Young Socialist who asked if the working class was heading for yet another period of unemployment like the 1930s.

Nationalize

She asked why the union did not fight for the nationalization of the banks as the answer to the crisis.

This statement brought the biggest round of applause of the Whole meeting and many workers spoke to the YS member afterwards, expressing their support tor this policy.

Cousins replied that although he personally agreed with nationalization, there was no mandate in the election manifesto for this. Therefore, he said, it was out of the question!

He finished by stressing, just in case he had deceived anyone, that he had 'no intention of taking on the Labour government.

Jack Jones, concluding the meeting, said the union was for-

OVER THE PAST few weeks, dockers in the Avonmouth docks have been attacked by the Bristol Chamber of Commerce under the pretext of a call for greater efficiency.

Accusing the dockers of wastage and restrictive practices the chamber's docks advisory committee has stated:

"With big changes coming in the docks, such as decasualisation and big pay rises, now is the time to abolish some of the restrictive practices by dockers, of which time-keeping is one.' They also state that cargoes moved outside normal working hours resulted in the payment of heavy overtime charges, therefore shift work should be introduced at the same time as the Devlin recommendations.

These attacks are an attempt to disorganise the resistance of ROBERTSON the dockers in the coming struggles against the Devlin Report. They follow a period of disillusionment among the dockers since the 1965 unofficial strike.

Since then there has been a lack of effective leadership among the dockers.

The official union view on the present troubles is that it is not official T&GWU policy to say a definite no to shift work.

Our correspondent has spoken to several prominent dockers who say there is confusion over the wage terms of the Devlin Report.

A member of the now defunct liaison committee stated:

"They should stop the lying there is no £15 (the offer made in the Devlin Report for London men). They are offering us £13 Is 8d basic, the f15 is made up by adding a f2 modernisation allowance which is in itself completely fluid' towards the unprincipled unification with the Pabloites during the summer of 1963.

This split was carried out without any prior discussion. This, in turn, prevented the serious situation in Ceylon, which was developing towards a coalition between the Lanka Sama Samaja Party majority and the Bandaranaike government, from being discussed.

Robertson, in his political ignorance and lack of understanding of the struggle which the International Committee had waged against Pabloism since 1953, came out in favour of this unprincipled unity.

In a statement, which he issued in January 1964, he said:

'We also made it crystal clear in advance [his emphasis] that should the pro-Pabloist unification win a majority and go into effect, then the dissident and opposing minority internationally who shared our general outlook should go through the experience of the falsely-based unity attempt.' At the most critical stage of the international struggle against revisionism, when the fate of the Ceylonese section hung in the balance, Robertson, for formally different reasons, found himself in the camp of the revisionists.

accepted a revisionist unification which has from its inception led to one disaster after another.

Next week :

Robertson returns to the politics of the SWP

fighting against Pabloite revisionism for revolutionary Marxism.

We are asking you to put the international movement siderations. No one amongst us wants to lose a single comrade as a result of a misunderstanding. What you do is being decided not by us but by yourselves.

The political differences which comrade Phillips has are in some respects much more serious than yours, yet he has decided to accept these terms. We again urge you to do the same.

Awaiting your reply.

Best wishes, On behalf of the Organising Committee.

We have reproduced this letter in full so that those who are interested may contrast the educational way in which we tried to assist Robertson, with the lies and slander which he now utilises against the Socialist Labour League. The same method on our part prevailed during the April 1966 International Congress, which we shall deal with later.

Robertson's split from the International Committee in 1962 was a god-send to the revisionists, and he proceeded to help them in their moves Registered at the G PO as a newspaper Published by Theer. Loseon, s.W. 4 186a Clapham High Street. London, Printed bv Plough Press Lid. (TU) r.o. 180 Clapham High Street. London. S.W.4

THE MANAGEMENT at the giant Rotherham steel works of Steel, Peech and Tozer has announced that 500 men are to go on short-time working next week. This announcement follows the news that 60 men at Hadfield's, another large steel and engineering firm in the Sheffield area, are to lose their jobs.

The Steel, Peech and Tozer management blames the cut backs in the motor industry for their move.

The cutbacks at Steel, Peech and Tozer take place in one of the most modern steel plants in Britain. The new electric milling shop is being put on a four-day week.

Prospects in other steel and BELGIUM:

ment of the working class through a struggle against their capitalist class.' There could be no defeat for imperialism without the power of the working class when provided with a Marxist leadership. After their expulsion from the Labour Party, the British Young Socialists had dedicated themselves to the construction of a revolutionary leadership.

"Today, Wilson of the Labour government is betraying the working class and even drawing back from his own reformist policies, she said.

Revisionist Marxists suggested that this government could be changed by persuasion and winning over the 'left'.

Split

It was necessary to fight in the labour movement to change Wilson's policies, but understanding that in the end a split with Wilson could not be avoided.

'Such a split is in line with the principles of the Fourth International and the Transitional Programme, which is now essential if the working class build an alternative leadership.

•When I edit "Keep Left" and participate in meetings, I do so as a Trotskyist because I believe that he alone developed the theory of Marxism in the most difficult period of class struggle —between the two world wars.' Stalinists attacked Trotskyists as sectarians with lies and distortions. Those who used the same lies were just as much traitors as the Stalinists, who were conscious betrayers of the working class.

"This is why,' she said, 'we defend the Hungarian revolution engineering works in the Sheffield and Rotherham areas are no better.

Men at the English Steel Corporation, which employs over 8,500, expect short-time working to begin in the immediate future.

Three weeks ago, 500 of the 7,000 workers at Samuel Fox Ltd. were put on a fouror three-shift week.

Sheffield supplies 30 per cent of the steel, apart from the Pressed Steel body works, in every car produced.

During the July-September period many of the firms have been working at only 73 per cent of their capacity—this was before the July 20 measures took any effect.

Meeting and the principles of the struggle of the working class against bureaucracy For the same reason the YS had carried a banner defending the 1956 Hungarian revolution.

If the YS was the strongest youth movement in Britain today, it was because they had always fought for such principles and never surrendered this fight.

The YS was prepared to participate in an international movement which safeguarded these principles in order to build strong Marxist sections of the Fourth International in countries throughout the world and especially in Europe, and would participate in any committee set up for this purpose from the demonstration.

Be Sure of your each week Take out a subscription 9s for 12 issues Tame iddress Send this form to to 186a Clapham High Street, London, S.W.4.

wages.

In other words, he was telling the working class to fight to In any case, he insisted, the Prices and Incomes Act was He then went on to develop one of the more subtle themes of Cousins' speech-that of setting off one section of workers against another.

Cousins had spoken contemptuously of those who received £15 from the National Assistance, saying he thought that those who worked should get this amount.

Jones was much more blatant.

He attacked the National Union of Railwaymen for not bringing the tube men out on strike in 1958 in support of the striking busmen.

with burn replied gut which a busman replied: you've just done it'.

And when the provincial busmen denounced the leadership for favouring the London busmen in the recent wage claims, Jones failed to explain the differential, and allowed the remark to pass.

This meeting, the first of a series of regional efforts, brought out the realities of the situation.

Cousins is sitting on a powder keg which the Young Socialists with their policies can explode, taking the leadership from the Cousinses and those 'leaders' like Jack Dash who, despite the presence of a large number of dockers, remained silent.

tunate to have Cousins general recretary. THERE IS total confusion among Birmingham car-workers and a feeling that their 'leaders', by showing no sign of giving a decisive lead against the BMC sackings, are allowing the situation to drift into disastrous defeat.

This is the mood following the BY refusal of BMC at York to make any concessions to their claims for work-sharing in place of redundancy, and the revelations by the management team that even when the redundancies have taken place, 40,000 car men will have to work short-time.

SYLVIA PICK This latter announcement is sheipto have come as a 'bombDick Etheridge, Austin's convenor, who was still talking at the weekend in terms of 'something' being done change the government's policy.

This Communist Party leader is sitting there shouting at the incoming tide to • change course and recede, while the waves mount higher and cause greater havoc among those he is supposed to be leading.

A BMC shop steward said:

"The situation could have been altogether different if there had been a firm lead from the beginning, from the very day when the announcement short-time working and redundancy was made by BMC.

'In the initial shock of hearing what was coming, the lads would have given 100 per cent support to such a lead. If at Austin's or Tractors and Transmissions, or any of the bigger factories, the convenor had called for support for strike action immediately redundancy notices were sent out, he could then have gone to the BMC stewards' meeting at Coventry armed with that resolution. The other stewards would have been forced by feeling among • the rank-and-file on the shop floor to rally behind it.

'Instead, at the mass meetings immediately after the announcement, there was talk of "fighting redundancy to the full" It sounded militant but there was no definition of what was meant by "to the full".

"There was a lot of guff about writing to MPs. We were taken down to Brighton and up to York. We were told to do nothing which might upset the government, but to try by pressure to change Wilson's policy. The lads have been held back and messed about, and now the impetus of the first mood has passed.' Such has been the lamentable lack of leadership provided ir this crisis bv local Communist Pary and right-wing 'leaders'.

BLEATING

At national level there have been feeble bleatings about work-sharing and the bad effect of the government's 40 per cent down payment on new cars.

There has been much scurrying to and fro 'pressing for early meetings of car unions'. But no sign of a bold decisive lead from any of these gentlemen.

What has happened to Frank Cousins' much-heralded leadership?

He won a majority vote at the Labour Party conference for work-sharing in place of redundancy. If he has taken any action to follow up that victory, nothing has been heard of it in the Midlands.

Local Transport and General Workers' Union leaders are on record as simply, repeating the demand for work-sharing. But the bosses, with full government backing, have refused once and for all to give way on this point.

So where does the union go from there?

They have the authority of their, own union conference, of meeting after meeting workers, of the Labour Party conference. been left talk,militancy simply Has all their intention of action behind it?

Full, advantage of this dismal confusion has of course been

ONE HUNDRED shop stewards decided last Sunday to put before 6,000 workers at Rootes Pressings (Linwood, Scotland) a proposal for strike action unless the management withdraw the sacking of 557 men due to take place this week.

The list of men to be sacked has been increased during the last two weeks and includes 60 foremen and other administrative workers, 409 production workers and 88 service and maintenance men. A further 100 men will be placed in a labour reserve pool.

The shop stewards are demanding work-sharing instead of the redundancies.

Rejected

But their claim was rejected at a conference of employers and trade unions held at York where a decision of 'not agreed' was recorded.

Ian McAngus, convenor of the factory and member of the Amalgamated Engineering Union, said:

'The official policy of my union is work-sharing instead of sacking. This policy was also carried by the majority vote at the Labour Party conference. We want it put into effect.' Shop stewards from Rootes Pressings factory travelled with the Young Socialists from Glasgow and demonstrated with other car workers in the Young Socialists' demonstration at Brighton three weeks ago.

Whilst in Brighton they tried to see trade union and Labour leaders to put their case for work sharing and an appeal to end the sackings, but without any success. taken by the Tory press in the Midlands. Car workers are subjected to all kinds of heavy pressure.

The hoary old tactic has been dusted off and used of inducing one of the striking Longbridge car delivery men's wives to make a front-page statement calling on the women to get together to 'sort things out.

There has also been new and sinister note in special 'car crisis' articles.

'The tendency of the latter seemed to split non-redundant from redundant workers by suggesting that after all those getting the sack will not be badly off, what with redundancy pay and the new earnings-related unemployment benefit.

EYEWASH

It would be better, so the argument runs, for some workers to be thrown out of work than for all to be hard-up as a result of work-sharing.

Let no car worker who has kept his job be fooled for a moment by such eyewash. Can anybody believe that the big "pool' of unemployed will not be used by the bosses to force home an attack on wage and piece-work rates, all in the interests of making the car industry 'competitive'?

The events of the past two weeks have caused deep disillusionment among car workers with their local Communist Party and right-wing leaders.

One shop steward told how some were so disgusted that they were 'packing up' their connection with the CP. He added:

Some remember how these people warned them against supporting the Young Socialists in their fight against government polices. They say now the YS were right in the lead they tried to give us' This is the correct conclusion for car-workers in the present grave crisis.

A victorious struggle against the bosses and Wilson's government can only be waged if they break decisively from the old treacherous "leaderships' and build a new revolutionary Marxist one inside the unions.