and in fact all of the problems arising in the production of coal. A similar guild would manage the railroads. A central body of some sort, with delegates from all the various guilds, would take care of problems common to all industry. The state would merely attend to matters like education and foreign policy.
9. Growth of the Labor Party
For many years the Socialist movement in Great Britain was small and ineffectual. Organized labor as a whole was not behind it. It made little appeal to the average worker. Later on a group of Socialists formed the Independent Labor Party. Its platform was a socialist platform, its appeal was in every-day language. It set out with the avowed purpose of bringing the whole labor movement into politics as a unit.
After awhile it was successful, when on account of adverse court decisions and legislation the Trades Union Congress voted to establish the British Labor Party. The platform of the new party was not very radical at first, but the Independent Labor Party affiliated with it in order gradually to influence its policy. Little by little it has adopted socialist principles, until now it has a program that may be called socialist. It has even progressed beyond adherence to political action for political purposes, having urged the unions to enter upon a
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