20. Imperialism
Congress temper showed itself quite clearly in the discussions relating to imperialism. The actions of the MacDonald Government came in for sharp criticism. Contrary to custom, Mr. MacDonald, who sat on the platform during a part of the Congress sessions, was not asked to address the body. His chief defender on the floor, Mr. J. H. Thomas, was overwhelmingly defeated on the only vote that really tested the position of the Congress on the imperialism issue.
Four resolutions dealing with various phases of imperialism were presented to Congress. All were passed.
Instructions to the General Council to "consider the advisability of sending delegates to visit India, China, Egypt, and investigate the conditions of labour of the natives of those countries with a view to recommending how best the Trades Union Congress can assist those workers in Trade Union organization," were contained in a resolution that was agreed to without debate.
With unanimity also, the Congress passed a resolution instructing the General Council "to at once get into touch with the organised workers' political bodies, with a view to doing everything possible to put a stop to the murderous crimes being perpetrated against our working class Chinese comrades who are struggling to improve their horrible working conditions."
This Congress "also protests in the strongest possible language the use of British armed forces as strikebreakers in the interests of the gang of unscrupulous capitalists and imperialists who are exploiting the lives of men, women, and even children of tender age in China at the present time, and insists on their immediate withdrawal."
This resolution was presented by the National Amalgamated Furnishing Trades Association and was unanimously agreed to.
On the subject of British imperialism the resolution was equally emphatic: "This Trades Union Congress believes that the domination of non-British peoples by the British Government is a form of capitalist exploitation having for its object the securing for British capitalists (1) of cheap sources of raw materials; (2) the right to exploit cheap and unorganised labour and to use the competition of that labour to degrade the workers' standards in Great Britain.
"It declares its complete opposition to Imperialism, and resolves: (1) to support the workers in all parts of the British Empire to organise the Trade Unions and political parties in order to further their interests, and (2) to support the right of all peoples in the British Empire to self-determination, including the right to choose complete separation from the Empire."
It was in opposition to this resolution that J. H. Thomas, Secretary for the Colonies under the MacDonald Government, met the full tide of anti-imperialism that was running so fast in the Congress.
The Imperialism Resolution was moved by A. A. Purcell (Furnishing Trades), member of the General Council, and President of the International Federation of Trade Unions, "Imperialism," Purcell said, "is the worst enemy of the working class. The worst feature of imperialist crime at the present moment is the supplying of arms to belligerents on both sides in Morocco and China, just as Stinnes supplied barbed wire to Germans and French alike during the Great War. We do not blame our own capitalist class especially, for capitalism is the same all over the world. In Palestine, where the working class is trying to get the merest semblance of Trade Union rights, arms are used against them. The same has been true of Egypt, but now, at last, they are organizing there. And look at the horrible condition in India. We should aim at getting all of the world's workers into one organization that should have as its basis good wages and working conditions. We ought to assist in formingtrade unions wherever imperialism has planted its foot."
"If anything can make the week's proceedings ridiculous it will be the passing of this resolution," said J. H. Thomas, in his opposition to the proposal. He too was opposed to exploitation, he said, but there were other difficulties, such as the conflict of races. And what of self-determination? "Does the mover of this resolution mean that he wants self-determination for Kenya? Do not let us pass this absurd resolution. Look at that last phrase about separation from the Empire. It is ridiculous to pretend that we are speaking on behalf of four and a half million British workers when we say things like that."
"It is unfortunate that I have only three minutes in which to counteract the Empire propaganda that has been carried on by Mr. Thomas," said Harry Pollitt (Boilermakers). "The resolution is merely an expression of the policy of the working class movement toward subject peoples, whatever their race and creed. Empire does not mean Curzon or Reading riding on an elephant. It means the appalling conditions of textile workers in Bombay and Calcutta, and on the tea plantations of India, where the natives have no legal redress of any kind. It means the forced labor of which Mr. Thomas knows something, and which exists in Kenya at the present time. It means that the flower of Egyptian national thought has been executed for daring to say that the principle for which we went into the Great War shall be observed in every country of the world.
"We cannot talk of self-determination and fight four years for it without the backward races believing that we are in earnest. The passing of the resolution will be a message of hope and encouragement to our comrades who do not regard the Union Jack as the last word in economic equality or political freedom. These people have a right to govern their own countries according to their own traditions and conceptions, and before the British working man can be emancipated he will have to help others to throw off the shackles of British Imperialism. It is not a Wembly[1] Empire we are talking about, but an Empire every yard of which is drenched with the blood of natives or of British soldiers."
On a card vote the resolution was carried: 3,082,000 for and 79,000 against. This was the most decisive card vote of the entire Congress.
- ↑ Wembly was the seat of the British Empire Exposition in 1924–1925.