BRITISH LABOR'S RECOIL

The recent action of England's Labor Party in rejecting the Communists has definitely allayed prevalent fears that the left wing of the Labor Party would gain control. British newspapers for some time past have been stressing the possibility of a very radical Labor Party. The fact that many British business men have transferred considerable amounts of their available funds of investment in America is sufficient evidence that many people feared the radical laborites would take over the leadership of the Labor organization.

By a vote of nine to one, however, the Labor Congress, representing over three million trade unionists, refused to allow the Communists to affiliate with the Labor Party. This action is a severe setback to those who believe a violent revolution is the only solution to the proletariat grievances. It is a further indication of the tendency of the Labor Party toward Conservative policies, a tendency first seen clearly during the premiership of Ramsay Macdonald. This tendency probably received impetus from the Labor Party's defeat in the last general election, a defeat largely caused by the nation's fear of Communism. England, in spite of unemployment, is evidently rapidly recovering from the War and from the consequent radical movements. The Labor Party seems to be quite sure that England wants no revolutions nor drastic legislation in favor of the proletariat. In fact the Labor Party seems more and more to be assuming the characteristics of the old Liberal Party. The revolutionary radicals are out of the picture as far as the rank and file of English working men are concerned.