Firebrand Quenched

Five years ago when the British Labor Party was younger, louder and relatively impotent, Britain's Trades Union Congress met in annual convention. Red flags were much in evidence, Communists were greeted enthusiastically. British Laborites presented a gold watch to Moscow's Tomsky. And little lean Ben Tillett, one of the founders of the Labor Party, made a speech which, according to one observer "was so violent, frantic and ruthless in his call for a revolution that many persons in the audience drifted away startled and horrified."

Last week the British Trades Union

Congress staged a vastly different annual convention at Belfast, Ireland. Hard-bitten Ben Tillett made another speech. The years have brought power and respectability to British Labor. There were no Russian Communists at last week's meeting. One of the Trades Union's two gold watches went to a Mr. W. J. Rooney of the highly respectable American Federation of Labor. And Ben Tillett's speech was as conservative as a bowler hat. With an ideology that would have done credit to a Director of the Bank of England, erstwhile firebrand Tillett pleaded for protective tariffs, increased inter-Empire trade. Said he:

"Britain must organize as America has organized. We must mobilize our resources on an equal scale. An island nation cannot do this, but a world commonwealth can. Tariff barriers are being raised, not broken down.

"The British Empire has a greater potential home consumption than the United States. She has larger territories and population, and greater natural resources. I hold therefore that the trades union movement must follow with the closest attention the proposals being made for the organization of the British Commonwealth as an economic unit."