At a National Conference called by the Joint Board representing
the Parliamentary Committee of the Trade Union Congress, the General Federation of Trade Unions, and the Labour Party, held on Tuesday, it was decided to send Mr. Ramsay MacDonald and Mr. J. A. Seddon as a deputation to South Africa to present a memorial to the Union Govern- ment. Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, who moved a resolution calling on the Home Government to veto Clause IV. of the Indemnity Act, declared that they did not agree with the view that, once a Colony or Dominion got the right of self- government, it could destroy fundamental liberties of British citizenship. Clause IV. of the Indemnity Act was a mon- strous piece of legislation against which they ought to protest, not merely as Trade Unionists and citizens, but as men responsible for the liberties of the whole Empire. An amendment urging the Labour Party, failing satisfaction, to turn out the Government at the earliest possible oppor- tunity was moved by Mr. Evans, who condemned the Labour Party for the deaf-and-dumb attitude by which they had saved the Government from defeat, and supported by Mr. Hyndman, but was lost by a ten-to-one card vote. It is a strange evolution of democracy that Labour should be prepared to go further than Downing Street in asserting the doctrine of interference with Colonial independence.
Previous page
