11 FEBRUARY 1944, Page 13

YOUTH AND THE FUTURE

have read with great interest the controversy that has been going on for the last three weeks between ex-Presidents of the O.U. Conserva- tive Association and the O.U. Liberal Club ; I feel that it is now time for a member of the club which has had the greatest increase, both in activity and membership, to join in.

In the past two terms the membership of the O.U. Socialist Club has increased by 50 per cent, to over 500, so that 30 per cent, of resident undergraduates are now members. (Unfortunately, it is impossible to give corresponding figures for the Conservative Association, as the executive of that organisation has, so far, not disclosed its membership.) I cannot help feeling that Messrs. Cuffe and Rippon have given a somewhat biassed account of the political feelings of the cadets in Oxford. The cadet membership of the Socialist Club is about 150 ; allowing for those of Socialist and Liberal leanings who have not joined any political club, it would appear that the statement "that the majority of politically minded cadets have Conservative leanings" is an exaggera- tion.

But my main quarrel is not with the statistics of Messrs. Rippon and Cuffe, but with their representation of the feelings of youth. Mr. Cuffe slates: "Youth has grown tired of promises of New Jerusalems and Brave New Worlds: They heard those promises before, and lived to see the Promised Land turn out to be Armageddon." This is perfectly true, but not in the sense that Mr. Cuffe means it. Youth has grown tired of promises—it is going to fight. It knows where the responsibility for the present Armageddoi lies, and it does not mean to give the Con- servative party another chance to ruin its future. There is an enthusiasm in the Socialist Movement that the Conservatives have never been able to imitate. .(This can be seen in a:small way in Oxford, where 300 turn out regularly to hear the Socialist Club speaker, but the Conserva- tives could onljr produce 170 to hear Sir James Grigg.)

Mr. Cuffe tellit us that "They have leamt,tifeir lesson, and they no longer go- to Transport House for their ticket to Utopia, but cling to the slow, sure path of Tory Democracy. They do not accept the Left Wing panacea of State monopoly. . , ." Mr. Cuffe will find out that the majority of politically active young people do support the Labour Party ; that • they do hope to see "planning for the many" replace "profits for the 'few" ; and that they believe that the Conservative Party will lead us again to ruin, as it did after the last war.—Yours faith-