[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—The letter headed " The Impotent Opposition," from Mr. Frank Pakenham, was built up as a reply to a leading article with the same title ; and as a reply may be smart or clever as the author prefers.
He joined the Labour Party ten months ago. I joined twenty years before him. He writes : " The elementary truth remains that any society founded on inequility and the class system is anti-Christian and morally wrong." By and large I accept that. The Labour Party in the con- stituencies lives chiefly upon money found by Trades Union political contributions and by the subscriptions and other payments made by wealthy capitalists who, in increasing numbers, represent the Socialist cause in Parliament.
A large number of enthusiasts in the Labour cause are members of local co-operative societies. I humbly submit to Mr. Pakenham that Trades Unions, capitalists and co- operative societies are anti-Socialist ; and that the " millions of English Socialists " to whom he refers have no existence in fact, but are the members of Trades Unions who pay the political levy because they do not bother to object.
Trades Unions preserve a class and wage distinction among men. These unions profess to subscribe to the doctrine " Each according to his need " ; passing on to the Labour Party moneys professedly collected for Socialist or Equalitarian purposes, whilst perpetuating non-equalitarian conditions among the members, who, by the way, pay mainly on a per capita basis.
Co-operative societies are supported and in part managed by those who are ardent Labour politicians professing to accept the ideals of equality. But surely it is the dividend system that has made the co-operative stores so appealing-; that and the interest on savings effected by members.
Dividend and interest is the same in a co-operative stores as in any other stores ; it is the amount overpaid by the .buyer or customer—in .other words, it is the " profit " made.
The man who can afford to accumulate capital, profits most out of the co-operative system ; and he profits obviously in part at the expense of his fellow trades unionist who is unable to accumulate capital ; profits because he is able to reap a bigger interest than the banks or the Post Office give: The point I would wish to make here is that the equalitarian' socialism so obviously believed in by Mr. Pakenham can never be brought to fruition by a Labour Party actively con- trolled by Trades Unions and Capitalists at the centre ; and supported in the constituencies by well paid industrial workers who are shareholders in a dividend-hunting co-partnership ; and whose wives spend their time calling from door to door collecting shillings for clubs at to per cent. commission from their unsuspecting neighbours.—Yours faithfully,
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