Mr. Vivian, M.P., well known for the admirable work he
has done in connexion with the housing problem on co-operative lines, has made a most spirited reply to the General Council of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners, who censured him, as one of their members, for the part he took in the Jarrow election. It is the right and duty of every citizen, declares Mr. Vivian, to form his own opinions, and any pressure which tends to prevent this is tyrannical, whether it is put on by a political league, an employer of labour, or the Council of a Trade-Union. The Council's motives, lie says, are no doubt good, but so were those of the prime movers in the Inquisition, which tortured people's bodies in order to save their souls. They were religious bigots. "Your Council appears to be made up of political bigots intent upon saving myself and other members of our Union from political error, not by the only righteous course open to them— viz., by propagating in their capacity as citizens political truth—but by resolutions which may have the effect of frightening timid members of the Union into the belief that unless they act politically in the way prescribed by the General Council of the Union, they may be fined, expelled, lose benefits for which they have paid for years, or in other ways suffer." Mr. Vivian ends his letter with a delightful touch of irony. He is sending, he states, a copy of Mill's essay on "Liberty" to each member of the Council in the hope that the spirit it breathes may influence their minds. We have nothing but the heartiest commendation for Mr. Vivian's spirited and resolute letter. Action such as his is the antiseptic of political life, and prevents force degenerating into tyranny. No one objects to Trade- Unions being strong, but if they are to retain their influence amongst Englishmen they must use their strength without oppression.
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