Sir: Robert Blake's long and interesting article on the Tories
in Opposition (15 March), refers to the problem of the party's name. Is it really not time that 'Conservative' and 'Tory' as poli- tical labels were abandoned? The true meaning of these labels is 'opposed to change' which is, in fact, meaningless in 1968. Will the next Party Conference consider a new name and if so, what about Citizen Party? Its basis is the Latin 'civis' meaning burgess or freeman, which seems appropriate in today's context when recalling the old and effective slogan 'set the people free.'
'Socialism' on the other hand means that individual liberty should be completely sub- ordinated to the interests of the community with the deductions that can be drawn from it e.g. the state ownership of land and capital (so says the Pocket Oxford Dictionary). This mean- ing seems exactly right—but is it? Does not 'communism' have the same meaning? Perhaps 'socialism' and 'communism' are, in fact, the same thing, although the former is of necessity heavily disguised. After all, the word 'socialism' is derived from the Latin 'socius' meaning (no, surely not) comrade. Curious the uses Latin still has.
H. W. Gawthrop 38 Claremont Road, Eccleshall, Stafford
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