THE ANTI-WAR MINORITY Sta,—In your last issue, my good friend,
Richard Lee, stated that "in a delegate meeting of the Coventry Labour Party a resolution against the continuance of the war was carried by a good majority, although our prospective candidate, Mr. Richard Crossman, supports the crthodox Transport House view." I think that the facts which Richard Lee states should be a little expanded if they are not to give a false impression of the attitude of Labour in Coventry to the war. We have always been a very broad-minded Labour Party, determined to avoid all factional divisions, and naturally, since freedom is allowed to all, a candidate has his own personal views, which do not necessarily coincide with that of the party. But it would be misleading to suppose that the resolution passed last month indicated a majority in Coventry against the war. The resolu- tion was a composite resolution, expressing first the view that the continuance of the present war was detrimental to the interests of Socialism, and, secondly, calling on the national executive committee to cease collaboration with the National Government, i.e., to break the party truce. Such a resolution naturally obtained a larger number of votes than a pure anti- war resolution would have done. Of the 65 delegates present, 29 recorded votes for the resolution and 19 against ; 17 did not vote at all. So Richard Lee is a little optimistic in talking
about a good majority. Moreover, the delegates were not mandated. If they had been, the result might have been
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