The doctrines to which Mr. Shackleton assents are in many
cases disputable, or even dangerous, but we gladly recognise the temperate tone of his address—his reference to Anglo- German relations in particular—and the moderating influence exerted by him during the subsequent discussions. The charge of sweating brought against the Salvation Army was not pressed to a division, pending the Report of the Parlia- mentary Committee ; but a resolution repudiating the opinions of Messrs. John Burns, Maddison, and Vivian in regard to the Labour Party's Unemployed Bill was carried by a small majority on a "card" vote after the President had deprecated censure on the ground that "it was impossible to disagree with all the opinions expressed by these gentlemen." On the other hand, the proposal to appoint a Committee to consider the amalgamation of the Congress with the two other annual Labour Conferences was rejected without a division. There are no signs of any substantial progress in the alleged Socialist movement to capture the Trade-Union Congress. We note that while a scheme has been definitely formulated for starting a halfpenny daily paper to give expression to Labour ideas, there is a considerable divergence of opinion as to the legality of investing Trade-Union funds in such an enterprise.
Previous page
