The Trades Union Congress last week ended on the Whole
satisfactorily from the point of view of those who desire to see sobriety and caution in the management of trade unionism. The General Council ste: dily refused the offer of larger powers for the direction of a General Strike. It was particularly noticeable that the largest and most important unions were the most shy of harum- scaruni political action. All this was a great improvem ent upon what happened at Scarborough last year. Another point to the good was that the General Council- really rose in wrath against a slanderous and insulting telegram from Tomsky about the General Council's fainthearted Management of the General Strike. The telegram was described as " an intolerable interference in British trade union affairs." This is exactly what it was and the only surprising thing is that our trade unionists have taken so long to discover that it is not worth while to pretend that there is a possibility of collaboration with the Russian apostles of destruction. The Home Secretary has, of course, been blamed by the extremists for preventing Tomsky from visiting the Conference, but it is obvious that he behaved with scrupulous impartiality. If he had wished in a Machiavellian spirit to turn the Congress into a bear garden he would have made it specially easy for Tomsky to come.
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