The mishap over Mr. Kirkwood's motion, however, was only one
symptom of the Labour Party's weak- nesses. Mr. Cook and Mr. Hodges are at one another's throats in the mining dispute. Mr. Hodges uses the practical argument that as nationalization of the mines will not be a possibility for some years, it would be better for the miners to agree with their enemy in the meantime rather than sacrifice themselves on the altar of some visionary scheme. Visions, he says in effect, will bring the -miners no better wages, but conciliation during the next few years very easily may. Mr. Cook turns savagely upon Mr. Hodges—who was his predecessor as Secretary of the Miners' Federation—and accuses him of selling the pass. He says that Mr. Hodges alone is responsible for all the present lack of faith in the Miners' Federation. Mr. MacDonald's leadership all this time is in jeopardy, and Mr. Wheatley behaves as though he definitely wanted to make Mr. MacDonald's position still more uneasy. The delay in the publication of the Labour Report on conditions in Russia may perhaps not unfairly be taken as another proof of the unsettled feeling in the party.
Previous page
