New Series No 4: 2007
¾
Issues 1, 2 and 3 obtainable from the CPB website; In this issue….
¾ Puzzle
Our History
History Group of the Communist Party of Britain – newsletter
A COMMUNIST IDENTIKIT PUZZLE! English-Speaking Delegates and Guests at the 4th World Congress of the Comintern (Nov.-Dec. 1922). If you have information contact MutantPop@aol.com and copy `Our History.
¾ Marxist Internet Archive on the British Party Brian Reid ¾ UK Cypriots Fanoulla Argyrou ¾ “My BRS” David Alton ¾ Tom Mann Terry McCarthy ¾ Oral History Society ¾ Two volumes of Party history planned: authors sought
Back Row: 1. unknown; 2. unknown; 3. unknown [see enlargement below]; 4. unknown; 5. Albert Inkpin (Great Britain) [see enlargement below]; 6. J.T. Murphy (Great Britain); 7. Max Bedacht (USA) (1883-1972); 8. John S. "Jock" Garden (Australia) (1882-1968); 9. unknown; 10. George .H. Fletcher (Great Britain); 11. unknown. Front Row: A. Arne Swabeck (USA) (1890-1986); B. believed to be Tom Bell (Great Britain)?; C. William Paisley "Bill" Earsman (Australia) (1884-1965); D. Tom Payne (Australia) (1898-199X); E. unknown; F. unknown; G. Anna Louise Strong (USA) (1885-1970); H. Alexander Trachtenberg (USA) (18851966); Y. Otto Huiswood (USA) (1893-1961); Z. Rose Pastor Stokes (USA) (1879-1933)
1
According to the British Communist Party Central Committee minutes of 16-18 September 1922, the Party decided to send a 10-strong delegation to the 4th World Congress, as follows: H Webb, J V Leckie, Minnie Bird, Helen Crawfurd (representing women), H Young (representing the Young Communist League), Albert Inkpin, Walton Newbold, William Gallacher, Arthur McManus, J T Murphy, with G H Fletcher as substitute and W Joss as delegate to the Agrarian Congress. If this is the limit of British names who might be there on the picture, they clearly are not all there, and because one of them is the Sheffield baker, George Fletcher (the substitute), it would seem possible that one of the first 10 named was not in Moscow at all. Any ideas, anyone? Make sure you copy `Our History’ in. Ascertained and later photos of Fletcher, Inkpin and Bell follow………..
2
George Fletcher Albert Inkpin
Tom Bell
3
MARXIST INTERNET ARCHIVE Our history has received the following communication from the MIA: “On August 24, 2006 the Marxist Internet Archive launched its re-designed Communist Party of Great Britain Archive. Focusing primarily on the 1920s-1950s, the motivation behind the project is to emphasize the revolutionary and internationalist heritage of this great, working-class rooted, Marxian Party. Within the Communist Party of Great Britain Archive are three main sections: the Documents, Writers and Subject Archives. The Documents Archive, the largest, hosts unsigned pamphlets and party member educational pieces as well as articles from early editions of the Communist Review. At present, 18 CPGB personalities such as Harry Pollitt, J. R. Campbell, Thomas Bell, William Paul, J. T. Murphy, R. Palme Dutt, William Gallacher and T. A. Jackson to name a few, have their own writers archives. Finally, the Subject Archive, that is still, largely, under construction has primary texts from the 1920 Communist Unity Convention, but, in the future, will also offer sub-sections for significant events, issues, debates and campaigns that the party struggled through. The project is still in its early stages, but new texts and writers archives are being added weekly. Comments and suggestions on how to improve the site or what is valuable are always welcome. A special thanks to Graham Stevenson for all the guidance and assistance that he has lent to this project thus far. Brian Reid Marxists Internet Archive Steering Committee” http://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/sections/britain/in dex.htm Note: MIA has added Some of the biographies from Graham Stevenson’s personal website : http://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/c/a.htm#campbell-jr http://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/s/a.htm#saklatvala-shapurji http://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/p/a.htm#paul-william http://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/j/a.htm#jackson-thomas http://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/p/o.htm#pollitt-harry A pamphlet by Harry Pollitt, "Why you should be a Communist" can be found at: http://www.marxists.org/archive/pollitt/pamphlets/1945/communist.htm
And a Ralph Fox archive has also been recently created and
4
and Lenin on the British Workers’ Movement; from The Communist Oct 1920: Labour and the Intellectuals: A Criticism of the New Whigs; from Daily Worker Sep 1935: Communism’s Fight on the Cultural Front; From Labour Monthly, May 1924: Ireland To-day, Sep 1926: Fascist Imperialism, Mar 1928: The Commune of Canton
Cypriot Communists in the UK……
Fanoulla Argyrou [ fanoulla@rgyrou.com ] is a journalist and writer researching for a book on the history of Greek Cypriot communists in Britain in the 1920-30s, who is particularly interested in Evdoras Ioannides (alias Doros Alastos), and other Greek Cypriots who were involved with the British Communist Party. Evdoras Ioannides was an official or senior committee member of the British Party in the 1930s as a representative of British-based Greek Cypriots. Ioannides tos) came from Cyprus to London in 1930 joined the Communist Party in 1932, also the Transport and General Workers Union, and became a member of the Executive Committee of the League Against Imperialism. He published articles in the Labour Monthly and Daily Worker. If anyone has anything on this, or can suggest possible research directions, please advise Fanoulla and copy OH in.
Memoir…. ONE BRITISH ROAD TO SOCIALISM by Dave Alton 5
“If you’re not a communist at 20 then you haven’t got a heart!” So runs the old adage, going on to assert, “If you are a communist at 40 you haven’t got a head!” Like many old saws, this is a blunt instrument and yet it sounds a note of truth. As someone now in his fifties and still adhering to the cause I challenge the implication that my rationality must, therefore, be questionable. However, as a twenty year old my communism was definitely based on dialectical romanticism. Coming to my political senses in the radical maelstrom of the late 1960s, early 1970s, I was a revolting youth, made militant by the conservatism of my family rather than any real analysis. If there was one political philosopher who exemplified the general ideology of my family it would have been Samuel Smiles rather than Karl Marx. My lineage is of the respectable, self-improving working class that kept the front doorstep donkey-stoned, the brown glass doorknob polished and the net curtains clean. In fact everything was clean – clothes, house, kids, all thoroughly scrubbed. Proprieties were not only observed, but also strictly enforced and it was expected that the next generation would always do better than the former one. From the cotton mills of Lancashire, via commercial college into office work and on into higher education. Such was the line of descent from grandparents to me. What is obviously missing from this account is any sense of political activism or involvement. Both my parents were just too young to vote in 1945 Despite the onwards and upwards drive within my family I proved to be a distinctly average pupil. At primary school I did achieve a certificate from the Band of Hope for my essay on the evils of alcohol. However, come the 11 plus and I joined the Band of Hopeless, I failed and was duly dispatched to a secondary modern school. Actually, it wasn’t hopeless; Mansfield County Secondary Modern School (which was in Brierfield, Lancashire, not Mansfield) did all it could to give my peers and me every opportunity to progress. There were O levels and A levels on offer and my modest academic return was due purely to my own tardiness. I just didn’t want to do homework or study hard for examinations despite the vigilance and expectations of my parents, the encouragement and coercion of my teachers. One teacher in particular served me well though, through his history lessons. He furnished me with broad sweep of British history and, more pertinently, a deep knowledge and understanding of Social and Economic History. I am eternally grateful to Mr. Whitham. Politically, in hindsight, the signs did not appear encouraging. Most of my classmates showed no interest what so ever in politics, except one who was destined to follow his father into the family plumbing business. In the fifth form we discussed joining the Young Conservatives, an idea that met with approval at home. I cannot now recall why, but I never did sign on the blue dotted line. The boy in question was more acquaintance than friend so perhaps there wasn’t quite the necessary attachment. It does, though, indicate a developing interest in politics. From the age of four I had grown up on a council estate, newly built in the late 1950s. It was demographically diverse with tenants ranging from shop floor workers to factory managers, blue and white collar workers, grammar school and secondary modern kids, old people and young families. Facing us across the street were private pre-war semis, all part of one community.
6
Optimistic times indeed. This optimism was epitomised by the brother of a friend of mine going to Cambridge University, a somewhat uncommon occurrence from a Burnley council estate in the 1960s. It was, indirectly, to play a significant part in my political development. 1968, the year of insurrection in France, would see a radical change in a 15 year old. I was at my fiend’s house one evening, expecting his brother’s return from Cambridge. Phone rang: brother was going to be delayed. However, he had two friends who were coming to stay who’d already set off. Could they be met at the bus station. When my friend enquired of his brother how we might recognise the duo he was assured we would have no problems there. In Burnley in the late 1960s there were still Teddy Boys, so when the coach pulled in and disgorged a pair of very long haired, afgan and bead wearing hippies, the two characters we were looking for were indeed not difficult to spot. Their appearance though was not the significant factor. One of them had a record, an LP, “Are you Experienced” by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. From the first track I went from awkward pubescence to full-scale rebellious adolescence. So began battles with my parents, exemplars of conformity, over hair length and clothing, music and attitudes, and politics in particular. My first breach with political expectations also came from an unlikely source, the “Burnley Express”. A dour local rag reporting beetle drive scandal, shock winners of dog shows and the glories of the football team (I’d always been a claret if not a red), it had a lively letters page. One regular correspondent was a member of the Socialist Party of Great Britain and I did for a while exchange letters with him directly. I also recall a meeting advertised by the Young Communist League which I was tempted to attend, but was talked out of by my parents who must have wondered where this cuckoo chick had emerged from. I was probably easily dissuaded from the YCL, as 1968 could not have been a good recruiting year after the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia. After all, I was part of radical youth. And yet screeching guitar solos and the odd joint was not enough. Although being a rebel gave a certain frisson, and proved popular with the girls, it had to be, for me, more than just a fashion item. I began reading Marx and Engles in a rather disparate and undisciplined way: I’d acquired an anthology selected from their writings that, while giving a flavour, did nothing to suggest a coherent whole. Then came the sixth form and my introduction to, “The Black Dwarf”. One of the upper sixth was a regular reader of this paper edited by a certain Tariq Ali. For the first time I began to get a regular diet of socialist writing and my knowledge and understanding deepened. Northern Ireland was becoming a big issue and the recent rebellions in France along with the growing Anti-Vietnam War movement signalled a time for change. Significantly for me, the Cultural Revolution in China demonstrated a radical Communist alternative to the Soviet Union, one in which young people played a leading role. Harold Wilson’s Labour government had not only failed to bring about socialist transformation of Britain, but was actively supporting the USA in Vietnam as well as sending troops to Ulster. The army came into school to do a careers presentation, leaving their Landrover in the yard. The revolutionary sixth form vanguard glued their “Black Dwarf” centrefolds, declaring “Troops Out Now”, over its
7
windscreens. This was very much an adolescent action, playing at radicalism without suggesting any firm ideological foundations. Of that small group of us, one went on into the International Socialists, later the SWP, a second became involved on the anarchistic side of the Young Liberals and I went to teacher training college where I met up with members of the CPB (ML). The rest, as far as I am aware, went on to taking no further part in political activity beyond the ballot box. So, did my political development have any firm ideological under-pinning? It now seems that my family was not as apolitical as I had for a long time thought. A distant cousin doing genealogical research has found a definite red in my family bed. So, allow me to introduce Mr. William Gorman, Bristol District Secretary of the Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Workers Union, my great, great grandfather. A veteran of the 1889 “Dockers’ Tanner” strike he went on to become a leading member of the labour movement in Bristol where he organised a number of large scale disputes that won major concessions for his fellow members. It also brought him into contact and political activity with Keir Hardy. While I make no claim for the genetic transmission of political ideas and sympathies, this recently revealed lineage shows me not to be completely out of kilter with my own family. This is important as it demonstrates to me that my politics are not some personal whim, but represent a continuity with a radical tradition. No one is just an individual opting for a preference: to be a socialist is to make a choice to join with those who saw beyond the “tanner”, vitally important though that was, to the possibilities of social justice and a society in which exploitation, not the worker, has been made redundant. Is that the dialectical romanticist coming out again? Probably, but I make no apologies for it. Materialism is the tool by which I analyse and understand the past and present, and how a future might be fashioned from them. The romantic is the inspiration to act, to realise the sublime immanent within history. It allows the red heart in the breast of a twenty year old to be still beating thirty years and more later, despite the sclerosis of experience. Anyway, my immediate family background had a significant influence on my political thinking, even if not in an expected manner. The mode of though suggested by Samuel Smiles is not entirely antithetical to Marxism. The concept of self-help, while it suggests an almost selfish regard for personal progress and well being, must also be open to the conclusion that the best way to help myself is through social and political consensus. If I want a life free of the threat of war, poverty and insecurity, then that is contingent upon everyone else enjoying similar liberties. There is also a suggestion of a similar sub-protestant ethic whereby individual responsibility is best exercised through collective responsibility, where as the welfareism of social democracy can be undermining of responsibility. Those most in need are reduced to becoming dependants rather than active participants in society where as socialism demands participation in return for collective security. The self-help philosophy was a reasonable reaction to the exigencies of capitalism without being an answer to them. I suspect I am similar to many who grew up in the increasing comfort and comparative security of the 1950s and 60s who, by the 1970s, were coming to understand that capitalism had not been tamed nor reformed to the
8
advantage of everyone. However uncertain my early political development was, by 1973 I was ready for Party membership. I had moved to the North East in 1971 to attend teacher training college. There I came into contact with two members of the Communist Party of Britain (Marxist Leninist). A scrabble-bag of very Left political groupings, mainly Trotskyite, dominated campus politics, each seemingly competing to come up with the wildest, most unrealistic sets of demands and programmes. Mainly they squabbled like tom cats tied into a sack, though occasionally managing to unite for a day or two at least. One of their number was the lad who’d introduced me to “The Black Dwarf”. He’d gone on, a year ahead of me, to join the International Socialists, but I resisted their blandishments. For me, communist politics had to be grounded in the world, not just theory, however important that is. Years of anti-Soviet propaganda had had an impact on me so the CPB (ML) came as a welcome alternative. Actually, before throwing my lot in with them, I did have a brief flirtation with the CPGB. 1972 found me living in the West End of Newcastle with my girlfriend and we began spending Friday evenings at “The People’s Bookshop” on Westgate Road. These were basically political education come discussion sessions, although my overwhelming memory of those gatherings is the pervasive smell of damp. It was an old building. The spectre of Czechoslovakia still haunted those of us who were sympathetic, but wary of committing ourselves to something that might well be indefensible. In college where the political scene was dominated by those competing brands of Trotskyism, I continued to meet regularly with the couple of CPB (ML) members. China and Mao continued to be the inspiration and gradually I moved away from “The People’s Bookshop” towards what was surely destined to become the new vanguard of the British working class. In 1973 I became a probationary member of the Communist Party of Britain (Marxist Leninist). This appeared to be a decisive moment; I was finally committing myself to the revolution that may not have been imminent, but seemed a definite prospect. The Party while small was allied to the most revolutionary 25% of the world’s population being led ever forwards by Mao Tse Tung. In Europe we had fraternal links with the Party of Labour of Albania which, while rather more modest in terms of population size, none the less strove to advance the proletarian cause. While the more numerous in those radical days were the various varieties of Trotskyists, loud and flashily militant, the CPB (ML) represented the unbroken, and no doubt unshakeable, line from Lenin, through Stalin, on down to Reg Birch. Reg had finally broken with the Communist Party of Great Britain, despairing of its revisionist ways and its links with the Soviet Union where socialism was being betrayed. Since the 1956 denunciation of Stalin the CPSU had trodden the capitalist road, resulting in the Sino/Soviet split and the passing of the revolutionary baton to we Marxist Leninists. So it was it that a student teacher from a C(c)onservative background who had the dishevelled hippyish appearance that would have had him clapped in irons had he ever strayed across the border into Hoxha’s Albania found himself in the CPB (ML). I actually joined the Communist Party of Britain (Marxist Leninist) in 1973 at the age of 19, I would be 20 in July of that year. A formal
9
programme of political study was initiated, “The Foundations of Leninism” being the first classic examined. There is, of course, an obvious irony that someone who had been reluctant to join the CPGB because of the repressive machinations of the Soviet Union should embark forthwith on a political education based on Stalin’s writings. However, “Foundations” was and remains worthy of study, a copy still stands on my bookshelf, alongside “On the Opposition”. In truth my knowledge of the Soviet Union and its political development was sketchy at best, based as much on what I’d seen in the media as on any critique by the CPB (ML). Reg Birch was so obviously a man of integrity, an integral part not only of the Communist Party but a major force in the wider labour movement from his base in the engineering union. Even right wing anti-communists respected Reg. The political tactic of guerrilla struggle, fighting the fights that could be won and holding back from those that could not, made such obvious sense at a time when the left seemed dominated by demands for the grand gesture. Mass walkouts were called for, even general strikes, then come a general election the slogan became vote Labour without illusions. The CPB (ML) would have none of it; industrial action was a potent weapon used wisely and as for elections, “Don’t vote, organise” became our watchword. It had some impact as there was an outraged article in the Newcastle “Evening Chronicle” inveighing against this attack on democracy. I took part in sales of “The Worker” outside various industrial plants around Tyneside and Sunday mornings found me down at the Quayside market helping to run a stall selling CPB (ML) literature. Regular branch meetings and visits to Party gatherings in London absorbed much of my time: we even organised and ran public film nights showing revolutionary operas from China. Within college politics and the National Union of Teachers, of which I was a student member, we were able present coherent and cogent arguments that won support from others (the majority) who were not members of any political party, group or tendency. I knew an impact was being made when one evening while having a drink in the local pub I was suddenly violently verbally abused by an IS member over a stand I’d made successfully at a Rank and File conference in Durham. The author of that attack later became and remains a very good friend. He even still introduces me to others as his “Maoist mate”. In 1974 I began work as a secondary school teacher in Gateshead. I became active in the local branch of the NUT, helping to reactivate the “Young Teachers” section and being selected to attend union conferences. I suppose I was reflecting the trade union origins of the CPB (ML) and to this day it continues to base its politics within that milieu. Though the Party continued to occupy my attention, it’s influence upon me wasn’t destined to last. It was a fine structure but, to borrow from the New Testament, it was a house built on sand. In 1976 the quicksand of time claimed great helmsman. It would be accurate to say that my politics began to change before those of China. The CPB (ML) showed no signs of developing into a credible political force, and eventually even it would have to re-assess its positions. There was no dramatic break: I simply attended fewer and fewer branch meetings, became less active generally on the Party’s behalf. When it was eventually pointed out to me, quite correctly, that there was an expectation of responsibility and commitment on a Party member, I ceased
10
to be a member. I would later, in the mid-1980s, briefly re-establish contact and even attended some political education meetings, but nothing materialised in terms of resumed active membership. Like so many from a variety of Left traditions I later went on to join the Labour Party. A different sort of politics altogether prevailed, pragmatism rather than principle. There was no political education and very little theoretical discussion; practical matters prevailed. Mass leafleting, election campaigns and a plethora of meetings: “Make sure the bins are emptied!” I was told when I once raised the issue of politics. Despite a reasonable number of members, most paid their dues and took no further part. Ward meetings were sparsely attended and I quickly became Ward secretary and then a member of the constituency management committee. Heady stuff at first, meeting with the MP, helping to organise and run local election campaigns, but I was also brought into direct contact with an overwhelming degree of cynicism. I had exchanged a form of politics in the CPB (ML) in which theory and practice formed a dialectical relationship that informed policy and action, for a politics which was win a seat at any cost and damn the purpose. This was just before the advent of New Labour and it is easy to understand how it prevailed so easily. In effect New Labour was a formal recognition of what had largely already taken place. Just before the annunciation of the immaculate Tony Blair, I left the Labour Party. At no point have I ever lapsed into becoming apolitical, but neither have I committed myself to a party or group. Although I have met with and read the literature from a wide range of Left organisations, MarxismLeninism remains the foundation of my politics. As a one-time member of the “Albanian Society” I became involved for a while with the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist Leninist) without ever seeking membership. Indeed I remain in occasional e-mail contact with one of their number. I also corresponded with the “Open Polemic” grouping, but that seemed an initiative doomed to choke on its own split hairs. It has taken quite a time to begin to bring the history of the Soviet Union into perspective, along with China, Albania and other attempts to build socialism. Also my own thinking has required analysis. I now know that I began as, and remained for many years, an idealist in both senses of the word. I embraced the idea of communism rather than its methodology and hoped it would quickly, and painlessly, lead to the ideal society. This leads quickly to uncertainty when the existing models prove to be flawed: abandon some and embrace others until they too failed to meet my expectations. Growing up in a relatively affluent and liberal society can obscure the harsh realities of capitalism. Petty bourgeois thought traits, assimilated by the comfortable working class, are not easily expunged. Indeed they were rather reinforced by many of my generation taking advantage of the education system to pursue a profession rather than a trade. From council estates we became semi, and in many case completely, detached. Those, like myself, who remained committed to the socialist cause, did so in spite of the prevailing influences of suburbia. New Labour exemplifies what becomes of socialist aspiration when those influences succeed. It is now almost thirty years since I was a member of the CPB (ML),
11
although I remain a sometime subscriber to “The Worker” magazine. It has, like so many, had to reassess its basic analysis in a world so different from the one in which I became a member. Yet the only way I can make coherent sense of this present world and the three decades that have shaped it is through Marxism. At the very core of everything remains capital and people’s relationship with it. I would still describe myself as a dialectical romanticist because I am motivated by a belief in the greater potential of humanity to realise a worldwide communist society based on from each according to ability, to each according to need. There can be no timescale for this, but whatever is done now politically, how ever minor, contributes to making that society a reality. The Soviet Union has come and gone, the CPGB with it, apart from some odd organisation that continues to bear the name. This is the time to reflect and assess the history of the communism, both individually and as a movement. There must be many like myself who have had a meandering political career, yet remain basically within the communist camp. As the mainstream of British politics becomes little more than a grey amalgam unable too much more than mask social decay it is important to maintain the left alternative. As society is aging perhaps the radical banner won’t be hoisted just by the Young Communist League, but also by the Old Communist Party doddering along behind. So, in reply to Jimi Hendrix’s “Are you Experienced?” I can reply most definitely “Yes!” and I remain a communist, both heart and head. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Mann Father of a Super Union Part 1, 1856-1913 by
Terry McCarthy I recently acquired a large archive of Tom Mann's personal papers. I was struck immediately by the similarities with Tom Mann's aspirations for A Super Union Federated with International Unions and the aspirations of the amicus Unity Gazette. Over a hundred years ago Mann was warning of the coming power of the Multinationals and laid out the methods needed to fight them. His views on this were not determined simply by political theory - it was from practical experience gained over many years while working on every continent. He states that “money could not have bought the experiences and knowledge I gained by this”. Mann’s views were unfortunately not shared by the TUC, or
12
indeed his own union the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE). Tom Mann was born in Coventry in 1856 into a working-class family. Tom left school at the age of nine to begin work as a quarry worker, later taking up an engineering apprenticeship. He was one of that great band of socialist pioneers who were selfeducated, studying philosophy, economics and literature. Mann soon turned to socialism, mastering the theory before quickly turning it into practice. He moved to London in 1877 and by 1881 was a member of the ASE. His first involvement in a strike came in 1884 - by then he had joined the Marxist Social Democratic Federation alongside John Burns of the Engineers, Harry Quelch and the Marxist activist Henry Champion who were campaigning for the eight-hour day. Mann then published his pamphlet on the eight-hour day which was a universal success within the Labour Movement and soon became the basis for T U C policy. Mann soon became a leading figure in the Labour Movement and worked with such leading socialists as Keir Hardie. Tom Mann was asked to help organise the Match girl's strike of 1888 which began the New Union Movement and he began producing a socialist journal, the Labour Elector. In 1889 Mann was a prominent figure in the great Dock Strike along with his comrades Burns, Quelch, and Champion. Although they had major political and ideological differences, Mann worked closely with Ben Tillett during the strike, and together they wrote the pamphlet ‘New Unionism’. Mann worked tirelessly in breaking down the differences between the Stevedores Union, formed in 1871 and made up of predominantly Catholic Dockers of Irish descent, and Tillet. He also united the unskilled labour on the south side of the Thames, with the assistance of Tom McCarthy and Harry Orbell. In 1889 Mann was elected President of the Dock Wharf Riverside and General Labourers Union, Ben Tillett being the General Secretary. Mann worked closely with Will Thorn and the gas workers in their successful strike. Tom Mann tried to persuade Ben Tillett to merge his Union with the Gas workers, the Match girls and the legion of unions that were formed during and after the Dock Strike. Unfortunately, sectarian interests prevailed weakening the Labour Movement in the process. By now Tom Mann was a national figure. He was asked to give evidence to the Royal Commission on labour in 1894, became a
13
founder-member of the Independent Labour Party and stood unsuccessfully for a parliamentary seat in 1895. Not everybody agreed with Tom Man's viewpoint. He had many enemies on the right of the Labour Movement and was defeated in the ASE election where he stood as Secretary. However, he then became President of the International Transport Workers' Federation, which he had helped to create. Mann now started his International campaign, forming unions and preaching international solidarity and unity. This did not go down well with the authorities and he was deported from a number of European countries on the grounds of sedition. In his correspondence Mann states “I was like a man with one eye before I began to travel and experience workers' struggles in the rest of the world”. Returning to the UK in 1910 after his work in Australia where he had become organiser for the Australian Labour Party, he noted that so many of the firebrands of the 1880s had now become reformist. Mann then wrote the pamphlet ‘The way to win’, arguing that socialism could not be achieved without the trade unions playing a major role. He then founded the syndicalist education league. Despite their political and personal differences, Ben Tillett invited Mann to become an organiser in the 1911 Liverpool transport strike. Mann’s insistence that trade unions had to be political alienated both Tillett and other trade union leaders. This culminated in the Dublin strike of 1913. Tom Mann immediately went to the assistance of James Larkin, James Connolly and the Dublin strikers. However, Tillett was totally opposed to Larkin, accusing him of stealing his members. The TUC sided with Tillett and withdrew support leading to the defeat of the strike. Mann warned of the consequences. He predicted that if Labour lost it would not just be a victory for the employers but also for the extreme nationalists under the leadership of Arthur Griffiths of Sinn Fein. This unfortunately was viewed by the TUC as utter nonsense. Tom now concentrated all of his efforts in propagating the idea of one giant union in the UK, Federated to an international body. He worked closely with the American IWW on this (Mann had worked closely with Big Bill Haywood when he was in America). There is a sense of deja-vu when reading Mann’s correspondence; his argument for a Super union affiliated with unions from different nation-states is precisely the argument that the left in Amicus puts forward now. The arguments of the right-wing today mirror those of the right in Mann’s day. Tom Mann wasn't able to fulfill
14
his dream, which is one more reason why we must fulfill ours. Further reading: Dona Torr. Tom Mann Memories, Publisher Lawrence and Wishart Allen Hutt. British Trade Unionism, Publisher Lawrence and Wishart James B Jeffreys, The Story of the Engineers, Publisher Lawrence and Wishart Terry McCarthy, Dock Strike 1889, Publisher Weidenfeld and Nicholson
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Practical advice on oral history: The Oral History Society website is well worth looking at if you or your branch are preparing to collected evidence from comrades about Party history: see - http://www.ohs.org.uk/ here’s some selected details, adapted for the way `Our History’ readers might want to use the advice. Thanks to OHS and apologies for ripping this off! (Thanks, Joanna!) You can listen on the Oral History website to Professor Joanna Bornat's Inaugural Lecture: ‘Being an oral historian: the route from the margins to the centre’ Planning Before interviewing someone it's useful to have done some background research. Prepare a list of questions but be careful that this does not make you too rigid in your questioning approach. Use it as a memory jogger. Some of the best things you find out will be unexpected, and once you get started you are likely to be told some things you had not previously thought about. So it is essential to give the person you are recording space to tell you what they think matters. But don’t let the interview drift: group the topics you want to cover in a logical way. Often a chronological structure is best. Preparing questions Use plain words and avoid suggesting the answers. Rather than, "I suppose you must have had a poor and unhappy childhood?", ask "Can you describe your childhood?" You will need some questions that encourage precise answers: "Where did you move to next?"
15
But you also need others which are open, inviting descriptions, comments, opinions: "How did you feel about that?"; "What sort of person was s/he?"; "Why did you change jobs?" There are some obvious points: date and place of birth, what their parents' and their own main jobs were. It usually helps to get the interviewee talking about their earlier life, moving on to work, politics, unions, family involvement, etc. Most people find it easier to remember their life in chronological order, and it can sometimes take you two or three sessions to record a full life story. Don't over-prepare. don't use a script. Tape recorded life stories should be spontaneous. Recording Equipment There are many different makes of portable audio recorders and it helps to get up-to-the-minute advice. Most of the older analogue formats of sound recording, such as cassettes, are being phased out by manufacturers and are not recommended for new projects. For digital recording, DAT (Digital Audio Tape) is now regarded as an obsolete format and is not to be advised. Many oral historians are now using mini-disc recorders (MD) with great success. MD has the benefits of portability, hiss-free recording quality, index trackmarks, and the recorders can be relatively low cost. Their main disadvantage is that MD is a format that is unlikely to last more than 5-10 years so if the recordings are to be archived it is recommended that they are copied (cloned) onto CDR (preferably gold rather than silver CDR) which is regarded as a more viable long-term archival medium. A new type of digital recorder, known as ‘flashcard' or ‘solid state', is now coming onto the market. The signs are that it will replace MD over the next few years as prices fall. Solid state recorders work by storing digital sound as audio files on removeable memory cards known as ‘flashcards' that slot into the side of the recorder. The data can then be transferred from the flashcard to a computer in just a few moments. As with all digital recordings the sound is hiss-free and it's possible to add index track-marks. Most flashcard recorders allow you to select different levels of audio quality: the better the quality, the more computer memory space is required, and the less recording time you have on your flashcard. Archivists advise recording at the internationally-recognised standard if possible (16bit/44.1kHz). But a lower standard, such as MP3, takes up much less memory space (and therefore gives you more recording time on your flashcard before you need to download it to a computer). Whatever you decide, it is probably a good idea to back up your audio files not only onto a computer system, but also onto a gold CD-R or DVD-R. And saving audio files (such as .wav files) as ‘data' rather than ‘audio' allows a large amount of data to be stored on each disk. Obviously, as flashcard recorders create digital files rather than physical objects that sit on shelves, it is vital that all your computer systems are secure and backed up, and that careful thought is given to naming the audio files with unique numbers so they can be easily located later. Microphones Whatever recorder you decide to use it is important to use an external
16
microphone. For one-to-one interviews indoors, the best microphone is a small tie clip or lapel microphone. If your recorder is stereo and has two microphone sockets you can get two microphones - one of your interviewee and one for yourself. They can be attached discreetly to your clothing and give excellent results. For interviews outdoors a uni-directional (or cardioid) hand-held microphone is best as it will pick up less unwanted noise. Video Many oral historians favour audio for its ease-of-use, portability, and intimacy; but video equipment has fallen in price and size in recent years and formats such as DV (digital video) are becoming affordable options. Video has its benefits (for example apart from the interview itself, photographs can also be filmed for later use), but done badly it is perhaps best not done at all. And oral historians have mixed views about the impact of a video camera on the intimacy of the interview relationship. Approaching people The best way to approach someone you want to interview is by personal contact, rather than by letter. Explain your project and outline the sort of topics you might cover in your conversation. The key is to talk in terms of "a chat about the past" or a "story of your life" rather than an "interview" which can sound forbidding! It might even make for a fascinating branch meeting – for those who are interested, or if the speaker is especially charismatic but it may not suit everyone. A person's own home is often a more relaxed proposition and a one-to-one interview is best for many people. Doing the interview Choose a quiet place and try to pick a room which is not on a busy road. If you can, switch off radios and televisions, which can sometimes make it difficult to hear what someone is saying. Sit side-by-side and if you are using a clip-on microphone, put it about nine inches from the person's mouth. With a hand-held microphone place it as near as possible but not on the same surface as the recorder, nor on a hard surface which gives poor sound quality. Generally, the closer the microphone the better the results. •
• • • •
•
Don't interrupt: Don't ask too many questions. Your aim is to get them to talk, not to talk to yourself. Always wait for a pause before you ask the next question. Listen carefully and maintain good eye contact. Respond positively: body language like nodding and smiling is much better than "ers" and "ums" and "reallys". Be relaxed, unhurried and sympathetic. Don't contradict and don't get into heated debate.
Don't be afraid to ask more questions, but don't jump from one subject to another too abruptly. As well as a mere descriptive retelling of events, try to explore motives and feelings with questions like "Why?" and "How did you feel?" Remember to be sensitive and always respect confidences.
After the interview
17
After the interview is finished don't rush away. Take time to thank them and talk about yourself. It is also the time to discuss the permission for the Party to use the material recorded and how. You will often be shown some interesting old photographs, pamphlets, or documents, be clear about whether the material can be borrowed, or donated, Back at base it is useful to make a safety copy of each recording. With MiniDisc (MD) make a copy onto gold CD-R. With flashcard transfer the audio file promptly to your computer and consider making a back-up onto gold CDR or DVD-R. Create a file for each new interviewee and record details of his or her full name and date of birth, the place and date of the interview, your own name, the type of equipment you used, and, in the case of MD, the number of disks you used. Think about giving a copy of your recordings to your local library or archive. Full verbatim transcription of recordings is hugely time-consuming and expensive, and can require special equipment, but does provide an excellent guide to your recordings. As a minimum it is essential to write a synopsis of the interview which briefly lists in order all the main themes, topics and stories discussed. Finally, tell `Our History’ what you are up to!!
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Two volumes of new Party history from the CPB, allies, comrades and friends – can you help????? Authors welcome….. The volumes are planned to be published by Praxis Publishing - Overall Editorial Committee: Rob Griffiths; John Foster, Graham Stevenson. The overall title will be: COMMUNISTS AND THE BRITISH WORKING CLASS The struggle for socialism in an imperialist state
Each volume would be roughly 100-110,000 words: twenty 5,000 word essays to be done within twelve months – mostly by people who would have the materials more or less available and could meet that deadline without too much difficulty. This would produce a 250 page book at a unit cost of £4.50 for 500 and a selling price of £10. Publication date MarchApril 2008: 20th anniversary of re-establishment and 125th of Marx death. Sections or chapters without allocated authors are marked by ???? Offers to write and/or research such segments are very welcome. But expect only post-revolutionary credits as payment! The full schema and plan of the two volumes to date follows. Offers to write the segements marked ???? are very welcome. __________________
18
VOLUME ONE editor - Graham Stevenson HISTORY OF COMMUNIST PARTY IN BRITAIN 1945-1988 Part 1 - 1945-64: Chapters 1) The Battle of Ideas: the 1945-51 Labour governments and the Communist Party - Rob Griffiths 2) Post-WW2 anti-fascist struggle in the East End Steve Silver 3) The Cold War and the Bomb (British Peace Committee and CND) ???? offers? 4) The anti-colonial struggle ???? offers? 5) The fight against the Tories: the party and the Labour left ???? offers? 6) The Communist Party in industry ???? offers? (some details on apprentices and union youth committees available from Graham Stevenson) 7) The struggle against racism (Evan Smith) 8) The National Cultural Committee (1947-1956) - Philip Bounds 9) YCL – 1945-64 ???? offers?
Part 2 - 1964-70: Chapters 1) Vietnam and Apartheid ???? offers 2) The fight against the Wilson government ???? offers 3) Women's liberation ???? offers 4) Social struggles ???? offers 5) The CP and the far left ???? offers
Part 3 - 1970-79: Chapters 1) The fight against Tory policies (Fair Rents, Common Market etc.) ???? 2) The Communist Party and the Shop Stewards Movement - Kevin Halpin and Emily Mann 3) The YCL and Young Workers - Graham Stevenson 3) Labour and the Social Contract - ???? offers? 4) The national question (incl. Ireland) ???? offers 5) The fight against racism and anti-fascism – Evan Smith 6) Students – Geoff Ferres 7) Inner-party struggle – Rob Griffiths
19
8) The demise of the YCL - Graham Stevenson Part 4 - 1979-88: 1) Cruise, Trident and Gorbachev ???? offers? 2) The Thatcher-monetarist era ???? offers? 3) From Southall to Brixton, racism and the rise of Thatcherism (Evan Smith) 4) The retreat of the left ???? offers? 5) The miners strike (some material available on the CPGB and the miners’ strike’ from GS) offers on main events???? 6) Revisionism, liquidationism, re-establishment - Rob Griffiths
VOLUME 2: Editor Geoff Ferres THE PRACTICAL, IDEOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL CONTRIBUTION OF MARXISM TO BRITAIN Part 1 KARL MARX AND THE EXPERIENCE OF THE BRITISH LABOUR MOVEMENT 1) Marx and the contribution of early socialist thought in Britain 2) Marx and the British Labour Movement 1848 to the 1880s 3) William Morris, Eleanor Marx and the Socialist League 4) Theodore Rothstein and the fight against social imperialism in the BSP 1900-1920 5) Sylvia Pankhurst, suffragism and London working class politics 6) The SDF/BSP and the Labour Party 7) Connolly and the SLP Possible authors: Simon Renton, David Granville, Geoff Ferres, Jim Mortimer, Mary Davis, John Callow, offers???? Part 2 BRITISH COMMUNISTS: A HISTORICAL EXAMINATION 1) Pollitt and Dutt: a defence 2) Communists and Spain 3) Add Unemployed Workers Movement? 4) Add Communist and Imperialism (CP work on India, Ireland, Africa etc) 5) The Communist Party and the Labour Party 6) The Communist Party and the trade union movement – a special historical relationship – Roger Seifert???? 7) History of a Communist Party branch - David Grove
20
8) Communists and the British artistic tradition - Nick Wright???? 9) State-sponsored anti-Communism: the IRD 1945-1977 (GS has material on state security force interference in Communist Party; other offers?) 10) A critique of revisionist history possible authors: Kenny Coyle, Dave Morgan, Emily Mann, John Green, Will Podmore, Mike Squires, Roger Seifert, Nick Wright/Jeff Sawtell, other offers?????
Part 3 BRITISH COMMUNISTS: THE CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGE 1) The struggle against liquidationism and New Labour ???? offers? 2) Communists and the Left in the trade union and labour movement since 1988 (NB GS has lot of prepared material on T&G and its Broad Left from 1978 but some is still very sensitive!!) 3) How Communists work in broad movements: women, peace, antifascism ???? offers? 4) Communists and anti-Imperialism offers? 5) The National Dimension – the Communist Party in Wales 6) The National Dimension – the Communist Party Scotland 7) Indian Communists in Britain 8) Cypriot Communists in Britain???? Possible authors: Robert Griffiths, Graham Stevenson, Richard Hart, Steven Silver, John Kelly, Avtar Saddiq and as above, plus any offers? _______________
Finally, items for `Our History’ 5 gratefully received as always at any time; send to: graham_stevenson@yahoo.co.uk `Our History’ No 4: February 1st 2007
21