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The Albert Hall Demonstration, SEE PAGE 2
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O'Grady = Thorne Russian Holiday. SEE PAGE 2
.The Public Demonstration.I
The Public Demonstration. I Phillip Snowden and the Meaning of Russia. I J. R. Macdonald and the Perils of the Servile State. I Enthusiastic Overflow Meetings. J LHEDS, Sunday. j {K??? is a city of conferences this week. In htl{)n () the I.L.P. Conference in the Albert ll, which by the way, seems to be its local 44d 110 ? real name; there is a gathering of Shop A^ ssistant delegates in one of the hotels, ^!veraI of the religious people are having S?a?enngs of their own bodies. To us, however, ?rest centres in the Albert Hall. The Leeds tea? Y??? ?'?? ?? out for one reason, ex- ;nal ??he conference from a. Party point of W X YJ, Ugh there are not lacking indications that 0an mside view it promises to mark an imn™ T»ove forward—and that is, that at a Ule when the railway service has been mutilated to a maximum inconvenience ■ and fares taIsed by 50 per cent. in days of financial tight- U(*r branches have found it possible to send b-the branches have found it possible to sen d 0061'i representation than was the case at tle last year. We shall not know defimwly Until t/? o-morrow's count what the actual repre- ntation ?? be, but ?° this (Sunday) morning ss j,a^es who have arrived total thirty more ?hail were present on Tyneside in 1916. Taking into eonsideration the membership we must have ?? + through the Military Service Acts, thi? is sign of the progression of I.L.P.ism ??- Hg the year that has passed. 1 The Leedš Conference Committee seems to kat ij"ne its work very well, under trying local 1"Curnstances Its arrangements for the housing b the delegates are P??tion, there has not Wmsl!-htest hitch so far. Thev" did us well too, l9a,,t night in the social evening in the Alhm-+ Hall; but the private gathering of dele- s»a+flh there this morning has demonstrated that, Lu.v well fitted the circular hall may be for da]qces,its ?coustic properties are atrocious and Ing is bad) too'When Mr. Anderson, M.P., ,'as speakin, froin the platform it w.s most re? f *1^? i ai whole sentences coming back ? m et-h ? ?'??'!v d?a?ed ps ti?s? echoes "h' )'" t' eary 0fie 11'1 J.y'e(,"lO(jS &h. lcll gave us Buh delight whfJl1 a8 chIldrel we th out.ed undr railway arches. The speeches from be ?ody f the hall, were badly blurred; so ^adlv I times that it was impossible to grasp thp I?ts, a very bad augury for the coming Wo <lays ?? earnest effort. Th meeting's gathering was purely informal, d ? the uual way I should have made no more tha *1 a PassinS reference to it: but it has had one Mound meaning to me. One part of the ?. °U 1IScu;slon took the lines of an attempt to articu- ate the desire of the movement nationally for a. r ?? '?tement of our position in view of the flux Ith ???'? Labour, in common with all other ll1?Ye!uents, finds itself to-day. I had the im- }>lRf1011 that South Wales was' more apostate tha°"?' section of the countrv. on the ?qnt'f?o?n ? of the relationship of the I.L.P. to the dnstrial side of Delnocraev but this move has ma e'S1£ nificant to me from the stress which has been ?? on this aspect of our future by ïlats Hho spoke in the dialects of Scotland, ,,qi- klllre" Lancashire, and the Midlands. Wh<. '?? ?dustry is strong there it would ap- ,1 tl this groping towards a more definite '1 lat this groping- towards a more e me it>ression of the fundamental atttude of the 'L -[, ??ards industry is beginning to articu- at" Its(-?lf There is no dennite bias towards any I';c 001, I' d tl t '}10urs sch *—' there is a vagueness that s h ows that T.L ??tude has been assume d more in ac- c'ord w?l a historic development still largely in- ?bher i ?t? than from a definite propaganda along Q? aUv i 'UeS- This is all to the good. I should 0 "lot aiiv ephemeral dogmatising on any school? of th Ou'llt Just now; but from this very seeking, fS I SeekIng earnestly without the wor ds of any '^hoof ,01j the lips of the speakers, I in?er a really ht.aiTL ???' If we ?'?? solve this problem cor- '^ctlv 'i ??* virility will be tremendously en-' ?no? and despite the hugeness of the problem per J°^l that the future will give us a pro- thig solution. Of course nothing can be done with t?ig ti m here now, but the theme will oc- ?Pyn''? :'? ttenti(m of delegates wherever they tn? '=' "11 be I' tiltjl(?so next few days, and views will be mod i- fied "lid expanded or restricted through con- ??nr? ef???' ??? ?'"? this the branches should \Viefit g;reatl;y, Ultinwteh., the problem will 1v*itlinn4- doubt have to go through the sge of •ence discussion, and possibly of bi Con t (?l.,Qnee d i scuss i on, ii?ii, d p,ossib l v of a, st?ec)) ???1 conference: or a Commission. The trr(1. ?S is that we are travelling in the b«t direction. ? ?? h'ave this meeting reinvigoratcd SHd st??"?"ed in your faith and more con- ?t'ln?i Yon have been 'hitherto, not onl in the soun ? ?? have been hitherto, not only in the sm,«riS(>S the economics of Socialism, but the qiialiti(?s of Socialism, not only as ?PPlied .1 t? L" ?"?? '?'t also to International  thf. .<3 1 :1 1\[ 'I) ?Pcken ??? otTom Hw JanSOll it" spoken froiiV^+ile.Inain platform of the Gn:at A,lb(, Hall "??" platform of the Great A.)bprt IIallt.}t?'?-??' 'sum up. but all too m- 3'dequa.telv ""P?ssiou that came to everyone ?''t'scnt. -1 One ?'?y looks for some compari- ?on by which 1' ?d tl one fi Rive of t 18 splnt en HlSlaSn }.. M tll  that 1 1?S? evaile(1' and I am ior: ^nate in t lat un tJ h 1T waf at ??-t?, the oth(?rs here I wa, it 1-1(-'tthyratthe' 1 Ch'eat Peaee + Jhey all hem declCft^^ +}, Sr?test meeting they a.Vf' t, ] .1,' } e gHAt ,ioj ill tulCcr -itller at P?'?'? eonfenmces, or ? heJ 1;,olle ('?n:->tltllf'llcies: and I should P1^  Dem0nstrat,0" .Pea,(-e I)eii,ion,ti-ation y tlie most inspi I'!l]g Ineetillg: I JuHe ever sat ;n ™ spirit of lng\Vew spirit, the spirit of takers st-nicill +1' 't I' ?dhk tc ?P"i?? ?of' ? ? aiid iences re- J rnS a perfect machine, ,? „ ?'sc"?d, not. a ia.r anywhere. 'h(').c Alb?? t ? H 11??" wil1¿nl: scat ome ( ?500 ? or SQ, ■in i once the doors had been opened y this was quickly occupied; and the overflow turned into the lower hall, which also was packed; and from the first note of Hardie's wording to the "Hen Wlad fy Nhadau," sung by Ivor H. Thomas, to the closing thunder of the dying notes of the Red Flag," two hours and a half later, the demonstration was a homo- genous whole; expressing itself through the various speakers perfectly and naturally. Nor have our I.L.P. leaders ever been in better trim. Casey," too, seemed more perfect than ever that master-virtuoso has ever seemed to me; a.nd his music sounded sweeter and greater than did that of Kubelik when last I heard him; because Casey," too, was striking the international note of music; with a meeting already vibrant with the greatness of International Humanity. Ben Riley occupied the chair, and very sensi- bly curtailed his speech to a well-worded, sin- cere ringing note of congratulation on the stead- fastness with which we have stood by our prin- ciples during the terrible years that our last three Conferences have been held in. He congra- tulated our Russian comrades on their splendid fight for the principles for which we were fight- ing in this country; and to enthusiastic cheering pointed to our M.IVs and congratulated them on the fight that they were making for the same principles. Mr. F. Jowett,- M.P., touched a note that sunk deep I into the hearts of the gathering by his opening reference to Hardie. If he had been here to-night," he said, "feeling as he would in that great heart of his a profound sor- row for those young men who have gone to the slaughter in this war, feeling, also, sympathy with those who have suffered for their convic- tions by imprisonment and by various methods of torture, he would have been the man to have voiced the feeling of this great meeting." Turn- ing to the war Comrade Jowett pointed out how when it Commenced thfi I.L.P. felt that it had been brought upon the world by secret intrigu- ing, and how time had been served to confirm that belief. Shall it go on longer? he asked, a,nd a deep reverberant "No! spontaneous and unanimous, gave the answer. There was a gleam of hope which grew bigger day by day it was that which came from Russia. (Cheers.) In that land which had been crushed under despotic tyranny a spirit of righteous revolt against the domination of the ruling class. TlWt had brought the war nearer to a settlement than it was be- fore; but that was not all. It was merely the expression of a spirit of independence and revolt that was passing over the peoples of Europe; and that was arousing the feeling that this was not a war of the peoples but a war of the rulers. (Cheers.) We in this country had been fortu- nately placed, in so far, as, .although wages had not risen proportionately to the cost of living, we had had the blessing (?) of plenty of work, and so the meaning of the war did not, come to us in the same force as it did to the peoples of the Continent. In France the minority against the war would grow week by week and would soon be a majority. In Germany, Russia, and Italy the same spirit was in evidence, and if we here would only learn by observation instead of experience, we too should feel its revitalising force. (Cheers.) We in this country were sink- ing under a mountain of debt; we were gradually going in pawn to the United States, and the position would be that after this war the nation would be suffering under intolerable burdens. When these lessons came home it would be seen that the I.L.P. would have saved the nation. (Cheers.) We had no doubts in our minds, we could have none, that our position was the right one. (Cheers.) We would go on to the end; and when the war was over the world would see that our position was vindicated, and would realise what it owed to the I.L.P. (Loud cheers.) Philip Snowden, whose rising was so greeted with cheers, that for over three minutes, he could only stand and smile at the standing, cheering crowd, reminded the audience that it was now 20 years since the I.L.P. Conference had visited Leeds, and that we were still as full of hope, and still as firm as when the Conference was last here. (Cheers.) Discussing the war he said that the I.L.P., consistent with its prin- ciples, could have taken no other attitude on the war than the one it had taken. (Cheers.) We had not been concerned with the popularity or unpopularity of our attitude. All that concerned us was whether our attitude was right. (Cheers.) The attitude of the I.L.P., in spite of the calumny which the nation would sooner or later regret, was the righteous attitude to have ta,ken during this great time of international crises. (Cheers.) Touching upon the disappointment of Socialists at the failure of the International to prevent this war, Mr. Snowden said that the Russian re- volution had revived our faith in the Interna- tional. (Cheers.) While the people of Russia- in this war had overthrown their autocratic rulers the people of this country had quietly and almost without a protest permitted their traditional liberties to be taken away from us. Every one of the liberties of which we were so proud had been either destroyed or very materially curtailed. And yet we had been sending messages to Rus- sia, on the liberation of its political prisoners, while thousands of Englishmen were, being kept in prison because they had the courage to stand fast by their principles. (Cheers.) While our men had been sacrificing their lives in fighting for liberty abroad, the governing classes at home -alwa:rs' alive to the possibility, of promoting and strengthening and safeguarding their own interests—had been filching the liberties of the people away. (Shame.) This was always so in a time of war. And we had by no means got to the end of it yet. He thought he heard an ob- servation that these things were only for the duration of the war. He hoped no one was so foolish as to harbour a delusion of that sort. We had the greatest fight before us that had ever faced the Democracy pf this country-to get back the industrial and civil liberties we had lost. (Cheers.) And what had happened in Russia was likely to help us in that fight. Two invaluable things were likely to come from this Russian revolution. One was its effect upon the duration and the settlement of this war. If the terms of, settlement of this war had to be ar- ranged by the people who made this war, then it was perfectly certain that this would not be the last of wars. (Cheers.) There was only one kind of settlement which could ensure a lasting peace after this war-not a peace made by dip- lomats or rulers, but a peace made by the peoples of the nations. (Cheers.) He thought that the Russian revolution was going to ensure a peace of that character. All the autocratic rulers and thrones of Europe were trembling to-day. The Red Flag floated over the Czar's Palace at Petro- grad. (Cheers.) There' were signs that before long it would float over the Kaiser's Palace at Potsdam. (Cheers.) Then it remained for the people of this country to overthrow the equally autocratic Lloyd George-Northcliffe dictatorship. (Cheers.) To-day the great cry of the Revolu- tion of 1848 resounded once more through the world-" Workers of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but your chains. You have a world to win." (Cheers.) To Russia had been given the privilege of leading the nations in this great new Democratic movement; and it was because he believed that was going to be the result that he said Long live the Russian Re- volution." (Cheers.) Miss Isabella, of Ford, that veteran advocate of the woman's movement and International Socialism, dwelt upon the great part which the I.L.P. has played in the formation of the Demo- cracy of Britain, and in particular in forwarding the woman's movement. The success of the Rus- sian revolution she attributed to the fact that the whole race—women and men-hoo played their part in it. The I.L.P. was the only hope for the future that we had; and it was a hope that would never leave us; it was absolutely sure, because it was founded on the equality of men and women. With the men and women united in the great cause of Freedom, then we would have the greÆt new Democracy. That alone could save the world, therefore, she stood for all that the I.L.P. stood for. M. W. O. Anderson, M.P., opened with a scathing indictment of the autocracy of our present government, and proceeding to a discus- sion of the Russian revolution opined that it would be well if we in this country could take a purely unselfish and disinterested interest in the Russian revolution, instead of always lee- turing the workmen in Russia as we did to-day. Revolutions were infectious. This thing could not stop where it was, and he would be glad in- deed to see every country following the lead the workmen of Russia had so nooly given., (Cheers.) Snowden had said that one liberty after another had been taken away from us. Why ? Beeause the people had been held in a kind of evil spell. The people had said in effect U/Wa are not mas- ters; these governing classes /are the masters." The workers must learn to say "These would-be despots are our servants, we, the people, are the masters." (Cheers.) Surely the moral of Rus- sia, was that in the last resort the people would not be saved by shell and shrapnel from without but from courage and resolution from within. (Cheers.) This great wind that was blowing )?,a?,? going to clear the minds of the people of many lands. He trusted that the wind would clear from this country the evil industrial and political power, so that working men and women should not be healots any more, but would be free men and free women in a free land. We were going to live through two or three years of difficult fighting. Reaction might triumph for a time, but those who were fighting for right of con- science and conviction were bound to win in the end because they stood for what was right and; true. (Cheers.) "I ask you to be of high cour-j age and good cheer, and to respond to our Social- ist message and appeal. Socialism will be re- quired more than ever after this war than before. Nothing can save our nation from destruction after this war is over except Socialism. The old roads of social reform are blocked for a genera- tion to come, if we tried that alone; but we are going to open new roads. (Cheers.) A suggestion was received from the body of the meeting that a iriessage of congratulation should be sent to the Russian comrades, and the following telegram was drafted and passed with great enthusiasm, and absolute unanimity:- Great mass meeting in Leeds sends greetings and congratulations to Russian people, and suc- cess to International Socialism." (Cheers.) Tom Richardson, M.P., heartily associated himself with this expression. He condemned the hypocricy of our Government in congratulating the people of Russia, vhen the very people who had been deposed by the Russian Democracy were the very people with whom our Diplomats, poli- ticians and statesmen had been in collision and alliance. The time was not far distant when the Democracy of this country would attach to that fact the value and importance it deserved, and it would ultimately be brougut home to the minds of our so-called politicians and statesmen. He made a strong appeal for all non-members of the I.L.P. to attach themselves to the movement which had room for all. Mr. J. R. Macdonald, M.P., whose reception, like that of Snowden, was remarkable in its en- thusiasm and length, said We have come once more together at Easter-time. We tome in like twittering sparrows; like, a small still voice, drowned in a tremendous clamour of passion, to remind the people of Etgland, Scotland, Wales ?l? ca, l le( i C l )'.Ist-- and Ireland that there was a man called Christ— (cheers) that^ere is* a Gospel embodied in the New Testament,, and tlut this is a faith called Christianity. (Cheers.) 'That is all. we want to do. (Cheers.) We wam from that recollection to build up some fabric of political wisdom, and wé want to say to th?<; people. Friends all these phrases and professions of yours, that are the great literary and spiritual inheritance of ours are not'"18^ words. (Cheers.) If it has been said and if you have preached times with- out number in days gone by that the nation that draws the sword shall fall by the sword, that is not merely a verse from Scripture; that is an experience of humanity. We say to them: "How can you imagine that you are serving your Master by preaching hate, and by worship- ping the force which He told you was the crumb- ling fabric of every state. Do you believe in human love, or do you not believ(e in human love? Do you believe that the peoples of Europe quarrel together over some real issue, or do you not? Do you believe that the human heart, un- trammelled by underhand policies, and unimbued by class interests, would have caused the armies of Germany and the armies of France and of Great Britain to meet in deadly conflict on the fields of Belgium an d of .France If you do go and revise your Scriptures, for they are a lie! (Cheers.) If you don't; then don't degrade the Universal God of your Christianity until He is nothing but an idol worshipped as people wor- shipped Dagon in times gone bye." (Cheers.) That is our Good Friday message. That is the message that has brought us together three times during the war to counsel together, to talk to- gether, to commune together, and to go away with our faith in Socialism, and our trust in the I.L.P. renewed for another year. Every time we have met our faith has been renewed with good reasons. (Cheers.) We have to tell you to move for increases in every direction; wherever the flag of the I.L.P. has fioated out freely and boldly to the winds of heaven it has attracted to itself men and women, and to-day the Party is stronger, more united and more determined than it has been at any previous time. (Cheers.) And it is not merely members we are attracting—we are getting quality as well as quantity. (Cheers.) The men and women who are coming to us are the men and women of independent spirit and good conscience:, the men who say to authority "Prove your rightness before we trust you"— (cheers) ;L-t-he men who hold in their keeping the key to the traditions of Liberty which are the most precious inheritance and possessions of this land of ours. (Cheers.) In this spirit we asked our Russian comrades to allow us for a moment to stand side by side with them in celebrating their joyous deliverance from a despotism that our Government has been bolstering up for the last few years. (Cheers.) There is one thing that we will have to re- member, that as a result of this war the govern- ing authorities will have to offer us advantages. When Bismarch fought Socialists in Prussia lie did not merely break their heads; he offered them a kind of Socialism. Beware! beware of the Socialism that is a kind of Socialism. (Cheers.) Our heads will .not merely be broken our liber 1-4 will not merely be taken h-way Edward Carson will not merely be sent to the Cabinet; the right of free speech will not merely be suppressed. No! The modern tyrant offers the Democracy something to keep it quiet whilst it is rivetting the chains upon its wrists and ankles. It offers it something that it believes it has been striving to get all the time of its existence. He will offer it office and call it authority; he will offer it place and leave it to believe that it has got influence; he will offer it titles spoken of as distinctions; he will offer it bureaucracy and say—Socialism. (Cheers.) We are not having that—(loud cheers)—Socialism is as far removed from Militarism and Bureau- cracy, as it is removed from Herbert Spencer in- dividualism. As a matter of fact, if the only al- ternative is the Socialism of the Military State and the Socialism of the Bureaucratic State and Herbert Spenser Individualism, I will take the latter. (Cheers.) If individual responsibility is going to be summed up merely in giving obedi- ence to some central authority, then I say that the stifling moral influence of such a State, let its economics be what it likes, is so damaging to everything precious in human personality that it ought to be fought at all costs by every think- ing man and woman. (Cheers.) There is another danger we shall have to face, especially during the time of reconstruc- tion. They will try by rouying certain trades to sell the whole Labour movement. Now our im- provement of humanity, is not the improvement of certain trades. We belong not to a trade movement, but to the Labour Movement. (Cheers.) We belong to a movement that em-, braces in its scope the child newly born at the one end, and the man tottering over the brink of his grave at the other end. (Cheers.) We in-I elude the unorganised women as well as the highly organised skilled workmen; we include the feeble, halt, maimed and blind as well as the robust and strong/and the healthy. (Cheers.) Labour to us is humanity—not a section of hu- manity. (Cheers.) They may go to a trades union and say to that union If you make your peace with your exploiting capitalists you can share the swag; we will allow you to put your wages up, nay, we will go further, we will see that your wages are put up; we will not al- low your employers to cut down your wages; we will fix by our authority a higher standard of wages. But the quid pro quo is this, that you will accept, say, Protection; something that will enable us to impose upon the backs of the whole of the poor consumers the larger part of the cost of this war." Then I say that the well- being and the interests-selfish as they are—of that body of men will never bribe us to accept that thoroughly unjust, immoral, and unjusti- fiable anti-Socialism. (Cheers.) Socialism to us is the building up of a great fabric of peace, happiness and joy, and because of these things a great fabric of beauty. Socialism to us is the idea which when carried out in Society will make men and women free. Socialism, to us is not an order of authority which crushes individualism and subordinates humanity. (Cheers.) Mr. j. Bruce Glasier in a fine closing speech examined the .International which he declared, would have prevented this war had we had an- other five or ten years. But great as had been its apparant failure; it had not been, quite so complete as was commonly supposed, for to-day our International stood for all that was clean- est and purest in the world. He briefly but clearly covered the various countries, showing that a solid nucleus of the International had stood true to Socialist principles. We might re- gret that the International had failed to do what we had hoped but it was not the only force that had failed, the churches, diplomacy, art and science and education, and, above all, militarism had failed; and we could still say in the face of the world that the International stood to-day for all its effects, and with all its faults as the great- est light and hope for Democracy and Freedom in the world. LBEDS, Monday. The business of the Conference proper, was preluded this morning by a fine speech of welcome voiced by Mr. Stone, on behalf of the Leeds Federal Conference; whose oration was intensi- fied in its appeal from the fact that he was blind. It was a speech of fine hope, and com- radeship, which also were the notes struck by Mr. Harold Clay, Persident of the Leeds Labour Party, and, I think, a B.S.P.er. From the latter's speech I inferred that Leeds has some- thing in the nature of an unique Labour Party, which is doing the work here, that ordinarily falls to the lot of Socialist bodies in other parts of the country, and that the consequence has been that the I.L.P. has not benefitted numeri- cally as it might hase done. The usual preliminary business of elections having been disposed of Mr. Jowett gave his third chairmanic address as follows — For the third year in succession I rise to ad- dress the annual conference of the Independent Labour. Party during the progress of the war. Two years ago, when we met in conference at Norwich, the extent and the horrible character of the war had already surpassed the world's record in such calamities. It has spread further and increased its horrors since then, and its end is mot in sight. The total casualties are now estimated to amount to 23,000,000. The killed are estimated to number 4,820,000, and the dead from wounds and other causes 3.740,000—a total loss of life of 8,290,000. A great man-made world event of such over- whelming magnitude and importance as this compels all thoughtful people to define their at- titude in relation to it. Especially is this true of all those who belong to the nations at war. All other events are small in their relative im- portance whilst this slaughter goes on. Every individual citizen in all the belligerent nations carries a share of responsibility for every lifeo that is spent, and it is, therefore, the first duty of every citizen to define his or her attitude to- wards the war. For this reason I cannot bring my mind on thia occasion to the consideration of questions which at other times I should be glad to discuss. The war itself has ripened for discussion some of these questions to which I refer, and cleared away many misconceptions concerning tbc?u that a,K,a?,, many mls(IOD("L?ptl oi"L'S (,()ncerning thc-ii that ownership of raw materials and the me4nof production and transit is one of these. The need for organisation of industry on a, self- governing basis is another. It is, of course, true that even now, whilst the war goes on, thought should be given to these things, and care should be taken to profit by the experience which the testing time of war has afforded us. Your National Council fully realise this, and is giving thought to these things, but in my place to-day a declaration of faith on the great issues that divides ws from our fellow- countrymen who support this war. and who wish to continue it for the objects stated in the re- ply of the Allies to President Wilson is neces- sary. Not to fulfil this duty, especially at this time, when that great nation, the United States, which has hitherto been neutral, has joined the Ibelligerents, would be disrespectful to those who rje l l'g,erents, wou l d be d i  disagree with us, and even more so to those whose lives are being demanded of them. We who believe that our Government did a great wrong when it led the nation into this war, and who declare to the world our belief that the war might be ended now, may well be ex- pected to say how our position is affected by the statement of President Wilson in favour of the United States entering the war. I have no hesitation in answering this expecta- tion so far as I am concerned. The first thing I would point out is that if the Government of this country had been as careful to keep the na- tion informed in the years preceding the war concerning the nation's affairs as President Wil- son has been, there would have been no secret ties to bind us to the corrupt late Russian Gov- ernment, now-thanks to the Russian people with whom we rejoice at their great deliverance —deposed. Indeed, I will go further, and say that but for secret ties which bound the British Government through France and separately on its own account to the corrupt late Russian Government, that Government with all its cruel oppression would have toppled into the dust years ago. In this connection it is well to observe that, although the war has been the means finally of destroying the despotic Russian autocracy (to which the British Government had secretly tied itself and the British nation) the war cannot be justified on that account, because it would have been infinitely less wasteful of life to have with- held the loans we advanced in defiance of the wishes of the leader's of the Russian people nine years ago. The Russian Government would then have been compelled to make terms with its own people to save itself from bankruptcy. We de- nied the people of Russia their revolution then, as France had previously denied it to them. It is my belief that the British Government would have denied them it again on this occasion if it had been possible. President Wilson says of the German people that "it was not with their knowledge or ap- proval this war was entered upon by Germany. The German people were not consulted by their rulers." This is our case also. The British people were never informed of the secret ties which bound the British Government to enter this war until the Government was called upon to honour its secret obligations. It was too late then. The little group of ambitions men had. led the nation into war. The American people have not been led into war that way. It is no secret- commitment that has led America into war. It was the defiance by Germany of an open and definite declaration that if American ships were sunk and American citizens were deliberate- ly drowned America would retaliate. If the Bri (Continued on Page Q.