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Ca IraI

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Ca Ira I ALTHOUGH Parliament has onoe more passed tiirough a spasm of excitement, scarcely dignified enough to be termed a crisis, and has come out whole, the credit of the executive must have been undermined. Flare after flare follow in g each other, as they have been doing for the past two or three months, mii&t ultimately lead to a position from which the only escape will be an appeal to the electorate. Given an iota of fair play in the direction of a lifting' of the innumer- able restrictions on frtve-oxpression, we would welcome such an appeal, confident in the immu- table logic of the Socialist case against war. and confident in the programme of progressive re- form and reconstruction which the Socialist Party alone can ()ffl- I" as a cure for the many humours that the body politic. is bound to suffer from. in the debilitated state in whioh the peaCt", of to- morrow will leave it. Even on the old register, and in despite of the calculated repression, and even more calculated misrepresentation of our case we would be content to face the country on the clear cut issue of Socialism's direüt challQllg-e to its antagonistic theories and parties. And the day is rapidly approaching When that programme will have to be pronounced upon by the franchise of Britain. Perhaps it'is oven now ready to burst upon us. Indications s how that it is not so far distant. That election ahead will be the bitterest thait we have engaged in. Calumny, lies and slanders will be our portion. In place of the embittering puerilities of the "Atheistic- Free-love school that we have come to expect to emerge from the contemptible nobodies of the irresponsible propaganda societies and bodies that so mysteriously appear with press funds during elections, we shall be called upon to meet and answer a bigger and' better organised thing. The flank attacks we may still have, but they will be unnoticed in the election that finds us faced with an united press and platform opposi- tion, such as we have never known. Against all the dangers of a syndicated daily press, such as no other country has got, we have very little with which to offer resistance except the leader- ship of brave and capable men; and the enthu- siasm of an educated and inspired rank and file. Of the leadership we are already assured by the actual experiences of the past three and a half years. The men who have been able not alone to steer the barque of the T.L.P. among the rock s and shoals of the stormy waters of the times out actually to attract to that barque the refugees from the sinking ships of Liberalism and Toryism, are capable of meeting successfully the opposition that we perceive. No less sure is the enthusiasm that inspires the rank-and-file, but since it is upon this last section that we must, perforce depend most upon it is opportune now to appeal to The whole membership of the I.L.P. in South Wales to discipline itself ediu-a- tionallv for the task that must ere long be la.id upon it. Not. only the issue of war or no war; knock-out blow peace or a negotiated end of the strife, must he known from A to Z and bad, again, but. our proposals for the future of Bri- tain must bo equally well founded upon solid theory, and the practical experience of the past. Wo have heard it said by good Socialists, at least reputed good Socialists, that rather than the muddle- of the post-war years as an active party in the Government of the land, they would prefer a political inactivity in the House of Commons, and a critical activity on the plat- forms of Britain. Such an expediency is not even counsel of perfection. It. is the. expression of moral cowardice. Our Socialism is not fair- weather Socialism is not. an opportunist doctrine practicable only under normal conditions, and guaranteed smooth running times. If we as the most active section of the greater Labour Party arc not prepared to face the rough work ahead with a workers'* programme making for the Social state; our opponents will not be so weak a.,7 to refuse an opportunity of governing for the benefit of themselves and the foundation of the Servile state. Most Socialists have always felt that it was out of a time of wrath and wrack that the consciousness of out programme would orme to the people at large: that the vast ma- jority of untrained men and women in the nation would only turn to a party that, spoke to them in terms of ideals which they never paused to comprehend, because the pressure of the econ- omic situation had ojiened their eyes through hunger and suffering. That rime i, upon us. and none but the faint-hear red will in-si rate to buckle on the helmet, and take up the Cru- sader's mace. But. if the Crusade is to lead to sanity and advancement it must h. a crusade based not upon the enthusiasm of a transcen- | dental moment, out the enthusiasm of a great cause that was fOllDtkd in The far back days of history, and that has blazed continuously as the beacon light to Ctopin from the days of and Plato, through the times of More and Bruno to the day- of Marto and Morris: that has at last emerged from the sphere of Utopian dreams-—the philosophic jjerfection of classic economy, and the perfect sociological reflex or scientific methods and experience in the organic world of the laboratory. Chily the neophyte would be, a.fra.id of trusting the future to a system that, assimilates all true experience: that com pro fiends all knowledge within its sphere, and that is as true in Japan as in Britain, in Germany as in Russia.. It is because without Socialism the muddle can only h-ad to chaos, and anarchy arid heart-break, and revolution, t,nat the Socialist dared not shirk his task: that Socialism is called upon to face the work of clearing the litter. To work then. The time is all too short, the task herculean. He who is worthy the cause must be prepared at any mo- ment. There is no room for the sluggard. It is not sbouters that Socialism calls for to-day. but for men conscious of their manhood and alive to responsibilities; and women to en- courage by their endeavour, to he inspired bv the future life of the nation—the childhood that that it- to t)c,. Let us then even now start, out on the sphere or propaganda for the next election; make sure of your vote to-day, your neighbour to-morrow, and his vote the day after. Your lives are sanctified ,ci an ideal, realise your worth in the results of the ideal.

I Dick Wallhead at Large i

i Mr. Hyndman Annoyed I

50,000 Allotment Holders Want…

D.O.R..A. Still Active.

The Freedom of the Press