political party bounces in and tries to do something that undoes nine-tenths of what the industrial side has done. [This sally was met with cheers.] If it is an industrial question, it must be dealt with by the Industrial Council, and any help that the political party can give must be given through that Council. Both sides have their work to do. The industrial man must devote his whole time to his job, and the political man should do the same."
Evidently, then, there were real differences between the two groups. The recent Labor Government was sharply criticised in the debate. Nevertheless, the discussion resulted in a compromise.
One matter, however, was made perfectly clear. From Harry Pollitt of the Boilermakers on the extreme Left, to Thomas and Clynes on the extreme Right, the spokesmen for British Labor told the "capitalist press" in so many words, and to its teeth, that there would be no split. As there were perhaps a hundred press men in the hall the labor men had a good inning.
17. Powers of the General Council
Another question of organization which led to a great deal of discussion centred around the proposal to give the General Council power to levy assessments on the constituent members of the Congress, to call and to direct general strikes, and to require affiliated unions to make such alterations in their rules as were necessary to legalize these new powers. The resolution, if carried, would have given the General Council an amount of centralised power heretofore unknown in the British Trade Union Movement.
Arguing that "it is necessary that extended powers be given to the General Council" for use in emergency, I. Floyd of the Vehicle Builders moved the resolution. T. E. Naylor of the London Compositors retorted with an amendment denying any present increase of powers to the General Council.
Cook, Secretary of the Miners, was on his feet. He thanked the Congress, in the name of the Miners, for the help that the General Council had given them in July. But, he argued, the July crisis had merely proved the need of larger powers for the Council. "The time has long passed," he declared, "when any one union in any one industry can settle its disputes apart from the whole Labor Movement. We have reached a stage when one union, in negotiating agreements, is bound to affect other unions. For that reason all agreements should terminate together.
"Be realists," Cook insisted, "and understand that it is only power that counts. Is there any fear that the General Council
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