The recent development of the British Labour Party, although of deep
significance to Americans, has taken place almost without comment in this
country. It was formally established in 1900, and was then composed of
manual workers alone. In 1906, out of 50 candidates at the polls, 39
were elected to Parliament; in 1910, 42 were elected. The Parliamentary
Labour Party, so called, has now been amalgamated with four and a half
millions of Trade Unionists, and with the three and a half millions of
members of the Co-operative Wholesale Society and the Co-operative Union.
Allowing for duplication of membership, these three organizations
--according to Mr. Sidney Webb--probably include two fifths of the
population of the United Kingdom. "So great an aggregation of working
class organizations," he says, "has never come shoulder to shoulder in
any country." Other smaller societies and organizations are likewise
embraced, including the Socialists. And now that the suffrage has been
extended, provision is made for the inclusion of women. The new party is
organizing in from three to four hundred constituencies, and at the next
general election is not unlikely to gain control of the political balance
of power.
With the majority of Americans, however, the word "labour" as designating
a party arouses suspicion and distrust. By nature and tradition we are
inclined to deplore and oppose any tendency toward the stratification of
class antagonisms--the result of industrial discontent--into political
groups.
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