1941-06-12 — Page 7

THE CHINA MAIL, JUNE 12, 1941.

CHINA MAIL

WINDSOR HOUSE

BRITISH VS. GERMAN

LABOUR

the

Wartime control of labour Britain frequently has faced charge that it represents a com- promise with the regimented methods of Germany. This is a shallow assessment of Britain's labour policy. It is drawn on the basis of outward manifestations similarities in labour tendencies which exist under any War economy.

fals lu underlying differences in the den.ocratic and totalitarian labour systems.

perceive

But

decisive

The distinction is clearly porth- ed out in a current international | Labour Office survey which shows that ruthless subjugation of the rights of workers is a matter of] permanent German policy. It wes almost fully developed before wä began, as # has e part of the National Socialists' internal pre- gramme.

The diametrically opposite natures of the two labour sys- tems, however, is nowhere more clearly apparent than

then

respective leaderships. When Dr Robert Ley took office in 1933 h Arst act was to wipe out the labour unions in Germany. Since then

he has steadfastly pursued a policy

tions, employment policy, and hours of work under State control. He himself ries little authority beyond that of a servant of the Nazi State, He owes his power to Herr Hitler.

14

м

COMMONS DEBATE

A sufficient quantity of MILK daily is

necessary for the maintenance health & energy -

CRITICISM

SPEECH

IN THE COMMONS

YOU MAY TAKE IT FROM ME,

Mates

Fire Watchers

On the

gradually

which has abolished workers' When the system of fire-watch- tree, moving slightly in the wind it. Fire-engine bells and ambul- rights and brought labour rela-ing was introduced in London, I and

ance booters were clamouring, growing fainter.

and through it all the stutter of wages volunteered For duty in my Suddenly the houses on one side machine-guns firing tracer bullets rigid suburb, and now I spend three of the road were silhouetted at the flares, We climbed to the

I shall car nights a week patrolling a road against a

pever white glare from

top of the hill. the

forget the sight that met our incendiary ground. look-out for

Incendiaries had been eyes. To the west the huge fire bombs. Each road in the district dropped, some miles away from bathed sky and earth in its lurid has its own organisation and rota us. Mure parachute flares and glare, while to the east freshly dropped incendiaries lit the city for fire-watching and the hours another white glare, then another, with a white-blue glare, stain-

the sky ing of duty depend on the number of and another

a deep blue, in and we knew

The sharp contrast to the red. In our road the night that it was going to be a "bad stars were outshone by the is split up into four shifts of night.” The fire-watchers gave

bursting shells, the streams of three hours each, and the wat- the alarm with their whistles and parachute flares, hanging like red tracer bullets and clusters of householders rushed out to deal onions on with the bombs. But to the west,

a string in groups of As many us fifteen. Gun flashes what had been a tiny pin-point showed us a network of smoke of white light suddenly burst into trails left by the 'planes, like a flame and spread quickly. It

huge cobweb,

Mr. Ernest Bevin, on the other hand, possesses authority to-day chiefly because he is a trusted union leader. He beurs a record] of long years of service, first as a dockyard union member, and later!

volunteers.

chers go out in twos.

was

My first night on duty as a union leader fighting for and very dull. The warning had gone, developing the rights of workers. but there was a thick mist and

He is the servant of the British we heard no 'planes or gunfire at people. He owes his power ulti- mately to British workers.

all. We walked up and down the road, making sure the black-out was perfect, and inspecting water To-day Mr. Bevin is shaping buckets and bags of sand, and I government policy towards labour learnt the numbers of the houses along the lines of a democratic where I could find stirrup pumps heritage, If the right to strike and ladders and poles for poking and to bargain collectively has the bombs out of gutters.

been

placed temporarily under government supervision, and it workers have been drafted to comply with the urgent needs industry confronted by a national crisis, it is with the cooperation of the trade unions and their work ers, and not through any change

in Britain's labour structure.

By Ursula Heather

looked as though a timber yard bad caught fire. Soon the inferno The next night, however, was was a quarter of a mile long and much more exciting.

we were caught in the red glare I was just so that the whole

of the street finishing my evening meal when was lit up with a macabre light, the warning went. I snatched up and people looked like black my tin helmet and whistle and devils.

As we watched, there was a sudden rushing sound, and thou- sands of incendiaries fell across the city in long lines. It seemed ឆន though the rushing would never end as the white glares came nearer and nearer. A tin- hatled Home Guard shook his Ast

at the sky and shouted, "Swine!" I clutched my whistle tighter. They

explosive incendiaries, and shot up thou- sands of little stars, sounding like machine-guns as they exploded one after the other. At last the rushing sound stopped and, com- pared with it, the noise of the guns seemed like silence. The last white glare had sprung up in the road below ours, at the

were

rushed out. It was hardly dark, 1 The sky seemed full of planes. foot of the hill. Far away in and the stars shone brilliantly in Shrapnel clattered down on the the red distance to the west it roofs. I settled my tin hat firm-looked as if all the lights of

a cold sky. Our road is on a hillly on my head and clutched my London had been turned on, on the northern outskirts of whistle tightly. Suddenly. the where groups of incendiaries and we can see right long drawn-out shriek of high showed like "pin-points. of white

Already

explosive bombs. I made for light. somebody's front lawn, as it seemed softer to lie on than the

Į

Proved Their Worth

the explosion deafened me. My tin hat fell onto my nose and. bruised it. By the time I had straightened myself out there came another shriek and down I Within a quarter of an hour. went again. Later I got more all the incendiaries had been put adept at this "throwing oneself out and the white glare had died flat," held my helmet firmly on my head and only bruised knees every other time.

London Through Mr. Bevin the worker across the great city, has become aware of his increas- there was distant gunfire and we ed stake in the Nation's struggle saw starlike shells bursting in pavement, but only got as far as the paved drive and threw my-. for freedom-whose success he is the sky towards the east. Gradu-self down as the earth shook and confident will insure the return ally they came nearer till we of all his own rights. This is why heard the roar of the guns and the morale of workers in British the drone of enemy engines over- shipyards, factories, and work| head. Searchlights flashed into shops is astonishingly high in the life and swept the sky in great one face of long hours, week-end arcs, then concentrated in

spot, and fell apart again, work, and cancelled holidays. Workers are still. free to protest and to influence the Government It is increasingly apparent that democratic rights have not disap- peared from Britain's labour ranks, but that some have been placed. Intrusted hands for the

duration."

Macabre Light

down. The fire, too, was under my control by this time and was consi

derably smaller. My spell of duty. was over and, after making sure that the next shift was out. I went home. As I took the cup of s tea that was waiting for me, I realised that I was still clutching the whistle in my left hand, Machine-Guns Stutter ready to blow! I had done nothing

spectacular, but I was glad. Two flares dropped' from on

had been out; with a job to do, The fro was still raging and and I knew that hundreds of i invisible 'plane hung together, planes droned round and round, matchers must have proved their like decorations on a Christmas pouring high explosive bombs imo, worth that night.

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