ATI-7 -- RX WO R KERS' NOTEBOOK

ANOTHER EVIL
WORKERS have for many months been urged to fight the Communist menace within the trade unions, on the grounds that the liberty of the workers is threatened. All workers are therefore being fed day in and day out with anti-Communist propaganda. Yet it has been frequently asserted in this paper that Communism is only one of the many menaces. Fascism is also permeating our way of life. and threatens to disrupt the trade union movement.
The current issue of Union, Mosley's Fascist newspaper, has an article which suggests that the Government and the trade unions are doing the same job. It makes out that trade, technical and professional matters are not for politicians to meddle in.
The writer asserts that Joint Production Boards are not wanted by the workers. Neither, he says, are Negotiating Tribunals. Instead, he suggests a system of joint control of industry by managers, technicians and operatives, each industry controlling itself from the top to the bottom.
It is sufficient to say that when I attended a Press conference held by Mosley some time back, he stated that there would he only one party, if he got into power. The trade unions would remain, he said, but in a different form.
The Communists say the same thing. It boils down to the fact that
if you have a dictatorship either from the Right or the Left, the trade unions, even if they exist in name, cannot function freely.
We must he on our guard against Communism, but beware also of being misled by the Fascist evil, which tends to be attractive because it is also anti-Communist.
AN INFLUENTIAL MINORITY THE Hammersmith election re sult will be known by the time this column appears, but one lesson can be drawn from the campaigning of the candidates. We Catholics are an influential minority.
The national Press has given much space to the wooing of the Catholic voters by both sides. Some writers have even suggested that the result hangs on what the Catholics do.
Now this is not just peculiar to Hammersmith. All over the country concentrations of Catholics make it possible to influence politicians and civic authorities in the defence of rights and in the application of our responsibilities.
In the trade union movement, too. we are the influential minority. We don't want to "capture " any movement; on the other hand we don't want any " -ism " to either; that should be stressed right away. But we do want to take our rightful place, working alongside our comrades, being of service to them.
WORKERS' EDUCATION
MANY readers have written asking ' for particulars of courzea, spondence and residential, on economics, social science and many other such subjects.
The workers' Educational Trade Union Committee run such courses, some with scholarships. Their address is 38a, St. George's Drive, London, S.W.I.
Of course, the Catholic Workers' College also offers excellent courses, and their summer school has worldwide commendation. Many of our leading Catholic trade unionists have passed through the college. If you are interested write to the Principal, the Catholic Workers College, Oxford. The terms are very, reasonable.