LOOK

WHAT THE LEFT OOK CLUB IS DOING 1
T.HE following article is formed entirely of cuttings taken from the January number of the Left News, Victor Gollancz's magazine that reaches the 50,000 members of the Left Book Club and many others.
Comment about the nature of this brilliant movement (give the devil his due!), its ramifications and its success is superfluous. Comment about the lack of defence against the effects of the slow poison distilled by great capitalist London publisher (son of Alexander Gollancz and Nellie Michaelson) and administered through a thousand carefully prepared channels is even more superfluous.
Members Up and Doing
Members should consider it a paramount duty, during these first months of 1938, to arouse British public opinion, by every means in their power, in support of Republican Spain.
I write at a time when the defeatism of the last month or so has given way to a new spirit of hope. In this country the Labour Party campaign—the first phase, but only the first phase, of which has just culminated in that superb Albert Hall demonstration—has given new heart to men and women of good-will.
Now is the time, then, to redouble our efforts. The situation is very grave. Left Book Club members can have enormous influence.
There must also be many towns and villages in which there is one of our 750 Left Book Club Groups, but where meetings for Spain have not yet been arranged: in such cases conveners and members of Left Book Club committees should themselves take the initiative without .a seconds delay.
But apart from this, every one of our 50,000 members can do an immense amount to mobilise public opinion. They must themselves feel that every day that passes without some piece of activity is a betrayal.
50,000 people, each influencing many others; those others in turn influencing their friends—the result would be a public opinion so overwhelming that any Government that dared to ignore it would at ouelp,he swept away. •
Membership
It is our constant endeavour to increase the flexibility of the Club by adapting it
from time to time to the needs of more types of people. The first move in this direction was the inauguration, during the autumn, of " B" membership.
It will be recollected that, while ordinary members receive the " book of the month" each month, together with a free copy of the Left News, for the price of 2s. 6d., " B" members receive the book every other month (together with a copy of the Left News) at the price of 3s. 6d.: and in the intermediate months they receive a copy of that month's Left News free. The books chosen for the months in which " B" members receive their books are of the more " popular " character—though always also of real political importance. The two " B" books to date have in fact been two of the finest of the Club publications—Red Star Over China, and Spanish Testament.
As from this month the price of the books to " B" members is reduced from 3s. 6d. to 3s.
"C" members will simply be required to take and pay for a minimum of four out of the twelve "Choices" that will be issued during the twelve months following the date of their enrolment. They will pay for each book 3s. 6d.
My Faith Reinforced
We have taken the Queen's Hall for March 15, and the occasion will be a unique one.
During the summer of 1937 the Dean of Canterbury went on a tour to the Soviet Union. He has come back determined to tell people here what he saw and how he feels about what he saw: for he believes that one of the most important of all things at the present time is a proper understanding by the British people of the achievement of the U.S.S.R.
1 can personally testify to the inspiration of what the Dean has to say. 1 was fortunate to be able to listen to him on his return for an hour or so in my private office: and when he left my own faith was reinforced and may optimism strengthened.
A great series of rallies is being prepared throughout the country for 1938, and also in London during January, February and March. In each case, the biggest hall has been booked. It will be noticed that at many of these rallies also the Dean of Canterbury will be one of the speakers, his subject again being the Soviet Union.
[There follow 20 dates arranged for in London, Oxford, Hull, Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edin burgh, South Wales, Newcastle, Stoke, Medway Towns, Leeds with Dean of Canterbury, Gollancz, Pollitt, John Strachey, Harold Laski as chief speakers.]
Left Song Book I want to call very special attention to this publication, which is one of the most important that the Club has issued. 1 believe myself that this year's biggest developments of the Club, considered as a corporate body, are going to come in the cultural or what might perhaps be called the socialcultural field—theatre, cinema, music, etc. From this point of view nothing could be more valuable than a good song book. The singing of Left songs should become a regular feature of all Group meetings.
The main part of the hook falls into three sections. The first section contains traditional workers' songs of different countries. The "Internatonal" heads the list. Our own "Red Flag" rubs shoulders with standard examples of working-class songs of France, Germany, Italy. Poland and pre-revolutionary Russia.
We entirely approve of the principle of writing new texts to old tunes and have included the " March of the Workers " as well as the five rounds as examples of this. In some cases the texts to the traditional workers' songs have been newly conceived. Here and with the topical songs, we have followed the principle of making the text as concrete as possible.
This will help us all to the hundred thousand mark.
Cheap Books
By arrangement with Messrs. Lawrence and Wishart, there is now a Left Book Club edition of every Lawrence and Wishart book—already published or to be published —at two-thirds of the ordinary price. Members are reminded that Lawrence and Wishart publish many of the works of Marx and Engels, and have practically a monopoly of the works of Lenin.
During January we shall be publishing several Marxist classics of the first importance, of the kind for which the special terms for Left Book Club members were primarily arranged.
It is one of the most encouraging features of Group life to drop in at a meeting in some quiet town from which not much news has come and find a really flourishing Group. This happens with gratifying frequency.
Stepney is co-operating with a local Quaker Social Institute which enables them to run a series of Educational Classes in French, German, Economics and Politics. In addition they have a Gramophone Recital Circle. A Dramatic Section runs jointly with the Quaker organisation.
They have now started a Stepney Left Book Club Football Club, and for some time now they have had a Swimming Team and P.T. Classes. The football team, by the way, wants more equipment. Can anybody help?
Woking is notoriously a bad place for getting people to meetings and also very backward politically, and if we can succeed here we can succeed anywhere.
Non-Party v. Non-Political While we are speaking of Dancing. may I mention that Miss Welton is running a Folk Dancing Class with a view to forming a really expert troupe of dancers to appear at social events arranged by the Club and other Left Wing organisations?
Brotherhoods, Adult Schools, Men's Fellowships, Toc H. Co-op. Guilds, Trade Unions, would he glad, surely, of a speaker on Red Star over China or Spanish Testament. Don't forget that the Left Book Club is strictly non-Party (quite a different thing from being nonpolitical).
Will members and sympathisers in Hong Kong drop me a line? We have a keen member from England just going out there and she would like to link members up in an informal discussion Group.
Miss Jane Conway is now our Field Organiser. We have long felt the need for someone to go round the Groups passing on hints gathered in the course of visits to other Groups, discovering first hand peculiar local difficulties and seeing where help is 'needed. We expect that she will be of special use to Groups in process of federating themselves into Area Committees.
[Then follow announcements of over 200 meetings in different parts of the country, scheduled for January and February.]