As young Vietmamese patriots set fire to themselves as a desperate protest against American puppet rule, President Johnson cautions us: Acts of desperation in Vietnam, he says, "should not obscure the progress" being made towards constitutional government. How sick§{ The only real progress the American invaders of Vietnam are making towards any kind of government of the charnel-house they have created, is progress in systematic slaughter, Still greater military build-up, still more Hitlerian bombbardments, still further killing: this is the real promise of President Johnson to the martyred people of Vietnam, The smell of girls burning has now become a normal accompaniment to the waving of olive branches, and talk about 'tnegotiations!, As Death claims more and more of Vietnam as his own kingdom, so Hypocrisy expands to fill all the cavities in Western politicians in which conscience used to linger. For this reason it is right tovwelcome, with the warmest enthusiasm, the Conference which meets at the Mahatma Ghandi Hall this week end, to discuss a programme of activities in solidarity with the people of Vietnam. Although its personnel are denied access to the television, radio and press, they are the spokesmen of the real Britain, Their reactions will be remembered as the honourable ones, when the historians come to discuss the abstract question of the causes of the moral collapse which has come to be associated with the name of Wilson, The fact that hundreds of Briti&sb socialists stood up to be counted on the other side may yet prove to be a decisiveone for the future of the Labour Movement.
As the Government leans harder and harder on the seamen, it become imperative for the unions to rally closer to their Side, True, the seamen have trump cards which have yet to be played. They can call for aid from the dockworkers, and they have the blockbusting weapon of the International Transport Workers! Federation, which can lock British ships in . ports from Sidney up to Bergen. But in.the meantime they need help. Iocal officergs of the NUS should be surrounded by offers of help. Let every factory take its collection today, and send the proceeds direct to the seamen in their Branch offices, or to Maritime House in Clapham. This is a vital week for the strike. Do not let one seaman feel the pinch in this strike!