| Show Still Still Hold Hope Tories Buck Hi III Will iII in Dock Area By Br Morley Cassidy LONDON LONDON-Is Is there any bloke around here her with the ruddy notion notion notion no no- tion that Britain is living beyond beyond beyond be be- yond its means and may be facing facing facing fac fac- ing bankruptcy Let him go godown godown godown down to tho the dock gates in Poplar Poplar Poplar Pop Pop- lar and try peddling any such Tory guff Come off it mate Poplars Poplar's dockers will yell back In a bull throated roar of guffaws jeers and hard hitting words They arc are like that Poplars Poplar's dockers Nothing soft about them And what do they think of the dollar gap A lot of ruddy Tory Tory Tory- mate will sa say a docker I in a stained grease raincoat with witha a quarter-inch quarter cigarette rette all but burning his lips 1 have been spending a couple of oC days in Poplar trying trying- to see just what Britain's Conservatives Conservatives Conservatives Conserva Conserva- tives are up against when they try to break into a tough Labor stronghold I i Vote for n a Do Dog Offhand you would think the Tories might as well write Poplar Poplar Poplar Pop Pop- lar off as a dead loss In this I I corner of East London a swarming swarming swarming swarm swarm- ing region of factories warehouses warehouses warehouses ware ware- houses and docks the Conservative Conserva Conserva- tive party is an underground movement A Tory poster will get you a brick through your window and men have had their heads ba bashed hed in for speaking too well of ot Winston Vinston Churchill Vote for a Tory 7 says n a docker Id sooner vote for a dog Unpromising soil sod this Poplar Its It's mostly rough and tough and proud of it And it has reason to tobe tobe tobe be proud of its toughness Just walk through its miles of streets drenched with factory smoke and past its miles of tiny row houses holding three families families families lies each And notice the scores of great open spaces acres on acres of them with grass growing growing growing grow grow- ing over broken walls Even on the darkest nights during the blitz says a pub owner the bombers could spot the river ri looping around the Isle of Dogs Dobs and the West Vest Indies docks so they'd just pull the chain and let us have it t. t Swore ore Worked on But through it all Poplars Poplar's dockers swore and went on working These Poplar people grew rew up in a school Their slums were among worlds world's worst They 1 learned ear n e d to go hungry whenever shipping shipping- hit a slump But write Poplar off as a dead loss to Tory principles That's not the Tory mood in Britain this year Grimly convinced they are fighting a a. last Jast ditch battle for a free solvent Britain Britain Britain Brit Brit- ain the Tories today are carrying carrying carrying carry carry- ing their economic gospel to the dockyards mines and factory sates gates ates with all the fervor of a Salvation army band In Poplar it is a year old who is showing the flag for the Conservatives He is Irish-born Irish Major Richard Richard Richard Rich Rich- ard Lonsdale with two and the title of light heavyweight heavyweight heavy y weight champion of the Leicestershire Leicestershire Leicestershire regiment in case any docker wants to make malce something something something some some- thing of it His gate meetings outside of West Vest India docks are among the best election shows in Britain Lonsdale's car car car-a a second hand 1937 Austin Austin is is plastered with Tory posters as the party drives up to the entrance of the docks where the men are pouring out at the lunch hour Cold Blank Faces Lonsdale starts talking to the cold blank faces of a group sitting sitting sitting sit sit- ting on a wall He tells them what the Conservatives are fighting for in this election election to to take England out of the hands of Socialists who ha have hae e wrecked its finances raised the taxes on every workingman's pay pocket and run up losses on nationalized nationalized nationalized national national- industries that mean still stillmore stillmore stillmore more ta taxes takes cs There are arc more boos each time he begins to speak until he good acts as a cheer leader to lead the boos for himself When he has worn the men out he gets over this message I Iam Iam Iam am here to tell you that your country and mine is facing trouble We Ve are a manufacturing ing country with just one natural natural nat nat- ural resource resource coal If our factories cant can't run at ata a profit we cant can't pay for our raw materials or the food we eat If we cant can't get raw materials materials materials mate mate- rials and send out goods ships dont don't sail and you will all be out of jobs jobs jobs- There is bull voiced shout from the rear We Ve were out of jobs when you were in After that there is not much order to the thc meeting The crowd roars and the debate debate debate de de- de- de bate goes hoes on But finally the lunch hour is over the men drift inside the gates and Lonsdale closes the meeting Did it sway any votes Who Vho knows It was a hot labor Jabor audience but some of the men looked thoughtful and didn't join in inthe inthe inthe the jeers And one pinched face chap paused to speak surreptitiously surreptitiously to Lonsdale as he passed At least you got guts enough to come down here he said |
