Speeches as an M.P. in the House of Commons, 1930-33 (Part II)
Vintage Leftist Leaflet Project
Leaflet: A Plea for Social Justice - Extracts from the Speeches of J. S. Woodsworth, M.P. , in the House of Commons, 1930-33 (Part II)
This booklet published in 1933 (selected by Grace MacInnis) has nearly 80 pages of extracts from the speeches of Canadian Socialist icon J. S. Woodsworth. Woodsworth, a critical figure in the history of the Canadian left, was the first leader of the CCF, the precursor to the NDP.
As the booklet is quite lengthy we will be breaking up these posts into 3 parts.
To see the first part, click here.
The second part today shows the sections "Safeguards for Individual Freedom", "Militarism" and "The International Situation".
The booklet is a fascinating and remarkable piece of and look at Canadian leftist and social history.
The second part is notable for, among other things, Woodsworth's defense of the rights of Communists and protesting in parliament the imprisonment of several Communist leaders (which would have included Tim Buck) in Kingston, as well as his very positive impressions of the Soviet Union after his trip to it. The fifth section should also be read through the lens of his pacifism.
(This was first posted on The Left Chapter blog, June 16, 2017)