THE PEOPLE'S CENTURY
303
"The colored inhabitants of the crown colonies are not ready for
self-government. . . . In all the colonial territory, the primary
object of administration must be the well-being, education and
development of the inhabitants...."
(N. Y. Herald-TribliJle,
Feb.
28, 1942) The same document-which needlessly states that the
Labor Party "does not ask for some sudden and over-night trans–
formation of our society"-echoes the Churchill line on India,
agreeing that "the full settlement of the complex issues of Indian
self-government .must await the close of the war."
Sixty years ago Engels wrote:
You ask me what the English workers think about colonial
policy? Well, exactly the same as they think about politics in
general: the same as what the bourgeois think. There is no work–
ers party here, there are only Conservatives and Liberal-Radicals,
and the workers merrily share the feast of England's monopoly
of the world market and the colonies. (Letter to Kautsky, Sept.
12, 1882; quoted in Lenin's
Imperialism)
Despite the existence today of the British Labor Party, Engels'
analysis still holds. Whatever radical changes come in England
will
occur independently of
both
the Labor Party and the Conserva–
tives, which are no longer divided on any question of political
principle, despite the bright red phrases Professor Laski indefatig–
ably sprinkles through the Labor Party's official programs.
3.
In America, as in England, there is remarkable harmony
between the Left and the Right major political parties as to the
shape of the post-war world. Wallace counterposes his "Century
of the Common Man" to " the American Century." He is referring
to the well-known article by Henry R. Luce, publisher of
Time,
Life
and
Fortune,
which appeared in
Life
for February 17, 1941.
Wallace sincerely thinks there is a sharp clash of policy involved
here, as apparently does Luce, judging by the fact that his maga–
zine,
Time,
failed even to mention Wallace's speech. But how
basic is the clash, really?
Luce's slogan is: "The Twentieth Century is the American
Century." This is rendered in detail as follows:
In the field of national policy, the fundamental trouble with
America has been, and is, that whereas their nation became in
the 20th century the most powerful and the most vital nation in
the world, nevertheless Americans were unable to accommodate
themselves spiritually and practically to that fact. Hence they
