Basdeo 1982

The Role of the British Labour Movement in the Development of Labour Organisation in
Trinidad 1929-1938
Author(s): Sahadeo Basdeo
Source: Social and Economic Studies, Vol. 31, No. 1 (MARCH 1982), pp. 40-73
Published by: Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies , University of the
West Indies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27861975
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Social and Economie Studies, Volume 3 1 ,Number 1,19 82
Sahadeo Basdeo
The Role of theBritishLabour Movement

in the Development of Labour Organisation
inTrinidad 1929-1938
ABSTRACT
Between 1929 and 1938 the British Labour Movement exhibited

great dynamism in Trinidad labour affairs. With the advent of the
Second Labour Government the British Labour Movement was
able to influence public policy towards labour and trade union
organisation in the colonies so much so that in September 1930

the famous "Passfield Memorandum" was passed encouraging the
formation of constitutional trade unions in the colonial empire.
After the fall of the Labour Government in 1931, the British

Labour Movement continued its advocacy in Parliament as well as
in public for the introduction of labour organisation and labour
reform in Trinidad. Labour continued to work closely with the
T.W.A.; sent a number of British trade unionists to Trinidad;and
after the 1937 labour disturbances in the colony successfully
called upon the British Government to implement drastic labour
reforms in Trinidad.
Indeed, in the period after 1937, the British Government found it

expedient to include the T.U.C, in the decision-making process
for colonial labour reform largely because of the confidence and
trust which British Labour enjoyed among Trinidadian and other
colonial workers. It was the Trade Union Congress which was so
influential after 1937 in shaping the course and direction of the
Trinidad trade union movement.
40
Labour Organisation, Trinidad 1929?1938 41
THE TAINT OF SLAVERY
By the end of the 1920s the British Labour Movement

had become intricatelyinvolved in thepolitics of Britain and
the colonial dependencies. The Labour Party's short stint in
office in 1924, and its growing strength thereafter brought
the British Labour Movement closer to national and colonial
decision-making particularly in the area of labour matters.
Indeed with imperialresponsibilitiesto shoulder in the 1930s
the British Labour Movement
revealed its true ideological
orientation. It was
pressured to give precedence to imperial
ism rather than uphold an ideology which stressed the inter
national solidarity of workingmen. The strength of the bonds
between labour and the state, proved during World War I,
were reinforced by the experience of the Great Depression.
These bonds were further developed by the Keynesian
doctrine of national
economic management accepted during
the depression and institutionalized through the participation
of labour in national planning bodies in some countries after
the Second World War. Yet in the case of Britain, the Labour
Movement remained essentially reformist towards the coloni
al empire. This was the role which it played in Trinidad in
the years between 1929 and 1938.
During the 1930s the British Labour Movement mani

fested a degree of dynamism in Trinidad, West Indian and
colonial labour far exceeding
affairs that which it demon
strated in the 1920s. Additional emphasis, urgency and
systematic planning now accompanied Labour's involvement
in West Indian labour affairs ; closer attention was paid to
colonial labour conditions; special sub-committees of the
Labour Movement were formed to study West Indian con
ditions and considerable assistance was given to West Indian
workers in their attempt to form labour organisations.
Indeed, the dramatic economic and political events of the
decade in both the United Kingdom and the British Carib
bean were largely responsible for this resurgence in interest:
42 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STUDIES
the impact of the Great Depression, the advent of the Second

Labour Government, the rise of militant working class
radicalism in theWest Indies and the socio-economic, political
and labour instabilitywhich followed the 1937-38 riots in
the Caribbean. In fact the influence which the British Labour
Movement wielded among West Indian workers particularly
in the later 1930s was so marked that by 1938 theColonial
Office for the first time found it advisedly expedient to con
sult with Labour before the formulation of a colonial labour
policy for the region. No doubt this was a break in colonial
administrative tradition made necessary by the changing
economic and political circumstances of the time. It is against
this background that an analysis will be made of the role
which the British Labour Movement played in the develop
ment of labour organisation in Trinidad in the 1930s.
The advent of the Second Labour Government in June

1929 witnessed a degree of activity in colonial labour affairs
within the Colonial Office hitherto unsurpassed. The cre
dentials of the new Secretary of State Lord Passfield,1 as a
social reformer, member of the Fabian Society and author
of the History of Trade Unionism were sufficient to convince
labour groups in the colonies that the Labour Party would
implement the many public policy statements made during
the previous decade on colonial labour issues [Shiels 10],
Indeed no sooner had Labour come to power than the re
vision of colonial labour laws took precedence in the office:
directives were sent to colonial advising the
administrators
revision of laws; and particular urgency was placed
labour
upon the need for immediate revision, if not repeal, of West
Indian Masters and Servants laws.2 It was noted that in
Trinidad and the West Indies many of these laws not only
dated from "the reign of George III, and (therefore) con
temporary with... slavery",3 but also contained stipulations
"reeking with the taint of slavery, and providing for insolence,
misdemeanor, miscarriage, ill-behaviour and other obsolete
and undefinable offences".4 The obsolescence of the Trini
Labour Organisation, Trinidad 1929-1938 43
dad Masters and Servants law was highlighted. Despite the

1921 revision of the original 1846 Masters and Servants
ordinance it was noted that it still contained
many undesira
ble features: breach by a
of contract
worker, for example,
was still punishable by both fine and abatement of wages;
and action could still be taken for breach of a verbal contract
which need have no limit in time.5
During its early months in office, Labour emphasized to

colonial governors the close scrutiny which would now be
made in relation to the application of ratified international
labour conventions in the empire.6 Instructions were given
to West Indian
governors to apply these conventions in their
respective territories, with modification if necessary. And the
Labour Government demanded that annual reports on the
working of the conventions where applied, should be submit
ted to the Colonial Office indicating what measures had been
taken from time to time to give effect to their provisions.7
Indeed by the end ofMay 1930, afterone year in office, the
Labour Government had only begun to address itself to
colonial labour
reform; the issue of colonial labour organisa
tion had not yet been discussed.
It was during Labour's second year in office that this

matter received serious attention at the Colonial Office
Conference in
June-July 1930.8 This Conference was
summoned by Passfield to discuss general colonial questions
such as the Colonial Development Fund, communication and
transport, broadcasting, trade questions, films, and most
important, colonial labour reform [Shiels 10]. The fact that

the Colonial Office was able to add to the agenda of the
Conference for the first time the topic "labour organisation
and conditions"9 was indicative of the priority which the
Labour Government was prepared to give to colonial labour
matters. And it was at this Conference that both Passfield
-
and his Parliamentary Under Secretary, Drummond Shiels
the latter masterminding so much of the progressive labour
and social legislation emanating from the Colonial Office
?
[Roberts 9] emphasized to heads of colonial governments
the importance of this aspect of colonial policy [Shiels 10].
FOSTERING UNIONS
Passfield's
opening address demonstrated an awareness
of the degree to which industrial development, with its corre
sponding adjunct of wage-labour in the colonies, was begin
ning to disrupt the traditional pattern of colonial labour
relations.10 He therefore suggested to governors the need to
safeguard the welfare of workers and recommended the time
ly introduction of labour legislation to ensure for workers
minimal standards of health and safety during industrial
employment. He also required colonial governments to give
priority to effecting a workmen's compensation bill. Most
important he suggested the need to foster the development of
trade unions:
I am not suggesting... that every Colony should at once pass a Trade
Union Act, but I am saying that with every increase in wage-labour you
will inevitably be led to have to deal with the results of wage-labour as
they appear in other countries. You will have to deal... with Trade Union
ism, and to provide for its organisation.^
Shiels, an ardent advocate of colonial trade unions, took

a similar position at the conference. Aware of the growing
"restlessness and... discontent" among workers everywhere
over conditions of employment, he suggested to governors
that the wisest policy was "not to oppose but to guide such
restlessness... into a constitutional channel".12 Furthermore,
he pointed out that "it is important in running any country
or colony to see that there are adequate safety valves". Trade
unions could fulfil such a role since "it is also very much
better for a Government... to deal with organised bodies
rather than with odd individuals who are irresponsible and
who can make a lot of trouble".13
Two weeks later the Third British Commonwealth

Labour Conference was held in London under the auspices of
the British Labour Movement and was attended by delegates
representing labour parties and labour organisations from
many areas of the colonial

empire. Shiels informed colonial
delegates about the decision of the Labour Government to
embark upon a labour legislative programme in the colonies,
jointly decided upon by theColonial Office and the colonial
administrators at the Colonial Office Conference. Indeed,
Shiels' pronouncement greatly pleased the Trinidad and West
Indian delegates who were becoming gradually disillusioned
at Labour's unfulfilled promises. Cipriani was pleased to learn
that Labour was still heavily committed to colonial labour
reform and saw in Shiels a champion for the Trinidad and
British Caribbean working class :
He took no great pains to defend the very great troubles that had been told
him about the obsolete and inefficient machinery of the Colonial Office.
Nor did he take any pains to defend the exploitation in this colony (Trini
dad) of those who ran and controlled their oil industry.1^
In fact Cipriani's public utterances immediately upon his

return to Trinidad made clear how close he thought the
T.W.A. had come
towards achieving labour and social reform
for Trinidad and the West Indies. On one occasion for
instance, he assured his listeners that "within a very short
time, possibly four months, the Workmen's Compensation
Law and other social legislation would be general throughout
the West Indies";16 and on another stressed that Labour's
concern "would before long materialise into something more
concrete than merely the sympathy" which the West Indies
had received in the past from the Colonial Office.17
It was against this background of the Colonial Office
and Labour Commonwealth Conferences that the Labour
Government in September 1930 for the first time gave
official support and encouragement to the growth of colonial
trade unions by issuing the famous 'Passrield Memo
randum'.18 Described by Sidney Caine as a "milestone in
British colonial social policy", [Roberts 9] this memo
randum introduced a new era in colonial labour policy, for it
was the first time that a Colonial Office administration had
issued a directive supporting trade unionism in the colonies.
In his famous memorandum Passfield stressed that the

growth of trade unionism was a desirable and legitimate
feature of industrial and
development,social and should be
encouraged as a matter of policy. But the Secretary of State
was quick to point out that he recognised:
... there is a
danger that, without sympathetic supervision and guidance,
organisations of labourers without experience of combination for any
social and economic purposes may fall under the domination of disaffected
persons, by whom their activities may be diverted to improper and mis
chievous ends. I accordingly feel that it is the duty of Colonial Govern
ments to take such steps as may be possible to smooth the passage of such
channels. As a step in this direction it is... desirable that legislation on the
line of Section 2 and 3 of the Trade Union Act, 1871, should be enacted ...
declaring that Trade Unions are not criminal, or unlawful for civil purposes,
and also providing for compulsory registration.^
Thus were to be encouraged but simultaneously

trade unions
subjected to registration and controlled growth. The British
Government desired to provide "paternalistic guidance to
workers without experience of collective organisation for
social and economic purposes" [Roberts 8].
But in Trinidad, the colonial administration found it
inadvisable to introduce trade union legislation on the
grounds that the economic depression militated against any
such possibility.20 The same contention was made by other
colonial dependencies and in all instances the Labour Govern
ment acquiesced in this explanation21 largely because
imperial priority was placed upon reviving colonial economies
and secondly because the British Government feared that
workers might tend to disrupt economic revival by imitating
the radicalism displayed by Ceylonese railway workers a few
years earlier. Though Shiels himself accepted this explana
tion, he felt that
colonial governments which raised this
argument not
should
be permitted to procrastinate unduly.
It was this consideration which was partially responsible for
the formation in May 1931, of the Colonial Labour Com
mittee within theOffice.22
The formation of this Committee was the work of
Shiels. He envisaged that such a committee would not only

consider social and labour legislation for the colonies, but
would also persuade colonial dependencies to accept them.
It would also deal with such matters as formulating the
Colonial Office labour policy, the drafting of legislation the
establishment of government labour departments, the intro
duction of new laws covering trade unions, workmen's
compensation and minimum wage-fixing machinery, and the
effects on the dependencies of some of the international
labour conventions.23
The obsolescence of West Indian labour laws24 and the
deplorable labour conditions in

weighed the Caribbean
heavily in Shiels' decision to create this Committee.25 Ever
since 1930, Shiels had been actively engaged in an examina
tion of the nature of West Indian labour laws and concluded
in 1931 that not only was West Indian labour
legislation
usually unsatisfactory and obsolete,26 but that the reason
why "obsolete provisions" were permitted to remain in
colonial legislation "was that Colonial Governors and their
Senior officials were in many cases out of touch with the
trend of thought" in Britain.27 In order to solve this problem
Shiels thought that the Committee would play an important
role in giving direction to colonial labour legislation. As he
wrote to Passfield:
I feel that a Labour Government give as its contribution
should the
achievement of the co-ordination Labour
of Colonial
Legislation on a
basis of which we need not be ashamed, and which will save usTOfrom the
?
repeated face-saving devices to which we have to resort just now.
In order to accommodate expertise and interdepartmental

co-ordination of efforts Shiels invited officials from the
various geographical departments in the Colonial Office, the
Home Office29 and the Ministry of Labour30 to participate
in the workings of the Committee. He was unable however to
persuade the Committee to invite Walter Citrine, Secretary
of the T.U.C., to participate in its deliberations.31 Members
felt that if such a step was taken, the Committee could well
be faced with a reciprocal claim by employers for a repre

sentative from "Lever Brothers or some other plantation
owning concern".32
During its short but active life of three months under

Labour, the Committee was able to initiate, to its credit, a
policy of revising Masters and Servants ordinances; it

produced draft recommendations relating to penal sanctions
for the enforcement of labour contracts and the recruitment
of labour in African
territories; and had reached provisional
conclusions on
the desirability of setting up minimum wage
fixing machinery in the colonies.33 Indeed the transforma
tion of the Colonial Labour Committee into a permanent
organisation within the Colonial Office was the final contri
bution which the Labour Government made to the cause of
colonial labour reform before its defeat inmid-1931.
CIPRIANI S DECLINE
The departure of Labour from office without achieving
many of its desired colonial labour and political reform
measures left the Trinidad working class disenchanted with
Labour's performance. Many began to question seriously the
usefulness of an alliance with the Labour Party since it had
not fulfilled its promises made to the Trinidad labour move
ment while placed the blame for their dis
in office. Others
appointment s
at Labour
performance at the doorsteps of
Cipriani's leadership. They felt that it was Cipriani's faith
and belief in the promises of the Labour Party which
prevented him from seriously questioning what he was told
by Labour leaders. Apart from the promises made to him by
prominent Labourpoliticians, there were other factors which
Cipriami should
have considered: the minority position of
Labour in Parliament ; the continuing conservative establish
ment in the Colonial Office and the conservative administra
tion in Trinidad. It was his failure to consider these problems
and his blind acceptance of Labour's promises which were
not only symptomatic of the weakness in his leadership, but
also contributed to his decline as leader of the working class

inTrinidad in the late 1930s.
Obviously Cipriani himself was disappointed in the out

come of events under Labour. Yet his confidence in British
Labour, though shaken, was not broken. For in 1932, he
sought the advice of the T.U.C, on the merits of the Trinidad
Trade Union Law passed in the colony in June 1932.34 This
ordinance granted the government the power to register (or
refuse to register and thereby make illegal) trade unions,
which given no immunities in return by declaring
were that
unions were to be registered and subjected to administrative
approval. The ordinance deliberately withheld the protection
granted to British trade unions under the Conspiracy and

Protection of Property Act 1875, the Trade Union Act of
1906 and the Trade Disputes and Trade Union Act of
1927.35
Essentially, therefore, the rights of peaceful picketing

and immunity against actions in tort were denied.36 The
T.W.A. recognised the shortcomings in the trade union law
and debated whether it should opt for trade union status
under this act. Before making a decision as to the course it
should pursue, the Association sought the of the
advice
British T.U.C, for, as Cipriani explained, "the working man
of this colony did not intend to accept anyTrade Union Bill
which had not the sanction of the Trade Union Congress".37
For two years the T.W.A. and the T.U.C,
corresponded
on this subject. Correspondence began in the latter part of
1932 when Vivian Henry, Secretary of the Association wrote
to Citrine requesting the opinion of the British Labour Move
ment on
the merit of the Trinidad trade union law.38 After
months of studying the measure, Citrine, on behalf of the
T.U.C., wrote to the Association in February 1933 explaining
that the Trinidad law was deficient in that it did not cover
trade disputes nor did it include provisions for peaceful
picketing. In the opinion of the T.U.C., therefore, Citrine
continued, "any Trade Union Act lacking such provisions

was very unsatisfactory and that, in our experience, legisla
tion of Trade Unions was of little use without them". Citrine
consequently advised the Association to press for the in
clusion of such provisions as the rights to peaceful picketing
and immunity against actions in tort.39 It was this advice
which Cipriani accepted, and throughout 1933 and the first
part of 1934, tried to impress upon the Trinidad government
the need to make essential revisions to the 1932 law.40
The T.W.A. failed in its endeavour. And once again, the

Association wrote to Citrine in late
1933, informing the
T.U.C, of Trinidad's Government reluctance to yield to the
T.W.A.'s demands, and requesting whether itwas still worth
while to register the T.W.A. under the 1932 Trade Union
Ordinance. In March 1934, Citrine again repeated his early
view that the Law was "defective" and "unsatisfactory" but
did not explicitly advise the Association against registra
tion.41 As Citrine was later to explain "that is the responsi
bility of the man on the spot".42
Cipriani accepted this responsibility. In spite of opposi

tion from certain members of the T.W.A. particularly Jim
Barrat and Elma Francois both of whom desired registration
under the Act, Cipriani decided against it. The Captain recog
nised that had he chosen to unionize workers under the Act
he would have been subjecting colonial workers to constant
police harassment and unnecessary legal prosecution for
offences which workers themselves would not have been
necessarily responsible. Given the fact that colonial authori
ties and big business had been continuously opposed to work
ing class combination in the 1920s and early 1930s,Cipriani
had no alternative but to steer a path which would ensure for
Trinidad workers minimal risk from Government prosecution.
In the meantime he would continue to struggle for the
inclusion of the rights to peaceful picketing and immunity
against action in tort into the Act.
Thus on the basis of the above consideration and being

also convinced that Citrine's
analysis in 1934 implied non
registration, the Captain persuaded the Association against
unionisation.43 Consequently after a two-year period of
consultation with the T.U.C.44 on the subject, the T.W.A.
dissolved itself and chose to become a political party instead.
And so, in August 1934, the Association which had been
formed at the turn of the nineteenth
century and registered
under the Companies Ordinance some
two decades before,45
was finally liquidated and consequently became the colony's
first political party, the Trinidad Labour Party.46
The British Labour Movement continued to maintain a

similar relationship with the T.L.P. as it had previously main
tained with the T.W.A. As the official opposition at West
minster, Labour entertained extensive discussion on Trinidad
and West Indian affairs and corresponded frequently with its
colonial counterpart (T.L.P.) in order to obtain an on-the
spot assessment of current issues of concern. In fact the
period 1932 to 1936 witnessed an unusual interestby the
British Labour Movement in Trinidad and West Indian labour
affairs. Not only did Labour register its dissatisfaction in
Parliament with Colonial Office policy on labour reform47
but took upon itself at the 1933 Labour Party convention
"to see that thewhole of what was intendedby SidneyWebb
and by Party" was "carried out in... the British
the Labour
Empire".48 In addition, the British Labour Party through its
Advisory Committee on Imperial Questions, continued to
reiterate and reassess its policy statements towards colonial
labour organisation and colonial labour reform.49 In fact, in
1933, Labour published a pamphlet The Colonies inwhich it
re-stated its position on the issue of colonial labour reform.
The pamphlet advocated greater government control over
wages and working conditions, the introduction of separate
labour departments in the colonies, the revision of Masters
and Servants legislation and the encouragement of trade
union development.50 It was in 1935 however that the
British Labour Party through the services of W. Arthur

Lewis,51 a
then West Indian student at the London School of
Economics, came to appreciate more decisively the urgency
for the introduction of these measures in the British Carib
bean. It was Lewis more than anyone else, who was responsi
ble for stimulating interest and discussion within the Labour
Party in 1935 on British Caribbean political and labour
affairs.
W. ARTHUR LEWIS
Early in 1935, the New Fabian Research Bureau52

initiated a research project on the colonial empire. This
undertaking was designed to assist Labour in formulating an
up-to-date policy on colonial matters. In its Quarterly
Journal, the N.F.R.B. advertised for assistance in this project
from competent scholars and experts, and Arthur Lewis
willingly offered his services to do research on the West
Indies. His offer was readily welcomed by John Parker, Secre
tary of the N.F.R.B., and Leonard Woolf, Chairman of the
Labour Party's Advisory Committee on Imperial Questions,
who invited Lewis to write an article on the West Indies for
the Labour Party. In response to this invitation Lewis wrote
an article in 1935 entitled "The BritishWest Indies"53 out
lining his ideas of what a socialist programme for the British
Caribbean ought to be.54 This article considerably impressed
Leonard Woolf who suggested that it be considered for
adoption as Party policy.55 Henceforth, itwas Lewis who be
came one of the major architects of Labour's West Indian
policy at least until the outbreak of the Second World War.
And, itwas his article written partly "to describe conditions"
and, partly, to outline a policy to better these conditions56
which brought Labour to a clearer understanding of West
Indian labour conditions.
Lewis' article was a strong indictment of British colonial

labour policy in the West Indies. It discussed the lack of
Labour Organisa tion, Trinidad 1929-1938 53
labour legislation in the Caribbean, the absence of factory

laws, workmen's compensation, health and unemployment
insurance, and inadequate safety controls in factories and
industries. He told the Labour Party,
In this field a Labour Government will have a mighty task ... to fulfil... but
is one eases - the
there factor which the burden growth of associations
among the workers themselves. The present exerts all its
Government
energies to discourage associations; a Labour Government on the contrary

will have to use all its energies to encourage the labourers to unite...
A social programme must include workmen's compensation, restriction of
child labour, regulation of hours and conditions of labour, the fixing of
minimum wages, and a scheme of social insurances for health, old age,
unemployment, etc. The details of these measures will vary according to
the conditions, cost of living, etc. of each island, but when the Labour
Government takes office it must be prepared to take action right away...
West Indian workers are looking to a Labour Government for political
emancipation, which can only be achieved by the fullest cooperation

between the British Labour Movement and the Labour Movement in the
West Indies itself.57
If in 1935, it was Lewis who was responsible for stimu

lating Labour's interest in Trinidad and Caribbean labour
affairs, in 1936 it was the publication of W.M. Macmillan's
book WarningFrom theWest Indies [6] and the visit to the
Caribbean in that year of Susan Lawrence, ex-Labour parlia
mentarian and member of the National Executive of the
Labour Party.58 Macmillan's book not only aroused consider
able interest in Britain, but also caused some excitement in
the Colonial Office where the lack of social and economic
planning for the region had come under heavy criticism. For
Labour criticsof British colonial policy in theCaribbean, this
work provided not only a "stick with which to beat the
British Government"59 but an important source of informa
tion on social and labour conditions in the region.60
SUSAN LAWRENCE
However it was Susan Lawrence's visit to the Caribbean

which, by supplementing evidence already given by Lewis on
conditions in the West Indies, helped to create an impact
both in the Colonial Office and on the Labour Party, and

which brought home, particularly to the latter, the true
dimensions of the economic, social and labour conditions of
the working class in Trinidad and the West Indies.
Like her
predecessor F.O. Roberts who had visited
Trinidad exactly ten years before, Lawrence made an ex
tensive survey of living and working conditions in Trinidad,
Grenada, St. Vincent, Antigua and St. Lucia and spoke to
"enormous meetings" in Trinidad and Grenada under the
auspices of the T.L.P. and the Grenada Workingmen's
Association respectively [Lawrence 4]. She stated the
problem clearly:
The are desperately
islands poor, social services are extremely backward;
they are governed by a most complicated and antiquated system of law
and legislation [Lawrence 4, p. 223 ].
While in Trinidad she was surprised to find "a very fully

developed Labour Party" in the colony. However, she made
an equally important observation: she was grieved to discover
that its major weakness was its autocratic leadership. "The
Captain is absolutely King of the movement" she noted:
I was much struck with the fact that his lieutenants seemed to me to be
... If the Captain were removed, I do not see anyone who could
negligible
take his place.61
Indeed, it was this "individualistic autonomy" of the

authoritarian inclined Cipriani" which, in part, explains why
by 1936, some of his young lieutenants likeAdrian Cola
Rienzi and T.U.B. Butler had withdrawn from the T.P.L.
[Jacobs 2].
On the condition of the Trinidad and West Indian

economy, Lawrence noted that the colonies in a parlous were
?
state mainly because the two major crops in the area sugar
?
and cocoa were in the doldrums. Poverty was "beyond
>social
anything known" in England [Lawrence 4, p. 223]
legislation was
lacking; unjust laws were passed restricting the
freedom of the press ; and Masters and Servants' ordinances
which she described as "disgraceful" were still on the colonial

statute books [Lawrence 5, p. 241]. She thought itwas high
time that these questions were taken to Parliament by the
Labour Party and she took the lead herselfby petitioning the
Colonial Office on these points.62
Lawrence also made a strong case to the Labour Party

to continueassisting the development of the Caribbean
labour movement. She advised that this was important par
ticularly since there was a strong desire on the latter's part
"to model themselves on the pattern of the British Labour
Party". And she emphasised that the Labour Party's
assistance could
usefully and effectively be rendered through
"advice and information".63
SUB-COMMITTEE ON THE W.I.

From a West Indian
viewpoint Lawrence's visit was
indeed important. Locally, the speeches which she made, in
the style of Roberts before her, provided a psychological
boost to the labour movements in the various colonies.64
Equally it helped to reassureIndian working class,
the West
at least psychologically, that they still had a powerful metro
politan ally in the Labour Party. But, itwas on her return to
Britain that she made her significant contribution to the
cause of
the West Indian working class, for the emphasis
which she placed on the gravity of the West Indian situation
forced the Labour Party's Advisory Committee on Imperial
?
Questions to institute in April 1936, a special body the
on -
Sub-Committee the West Indies to consider specifically
West Indian problems.65 Among the members of this Sub
Committee were F.O.
Roberts, A. Henderson, Susan
Lawrence, D.
Shiels, H.J. Polak, T. Reid and Lord Olivier.66
And it was this group which soon developed a recognisable
? an
degree of expertise on West Indian problems expertise
which not only the Labour Party but also the Colonial Office
could draw upon. Indeed it was the Sub-Committee on the
West Indies which hereafter constantly fed Labour M.P.'s
with questions to be asked in Parliament about the British

Caribbean. In Britain in 1936, it was the Sub-Committee on
the West Indies rather than the Colonial Office which concen
trated on the study of West Indian labour problems. Con
sideration was given to the need for sending a Royal Com
mission to the Caribbean to investigate labour and economic
conditions,67 and discussions were entertained "on the
various Colonial laws" restricting "freedom of expression";
on the need to abolish Masters and Servants Laws; the estab
lishment of labour departments in each colony; the need to
press in the Commons for the inauguration of "a system of
state tenancies" whereby the colonial governments "should
buy the land and rent it out in suitable lots to tenants" and
the promotion of labour organisations in Trinidad and the
West Indies.68
By June 1937, very few tangible gains had been made

in Trinidad in the area of colonial labour organization or
colonial labour reform. The British Labour Movement had
centered its activities mainly in London at Transport House,
Congress House and at Westminster and despite its represen
tations made to the Colonial Office and its protestations in
Parliament, Trinidad workers were still short in achieving
many of their objectives.
THE 1937 DISTURBANCES

It was in the aftermath of the 1937 disturbances in
Trinidad that the British Labour Party and the T.U.C, played
a crucial role in the promotion of the trade union movement
in the colony. This was in prompt response to the need
identified by the Forster Commission that "had there existed
... organised means of collective bargaining through which ...
grievances of the workpeople could have found ... expression,

there can be very little doubt but that the disturbances ...
might have been avoided".69 Ernest Bevin,70 in his presi

dential address to the T.U.C, in 1937, called for greater
involvement of the Congress in the labour affairs of
Trinidad.71 And in response to his appeal the Congress es

tablished a special Colonial Advisory Committee late in 1937,
to investigate labour conditions in the colonies and "to see
how far the T.U.C, can contribute towards raising" the
standard of life in the colonial empire.72 Among members of
this Committee were J.F.N. Green, H. Polak, T. Reid,
D. Shiels, Roden Buxton, Arthur Pugh, Creech-Jones,
Roy
Macgregor, McGregor Ross,
George Hicks, Professor W.M.
Macmillan, Ebby Edwards, H.H. Elvin (Chairman, T.U.C.),
Arthur Shaw (U.U.C. General Council), and Walter Citrine
?
(General Secretary, T.U.C.) the first four also being
members of the West Indies Sub-Committee of the Labour
Party's Advisory Committee on Imperial Questions.73
By the end of 1937, theColonial Advisory Committee

petitioned the Colonial Office for the promotion of trade
unionism in Trinidad and the British Caribbean and, for its
part, pledged to support the development of the colonial
trade union movement.74 As
testimony to this, Sir Arthur
Pugh, representative of the British Labour Movement on the
Forster Commission,75 was advised to do what he could to
promote the emerging trade union movement in Trinidad
during his stay in the colony. Pugh endorsed the commend
able work of Adrian Cola Rienzi in the oil sugar belt ; and
addressed the Public Works Workers'
Union,76 the Amalga
mated Building and Woodworkers' Union [Pugh 7], and the
Federated Workers Trade Union.77 Leading political, social
and labour leaders shared his platforms,78 and on all
occasions Pugh had a similar but important message for trade
union leaders and members. He was the first British trade
unionist to advise registration under the 1932 Trade Union
Ordinance.79
Thismajor shift in policy on the part of the British
T.U.C, was explained by Sir Walter Citrine in 1938. For six
years, Citrine argued, the colonial government had shown no
indication of amending the Act. Moreover, since 1932
"important developments" had occurred in Trinidad which
necessitated a change in approach. The most important of

these "developments" were the 1937 unrest and the Forster
Report, the latter having recommended "various forms of
Government machinery for dealing with Trade Disputes...
and the appointment of a government Labour Adviser".80
It was the latter consideration which assured Citrine that the
rights of peaceful picketing and immunity against action in
tort "will soon be tried. At the present time" he concluded,
"refusal to register appears certain merely to postpone in
definitely any hope of introducing Trade Unionism" in the
colony.81 Indeed it was Pugh's advice which accelerated the
registration of Unions in the final months of 1937 and
throughout 1938.
NOW WILLING
On his return to Britain, Pugh reported to the T.U.C,
that Trinidad workers were "seeking means of greater self
... and it is a welcome result of the disturbances
expression
of the past year that they are showing an inclination to form
themselves into Trade Unions"[Pugh 7]. The advice and
guidance of the Congress would be of considerable value "to
inspire their confidence".82 It was this advice and guidance
which the Congress was prepared to give to colonial unions
that wooed the T.U.C, even closer to the Trinidad trade
union movement. More important, it was in recognition of
the influence which the T.U.C, was beginning to wield among
the working class in the colonial empire that the Colonial
Office found it imperative to consult with the Congress in the
formulation of a colonial labour policy. Indeed the appoint
ment of a Labour Adviser in the office was itself an indica
tion of the seriousness with which the British Government
was prepared to consider
proposals for colonial reform
emanating from the British Labour Movement.83
By April 1938 Caribbean events forced the Secretaryof

State Malcolm MacDonald to advise his newly appointed
Labour Adviser, Major Granville St. J. Orde-Browne, to "try
and keep in personal touch with chaps... like Citrine".84 And

in June, shortly after the Jamaican disturbances, he declared
in the Commons that the British Government was now
willing to collaborate with the T.U.C, on colonial labour
problems.85 The T.U.C, willingly agreed to co-operate and,
within two weeks of MacDonald's statement, the first major
discussion between the Colonial Office and the T.U.C.'s
Colonial Advisory Committee was underway.86
This meeting was significant because it established a

precedent of consultation between the Office and T.U.C, on
labour problems in the colonies. Through their respective
representatives, a wide ranging discussion was held, on a
number of labour issues. The T.U.C, emphasized the need for
reform of labour legislation, adequate supervision of labour
conditions, and the need for labour organisations in the
colonial empire. Citrine, who led the T.U.C.'s delegation
agreed that, in some dependencies, trade unions were
"occasionally of doubtful character" since "they had not
fallen into altogether good hands".87 But in others the
opposite was the case. Here he instanced Trinidad, Jamaica
and Sierra Leone, where a number of unions had written
seeking affiliation with the T.U.C. Since the Congress had
decided that "as a general principle this was undesirable" it
was agreed to allow the term "Associated with the Trade
Union Congress" to be used by unions whose rules had been
approved by the Congress.88
Citrine also dwelt upon the work which the T.U.C, had
been to assist the colonial labour movement : it
undertaking
had compiled containing simple regulations for the
a booklet
guidance of trade unions;89 it had completed the arrange
ments for granting T.U.C, scholarships to young trade union
ists to undertake a course of study on colonial labour
problems in England ; and was seriously contemplating send
ing a small commission overseas to gain first hand insight

into colonial labour conditions.90
MacDonald was impressed with the work of the T.U.C.

He agreed henceforth to consult with Congress on a regular
basis on specific colonial labour issues; and requested the
T.U.C.'s assistance in establishing "sound trade unions" in
the colonies.91 It was
this meeting which cemented the close
working relationship between the British Labour Movement
and the Colonial Office, and marked the beginning of direct
consultation between both bodies on important colonial
questions.92
T.U.C. GUIDANCE
Co-operation and consultation between the British

T.U.C, and the Colonial Office influenced the direction
which the growth of the Trinidad trade union movement
took in the post-1938 era. In May 1938, the T.U.C, sub
mitted a draft copy of a bookletModel Trade Union Rules to
the Colonial Office.93 This booklet was approved by the
Office and later the International Labour Organisation94 as a
useful guide for trade union development in the colonial
empire and copies were despatched by MacDonald to all
colonies.95 The T.U.C, independently circulated separate
... unions" in the empire,96 and in June
copies to "all known
wrote to trade unions in Trinidad and other dependencies
seeking statistical relating to membership
information figures,
racial composition and other associated data. By doing so the
T.U.C, hoped to gain a better understanding of the various
trade unions in British territories.97
In
1938, the T.U.C, particularly exerted itself to assist
the Trinidad trade union movement. The initiative which
British Labour had taken in this regard led a number of
unions in Trinidad to engage in direct correspondence not
only with the Colonial Advisory Committee of the T.U.C.,98
but also with individual trade unionists and labour politicians
such as Citrine,99 Pugh,100 Jagger,101 and Creech-Jones.102
Indeed so much reliance had been placed upon the T.U.C,
and British Labour politicians by local trade unionists that in
September 1938 Rienzi, President of the Trinidad Oilfield

Workers' Trade Union
(OWTU) visited London to discuss
with Citrine and the Colonial Advisory Committee of the
T.U.C, the selection of two nominees to represent the union
on the Oil Arbitration Tribunal established to settle the
dispute in the oil industry.103 Ralph Mentor, Secretary of
the OWTU, had gone on a similar mission to Jamaica to
solicit of Sir Stafford Cripps who was there on a
the advice
special assignment, namely, to advise Norman Manley on the
formation of the Peoples National Party.104 In fact it was
after this meeting between Cripps and Mentor that the
former upon his return to London formed the Committee
on West Indian Affairs in November 1938.105 This Com
mittee was designed to give publicity in theUnited Kingdom
toWest Indian labour conditions and to offer such help to
West Indian workers as could be mobilised in Britain. The
Committee comprised top Labour M.P.'s and British trade
unionists: Sir Stafford
Cripps, Creech-Jones, John Jagger,
Dr. H.B. Morgan, Dr. Harold Moody, D.N. Pritt, Dudley
Collard and Alex Gossip. It also included West Indian repre
sentatives of "the very best type".106 These included Rienzi
from Trinidad and Dr. C.B. Clarke and Peter Blackman,
Barbadians and members of the London-based Negro Welfare
Association. By the end of 1938 correspondence was initia
ted to seek the services of Jamaicans, most notably, Norman
Manley, Ken Hill and Amy Bailey.107
Shortly after this Committee was formed two of its
members, Dudley Collard and John JaggervisitedTrinidad as
representativesof theOWTU on theOil Arbitration Tribunal.
Both the opportunity
used to address the trade union move
ment,108 and Jagger, in particular, called upon the colonial
government to encourage the development of Trade Boards
and Whitley Councils similar to those in Britain.109 He also
insisted that there was no reason why members of the Trini
dad and Tobago Union of Shop Assistants and Clerks should
be excluded from the Workmen's Compensation Act. Of
special importance was the advice which he gave to Trinidad

workers about the removal of government restriction and
control from the Trade Union Act of 1932:
1 consider that your Legislature had no business to give you (a) Trade
Union Ordinance which was so much worse than the ... Ordinance which
us ... I think you
governs in Great Britain ought to agitate and agitate
increasingly until your unions are free from government control, not
subject to torts and have undisputed right to carry on peaceful picket
... In the meantime while you are getting the law altered show the law
ing
makers that you are strong enough to carry on a trade dispute when a trade
^
dispute is necessary even without pickets...*
Jagger's visit, at a time when trade union questions were

of great concern, had aroused considerable interest in Trini
dad. But it was the arrival of the Moyne Commission in the
British Caribbean that brought to Trinidad and theWest
Indies the greatest friend of the Caribbean labour movement
- was
Sir Walter Citrine. Unquestionably it Citrine (of all
T.U.C, officials to visit Trinidad in the inter-war period) who
made the most valuable and lasting contribution to the
development of the Trinidad and West Indian trade union
movement for, as William Knowles has correctly stated, with
out Citrine's advice, encouragement and assistance "many of
the fledgling unions might have died" [Knowles 3, Bowen 1 ].
IMPERIAL OBJECTIVES
By the end of 1938 it was apparent that the guidance

which the T.U.C, and individual British trade unionists gave
to the Trinidad trade union movement was very much in
conformity with that desired by the Colonial Office: trade
unions were advised to
develop along constitutional lines;
they were provided with simple and elementary literature
emphasizing and outlining the principles which govern the
successful organisation of trade unions;
they were briefed on
the role and importance of trade unions in an industrial
society; they were cautioned against the 'politics of ex
tremism or excess' ; and they were advised to work
closely
with the Trinidad Government and the Industrial Adviser's
Department. This was the gist of information and advice

given to Rienzi and other trade union leaders in Creech-Jones'
booklet Trade Unionism Today111 So were instructions
given by Arthur Pugh in his many letters to the Federated
Workers Trade Union. Pugh's basic conception of trade
unions inTrinidad in 1938 was that they should be partners
in assisting the colonial government to enforce laws which
had been passed for the workers' benefit. The clearest ex
ample of this notion was revealed in a letter written to the
Federated Workers Trade Union in 1938. In this letter he
called upon trade union leaders and elected members in the
legislative council not to criticise
government proposals to
relieve unemployment but to apply "their energies to secure
the cooperation of all parties in getting things done". For, as
he concluded, "there is far too much talk without
purpose".112 Indeed, it was the advice given by the T.U.C,

which modified the attitudes of Trinidad's working class
leadership.
The period 1929 to 1938 witnessed considerable inter
est by the British Labour Movement in the labour affairs of
Trinidad. While Labour was unable to achieve total success in
undertaking a full scale comprehensive colonial labour pro
gramme during its term of office, it is to the Labour Govern
ment's credit that, as a Minority Government, governing
during a period of severe international economic stress, itwas
able to introduce a new era in the emergence of a Colonial
Office labour policy. As part of the gradual growth in Britain
of political and constitutional liberalism towards the empire,
the Labour Government a policy
initiated
and pattern of
thinking towards colonial labour
relations as an urgent
question for imperial consideration. At the same time, it laid
the basis and established a machinery for executing colonial
labour reform. Indeed, it was Labour more than any previous
Colonial Office administration which helped to emphasize
the importance of labour reform in Trinidad and the
dependencies.
From 1931 onwards Labour continued its constructive

and helpful role in relation to the development of the trade
union movement in Trinidad. Through its activities in
London and in the Caribbean, the British Labour Movement
was able to win
the confidence of the Trinidad working class
and its leadership. It was eventually this confidence and trust
which British Labour enjoyed among colonial workers that
forced the British Government in 1938 both as a matter of
strategy and policy to include the T.U.C, in the decision
making process for colonial labour reform. This decision was
partly motivated by a genuine concern after 1937-38 for
colonial reconstruction. But it was also influenced by another
factor. Britain was
on the brink of war in 1938 and recog
nized the needto keep peace in the oil industry. For this
reason therefore, there was a deliberate strategy on the part
of the British Government to use the T.U.C, in the fulfilment
of imperial objectives.
On the other hand, the T.U.C.'s position in relation to

the development of the trade union movement in Trinidad
during the 1930's had always been motivated by a genuine
concern for the interest and welfare of colonial workers.
British Labour had always encouraged the growth of colonial
labour organisation along the lines of the British trade union
model and as such within the British imperial and constitu
tional framework. While Labour wasnot anti-empire or anti
imperialistic in its political sentiments, it was more liberal
and accommodating towards the growth of workers' com
binations in the colonies than was the Conservative Govern
ment. Yet while the Conservative Colonial Office had an im
perial objective in using theT.U.C, in 1938-1939 in fostering
trade union development in Trinidad,, there is little doubt,
that the T.U.C., if aware, would have subscribed to such an
imperialist policy.
FOOTNOTES
1
Passfield, formerly Sidney Webb, became Secretary of State at the age of
70 after a lengthy and remarkable career. He spent the first ten years of his career
as a junior civil servant in the Colonial Office. Indeed, he was the only junior civil
servant who rose to become Minister of the same department. For a good account
of Passfield's role at the Colonial Office see D. Shiels [10].
2C0.854/173,Confidential,Passfield to West Indian Governors, March 12,

1930.
3C.O. 318/393, Minute by N.F.S. Andrews, dated May 11, 1928.
4C.O. 318/393, Minute by C.R. Darnley, dated June 27, 1928.
5C.O. 318/396, Confidential, Passfield to Governor of Trinidad, May 14,

1930.
6C.O. 854/76, Circular, Passfield to Governors, April 29, 1930.
7Ibid.
8C0. 854/173, Confidential, Report of the Colonial Office Conference

1930, held between June 23 to July 10, 1923.
9C.O.
854/73, Circular Telegram, Passfield to West Indian Governors,
August 19, 1929. See also CO. 854/173, Confidential Circular, Passfield to
Governors, March 12, 1930.
10C.O. 854/173, Confidential, Minutes of Meeting of Colonial Office

Conference, June 23, 1930, p. 8.
llibid.
12CO. 854/173, Confidential, Minutes of Meeting of Colonial Office
Conference, July 10, 1930, p. 184.
UIbid.
14
Report of the Third British Commonwealth Labour Conference held at
Westminster Hall, House of Commons, London, between July 21 and July 25,
1930. (London: The Trades Union Congress and the Labour Party, 1930).
15
Port of Spain Gazette, November 4,1930.
}Port of Spain Gazette, October 7, 1930.
17
Port of Spain Gazette, November 4, 1930.
18C.O. 295/599, Circular, Confidential Passfield to the O.A.G. of Trinidad,
September 17, 1930. See also CO. 854/173, Circular, Confidential, Passfield to
Governors, September 17, 1930.
19C.O. 295/599, Circular, Confidential, Passfield to the O.A.G. of Trinidad,

17, 1930. It is important to note that the 'Passfield memorandum' was
September
largely the work of Shiels.
20C.O. 295/573, Hollis to Passfield, February 24,1931.
21
The fact that the Colonial Office acquiesced in this explanation is hardly
surprising when it is remembered that the real weakness of the Second Labour
Government was in its economic and monetary theory. In Britain the slump
found Labour with no means
of repairing the breakdown in the capitalist system.
The method they tried was to "economize". There were drastic financial cut
backs in government expenditure and social security payments. Indeed, such a
policy resulted in a reduction of purchasing power, further dampening demand
and making unemployment worse. Taking their lead from Britain, the Trinidad
colonial bureaucrats also "economized", and refused to institute labour reforms;
and their arguments were accepted by senior officials in the Colonial Office who
advised Passfield that Labour's economic and fiscal policy made it an ally of
the Trinidad government's policy.
22C.O. 323/1117, Colonial Labour Committee, First Meeting held on

May 22,1931.
23C.O. 88/1, Colonial Labour Committee Papers, 1931-1941(2). no date.
24C.O. 323/1117, Minutes of a Meeting held at Colonial Office on Monday,
April 20, 1931.
25See Hansard, 5th ser., Vol. 248, February 19, 1931, pp. 1492-1517;
5th ser., Vol. 251, April 29,1931, pp. 1630-31 5th ser? Vol. 251, May 13,1931,
pp. 1179-80 ;5th ser., Vol. 252, May 22,1931,pp. 2478-86. These pages contain
a series of questions that were asked about general labour conditions in the
- conditions
empire resulting from the depression.
CO. 323/1117, Minutes of a Meeting held at Colonial Office on Monday
April 20,1931.
27C.O. 323/1117, Colonial Labour Committee, First Meeting held on
May 22,1931.
'CO. 323/1117, Minutes by Shiels.dated May 11, 1931.
zyC.O. 888/1, Colonial Labour Committee Papers, 1931-1941(1), no date.
30Ibid.
31C.O. 323/1117, Shiels to Pas kin, May 15, 1931.
32C.O. 323/1117, Minute by J.J. Paskin, dated May 20, 1931.
33C.O. 323/1117, Minute by J.J. Paskin, dated September 2,1931.
34
Port of Spain Gazette, June 19, 1932.
35
See Port of Spain Gazette, August 21, 1937, for an enlightening dis
cussion of this topic by Vivian E. Henry, Secretary of the Trinidad Labour Party.
36Port of Spain Gazette, June 19,1932.
37Ibid. See also CO. 950/792, Evidence given before West Indian Royal
Commission 1938-39 by the Trinidad Labour Party and the British Guiana and
West Indian Labour Congress on March 9, 1939.
IO
Port of Spain Gazette, August 7, 1938.
39Citrine to O'Connor, June 3,1938 in Port of Spain Gazette.
4.0
Port of Spain Gazette, August 21, 1938.
41
Citrine to O'Connor, June 3, 1938, m Port of Spain Gazette.
42Cited in Port of Spain Gazette, March 24,1939.
43
Before arrival in Trinidad with the Moyne Commission,
Citrine's the im
pression which Cipriani gave to his labour following was that Citrine had advised
at a large
against registration. As Citrine pointed out in the presence of Cipriani
meeting in Port of Spain, this was not the case. There is little doubt however that
though Citrine had not advised the T.W.A. against registration he was very much
in favour of Cipriani's action taken in August 1934.
44The length of time during which such consultation transpired is indicative

firstly of the seriousness with which the T.W.A. viewed the trade union law and
secondly the degree to which the T.W.A. was ready to await directive from the
British Trades Union Congress before acting.
45Port of Spain Gazette^ August 11,1934.
Hereafter referred to as T.L.P. or alternative Labour Party.
Hansard, 5 th ser., Vol. 262, March 9, 1932, pp. 18034 also British
;See
Labour Party, Advisory Committee on Imperial Questions, Memorandum 122,
June 1933.
Report of the Thirty-Third Annual Conference of the British Labour

Party held in the White Rock Pavilion, Hastings, October 2nd to 6th, 1933,
(London: British Labour Party, 1933), pp. 200-201.
49
See for example .British Labour Party, Advisory Committee on Imperial
Questions, Memorandum No. 95. Private and Confidential, "Observations on
Cipriani's Memorandum" by Lord Olivier, March 1932. See also British Labour
Party, Advisory Committee on Imperial Questions, Memorandum 122, June 1933.
^The Colonies, The Labour Party Policy Report, No. 6. (London: Trans
port House, Smith Square, August 1933).
51
Sir William Arthur Lewis was born on January 23, 1915 in St. Lucia, West
Indies where he received his early education. He later attended the London
School of Economics where after graduation he served as lecturer in Economics
between 1938 and 1948. Between 1948 and 1958 he served as Professor of
Political Economy at the University of Manchester; between 1959 and 1963 he
served as Principal and later Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies
and from 1963 to the present time he has been Professor of Political Economy at
Princeton University. In addition to his distinguished academic career, he has
been President of the Caribbean Development Bank (1970-73). He is currently
a member of the American Philosophical Society; American Academy of Arts and
Sciences; and distinguished fellow of the American Economic Association.
52
Hereafter referred to as the N.F.R.B.
Arthur Lewis to General Secretary, N.F.R.B., March 12, 1935, in

Papers of Arthur Creech-Jones, MSS Brit. Emp. S332, Box 25/1A f8. (Hereafter
referred to as Creech-Jones Paper).
54Creech-Jones Papers, MSS Brit. Emp. S 332, Box 25/1A f9, Lewis to
General Secretary, N.F.R.B., April 1,1935.
55Creech-Jones Papers, MSS Brit. Emp. S 332, Box 25/1A fil, Woolf to
Parker, April 5, 1935. In part Woolf wrote, "it is just what is wanted in the
Party".
56Creech-Jones Papers, MSS Brit. Emp. S 332, Box 25/1A, Item 2, "The
British West Indies", by A. Lewis, June 17,1935.
57ibid.
co
JOPort of Spain Gazette, January 18, 1936. Susan Lawrence served on
both Labour Governments during the inter-war period. She was also a member
of the London County Council ; served on the executive of the Fabian Society
from 1913 to 1945 and as a member of the Labour Party's national executive
from 1918 to 1941.
59C.O. 318/422, Mayhewto Keppel, April 1936.
60It is important to point out that the publicity afforded Macmillan as a

result of the publication of his book helped two years later to bring him to the
Colonial Labour Committee of the British T.U.C, where, it was anticipated, his
expertise would help the Congress to formulate a West Indian labour policy. See
CO. 323/1536/1751, Summary of Proceedings at a meeting of the Trades Union
Council attended by Major Orde-Browne, August 8, 1938.
61
British Labour Party, Advisory Committee on Imperial Questions, Memo
randum No. 166. Private and Confidential. "Notes on a visit to the West Indies",
by A. Susan Lawrence, April 1936,
62CO. 318/423, Parkinson to Maffey, April 21, 1936 in which Parkinson

alludes to the discussion with Lawrence on these topics.
British Labour Party, Advisory Committee on Imperial Questions, Memo

randum No. 166. Private and Confidential. "Notes on a Visit to the West Indies",
by A. Susan Lawrence, April 1936.
64For the case of Trinidad, see Port of Spain Gazette, January 18, 1936.
65British Labour Party, Advisory Committee on Imperial Questions,

Minutes of Meeting held on Afiril 22, 1936.
66Ibid.
67British LabourParty, Advisory Committee on Imperial Questions,

Memorandum No. Private and Confidential,
165. "The West Indian Labour
Problem" by T. Reid, March 1936.
British Labour Party, Advisory Committee on Imperial Questions; Sub

Committee on the West Indies. Memorandum No. 16 7A. Interim Report and
Minutes of Meeting of the Sub-Committee on the West Indies, June 10,1936.
69
Trinidad and Tobago Disturbances 1937 ; Report of the Commission,
(London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1938), p. 81. Hereafter referred to as
Forster Report.
Ernest Bevin later became Minister of Labour and National Service during
the Second World War.
71
Report of Proceedings at the Sixty-Ninth Annual Trades Union Congress
held at Norwich September 5 to 10, 1937, (London, Co-operative Printing
Soriety Ltd., 1937), pp. 74-75.
72
Colonial Advisory Committee of the Trades Union Congress: 1/1. Private
and Confidential, Memorandum for Inaugural Meeting, December 22, 1937.
Ibid. also Report

See of Proceedings at the Seventieth Annual Trades
Union held at Blackpool
Congress September 5 to 9, 1938, (London: Co-operative
Printing Society Ltd., 1938), pp. 205-7 and pp. 433-35.
^^Report of Proceedings at Seventieth Annual Trades Union Congress,

pp. 433-35.
75The appointment of Sir Arthur Pugh on the Commission can be con

sidered a major step in the slow but eventual recognition by the Colonial Office of
the role which the Trades Union Congress could play in colonial labour affairs.
See CO. 295/600, Ormsby-Gore to Citrine, July 10, 1937.
76Port of Spain Gazette, October 5, 1937.
77
Port of Spain Gazette, October 5, 1937. It is important to note that
Pugh's meetings attracted workers from an occupational cross-section in the
colony.
78
Among these were Howard Nankivell, recently appointed Secretary for
Labour ;Alfred Richards, Mayor of Port of Spain Malcolm Milne, Registrar of
;
trade unions ;Dr. Tito Achong and executive members of various trade unions.
See Ibid.
79
^Citrine to O'Connor, June 3,1938 inPort of Spain Gazette, August 7,1938.
Ibid.
Colonial
Advisory Committee of the Trades Union Congress 1/1937-38.
Private and Confidential. Report of the First Meeting of the Colonial Advisory
Committee, December 22, 1937. At this meeting Pugh discussed his visit to
Trinidad and "dwelt on the necessity of
stimulating native labour movements to
help themselves rather than to rely always on outside help".
83
CO. 318/434, Circular, Ormsby-Gore to West Indian Governors, March
14, 1938. In Britain the Labour Party had the appointment
originally proposed of
a Labour Adviser in 1936.
-
84Papers of Sir Granville St. J. Orde-Browne MSS Afr. S 11 7, Box 2/5 f
83, Personal, Ormsby-Gore to Orde-Browne, April 8, 1938. Hereafter referred to
as the Orde-Browne Papers.
*5
Hansard, 5th ser., Vol. 337, June 14, 1938, pp. 95-96.
86Creech-Jones Papers, MSS Brit. Emp. S 332, Box 14/3 f 115, Notes for
Deputation to Colonial Secretary, June 23, 1938.
87C.O. 323/1536/1751, Note of a Discussion with Members of the Colonial

Advisory Committee of the Trades Union Congress, June 23 , 1938.
**Ibid.
89C.O. 323/1536/1751, Note of a Discussion with Members of the Colonial

Advisory Committee of the Trades Union Congress, June 23, 1938.
nibid.
92
The first important issue on which the Congress was consulted was
Orde-Browne's visit to the British West Indies.
"Colonial Advisory Committee of the Trades Union Congress 3/1937-1938,

Private and Confidential, Minutes of the Third Meeting held on March
30,1938;
See also 4/1937-1938 Private and Confidential, Minutes of the fourth meeting
held on June 22, 1938.
94
Trades Union Congress, File No. 932.5, Benson to Kemmis, June 1, 1938.
95C.O. 854/110, Circular, MacDonald to Governors, July 12, 1938.
96Colonial Advisory Committee of the Trades Union Congress, 4/1937

1938, Private and Confidential, Minutes of the Fourth Meeting held on June 22,
1938.
9W
98
Some of these unions were
the Public Works Workers' Trade Union; the
Federated Workers Union;Trade
the Trinidad and Tobago Union of Shop
Assistants and Clerks of the O.W.T.U. See Colonial Advisory Committee of the
Trades Union Congress 3/1937-1938, Private and Confidential, Minutes of the
Third Meeting held on March 30, 1938.
99
Port of Spain Gazette, August 7, 1938. One of the unions which main
tained extremely close contact with Citrine in 1938 was Quintin O'Connor's
Trinidad and Tobago Union of Shop Assistants and Clerks.
^Trinidad Guardian,August 26, 1938 and October 23, 1938; Pugh had
always maintained close contact with the Federated Trade Union.
10lPort of Spain Gazette, March 29,1939. See also CO. 318/437, MacDonald
to Young, May 12,1939. Jagger was a great friend of Trinidad civil servants.
102Creech-Jones Papers, MSS Brit. Emp. S 332, Box 25/5 f 116, Patrick to
Creech-Jones, April 22, 1938. Creech-Jones also kept in close contact with the
Federated Workers Trade Union; See also Box 25/5 ff 1-4, Creech-Jones to
Alexander, Rienzi, Francois and Patrick, February 11, 1939. It is important to
note that in March 1938 Creech-Jones provided seven copies of a booklet Trade
Unionism Today to Rienzi to be distrubuted to various trade unions in Trinidad;
See Box 25/5, ff 334-35, Rienzi to Creech-Jones, March 1, 1939 and Creech-Jones
to Rienzi, March 31, 1939. It is noteworthy that apart from Citrine, it was
Creech-Jones upon whom Trinidad trade unionists placed great hope for advice
and guidance.
1na
AUJCO. 295/608, Telegram, Secretary of State to Governor of Trinidad,
September 16, 1938 ; See also Creech-Jones Papers, MSS Brit. Emp. S 332, Box
25/5 ff 275-76. Rienzi to Creech-Jones, September 1938.
LKr*Port of Spain Gazette, September 19,1938 and October 16,1938.
l05Daily Gleaner, November 30,1938.
l06Ibid. See also Creech-Jones Papers, MSS Brit. Emp. S 332, Box 14/1
f 121, Trades Union Congress: Copy of letter received by Mr. Gillies from the
Negro Welfare Association on November 16,1938.
I07
LU'Daily Gleaner. November 30,1938.
lQSPort of Spain Gazette. January 25 and 26,1939.
109
Port of Spain Gazette. January 25,1939 and March 29,1939.
U%id.
II
Creech-Jones Papers, MSS Brit. Emp. S 332, Box 25/5 ff 334-35, Creech
Jones to Rienzi, March 31,1939.
Trinidad Guardian. October 23,1938.
REFERENCES
[1] BOWEN, Walter, Colonial Trade Unions, London: Fabian

Publications Ltd., 1954.
[2] JACOBS, R.W., "The Politics of Protest in Trinidad: The

Strikes and Disturbances of 1937", Paper read at
Conference of Caribbean Historians held at St.
Augustine, U.W.I., April 1973.
[3] KNOWLES, W.H., Trade Union Development and Industrial

Relations in the British West Indies, Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 1959.
[4] LAWRENCE, Susan A., "A Tour in theWest Indies", Labour,

III, May, 1936.
[5] -, "A Tour in theWest Indies", Labour IH June,1936.
[6] MACMILLAN, W.M., Warning From the West Indies: A Tract

for Africa and theEmpire, London *Faber and Faber
Ltd., 1936.
[7] PUGH, Arthur, "Some Impressions of a Tropical Island",

Labour, V, February 1938.
[8] ROBERTS, B.C., "Labour Relations in Overseas Territories",

The Political Quarterly, XXXVIII, 1957.
[9] -> Labour in the Tropical Territories of the Common

wealth, London: G. Bell & Sons Ltd, 1964.
[10] SHIELS, D., "Sidney Webb as a Minister", The Webbs and

Their Work, ed. Margaret Cole, London: Frederick
Muller Ltd, 1949.

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The Role of the British Labour Movement in the Development of Labour Organisation in

The Role of theBritishLabour Movement

Between 1929 and 1938 the British Labour Movement exhibited

organisation in the colonies so much so that in September 1930

After the fall of the Labour Government in 1931, the British

Indeed, in the period after 1937, the British Government found it

THE TAINT OF SLAVERY

By the end of the 1920s the British Labour Movement

During the 1930s the British Labour Movement mani

the impact of the Great Depression, the advent of the Second

The advent of the Second Labour Government in June

dad Masters and Servants law was highlighted. Despite the

During its early months in office, Labour emphasized to

It was during Labour's second year in office that this

important, colonial labour reform [Shiels 10]. The fact that

Shiels, an ardent advocate of colonial trade unions, took

Two weeks later the Third British Commonwealth

many areas of the colonial

In fact Cipriani's public utterances immediately upon his

In his famous memorandum Passfield stressed that the

Thus were to be encouraged but simultaneously

Shiels. He envisaged that such a committee would not only

The obsolescence of West Indian labour laws24 and the

deplorable labour conditions in

In order to accommodate expertise and interdepartmental

be faced with a reciprocal claim by employers for a repre

During its short but active life of three months under

policy of revising Masters and Servants ordinances; it

also contributed to his decline as leader of the working class

Obviously Cipriani himself was disappointed in the out

approval. The ordinance deliberately withheld the protection

granted to British trade unions under the Conspiracy and

Essentially, therefore, the rights of peaceful picketing

picketing. In the opinion of the T.U.C., therefore, Citrine

continued, "any Trade Union Act lacking such provisions

The T.W.A. failed in its endeavour. And once again, the

Cipriani accepted this responsibility. In spite of opposi

Thus on the basis of the above consideration and being

The British Labour Movement continued to maintain a

British Labour Party through the services of W. Arthur

Early in 1935, the New Fabian Research Bureau52

Lewis' article was a strong indictment of British colonial

labour legislation in the Caribbean, the absence of factory

energies to discourage associations; a Labour Government on the contrary

emancipation, which can only be achieved by the fullest cooperation

If in 1935, it was Lewis who was responsible for stimu

However it was Susan Lawrence's visit to the Caribbean

both in the Colonial Office and on the Labour Party, and

While in Trinidad she was surprised to find "a very fully

Indeed, it was this "individualistic autonomy" of the

On the condition of the Trinidad and West Indian

which she described as "disgraceful" were still on the colonial

Lawrence also made a strong case to the Labour Party

SUB-COMMITTEE ON THE W.I.

with questions to be asked in Parliament about the British

By June 1937, very few tangible gains had been made

THE 1937 DISTURBANCES

grievances of the workpeople could have found ... expression,

might have been avoided".69 Ernest Bevin,70 in his presi

Trinidad.71 And in response to his appeal the Congress es

By the end of 1937, theColonial Advisory Committee

necessitated a change in approach. The most important of

By April 1938 Caribbean events forced the Secretaryof