My Life

My Life - Oswald Mosleyenormous, but there is a final answer to the problem. It is the party. I described what Imean in my book Europe: Faith and Plan (1958): 'The party can be the greatestinfluence in the modern world, for good or evil. The organised political party—ormovement as it is usually called, when it represents an idea which is fundamental, anda party method which is serious—can be a greater influence in the State than even thePress, radio, television, cinema or any other of the multiple instruments of theestablished interest and the money power. This has always been the case in relativelymodern times. The party must, of course, represent a clear and decisive idea of theperiod, an idea which the people want because its time has come. The party must alsohave a real national organisation, which should aim at covering every street andvillage in the country. Then the party is paramount. ... To be effective in this decisivesense the party must be a party of men and women dedicated to an idea, whichcontinually functions in promotion of that idea; a real political movement is more akinto a religious order than a social organisation.'I described the work of the party as follows: 'The party which really serves the peopleand is, therefore, organised to that end, should be represented by a single, responsibleindividual in every street of the great cities and in every village of the countryside.That person should be there to serve the people, to help them in need, to assist and toadvise. . . . Such a party would be a movement of continually available service to thepeople; it would be of the people and with the people, and interwoven with their dailylife. The influence of such a party would naturally be very great, but nobody couldpossibly believe it was an oppressive influence. Any individual in any street could tella party worker he never wanted to see him again, and the whole electorate couldconvey the same sharp message to the party as a whole at an election. And the attitudeof the party worker would be the same as the position of the party as a whole inelectoral adversity; a willingness to retire temporarily in a period of national fatigue,but a certainty of return in the moment of need and action. A party should be amovement of service, but also of leadership; a companion to the people, ever at handto help, but also a leader on paths which lead upward to new and unproven heights. Itshould be the duty of a party to look ahead, think ahead, feel ahead, live ahead. . . .Such a movement should seek always to be in the vanguard of the human march, aleader in all adventures of the mind and spirit.'The evidence available, that in time of crisis such a party could prevail over themassive array of State and money power controlling all the instruments for formingpublic opinion, is first the power of the existing party machines, and the influencethey wield in the canvass. Their intermittent organisations only function at electiontime, apart from their paid agents and a few devoted officials, but everyone who hasbeen up against them knows how effective they are. A fortiori, a permanentlyfunctioning organisation of dedicated men and women interwoven with the life of thepeople and trusted by them because of the continuous service they render, could wieldan enduring influence. Another point is that even the present indequate electoralmachines of the established parties have to a large extent often defeated the opinionformingpower of the money machine. The Labour Party has never had anything likethe Press at the disposal of the Conservative Party, but even in the days when thePress was the only organ for forming opinion, Labour often won. The politicalmachine defeated the Press. I have never checked to see if it is entirely correct, but Iwas brought up on the political legend that in the 1906 election the Conservatives hadevery newspaper in Scotland on their side, but the Liberals won every seat.386 of 424