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Most of the political arguments in 1904 were about similar issues as today - unemployment, education, pensions. Two were peculiar to the time - namely the "fiscal question", which was about Chamberlain's tariff proposals, and the use of Chinese labour in South Africa.

As the victor in a recent by-election, Will Crooks declared it was not a question of Tory or Liberal. If he knew where a man's money was he could tell which way he would vote.

Several of these great politicians laid claim to being Labour members. Mr Chamberlain had professed he was a Labour member and he had promised to provide work for the people. He went to war, and now we had to wipe out £250,000,000 debt. Surely we had plenty of work to do.

Referring to Birmingham, he said people there had shipped off a ship load of idols to South Africa: the people had also held a meeting in the Town Hall to deplore idolatry in the heathen, and at that meeting a collection was taken up to send a ship load of missionaries after the idols. It was not quite playing the game.

In pleading for more equality of opportunity in the matter of education, he gave examples of the good results that had been obtained by working men's sons and daughters. Last year he had the pleasure of seeing the daughter of a bricklayer's labourer receive her cap and gown. Yet some people would tell them it was an "awful shocking thing" to see children of working men doing so well. Why should they not have more of them? Why should parents have to stint the other members of the family in order to give the clever ones a chance? The nation needed clever boys and girls. They were a valuable asset.

Under present condition fathers and mothers had to take their children away from school because they could not afford to keep them there when they got into the teens. Parents of clever children, when they told the schoolmaster they must take them away from school, they were told they were standing in the children's light. But the force of circumstances compelled the to take that course, and the clever girl, because her parents were poor, had to become a little slave long before she had developed.

	Grimsby Labour History Extracts from the report of a speech made by Will Crooks on 30/5/04
Grimsby Labour Party website	Most of the political arguments in 1904 were about similar issues as today - unemployment, education, pensions. Two were peculiar to the time - namely the "fiscal question", which was about Chamberlain's tariff proposals, and the use of Chinese labour in South Africa. As the victor in a recent by-election, Will Crooks declared it was not a question of Tory or Liberal. If he knew where a man's money was he could tell which way he would vote. Several of these great politicians laid claim to being Labour members. Mr Chamberlain had professed he was a Labour member and he had promised to provide work for the people. He went to war, and now we had to wipe out £250,000,000 debt. Surely we had plenty of work to do. Referring to Birmingham, he said people there had shipped off a ship load of idols to South Africa: the people had also held a meeting in the Town Hall to deplore idolatry in the heathen, and at that meeting a collection was taken up to send a ship load of missionaries after the idols. It was not quite playing the game. In pleading for more equality of opportunity in the matter of education, he gave examples of the good results that had been obtained by working men's sons and daughters. Last year he had the pleasure of seeing the daughter of a bricklayer's labourer receive her cap and gown. Yet some people would tell them it was an "awful shocking thing" to see children of working men doing so well. Why should they not have more of them? Why should parents have to stint the other members of the family in order to give the clever ones a chance? The nation needed clever boys and girls. They were a valuable asset. Under present condition fathers and mothers had to take their children away from school because they could not afford to keep them there when they got into the teens. Parents of clever children, when they told the schoolmaster they must take them away from school, they were told they were standing in the children's light. But the force of circumstances compelled the to take that course, and the clever girl, because her parents were poor, had to become a little slave long before she had developed.	Concerning the Chinese Ordinance (i.e. a set of regulations), he was not one of those who said that every ordinance passed to deal with coolie labour was a perfect ordinance whether passed by Liberals or anyone else. It was sufficient for him to know that the Chinese ordinance was absolute slavery. Let others call it what they might. The ordinance said that if a man did not like his work when he got out there he could leave it. But before he could leave it, Will Crooks pointed out, he had to tender the expenses incurred by those who brought him and his family into the Transvaal. The Chinaman would receive 1s. 2d. per day, out of which he had to maintain his wife and family, and if he did not like the work he could leave it or pay the price of the passage to and from China. That meant they could not go back until they had served their period of slavery. He noticed, too, they had to pay three Mexican dollars for them. They were not buying them, only paying duty on them. Then they were to live in a beautiful garden city, fenced all round, with wire netting over the top and a tunnel made from the garden city to the mine, because as strangers in the place there was a danger of their getting lost. They were also to have their likenesses taken. If any of them were caught outside the garden city they were liable to arrest and either a fine of £20 - which would take a lot of 1s. 2d.s to meet- six months imprisonment, or corporal punishment. Yet over every Chinese slave compound floated the Union Jack. So, Will Crooks concluded, if they wanted to leave this world a little better than they found it, and to help their brethren and sisters to live a more joyful life, they would not hesitate as to who to vote for at the next election.
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Grimsby Labour History Extracts from the report of a speech made by Will Crooks on 30/5/04

Grimsby Labour History
Extracts from the report of a speech made by Will Crooks on 30/5/04