Lloyd Edmonds 2 International Brigade Spanish Civil War- Oral Labour History part 2 of 2

Extract from “Weevils in the Flour – An Oral by Wendy Lowenstein
Lloyd Edmonds-
I'd always been active in politics. In 1932 1 went to Melbourne University to finish my arts degree. I joined the Labour Club. At the beginning of the year there were only four members and, because of the depression, by the end of that year, we had two hundred members, the largest society in the university. We aroused a tremendous amount of hostility because the university as a whole was conservative.

The Students' Representative Council even passed a motion that communism must not be discussed at the university, it was a forbidden topic! We had to fight this, so I was deputised to see Professor Anderson,* who was a Professor of Philosophy at Sydney University, and was visiting Melbourne University. He was quite famous for being a radical individualist. I asked him if, in the light of this particular motion, he would give a talk on communism. He immediately consented so we took the Public Lecture Theatre, the largest theatre in the university. We walked in at twelve o'clock and the Public Lecture Theatre and it was packed tight, really tight! And Professor Anderson gave a brilliant academic outline of communist theory.

I was at the university for two years, and when I left the Labour Club was still the largest club there. You had Labour Party members like myself, social democrats who believed in Labour Party philosophy. I would differ from the Communists and defend the constitutional method of getting changes. But we were all against a common enemy, the conservative block.

I was walking down the street in Melbourne one day and there was an unemployed demonstration. I went up to speak to them. They were marching up to the Exhibition Building where there was a meeting of the Empire Honour League.The Empire Honour League consisted of a large number of non-conformist churchmen,. The Salvation Army Band was playing. The very large hall was nearly full. When I came they were playing 'God Save the King.
As soon as they started, the unemployed who were scattered through the hall started to boo and, as I was standing near the back of the hall. I heard the officer-in-charge of the police say. "Out with them!", and the next minute! was grabbed by the neck.They must have thought I was one of the leaders. It was an incredibly painful policeman's boot I got.

We had many weekend conferences and seminars, mostly discussions. We had people like Guido Barrachi to lead them. He was the leading academic Marxist. His fame from his previous anti-war attitude was still in the university. One meeting was packed with what I would call today fascist types, who really did come along to manhandle him if possible. Meetings were often riotous! They'd come along and throw flour bags to break the meeting.up. Many of them took very strong objection to the injection of politics into university life. There was one exception. I must pay tribute to him... and that was Professor Copland. He was the official economist who was advising the Government how to get out of the depression.

It was a most frustrating thing, because no one knew the answer to the depression. But still we were opposed to cuts in pensions and wages. By 1935, people were becoming conscious of the danger of war, and Maurice Blackburn, being a very strong pacifist, considered it was most important to support peace. He was incorruptible, a man of high principle, and also he was a radical and a socialist. For these reasons we admired him greatly. At this time the Labour Party refused to have anything to do with things overseas. The Victorian Council against War and Fascism was set up, and 'If any member of the Labour Party speaks on their platform they will be expelled." Arthur Calwell was a main force on the State Executive, although Maurice Blackburn was on the Executive too.

Well, despite this ban, Blackburn did speak for the Council against War and Fascism and was expelled. I felt I should throw in my lot with him. All they had to do was to ask me if I spoke on the platform. I said, "Yes!" and I was expelled from the Labour Party, which was a very serious thing for me because it was the main activity in my life.

This Council against War and Fascism, was it widely based?
No, but it was the only one of the sort, it was almost radical in itself to be interested in overseas happenings in Australia then. About this time I left for overseas. I went to study at the London School of Economics.. I spent time listening to the various thinkers of the time: Bertrand Russell, George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells and so on. Harold Laski was talking about the Spanish war and he said, Spain is the crucial thing for democracy.' I said to Laski that I would like to join the International Brigade. He got in touch with Brigade Headquarters in London and they arranged for me to go to Spain.