Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald and North and South Wales Independent

QUARRYMEN'S LABOUR DAY CONFERENCE AT CARNARVON. PROGRESS OF THE PAST YEAR. PRESIDENT'S REVIEW. .ADDRESS BY MR. PHILIP SNOWDEN. The North Wales quarrymen held their annual Labour demonstration on Monday at Carnarvon, under the auspices of the union. Delegates from the various quarry centres attended the conference at the Pavilion, and this was followed in the after- noon by a public meeting, which was ad- dressed by Mr Philip Snowden, M.P., and others. In the course of his address to the con- ference, the President, Mr J. O. Roberts AUpp-er Llandwrog) said that it was a source of gratification to them all that the union had not only held its own, but had also made some progress, during 1908, and this was all the more significant in view of the unsatisfactory condition of the slate in- dustry during the same period. Such nad been the state of the trade that a large num- ber of quarrymen had been obliged to leave their homes and seek a means of livelihood elsewhere. The constant emigration from Carnarvonshire and Merionethshire was an eyesore, and gave pain to the men's friends, and it was certainly depiorable that men should be compelled to turn itheir backs upon mountains of wealth, and take their chance in countries to which they were utter strangers. The returns showed that in the course of the year 637 men joined the union, while 276 ceased to be members, thus leaving a net increase of 361. This was considered a eubstantial advance, and indicated that, if continued at the same ratio, all the North Wales quarrymen would be unionists within the next ten years. The attention of the conference twas invited by some of the lodges to two or three ques- tions which affected the quarrymen as a class. The first had reference to the ad- visability of approaching the quarry own- ers with the view of securing a payment of the wages weekly instead of monthly. He strongly advised that such an application lie made in districts where the unionists were in the majority. The other question Was whether the members of the union I ought as a class to assume an independent attitude in all elections, and to treat all political and social questions in relation to their own interests as workmen. He un- hesitatingly pronounced in favour of this. It was the course followed by almost every section of the community, and it was like- wise the duty of the Quarrymen's Union to seek the opinion of all candidates at Par- liamentary and local elections on questions affecting the quarrymen's interests, and afterwards, after due deliberation, to sup- port the candidates found to be most, favour- able to those interests. The quarrymen could not commit a greater mistake than ) to associate themselves witth any party as a party, or with any person as such. THE ANNUAL REPORT. 1 In their annual report, the secretaries I ^Messrs W. H. Williams and R. T. Jones) re- j ferred with regret to the fact that, contrary I to anticipations, there had been no Tevivai I of the elate industry during the last year. | Unemployment, low wages, and the uncer- tainty of receiving any reasonable recogni- tion of labour, continued to be the sources I of anxiety and suffering. There was, how- ever, some consolation derivable from the I desire which possessed many young men to acquire more information about the trade and a more intimate knowledge of the in- fluences which produced fluctuations in the industry. The quarrymen would do well to app'y themselves diligently to those things which specifically affected them, for they had in the past been rather prone to enter into a conflict with their oppressors when they should rather have concentrated atten- tion on their own defects. Discussing the proposed reorganisation of the union rules, the report pointed out that no fresh prin- ciples had been introduced, though there was an attempt to broaden the interests to some extent. It, would have been very de- sirable also to provide for sick-pay, for old- age pension, and out-of-work benefit-it be- ing scarcely honourable on their parb to expect the State to do everything—but, owing to the committee's disinclination to add to the members' subscriptions at the present, juncture, they were obliged to con- fine their funds mainly to the provision of aid in labour disputes. In A balance-sheet was appended showing I that the balance at the bank at the be- ginning of 1908 was £ 2,255, while the mem- bers' subscriptions amounted to £1,192, making the total assets £ 3,535. The ex- penditure of the year amounted to £ 576. Both statements were adopted. Amended regulations, which had been sub mitted to Mr Atherley-Jones, M.P., for his opinion, were adopted for the future control of the affairs of the union. VARIOUS RESOLUTIONS. The conference by a majority decided to adjourn the consideration of the question of registering fibroid phthisis among the diseases for which the quarrymen might he entitled to compensation as in the case of accident. A resolution twas carried in fav- our of applying for payment of weekljy wages in quarries where unionists predominate. The lodges were again requested to consider a scheme for old-age pension. A discussion took place on the question of giving effect to a proposal adofpted some years back for publishing a periodical under the auspices of the union and exclusively devoted to the quarrymen's interests. When the question last engaged the attention of the conference it broke down on the ques- tion of expense only 600 of the 2,000 odd mem.bers of the union having signfied their wil'ingness to subscribe to such a publica- tion. The matter was referred back for the consideration of the lodges.

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THEIR CASE FOR FREE TRADE. Tariff Reformers are very confident in re- gard to the strength of their plea for the Tariff taxation of foreign wool manufactures imported into this country. These goods, they argue, are mostly in the nature of luxuries, totalling (in 1908) about £9,500,000 worth of yarn, dress goods, &c., which seem to them very suitable objects of taxation. The foreign wool workers have longer working hours and lower wages than ours. We admit the foreign goods duty free, whilst our similar goods sent a brood arc heavily taxed. n To these considerations Free Traders answer that under a Tariff Reform policy our wool industries would probably lose much more than they would gain, because—

THE CHIEF WOOL MARKET IN TIIH WORLD. 1. This country is the principal market in the world for wool, mohair, and alpaca, and also for the "tops," ''noils," and other sub- ordinate pro;iuctr: of the wool industries. In the year the United Kingdom exported a total, of £ 41,300,000 worth of wool, aud yarn, and various wool fabrics. If we enter up'-n a Tariff war all the?? masses of labour-employ- ing pvodnco would be open to retaliation, with proportionate injury and loss to capital and labour in this country. 2. Tariff Reformers affirm that they will im- pose no Tariff duties on wool or other raw materials. In fact, however, the nature and magnitude of the duties will depend, not upon what Tariff Reformers promise us now, but on the political power of the various interestt which deal with the Tariffs in Parliament. The Australian and New Zealand people, foi example, would have an almost irresistible case in favour of preference for their wool, by the imposition of Tariff duties or South American and other foreign wools. Such preference," of course, would very seriously handicap our wool manufactures.

RAG-WOOL. 3. An important element in the growth of our wool industries, especially as regards cheap fabrics, has been the use of rag- wool or shoddv." It is estimated that we jonsume about 180,000,0001b. per annum of this material, equal to about one-fourth of the total of wool used in this country. Growers of wool at home and in the Colonies would cer- tainly agitate strongly for Tariff duties on imported foreign rags, which, they could plausibly assert, compete unfairly with new wool. Such duties would heavily raise the price of wool clothing, thus reducing con- sumption and throwing many workers out of employment. The result would be the large substitution of cotton clothing for wool, as has occurred in the United States, where the consumption of wool clothing per head of the population is only about one-half of what it is in this country.

YARNS AND DYE WARES. 4. Spinners of wool yarn in this country would reasonably demand Tariff duties upon imported wool yarn. This would naturally provoke retaliatory duties against the much larger quantities of wool yarn which we ex- port. Moreover, the Tariff duties on imported yarn would be seriously injurious to the home manufacturers who find advantage in the use of these foreign yarns. 5. British dyemakers would reasonably de- mand the imposition of Tariff duties upon dyewares imported from abroad. Inasmuch as the German dyemakers, by reason of the su- perior skill of their working chemists, lead the world in the manufacture of dyes, such Tariff duties would severely check our dyeing industry.

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FOREIGN WOOL FABRICS. 1 6. Tariff duties upon the imported dress goods and other wool products would, of course, raise the prices of these commodities, with proportionate injury to the employment of tailors, dressmakers, and others who are even more numerous than the persons em- ployed in wool spinning and weaving. 7. The competitive efficiency of our wool industries under Free Trade has been speci- ally demonstrated of iaie years by the falling off in the quantity and value of foreign wool fabrics imported. Moreover, of the wool fabrics thus imported, about 10 per cent. are re-exported to the Colonies and to foreign countries. I 8. The exports of wool manufactures from Continental countries have of late years been stationary or decreasing, whilst our exports of these goods have continuously increased—ex- cepting in the one year of depression, 1908.

FOOD TAXATION. 9. The gravest feature of Tariff Reform policy, however, from the point of view of the wool industries, is the proposal to tax food— a proposal which is an indispensable feature of that policy. Inquiries into the household expenditure of the average of working people in this country have shewn that workers earning from 20s. to 30s. per week spend about two-thirds of the total family income on food. They also spend about one-sixth of their income on house rent. j This leaves only about one-sixth of the total income for expenditure on clothing and other things. Now, obviously, if half of this small margin is taken away by food taxation, the workers will have so much the less to spend on clothing; and employment in the wool in- dustries will be proportionately reduced. In fact, experience at home and abroad has shewn that Tariff duties on food do raise prices by at least the amount of the duty. Also, by reason of the small scale of the tran- sactions in retail trade, a 5 per cent. duty would be practically equivalent to 8 per cent., or ever. more. Thus the nominal 5 per cent. duty on food would be equal to 8 per cent on two-thirds of the income of the work- ing-class family. This again would be equal to rather more than 5 per cent. on the total income—being the equivalent of an Income T: x of Is. in the £ But if we consider the case of an earned middle-class income of £ 200 per annum, we know that the Income Tax is only charged ai 9d. in the £ upon one-fifth of this total in- come. That i; the actual burden on the earned middle-class income is a fraction under 2d. in the JL Thus we see that the 5 per cent. of food taxation would fall six times as oppressively on the working class as the present Income Tax falls on the earnings of the middle class. Yet, as everyone is aware, the middle-class taxpayer regards the Income Tax as very op- pressive indeed.

FROM THE MERCHANTS' STANDPOINT. Lastly, let us take the broadest view, from the standpoint of the merchants of wool goods in Bradford and in the West Riding, who em- ploy so many workers as managers, packers, warehousemen, clerks, agents, and the like. The continued success of the industry de- pends upon its ability to supply every quality of wool products, in their countless variety, that may be demanded by customers at home or abroad, at the most economical prices pos- sible. The Tariff Reform policy would in- fallibly increase working expenses in every direction, whilst at the same time reducing the purchasing power of the home masses. Under Free Trade the industry holds its own in every market where the conditions are at all fair, and even in markets where the terms are almost prohibitive. How long should we be able to make the same boast under the policy of Tariff Reform? Not for long," is the emphatic opinion of those best qualified to judge. A SV. R. Y. F. T. F.

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On behalf of the Moeltryfan Lodge, a delegate from that district moved that the members of Parliament for the quarry dis- tricts be requested to urge the Government to open and work quarries on Crown lands. Unemployment, he said, was rife in the country, and the best quarrymen went else- where to be rewarded with a mere dole in the shape of work and while the Govern- ment and the public Counci is applied their remedies, they left untouched the wealth of slate veins and minerals which was unde- veloped in Wales. Mr Henry Jones (Bethesda) seconded thf, resolution, which was carried. Mr W. R. Williams (Llanlfyfni) was elected president for the ensuing year. Messrs Owen Jones (Blaenau Festiniog) and H. O. Jones (Moeltryfan) were elected vice- presidents, and Mr W. H. Williams, who has retired as financial secretary, agreed to accept the treasurership for the coming year. THE PUBLIC MEETING. At two o'clock in the afternoon, the quarrymen surged to the Pavilion, where a. public meeting was held. There was a fairly larg'e attendance, presided over by Mr Ellis W. Davies, M.P., who was .-up- ported by Mr Philip Snowden, M.P., Prof. Thomas Jones (Glasgow), Mr D. R. Daniel (ex-organiser of the union), and others who take a prominent interest in labour and ts problems. MR. ELLIS DAVIES'S REFORM PROGRAMME. The Chairman, in the course of his open- ing remarks, said that in the past the pro- gress of the Union had been slow and un- certain, with the result that. the position of the quarrymen was more unsatisfactory than that of almost any skilled workmen in this country. Little had been done even by the quarrymen themselves to effect an improvement. While the Union could through its officials effect a great deal by an interchange of views with the employers, he thought that the quarrymen ought to realise that the most effective method of im- proving vheiiJ condition was through Par- liament (cheers). Conditions of living were quite as important as conditions of employ- ment. So far the Welshmen had been satisfied with talking about the principles of religious and political equality, without, realising that Acts of Parliament could not make him a free man while the land and its minerals and the wealth of the country were in the hands of a few (cheers). It 1w"as easy to say uhat a man was free to enter into a contract cr not, but he was not free if the alternative was hunger, much less when he was out of work, and yet the latter was the condi- tion of a large number of men. While men were without work, begging for work and bread, and children were dying from insuffi- cient, nourishment, the wealth of the coun- try was being doubled. Since the last 15 years the income of those people who paid the income tax had increased by £ 300,000,000. What they had to realise was that the tradesman was governed and limited by our laws and particularly cur system of taxation (hear, hear). To pro- led property the workman was taxed in his food and the tradesman in his industry. while the Tory press, parrot-like, reiterated the cry that wealth would take its wings. forgetting on the one hand the income tax returns, and on the other Ignoring the poig- nant fact that every year the strongest and ablest of our young men were emigrating by the hundred thousand. Last Thursday the Government had adopted a new altitude when Mr Lloyd- George—(cheers)—presented to the House of Commons the most Radical ^nd far- reaching Budget ever introduced (cheers). Not only was it proposed to put the taxes of the country on those who possessed its wea'th, but. it was also intended to use part of that wealth to help the man who broke down through ill-health and was unable to obtain work. Indirectly the Budget would do more. It was sometimes complained that wealth left the country, but was That to be wondered at while the landowners would neither themselves work the minerals under their lands nor pertnit others to do so? The Budget contained a step in the right direction, as it provided a tax on un- developed land, and he thought, that the Government and the Chancellor were to be congratulated on grappling with the real problem of the country (cheers). If o-T country .was to hold its own, its youth and aged must be cared for. The workman must be paid wages sufficient to bring up a family in proper education, proper, housing, and proper nourishment, and that was what they had got to fight for (loud cheers). THANKS FOR THE BUDGET. A resolution was passed consratulacimr Mr Lloyd-George upon the character o? his Budget, thanking the Government for mak- ing a provision for schemes of social re- ing a provision for schemes of social re- forms by taxing the owners of wealth instead of the poor as in the past, and calling upon the Welsh members to give their unyielding support to the Government to carry through successfully the most democratic Budget ever submitted to the country. :MR. PHILIP SNOWDEN'S SPEECH. Mr Philip Snowden, M.P., said that when he looked back upon the incalculable bene- fits which trade unionism had secured for the working classes he could not imagine any I workman belonging to a trade which had its organisation remaining outside that or- ganisation. The Labour Party were some- times charged with trying to set up a class party and class interests. He denied that. Labour, it had often been said, was not a class. Labour was the nation (cheers). They put no narrow construction upon the word labour. They be.ieved it to be every- body's duty to labour according to his ability in order to maintain himself and his dependents, and they held that labour car- ried with it the right to enjoy the fruits of labour (cheers). They did not want to wrong a single individual. They merely wanted to right existing wrongs (cheers). The state of the country was such that none of them could contemplate it with anything like satisfaction. It was a system which created one man with a million, and on the other hand a thousand stunted, d'efiled images of 'God (cheers). This was the pro- blem that remained to be solved, and could only be solved by the intelligence of the working classes, who were themselves thu sufferers. THE BUDGET. i The extremes of poverty and riches were disclosed in the financial statement, by the. Chancellor of the Exchequer last week. and within the last two or three days every Liberal paper in the country, in defending the Budget, supported iis detenco by every argument used bv Labour agitators and Socialists during t'he last fifteen years (cheers). It was now ascertained beyond a doubt that the rich were becoming richer and the poor poorer. The earnings of the working classes were now two millions less than they were two years ago, though in the meantime there had been that enormous in- crease in the value of labour as indicated by the increased. income of the rich. How was it that a few got rich while they slept, and that the poor became poorer the more they worked? They had to go to the root cause, and when they rteached that they would find tnemgslves at the gate of the land question. Upon that he would sav that when individual rights, so called, con- ferred by law, were harmful to the condi- tion of the peopife at large that fact was the supreme justification for the revocation of individual rights (cheers). In other words, it was the old Radical principle of "the greatest good of the greatest number" brought up to date. TAXING THE RIGHT PEOPLE. He would not. say that th.e Budget was perfect, but with minor qualificatipns it was of a thoroughly democratic character (cheers). It taxed the right people, and taxed them in the right way—(laughter and cheers),—and he \vaIE surprised that the Chancellor of the Exchequer succeeded in prevailing upon his coleagues to agrtee to such a Budget (cheers). Not only did the Budget provide that unearned wealth should be the chief source from which to derive taxation, but he was proud to think that it touched the liquor traffic. He knew that they as Labour agitators had been charged with not realising the gravity of the drink question. But. he did recognise more and more every day he lived what a great ob- stacle the liquor traffic was in the way of everything which was making for the better- ment of the condition of the people. He was anxious to support any proposal which was calculated to promote temperance and sobriety among the masses. In particular he welcomed the taxation on the drink con- sumed in clubs, for he had not the slightest sympathy with the drinking clubs, and he did not think he trod on delicate ground when he said so (cheers). A STEPPING-STONE BUDGET. He approved of the proposal in the Bud- get with reference to the land question, It did not go so far as he would have gone, but this was not the last Budget (laughter). They had begun well. but the other half remained to be accomplished, and the date of its accomplishment depended upon the democracy of this country (cheers). At present the super-tax on great incomes was sixpence, but when more was required for old-age pensions there twas no reasQn why an additional /penny or twopence should not be put on. The money was there (laughter). He had never advocated taxation except for aIr object. He did not think that the State had a light to tax a rich man one penny unless it was going to spend the money to better purpose than at present (hear, hear). The Budget, he ventured to say, would raise the clear issue of Free Trade and Tariff Reform. Personaly he had. never minimised the danger of Tariff Reform. It was the real danger before the country, because it was backed by large and powerful interests, and its real purpose was to take taxation from the shoulders of the rich and place it upon the food of the poor.. Let them beware of the plausible blandish- ments of Tariff Reform. They must avoid both a war scare and Tariff Reform, and they would thereby twithin the next few years secure such social reforms as wouid lessen to a very great extent the poverty and appalling misery which afflidted so many people. They must meet the mad war scare by inculcating in the democracy right ideas of national patriotism (cheers). Professor Thomas Jones (Glasgow Univer- sity), who followed, addressed himself to the question of the probable effects of social- istic questions on the characterisfice of We'sh national life. It was the first duty of Welsh workmen to join trade organisations and to have an independent Labour Party. It was nothing short of shameful that not more than one-fourth of the quarrymen cf the country, belonged to the union, and he had no sympathy with the people who aimed a,, transforming the whole of society when they were not members of their own trade union (cheers). The working men of Wales also stood in great need of instruction in the problems of political economy and the hun- dred and one thin* which governed '.he trade of the country, and it was time that they turned to their national' colleges to take the matter up. Mr D. R. Daniel also spoke.