Pioneer

Random Jottings from Bargoed. SOCIALIST FLUTTER WITH A CLERICAL DOVECOTE. A Flutter in the Dove-Cotes. I have just returned (Tuesday, March 5) from a meeting held in Caersalen Chapel, Aberbar- goed, to protest against the proposed alterations of the marriage-laws. As I arrived late, I can- not say what those alterations are, or are repre- sented to be, but my readers will probably have their own opinion of the truth and justice to be expected of the clerical opposition. What de- c-ided me at last to go, was the hope of moving the following amendment: "That this meeting demands ,first of all that the government de- clare all houses of vice out of bounds for British soldiers, as the American Government has done for American ones; and that this meeting de- clines to recognize, as guardians of either public or private morality, those who do not do as much to secure this, as against the Bill." Bu.t no amendment was allowed (from which my readers may draw their own conclusions), Though I was allowed to put the question What were they doing, or did they propose to do, a bout the houses of vice and the British Army ? They pro- fessed all sympathy, and to he doing all they could; but I tried in vain to get any promise or I pledge out of them to do as much as they were doing against the Bill. They gave me the im- I pression of wishing to appear to make nt eater concessions than they really did. I got two 01'1 three gems. One cieri(?a-I ?.;aid that if the Bill passed, it would be their duty. in that respect, to separate themselves from the Staite. So they are ready to become conscientious-ob- jectors themselves, now that they have found a cause in which they are in no danger of being imprisoned or even fined. He spoke also of the high esteem in which woman is held in this country. How does that square with their own admissions about the prostitution cam]*? Also. Walter Lewis, I thing it Was, remarked that. -Nfo,fw, was not such an opportunist as a modern labour leader. With which most of Ib, I sus- pect, will most heartily agree Why Not? I My complaint of public meetings in general, is that only one side is allowed a hearing, which makes them apt to be uninstructive and uncon- vincing. Whereas in the United States, so I understand, the rival candidates go about the constituency together, and hold a series of public debates, which might be applied to other things also! A Measure of Faith. I Also. I have come to measure people's faith in their own cause, by the amount of hearing they allow to the other side. As remarked by a certain Irish contributor to the Daily News "The way to deal with the devil is to hear hun out, he will then mostly be found to answer him- se lf," or, I mig-ht add, to give himself away. Compare, also, Carlyle's character-sketches of Danton and Hobespierre, to the effect that over- tolerance is the noble weakness of the strong, while intolerance is the mark of conscious weak- ness. I have also seen it stated somewhere, that Kossath and Mazzini (I think it was) were pecu- liarly patient and tolerant of contradiction, just because they believed so absolutely in their own respective causes. A Reverend Opponent. I I have been told sine? that the rector was for refusing a hearing altogether, and that it was the rev. gentleman of Penartb who obtained one for me. Also, I believe I have heard the rector, privately, give a very different account of local morals from the idyllic picture which made me inclined to warn the audience to beware of the flatterer I believe, to do him justice, he has also preached it. Also, while one of the speakers ",as expressly urging early marriages, I don't remember that he urged any precautions against rash and hasty marriages, which the parties might repent, and which might be the very way to bring marriage into discredit. An Indictment. I Local comrades are already asking what is be- hind this new move of the clergy. Arc they try- ing to draw off public attention from the war, fiom the food-shortage, or from themselves? Well, are they men enough to beard the Govern- ment over the houses of vice? As usual, the laity show themselves braver and more honest; I have been surprised at the amount of support I got from them. But the clergy, with a few [grand exceptions, some of whom, "not to know them, argues oneself unknown what stand have they made against the. war, against con- scription, against the talcing of the widow's last son, against the forcmg of the halt, the mained, and the blind into the army, and against the persecution of those who followed Christ further than they did? For that matter, the fiercest denunciations of the churches that I can remem- ber, came from the two greatest Christians of the times, Whittier and Tolstoy. The Religion of Democracy. Curiously, this has been followed by Councillor Syd Jones, of Argoed, lecturing here (Sunday, March 10) on The Religion of Social Demo- cracy." Comrade Moses Price, in the chair, told us something of the growth of the I.L.P. It I has now over 10,000 members in Scotland alone, and branches have recently been established in Ireland also. The agricultural districts, long regarded as hopelessly backward, are now waking up and joining-up. But we want still more members here. Syd Jones then gave his lecture. Sentiment and emotion (lie urged) were not everything, the proof of a theory was in its application. It was a stock-charge against religions, that they put off human emancipation to another world, and were at least lukewarm to attempt to realize it in this. The workers had always been looking for Rome Messianic deliverer; sometimes when they might have put their own shoulder to the wheel. So it came about that some regarded religion as a convenient sop to the people, and missionary- effort as a capitalist dodge. But most of the fol- lowers of orthodox religion were working-class. Certainly orthodox religion was a check on free discussion. It was not altogether the fault of the preachers, nobody can .? mentally free who is not economically free. Plenty of journalists will confess, privately, to writing what they don't believe, for papers they don't agree with, and 90 per cent. of one's actions may well be dictated by economic motives. But there still remain 10 per cent. to be accounted for. And the question remains, whether religion has been a dynamic force, or a block or drag. He urged that, as a regular thing, belief was inversely as knowledge. Ancient philosophers made the good, the beautiful, and the true, their objects— but only for the leisured class, for whom the other-- had to work. (It occurs to me that all the great religions seem to have originated among peoples of simple and leisurely habits, which gave even the working classes plenty of time to think, instead of their time and energies being consumed, as now, in a struggle for bare existence, or wasted in a struggle for luxuries. See Henan on the Apostles.) He urged us to avoid religious prejudices and appeals to religious bigotry, and to treat Socialism simply as an economic question, for we had often been led off the real issue by secularism as well as by theo- logy. Capitalists Ijave their conspiracies and spies, as Governments have. It was urged that I if the workers had been solid they would have prevented the como-out, and so prevented the war also. Man was at present a tool of his tools. I Men were more superstitious when they were without machinery—.(Bernard Shaw, I be lieve, denies this and considers this as the most super- stitious age on i-ecoi-(I),-and war was then more frankly brutal, to-day pretexts and colours have I to be found for atrocities that used to be com- mitted as a matter of course. Unemployment was set down by orthodox economists to laziness, ignorance, drink, etc. Ruling-class religions were essentially static and conservative, aiming to keep things as they were. Morality (as Car- I lyle reminds us) simple means customariness, so stock-exchange-speculation was regarded as moral by those who were used to it. An in- stance of capitalist morality being itself immoral, by any absolute standard. Also many, perhaps most, people were for patching up rather than prevention, hence the proposed reconstruction schemes did not touch private property in land; and the poor house, Ministry of Health, etc.; were all only palliatives. We were accused of aiming to destroy the home, but it was Capital- ism that really did so by taking away the mother to work to support it. We were accused of 1.r"-H..g extreme, but truth was always extreme. The workers needed leisure to prevent them from being mere machines. Capitalism was perhaps a necessary stage to exploit nature, and thus prepare the way for the workers. \e were op- posed by the unbelief, make-belief, and mis- belief of the existing system. There was a time when the Church owned a third of the land. (If I remember right, the Monks were much better landlords than the upstart nobles who succeeded them at the Reformation. See Latimer's ser- mons thereon.) The French revolutionaries were against the Church, but, once in power, they became conservative and themselves re-estab- lished it. Many preachers, who were a little more thoughtful than the rest, if not prepared to go all the way with us, could not afford to preach what they really believed; but there are some who make sacrifices. The machine-break- ing of the Luddites was a mistake it was not machinery that was the menace, but private property in them. Moralty, as well as religion, was ever changing; plenty of "eternal prin- ciples had vanished like mist. Questions being invited, someone asked if we did not need an ideal of s«tne sort. Agreed, Out of what sort. Some beliefs were put on and taken off like Sunday clothes. The belief that tended to emancipate was the best. Some say wages and social conditions are not for Sundays. (But they are expressly referred to in the New Testament as well as the old.) Morgan Jones then asked if religion was merely a "stunt" or a "red-herring." It was used by capitalism but was it therefore merely capi- italist-ic? He did not know many Catholics; but some of those he knew were as devoted to social progress as anyone. It. had been borne In on him more and more during the course of. the war that the materialistic theory of history was not everything, emotions and ideals had to be rec- koned with as well-a balance was needed be- tween the material and the spiritual. As an in- stance munition-workers might be actually bet- ter off for going into it, but see what unrest there was and had been among them for want of their homes, their husbands, etc. Syd Jones agreed with a great part of that. He added, in conclusion, that workers were now less instinctive than the rebels under John Ball, and their actions and plans were more conscious and thought-out. Next Sunday (March 17th) we are to have the Rev. Stanley B. James, of London, on How to win a Worker's Peace." Bargoediax.

I Free Churches and League of Nations At the end of the afternoon session of the Na- tional Free Church Council meeting held in the City Temple on Tuesday the Rev. Thoams Phil- lips, of Bloomsbury .moved a resolution of sym- pathy with the International Christian Confer- ence. They would not conquer in the struggle by the knock-out blow." he asserted, but oy the application of Christian principles to inter- national necessities. Dr. Scott Lidgett seconded, though he admitted not with the same emphasis as adopted by Mr. Phillips. At the evening session the Contribution of the Church to National Ideals was introduced. Owing to indisposition Mr. Runciman was un- able to attend the evening conference. In his absence Mr. McKinnon Wood, M.P., moved a resolution in support of a League of Nations. He did not susppose that Germany would join any league of nations, he said, but that was all the more reason why it was necessary that it should be set up. It would be the one security for the smaller nations of the world if we and America set the example.

THEATRE ROYAL EMPIRE PALACE, Merthyr jI RESIDENT MANAGERESS—MRS. G. D. REA. j j 6.45 TWICE NIGHTLY. 8.45 Ij I Week commencing MONDAY, MARCH 18th, 1918.  I TWO GREAT DRAMATIC ATTRACTIONS. I 1 MISS EMMA LITCHFIELD'S No. 1 COMPANY. '?M ? 2 MONDAY, TUESDAY & WEDKE.DAY-The Romantic and SouI-Sthnn? Play- 2 I ALWAYS WELCOME I I TH¿HSU. FRIDAY & 'RDATb Impressive l= P':dUC!iOn- J i THE KING OF THE GIPSIES jI I THESE TWO PLAYS SHOULD ON NO ACCOUNT BE MISSED. j ? NOTE.—"THREE WEEKS" IS COMING SHORTLY. I j VW Circle, ?- StaHs, 9d. Pit, 6d. Gallery, 3d. j .t PLUS NEW TAX. f?o#??o to i j Merthyr Electric Theatre j Î Mert!omm!eMn!ircIeatre. Î (CONTINUOUS PERFORMANCE FROM 2.30 TILL 10.30 P.M. DAILY. I N Monday Tuesday, and Wednesday- I I The Grit of a Jew j | A Domestic Drama of East and West. I j RAEMAKER'S CARTOONS-Series Nine. S GLORIA S ROMANCE-Part 9. I 1 THE LATE LAMENTED—Trian?te Comedy. Pathe's Gazette. I I Thursday, Friday, and Saturday- I The Village Blacksmith! 1 A film founded on the poem of that name with the orginal spreading chestnut tree in the I picture. I 1 THE GREY GHOST-Part 10. HEARTS & FLOUR—daumont. t 2 Pathe's Gazette, Comedy, &c. 2 ADMISSION 3d—Tax, Id.; 6d.—Tax, 2d.; 1/ Tax, 3d. I • Children's Matinee on Saturday at 10.15-id. only. ■ s It It 5 Labour Day, May 1 st, 1918 SECOND ANNUAL EISTEDDFOD £10. Chief Choral—" Who is Sylvia" (E. German) 60—80 Voices. Publishers Novello. £ 5. Children's Choral—" Y Golomen Nefol (T. Price) £3 3s. and Challenge Cup for Champion Solo. Any Voice. £ 1 IS.—Open Recitation. £ 11 Is. prize for each of following solos- Soprano—" Rejoice Greatly," (Handel) Contralto—"Abide with Me" (Liddle) Tenor—"Why doth the God of Israel sleep (Handel) Bom-" The Wanderer (Schubert) 106. 6d. Boys' Solo—" Nymphs and Shepherds (Publishers, Curwen). (Purcell) 10B. 6d. Girls' Solo—" My Treasure (Mathias Barr) (Publishers, Boosey and Co.). Further information to be had from the Secre- tary of the Merthyr Trades Council, Mr. W. Harris, 6 King Edward Villas, Merthyr, on re- ceipt of prepaid postage. WATCH LABOUR DAY IN MERTHYR- OTHER IMMENSE ATTRACTIONS. MISCELLANEOUS. CLOTHING, Boots, Bedding, Drapery, Hosiery, Jewellery, etc., new or second- hand, try Harris's. Value assured or money returned within three days. All goods delivered free, distance no object.—Note Address, 5 Castle Street, Merthyr. WANTED. NEW LAID EGGS wanted..Full market price given. State quantity and if boxes found. Prompt payments; banker's references. —Write Williams, Creameries, Ltd., 116, High- road, Streatham, London, S. W. 16. Royal Liver Friendly Society Head Office-Pier Head, Liverpool. A MEETING of Members of this Society will be held on Wednesday, 20th March, 1918, at 8 p.m. precisely, at the BENTLEY'S HALL, GRAHAM STREET, MERTHYR, for the pur- pose of electing a Delegate to the Annual Meet- ing in Blackpool on the 8th May, 1918. By Order of the Committee of Management, CHARLES DAW, Secretary, HOPE CHAPEL, MERTHYR, SUNDAY, MARCH 17th, 1918. Rev. J. Morgan Jones, M.A. SUBJ ECT-" REST." A CORDIAL WELCOME EXTENDED TO ALL MERTHYR ILP. MEETINGS. OLYMPIA RINK, MERTHYR, Sunday Next, March 17th, 1918, At 2.45 p.m. prompt. Speaker- Mr. GEORGE LANSBURY Admission by Silver Collection. BENTLEY'S HALL, MERTHYR TYDFIL. A GRAND CONCERT will be given by the PENYDARREN MINSTREL TROUPE, TO-NIGHT (FRIDAY) Proceeds in aid of Funds for C.O. Dependents. ————— } ADMISSION: ONE SHILLING (Including Tax). Doors open at 7. To commence at 7.30 p.m. ■9* PONTYPRIDD I. L. P  W PONTYPRIDD 1.L.P. I.L.P. HALL, GRAIG SQUARE, ON SUNDAY, MARCH 17, 1918, at 6.30 sharp. Griff Maddocks (Workmen's Mine Examiner), WILL DELIVER AN ADDRESS ON 'THRIFT.' Sunday, March 24th: A. P. YATES (Editor of the "Pioneer.") MERTHYR AND DISTRICT ALLOTMENT HOLDERS' AND GARDENERS' ASSOCIATION, LIMITED. The Annual Meeting of the above Association will be held at THE TOWN HALL, MERTHYR TYDFIL, On THURSDAY, MARCH 28th, 1918, at 7. p.m. All Members of the Association are heartily in- vited to attend. WM. J. STARR, Gen. Secretary. AN EASTER PEACE. Distribute "THE NEW CRUSADER" (No. 9), The Christ of the Andes. HALF-PRICE THROUGH MARCH. Why I May not Kill my Brother," 3id. The Weapon Unsheathed," Is. 5d. post free. The Secretary, Christian Peace Crusade, 39 Doughty Street (second floor), W.C. 1. Printed and published by the National Labour Press, Ltd., at the Labour Pioneer Press, Williams Square, Merthyr Tydfil, SATURDAY, MARCH 16th, 1917.

I Capitalism Unveiled. I When we remember the vilification of the workers that has from time to time poured from the lipe of our politicians or run in poisoned streams from the fountain pens of our politic-a journalists, we are surprised at the colourless language with which the Select Committee on National Expenditure into the Ministry of Muni- tions has couched its White Paper issued on Monday. The workers' glass of beer, like the I soldiers' wives' miserable allowance, has been denounced in the most heated of parliamentary language, whilst threats of revolt against harsh restrictions and gross invasions of trade prac- tices have produced speeches the dementia of which has only been surpassed in the cases where the men have taken matters in their own hands and struck work. All classes of the community have joined in the execration of the working men; and the pity is that there are workers who have lent themselves to a belief in this thing and have aided in' the Vilification; who would have applauded with the vigour of the bour- geoisie themselves the succass of that misguided intention to shower mock German thanks on Coventry on strike from British aeroplanes. Al- ways the workers have been bad, and always their wickedness has found condemnation with no uncertain tones. Yet now we are told that millions of public money has been poured away with wasteful extravagance: that the employers have held the pistol to the head of the powers that be with the threat to impede output if ex- tortionate demands were not conceded, and we have no word of condemnation. We read of silly expenditure that represents just so much money poured down a sink; of the prevalence of the spirit of bargaining still animating the conduct of affairs that ought to have been organised be- yond the possibility of ba-rgaining three years ago, of excessive profits, and unmitigated lying by the firms engaged on the work of munition supplies, and the only language that is used is the wild language of suggested reformers by the utilisation of statistical departments, a complete co-operation between ministries, and an organi- sation of industries to secure the elimination of, mark the term, the uneconomical producer. What is wanted is the elimination from the sphere of all interest or concern in mundane affairs of some of the worst offenders; the ex- tinction of a few of the profiteers would have a far more salutary effect than the colourless lan- guage of this White Paper. The whole report is a gross example of the perfidy of Capitalism rampant; Capitalism thn t. ace-ording to the Socialist interpretation of the facts is not only responsible for the Imperialism that has fomented this war, but will reap the biggest re- ward from the war, is not even patriotic enough to forget its pig-trough ethics during such a time as we are passing through. One guages the patriotic zeal of Capitalism very fairly from the announcement that twenty-eight firms selected at random earned in the aggregate five times the standard profit, of which they retained nearly twice their standard profit, over and above the retention of more than half their standard profit as special depreciation, and a slightly larger amount for additional output. There could, be no more sordid story than this, coupled as it is with a surprising commentary on the want of harmony between the ministries concerned; and the almost negligible part that the finance department has been allowed to plav. We recall vividly those screaming headlines that once yelled at us Organising for Victory with somewhat of a sardonic smile. Yet, on the whole, the facts are not surprising, Capitalism has al- ways proved a creature of voracious appetite: and too low in ihe scale of evolution to be con- sidered as a moral animal, and that it has lived up to its traditional character but strengthens the Socialist case for its annihilation. It would have received a shrewd stab in its vitals had the Government been less concerned with its class interests, and had courageously tackled the problem of Conscripting the Wealth of the Na- tion a.s well as the life of the young men of the country. It is not too late yet.