Pioneer

I President Wilson's Speech. PRESIDENT WILSON possesses the happy knack of coming along at just the right moment and saying what most of the world is thinking much better than the world has hitherto been aole to express itself. Unhampered, apparently, by the strangling weight of secret treaties and actuated by a broad humanism and a sane statemanship that seems to have disappeared from the Parlia- mentary life of the Cabinets of the Old World, there is always a frankness about his utterances that seems to move us visibly nearer the peace for which we all yearn. And of all his speeches, none have been more opportune than that of last Saturday; for the imminence of the new Military Service Act, with its extension of the age-limit, had re-awakened an interest in the possible avenues towards peace in the conversa- tions of a class of men who hitherto have not been so concernedly anxious for a termination of the war as their aspect would lead us to sus- pect now. Running through their criticism of the only avenue to an early peace, the avenue of negotiation, has been an active distrust of the German nation, a distrust that is professed to be based on the shameful treatment that was meted out to Russia in the immediate past. It was, as we say, opportune that President Wilson should eomo along just in the midst of those con- versations and say just the same thing only much better. For whereas the man in the street found it impossible to differentiate between the German Junker, the German artisan and the German politician; President Wilson did draw upon his wider experience and broader insight to mark off the differentiation for llA. He as- sured us that her statesmen have said that they were willing to sit down at a Conference table whenever her enemies were ready, and her Chancellor has said that he believed that peace should roe based on President Wilson's own sug- gested basis. But, he tells us, Germany is led by her military faction and her military faction desire to dominate the world by force of arms. Now, there can be no doubt about the sincerity of President Wilson's feelings in this matter; nor can his logic be impugned so far as it goes. The Statesmen of Germany do want peace; her military leadei-s victory. Unfortunately Presi- dent Wilson's examination did not go down deep enough. He did not pause to ask upon what the Statesmen's desire for peace was based, or upon what grounds the military toqk their stand ii disregarding the expressed sentiments of Ger- many's citizen delegates at the Brest Litovsky negotiations and commencing a military aggres- sive invasion and dismemberment of Russia. Un- questionably the strength of the politician and of the military clique is drawn from the same source, the vast mass of the common people of Germany, whose voice exalts the politician, and whose manhood is the raw material with which the militarist seeks to shape his end. If the German politician is willing to make a sane peace it is because he interprets the will of the people to be centred in the demand for a sane peace; if the militarist dares to embark upon campaigns of aggression and depredation it is because he, too, thinks that he can rely upon that great mass of the nation from which he draws, not alone his levies, but the whole of his power. And probably both are right.. The great mass of the German folks yearn, in com- mon with the great mass of the peoples of all belligerent nations, for a sane, sound end to the war; but they fear to trust the politicians and diplomatists of the enemy nations. They fear, as many an Englishman fears, that to make peace with the enemy is to sell the soul and honour of their nation, and in their fear they lack' the will to give expression to their hopes and wishes, and, hesitating, they fall the prey to the most autocratic military power that Europe possesses. But that cannot go on for ever • nav, it need not go on for long. As Mr. Ma< don aid said last Sunday, the immediate need is to break down this awful barrier of mis- trust and misconception. Just as we ourselves could not make peace overtures to the German Junta, neither can the Germans be expected to view hopefully a meeting with the politicians responsible for secret treaties that spell death to German nationalism; responsible for a pro- posal of economic war after the war that means the industrial damnation of the Central Euro- pean powers for generations to come. What is needed is a recognition by all the peoples that these things are not the things that matter; that German militarism will die at the hands of its people when they :io longer fear their neigh- bours that the partition of the left bank of the Rhine, and of Dalmatia and the division of Tur- key are not the things for which the Democra- cies of the Entente powers strive to-day; what is urgently wanted is a knowledge amongst the common peoples that the militarism of Germany and the unlawful desires of the framers of the Entente secret treaties are both based on class economies opposed to the interests of German, British, French, and Austrian Democracies alike. And the one way in which that under- standing can-omne is through the meeting of the leaders of those Democracies in a spirit of truth and in mutual confidence. Thence only can come the trust that to-day is the only thing wanting to secure peace; thence only can come the pressure that will curb German militarism and finally kill it; thence only can come the power that will force the entente statesmen to renounce their unholy desires for gain; and thence alone can come the great inspiration that will maké the peace a people's peace, broad- based on mutual appreciation, deep-rooted in trust and confidence, and solid against the wiles of the modern devita of the world-the rapacious Capitalists, from whose base- ideals alone grow the frightful realities of a world at war.

I P.R. in Glamorgan. I WE sincerely trust that the lead which we are able this week to give to the Glamorgan Labour Parties on the question of Proportional Repre- sentation in the unwieldly constituencies of East and West Glamorgan, will result in an active opposition db strenuous and determined that the experimenters will drop all idea of applying the scheme in areas so ill-fitted for its successful manipulation. The careful logic with which Mr. Mardy-Jones has made out his case should carry conviction to even those who have embraced with enthusiasm the idea of Proportional Repre- sent,ation-for, as Mr. Jones points out, it is not that the Democratic forces are apposed to the principle, but, in this instance, we are strenu- ously opposed to its application in areas which become so unwieldly as to reduce the ideal of Represenita-tive Government to a farce. The geographical contour of East and West Glam- organ is such that even the old single and double member constituencies offered consider- able electioneering difficulties; difficulties that are so intensified oy the extension of the areas into the two proposed Proportional Representa- tion constituencnes that they become simply un- workable. It is not so much that we fear that under the scheme Mr. Jones' anticipation that the better type of candidate will Avoid East and West Glamorgan as a plague spOlt-tihough that anticipation is sensible enough—^but what we do regard as a very real danger is the total loss of intimate relationship and semblance of control which each elector ought to feel in his parlia- mentary representative, conjointly with the loss of that sense of responsibility towards a critical electorate which is supposed to debar the steps of the politician when the temptation comes to traverse ways that are new and strange. If the new Franchise Bill is to offer us any real im- provement on the old, then that improvement must express itself in the quickening of the poli- tical consciousness of the electorate, and that quickening can never be real and lasting in huge irresponsible constituencies such as are pro- mised in East and West Glamorgan. The duty of securing a full measure of electoral control over the politician, and of awakening the poli- tical consciousness of the people, without which that control is a sheer impossibility, should be painfully manifest to all who have realised how inefficient has been that control in the past; who have recognised that secret treaties and the still more odious secret diplomacy are the very antithesis of that control. If that control is to come to the people now then the units that con- stitute the La.bour Party must see to it that no obstacles are put in the way of a nearer ap- proach of the people and their representatives; that such remoulding of the machinery as is un- dertaken shall be such as to aid in the task of educating the people politically. The political education of the electorate of East and West Glamorgan as it is proposed to reconstruct them will be a chimera, for, from the very nature of the constituencies, politics would never be more than an abstract philosophy to the unite in such massive aggregates. The task then is to scotch the scheme be fore it has gone too far, and to this end every local Labour Prty, every Social- ist branch, every trade union lodge and branch; aye, and every individual elector ought to pro- test emphatically and immediately against this experiment.

Mr. Hartshorn and the Un- official Reform Committee. I A SET OF NINCOMPOOPS, WITHOUT THE INTELLIGENCE OF TOM-TITS." At a mass meeting of the Maesteg miners held at the Town Hall on Friday last, convened for the purpose of receiving the report of the dele- gates to the M.F.G.B. conference on the recent ballot on the comb-out, Mr. E. Barnett, who was the delegate in company with Mr. Hart- shorn, gave a brief report of what had taken place at the conference, and stated that Mr. Hortshorn fought for the conference to relegate the matter of the Comb-out to the various dis- tricts of the M.F.G.B., to hold conferences in each of the various districts since it was the opinion of the Conference that the result of the ballot was not decisive enough to take the neces- sary action to oppose the Government. As we all then knew, Mr. Hartshorn had failed. Mr. Hartshorn then spoke and reviewed the position created by the previous ballot reMown- tools to resist the taking the 1914 men, and pointed out that the ballot showed a great ma- jority against down-tools. That ballot was called for by a section in the South Wales coal- field known as the Unofficial Reform Committee, who styled themselves The Ginger Group." The ballot showed what influence they had in South Wales, and put them in their proper place by letting them know what the rand and file of the .Federation thought of them. "They are a set of nincompoops without the intelligence of a tom-tit," said Mr. Hartshorn, and added that the Unofficial Reform Committee thought they were better equipped to represent the members of the Federation than the ap- pointed leaders of the Federation. They pos- sessed no intellectual honesty, they had their cronies on the E.C., and had come to know that a ccmfei-ence was to be called in the proper con- stitutional manner. So they met and decided to hold an unofficial conference and passed resolu- tions and appointed a deputation to meet the Executive Council that day (Friday) to bring the necessary pressure to bear upon the E.C. to force a conference, and then they would turn round and say, We made them (the E.C.) call the conference." But they were told by the E.C. to go home, and were not allowed an in- terview. (Cheers.) NOT IN MAESTEG. He had been informed whilst travelling in the train that day that a lodge in his district had thought it wise to send a delegate to the Unoffi- cial Con ference, although he had sent a letter to every lodge secretary in M.aesteDistrict in- forming them that an Official Conference would be held. If the men of Maesteg thought that he did not represent their views on the E.C., then it was up to them to nominate someone else and send that person's name round the lodges and get a ballot vote upon it. If the men decided that the other chap was the right one to represent them then they could change hun (Mir. Hartshorn) at the annual conference, which he thought would be held in June this year. But while he was their representative on the E.C. he was not going there and have them sending men down to Unofficial Conferences to stab him in the back in his absence. (Applause.) There was no room for such a body in the Fed- eration. It was only causing disunity, when what we wanted was unity. The unofficial body had to be fought to the death, and 4e was out to fight them. The S.W.M.F. had obtained more reforms and advances in wages within the last few years than any other coalfield in Britain and there was not a single member of the Ginger Group who for the last ten years had initiated a single agitation which had brought sixpenny- worth of reform to the advantage of the mem- bers of the S. W.M.F. The only coalfield in Great Britain whose E.C. had come back to consult its members on this comb-out question was South Wales, and it was only in South Wales that there was an Unoffi- cial Reform Committee. He then went on to deal with the military situation created by the deal with the nii l itar- big German offensive, to show the folly of a down-tool policy, and the impossibility of carry- ing through successfully, even if we embarked upon it;. He said that he had a son 17 years of age, and in 12 months he would be eligible for the Army. He had a father's feeling for the lad, and he dreaded the day that he would have to go into the army; he had a wife and knew that she loved her boy like all other mothers did, but he would not lift a finger against the boy going. A bill was being introduced into Par- liament next week to raise the age-limit to 50, and if that became law he would come under the Military Service Act. If he weM called up he was going, and would not ask for exemption, as he considered our cause was worth the sacri- tive, because, if the Huns were victorious, then it was good-bye to Democracy. He also dealt wit.h the Russian situation. At the close of his address he called for a vote of condolence with the relatives of the two brothers Stephens, of Owmavon, who had that day been instantaneously killed while working in the Brvn Colliery. The vote was carried in silence, ali standing.

Clydach Miners' Leader. MR. MAINWARING PROSECUTED UNDER D.O.R.A. Mr. W. H. Mainwaring, of Clydach Vale, a local secretary of the Unofficial Reform Com- mittee of the South Wales Miners' Federation, was charged at Tonypandy on Saturday with offences against the Dofence,of the. Realm Regu- lations, the allegation against him being that he attempted to cause disaffection and spread false reports at a public meeting held at the Llwynypia Baths on March 3rd. Giving evidence of arrest, Inspector James JDavies, Tonypandy, stated that he apprehended Mr. Mainwaring under a warrant issued by the Purolic Prosecutor at the instance of Superinten- dent, T. Edwards, Ton Pentre. Defendant was remanded until April loth, when.the case will be heard at the Ystrad Police-court. Bail was allowed on a personal murety of 92W and two others of 9100 each.

Our Easter Conference. I (Continued from Page '1). enthusiasm of the I.L.P. behind them in a few months. The resolution he was mon-ing was, he said, a. holy resolution. It is worthy of any sacrifice. We must go out. \Ve do not need to convert our own people. There are tens of thousands of people who can be, and will be, converted to this resolution. There are some people who say they will not negotiate with Germany under its present military Govern- ment. There are people in Germany who are saying the same probably. I question even if the democracy of Germany would be I prepared to open up negotiations with such a Government as we have at the present time. I appeal to you to go out with the earlj enthusiasm of mission- aries and make up your minds that before the present year finishes we will have a peace. And if the Government says we cannot have a peace, we will say to them, "Then stand aside, and let the democracies make peace." Mrs. Snowden. seconding, said: I join with Mr. Smillie in his appeal to the members of the party here assembled to go as missionaries, and, night and day without ceasing, to fight the battle for peace. I know how the people long for peace, and when they understand us, the point of view we take, and the things we desire, how ready they will be." THE CONFERENCE'S WATCHWORD. If there were any watchword that should go forward from the Conference, proceeded Mrs. Snowden, it was Down with Lloyd George! (Loud cheers.) That is no mere piece of rhe- toric with me," Mrs. Snowden added. I hope you mean to down this man. There is no hope for this country, there is no hope for the world while men like Lloyd George are in power." She would support Lord Lansdowne if he came out for a clean peace. They must put an end to the Government that was committed to those abominable secret treaties, and push for all they were worth for the earliest possible meeting of the International. The resolution was carried unanimously and with enthusiasm. CIVIL LIBERTIES. I Dick Wallhead moved that This Conference of the I.L.P. re-affirms its protests against the continued attacks made by the Government through legislation and administrative order upon the civil and political liberties of the people. It therefore demands — (a) The repeal of the Military Service, Defence of the Realm, Munitions, and National Regis- tration Acts, together with the regulations made under the powers granted in such Acts, in so far as they affect the pei-sonal liberties of the citizens. (b) That all persons, whether soldiers, sailors police, civil servants, or civilians, shall have the right to combine in political, social, and indus- trial organisations, with full power to act freely as members of such associations. (c) That no 'persons shall be imprisoned with- out a charge being formulated, and that if charged with any offenee he or she shall be tried by jury or in a Court of Sunn nary jurisdiction with full access of the public to the trial. (d) That the continued imprisonment of per- sons for the same offence be stopped immediately and that all Conscientious Objectors, and in- terned British subjects not convicted in a court of law, be immediately released. (e) That no person in governmental or other service, who has received exemption from a tri- bunal as a Conscientious Objector shall have conditions imposed upon him in relation to wages or hours of labour except those entered into voluntarily by a Trade Union and an em- ployer. THE PERSECUTION OF C.O.'s. I Dick made a. strong speech on the cruelty and the treatment of Conscientious Objectors. He mentioned a letter that had been addressed to him at the prison, and put with his personal property to be handed to him on the day of his release. When, ultimately, he received it he found it was from Mr. and Mrs. Butler, to whom he had written a letter of condolence. They totd me in that, letter," ho said, "that they needed no condolence; they were proud that their son had died for anti-militarism." A Norwich delegate seconded. SOME BAD CASES. I Mr. G. ( Ammon wished to remind the dele- gates that within the last few weeks not less than four or five other men had been done to death in His Majesty's prisons. He had just received a. telegram from Chamberlain, who a good many delegates present would know. "In the woids of the Home Secretary's doctor, he said, Chamberlain is broken all to pieces." He was not concerned so much to condemn any par- ticular person, out to remind the Conference tha,t whether militarism be made in Potsdam or in Whitehall, it was the same all over. He gave details, horrible details, of many cases. In the case of Pa.ul Gillan" all that Gillan's parents knew about his illness," he said, "was the in- formation that the man was dead. Let me tell you of one man crucified in the front line under fire—so much so that, his guard took refuge— and then he did not give in. These are done in the name of British filiei-tv., in the defence of small nations." Mr. Amnion told the delegates of Emanuel Riljeira, who had been forcibly fed for upwards of twelve months. A few days ago he was court-martialled in his bed because the military authorities feared he would die on their hands." It was for the Labour movement to say the word, and as soon as they said it determinedly the key would turn in the prison kicks. ton was carried with unanimity. An urgency resolution of protest against the imprisonment of Ex-Private Simmons was moved by Mr. Southall, of Birmingham. The delegate for York seconded, 'and the reso- lution was carried unanimously. MILITARY TRAINING IN SCHOOLS. I Another urgency resolution on t-he subejet of military training in tTie schools was carried on the motion of Mrs. McArd (Liverpool). The re- solution declared that; "Tbi Conference enters a strong protest. against the attempts to make militarism a penn anent institution in this coun- try by using the schools for military training and military propaganda, among the children, and ilrges the branches to take all steps locally to frustrate such attempts." THE NATION'S FINANCES. I John Seurr (Bow and Bromley) moved the fol- lowing resolution on the Nation's finances: This Conference considers that the most equity able method of wiping out the National Debt and of securing a redistribution of wealth is the adoption of a system of progressive taxation or appropriation by the community of all capi- tal wealth commencing at 5 per cent, on £2,()(X) valuation, and rising by proportionate gradua- tion to 331 per cent, on £ 1,000,000 and over, together with a steeply graduated tax imposed on all incomes, the tax rising to 18s. in the £ in the case of huge incomes so as to secure the ultimate extinguishing of all unearned incre- ment. Further, that all indicest taxation should be repealed." We had always been told, he said, that if there was one thing which the Socialists were incompetent to deal with, it was the question of finance, and now we found that when faced with the results of Capitalism those in power and authority had not been able to deal with this question. They had lived from hand to mouth. They had run a campaign to raise money which had been a disgrace to any intelli- gent human being. The tank banks, t.he circus shows, had been farcical. Nevertheless, there had been some method in their madness! They had been able to fasten. on the shoulders of the nation, which, after all, were the shoulders of the workers, the costs of the war. Those who had derived the benefits of war, he urged, should be compelled to pay the costs.