Papurau Newydd Cymru
Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru
8 erthygl ar y dudalen hon
IThe German Elections. I
I The German Elections. I POLITICAL PARTIES IN GERMANY. I COALITION WITH BOURGEOIS PROBABLE. The elections for the Constituent AssemljJy in Germany, so far as is known at the time of writ- ing, have resulted in a positive victory for the Majority Socialists, without giving them com- plete power in the control ol affairs. Many of the parties which took part Ï:l the elect-ion have been transformed in name, if not in character, since tlit Revolution, and it is difficult precisely to define their relationships with one another and with German Social Democracy. It mav help to elucidate the Election Returns if the character of the several parties is understood. German Social Democracy, IS is well known, is split into three factions The Majority Socialists, led by Haase and Dittmann; and the Spartacus Group, the leadership of which was shared by Liebknecht and Rosa Luxembourg, and in some degree hy Ledebour (nominally an Independent), before the recent disorders that resulted in the death of the two former. One result of the re- cent outbreak has been the separation of the In- dependent Socialists from the Socialist Majority; they were represented in the Council of People' 8 Commissaries by Haase, Dittmann. and Barth. who resigned when it appeared that the Centra] Conned of Workmen and Soldiers' Councils m Berlin supported the action of the three Major- ity members of the Council of People's Commis- | saries—Rlffrrt, Scheidemann, and Landsberg—in the action they took in employing armed force during the Spartacus disturbances. Successors have been appointed to the Council of People's Commissaries in place of the three Independents, and the Government, up to the time of the Elec- tion, was composed of Ebert, who is in charge of internal affairs, Scheidemann, who deals with foreign affairs; Noska, in charge of the Army and Navy; Landsberg of finance; and Wissel of social policy; all these ministers belong to the Majority Wing. INDEPENDENTS ILL-SUCCESS. I The Independents have likewise been largely extruded from the Berlin Executive Council. in which they previously had equal representation with the Majority. The. ill-success of the Inde- pendents during the Election is attributed to their failure to separate themselves decisively from the Spartacus Group. There has, in fact been at least one important defection from the Independents on this account, Bernstein having rejoined the Majority as a protest against the drift of the Independents towards the extreme left wing represented by Spartacus. The Spartacus Group, for its part, appears finally to have detached itself from the Indepen- dent Socialists, andxhas become even more closely identified with the Russian Bolsheviks. It has reformed its organisation, assuming the title of the Communist Party, and refused to take any part in the elections for the Constituent Assem- bly. There were sharp cleavages even among the Spartaeists on this latter question: some of its most influential leaders, including Ledebour, Daumug, and Richard Midler (who was presi- dent of the former Executive Council), tried to induce the Spa rtarists to participate in the Elections. BOURGEOIS CLEAVAGES. I Equally deep cleavages appear to exist in the ranks of the bourgeois parties. The old Conser- vative Party now bears the name of the German National People's Party. The old Catholic Centre—-which does not seem formally to have changed its name, although it is sometimes t- l i(? C l ir s an P l e's called the Christian People's Party—remains fairly solid and homogeneous. Next to it is the German People's Party—composed mainly of the right wing of the National Liberals. On its left has arisen a new group, called the German Democratic Party. This group has been de- scribed as the right wing ot Social Democracy rather than the left wing of the bourgeois par- ties. It is composed of the more advanced sec- tions of the National Liberal and the Progres- sive organisations, and represents perhaps the most democratic elements of the middle-class parties.* Its emergence seems to make the for- mation of a bourgeois bloc against Social Demo- cracy impossible. The elections have taken place upon a some- what complicated system of proportional repre- sentation. The country has been divided into 38 electoral districts for the election of 433 depu- ties. Jh each district every vote cast is a vote for a particular party's list of candidates whose number is equal to the number of seats allotted to the electoral district. Under the electoral law it is possible for two or more parties to com- bine their lists and to; pool" the aggregate total votes secured by them. It does not seem that any of the parties have combined generany in this manner for this Election, but local ar- rangements have been made. Until the full re- sults are known it is hazardous to speculate upon the probable direction of affairs in Ger- many, but it is not unreasonable to expect that the German Socialist Majority will be obliged to enter into some kind of Coalition with the bourgeois parties.
Advertising
OUR SHOP. BOOKS OF STUDY BY RAMSAY MACDONALD- (QALISM AND SOCIETY" 1/- & 2/6 SOCIALISM AND GOVERNMENT" 3 r, "SOCIALISM AFTER THE WAR" 1 The three Books of the I.L. P. faith. NOAH ABLETT'S new work on, ECONOMICS (1/3) is announced for immediate delivery, and we shall have a big parcel hot from the press. The edition is already bespoken so ORDER NOW.
Demobilisation and The Miners.
Demobilisation and The Miners. TO THE EDITOR. was very pleased to sec in your issue of the 11th inst. the article by Mr. Forester, calling attention to the demobilisation of miners, and the effects it will have in the Coalfield. Per- haps you will permit me to call attention to one or two further points. The Scheme recently is- sued by the Conciliation Board, which received the joint blessing of both parties is intended to meet the case in such a way as to provide work for all men as they are being discharged. The general purpose of the scheme is undoubtedly good. But the effect its application has had upon the non-soldier miner, who happens to be in quest of work is equally bad. We have in a large coalfield like South Wales, some hundreds of men, week by week removing from one Col- Iliery to another for various reasons, which are perfectly legitimate. Thus they make up what may be termed the Labour Market of the Mining Industry. What has happened to-day upon the- application of the above agreement;- All these men find themselves unemployed. The door is locked against them at every colliery. As no one is allowed to start other than a discharged soldier or sailor, what thi means to the miners of South Wales is that they have either to be- come wage-slaves, tied to some master, however harsh and severe a taskmaster he may be; or otherwise they are denied the right to live, since to deny a man the right to work is to deny him a right to live. I have in my mind at the' pre- sent moment the case of a man with a family of five to maintain, who has been idle for several weeks for this very reason, and there are un- doubtably hundreds of like cases in the Coal- field, increasing every day. Another important bearing this is going to have is that it will take away in its entirety the miner's independence. If he does assert his right against the will oi any official, he will be subject to every form of persecution and victimisation, and yet lIe dare not chuck up his job and look for a more con- genial environment. Then there is the effect it is going to have upon wages, especially in the case of the piece worker. A large proportion of the wages of a piece-worker to-da.y (working upon price-lists handed down by our forefathers, which are quite inadequate and out-of-date) are made up of what is termed Consideration-Allow- ance. An amount of allowance which is entirely dependent upon the goodwill of the manager. The manager is governed in liis judgment very largely by the lav of supply demand in the labour-market. If the demand for labour is greater than the supply, his heart expands; if the reverse is the cas-, it reacts accordingly. Take the case of a collier earning on an average zC5 per week nett. This would be made up of £2 2s. 9d. standard rates, 10/- allowance, 1:1 9s. 4d. percentages, 18/- war-wage, total £ 5 Os. Id. Therefore it will be seen that in the majority of cases over per cent. of the col- lier's wages is dependent upon the goodwill of the manager. The result will be that under the present conditions with the enormous amount of surplus labour in the market the colliery com- panies will be able to reduce the wages of these piece-workers by over 15 per cent., and they can still argue that the man has received the mini- mum wage. A further clause in the agreement- makes it possible for the management and the local Lodge Committees to arrange to tender notice to a cer- tain number of men, in order to make room for the discharged soldier. This, I submit, is a mis- taken policy for the Federation to adopt-, as the question naturally arises: "What is to become of these men Is t.he Federation going to maintain tlieiii- or are they to be allowed to starve 'i If the former is the- case, they are courting financial ruin. If the latter, the Feder- ation is violating the first. great. principle that the British Labour Movement stands for. and of which movement, the Federation itself is a. very important component part. The direct result of this policy will be to create a huge army of unemployed in this coalfield, which will form the raw material for disorder and revolution. Added to that the dangers of industrial friction above enumerated, a spark given off will set the whole coalfield into a oon- lfagration. Now it is the duty of every sane person to endeavour to avoid a crisis of this description developing. Iherefore. the Federation should at once take up the same attitude on the six hours a day question, as they did in the case of the surfacemen and eight hours. A double shift sys- tem should be introduced in the mines, insofar as it is necessary to absorb all the men as they are being discharged. Either a universal day- wage system should be established throughout the coa lfield, or otherwise 33i per cent should be added to all piece-work rates to cover the reduc- tion of hours. The shifts should be so arranged as to cause as little inconvenience and hardship as possible. A particular grievance with a large number of our young men now coming back, is that when they present themselves for work they are told that the only job available for them is as a labourer on the afternoon shift, a lower grade than the one in which they were employed when they enlisted, and on a shift that deprives them of all pleasures of social entertainments with their friends in the evenings, which is the only time that any little-entertainment is available in the mining districts. To impose such conditions upon young men who have spent four years in the trenches is manifestly unfair. The remedy in cases of this kind would be to so arrange, the shifts as to give the evenings free to a cer- tain extent to all workers. The morning shift could work from 6 a.m. to 12. The afternoon shift from 12.30 p.m. to 6.30. and the night shift from 11 p.m. till -) The addition of an extra shift would also remedy the grievance that discharged men have, of not being re-employed in the same grade as when they enlisted, as it would create the demand for additional labour of various grades. If industrial unrest is to I N, avoided in the coalfield, the Federation will have to assert itself on t hose lines regardless of any pleadings put to them at Conciliation Board II1lPctings, ("t(. as to cnsts and prohts.—T am vours faithfuDv. WM. MORGAN, Checkweighci. I 4 CfWts Street. Abcrti'id?r, January 15th, 1919.
ILabour in Conference. (
I Labour in Conference. ( I INTERNATIONAL DELEGATES IN SWITZERLAND. Although the arrangements for the Interna- tional Labour and Socialist Conference in Swit- zerland are not yet complete, the situation is becoming clearer, and it is expected that the British delegation will obtain within the next few days thè necessary facilities still wanting to enable them to leave* for Berne. The organisers of the Conference have experienced much diffi- culty in finding accommodation in Switzerland, and it is possible that it will yet have to be held at Thuu or Interlaken instead of Berne. It was suggested earlier in the week that the Confer- ence might assemble at the Maison du Peuple, the headquarters of the Swiss Socialist. Party in Berne; and (> ustave Miillei-, tltck Socialist mayor of Berne, has been actively co-operating with Mr. Arthur Henderson and other International leaders in making the arrangements. But the Swiss Federal Government has proposed one of the other places najned as a more convenient centre. Since the publication of the original list of British delegates there have been, for various reasons, some withdrawals. The list now in- cludes Messrs. G. H. Stuart-Bunning, J. U. Thomas. M.P. (who has already left for the Continent), R. Shirkie. T. Greenall. and Miffs Bondfield, for the Parliamentary Committee; Messrs. C T. Cramp, .J. McGurk. Arthur Hen- derson (who is now in Bainsav Mac- donald, and Mrs. Snowden. for the Labour Party Executive. FOREIGN DELEGATIONS. The delegates from the countries of Central Europe are: Herman Muller, Otto Wels, and Richard Malkenbuh r. rep res^n ting German Social Denioc-racy the Socialist Party of Ger- man-Austria is sending three delegates, includ- ing the Foreign Minister. Otto Bauer, and Bohemia the same number. The French delegates are MM. Jean Longuet, Pressemane, Mistral. Cachin. Frossard, Loriot, Paul Faure, Raoul erfcuil Mayeras. Albert Thomas. Renaudel, Poisson, and Dubrouilh. From Russia, Paul Axelrod, representing the Social Democratic Party (Menshevik), is so far the only delegate announced and Finland and Estllonia are also sending delegates. The, Socialist Party iir Sweden have appointed Brant- ing, Moller. and Engberg; the Argentine Re- public are sending two deleo-ates. Premier of Queensland, Mr. W. P. Ryan, and Mr. F. Austen, have been designated as representatives of the Australian Labour Party at the Inter- national Conference. It, is expected that Greece will be represented by Sidoris and Curiel for Macedonia.; and Benarovas, Dimitratos, and Karamojis repre- senting the other _Socialist groups, who hope to find occasion during the conference to discuss with the Socialist representatives of the other Balkan Sta,tos the founding of a Balkan Social- ist Federation. RUSSIAN TRADES UNIONS THERE. the trade unions of the Ukraine, the Central Committee of Moscow trade unions, and the Spanish trade unions will also probably be repre- sented, along with the French trade unions some of whose oiffcers are already in Berne, and the Belgian trade unions. Although the International working-class con- ference may be organised in two sections, one representing political labour and the other the trade unions, it must be understood that. at any rate, so far as European Labour is con- cerned, the political and the industrial wings of the organised movement are pledged to closest possible co-operation. Every effort is being made to make the International Conference as com- plete and as united as it ought to be in view of the work which it is called upon to take in hand. Three questions of outstanding importance will occupy the attention of the delegates: (1) The immediate establishment of a League of Nations as the first step in the direction of world pacification, and as an essen- tial preliminary to the discussion of problems of a territorial, political, and economic character invol ved in the final peace settlement; (2) the formulation of a Charter of International peace settlement; (3) the formulation of a Charter of International Labour Legislation, designed to equalise the industrial conditions of every coun- try, and to remove as far as possible the econo- mic antagonism of nations which leads to war; and (4) the establishing of a policy designed to help the Russian people to deal with the prob- lems of internal unsettlement AMERICAN PROPOSAL. During his stay in Paris Mr. Arthur Hender- son lunched with Mr. Lloyd George, and the Prime Minister is understood to have promised that a delegation from the International Labour Conference would be received by the Peace Con- gress at Paris to sifcmit the proposals the Con- ference formulates. Whether the delegates of the American Feder- ation of Labour, who have come to Europe headed by Mr. Samuel Gompers. will attend the International Conference in Switzerland is at > present undecided. They have secured the co- operation of the Briiish Trade Union Congress Parliamentary Coiiimltiee 111 their effort to pro- mote an firteruajtional Trade Union Conference to discuss the establishment of a new Trade I nion International, and have gone to Paris to confer with the French trade union leaders. Neither the date nor the place of the proposed International Trade Union Conference has yet been fixed, and it is not expected that anything will be done in this direction until the Interna- tional Labour and Socialist Conference in Swit- zerland is over.
[No title]
Negotiations are now nearly complete for the amalgamation of the United Kingdom Jycaetv of Coaohmakers with several other mions of vehicle workers, and the rul es for the composite society, which will 00 called the National Union of Vehicle Workers, we well under way.
Advertising
l VICTORY OF THE DOWLAIS MINERS 1 PAGE 3.
Advertising
UPTON'S for QUALITY The Largest Tea Distributors, Manufac- turers, and Retailers of Food Products in the World. Tea Merchants by Special Appointment to H.M. King George V. LIPTON LTOM City Road, LONDON,E.C. 1. BRANCHES & AGENCIES THROUGHOUT ———— THE UNITED KINGDOM. ———— J
Political Notes
Political Notes I By F. W. Jowett. EXCLUDED. I Representatives of the Bolshevist Government of Russia are not to be reeeived in Paris. So far the French Government has succeeded. The Governments of the Associated. Powers have agreed however, to meet representatives of all the bodies that claim they are Governments in nuta, including the Bolsheviks, hut the meet- ing must take place on Princes island in the Sea of Marmora. Representatives of all the asso- ciated Powers will he sent to Princes Island, but the instructions they will carry with them are to be drawn up by the French Foreign Minister (M. Pichon) who is bitterly opposed to the Bol- sheviks and does not want to know what they have to say. Although the proposed conference seems t.o have been planned with the object of putting the Bolshevik Government- of Russia | into a most difficult position, the reactionary fac- tions that have established themselves as rival Governments in different parts of Russia refuse to attend. What these factions want is armed intervention by foreign powers and not a confer- ence. t A ONE-SIDED TRUCE. It is to he expected thai, the iJoIshevik Gov- ernment of Russia w ill not readily come to a de- eision on the proposal for a confenyice at Pri nces Island, having regard to the conditions of accept- ance and the procedure by whtfh the conference will be governed. To begin "with, one of the con- ditions which the Bolshevik Government is called Upon to accept, if it agrees to attend the 'confer- once, is a one-sided truce. The Bolshevik forces arc at present engaged in an effort to break through the starvation ring which the forces of tlx* Allies have set around them. This is the reason for their military operations on the Western front of Soviet Russia, and the opera- ti(JIIS have been to a large extent successful. If the truce were not one-sided the withdrawal of the Bolshevist forces on the West would be com- pensated hy relief from th«-^hu »yrj^ioekade. but liii- oiocKade the Aliies wni presumably main- tai n. NEUTRALISED ADVANTAGE. I h Moreover, the^chiel value oi a conference in tlH Bolshevik Government is that it can be used K for the purpose of stating its case before the World. But there is 110 guarantee that -the pro- ceedings of the conference will bo published. In- deed, it is impossible to resist the conclusion that Is to be held on an island in the Sea of Marmora in order that it may be isolated 1 and all means of cuinmunication with the out- side world controlled by the Allies. What the enemies of the Bolsheviks who have agreed to the. conference have in mind is that the representa- tive? »«f the Allied powers, instructed by M. Pichon, will go to the conference, hear what is said there give their own version of what is said and found a report on it. On this report the Peace Conference will come to decision, probably nùversp to the system of the Soviet form of Gov- ernment and in favour of a Constituent Assem- bly. whicli- will be enforced either by armed in- tervention 011 a large scale or by the tightening of the hunger blockade. This view of the pur- pose of the conference is openly stated by some of its supporters who also declare- that if the Bolshevik Government does not decide to take] part in the conference judgment should be given against it and simitar consequences should fol- low. it: WHY.PICK PICHON? I í 4 u 1 It is quite true that those who avow tins pur- pose of blackmailing or dragooning: a nattou "?? accepting a form of government and a social tem which it has discarded are not in accord with the definitely expressed intention of President Wilson, but then, why has M. Pichon been ap- pointed to draw up the instructions under which Vhe delegates of the Allies have to conduct the •conference, .seeing that -All. Pichon is opposed to President Wilson in this fundamental matter' And why has it been decided that the conference must ta\e place w here it will be isolated from the rest of the world except in so far as the Allies allow communications to be sent from there ? THE NOBLE WILSON. I Lest we forget, 1 will take the opportunity of repeating a passage from the speech of President Wilson in support of his motion in favour of the League of Nations at the Peace Conference on January 25th. The passage I will quote em- braced more than the League of Xations' pro- posal, for it quite clearly referred to the whole T>r<vran\1tie which he has deelared before the world. This programme include the fourteen points which hare been accepted by all the ua- lions who have been at war with each other as the basis of the peace to which they arc prepare., to agree. Speaking of the position of the repre- sentatives of the United States at the Confer- ence, he said :— ■ ■ We would not dare to abate a single item of the programme which constitutes our in- structions, We would not dare to compromise upon any matter as champions of this thing, this peace of-the world, this attitude of jlt:" this priU'iplc that \\e Ure masters of uo i>ebple, hut here to sec that every people in the world shall choose it's own mastvAs and "ivcrn its nWII destines, not as we hut as it wishes." ♦ KLIJ HONEST CRITIC. Its a,series of abides which iV.iye appeared in tin- Manchester Guardian," \vritten hy Mr Rjckman, who for about two Years, ending last ant-umn, carried on relief work under the Friends War Yietims Relief Committee, we get a very different picture of events in Russia to that provided in the lying communications of the I ublication Department. In one remarkable ar- ticle published on January 22nd he gives a first- hand ;«?-ount of the (ondttfons of 'I rura l dis- j trid under I{(?shpvik ruh- <hn in? ?ii(? WLint?r and spring of 1917-18. It is an,amazing story of productive, distributive and educational work carried on mainly through a co-operative society by the Soviet. The profits of the co-operative society, he says, were reduced to a minimum, but on the millions of roubles of turnover they were nevertheless considerable in the aggregate, and they were devoted to educational purposes. Evening classes were* started in modern lan- guages, geography, history and the Russian lan- guage, in book keeping and business training, subsidies were granted for agricultural colleges and schools, and scholarships were founded for secondary education. THE REVERSE SIDE. Mr. Rickman, in one of the scries of articles a bove referred to relates his experience during a period when the rural district in which he lived was under the rule of a Czech-Cossack reaction- ary combination. Orders were given that all commissionaries and members of the Soviet and all men in the Red Guard when captured were to In^shot. There was also a Red Terror, but it wax preceded by a Czech-Cossack terror. He sau reactionaries shot, but he had previously seen Cossacks driving through the streets of Buzuluk with a cart]oad of headless btx?ies. ♦ THE CLORY OF THAT TRACEDY. It is a wpinl and tragic drama that is in pro- gress in Russia, but in all that is revealed to us. and iii 5>ruth, Mm-eriitng it, the H?ams of !i?ht in the picture are with the Bol- sheviks as they toil and teach and fight to con- struct a new Russia ;md not merely a new poli- tical system. RUSSIA AND BRITAIN. I That for which the Bolsheviks are striving may be considered good or ill according as one agrees or disagrees with Socialism. The parti- cular method by means of which the Bolsheviks believe that Socialism can best be adapted to the needs and requirements of the Russia.n people may or may not prove to be the best, but what- ever else is uncertain, one thing is sure, and tha.t is the living faith which is seeking to give to the workers of Russia all the use and enjoyment that can be obtained from the wealth and re sources of Russia. Here in this country there is no such outstanding faflt, Witli experience which is recent (and -ought, therefore, to be fresh in the public mind) of the failure of capitalist pro- duction in time of war, national properties, which, if retained and used by the nation, would be a Check on the profiteer, an- being sold hur- riedly lor fear the people should become aware oi the fact that capitalist profiteering can be abolished.. The private interests of capitalists are openly distating the policy of the nation and the voice of protest is stifled because the living faith which seek. only the good of the people is not dominant. » DESERTED. -1 I The nation was compelled to undertake the production of the materials necessary for war be- cause capitalism failed. Now that the expensive plant and machinery is available .for the produc- tion of useful things' instead of destructive things the nation is handing them over to the capitalists as fast as possible. The plant and machinery of one national factory was sold a week ago where shells for which the Government had been previously paying 22/6 each to private contractors were produced at 8/6 eadi. The huge factory at Gretna which employed over 20,000 JH:'rs0l1s is now deserted and awa.itin? disposal. It cost between nine and ten million pounds but the cost of its products was only half what was previously paid to the American firms from which Supplies had been obtained, although the cost of raw materials had been more than doubled since the work of the factory began. The estimated saving on capitalist prices at this firm during the period of its operations is twelve million pounds, > THE PRICE OF DESERTION. I With the possession of national factories there goes not only the opportunity of putting a chock on the prices of capitalist productions, but there goes also the opportunity of determining that necessary things hal1 be produced first. Men have grown rich with war profits, and, at- though articles of common use a if so scarce and deal- that ordinary people cannot afford to buy the tilings they need, the rich can pay more and must have what they want. Already, therefore, motor-cars for private use are Wing producer! for sale at per car. Motors for transport of produce from the country districts and goods from town to town and to country districts,^are Urgently required, but they must wait. Capital- ism takes no account of such considerations. The Bolsheviks do.