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i mHIM MY<L & EMPJRE MLME, Merthyr! I Licensee—Mr. Will Smithson. Managing Director—Mr. William Firth  5 General Manager—Mr. Fred Dry. S m m 16.30 TWICE NIGHTLY. 8.30 I BOTH PERFORMANCES PRECISELY THE SAME. I j Week commencing MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3rd, 1919. | < Messrs. H. Armitage and Arthur Leigh's Popular Company I- N WILL PRESENT Monday, Friday and Saturday-Wilson Barrett's Last and Greatest Play— |  LUCKY DURHAM. j I. Tuesday-C. Haddon Chambers' Brilliant Comedy— I s PASSERS BY. | I Wednesday & Thursday—Henry Arthur Jones Great Modern Morality Play— I I THE HYPOCRITES  CIRCLE STALLS PIT GALLERY I I Prices of AdmMWo ?MryDMrs— 15. 5d. 1/- 7d. 4d. I N Tax, 4d. Tax, 3d. Tax, 2d. Tax, id. I j Booked and Reserved-Circle 1/8—Tax, 4d.; Stalls, 1/2-Tax 4d. j "II II II II II I" I Merthyr Electric heatre • Week commencing Monday, February 3rd. I CONTINUOUS PERFORMANCE FROM 2.30 TILL 10.30 P.M. DAILY. j I Monday, Tuesday, and Wedne"ay- I "THE MORAL LAW" I Featuring the Versatile GLADYS BROCKWELL. I § COUNT BERNSTORFF'S SECRETS, Part 2. I I- THE FIREMAN—featuring Charlie Chaplin.' Pathe's Coloured Pictorial and Pathe's Gazette. I I • Thursday, Friday, and Saturday- ?- t j "POLLY OF THE C!ROUS" I ? Featuring Dainty MAE MARSH. | 1- ONE A.M.—featuring Charlie Chaplin. 1- I WHERE SHORE AND WATER MEET. I I THE ROMANCE OF OLIVE, Part 4. I Pathe's Gazette, &e. • • I PRICES: 5d., 9d., 1/3 ioclnding Tax. Children: 3d., 5d. & 8d. I Children's Performance at One o'clock on Saturdays. I Ordinary Saturday Performance starts at 3.30 o'clock. Other Days 2.30 as usual. 1. I' .i It It .1 — — j^ Are unrivalled for all Irregularities, etc., they BLANCHARD' S speedily ffod r-hef and never fail to &UeTiate all suffering. They supersede Pennyroyal, Pill PILLS '?**??* Clwhia, Bitter, Apple, &c. Blanchard's are the ■ 1 best of all Pills for Women. Sold in bases, 1¡Hi. by BOOTS' Branches and all Chemists, or pest tree, same price, troni LESLIE MARTIN, Ltd., Chemists, 34 Dalston Lane, London.T> Samples and valuable booklet sent free, 1d. stamp. ————————— — HOPE CHAPEL, MERTHYR. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd, 1919. Preacher- Rev. J. Morgan Jones, M.A. Services to begin at 11 o'clock and 8 p.m. HHt I* a PIIPAA CATARRH. HEAD NOISES, easily cured lirUAf tMtx V in a few days by the new fFREMCW DEAFNESSORLE NF-" Scores of wonderful cures reported. COMPLETELY CURED. Age 76. Mr. Thomas Winslade, of Borden, Hants, writes: I am delighted I tried the new Oriene," for the head noises. I am pleased to tell you, ARE GONE, aid I can bear as well as ever I could in my lUe. I think it wonderful, as I am 76 years old. and the people here are surprised to think I can hear so well again at my age." Many other equally good reports. Try one box to-day, which can be forwarded to any address upon the receipt of money order for 2/9. THERE 18 NOTHING BETTER AT ANY PRICE. Address, "ORLENE" Co., Railway Crssotnt, West Croydon, Surrey, Eng The "Welsh National Federation of Discharged and Demobilised Sol- diers' and Sailors' A MEETING of the above Federation will be held at The Court Arms, Merthyr, ON Tuesday Evening, Feb. 4th AT 7 P.M. All Discharged and Demobilised men are ear- nestly Invited to attend with a view to Joining this non-political Federation. PRIZE DRAWING. LSSWLLT I.L.P. Prize Drawing is pœt- ?? poned UDtil April 7tb. Merthyr Tydfil Union. j FOSTER FATHER AND MOTHER. THE Guardians of the above Union require i the services of a man and wife, as Foster Father and Mother, at the Cottage Homes, Llwydooed, Aberdare. which contains between 20 to 38 Boys. Salary, Father £ 40 per annum, plus the pre- vailing War Bonus; Mother zC30 per annum, plus the prevailing War Bonus, both with Board, Lodging and Washing. Candidates must not be under 25 nor more than 35 years of age. The Mother will be required to take charge of the Home Oook the Food, arrange the Meals, do needlework, and generally undertake the duties of a Home of the artisan class. The Foster Father, who must have a good knowledge of Gar- dening or Carpentering, will be required to as- sist in the general management of the Boys in the Grouped Homes, and to act generally under the supervision of the Superintendent. Any further particulars of the duties to be performed may be obtained upon application to the Superintendent of the Cottage Homes, Llwydcoed, Aberdare. The appointments will be subject to the pro- visions of the Poor Law Officers Superannuation Act, 1896, and National Health Instrance Acts. Applications, with copies of three recent testi- monials, must be sent to me on or before the 12th day of February, 1919, and be made upon Forms, which can be obtained upon application at my Office, or by forwarding me a stamped, addressed, foolscap envelope. By Order, FRANK T. JAMES, Clerk to the Guardians. Union Offices, High Street, Merthyr Tydfil. PONTYPRIDD INDEPENDENT LABOUR PARTY. The Annual General Meeting will be held on SUNDAY, FEBRUARY-Oth, at 6 p.m. sharp. MEMBERS TAKE NOTE:- I.-Time at which Meeting commences. 6 p.m. sharp, and not 7 p.m. 2.-Comrad e Smith, of Newport, and Comrade Bowden, of Aberaman, will attend the meet- ing as a deputation from South Wales Socialist Sunday School Union. 3.-Agendas may be had from the Seoretary Oil application. I.L.P. MEETINGS. OLYMPIA RINK, MERTHYR, Sunday Next, Feb. 2nd, 1919. Speakers:* Mr. Walton Ne-wbold, :M:. A. London, and Mr. WILL CRAIK, Sub-Wat den, Central Labour College. Chairman -3Ir. Noah Ablett. OHAIR TAKEN AT 2.45 P.M. PROMPT. Admission by Silver Collection. Economic Lectures by Mr. Newbold at the I.L.P. Institute on Thursday, Feb. 6th, and Friday, Feb. 7th, at 7-30 p.m.
The Industrial -War.
The Industrial War. FROM Belfast to the Clyde, from Glasgow to Yorkshire,, from the county of broad acres to London, from the metropolis to Dowlais and so back to the Clyde through all the intervening spaces the kingdom is alight with strikes, and industrial unrest. And philosophic leader writers whose contact with the trades union movement has never been more intimate than a discourse in orthodox political economy, rush hither and thither in their attempts at explanation. The more ignorant amongst the pundits of Fleet Street are content with the theory of intellectual firebrands whose incendiary habits have set alight the apathetic multitudes, an explanation which is more puzzling than the problem it has to solve when the comparative disability of those same firebrands is considered in connection with the recent general election. A more ponderous and oracular, but closely related explanation that does not explain is noised by the classic pens of the Liberal journals, whose note is not unexult- ant that a recalcitrant Liberal Premier should be faced on the morn of his premiership by in- dustrial revolt. They find the explanation in the hatred of the profiteer, meaning thereby the strongest bullies of their own camp, and the most unscrupulous members of their own clubs. The explanation is as convincing of the father's answers to his boy. What are worms for? asked the youngster. To feed birds," said the, pater: What are birds for?" was the follow- up. "To feed men," came the answer. What are men for?" concluded the little one. "To feed worms," worked the father in his circle. The answer of "profiteering" that is profferred by the Fleet Street oracle in his hopeless attempt to maintain his reputation for explanation is about as specious as that of the father. Pro- fiteering is as directly felt as indirect taxation and is as likely to cause industrial upheaval such as we are experiencing. The causes of un- rest go deeper than that. The -truth is that Capitalism has the defects of its qualities, and profiteering is but an accentuation of one of those qualities. It is the whole system that i3 being found out. Its hypocrisy, its cruelty, its uselessnoss, and the absence of any natural jus. tice from its code of ethics and morals. All are in the melting pot.. Four and a half years of war have displayed its ugly nakedness to the toiling masses the while they have displayed the power and potency of the toil that those masses so uncomplainingly have contributed to man's upward progression since the pre-lustoric era. The unrest which we are experiencing and which we shall experience still more when the artificial palliatives of Parliament spend themselves in the near future is the beginning of the final struggle for the world. The whole system and not one of its qualities is indicted. That the in- dictment may not have been clearly spoken at the moment is inevitable, but it will clarify and be added to clause by clause as the economic foundations are more and more uncovered by the striving multitudes. It is the class-struggle that has at last found expression on a national field, and the idea of solidarity and unity of pur- pose spreads apace. Not because of the incen- diary speeches of a handful of militants is that struggle being consolidated, but because Capi- talism itself in the fullness of its development. in its mighty factories and huge aggregations of wealth and power has provided the discipline that has trained the plebian army that is already ranging itself in battle array for the purpose of wresting the basis of life from Capitalism's age- ing hands. The industrial revolt is in fact the revolution. No selfisl1 motives of my interest" is the actuating motive this time, though it is probable that that will appear as a necessary ex- pression later on in tho fight with an essentially selfish system. The struggle has started at the very ,basis of society, and is waging around the fundamental principle of wage-slavery. Against the idea of a free competition amongst a host of workers whose internecine strife will regulate wages about the line of subsistence—the essen- tial condition in Capitalism; the workers are presenting an alternative scheme of absorption that will reduce the competition amongst the workers to a minimum, and thereby place them in the position of absolute masters of the situa- f-lon-a situation in which they have existed for four years of war, but full advantage of which they were prevented from taking by their ideas of patriotism. The call for that abnegation is gone, and so the curbed militancy is finding ex- pression. The struggle in which the nation is precipitated is the class-war, whether we are pleased or no, the final striking of lusty blows for a real and living Democratic control. Social- ism is its goal, disguise it how we will. To-day the strife of battle, to-morrow the land of pro- mise.
The Boisterous Sir Edgar.…
The Boisterous Sir Edgar. I So, the Norman Knight of Merthyr has kept his threat, buckled on his tin-plate armour, mar- shalled his serried ranks, and declared his inten- tion of sallying forth against the syndicalists md secret classes which have been held to pro- pagate Syndicalism in South Wales. Of course, this great educational and propagandist move- rnent" of a "non-political, non-sectarian and 1011-every thing else society, guild or club that s to draw all decent people into the fight against ,he secret classes" and Syndicalism, by which ye presume the promoters u noerstand. indutrial .t -x -ialism, is no new idea. We did not expect :hat Sir Edgar could rise to that. He is simply a plagarist of the founder of our old friend, the Anti-Socialist Union, and its successors and con- temporaries. He lacks their courage of directly announcing his object in his title. Sir Edgar's talk of secret classes is, we suppose, due to de- tective hearing. They are not secret classes, but C.L.C. classes. So far from being secret they have been publicly run and advertiesd by the lodges of the S.W.M.F. and the N.U.R., with a few connected with I.L.P. branches. So far from there being any secret about them we should ad- vise Sir Edgar to stnd his doughty champions to try their dialectical wits in Noali Ablett's classes which recommence in the Angel Buildings, Mer- thyr, next Friday whilst the chairman of the new body might s ignalise the advent of his camouflage society by replying to Noah's book on economics wliich is announced for immediate publication. That would be an earnest of Sir Edgar's sincerity a test of his' ability, and. withal, an occasion of acute joy to Sir Edgar's opponents. But a much more serious defect than Sir Edgar's hardness of hearing is his shortness of sight. If he knew anything at all of these anti-industrial bodies in practice, he would realise that the inevitable and logical conclusion of his efforts must be the creation of new trade union bodies, such as had to make deluded fools who were the victims of the Anti- Socialist bodies in Lancashire tried to come to grips with the cotton operatives' organisations. Dozens of these non-poltical organisations lack- ing in very essential of trades unionism, but greatly favoured by the bosses still drag out a precarious and ineffective existence in the Pala- tinate. When Sir Edgar launches his first branch of the non-political competitor to the S.W.M.F., a much more difficult task than had to be faced in Lancashire and in much more diffi- cult times, he is as dead as the wooden horse of Troy politically. He is weaving a rope that will hank him wherever lie goes in his search for a constituency, after he is defeated in Merthyr next time. Incidentally, we shall be thankful to Sir Edgar, for- if lie has any success at all his organisation will give the spice of life. to exist- ence, and will stimulate our movement better than anything we know. But there, we had for a moment forgotten the new con- ditions of the day, a.nd we tear us that Sir Edgar will fail before he has travelled r miln on his new journey, face to face. as he will bo with the new spirit that is abroad. Still to have intended a Welsh edition of the society for the propagation of the gospel of a non-political opposition to an industrial political movement is so Quixotic to-day that we must be grateful for the pleasure that the noble knight and his cronies have g iven to us.
I Co-Operation -and -Joint…
I Co-Operation and Joint Control. In the din and crash of the vigorous happenings of these days we are apt to forget, domestic mat- ters of moment. With our eyes on the horizon happenings in the immediate foreground go un- perceived. That is had. Our concentration need not be so intense that it commits us to a silence of uninterestedness in affairs that are going for- ward in our local movements which in the ulti- mate operate against our best interests. We are led to this tact front some casual observations we have overheard this last week respecting the commitments of our local Co-operative Societies in the Merthyr Boroughs. Three societies there are Dowlais, with an approximate yearly turn- over of £ 170,000; Merthyr and Troedyrhiw about £ 120,000, and Treharris doing an annual trade of roughly E112,006* an aggregate trade of over £ 400,000. The more existence of the three in such close proximity is responsible for a rivalry, absolutely unavoidable, that ought to be ex- pended exclusively in the tight against the pri- vate trader and, more particularly, against tho syndicated stores. So far as we have been able to ascertain, the only preventative to amalgama- tion is that no one has had the courage or inter- est to stand forth with the proposal. But leaving that aside for the moment, the expansion of membership and growing demands—themselves factors that will ultimately lead to amalgama- tion—are calling for expenditure that would he unnecessary under an amalgamation of the forces. Take bread as an example. Each of fix- two largest societies at all events has for some time felt the need for a big extension in the way of bakeries, and both are committed to building at the earliest possible moment. Two bake- houses will thus be put down where one, with travelling ovens, would suffice. Dowlais has ac- quired a. farm in Pant large enough in area to allow of a bakehouse sufficierit to meet the de- mands of the whole population. A railway siding is on, or dost to. the site, and the journey out with loads would be down hill all the way. Mer- thyr, so far as we know, has not yet begun to expend money, though it is imperative that steps should be taken in the near future in this direction, and much the same would have to be said of Treharris. Now, why should there he this triplieation Y All societies have one ideal, one purpose, one basis and one class of custo- mers. Why not a joint Bakery Committee, with a pooling of the present facilities and joint con- trol of the new bakery ? That way lies true econ- omy, and the beginnings of an unified Co-opera- tive Movement for Merthyr. We commend tht) proposal to the committee and management of the Dowlais Society, as the one farthest ad- vanced with its scheme, in the hope that they will see their way clear to make advances in the direction indicated to the other societies.
The Dowlais Strike.
The Dowlais Strike. Wk have had a short, sharp, and incisive fight in the Dowlais District, in which the miners have won a decisive victory over the companv after a three days' strike. Their charter was an embracing one" including many important points that will unquestionably be a point of starting for the whole coalfield, and we offer our heartiest congratulations to Mr. S. O. Davies and his district upon the determination and skill with which they framed their demands and carried them to successful issuance. The victory is all the more signal since it is not many months back that we shook our heads over the case of Dowlais, as over a promising district that some- how had slipped from the path of advanced march. The old attitude of cap-in-hand has gone for ever, and now that Mr. S. O. Davies has resolutely turned his back on that old cringing method of approach we find that the men are conscious of their dignity and importance. But better than anything else in this strike has been the strategy with which Mr. S. O. Davies has blooded his blade of generalship. Up against a single company with a controvertial programme in its more important elements ho won a strike in three days. How? By generalship. His command over the new forces of the washery gave him the upper hand. By using his solid forces he not only controlled the whole coal pro- duction of the district, but he threatened with entire dislocation and stoppage the steelworks also. That was what counted. It was a. ques- tion of generalship, and S. O. Davies had sur- rounded his enemy and commanded them from all the positions worth occupying, and they capitulated, unconditionally. Our heartiest con- gratulations to all.
| Dowlais Miners' Win.
| Dowlais Miners' Win. EFFICACY Of THE STRIKE WEAPON. Dowlais miners scored a sweeping victory over their employers, Messrs. Guest, Keen and Net- tlefolds (Ltd.) this week, and after a three days' stoppage of work secured complete concessions to a series of demands which have an important bearing upon local conditions of employment. Monday morning saw 5,000 men idle, the de- cision to strike having been arrived at by a mass- meeting, attended by over 2,000 people, at the Oddfellows' Hall, Dowlais, on Sunday. Failing a settlement of the mattei's in dispute in the course of Monday the meeting also decided to take steps to call out the engiuemen, pumps- men, stokers and ostlers. The collieries affected were: Fochriw (No. 1 and 2), Bedlinog (No. ] and 2), South Tunnel and Xantwen. WORKMEN'S DEMANDS. These were the demands tendered to the em- ployers \1) Reiiis-tateineilt of all demobilised soldier- miners who enlisted from the Dowlais mines irrespective of whether previous employment dated pre-war or post-war and the uncondi- tional withdrawal of -notices served (for the purposes of making room for returning sol- diers, according to the owners) upon nine workmen taken on at the collieries since 1914 (2) Recognition of the washery men mem- bers of the South Wales Miners' Federation with participation by them of the benefits, as such, of the stuface Workers' Hours' Agree- ment-a. 49 hours' week and a minimum wage of £: 4s. 9d. per week. (3) Eight hours' alternate shifts for the lamproom men at the Fochriw collieries. (4) Re-engagement of a pumpsman at the Xantwen colliery, alleged to have been victi- mised, with full payment for time last since his dismissal. Negotiations with the management (repre- sented by Mr. Howell R. Jones and Mr. Tudoii Davies) came to naught over the week-end, and the men showed a determination of purpose and unanimity for strike action. OWNERS AND WASHERY MEN. On the matter of the washery men the owners contended that this class of workman was bound, like the stoelworkers at the Dowlais Works—to which tlie washery is attached-by the Mon- mouthshire and South Wales Sliding Scale Agreement, which could only be terminated by s ix months' notice. Such notice, they argued, had not been tendered before the transfer of the men from the Workers' Union to the Miners' Federation and the action of the workmen in taking the matter into their own hands was Ull- constitutional. On the other hand, as Mr. S. O. Davies (the agent) pointed out, these washery men were accepted into membership of the South Wales Miners' Federation without protest being lodged by the employers, and the miners con- tended that with the change of union obligations entered into when they belonged to another or- ganisation come to an end. WELSH COAL BOARD INTERVENES. On Monday the dispute was discussed by the Welsh Coal Board, and according to an official report issued to the Press the owners took up the attitude that the men had struck work with- out the requisite-fourteen days' notice, and t-hus committed a breach of the Conciliation Boax.1 Agreement. Thereupon the miners' representa- tives (through Mr. Brace) submitted that the men felt they had genuine grievances, and thab they alleged certain alterations in working con- ditions had been made without consultation with the miners' agent.. Subsequently the owners were announced to be prepared to allow the board or a committee to be appointed as a court of arbitration to investigate the matter in dis- pute between the washery men and the company on the understanding that work was resumed forthwith. The other points of disagreement were referred to a conference of the management and the miners' agent, and if there was no set- tlement in this way that the grievances should be passed on for consideration by the disputes committee. MINERS ADAMANT. Such was the position reported upon at a mass meeting of the workmen on Monday evening, but although long discussion ensued on the situation the meeting wa adjourned until tho following morning without any decision as to returning to work being reached. With Tuesday morning's negotiations between a deputation of the miners (including the agent) and the representatives of the owners (Messrs. H. R. Jones and Tudor Davies) arose a deadlock. The owners' i-epresac-ntat Ives insisted upon a guarantee from the men of re-commenoement of work next day before discussing the grievances. Following a report on the situation by Mr. S. O. Davies, a mass meeting of the miners bluntly re- fused to resume until the questions in dispute were settled. To the decision of the Welsh Goal Board on the washery trouble, however, no ob jection was taken, and that feature of the de- mands was regarded as eliminated. But on the other grievances the men were firm. Resent- ment was freely expressed against the allegation at the Coal Board that the workers in their pre- cipitate strike action had been guilty of uncon- stitutional methods, and it was remarked t-hat the owners themselves in bringing about changes at the Fochriw collieries lamproom without con- sultation with the miners' agent and representa- tives—in accordance with the terms of the agree- ment of the Conciliation Board-ha.d acted un- constitutionally. THE TERMS OF SETTLEMENT. The position on Tuesday night was fraught with difficulty when a deputation of the work- men were again invited to meet the manage- ment. Headed by Mr. S. 0. Davies, they inter- viewed Mr. Tudor Davies, and after a discussion lasting several hours a tentative arrangement for settlement was arrived at, this being in effect the concession of all the demands to the em- ployers. The management's offer provided :— (1) Complete adoption of the miners' de- mands respecting the reinstatement of demo- bilised soldier-colliers and an undertaking that the notice tendered post-war workmen would not be acted upon. (2) The institution of an eight hours' shift for the Fochriw colliery lamproom men, the afternoon and morning men to work in rota- tion. With regard to the night shift men local conditions rendered such a scheme impracti- cable pd accordingly they are to be appointed regularly to night employment and to oppi. mence their \$hift at 11.30. (3) The immediate re-engagemeiit of the pumpsman at the Nantwen colliery, whom the miners alleged to have been victimised/ Alter the presentation of a report on the ooni- plete capitulation of the employers, the work- men, at a final mass meeting, on Wednesday off- cided to resume work at onCe. Afternoon anr* night shift men began work the same day arid the day-men followed next morning. <