Pioneer

Merthyr Notes I A Letter. I William J. Williams, a boatman on Cvfartflifa Park, in a letter to us states that it was lie who picked up the body of Thos. Butler on Friday last, and not the police as stated. I.L.P. and Soviets. I inlei-tliyi- I.L.P. on Tuesday night, framed a resolution for the Cardiff Divisional Conference of the Party protesting against the N.A.C. pro- nouncement against the Soviet system of Govern- ment in their memorandum to the Geneva In- 1 te/national, on the. ground that the question had not been discussed by the Party, taaicl -,the Admin- istrative Council mandated in the matter; fur- ther, in view of the need for a. clear formulation (if the Party on this supreme question of Soviet- ism it decided to send a resolution to conference, with a view to its adoption and submission to the Easter Conference of the Party at Glasgow, expressing 'the opinion that the industrial is a fairer fundamental basis of representation than the geographical, though clearly recognising as practical politicians the need for the continued use of the existing machinery in an attempt to ultimately secure that fairer basis. I.L.P. Festivities. I For a fortnight there will be no ordinary meet- ing of the i.L,.P. in Merthyr, but the life of the Rooms will he surging for all that. On Christ- mas Day we are to have the jolliest event of the year, the Christmas Tree for members' children, as usual, that starts at 6.30; on Boxing niglirt at 8 p.m. a members' whist drive will be held in the smaller billiard room; and, of course, on New Years' Eve the annual members' re-union, dance and whisit-drive will be celebrated with even more joy than it has been in the past. The admission to the last-named will be confined strictly to members, and the charge will be 1/ Dirtier to Merthyr Poor. I r The Rector of Merthyr is making an appeal to the people of Merthyr and district to provide the necessary funds for the annual Christmas dinner to the poor of the parish. At a meeting presided over by the Rector at St. David's Schools, it was unanimously decided to provide a meal of roast bed and plum pudding to over 2,000 peo- ple. Last year the dinner was given to 2,237 people. The rector appeals for .subscriptions to all those with the good-will feeling towards the less fortunate. v Jewish Whist Drive. I In connection with Itlve Literary and Science bocicty of the Jewish Congregation in Merthyr re i-y successful whist drive was held in the Angel Buildings last Thursday, the prizes for which were given by Mrs. A. E. Freedman, Messrs. D. Freedman, f. Jiffe and H. Hamilton. The arrangements were in the haTxts of Messrs. D. Cohen and J. Hamilton, ati,(t the happiness with which things went was the best testimonial to the efficiency of their work. The principal prize winners were: Ladies, (1) Mrs. Livine, (2) Mrs. Maud Isaacs gents, (1) Mr. S. Freedman, (2) Mr. Isaac Fine. Annie's Slip. I Annie Thomas is the little domestic help of .aralh Anne Jones, an old lady, living at Deri. When recently the mistress lost a ten-shilling Treasury Note from under a glass dish, Annie joined in 'the search for it. Then titc, police- sergeant had a hunt for it, and found it in Annie's handkerchief. Annie then confessed tihat she 'had purloined the note. In hinding the girl over under the First Offenders' Act, the Stipen- diary Magistrate (Mr. Grififth) before whom the case came at Merthyr on Friday, told the old lady that she did a very foolish thing in placing the note in the girl's way if she suspected her of taking things. Treltarris Competitive Concert. I The chief results in a suecessrul competitive concert held at Trch arris last week-end were:— Champion solo (male)—1st, W. E. Llewellyn, Maesteg; 2nd, E. Davies, Treharris. Champion solo (femøJe)-lst, Madam Cutter, Rbbw Vale; 2nd. Nancy Bevan, Porth. FIot,-ution-Ist, Madam Lewis Jones, Pantardawe; 2nd, W. J. Phillips, Aberdare. I The Missing Collier. I A verdict of Found drowned was returned at the inquest at Merthyr on Saturday, on the body of Christopher Butler (58), a Penydarren collier, whose body was recovered from the Goitre Pond after grappling operations by the police.

I Briton Ferry Notes I Killed on Station. I An Irishman named James Morresey (22) who lodged in Railway Terrace, Briton Ferry, met his death suddenly on Saturday. He was crossing the line at the G. W .R. station, Briton Ferry, when he was struck by the up Paddington ex- press and killed. Moirisey only recently came over from Erin to take up employment at the Ferry works. Honouring the Decorated. I At the Public Hall, Briton Ferry, last Tlmrs- day, Sergeants Richard John and Garret Barry were presented with inscribed gold watdhes as an expression of thoir townspeople's recognition of their aw ard of the M.S.M. for bravery on the field. Sergeant W. Anthony was also presented with a gold medal in celebration of his D.C.M., he having -.previously been the recipient of a gold watch when lie won the Military (Medal.

I Merthyr's First 'National. I I THIRD ROUND WELSH CUP. I It wa.s decided at the meeting of the Welsh Football Association at Hereford on Wednesday, Mr. Sid Nicholls (Cardiff)- in the chair, that the venue of the Amateur International match with England should be at Merthyr on January 24th. The draw for the Third Round of the "eh.b Senior Cup was made as follows:- Swansea v. Mid-Rliondda or Mardy. v Cardiff City v. Merthyr Town. Ebbw Vale v. Llanelly. Pontypridd v. Ca-eraxi or Barry. Chester v. Tranmere Rovers. Saltney v. Bangor Railway Institute. Rhos or Brymho r. Wrexham. Matches played on January 17th.

I Civil Servants Grouse I I I DISCONTENT WITH ARBITRATION BOARDI AND ITS AWARD. The civil servants of South Wales are exhibit- ing discontent over their iec-ent 10 per cent, war bonus, awarded by the Civil Service Arbitration Board, and their dissatisfaction found expres- sion in a resolution, which also criticised the constitution of 'the Board, and demanding the vesting of greater powers in the staff representa- tives on the Whitley Coiineil, passed at the meeting of the Cardiff and Newport brandh of the Customs and Excise Federation held at. Car- diff on Saturday.

I CARDIFF COAL SHORTAGE. There was a coal famine in Cardiff last Satur- day, the small depots being cleared before noon, and the large dealers who sell by the truck-load restricting their deliveries to 2 cwt. lots. It is stated that the railways are to blame for the de-, lay in deliveries of the Cardiff supplies. The po- sition was bad enough for the coal tippers to think seriously of stopping deliveries of the black diamonds to ships, under the impression tliat it was the export trade that was taking the supplies. v

I ABERDARE AMATEURS' PROTEST. The Aberdare Amateurs F.C. protested to the South Wales- and Monmouthshire Football Asso- ciation last week, against a. Cardiff Corinthian player who had been fielded against them in the senior cup-tie the previous Saturday. When the emergency committee dealt with the protest last week, they found that there was no grounds for complaint and dismissed the matter.

Llantwit Vardre and Chuich Village. I Our Bow. I The "Pioneer" has come to Llantwit Fardre and Church Village Its entry was a not very obtrusive one last week, but its welcome was warm, and this week it comes to the area with a firmer step and a. straighter carriage. That is due to the excellent introduction that that staunch trades unionist and Labourite Mr. A. Daley, as the representative of the scores who have felt the urgent need of a vehicle of ex- pressing their views, and keeping in touch with the Labour Movement in the South Wales icioal- field affected for us. Last week we man- aged to visit some fifty houses; this week we intend to make ourselves welcome into a hun- dred—next week—well that is ahead, and the Pioneer" does not affect prophecy. The Pioneer intends to be a power tin the district, but it realises that the intention is impossible unless the co-operation of the workers it seeks to represent is forthcoming. That is its mission, too. To preach co-operation and the truth of social science as a co-operative class principle. It intends to practice as well as preach—if there are more Mr. A. Dailey's around there then the future is promising. We have come to Llantwit Fardre and Church Village because the woi-kei-s asked us; and now we .are here then make .us work at the only thing worth working at-the emancipation of man from all thraldoms, the sweetening of the world for all, and the profer- ring of the full, free life, to develop all that is worth developing in our children, and their de- dication to the service of man. The C.-L. C.- Classes. I The Pioneer" ,is not out bo belittle anything that has been or is being done amongst the workers, but to assist in the doing of it, and in no movement is iit more keenly interested than in that of real proletarian education as conducted by the Central Labour College. It is therefore a pleasure to find that a class* of the College is meeting in the A-est. lIoom of the Trinity For- ward Movement Hall, Llantwit Fardre, every Thursday, for the purpose of spreading know- ledge of the history of the modern working-class movement amongst the wiage^slaves of the town- ship. Twenty is a. neat- class, and proves that the old traditions and party politics of an agri- cultural district are fast ibeing weeded from the ground, and it justifies the institution of the class, but if the Education Committee succeeds in securing Griff. Maddocks—the examiner to the Rhondda and Pontypool District No. 2—as teacher beginning January, then we hope to see that 20 multiplied considerably. History is the touchstone by which alone we can be sure that the policy we pursue is right or wirong. Absense of historical information and training amongst leaders as well as rank and filt, has kept the ivoi-kei-s t-unning round .in circles for a century. Its possession will be a compass pointing a sure direction for the future. I Cwm Lodge Affairs.. In the recent ballots for officials itlc) the Cwm Lodge for the year 1920, the following were electOO.P,resident, Mr. iD.W. Davies treasurer, Mr WNIP Davies, and secretary, Mr. A. Daley. All tried and found trusty. I The Income Tax Ballot. That itroublesome question of the Income Tax on wages wais before the general meeting of th Cwm Lodge on Decembei- 6th, and the report of the coalfield ballot result and the Cardiff Con- ference proi-Iticed some keen discussion and the unanimous passing of this resolution: "That having regaid to the result of the income tax ballot favouring a strike policy tin pursuance of the demand that the ibutk-ment limit should be raised to that of £ 250, and in anticipation of action being taken by the (Surveyor of Taxes against workmen, pit-top meetings be held with the view of ascertaining the workmen's opinions on the withdrawal of liiiotbi- and the holding of demonstrations immediately following the issu- ance of any summonses for payment in respect to any quarters subsequent to April, 1919." No one can cavil at the democracy of a resolution such as that; nor can the reasoning that marked the discussion be invalidated, when it was de- clared that the workmen who voted in favour of a strike policy were those persons directly affected by this unjust financial measure nor can the statement be controverted that a large proportion of those whose votes were recorded as against the strike voted under a misapprehen- siton of the J'eal point at issue owing to the vague and delusive ballot. form that 'was used. Any- how there is the decision of the general meeting to get the opinion of the men at pit-head meet- ings, and if that opinion .shows, as we believe it will show, that the men mean what they say in opposing this unfair exaction, then when the time comes for at-tion and demonstration, let every (solitary worker from the youngest collier hOT to t'he father -of the cutters, and the grand- father of the hauliers, step out shoulder to shoulder on the job; for it is only by carrying the comradeship of work into everything that is done that the doing is possible at all. D. L. Davies for Ponty. I Another decision of the general meeting was to decide to again nominate and support Coun- cillor D. L. Davies as the Labour Candidate for the Pontypridd constituency, and when the time comes to get to work it sliould mean that the support should materialist into something stronger than voting at general meeting. There is no more room in Labour politics for a man, who, when the time for backing down comes, doesn't put all his weight in the task, than there is room for such a man in a rugger team. Merited Honours I The meeting also received a notification that under the system of the rotation of the District Presidency amongst the lodges of the Rhondda and Pontypridd area, it had again come the (turn of Cwm to nomi nate the presiding officer for 1920. It was resolved that the name of A. I Daley should be submitted as the lodge's choice for the poSIt of District President. The choice was as happy and well-merited as was the de- cision to support the nomination of Mr. Richard Ablett as a member of the District Education Committee. We compliment both members and candidate on the decision, for no one has pi-oved himself a more conscientiously ardent advocate and worker in Labour's cause than Mr. Richard Ablett. whose efforts on both political and in- dustrial field have been always readily forth- coming wlien, the fight was for the workers' bet- terment. That 1917 Price List. I So far all has been as it should be and ap- plaudable, but there can be just a little too much of living in the moment, and occasionally a glance back pay-s as well as a glance ahead. It is a splendid thing to Gliout for nationalisation, and we are going to help you to do it good and strong; hut there is no sense in opening your mouth so wide that your eyes close to the fact that in 1917 the Cwm Colliery workmen drew up price lists tihat were to do aw ay with the penali- sation of certain grades of workmen that was taking place under the then unsatisfactory con- ditions. It is twenty->six months since that sug- gested price list went in from the Price List Committee, and those workmen are still being penalised by not receiving wages paid to their fellows in adjacent- collieries in the district for doing similar work. It is things like this long overdue settlement of the price lists for the day wage lnen, boys, surface and .underground work- men that sometimes miake people question the sincerity of the men themselves. Of course those sort of folk don't know the Conciliation Board, or they woukl know that twent,y-t-Av,o months is nothing when it is not yourself that lis suffering from an unfair list, and, anyhow, four times the miners' agents and colliery owners' representa- tives who have been entrusted with the negotia- tions have tried to fix a date, only to find that the days auitable t-o one were not suitable to the others It does (happen like that at Atimes, but- tlie mysterious part of the. whole business is that ,if once the men show their teeth properly, the parties come together so quickly that it is surprising somebody doesn't get burned from the friction of their rapid movement. And the Cwm men are not far from showing a very fine set of teeth either. They 'are a patient lot as a whole, but the reserve's of patience are not in- exhatisitible, and that price lisit for one thing and the failure of the company to carry out the pro- visions of the Sankey Commission Award for an- other, are sending the industrial barometer to- stormy so obviously that the parties concerned would be well advised to get down to business rather smartly. Of course, we shall be caUed Bolsheviks, agitators and all sorts of things for saying w hat needs (saving on these matters, but we are used to all that, and if the work ,gets done. without the trouble coming we don't mind a bit any abuse that happens to be going.

Will It Come To Merthyr I EYNON ASPIRES TO BANTAM BELT. I Billy Eynon, the Merthyr bantam-weight, successfully negotiated the Ring substitute J put-up against him on Monday evening. A match | had been 'arranged for Eynon, with Alf. Mans- field, of Aldgate, who is under the bann of the Boxing Board of C<?nirol; Md on Billy get- ting the tip to have nothing to do with such a match, he wired it off. Syd Whatley, of Wal- worth, took Mansfield's place, but at the eleventh hour he had to be taken to Charing I Cross Hospital for an operation, and Tom Nichol- son, of Souttliwark, was the ultimate opponent, whom Eynon knocked out in t'he fifth round, and seen by our representative this week, Young I Eynon said he had been promised a job to- j meet the winner of the Kid Dovle-Harold Jones J contest at the National Sporting Club in Janu- ary for the Bantam Belt, and regarding this match a correspondent writes There is a deal of talk through various newspapers -as to probable opponents for Walter Ross in the bantam- weight division. It is said that Jack Doyle and Harold Jones rare to decide which of the two is to meet Ross. Well, what about Billy "ynoIl? Although he lost the verdict to Doyle at the Sporting Club, was it not admitted by most of the good judges present that Eyn.on undoubtedly had the best of it, and also forced Doyle to give up in six rounds in their previous fight? Did not Jimmy Wilde tell Doyle through the "Pioneer when Doyle was challenging Wilde, that he (Wilde) had seen Fynon beat Doyle at the club, and that Doyle must beat ftynon before challeng- ing him (Wilde) ? There has been a lot of talk among some religious bodies against- letting halls to boxing promoters, but this side-stepping of a genuine aspirant to the bantam* belt is just as obnoxious to a great number of interested fol- 1 lowers of the sport of boxing. Harold Jones ('Fermiale) sot the verdict against Doyle at the N.S.C. on Monday even- ing. I

I- Co.O,perative Funds.. I- WILL THERE BE A SECOND OSBORNE? A question which may prove to be of consider- able moment to Co-operative Societies was a, s- ked in Parliament last week. This question suggested that the Government ought to take legislative action to prevent Co-operative Societies from giving financial assistance to the Labour Party, and from supplying food to strikers. The ques- tioner, whose question Mr. Waterson, M.P., characterised as full of terminological inexacti- tildes," was rebuked by the Prime Minister, and told that there was no need for any action, but the danger remains.

TO RESIST MINERS' CAMPAIGN. J Lord Birkenhead (Loi-([ slx)k-e last il week on Labour's agitation for nationalisation of i the coal mineR. No useful purpose to the nation would he served, Iwsaid, by Government control of the mines, and as far as the government were concerned the campaign of the Labour Party would be resisted. V- — Printed and Published by the National Labour Press, Ltd., at the Labour Pioneer Press. Williams' Sqnare, Merthyr Tydfil.