Pioneer

I THE N.U.T. AND THE TRADES COUNCIL. I (To the Editor ctf the PIONEER.) Deai Sir,—It was with a certain amount of dismay that I read in the "Pioneer" of the 26th ult. the decision of the Merthyr and District Trades and Labour Council to let the resolutions forwarded by me for their support to lie on the table on the frivolous argument of the non-affiiliation of my Association with this organisation. What the resolution had to do with the question of affiliation lies beyond my ken. In fact, the resolutions were net for- warded by the N.U.T. as such; but its ma- chinery was used to send them to the various organisations, such as Trades Councils, Cham- bers of Trade, seeking their support as the re- sult of a conference held in December, 1915, of various educational bodies and trades organi- sations to consider the important and vexed question of economies in education. I presume that the Secretary of the Council stated, as on copy of resolutions, the names of the associa- tions and organisations represented at that conference. I could unaerstand the Council adopting such an attitude as it did if the local N.U.T. had asked it to support a petition to the Borough Council for an increase in saliary, but these resolutions affected the children en- tirely, viz. staffing of schools, higher educa- tion. lowering of school age, and feeding of pe- cessitous children and' medical treatment; and yet the Trades and Labour Council deemed the questions of such vital importance as to allow them to lie on the table. We know that the Trades and Laur Councils support these ques- tions whole-heartedly: then why act so child- ishly as not to support the resolution by draw- ing the red herring of non-a ffillation along the track when there was no ground at that meeting for such action? Thanking you for trespassing on your valuable space.—I am, Yours, etc., JAMES PRICE, Secretary to the Merthyr Tydfil Branch of the N.U.T.

Anderson at Newport. Mr W. C. Anderson. M.P., gave an address at an I.L.P. rally at Newport on Saturday eve- ning, Mr. R. H. Ley presiding. Mr. Anderson urged that if the lives and careers of the workers were conscripted for the State the lat- ter should also conscript the wealth of the rich. Dealing with the agitation for tariffs against Germany after the war, he said he thought they would shortly have a system of Protec- tion. He would not object to it provided the State took over the protected industries, and thereby guaranteed that the profits would go to the go oral welfare of the people. He ob- jected to the present system of paying for the war. Instead of paying 7 per cent. by taxation and 93 per cent. by loan, it should be done toyI the conscription of wealth.

Militarism Breaking up the Home. I By PHILIP FRANKFOBD. Thursday, March 2, 1916, ought to have been observed by the workers of this country as a day of national mourning. It was a day when all true lovers of freedom should have wept for a nation which had thrown away its most priceless possession. The right of the individual I to decide whether he will slaughter his fellows when his rulers fall out. March 2, 1916, marked a new epoch in the history of the country. lit was a day upon which Prussianism in its worst form gained a great victory for reaction. On this black Thursday the British people sur- rendered the heritage handed down to them by their brave forefathers—a heritage rightly cov- eted the world over. One day, when the events of this war are summed up by a saner genera- tion, the events of the 2nd of March, 1916, in Britain will be looked upon with amazement, and with feelings mingled with pity and dis- gust An enlightened people will be sorry for those who were taken in by promises and excuses made by men who would sacrifice their own mothers for profit. On the other hand, a feel- ing of disgust will penetrate their innermost being when they read of the conduct of organ- is,e,d Labour"at this time, who, having sum- moned a special Trades Union Congress and voted down Oonseription by nearly two million votes, allowed Labour Members to remain in the Coalition Government, and meekly accept- ed the very thing they had voted against. The people of the future will also remember the bravery of the militarists who dared not force their tyranny on Ireland for fear of revolution. It will marvel at the conduct of Labour, who were eager to fight the battles of the capi- talists, whilst they were scared at fighting their own. Only in the noble cause of capitalists' profits did Labour rally and fight. And thus on March 2, 1916, militarists broke up the homes of thousands—they who, with the Anti-Social- ists, had once accused the Socialists of breaking up the home..For militarists tear the son from his mother; the brother from his sister the lover from his sweetheart. It takes the young man from his livelihood, his business and his calling, and trains him to fight for capitalists' profits. It takes him from the good influence j of his home and from home life, and places him under military discipline to be crushed by the military machine. When the war is over, who will compensate the conscript for the loss of his business which he has sustained ? Who will find him a new job in the overcrowded state of the labour market? He who, before the war, had a business, a shop or what not of his own. Who will repay the conscript for the loss of his livelihood? Who will provide him the wherewithal to start afresh? No one! He has been sold to the militarists, and they who de- prived him of the living he had care not what becomes of him. Behind this Conscription measure there is a sinister purpose. The Daily Express of February 25, in its leader, confesses its eager- ness to get men into the Arm- now, and grumbles at the delay a month 's exemption given by the tribunals affords. It is necessary to get as many men under the thumb of the militarists now, before the war ends. For af- ter the war the real fight will commence; a fight carried on by men who have been cheated, lied to, and robbed, and whose homes have been broken up.

Correspondents are requested to condense their letters as much as possible. Letters of a personal character will not be inserted. J The Editor wishes it to be distinctly ^/under- stood that he will not hold himself responsible for the opinions or statements of correspond- ents, nor undertake to return rejected manus- cripts. Correspondents MUST write on one side of the paper only.

THE CENTRAL LABOUR COLLEGE AND W.E.A. (To the Editor of the Piio-NFBR.) Sir,-I have read with some interest too eomewhat elaborate reply of Ma-. Thomas which appeared in last week's issue of your paper, and I am Rot the least surprised to know that he religiously retains in his armoury all his old platform tricks. If I take these tricks away there seems to be nothing left except, perhap6, I an occasional point, with which I shall deal. I too, would have welcomed the presence of a H Pioneer" representative at those meetings at Aberatman I.L..P; it would have saved this re- ply from m, and it would have saved Mr. Thomas' ink splashes, the energy he expended in undoing the "carefully pinned pages" of his Ibose-leaf notebook." Sleep ,»oo, may have come to his weary eyelids, and the valuable midnight oil"—or was it gas—might have been saved, and two and a half columns of the Pioneer" might have been utilised to a better purpose. 1.. £. Woe, is me! for I seem to nave puL my uu.. into it when I challenged Mr. Thomas to discuss the W.E.A. with me in these pages. As he implies at the end of his letter, I might have given him an "invitation" instead. What aI: pity I have a knack of calling a spade a spade It is a peculiar trait in my make-up. The dis- position on the pawt of uncouth workers like myself to call things by their real names m very reprehensible, but when these university recruits of superior intelligence come into more frequent contact with me they may teach me better manners. Ugh! Mr Thomas says I made this statement: "It would be sheer waste of time to talk of educating the working men until the class struggle has been abolished. That is LNIR. Thomas' version, taken apparently from his loose leaf notebook." Now, isn i it peculiar that he did not raise that point at the meeting in question ? If I said such a thing and meant it, why on earth was I in that meet- ing a dvocating working class education? I had been talking of the division of society into two classes. This occasioned a class strug- gle manifesting itself between the exploited and exploiters in economics, politics, and eduoo- tion. Just as the Liberal Party represented the interests of capitalism in politics, ao did the university in education. And then I wound up by saying as follows: "It would be sheer waste of time to talk of educating the working class in a, university until the class struggle had been abolished." Evidence of the truth of this statement can be found in my notes. I have further evidence as well. I have asked about two dozen members who were prent at those meetings, and they have all agreed that I did not say what M-r. Thomas attributed to 'me. The chairman of the meetings once thought of writing to the Pioneer" declaring that Mr. Thomas was wrong. As far as I am concerned, the mutter is dis- posed of. I have no time, like Mr. Thomas, to do these things. I would rather show up the spurious W.E.A. Mention of that subject reminds me that Mr. Thomas wishes me to leave the W.E.A. alone (poor thing) and get along with mv own pro- paganda. That is just what I am doing. But it is a part of my propaganda to show up, as far as I am able, what I conceive to be reac- tionary movements. I believe the W.E.A. to be such an institution. Until I have proof to the contrary. I shall work against it in spite of all the misrepresentations in the world. So next week I propose to deal with the W.E.A. That is viucli more beneficial to the movement in general, and to me in particular, than to read the childish bickerings of its representatives. Oh, yes, Mr Editor, I had almost forgotten one thing. Mr. Thomas mentioned Mr I). H. Jones in his letter, and went out of his way to call him a "satellite" of mine. It is not necessary for me to defend Mr. Jones. He is quite capable of defending himself. But f would like to say in- passing that to throw such a cheap jibe at a young man who is at present struggling earnestly with the problems of the Socialist philosophy, is knocking below the belt. —Yours fraternally,  W. J. EDWARDS. Aberaman.

COUN. MOR.GAN JONES AND HIS DIC- TIONARY'. (To the Editor of the PieNEWt.) Sir,—In your issue of February 26th thii local dogmatic, self-assertive, egotistic I.L.P. leader charges me with foul abuse," because I used (in another paper) the word licen- tious" in reference to his feM-ow I.L.P.ites. However, he is quite in error—as he most fre- quently is in his deductions—when he "feel. sure it was used without knowledge of the meaning. He knows full well, or, at least, as a schoolmaster he ought to know, that the pI imary meaning of the word is "Passing due bounds or limits, using too much license or li- berty." Of course, there is also the generally accepted meaning of lewdness and immorality. Now, Sir, Councillor Morgan Jones is far more intimate with members of the I.L.P. than myself, and if he chooses to besmirch their characters by making the baser application^ so much the worse for them. I did not. But, Mr. Editor instead of withdrawing the expres- sive word. it needs emphasising, and in quite "respectable criticism" allow me to assure our erratic Councillor that numerous fairminded" persons consider that in the ramping, raging, disloyal Anti-Conscription crusade he is trying to engineer. He, as a public man, with aspira- tions for still greater public honours, is acting in a most licentious manner. It's simply spe- ciosity to drag in Carson and his pre-war atti- tude towards Home Rule-two blacks don't make a white. The circumstances are entirely different. To-day, unfortunately, our beloved nation is at war with an unscrupulous foe, and, surely, surely, it's a Britisher's first duty and privilege to help crush the enemy at our very gates. The Councillor's statement that the opposi- tion at Mr. Williams' meeting was confined to about five" is a typical example of the mis- representation of facts, the perversion of truth we get from feather-brained agitators. I was present. Councillor Morgan Jones was not, but quite possibly, in his daring omniscience, he knows best. Nearly one half of the audience showed pal- pable signs of dissent and opposition, and if we had only been slick, like Councillor ToneS has with this correspondence, we might have car- ried an adverse vote. Slickness, I laege, is manifest by his discarding the Bargoed pa,r, I where the correspondence started., and sending his reply to his own pet journal, for the obvious purpose of inflating the oirculation of the "PiQneer" in Bargoed district. One is moved to pity for this" right liTing set of young men" who have been seduced irom attending church or chapel and kindred insti- tutions, and which helped to make men of grit of their forbears, in order to air their super- abundant knowledge at debating classes, &c. (held on Sundays, too) of the I.L.P. (Innocent Little Puppies)—How's that, Councillor, for a more simple paraphrase ? But as you so pom-i pously declare, I have no more time to devote to these people," may be you will not find time to read this simple, straightforward criticism. Here's a hint for you and your casuistic com- rades from an authority whom even Socialists accept (when it suits their purpose)—Sir Leo Chiozza Money, M.P. He recently wrote in a London weekly: Our Socialistic papers avoid any such useful work, and devote themselves to abusing and vilifying some pet boflpy." This supports my former paraphrase (copyright ap- plied for) of Iconoclastic Licentious Platitudin- arians.—I am, Sir, vours truly C. P. BATES. Bargoed, Feb. 29, 1916. [We distinctly object to the tone of Mr. Bates' letter, which savours, to us, of the perky boy putting his fingers to his nose. If Mr. Bates has any further correspondence to address to the Pioneer," he must restrain himself; or he will be, forbidden our columns.—Ed. ]

Clifford Allen in Cardiff. THE WHOLE COUNTRY BESMIRCHED. Members of the No-Conscription Fellowship, East Glamorgan Branch, held a meeting in Car- diff on Sunday, and an address was given by Mr. Clifford Alien, B.A., the chairman of the fellowship. Councillor J. Jenkins. Oaerphilly, presided. Mr. Allen said that all over the country he had found a determination on the part of the' members not to take human life. The trir bunaJs, he said, had absolute power to grant 11 full exemption. The vast majority of their members were not able to see anydifference between combatant and non-combatant service. They took the view that carrying munitions to the firing line was equally combatant to the work of firing it. The machinery of the organ- isation was perfect, and .they would, if occasion required, take a surprising stand. He said that at a South Wales town four single men had been told that they must attest before they could claim exemption. This had been the cause of a question in Parliament, and Mr. Walter Long, whose answer he read had said that lie had given the clearest instructions with a view to preventing the recurrence of such a thing. These men were entitled to appear before the tribunal without attestation. They, as a fellowship, had decided to go be- fore the tribunals because society had chal- lenged them to explain the faith which was in them. They were prepared to give that witness, and if the tribunals decided against them they were prepared to take the penalty. Mr. Allen said that the country had entered upon the war to crush militarism; but now Britain was be- ginning to dabble with it herself, and the whole character of the nation would be besmirched. They, as anti-oonseriptionists, were not taking this stand to save themselves, they were doing it because there had been numerous acts of re- pression culminating in the Military Service Act, and because there was the general imprea- sion, altogether erroneous, that the case of the conscientious objector had been met by the Bill. Exemption, he urged, must be on the ground of conscience and not conditional on their re- maining in a, particular trade, for if the latter was the case these men would be in jeopardy because their certificates might be reviewed and the men have to join the Army owing to the in- troduction of women's labour and because the c hance would be lost of raising the real moral Issue. '?' M'

The Tribunals and Outrage A REPLY TO A SENSELESS QUESTION. In the Daily Chronicle" of February 28th a report was given of the proceedings of the Exeter Tribunal. The Mayor was questioning a shopkeeper who claimed exemption on the ground of conscientious objection, and wanted to know if the applicant would interfere if he saw a German violating his wife or sister and butchering his mother. Whatever the Tribunals are remarkable for. they are not remarkable for much originality III inventing questions, and the melodramatic query emanating from the lurid imagination of the Mayor is more or less typical. It reminds one of the play about the Salvation Army con- vert who sent up the collection by relating of his past sins and how he used to kick his old, venerable, kindly, grey-haired mother down two flights of stairs. The more horrifying he made the story the larger grew the collection. It is the same kind of atmosphere that exists in most of the Tribunal Courts. The applicant for exemption is asked to conceive of a "little grey home in the west" scene in which he must either play the part of the chivalrous hero or the part of the callous oold-hearted villain. It is what Stevenson would call a brutal assault upon the emotions." Having put the question, the Mayor probably looked about him with the air of having ruthlessly shattered the case of the applicant, and had feelings of utter remorse that he had not gone in seriously for law and tested his powers of cross-exami- nation with Sir F. E. Smith and Sir Edward Carson. However, it is some consolation to think that the authorities are concerned about the welfare of the women. When one re- members how long it took to force these peo- ple to recognise that an old woman of 70 was worth os. a week, and wonders how long it will take yet to get them to recognise thafc a woman munition worker is worth more than 8td. an hour, me cannot but be amazed that the chivalrous championship of women is so very near and dear to their hearts. I War and the Brute Passions, The young Socialist will refuse to allow his future course of action to be influenced by stagey analogies ctf this nature. Let me put the question in a slightly differ- ent way. Do you not think that it is you!- duty to take arms to prevent atrocities to the women?" That is what the militarists mean, but it sounds much more <|ff ective and telling when couched in the gruesome diction of the Mayor. The young Socialist will reply: War is not the result but the cause of atroo- ity. it is when reason and intelligence give way to the passion and brute emotions inevi- tably aroused when the guns begin to roar, and social law is superceded by the heavy gun and the glittering bayonet, that the animal is lord and master of the man. By refusing to partici- pate-in warfare and standing out for the reign of reason as against that of besotted passion, a man strikes the greatest blow against the in- stitutions which let Hell loose and give the lower instincts power and being. It is the, people who bring about war that are respon- sible for atrocities on women and children. and those people were not all born on the other Bide of the Rhine. The English diplomatistc,, who did their share in dividing Europe into two armed camps are as much responsible fair bringing about war and the atrocities which, have resulted as are the German militarists who tried to thwart them. The theorists who imagine that war is a noble, game to be played on the same lines as a huge Rugby football match must remember that -war is not the spirit of amateurs, but a- grim and deadly struggle in which the one who has the least scruples stand the most to gain. A conflict not between two noble bands of heroes, but a murderous assault against every code of hon- our and every standard of ethics, in which men are but cannon fodder and women the booty of the victors." The militarists of each nation point to the women victims and say. Look what the enemey has done." The numbers of the army mount up, and so do the horrible accounts of atrocities. Defending the Women, We are told that by going to war with Ger- many we were fighting against outrage and human indecency. By fighting now, by piling up munitions', by getting a preponderance of heavy guns, we shall save the women of Europe from brutality. This cry is an old cry. It was said when the English militarists burned Joan of Arc, and when the German militarists sli?ot, Edith Cavell. How are the Allies defending the women andI children How is the Russian Government car-! ing for outraged womanhood? Said M. Dymsza in his speech on Poland in the Russian Duma: All this is done with the object of hiding the truth when the truth is patent to all. I have received to-day a letter from the Prov- ince of Minsk giving a horrible picture of how the fugitives move between Baranovehi and Minsk; how little children die of cold on the stations. There is no organisation, no assist- ance and no help. Here is a nice case: four officials occupy a whole carriage, whilst dying women and children are left on the platform." During the retreat from Poland," said another member, the military authorities have arrested mothers of large families and have torn them away from their little children; but the most horrible thing of all is that they have arrested hundreds of little boys and girls,. and are keeping them in prison here, in Petro- grad presumably, on the charge that they are against the Russian authorities and are fight- ing for the independence of Poland! Over a hundred Polish women were brought from Po- iand and are now imprisoned in Petrograd; of these only six were formally charged. The others do not know why and wherefore they, are kept in prison." Well might Tchkeidze, one of the few Social Democrats not sent to Siberia say: The Germans are being branded for not having spared the greatest monuments of art, for having destroyed Louvain, the Rheims Cathedral. But let me ask you what ethical or aesthetic principle underlies the outragingl of a Jewish woman within the precincts of her own synagogue, whither she flew in the hope of escaping her terrible fate. Shame, in- deed; but this is a fact. Indeed, the capita- list world has revealed its true countenance, and there is nothing sacred for it save the gold- en calf and the mailed fist." I wonder has the Mayor of Exeter and all the comfortable tribunal critics who prate so confidently about saving the women from out- rage read all this. Thev say, "Go out to de- fend your homes and your women folk. What would you do if a ruffian assaulted your old snowy-headed grandmother-in-law?" The mili- tarists are saving the women of Europe from molestation and outrage, and this is how they do it. And we are going to be compelled to assist In all this horror! Local Humbug. Never in the history of English social life haa such a farce been made of a serious issue. Theso tribunals right throughout the oouxty have been characterised by an absence of dig-j nity justice and self-respect. Fussy local no- bodiee have sat in owl-like solemnity in judg- ment upon people they cannot understand, and Mr. Asquith's pledge has been fulfilled to the letter. I am unable te state which of the pledges. The rural Solomons and the muni- cipal Pecksniffs have talked at great length up- on justice, duty and conscience. The bad joke fiends have had the time of their lives.. So has Mr. Tennont. Already pages after pagee of Hansard have been filled with questions and replies dealing with the operation of Military Service (No. 2) Bill, and irritation all over tMe country is growing. Married men next! Jin- goism isn't going to last long at this rate. The members of the No-Conscription bodies must stick together, exemption or no exemption, and fight the Bill and its odious principle until it is removed from the Statute Book or rendered in- effective. We must not stop at tkat. The time has come for an outspoken demand for peace. The fight against Conscription is not the end but the beginning of a great British movement to deliver Europe from the clutches of a monstrous tyranny, the like of which the world has never seen. EMRYS HUGHES. I

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