Pioneer

Mr I h e Prime Causes of War. I I The Prime Causes of War. 111.. ENTHUSIASTIC I.L.P. MEETING AT I ABERAMAN. KNOAH TROMANS AND JOHN THOMAS, I L. I B.A., IN GOOD VEIN.  ——— W' Greac was the consternation amongst the r I.L.P. Branch officials at Aberdare on Sunday morning, on receipt of a telegram announcing that Mr. Fennel- Breckwav. the Editor of the i: Labour Leader/' would be unable to fulfil his engagement to speak at the Grand Theatre, Aberaman. on Sunday evening. i Sotne of the weaker-kneed comrades suggest- ed the cancelling of the meeting, but stalwart j i 'George Richards and his small enthusiastic band of workers would not brook this suggestion "t at all. The meeting must not be cancelled. The audience must not be disappointed, nor the i reputaton of the branch slandered by the fail- ure to produce a speaker. This line of action having been decided upon, the next thing was | to settle on a speaker to substitute Brockway. It was decided to ask Comrade Jack Thomas »' to speak. bo* on inquiry being made at his home it was fouife. that he had left home to speak i at a joint I.L.P. and No-Conscription Fellow- hip meeting at the Jubilee Hall, Pontypridd. Mr J. T. Norman (the appointed chairman for the Sunday evening meeting, settled the matter by saying, "Jack Thomas must be fetched back from Pontypridd." So off he went on his bi- -cycle and while John Tit cm as was drawing to the close of his peroration at Pontypridd, in "strode Norman and collared the speaker to 'Ccmw back by the first train to Aberaman to fill the ga,p caused by Brockway's absence. By 7.30 p.m. the big hall at Aberaiman was com- fortably filled. J. T. Norman. tl-te chairman, asked the audience to open the meeting by :singing the People's Anthem. The Chairman then read the teegram from Brockway and said that he was pleased to say that two local conn-ados had consented to fill the breach--Comrades N oa,h Tromans and John Thomas, B.A., both of whom would have mess- ages to give to the audience which would be worth while listening to. (Applause.) But be- fore calling upon Guardian Noah Tromans to speak first, he would ask the permission of the ( audience to read the following letter: — The Cells, Cardiff Barracks. April 20, 1916. •' Best wishes for a glorious and successful meeting. We have been prisoners here, for k .j ten days, and are patiently awaiting our .«ourt-aiartial. We are all in excellent spirits, ?t .and are still hrm in our convictions. With ?. steadfast faith we greet the future? ourcause C is holy and imperishable. W Long Iii?c? Freedom and Fraternity! ? Long live International Socialism! t (Signed) EMRYS HUGHES. BETH. MORGAN. GWILYM SMITH.  PERCY KENDALL. The reading of this letter from our persecuted ? ? ?Rd C<mscripi Comrades was punctuated with ? 'cheers, and received with a tumult of applause. The Chairman then called upon Guardian' "Tromans to address the meeting. r NOAH TROMANS said how proud lie was to j,fi 1 r r°e at the meeting to hear such a noble mess- p -age of cheer read out from our brave comrades j who were now undergoing the vile punishment { Dieted ■ put to ..Conscientious Objectors. It was a r shame to the colliers of the South Wales Coalfield that they allowed to pass without protest of some kind the abominable Prussian- ism we were witnessing to-day. (Loud applause. If the leaders of the coalfield did not think it worth while to raise a protest, then he, as a -rank and filer, said the colliers themselves !2,.houlcl show the leaders that they had another conception of patriotism than Stanton's "stand- ing by the flag." (Loud and prolonged cheers.) The South Wales collier was as truly patriotic •i i -in coming out on strike as a protest against the Munitions Act in 1915 as Stanton was in his standing by the flag, particularly when he rp Was looking for Wilkins. (Loud laughter and <cheers.) He urged the audience to support the if two Labour papers—the PIONEElt (loud y\ cheers)—and the "Labour Leade,r"-(loud ap- i piausej—which were the only papers, with the f |. gave them an un- of things as far as the war had an et on the workers. He advised the W audience to treat with contempt certain JM local "rags" that dragged through the mud some of the noblest arid finest men the Labour S movement had seen in the district. (Loud cheers.) introduced Coinra, d e A j Mr J. T. Nounan then introduced Comrade John Thomas, B.A., who had consented to n speak on ^.Factors in the Great World War. m The Chairman stated that the audience CQiuld n be prepared to receive views from the speaker IHf which were very far removed from the piffle paraded by the' diabolical and deluding capital- U press. (Applause.) ■ MR. THOMAS. in speaking, desired to say two tilings before entering upon the lecture or address announced by the Chairman. First of ■ all, he desired to express how glad he was to be B present at a public meeting of this dimen- H sions, to hear such an inspiring letter read SB from our real hero-comrades: Bmirys Hughes. Smith, Beth Morgan and KendaU. ■ They were all personal friends of his. and he w felt prouder of them now than ever. (Cheers.) And it was a crying shame and disgrace to the -modern British race that such fine souls we're heing orushed under the heel of the military t machine, which treated them worse than crimi- nals for sticking steadfastly to their principles and ideals. (Loud applause.) The speaker said he would feel it an honour to take the same stand as these four comrades against the Moloch of Militarism. (Loud cheers.) Secondly, the -speaker had to announce that since his last ap- pearance- on the platform at Aberaman Hall, a, great honour had been conferred on him. He had been dubbed a hero fit for hero-wor- ship. He had found his Carlyle in the editor of a weekly oigan. This kindly literary editor had devoted almost half his newspaper the Post" was all advertisements. (Prolonged 1 Thus with this, heroic and free advertisement given, to the speaker's pre-eminent capabilities ,.a.sa teac,he,r, last week's issue of the "Weekly Post" was aid advertisements. (Pronlonged L laughter.) He craved the pardon and indulg- a-' ence of the audience for a few seconds while he quoted the highly-flattering paragraph devo- r ted to him by the Editor of the "Weekly Post," j which read as follows:- v See what a hero is. for instance, Mr John Thomas, B.A., of Trecynon, who is willing, to undergo the heroic ordeal of placing himself against a wall to be shot rather than use a rifle against a German, even though the latter attacked him. Doesn't such a deter- mination crown heroism and vaJour P You, who have children, hasten to send them to the school where he is a teacher. Consffrer what brave, men they will be if they be for- tunate enough to come under the spell of his wighty contempt for danger! Now is the time for parents in the Aberdare distllÎct if they wish to be hailed some < ay by sons who have filled themselves with glory on the battlefield I And, thus, they would enable Mr John Thomas, B.A., of Trecynon, to go down to posterity as the greatest hero-creator of the 20th century, if not, of all history! Do let him come by his own! The .speaker said he was proud to address the parents of the children lie had the privilege of teaching, but he was amazed to find them all seated before him, and not kneeling in humil- ity at the behest of the Editor of the "Weekly Post" in hero-worship and adoration. (Loud laughter.) Coming to the subject of his lecture, Mr. Tho- mas said that he had taken particular notice of the superficial way children generally reasoned about things. Surface explanations sufficed; with them. Immediate occasions or secondary causes were taken as root causes when arguing. He illustrated this truth by referring to the case of children discussing the cause of the tramear moving on rails. Democracy was just precisely the child in its reasoning about war to-day. Sad to say, the people, the Democracy had been content to accept from the press, platform, and—shame be it said—even from the pulpit, most superficial explanations of the causes of this great world war. At the outbreak of war 111 1914, the cause of the war which the three P's desired Democracy to swallow was: (1) The murder of Archduke Ferdinand in Serbia. Bottomley, for once in his life, showed true prophetic insight when he published the poster in August, 1914, "To Hell with Serbia," in so far as he dismissed the plea that the Austro-Serbian quarrel was the cause of the European conflagration. The spea- ker pointed out that had there been no intric- ate and secret alliances and diplomatic entan- glements. with a, background of armaments, no European War could have resulted had there been a thousand Archdukes murdered. (Loud applause.) Further, if England had gone to fight against Germany and Austria because of the murder of an aristocratic Archduke, why did England not declare war on France for the murder of the grand Democrat Jaures—(loud cheers)—who was the Keir Hardie of France. There must have been something deeper than this superficial murder at Sarajevo. To back up his case. the speaker quoted to the audience an extract from Arnold Bennett's book on "Lib- erty." Surely Arnold Bennett, who was in favour of the prosecution of this war and earned hundreds of pounds by his newspaper articles, must be right and sound, in what he says. It was not a mere I.L.Peer that was speaking now but a real live patriot. This is what Arnold Bennett wrote: — The Austro-Servian difficulty was the occa- sion, not the cause, of the European War. It was not even one of the causes. It was like a match picked out of a box of matches by an incendiary to set light to a house pre- viously soaked in kerosene. To study the half-burnt match, to stick it under a micro- scope and diiferentiate it from other matches would be a supreme exercise in absurdity. So that settles the childish Serbian argument. (Hear, hear). The next cause that bad been trotted out after the failure of the Sarajevo murder was the violation of the Neutrality Treaty of Bel- gium, 1839—so typical of the lawyer-minded Asquith and Lloyd George Cabinet. On the surface it looked well until we had searching- Iv inquired what had happened to certain neut- rality treaties and scraps of paper that the British, in the past had wilfully torn up— Transvaal, Persia, Morocco and KQrea? (Loud applause and cries of "Shame.") Then what of the broken Asquithian pledges—mere scraps of paper wilfully torn up—about the National Re- gistration Bill, the widows' only son's exemp- tion, and the pledge about extension of Com- pulsion P (Prolonged cheers and cries of "Shame.") A government that cannot keep its scraps of paper with its own inhabitants should be the last to crow about some other country breaking faith with strangers. (Loud and prolonged cheers.) The speaker then made clear that he did not want to ignore entirely the above ineidents- the Sarajevo murder and the violation of the Belgian Treaty. They were facts, but they were of secondary importance they were not the root causes; they were, in fact, mere occasions and contributory causes of the war. The root causes were legion, but they could be grouped together into a few large classes. Some people tried to trace this war to some set of religious causes. God had ordained this war and had ordered it—in fact, so said some peo- ple. The speaker told the audience that if that were true, then the God which he had a, con- ception of and tried to worship was a different- one from that bloodthirsty, b attle-fe',asting, brute talked of by certain people to-day. (Hear Høar" But if one wanted one final argument that this war was by no means religious or a holy one, the British Goernment had pro- videdi t by excluding Ministers of the Gospel from the Compulsory Service Act (No. 2). If this Avar was a holy one, thsa the first people to go out k> the fighting ffne should be the people who professionally turn their collars backward. (Loud applause.) And, further, they should be the very last to leave the battlefield. (Prolonged cheers.) The fact that an occasional member of the cloth acted as a chaplain did not ent-itle us to call this war holy or Christ- ian. any more than the presence of an occa- sional brewer in the fighting ranks entitled us to call this war a boozer's war. (Applause.) Further, historically speaking, the time of religious wars or crusades were past. People had at last come to see how futile it was to try to convert people from one religion or sect to an- other at the point of the sword; and the day would ultimately dawn when people would see how futile it was to impose a political re- gime at the point of the sword. (Loud cheers.) So the speaker dismissed usual religious causes as purely irrelevant to the present world war, where Pagans fought side by side with Christ- for the Allies as well as for the aliens. The speakesr then proceeded, in his very dra- iiiatic and eloquent way, to expound the fun- damental, political, economic and educational causes of the war. In dealing with the political causefe, the speaker carefully explained that he was ooing the term political as applying to the whole state, and not merely in the party political sense. Though, in passing, the speaker very clearly pointed out to the audience that the only really democratic politics worth its salt to the worker after the war would be the Labour Party Politics, as propounded by the Independent Labour Party. (Loud cheers.) The I.L.P. were the only political party that oould offer a constructive policy once this war terminated. The Conservative Party, with the help of the Right Hon. W. M. Hughes; and a. few other British renegades. Stanton, Wells and Hodge, were preparing tc bring out the good old "hoss," so long broken-winded—Tariff Reform and Protection—for the profiteer, but not for the worker. (Loud and prolonged cheers.) Then the Liberal Party had split up into smithereens. Poor David Lloyd George, accord- ing to Mr A. G. Gardiner's exposure of a week a,r,yo-(Io-Lid applanse)had left Democracy in the lurch and had linked himself with Lord North- cliffe and other reactionaries. Lloyd George-the little Welsh attorney—was sure to take a num- ber of his satellites across with him, leaving, poor Asquith in the lurch with the Radical pump. (Loud laughter.) So much for the politi- cal parties! Now to come back to the politi- cal causes of the war. These the speaker bjjiefly summed up is: (1) The secret and aristocratic diplomacy of all Powers; (2) The dangerous principle of Balance of Power which was adhered to by diplomats, which led to dangerous and unstable alliances and counter alliances. The speaker illustrated these very dramati- cally as a. dangerous see-saw game of foreign pohtics. The joke about this political see-saw game—and a tragic joke, too'—was the fact that only Powers with armaments or large stores of powder could indulge in these alliances; hence the proper name for this principle would be the Balance of Powder. (Loud applause.), Bv this time the speaker, who had spoken for over an hour, in addition to his afternoon spea- king at Pontypridd, showed signs of voice strain. He therefore apologised to the audience for having to curtail his speech on the remaining two points: the economic and educational cau- ses, which action was greeted with prolonged and thunderous applause. Concluding, the speaker pointed out on the economic side how the making and selling of armaments by private enterprisers who had 0.1'-1 ganised themselves into international trusts led to armament rivalry in army equipment and na- val programmes, and led to racial enmity and bitterness. This armament race led to great complexity of financi.al and credit schemes, with suicidal loans and national bankruptcies. All this aspect had been summed up by Brailsford in his War of Steel and Gold"—a book which the speaker heartily recommended to his hearers. In other words, th espeaker said that the root causes on the economic side were to be sought in the pernicious efforts of capital to get profits and more profits-(loud ii,p,plau.s,e)--a, policy which the I.L.P. was out to stop. (Hear, hear) On the other hand, on the economic side, Mr Thomas pointed out that there were certain Labour causes that accounted for the war, particularly the poverty of the ivorker, which was partly the effect and to his hearers. In other words, the speaker bour. Then there was the ignorance of labour, which alloAvad all the reaction.aries in the State to use him as their tool to oppose and kill his felloAv-Avqrkeis in other countries through the exploitation of his patriotism. The I.L.P was out to light and abolish this ooverty and ignor- ance of the peo})ilc'(loud and nrolonged cheers) —and then help to prevent all wars. Philip Snowden and Ramsay Macdonald (loud and prolonged cheers)—were doing their duty in the House of Commons and on various platforms.n Karl Liebknocht—(loud cheers)—Avas valiantly doing the same for the German wor- kers. (Prolonged cheers.) The only difference was that the capitalist press ^raised and eulog- ised Liebknecht, while they "strafed" and damned Snowden and Macdonald. (Loud cries of "Shame.") In any case we as t.L.Peers will stick true to Snowden and Macdonald—(loud cheers)-and old Karl Liebknecht. Loud cheers.) Touching on the educational aspect Mr Tho- mas begged his audience to watch carefully the attempt to Prussianise British education in ele- mentary schools by introducing the Cadet Corps. (Loud cries of "Shame.") The speaker said he was glad that the Aberdare Education Com- mittee had courageously thrown the scheme overboard at its last meeting. (Loud cheers.) In conclusion, the speaker told the audience of a certain patriotic gentleman who had visited quite recently a ladies' college with a view to getting converts to undertake a white feather campaign to rope in slackers and shirkers. This enthusiastic patriot wound up his appeal by say- ing with much gusto: "What is there more sad than a main without a country?" When, to his dismay, a young lady at the back of the audience, in a shnu voice piped out, "Ye-a country without a man!" That was precisely what the European countries in their mad fren- zy of war were driving to-a country robbed of its manhood, unless Democracy stood-Up and protested against the whole madness, and de- manded liumediate Peace. (Prolonged cheers.) It was the greatest crime in history that already to date over thirteen million young men of military age were buried on the battlefields of Europe and Asia n this disastrous war. (Loud and prolonged applause.) The collection was taken after Mr Thomas ter- minated his speech, and questions were then invited, but none were forthcoming. The meeting closed with the "Red Flag" and three hearty cheers for the four Conscripts whose cheery letter was read at the meeting. The audience seemed to heartily approve of the substitutes found to take Mr .Fenner Brock- Avay's place.

I Our Appeal for Navvy Pat. Comrades,—AUOAV me to thank you for the good send-off which you have given to our Ap- peal for the Grand Old Veteran—"Navvy Pat." In my name, and for him, I ask you to ac- cept the best thanks of the staff. At the same time I would remind you that what has been done must be kept up. since this fund, to a certain extent, represents "N avv- Pat's" w here withal to live, and to hold up for one week will have the effect of a lock-out in industry. The need of the old Comrade is real, and I do appeal to you that you will make this week's figure the minimum weekly figure below which vou will not allow the fund to sink. THE EDITOR. Navvy Pat. s. d. "Pioneer" I 2 6 Bargoed Pioneer Committee 5 3 T.C Morris. 2 0 Joseph" Hawkins 1 0 loan 1 0 Tonvrefail Pioneer Committee. 1 0 W. Rees, Lleehryd 2 6 E?o 1 0 Mrs.Ya.tes I g 17 3

ABERCYNON. (tOOD NEWS.'—Tne l.Li.ir. Urancn was re- formed on Sunday last. A meeting was held at the No. 2 Committee Room of the Work- men's Hall, when a small band of enthusiasts decided to make up for lost time. Mr. Syd Blake declined to stand for re-election, and so Mr J. R. Taylor* Avas appointed secretary. The next meeting will be held at the same place on Sunday next at 3.30 p.m. All in sympathy are urged to attend. RAILAVAYMEN AND PERCY KENDALL.-Many railwaymen are getting anxious over the delay in the case of Percy Kendall, who is now at Cardiff Barracks awaiting court-martial. Kend- all was a platelayer on the T.V.R., and is, we think, the only man of his grade who has been spared for military service. Mr. J. R. Thomas, M.P., has addressed a question to Mr Runci- inan, who. in turn, has promised to inquire into the case. Up to the present no reply has been received, and Kendall remains in the Barracks.

rID U "_II .ee It,  WHEN REQUIRING "| j SUITS, COSTUMES, or GENERAL DAPEY I S SEND A POST CARD TO Thomas St., S I JOHN BARR I JOHIlmII m0 BARK Merthyr Tydfil, 1- v J I Cash or Bn?tatment System. | I SUITS and COSTUMES to Measure a Speciality I LI. II ,u II II

Gorseinon Notes. What a r Disappointment. I Yes, 1 am more tnan sorry that 1 cireAV your attention to George Lansbury's meetmg for last Sunday at the Palace. There was a snis- last -Sun d ay a?t t? b- c,, P,, understanding betwen John Powell, the Secret- ary of the Trades and Labour Council, and Comrade Evans of Fforestfaeh. But I bet my bottom dollar that Jack Powell wiU see that Lansbury pays a visit to Gorseinon! Mutuai Aid Class. Instead of singing Tosti's "Good-bye, Sum- mer," the class sang Good-bye, Winter." Jim Evans sang, and Ben Thomas accompanied. This class, which has been held at the Institute each Sunday during the winter, has completed the course of lectures and debates, and has wisely disbanded during the summer. My old chums who have spent their afternoons in bed cannot, imagine the benefits derived from this class. When I recall that rebel. Stanley Rees, who is now organising secretary at the Clyde, with his edifying lectures; David Williams, who writes so often for the "Commonwealth" and last, but not least, Mansel Grenfell who is the living spirit of Keir Hardie, I am proud of my association with the class. By the way, the, o, t (,,r day, wb i t- 'I r otner day. while going home from church, a chum said to me, What a pity Mansel is an Atheist." "What!" says I, "an Atheist! Look here; if Jesus Christ came to earth again Mansel would be the first man that He would bid, 'Follow me, thou art My disciple. Let me implore members of the class to be up and doing; get on with your papers for the coming session. Don't be like the broody hen with no eggs under her. Workmen's Institute at Loughor. ti Contributions are increasing rapidly towards the building of an institute at Loughor, which is badly needed for public meetings and con- ceits. Why, the I.L.P. has been compelled to hold its meetings at Comrade Moses' house. Now, my Loughor friends, 1 am no architect, but (gam boiilch) take time; mind you don't take a pattern from the "dolls' house" at Gor- seinon. Get a hall that will hold a thousand or more people attached to this, get a 58 yards by 20 yards salt water baths, and your hall and baths will be paidior in ten Nemes. I am one of a crowd who aoo compelled to visit Swan- sea Baths to relax the old frame. You have facilities for a bath unequalled in West Wales with young men from Llanelly, etc. Now, com- rades, never venture, never win. If I had not winked at my old girl I should never have got her! 41 I.L.P. A. goodly number turned up at our meeting on .Friday, including a number of the fair sex. Comrade D. Morris presided, and Comrade W. H. Davies was the speaker. I think, in all fairness, he ought to wiiite this report out philosophy; physical; psychology; psychical; psychametrv. etc., world without end, amen! The lecture related to Facts of the After Life." These words were the forts from which our comrade trained his guns. At the start he went up in a eloud- at any rate, to oblige him, 'Sve climbed up Snowden." Though am- ongst the stars, he showed us his feet were on the ground. We failed to budge him. Mention- ing table phenomena; teddy bears; direct voice; materialisation; clairvoyance; continuity of life; and finishing with an account of a seance. Why, he bewildered us! The critics were stiff; one member mentioned several rtars of the vaudeville, and thought they were equal to any feat claimed by the speaker. All phenomena are produced throughout the world by means of the same laws. Stage mysteries, etc., are pro- duced by instrumentation; spiritualists claim that their phenomena are the result of natural laws in the universe. -»The blows were straight —not below the belt. But the chair is safe with David Morris. A good hearty reception was given our first ladv member, Comrade Ra- chel Davies. Now. ladies, fellow the leader! Next Tuesday, Comrade Barirowcliffe will give Next Tues d ay' 11,11iy I am t Soeia l ist. Tn- an address on "Why I am a Socialist." In- stitute, usual time. We are making prepara- tions for our annual picnic. What a sea breeze Ave got last year! 'Any curious person will re- ceive attention from Ted Morris, Garden City. j I.L.Peers will be glad to learn that Comrade E. P. Jones is getting better, and can take an occasional walk. Twelve months' illness; an in- dustrial martyr. And that whole-hearted wor- ker for humanity, Tom Jones, The Common, is recovering. We nearly lost a stalwart! N.C.F. While taking a wallc over some of my land— "The Common"—I came across iiO or more, "tiny, creeping little things" called N.C.Fers. They asked my permission to hold a meeting on I this land. I said "Ye, and after you've fin- ished take an acre esuih; it is not fenced in yet; how slow they are!" I stayed to their I meeting, and had a jolly good time. I cannot forget their hymn, "The Red Flag." My little Thora has learnt two verses and chorus. What surprised me was the way these com- rades dipped their hands into their pockets when the hat went round for a collection. I noticed one chap handing a Treasury Note of P,.L, and desired no change. Don't forget it! When the Church of Christ will he true to its teachings of uplifting humanity, preaching more openly to the grabbers, spoilers and swea- ters these young men will return, and the result will be churches out of debt. Now, my N.C.F. boys; you are to pass hrough a mar- tyr's time hold fast to that which is good. Yours is the victory; yours is Iberty; yours is life in its fulness. God bless you and streng- ?then vou all! I CHUM.