Papurau Newydd Cymru
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Has Christianity Failed in…
Has Christianity Failed in I its Mission? I AN INDICTMENT OF CHRISTIANITY. By T. E. ENTWISTLE (Evangelist.) ,I Before we can hope to answer intelligently the above question, we must have a clear con- ception of what Christianity is; and then, fur- ther. we must ask what is the mission of Christ- Ian It)' ? In a recent article by the organising secre- tary of the Sociological Society, the following declaration was made:- "What Christianity has definitely failed to do after nineteen centuries of trial, is to re- deem human life from the worst of its evils. i The Christianity which has failed is Christianity as it has prevailed up to date, a Christianity founded on the apothesis of sufferng and the multitude of doctrines associated therewith." That statement illustrates the need stated above for a clear conception of Christianity be- fore we can decide as to its failure or other- wise- And again, the declaration as to what the failure is, namely, "to redeem human life from the worst of its evils," will depend for its acceptance or rejection upon the aspect or an- gle from which it is approached. If it means that human life as a whole has not yeis been redeemed from the worst of its evils, we must agree, but if it means that no human life has been redeemed from the worst of its evils, we must disagree. In endeavouring to answer a kindred question to that of our topic in this paper, namely, "Is Christianity Practicable ?" another writer says: "There are two different angles from Which the question as to the practicability of the Christian religion may be approached. It { may be approached from the point of view of tho individual, or it may be approached from j the point of view of society. We may ask how far Christianity is a practicable religion for the individual man and woman; whether it offers a reasonable creed, a satisfying object of worship, a worthy ideal of conduct, and motives ade- quate to ensure its retatisation; or we may ask •' l whether Christianity is socially practicable, a religion which in such a world as this, with its 'implex relationships, economic, social, and po- litical, we may reasonably expect to become the accepted standard for the common faith and life of man." This again emphasises the need for clea- i views Its to what Christianity is before we can decide Qs to what Christianity has done or can do. We Inst beware of identifying Cliristianity with l piue particular ecclesiastical organisation, and jifhen Warning Christianity for the failure of the ■ O rganisation. i L» What, then is Christianity? I would answer: t is that teaching an d manner of life presented [■flu word and in deed in the New Testament as ■ B oeing acceptable unto God in Christ Jesus. has been described as the programme ? Christianity is set forth in the words quoted Jesus as recorded in Luke 4. 18-19: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. Because He anointed Me to preach good tid- ?/ l?s to the poor. 'T-jP He hath sent Me to proclaim release to the j' tives. ?'j  And recovering of sight to the blind. ? To set at liberty them that are bruised. I) To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." A Here, in essence, we have the mission of I1, cliristianity. namely, the bringing of comfort, nd deliverance and light, and hope to sin- I ?und humanity. ? Has Christianity failed in this mission? From ?e point of view the' answer would come adilv "Certainly not!" From the point of ?ew of the individual, few would be found to feiiy the practicability of Christianity, for the 1 'dence to the contrary is accessible on every lid. "There are men and women all the odd over who believe in the Christian God, Cie-pt the Christian standard, and realise that Nndard in their own personal conduct to a < '?arka'ble degree. They are unselfish, trustful ?otherly. forgiving, hopeful, pure. They face f*k1 Mnity w'th courage, sin with repentance, ?ortunity with consecration, and persecution th self-c(wtroL" i t- has But when we ask whether Christianity has ?led socially the answer is not so clear, at ftst to a good many. Is the standard ac- tyted and in a large measure realised by se- ated individuals here and there valId for llio '8 as a whole? Or does Christianity fail when socially ? (The writer first quoted, after declaiing that lithe Christianity which has failed is Christ- ifcty as it has prevailed tip to date. a Christ- 1 Pity founded on the apotheosis of suiter ing UM the multitude of doctrines associated there- tJI," goes on to say, But there is anothei or at least another i-tlliglon, foun- d on the cult of joy, and unburdened with f ry doctrines which have to be harmonised fPth science for it is in harmony with science jbrn the first. This deeper Christianity, or ligion. has neither failed nor succeeded —for ,i Simple reason that. unlike the form that failed- it has never been fairly tried." t Now, it is manifest to every reader of the i Hv Testament, which is the only Book of u-istia-nily known to mankind, that Christian- is a religion including both suffering and And the joyful aspect is emphasised as • ch as the suffering. J ohn declares: That rich was from the beginning that which we vu heard, that which we have seen with our r Pys, that which we beheld, and our hands ^Helled, concerning the word of life (and the Le was manifested, and we have seen, and p-r witness, and declare unto you the life, the s gnal life, which was with the Father, and s manifested unto us), that which we have (In and heard declare we unto you also, that ?I-so may have fellowship with us; yea, and ? fellowship is with the Father, and with His ? Jesus Christ; and these things we w?.?te,  OUr JOY MAY BE FULFILLEIJ." 1 John, 1. jL many passages suffering and joy are rght toigpether, as in I Peter, 1. 3--9, where Apostle writes; Blessed be the God and her of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who according lis great mercy begat us again into a liv- hope by tire resurrection of 1 Jesus Christ the dead into an inheritance incorruptible undefiled, and that fadetli not away ivser- I, in hca vendor you, who bv the power of It d are guarded through faith unto a salva- ready to be reveaied in the last time. sreiiL ye greatly rejoice, though now for a p 0 w hile, if need be, ye ha.ve been put to e£ In manifold temptations, that the proof our faith, being more precious than gold ttho-Ll,o-Ii it. be proved' by fire, ,lit be found unto praise and glory and OUr at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom i having- seen ye love, on whom, though now *6e Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice great- 'ii o,, unspeakable an d full of glory, re-j tI e, end of your faith, even the salva- \l of your souls. -tit setting asid e the muddled thinking with ,yd to a Ghrlsbamty of suS?ring and a ?tianity of joy, and just thinking of Christ- t V as a whole, as it is presented in the New Testament, we may concede, sorrowfully perhaps, as we think of what might have been, that Christianity from the national and international point of view, that is, the broad social or racial point of vew, has neither failed nor succeeded—for the simple reason that it has never been fairly tried. It is frequently asserted that Christianity, as to its most vital principles, has failed, and is i i-ne. That re d e,mpt i ,)n failing at the present time. That redemption through Christ, the Fatherhood of, God, the Brotherhood of Man, the leadership of the Church of Christ, are but figments of the imagi- nation in view of what we know to be taking place daily amongst the nations in which Christ- ianity is most generally received. Now we may concede at once that from the national and international point of view, the teachings of Christ and His Apostles axe very far from finding exemplification at the present time. But this is simply to allow that no na- tion, as such, is Christian. Personally, I agree with the thought expressed by Br. Salter that there is a great place waiting in history for the first nation that will dare to save its life by losing it, that will dare to base its na- tional existence on righteous dealing, and not on force; that will found conduct on the truths of primitive Christianity, and not on the power of its army and navy. And there is a great place waiting in history for the first political party that will dare to take the same stand and will dare to advocate the Christian policy of complete disarmament and non-resistance to alien force. No nation and no political party— and for that matter no church either—is at present prepared to do that, although they all, more or less, profess to be Christian. Dreamers of dreams is regarded as a fit- ting description of those who at present hold such views, but we are not without some little foundation, even in history, to build upon. "In the year 1861, William Penn and a handful of Quakers founded the Colony of Pennsylvania. All around them the white man was at war with the Indian, whose tomahawk and scalping knife carried death and terror and destruction into all the surrounding colonies. Surely Penn's "holy experiment" could not have been tried under circumstances more prejudicial to its success! Notwithstanding this, however, Penn and his companions landed unarmed, and, from the very first, treated the Indians with Christian kindness and loving forbearance. The land, though it had already been given them by the English monarch, they obtained again by treaty from the Indians themselves, whom they con- sidered to be the real owners of the soil; a treaty which was described by Voltaire as the only treaty that was ever made without an oath and the only treaty that was ever kept. For seventy long years the colony remained under Quaker rule, depending for its safety upon the absence of the usual means of pro- tection. And what was the consequence of this" hare-,brained foIly' ?--for that was it was called by the wordly-wise contempories of William Penn. The consequence was that during the whole of these seventy years, whilst blood flowed like water m the surrounding States, not one single drop of Christian, blood was shed by the In- dians in the Colony of Pennsylvania. Now I have heard the importance of this historical fact discounted on the score that it was entirely exoeptiona1. And truly exceptional it was But where did the exception lie? Surely the exception lay here, that this is the only instance recorded in history of the princi- ples of Christ having been tried on a large po- litical scale Surely no one will argue that the exception Jay here, that God protected those who put their trust in Him"! The fact is, so far is Christianity from being a failure, that from the early days until now, there is ho single instance on record, where Christianity has been applied, that is, reduced to practice, on either a small scale, or a large scale, without producing the promised results. (To he Continued).
"Be Militant" -I
"Be Militant" I ABERDARE CALVINIST'S MESSAGE TO THE CHRUCH. r Speaking at the General Assembly of the Calvinistio Methodists -at Oolwyn Bay last Thursday night, the Rev. J. Lewis Jenkins (Aberdare) called" upon the churches to Be militant." What a poor pale thing religion was to many in our churches—a moral veneer, a title to respectability, instead of a call to arims, a campaign of the soul. Our churches were clubs, social centres, not. arsenals, bar- racks for the training of soldiers. The third message was "Endure hardship; Pinell yourself for the sake of Christ and your own soul. The call of to-day was for economy, the simpler life. Was the church prepared to e^ S Yti ile ^ay in the sparing use of money, cliot 5i les and pleasure ? The love of luxury had got into the church. It must be extracted or it would poison and paralyse them. Rich mem- bers of the churches must give up costly food- stuffs, expensive clothes, motor-cars for pleasure. Ware they prepared to lead the way m sacrifice and self-denialP Then came the call to "Be ready," and finally to be drastic, even revolutionai-" v in their methods. Worship must be free there must be room for interruption and confusion. They relied too much on one-man ministry. Religion by proxy, pious parasitism, must be abolished. The Salvation Army was on the right lines—every believer a witness and a worker. rrhe churehes were too concerned about getting new members instead of ma kino- useful and efficient those they had. Professional religion, cold adherence to form and creed the day was passed for all this. A living faith, a vital experience of Christ alone could sullioe.
A. Focohriw-Golden IWedding.I
A. Focohriw-Golden I Wedding. I iur. aiia iVLrs. Eli Warman, Uplanrl Stores, Fochriw, celebrated their golden wedding on Monday. They were married in 1866 at Saron !Ohapol, Tredeg,wr, bv the Rev. David Price. For 50 years Mr Warman has acted as a local preacher on the Primitive Methodist Circuit, and has walked thousands of miles to fulfil his engagements. Years ago he founded a church at Fochriw which is npw the Reading Rooms. Mrs. Warman is a member at the Oarmel Independent Chapel. On Monday night at the Primitive Methodist Chapel, Pontlottyn, they were entertained by their numerous frieads. and wiH be the recipients of various pre- fi-ieia,cls, and ?vill 1),e'tbe i-ecip i eiits of va?r i o,tis pq,e-
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' I . Navvy Pat's Views.
I Navvy Pat's Views. We were all early this week, and the room was well filled when Pat, elbowing his way to his corner, was assailed by questions on cur- rent events reported in the daily papers. "Not a word, bhoys, till I've finished what I began last Saturday. It's meself can't onderstand why things will keep on happenin' whether we're reddy for 'em or not; it's a way they have, but ye've got to have the, war puzzle opened out for your inspection before we tackle other things. If other things want attendin' to quickly, why do they cum in crowds? Well now, last Saturday when the land- lord interfered, we'd reached where the anti- war action by labour had been let slide, an' the only active parties was the N.C.F. wid a number ov conscientious objectors leadin' an' a crowd ov wastrels hangin' on to their coat tails. The genuine conscientious objectors, who wud give up ivrything, includin' life, rather than go agin their principles; are the sort ov men who leave their mark on history, an' whose actions, after they themselves are dead an' buried, help to shape the course ov the world's progress. Nations raise monuments to men ov that sort that they have persecuted an' killed; an' ivry generation in ivry country worships the memory ov wan or more that the last generation stoned to death. But the wasters that follows the conscientious ob- jectors, hoping to escape through being along wid the honest objectors, and who, when they are caught, make raimblin' speeches before the Tribunals, an' refuse to obey military orders. an' give in when they face punishment; they're just like my duster that I rub out my figgers wid, they're bizy wipin' out the marks the rael men have made on the wurld's history, an' they're shovin' back the Millenium, an' they're only old clouts afther all. Why haven't thev been buried in Nature's rubbish tip? An' if Nature doesn't have a suitable rubbish tip, why does she produce such a. lot ov rubbish? Again. United Labour down tools; no transport for troops or war munitions; are we reddy for such a move? Reckon the thousands who are ready when ordered to shoot down if we won't work; ready to make another Featherston, another Peterloo. Luk at the faint hearts among us whom A Constant Reader' pleads for in Page 4 ov this week's Pioneer,' who can't be depended on because they've got more caution than courage. Count the thousands that will side with the bosses expectin' soft jobs or other rewards for trea- chery to their pals, and the thousands who, believin' in war an' glory, wud gladly shoot the lot ov us because we -blocked the way. An' luk at the 5,041,000 that's enlisted widout Conscription, the biggest half working chaps. How many ov us is left to down tools The Government has all the resources ov civilisisation we have only the resources ov savages, sticks an' stones, wid mebbee a few hatchets an' hammers an' .revolvers an' if we arm wid all these and fight for our lives, that's war, an' if we don't arm an' fight it's submittin' to murder. The puzzle gets deeper ye see! Supposin' that Labour was strong enuff to stop all movements ov men an' muni- tions, an' our Army was confined to barracks, an' our Navy at the Naval Bases wantin' stores an' ammunition, what about Jarmany? Wudn't she be all over us? And wudn't her Canal Fleet be bombarding our coasts? Suppose we'd agreed to be neutral an' "she'd smashed France an' Russia, wudn't otirtiirn cum next, and we'd be forced to fight widout Allies when it was too late ? Can any nation do away wid war before ivry other nation does the same? She must pay off her army an' scrap her navy, for she has not given up war while she keeps 'em. Mebbee ye'll tell me that war is allowable in sell-defence, but that gives away the argyment for self-defence needs the Army an' Navy to be big enuff to meet any combination that may cum against her, an' 'she's free to unite wid other nations when she sees it need- ful to break the power ov sum nation that acts as Jarmany has done, oolla-rin" Alsace an' Lorra,ille from France and Schleswig Holstein from Denmark, so that she cud have ports in the North Sea an' make the Kiel Canal for a short cut for her Navy an' wantin' Jarman supremacy as far as Baghdad so as she may hit us in Egypt and India. WThat chance have we ov renouncin' war? "Now, let's trv to sum up an' get things ship shape. United labour must be able to howld her own against any odds, an' before than can cum about self must be shoved out 6v sight to the rear, an' all workers includin' sol- diers an' sailors (they're ov our family) must be ready to act like one man for the good ov the lot widout a thought ov personal benefit. This must be done all over the world, all at the same time. Each nation must then force its Guvernment to chuck war an' dis- arm, all on the s-ame day. Av coorse, we'd need a mighty big police force to patrol the world, an' see that no nation went back to the old game. This police force wud TI."?4 shins an' sailors' an' soldiers an' war munitions un to date, for sermons an' argyments wud never stop a nation that was hankerin' after robbery and murder. It looks as if we cudn't help argyin' in a circle whin ye tackle this subject, and so I'll put it to ye this way. How ye stbolish war widout usin' war to do it? Havin' done it, how can ye keep the I peace in the world widout a sizable Army an' Navy always ready for actionv "Think over it, bhoys wid head, heart an' soul. It's a mighty puzzle. Find the answer if ye can, for the man that finds the answer an' sets the ball a-rowlin' will live in the hearts ov ivry suoceedin' generation till, an' afther, all our war heroes are forgotten; till Kaiser, Tsar, Emperor an' King are talked ov by antiquaries as the last relics ov barbarism, till humanity is on its last legs, and chaos is cummin' again. Now there's a bit ov time for £ other things. "Our leaders an' the independent chairman." shouted Sandy. RigHt ye are, me boy. He's dished himself has Mack, he's had the cheek to give an opinion to both sides ov the Oonciliatin Board widout waitin' to hear the jawin' match between the two sides, an' our Executive Council have decided that he's not fit for his job, and has sent to tell him so, and towld the bosses as well, an' axed Rnmciman to see after things, an' he's agreed, an' if Runciman joins wid our leaders an' the coal owners in disposin' ov our arnings, it'll be God help us; "Ora Pro Nobis"; we'll need the prayers ov ivry Saint in the calender, for nuthing ov our wages will 'oe left but the skeleton for us to gnaw at. "Take notis ov this; we've got no word ov what was in Lord Muir Mackenzie's letter to the Bosses' Secretary an' to ours, an' we never get any information from the Conciliation Board only the official report, drawn up by the two sees, together, so that both may be the same. The proceedings are not to be re- ported, must not even be quoted from, as wan ov our leaders tewld us not long ago. Why this secrecy? It's what lets ye be dgddled ivry time the Board meets. Why the Divvle don t ye force yer leaders to bust np this secrett work, force them to get the Press admitted, an' let's have ivry thin' open an' above board. Chew the cud over this an' have it settled afore the big battle cums, for it's bound to cum as soon as ye begin to wake up. I notis also that the Executive Council has accepted Judge O'Connor's Award in the An- thracite District though it went against the men; we've long. ago larned not to expect anythin' else. From Comrade in his 'Llan- debie Notes I see that the owners have hardly made enuff by their dodge, to pay their cashier for his extra trubble in caloulatin' the 45.78 per cent they have added to the '79 standard instead ov 50 per oent, unless he reckons by rule ov thumb an' throws away his fractions. Let me show its weakness. No. 1: The agreement. Under this, £ 1 at the owld standard wud became 30s, but the percent- ages wud always be minus 3! instead ov 5 per cent as before. No. 2: The bosses' plan. Adding 45.78 per cent wud make the £ 29/1.87, but oarryin' full percentage. At our present advance No. 1 wud yield 36/9; No. 2 36 81 4; three farthings' gain to bosses. If we win the 15 per cent we're axing for, then No 1 yieMs 41/3, No. 2 41/0.73—tuppence three farthings gam to bosses. If we ever cum to the minimum 10 per cent No. 1 yields 32s, No. 2 32/0.85; over three farthings gain to men. I won't figger it out to ye here; I've done it wance, an' we haven't time to go over it before stop tap; the number ov fig- ye.rs ye have to use is awful; but the fight for the 5 per cent shud have been won, an' could be wan yet if we cud only get some figgers; I'm goin' to drame over the report that the Pioneer' gives, an' praps an Angel t will appear to me! Bravo Man on the Cross! Bravo Sttipend- iary Lieufer Thomas, who snubbed the warrior so nicely. It's a pity Comrade Newman didn't cum clear altogether; still it's something to have scored a point or two over the Army an' the Force an' discovered a magistrate who can handle officials so neatly. I'll be at the Cross next Saturday to see how things are goin' on. an' I'll lave ye to Sandy an' Josie. I may have a chance ov saying somethin' for Free Speech; this war is hitting it hard."
The Case of the Light -Employment…
The Case of the Light Employment Men. By JOHN HAWKINS. It has been definitely stated that the light employment men have no desire to withdraw from the Federation. We are compelled to take up the present attitude, owing to our re- duced rate of wages The majority of the members of an ideal organisation would hesi- tate before inflicting greater hardships on those who are least able to bear them. Organi- sations of this kind that impose an impost on persons unable to bear it are as tyrannical as the capitalists whom they are supposed to light. Unity of purpose no man believes in more than myself. I hold that economic soli- darity among the workers is the supreme need of the Labour movement. But can such soli- darity be brought about by unjust and unfair taxation on those who do not receive the full rise in wages? Division is bound to follow any unfair treatment meted out to the section whose bodies have been miangled in the pro- cess of making profit. They are forced into the present position in order to defend the food of their children. Take the man who only receives on an average 30/- per week. If he has four children, himself and wife to keep; after paying for rent and coal, they have something- like twopence a meal for food, clo- thing and buying all the things necessary for domestic use. Surely, without talking about luxury, it is impossible for those children to be reared with any pretence to physical and men- tal fitness! Twopence per meal per head is in- sufficient without some members of the Fede- ration asking for an additional 13/- per year from such people. This amount of money re- presents to such a family, at such a rate, 78 meals per annum. Evidently this intensifies poverty. Humane treatment we require. Do the workers as a whole understand where their unfortunate comrades are? Apparently they do not, otherwise the treatment- meted out by them would be different to what it is. A beast of prey will protect its young, and no man can be'expected to sink lower. Animals will do all they can to gather food and piioteet what their gather for their offsprings, even against- the^ avariciousness of their own species. Man must act in the same way, and fight, in- tellectually, those who would deprive his young of part of the necessaries of life. Now that is the view taken by the injured workmen in Bar good, and they believe- that the conduct of those who oppose them is degrading, low and base. We are told that our present attitude is calculated to bring about disorganisation, but such a statement is not true. Capitalism we know can be abolished by the unanimity and equanimity of the workers as a whole. We do not object to paying the 2/- per month providing we receive the full benefits like the able bodied men. It is because we do not re- ceive those benefits that we are placed in a position wherein we are unable to pay. It may be asked, Why don't you work constitutionally? Well that has been attempted, and the result has heen-nothing. First of all, a notice of motion was sent from the lodge to the district, where it was thrown out without being dis- cussed. Then.it was sent on to the general secretary of the Federation to be considered by the Executive, and those chaps could not see their way clear to revise the rule. The rule is very important to them, even though the light employment men are getting in wages a mere pittance. After failing to get any con- sideration from the two quarters mentioned, the only course was to appeal to the members of the lodge. The members of the lodge ap- pointed a sub-committee to go into the business and bring back a recommendation to be con- sidered by a general meeting properly con- vened for the purpose. The public meeting, alter hearing the findings of the sub- committee, unanimously agreed that the injured workmen should be exempted from paying lev- ies. When the additional 1/- per month was put on, the members of our lodge again went into the question, and again exempted us from paying this extra money. After this things went on calmly until the National Conference, held at Nottingham. At this conference Mr R. Smillie is reported to have said: "That all members of this organisation are to pay no less than 2/- per month." This, according to him, was to be their regular monthly contribu- tion towards the upkeep of the Miners' Fede- ration. Resulting from that conference, the question of the exemption of the light employ- ment men was re-opened in our lodge. Just before this we had, as members of the lodges, tried to get two resolutions 'before the Execu- tive for the injured workmen to have the same benefits as those attained by the organi- sation for the able bodied men. This we thought was right, since it would necessarily mean the recognition of our claim in any coal wage agreement that was entered into. I am sorry to say that this was not realised. We selected a deputation to wait upon the Execu- tive to place these motions before the members of that body, but these deputations never bore fruit. They were not even received, ow- ing to the fact that our secretary received a reply that they were unnecessary. In the opin- ion of the General Secrtary of the Organisation it was a waste of lodge funds sending men down when we had Executive members who could put the ease just as well. Whether what we wanted was discussed at the Executive or not, I do not know; but I do know tha,t no report was given of its being advocated at the Conciliation Board. The one proposal was that those working on the 50 per cent difference should have the standard rate of wages for that grade of work, plus prevailing percentages, without any deduction v in his part make up. Again, we have men who were injured before the 50 per cent differ- ence came into opc-i-ation, and who had made agreements with companies to receive a nett wage. This class of man does not receive any advantage gained by the organisation for the majority of its members. If the miners of South Wales get the 15 per cent that they are now asking for, that increase will be given to men who are outside those just mentioned. That is to say, that if thijs increase isssgranted, the men working on a nett wage will Tiave no addition to their wages. Their wages do not fluctuate at all. While this is true, would any person be right in arguing against any re- batement in the contributions of any such per- son? Obviously lie would not, because of the fact that justice lies in the opposite direction. If one pays in accordance with the benefits received, there is only one answer to such a question; and that is, that he should not pay any increase in contributions: Let us say the wages of a man were 35/- per week nett, previous to the 1915 coal wage agreement. When the negotiations were going on, that resulted in that agreement being signed, we wanted our representatives to make the nett wage of a person, his standard rate and all ruling percentages paid thereon. If this was done the nett wage man would not have much to complain about. But it was not done, and because of its not being done com plaints are being made and the dust is raised. What is the use of asking an individual for extra money if you do nothing for him? By such action you leave yourself open to attack, which ends in becoming ridi- culous. An organisation should not be out to improve the lot of some grades of workmen, but improve the conditions of the whole. Division is made bv such methods, and rlh-ivinn -p- spells disaster to working class aspirations. No section of the working class can be improved permanently by such means, because by wor- king on such lines we are playing into the hands of the capitalist. The capitalists desire Sectionalism for the purpose of putting one workman against another. They 'know quite well that while it remains there is no fear on their part of the workers coming into their own. What they do dread is unity in method, action, ideas and ideals on the part of the toilers, and determination to attain their end for the improvement of the whole. Lifting up one section does not improve the other, and will react in time on the position of the person whose lot for the moment has been improved. To understand the position of a person, we must start at the beginning. When we do this we comprehend what com- pensation a man is entitled to. The wage he received previous to his injury being the governing factor. The Act reads —That a man is entitled to 50 per cent of his earnings not exceeding £1 per week compensation. Therefore, if a person was earning 18/- per week before his injury, the amount of com- pensation due to him would be 9/- per week if his earnings were 30/ per week his compen- sation would be lo/- per week and when his earnings were £ 2 10s. per week or more., accor- ding to the Act he would be entitled to no more than £1 per week compensation. (To be Continued.) [We understand that some of our Bargoed friends are anxious to reply to Mr Hawkins, but are deterred owing to a "misapprehension that all correspondence from Bargoed is re- jected unless it comes through the Bargoed "Pioneer" Committee. This is not so, and we shall preserve in toto the anonymity of any writer who desires to reply under a "nom de plume," though the full name and address of the correspondent is required as a guarantee of good faith. At the same time we would ask correspondents to remember that we cover a very large field, and with the cur- tailed supply of paper are compelld at times to hold matter over, particularly if it is received later than the first post on Wednesday morn- ing- Now, then, Bargoedites "Up an' at lilh ,-The Editor.]
IColliery Manager's Presentation.
Colliery Manager's Presentation. A large and appreciative gathering of the colliery officials of the district assembled in the Plymouth Hotel, Pentrebacli, on Saturday evening iveek, the occasion being a presentation to Mr H. lliomas, M.E., who has just relin- quished the position of manager of South Duffryn Collieries, Hill's Plymouth Company, Limited, to take up a similar position at. Bonvilles Court Colliery, Saundersfoot. Mr W. W. Green, general manager. Hill's Plymouth. occupied the chair. With him on the platform were Messrs H. Thomas, W. Moss (agent- of Lewis-Merthyr Collieries) and A. North (Agent of South Duffryn Pits, Hill's Plymouth. The Chairman at the outset referred in | eulogistic terms to Mr Thomas' character and ability, and gave a short account of his career with the company, from his earliest start as book clerk to the time of his resignation, when he filled the onerous and responsible position of manager. A musical programme was then gone through, and during the interval the Chairman, on behalf of the officials and workmen of the Hill's Plymouth Company; presented to Mr Thomas a gold watch and chain, and to Mrs Thomas a set of solid silver fruit dishes. Mr Thomas, in responding, thanked the Chairman for the very handsome presents, pre- sented to Mrs. Thomas and himself; dwelt upon the cordial relationship which had always existed between himself and all those with whom he had come into contact, and referred in a speciaf manner to the interest which Mr Green had taken in him from his youth.
IThe Newcastle Conference.
I The Newcastle Conference. The Conference to be held by the NeAeastle- on-Tyne Labour Representation Committee on Saturday next, June 3, has evoked a wonderful response—no less a number of delegates than 1,000 delegates having alrea'dy been nominated three days before the date of closing day (29th May). It is estimated that this will break all records so far as attendance is concerned.