Pioneer

The Cowards and Shirkers of the Pulpit. SEE PAGE 2

A Further Word from the Editor. I Three months ago it was my P-rivilege-,ithal one that did not conjure up estactic dijight—to take you into the confidence of the Management of the PIONEER, and to urge you to come to our assistance in one of two ways—either by making direct subscrip- tions into our funds, or by becoming shareholders with us. I told you that in my opinion we were face to face with a crisis that might mean the extinction of the PIONEER, be- cause of the nature of the Paper Markets and our badly undercapitalised condition; and placed it on record that a sum of £ 200 to X300 must be forthcoming if we were to be entirely impervious, to that fate. I regret that my readers either do not feel any con- 1 cern for the continued survival of the Paper, or regard me as a shouter of "Wolf!" The r suns total that we have receive-d during the intervening three months amounts to just over £63. I am deeply grateful to the Merthyr Trades and Labour Council and a few local Lodges of the South Wales Miners' Federation for their handsome donations, without which the list would have looked bad indeed. S am somewhat despondent, and would be inclined to lay the blame on my own shoul- ders—as conducting the Paper in an unpopular manner—did it not happen that through- out my occupancy of the Chair the Circulation has been continuously growing, and dur- ing the period under review we have added mare than 1,OOQ new readers to our circle of regular weekly buyers; and the Jobbing side has been equally progressive during the ft Printing Season just closing. I can but think, therefore, that a belief has gained cur- K rvrtcv that am a deep grained pessimist, and that a cry of Wolf" was raised by me K solely far the purpose of increasing our deposits in the Sank. In rsality, I am more in- ■ clined to optimism than pessimism, and I have never yet been accused with any degree of truth of raising cries to frighten people. Again. I have been told that since have de- clared that the PIONEER is now self-supporting, have no right to appeal for funds. Such critics have misread my words. The PIONEER is self-supporting NOW, but we took over a firm, with no crcaii, and liabilities approximating 21,600, sixteen months ago, and it ran at a very heavy weekly loss for the major portion of 1915. Our Share Capita! at the end of the financial year which closed in February did not cover that sum by one-fifth" so that it will bs apparent to the least businesslike of our readers that, however well the PIONEER has done since we took it over, it would net clear off that S" Old Man of the 2.\);1" within a short sixteen months. If the history of those first twelve months of the. New Management is ever written, it wijj be a record of unremitting toil on the part of the hw enthusiastic Democrats who took hold of the tiller in February, 1915. That can say without fear of being caiied egoistic, because I was not one of them. merely endeavoured to carry, out their policy when I i-c, ck charge last July. Dur- j, iong all the intervening months it was necessary to pour out the money as fast as it came in—no matter from what sourc;—:n order to build up the credit that had deserted us, and to re-establish the name of our House amongst the wholesale traders. We succeeded to a degree that is little short of marvellous when, as I told you three months ago, the Paper Commission upsot the credit business as thoroughly as a child knocks over a house of cards. Free of a iijcubus of the past, tbe PION EEP. need fear nothing. It's future would be assured, and it could confidently look to developments in scope and size once the war was oyer, and the markets became normal. From the figures I have given above, it should be app-arent that my outside estimate of f,300 was not a magnanimous one. I told you in March that it was my own idea of the sum that was needed, and it has proved largely true. £ 200 more would just more than see us through the difficulties I have out- t lined; would, in fact, provide us with just sufficient of a backing to look with a little more raninlacency tc the serious drain that will be made on our readers by the operation of the Military Service (Session 2) Act, 1916. I am grateful to those friends in all parts of thio country who, in the early days at my Appeal wrote me encouraging letters, but many of them neminded me forcibly ef the", > old lady who came to me on my wedding day and after wishing me much happioess; re- marked that when she was on her way to buy me a "lifctie bit of something for a present, she met as-and-so who was so dreadfully poor, and gave them the money." Of course, I expressed my delight that I had been set aside for such a laudable object, but all the same-well, all the same. I am not unaware of the many calls that continue to be made on all of us, and I am most painfully aware that it takes more than twice the sum that it used te to keep a family. But all that I asked for siwee March is that for a period of four months less than 75 per cent. of our readers would contribute 1d. each per week. May H I appeal to yeu once more not to allow the next few months to go by without making • the PIONEER the richer by at least 1/ If you would all do that, then—but there, im- mediately I begin to think of the" then," my native optimism lifts me into an Utopian Heaven that seems to me now as remote as the delightful England of « News from No- where. I THE EDITOR. I —« «■ R—«VN AMM MIHIMI— mm

I Building Trades Conference. I MVIPfRTANT MATTERS DISCUSSED AT NEWPORT. Hie quarterly meeting of the South Wales and Monmouthshire Building Tirades .Federation i was held at the Newport Town Hall (by the kind permission of the Mayor) on Saturday, ime 3, Brother Williams (Cardiff Federation) presiding Delegates were present from Cardiff; Newport; Merthyr; Blackwood; Ebbw Vale; Pontypridd and Rhymney Valley Federations; also Abertillery Amalgamated iociety of Oar-I penters' and Joiners' Branch, and the Operative Bricklayer' Society, Brother R. n. juey secretary) read the min- ufctes of the annual meeting, which were adop-  ted. Letters were read from the Execute Councils of the Amalgamated Society of Oar- ? penters and Joiners, the Operative Bricklayers  Society, Stonemasons' Society, PJumbers aiid Domestic Engineers, Gasworkers and General Labourers, and the House and Ship Painters in reply ?o an appeal for financial assistance to place the Federation in a sound financia,l po,?i- tion. The l'øphe were not deemed satisfactory, ? and the Secretary was instructed to ask the ? branches to press their respective Executives on [the matter-—Letters were read from the Swan-I  sea and Barry Federations re aSiHatio? to the t' Federation. r Re Trade Movements' Report. The Secretary reported negotiations with the Master Builders at Abertillery, Blaina and New- bi-ide. and reported td. per hour increase fromi [' May 1 to carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers, and labourers. Ebbw Vale and Tredegar re- ported an offer of £ d and Id per hour increase respectively, but there was some difficulty in reference to the hours question, and a final set- tlement had not yet been arrived at.—Ponty- pridd delegates stated that their ease had gone befoio the Conciliation Boards, and they had oeea awarded Id per hour inerease.-Blackwood reported operatives advance to lOd an hour, hut the labourers question was not yet settled. -Rhymney Valley reported that the masters had agreed to withdraw their demand for a reduction on the operatives withdrawing their counter-demand for- an increase. It was re- ported that Swansea, had increased all round too operatives lOd, labourers Ud A resolution was moved, seedtaded and car- ried by a large majoiity that no agreement should extend beyond 1917. A long discussion took place on the wages of surface workers on collieries, and the Chairman suggested that the wages of these workers should be tabulated for l'efe.ren.ce.-Compl:Ûnts' were made that in certain districts members of the Miners' Federation we're taking work, job- bing and otherwise, after their working hours. -The Secretaries were instructed to forward all facts relative to such oases to the Federar- tion Secretary, so that representations could be made to the right quarters in. reference to these individuals. The Secretary was instructed to get in touch with districts that had not yet linked up, and make efforts to gjt all outlying branches to affiliate to the Federation. It was decided to hold the next meeting at Swansea, on Saturday, September 2, at 4.30. Notices of motion for that meeting were handed in by Newport in reference to ttte issuing of a Federation Card for the whole of South Wales and Monmouthshire, and in reference to the pooling of delegates' fares by Merthyr and Aberdare; and That we discuss the sugges- tion of the South Wales Miners' Federation re enrolling all building trade workers who may be working at the pits; and that we try to come to some arrangements with the Miners' Federation on this question."

I Has your name appeared in our 10,000 Shil. lings' Fund list P If not, let it be there nex week.

I Newport Free Churches & Conscience INTERESTING DISCUSSION ON GERMANE RESOLUTION. At last Friday's meeting of the Newport Free Church Council, the Conscientious Ob- jector seems to have provided some food for warm discussion. It appeal's that the Act has touched the Free Churches personally by removing from them Mr Trevor Griffiths, in appealing to the Council on w hose behalf Mr J. H. Skinner described as a Christian gentle- man." Mr Griffiths has preferred to stand by his Conscience rather than be coerced into the military machine, and Mr Skinner, who evidently does not see eye to eye with hie friend in this, was at least broad-minded enough to suggest: If his (Griffiths') vision was such that he believed that he should refuse to take human life; then the Council should give him its Christian sympathy." He even went fur- I j-hei,, and thought that perhaps the Council could send to the Prune Minister and other re- sponsible persons a plain statement as to Mr Griffiths' record and character. This was a. step in the right direction, but Mr Skinner seems to miss the point that what he asserts of Mr Griffiths is not unusual amongst Conscientious Objectors. A very large number of them are Christian gentlemen" many of them men of brilliant intellect, and unusually beautiful cha- racters. Apparently, too, Mr. Skinner shared our view that the Local Tribunals had acted harshly in these cases, or at least in this one— thai; we presume, is as far as he is prepared to travel at the moment—for he brought up a matter of local politics which involved the Rev. H. Abraham in a police court scene. At the oourt-- we presume at the time of the trial of the Conscientious Objectors as "ahsentees'- the Rev. H. Abraham seems to have been in- spired to speak, with the result that the Mayor, who sat on the Tribunal, ordered him to sit down. otherwise lie would be put out. Why Mr Skinner raised this point we do not know, since presumably the de.acons of the Rev. Abraham's church would have done the same had a stran- ger tried to speak out of his turn there some Sunday evening. It was the Mayor's stunt." and we do not blame him for objecting to com- petition. We like the Rev. J. C. Bacon better than Mr Skinner. who, nevertheless we are pleased to discover, has leanings our way. Mr Bacon put the facts quite plainly when-he said fhat if it was right for them to protest as they did a, few years ago over a very orach llner matter —the education in their schools; if it was right for them to protest against the children being taught the Church Catechism, surely it was right for them to protest in this much greater matter: He knew the awful struggle through which Mr Griffiths had passed over this matter. NIT. Griffiths had no desire to escape service. He longed to be able to serve his country, but lie could not do it mialer the military mach.Re and kelp his Conscience clear. Mr J. W. Gunn seems to have been in agree- ment with m over the incident of the police court and the lie v. H. Abraham, but we cer- tainly do not agree with his finding when he objected to the criticism of the Tribunal, on the flimsy ground that the Tribunal was com- posed of men of standing in Newport, who were doing their best in a difficult task. Every Trib- unal that we have known has been composed of these "men of standing" in so far as they have been men with bank books, but we have cer- tainly takl the strongest objection te their sense of duty, which has been to force as many men into khaki as they could; and to their procedure as jurists, with which also they wore all too often making their acquaintance, arnd shaping badly at that. T.,o Rev. H. Abraham was there, however, to defend himself; and he did it in no uncertain fashion. The court incident was too contempt- ible to bother him. and if he had been order- ed to leave the court he would have had great pleaapre in leaving a court so presided over. He lenied that anyone had a,ttacked the Tri- bunal, so that Mr Gunn was merely raising a defonce against nothing. He, too, appears to know nothing about jurisprudence, for we find him stating that he offered to give evidence before the Court-Martial, which he certainly would not have done had he an elementary knowledge of jurisprudence, since he would then have known that only military evidence is taken at a court-martial. However, his heart, too, is in the right place, for he stated em- phatically that when a man like Mr Griffiths- or any other man of his character—was sent to prison for two years, it was a scandal. He said it though he disagreed with Mr Griffiths. He himself had little patience with men who had just discovered their consciences—in which we are at one with him-and was personally will- ing to go out and serve; but he moved the fol- lowing re!solutIOn: That this Council? being profoundly disturbed and dissatisfied with the treatment of men averse to military service, called Conscientious Objectors, desires to call the attention of His Majesty's Government to tSie vital necessity that such men should only be dealt with by "Civil Tribunals, and that the utmost care should be given in providing facili- ties for hearing the only evidence which is ger- mane to such inquiries—that which is directly to the proof of the sincerity of those men who decline on conscientious and religious grounds to render military service." Mr Langmaid seconded, and the resolution was carried unanimously. PONTYPRIDD N U.R. AND PROVISION FOR SOLDIERS The Pontypridd Branch of the National Union of Railwayman have unanimously passed the fol- lowing resolution: That we. the members of the Pontypridd Branch of the National Union of Railwaymen, representing 200 members, oon-j siders the method of providing for our gallant soldiers and sailors, who, having made noble sacrifice for their country, deserve more tangi- ble appreciation and recognition therefrom. We therefore call upon 'the Prime Minister to bring about, as early as possible, ways and means for such financial provision for our soldiers and sailors other than indiscriminate collections, etc."

I The Third Batch. I FOUR MORE ABSENTEES HANDED OVER AT MERTHYR. QUIET REMOVAL BY EARLY TRAIN. Four more 'absentees under the Military Service Act—three of them members of the Mezthyr JS C /v.—were before the Stipendiary and other magistrates at the local Police Court on Tuesday- They were Fred W. Pullisger, Dan Jenkins, Leonard Arrowsmith and Arthur Banks (master painter, Treharris). The first three were arraigned together, and pleaded not guilty to the charge of being- absentees. All three were called up for the 27th of last month Dan J enkinsasked the Military Representa- ttve whether he was certain that he. was not 41, to which a clerk from the local recruiting office replied that Dan was certified as such under the N atiollal Registration Act, and if he had mis- represented his .age on his Registration Form it was not their. fault. The Stipendiary: Do you say you are not under 40?—Defendant: No; I mean to say that last August, when the National Registra- tion was taken, I filled in my form as 40. They have no proof that I am not 41 to-day The Stipendiary: Do you-wish to ,10 witness box ?—No. Frederick William Pullinger said: "I simply deny being an absentee from that which I never joined, and do not agree with." The Stipendiary: The fact of your not res- ponding to that notice makes you an absentee under the Act of Parliament. Defendant: I fail to see that when I had no power in making that Act. in any shape or form. I am not a voter. The Stipendiary It is no use" arguing on thoie lines. The Act of Parliament makes you liable for military service it is no use arguing against an Act of Parliament. Leonard Arrowsmith received his notice in Abertillery, and had since removed to Merthyr. On the copy of the entry in the military books it was stated that Arrowsmith was well known to the Merthyr Police, but the Chief Constable got np and informed the Bench that nothing detrimental to him was known. It was merely that lie was well known personally to the offi- cers. The remark as it stood might be taken the wrong way. Defendant Thank you. Some -difficulty arose •»> x ;# T.- 's ether ri- ant had had the notice proof of service of which had b?ea proved in the other cases. The Military asserted that he had received this notice from the Abertillery Re- cruiting Office, but the Stipendiary asked for specific evidence such as had been given in the previous cases. The matter was concluded by the Stipendiary turning to defendant and ask- ing. "What do you say, Arrowsmith?" I received the notice, sir," said defendant. U What have you to say in answer to the charg-e?" asked the Stipendiary.-—" I do not intend to become a soldier at 3111." The three defendants were ordered to be han- ded over to the military escort, the Stipendiary remarking, I must also impose a fine of 40/- in each case." Arthur Banks, Treharris, a master painter, and well-known B.S.P. Socialist was then char- ged with the same offence. The Treharris Sergeant stated that he had arrested defendant at 7.30, and had taken him to the Police Station :and there charged him with being an absentee, to which Banks had replied, I will tell the Magistrates all I have to say to-morrow." The officer produced a copy of the "Police Gazette/' m which Banks' name and address were given as those of a deserter. Banks asked the Stipendiary to grant him a fortnight in which to finish a contract that he had in hand. "It will take quite that time and then I shall be able to answer the call. Stipendiary: I have no rvower to do that. Asked if he had appealed, Banks replied: "I haven't appealed; I was waiting for the rectifi- cation of the mistake they (the military autho- rities) ha'd made." The Stipendiary: There will be no fine in this case; you will be handed over to the military authorities. This week the escort was present before the sitttng of the court, and the "boys" were re- moved by the 12-40 p.m. to Cardiff.

Newport N. C. Fers. I NINE SOUTH WALIANS SENT TO WORM- WOOD SCRUBBS. Comrades Percy Pope, Albert Rudall, Arthur J. Hewinson, G. Reynolds, Dorian Herbert, J. H. Davies, Trevor C. Griffiths (all of the Newport Independent Labour Party and No- Conscription Fellowship Brancheis), Joseph Shepherd (Pontypridd), and W. T. Jones (Tre- forest) were on Friday removed from Kinmel Park to Wormwood Scrubbs to commence their period of two years' hard labour for "disobey- ing in such a manner as to show wilful defiance of authority a lawful command given personally by his superior officer in the execution of his office." The following is a copy of the "official letter" which has been received'from Arthur Hewinson. The whole form is printed, and all that has to be filled in by the correspondent is the state of health, and the period which must elapse be- fore a letter can be written. In this case the words, "My sentence is two years," were add- ed in writing: — H.M. Prison, Wormwood Scrubbs, June 3rd, 1916. Dear Father,—I am now in this prison, and am in usual health. If I behave well I shall be allowed to write a letter about 7 weeks. time and to receive a reply, but no reply is allowed to this. My sentence is two years. I Signature, ARTHUR HEWINSON. Register No. 350.

EPT HELP TH06E WHO HELP Im YOUR PAPER I

-——————————————— j Tonyrefail Notes. I Allotments. Joking along Gilfach Road or down throtigli. Thomastowii, it is a pleasing sight to see the new allotment gardens, many of which are already in an advanced state of cultivation, and showing a promise of good crops, as a re- ward for the patient and persistent labour of the men and women who have rented the giound. But all is not exactly as it should >e llmre is a rift in the lute; many of the holders are grumbling that the rent charged for the land is a lot too much. Most of the allot- ments are rented at a yearly rental of 1/- per peach, and without doubt this is. in comparison wiith other districts, exceedingly heavy. Just across the mountain, in Brynna, the rate is 4d per perch, and in Caerphilly the best of ground can be had at 3d per perch. What is the rea- son it is so much dearer here in Tonyrefail r Is it because the Council pay an exorbitant rate to the landowner, or do the Council themselves reap the harvest of profit which is gained by this high rate? In cases where the allotment holders have dealt with the landlords them- selves, a much better and more equitabel ag- reement has been made. A man in Coed Ely has an allotment of 1? acres for which he pays the small sum of £ 1 yearly, another at Tylcha "len pays 15s for three-quarters of an aore. I! a perch means aoout ?8 an acre. Whv all this aifierence in the uriœ of land in the same district? I think it would be beneficial to the workers if, instead of trusting to the mercies of the local Council in. these matters—many of wnom are landowners--tliey requested a Gov- ernment official to come here and value the land required for allotments, according to the provisions of the Small Holdings Act. Thev would then get the land valued according to the rent paid by the present holders which averages at less than I I.er acre. Then the worker would get his allotment at a, reasonable rental, instead of Immg tii.e pockets of the landlord with his hard-earned wages. PUblic H oalth Who ever heard of such a thing, in these (days of great scientific knowledge, as an isola- I hon nospual for infectious diseases that doe, i.not possess an ambulance car? Yet this is ap- parently the case at Tonyrefail, where patients are conveyed from their homes to the hospital m a public con Vi- feire for aflx occasion irom funcrai to a wedding. This is a ery ineffectual way of dealing with in- reotious diseases, and needs a remedy. It is not suffiicent to put a mackintosh on the driver for the oecasion, and at the samd time run the risk at having the germs of the disease carried away in the brake, perhaps to be the means of con- taminating Ac next person to hire the con- veyance. Coed Ely Workers Change Hours. A gen,ral meeting of the Coed Ely workmen was held at the Ely Howl on .Friday last It was resolved to change the working hours, ow- iug to the Daylight Saving Bill. The moaning shrtt to start at 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.. and the after- aoon shift 3 to 11 p.m. The District Deleg- ate was also instructed to vote for three days' holidays. It was arso agreed to pay Id levy for 12 weeks to support the Soldiers' and Dependants' Maintenance Fund. Freights as Usual. 'The shipowners are still pursuing the 'erii tenour of their ways,' plundering and robbing the people." A writer in the "Star" points out The freight for maize in 1910 was 12/- per ton; two weeks ago shippers were asking L8 1/s 6d and £9 per ton-an advance of 1,400 and 1,500 per cent. Maize is more plentifrri and cheaper than a year ago, but because of this flagrant robbery it is sold at 52/- a quar- ter, as against 29/- in 1910. Nearly all present- day labour difficulties are caused because of the rise in prices, caused entirely bv the greed and avarice of monopolists and exploiters. When will the public wake up and compel Parlia- ment to take control of these enemies of the country? If the Trades Unionists would eease agitating for more wages and concentrate on a demand for State Ownership and Control of all monopolies, we could very soon put an end to the inflation of prices and consequent robbery of the people. Newman on His Experiences. T. H. Newman, who was recently charged with sedition, and who was in custody for three days read a very interesting paper at a "Pio- neer" Labour League meeting held at Pretoria Road, on his experience and impressions of those three days. Newman is a most sincere and sympathetic person. To report the finer feelings and expressions of his paper would, in these times, seem to a mad world as vain imaginings. He was most amused at the cells at the police stations being most modern and sanitary. This, to the popular mind, seems a paradox, and 1 not characteristic of such places. Another incident that amused him when at Pontypridd was the town clock, which struck every quarter of an hour. This Newman felt very comforting during the isolated hours, whereby he could count the hours of his confinement. He was very surprised to receive such fair treatment from the police, who treated him with every con- sideration. Although he was not much the worse for his experience, he does not recom- mend the place as any kind of resort. I MOUNTAIN ASH G.W.R. TEMPEEANCE UNION MEETING. The usual monthly meeting of the Mountain Ash Branch of the above Union was held on Sunday evening last, when a splendid address was de- livered by Mr D. Rogers on The Talents." The speaker dealt very ably with his subject, classi- fying drink as the destroyer of man's best tal- ents. The following contributed to a miscel- laneous programme: —Recitations—Misses N. Thomas; A. R. Davies—"The Cricket and Ant" and "Drink, Man's Enemy" (in Welsh).; solo, Mr D. Teifi Davies, "Far Away"; organ solo, Mr Tom Powell; duett (violin and organ) Mr D. Symonds and Mr Tom Powell. Five new members were enrolled.