Pioneer

Briton Ferry Notes. I The Epigrams of Mr. Morgan. I Under the auspices of the Briton Ferry I.L.P. a meeting was held on Sunday, -June 3rd, to celebrate the modern miracle—Russia's revolu- tion. As the Public Hall is not now avail- able for such public services, the meeting was held in the Crown Park, and was crowned with success. The speakers were Mr. Harry Davies, Cwmavon, and Mr. I). J. Morgan (Blind Insti- tute), Swansea. Harry, in moving the Leeds re- solution, was in fine form, as he spoke of the hypocrisy of the Government and press in hail- ing the Russian revolution when their own ac- tions were quite contrary to its spirit. Mr. Morgan seconded in a speech finely phrased and well thought out. Some of his sen- tences were rich, such as Lloyd George, the last work of creation"- "Militarism has its headquarters in Potsdam, its hind-quarters in every other counwy." Considering the inclement weather the audi- ence was magnificent, and when the resolutions were put it was carried unanimously. There were about six policemen present" a-taking notes." Some itt plain clothes, others in uniform. I failed to observe "Alec Gordon amid the throng. Perhaps lie was detained—or detaining at Leeds. Councillor Jos. Branch (I.L.P. chairman) pre- sided, and declared we were not out for favours and privileges—but rights. The "Red Flag" terminated a really successful meeting. Obituary. Two of the oldest inhabitants passed away I last week—Mrs. Rees and Mrs. A. Hit-chins. I Sacred Concert. On Sunday, June 3rd, a sacred concert was held at the Ferry Picturedrome. Proceeds were in aid of Mr. W. James (mason) who has been ill for a long period. Well Done Thou Good-" I At Jerusalem Baptist Chapel on Sunday last a wonderful exposition was given by the pastor (Rev. R. Powell) on the eighth chapter of Amos. We were taken back to the ancient profiteers, who longed for the new moon and the sabbath to pass in order that they may sell coin "making the ephah small and the shekel great that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of shoes and sell the refuse of the wheat." Previous to the sermon the? pastor made a statement. It seems that in other churches the King's Economy Proclamation has been read, but in this renegade assembly, from whence C.O.s spring, this ceremony has not taken place. The rev. gentleman referred to the foxes, hounds, racehorses, etc. He declared that econ- omy should start in that department where such creatures were kept and fed, simply for the pur- pose 0!: sport. He felt that in a church where many worked only two and three shifts a week he could not ask men to economise. At the same church—the Christian Endeavour Society on Thursday last had a paper read, which was written by a C.O., who is now a guest of H.M. at Wormwood Scrubbs. The subject was "The Gift of Power" and created a good impi-ession.

Maesteg Notes. Trades Council Meeting. The Maesteg Trades Council held their general meeting on Wednesday last, Mr. E. Barnett presiding. It was decided that the minutes of the previous meeting be not read as the secre- tary was on his holidays and that they be read at the next meeting. Mr. Marsh, N.U.R., acted as secretary pro tem. A motion was brought forward by the I.L.P.: "That the Council send a delegate to the Leeds conference on June 3rd." After a fair discussion it was decided that the Council be represented at the conference, and that Mr. A. G. Jones, I.L.P., be the delegates, and that he support all the resolutions. The chairman read a letter from the Local Government Board re the Cwmfelyn Prent case, which said a lot and yet gave us no informatics. It was decided that the Council watch the- case very closely and that all support necessary be given the tenant. The Council then resumed the discussion upon the Councillors' report, during which Mr. J. B. Phillips, the local organiser, raised the question of the small motor cars plying between Maesteg and Caerau, which, he said, were driven at a speed that was dangerous to the public safety, and stated that one of the cat's running on the Saturday night following the last meeting of the Council knocked over a pram. containing two children whilst turning the corner near Messrs. Norths Navigation Colliery offices, and threw the children out. He said that he had had consider- able experience in driving such cars and stated that lie was of opinion that in granting the licences to such cars the District Council should insert a speed limit clause. After a short dis- cussion it was decided that the councillors pre- sent should bring the matter forward at the District Council meeting, and get a policeman placed on point duty at that corner. Several others supported Mr." Phillips in his statement re driving to the danger of the public. The question of forming a Food Vigilance Committee was also discussed, and it was decided that the Councillors be instructed to raise the matter at the next meeting of the Council and press for the formation of such a committee, and that representatives of the Trades Unions and Co-operative Societies; with some of the local councillors form such committee. It was also resolved that the Trades Council should convene a public meeting one night during the National Baby Week, at which Councillor John Hughes (Caerau) shall give his paper on The Preserva- tion of Child Life." Maesteg I.L.P. Activities. The Maesteg I.L.P. branch held its second open-air meeting on Monday last. Comrade A. G. J-ones took the chair for Councillor Tal Main- waring (Taibach), who was the speaker. The subject was The Policy of the I.L.P." Tal dealt very extensively with the subject and held a very good crowd for upwards of 80 minutes. The audience was very interested and. sympa- thetic. but the clerks at the Bank, outside of wluch the meeting was held, showed their ignor- ance by creating a disturbance inside the Bank by banging of doors and making it impossible to proceed with the meeting, but it did not have the desired effect. If those clerks think that they have nothing to learn from these meetings, that they have nothing in common with the I.L.P. and its mem- bel's, f advise them to listen to one of our speakers, and I am sure their views will be changed, they require a dose of Socialism, and if they take it they will not work for the wages they do to-day. The chairman in his opening remarks referred to the Leeds Conference from which he had just returned, and of the attitude of the Press and of the hotel proprietors in closing the hotels to the delegates, and said that the Conference in spite of the opposition of the capitalists was a great success, made possible by the only people who count after all. The work- ing-class of Leeds were with the conference, and opened their doors to the delegates. The confer- ence was a red letter day in the history of the democratic movement in this country, he said. One more recruit was obtained for the army of Socialism.

Bargoed Notes. iu A Marxian Overture. I On Sunday evening, we settled, at the sugges- tion of our Aberbargoed comrade, into a discus- sion on the need for what lie described as a specially or purely partizan education for the working-classes. This he interpreted as an education essentially in economics (more exactly Marxian economics, or the economic interpreta- tion of history) as it affects the workers. But this, he went on to show, is not as narrow as it seems; for it would seem to be specially true here, that, to know one subject thoroughly, one needs to know something about nearly all other subjects; even bringing in geology. The distri- bution of coal, iron, etc., having much to do with the present war, while, as to war for gold-mines, one need only mention the Boer War. He urged that man arose in sub-tropical regions, not having, at first, the wit to get his living else- where. (True, the earliest civilizations we know of, were in sub-tropical regions; but there are, to-day, savage tribes scattered all over the world, from the equator as far north as man lives.) I don't, myself, know overmuch about the different stages of savagery and barbarism; but I gather that, under savagery, there was "tribal communism," and with barbarism, pri- vate property began to appear together with a ruling class and the State and social equality had to be sacrificed for the time to make pro- gress possible. Then came the great empires, founded on chattel-slavery, whose wars were largely slave-raids; then feudalism, founded on serfdom; then capitalism founded on wage- slavery, and now breaking down. To overthrow a system, he urged, one needed to know how it arose, and so, I suppose, what purpose it served, and how to supersede it. Capitalism was at any rate a reality. The debate, so far as it went, was rather con- fused. I remember Manton Young, while praising the I.L.P. as an educational institution, asked what should we do for Government under the suggested future system; and our Aberbar- goed comrade asked, in effect, whether Govern- ment was indispensable. I quoted Buckle that the early civilizations depended on the cheapness and abundance of food in particular regions, and with primitive methods of agriculture, with con- sequent over-population, and the lavish use of human beings by the rulers to forward their schemes and their whims. Others said something about the light thrown on the rise of the family by Lewis Morgan, who lived long among the Iroquois Indians as one of themselves (like Spencer and Gillen among the natives of Austra- lia), and, among other things, mastered the ins- and-outs of their peculiar and complicated sys- tem of reckoning relationship. It strikes me that, on the economic interpre- j tation of history, wars, etc., were perhaps not so often the work of those in desperate need T9f food, as of those who were already well-o:ft,f'"hüt' coveted more; or of adventurers in search of plunder.

Pontypridd Notes. Alternatives to Socialism. Whit-Sunday evening saw a good muster at the I.L.P. Hall, 86 High-street, when Gordon Jones lectured an "Alternatives to Socialism." David Lewis presided and Comrades E. Williams and Owen Hughes also spoke. "Pionøers" were sold out. The Opening of the Hall. Last Sunday afternoon, June 3rd, the Rhondda Socialist Society visited the Hall, were provided with tea, etc., and thoroughly enjoyed them- selves. In the evening Comrade James Winstone formally opened the Hall, delivering an able lec- ture, the building being crowded out. Four new members were enrolled. Winstone's visit will prove of great benefit to the branch. It Must Go On! Last Friday evening saw the final of the series of lectures by Comrade Williams on Industrial History at the local Labour Exchange, under the C.L.C. It is, however, intended to carry on propaganda meetings during the summer months. A list of speakers is being drawn up, and already successful meetings are being run at the Y nyshir Workman's Hall on Sunday afternoons. A Flood of Welsh. A contingent of Pontypridd J .L.P.ers made the journey to Pontneath Vaughan on Whit-Monday and participated in the Socialist ramble. Ramsay Macdonald was there and proved a convivial companion in visiting the different waterfalls. His power as a walker impressed many. An amusing incident occurred when the party having temporarily lost their way, an irate farmer ap- peared and poured out the vials of his wrath in Welsh at Ramsay, judging him to be the leader. The Member for Leicester appeared helpless and asked Comrade Hughes to explain things in the vernacula ;r it is probably his first time to be silenced in debate.

Port Talbot and District Notes. Raiiwaymen and the Comb-Out. The members of the Port Talbot No. 1 and No. 2 branches of the N.U.R held a. joint meet- ing on Sunday, June 3rd, to consider the pro- posal to release further raiiwaymen for military service. A number of cases were before the meet- ing of men already called up, and reports were received of the negotiations which had already taken place with a view to having the calling- up notices withdrawn. The men employed upon the local railways—P.T.R., R. and S.B. and G.W.R.—are already fully employed, and a con- siderable amount of overtime is being worked owing to the number of men already released. Those remaining are determined not to acquiesce in any further releases, not on account of any deficiency of patriotic feeling, but because any additional responsibilities that might be placed upon them would spell positive insecurity of life and limb to all and sundry. Correspondence was read from neighbouring centres expressing heartv accord with the action taken by the Port Talbot men, and everything points to there being a strong body of opinion favourable to strong action being taken in the matter. The meeting decided that should any more men be taken no more overtime would be worked. A demand was also sent to the E.C. that they take the question up nationally. t.L.P.- Activities. The Taibach I.L.P. made thirteen new mem- bers during last week and there are signs of more coming. Our delegate to the Leeds Conference will pnesent a report at a public meeting on the Gallipoli next Sunday at 2.30 p.m. Messrs. H. Davies (Cwmavon), H. Davies (Taibach) and"T. Mainwaring will also speak.

Isolation of Consumptives. ABERDARE GUARDIAN ADVOCATES COMPULSION. Compulsory institutional treatment of con- sumptives was advocated by Mr. John Prowle, Aberdare, at Saturday's meeting of the Merthyr Board of Guardians when the question of out- door relief to a Troedyrhiw man with a wife and four children arose. Mr. Prowle moved that the man should be asked to come into the in- firmary for tuberculosis treatment and the relief now granted him discontinued. Association with the children would make them liable to contract the disease from the father. The Rev. Llew. M. Williams (Rector of Dow- lais) pleaded for leniency in the case. The wife and children should not suffer by the discontinu- ance of relief for the obstinacy of the man in refusing institutional treatment. Mr. Prowle's motion being withdrawn it was decided on the suggestion of the Rector to con- tinue relief for another two weeks and to ask the'father again, to undergo treatment at the infirmary.

"Disgrace to their Class." Two cases of arrears of out-door relief granted by the Merthyr Guardians during the 1912 coal- strike were before the Stipendiarv (Mr. R. A. Griffith) on Tuesday. The first was that of Charles Court, Gilfach, who owed £ 1 10s., none of which had been paid. His wages were t4 i-d. a week inclusive of a young son's earnings. Mr. Griffith We think it is a scandalous thing a man earning these wages has not paid long ago. The second case was that of Wm. J. Patteson, Ystrad Mynacii, owing 18s. out of the original loan of .£2 5s. His Worship: I am bound to say these people are a disgrace to their class. Payment should have been enforced long ago. Orders for payment forthwith was made in both instances.

C. L.C. League Debate. I BIG EVENT AT ABERAMAN. The crowded state of the Aberaman Institute, Lesser Hall, oil SUFlclavafternóon was an indi- cation of the keen interesfTtaken in the subject to be debated. As the two speakers, Cook and Starr, were in complete agreement upon the truth of the Marxian Theories, the vital import- ance of Industrial Unionism and upon the final end of the State and political government, and as thev both desired to hasten the end of the Capitalist system, the question at stake was one of tactic and not of principle. Was political action of use to the working- class? The rival speeches for and against occu- pied an half-hour each. Then followed a discus- sion which had of necessity to be curtailed. Messrs. Thomas, Tromans, Bowen, Brace, and others took part. Each speake thenhacl a final five iiili:iutes ill to wlin ?f.#f th (, -it had a final five minutes in which to wirier up. When. the chairman, Mr. W. J. Edwards, put the question, the audience showed by its vote that it thought political action could not yet be scrapped. The need of working-class education as an indispen- sable' prelude to successful action of any sort was emphasised, and votes of thanks concluded a profitable meeting.

The Electric Theatre. I am beginning the Electric notice this week on a note of regret, a personal note which I am certain will find an echo in the vast majority of regular Electric patrons. Mr. Gethin, the mana- ger, has left to take up work in connection with the war for which he volunteered some time ago. I am myself almost sorry that Mr. Gethin should have offered his services, since it has meant his loss to us, but I cannot help but admire the spirit that bade him do "his bit" as lie saw it, and sent him from a position congenial to himself j. and made happier still by the appreciation of a staff that knew and appreciated his merits, aad a public that has shown its approval of his man- agement by making the house the most popular in the town. I am glad that the war is almost over, if only for the reason that so many that we have liked will be back with us in their posi- tions. The filming of the Dumb Genius was the big feature during the first three days of the week and a stroke of brilliant management. It was as outstanding, as exciting, and as unusual as that other great picture featuring a monkey —"The Circus of Death. Indeed in many re- spects it superceded that picture. It has done the Electric a lot of good. Sons of Our Em- pire is a fine war film sent out by the official- agency, but I personally prefer a story serial, though I admit I am unorthodox in this. Maid Mad was the best Triangle comedy I have seen x for many days. It was a scream. From Thursday our old friend William -Eamum is back in a characteristic Fox part Hoodiiian Blind." As a story" Hoodman Blind lias«n» peer on the films to-day. It is tense, realistich vividly moving, and unusually impressive. I ac- count it one of the best things at present run- ning through the lantern. "Mary Page," thav glorious mystery serial is beginning to unravel its tangled skein, and is proving even more en- trancing than ever. "Vampire Ambrose" is a. huge laugh that starts from the first flicker of the Triangle, and rises in crescendoes until the sides ache. There are many admirable tit-bits. Î Next week's early programme is to be headed by a Triangle Drama of Secret Sendee and bravery in the German lines, "Shell 43," aptly described by an American reviewer as the" best war story ever shown." Film wars are always- entrancingly romantic, and this is unusually so. An announcement that is'sure to give pleasure is that of the appearance of Billy Merson's comedy The Only Man." Billy was amongst the great- est of British stage fun-merchants, but he is head and shoulders above his cvompetitors in film frolics. There will be the second instalment of Sons of the Empire." A big Fox drama, Theda Barr as the "star," is coming on Thursday, supported by another Billy Merson, "A Spanish Love Spasm," and another Mary Page instalment. Playgoek..

FOOD PRIGES: TIME FOR ACTION. TRADES COUNCIL VIGILANCE COMMITTEE ALL WORKERS in the District are urged to jLA. take their complaints about overcharging, or any contravention of the Food Orders to the nearest of the following — Enoch Jones, S.W.M.F. 73 Gwladys-st., Caeracoa. E. J. Davies, A.S.E., 21 White-st., Dowlais. J. Davies, N.U.R., 11 .Francis-st., Dowlais. T. Hopkins, S.W.M.F., 34 Oouncil-st., Peny- darren. Hy. Evans, Guardian, 1 Brynglas, Penydarren- LI. M. Francis, Councillor, High-st., Penydarrec J. Adkin, Plasterers', 64 Ynysgau, Merthyr. G. Llewellyn, S.W.M.F., 55 Darren View, Mer. H. Davies, S.W.M.F., 78 Ynysgau, Merthyr. W. T. Williams, N.S.A., 10 Rees-st., Merthyr. J. E. Jones, N.U.R., 9 -William-st., Merthyr. A. J. Brobyn, A.S.L.E. & F., 13 Queen's-road, Merthyr. T. Price, I.L.P., 6 Newton-terrace, !]}erth.Vl;. J. R. Jones, S.W.M.F., 84 Heolgerrig. D. Parry, Councillor, 26 George-st., Georgetown. Jno, Williams, S.W.M.F., 9 Pantygelynpn, Heolgerrig. W. J. Francis, S.W.M.F., 28 Brown-st., Pentre- bach. S. Leonard, S.W.M.F., 52 Chapel-st., Abercanaid T. Lew i T. Lewis, S.W.M.F., G Mount Pleasant-street, Troedyrhiw. J. Devonald, S.TV.M..F., 5 Cottrell-st., Aberfan. T. W. Thomas, S.W.M.F., 37 Aberfan-road, Aberfan. W. Williams, S.W.M.F.. Wingfield-st., Aberfan.. S. Garlick, S.W.M.F., 3 Fell-st., Treharris. S. Morgan, Guardian, Treharris. Hugh Williams, S.W.M.F., 13 Windsor Place,, Treharris. J. H. Charles, Councillor, Primrose Cottages, Bed li nog. Evan Jones, S.W.M.F., High-st., Cefn Coed OR ANY OF THE OFFICIALS OF THE TRADES COUNCIL.

The Theatre Royal. The return of the Watson Mill Repertory Com-* pany to the Theatre Royal this week has met with the success that I anticipated; a success due to the excellence of the company's previous work, and the engaging personality of the players who have become such fast favourites' with us—that is with two exceptions that have been much missed this week, Miss Lilian Hall- Davies and Miss Nancy Newell. Mr. Bernard Mervyn, Mr. Arthur Bell and the rest have been, given receptions that have proved conclusively how well they have established themselves in popular favour here. The choice of piece for the opening, The Apple of Eden," by C. Crlton Wallace, seems to have caught on wonderfully well with the audiences, and whilst I feel some- what under its charm, I could not help but think how much better were some of the previous per- formances, when a quieter type of work was done. Still it is the public taste that has to be considered and catered for, and Mr. Watsoll Mill has proved himself willing to do that by viting patrons to write informing him of theif preferences. I should like to write asking for "The Doll's House," by Ibsen, or "Man and Superman," or "Androcles and the Lion," SliavfV but I know that my tastes are not popular and I shan't, nor would I produce them were I Mr. Mill if only a handful asked for them. Next week the company are presenting Nv Ehves' Heaven at the Helm," a new play froi? the pen of this popular and prolific playwright who owes her success chiefly to the fact that she has a motherly woman's touch, that is fragjl?? beautiful in depicting domestic scenes. And am told that in this piece it is even more markc? lv charming than in any of her previous effoi'? If this is true, and the authority is good, tb? there Should be big houses next week at  Royal. I like the houses to be comforta^bly filled, because 1. always feel cheered when I s that happy smile of contentment on Mr. R?" face PLAYC. Oll Printed and published by the National LaJww" Press, Ltd., at the Labour Pioneer Press" Williams Square, Merthyr Tydfil, SATURDAY. JUNE 9th. 1917.