Pioneer

Political Notes. i I I BY F. W. JOWETT, M.P. A* Parliamentary question was addressed to the Pensions Minister last week concerning pensions for soldiers disabled in previous wars. The question touched a very serious in- justice that ought to have been remedied long ago, but although the Government has been re- peatedly appealed to on the matter the appeals have always, on previous occasions, been met by « flat refusal. It is impossible to explaint to the ordinary mind why a man who lost an arm in the Boer War should not receive a disability pen- sion similar in amount to that given to a man who lost an arm in this war ? or, why a Ma totally disabled by disease aggravated by mili- tary service during the Boer War should be de- nied a pension altogether, whilst men disabled under similar circumstances during this war should have one. The Ministerial mind. how- ever—primed by permanent officials—has hither- to been able to make a clear distinction to its own satisfaction between this and previous wars, and could not be moved by appeals whether they were based on the ground of logic or on the ground of common humanity and justice. Mr. Barnes did go a little further in reply to the question addressed to him last week. He said he was consulting his statutory advisers on the subject. Let us hope that the result of his con- sultation will be the complete removal of the grievance to which the question referred. One is constantly being reminded of the mean- ness of the permanent officials in Government Departments by the existences of grievances— often disclosed quite accidentally—concerning the pay of men and women employed in various public offices in which the, great official" Pooh ahs" luxuriously spread themselves. For in- stance, the messengers employed in the Customs and Excise Department were recently granted a war bonus of 4s. a week, but the temporary mes- sengers were only in fact paid sevenpence a day, or at the rate of 3i;. 6d. per week. Presumably the regular messengers are supposed to be paid for a seven days week. In actual practice, how- ever, it must be somewhat exceptional for mes- sengers to be on duty seven days a week—unless messengers are needlessly kept in otherwise empty buildings every Sunday, in which case the matter should be looked into without delay. But temporary messengers are employed and paid by the day, so that the" Pooh Bahs have had to decide the momentous question of the amount of war bonus to be added to each day's pay in their ease. Should the 4s. be divided into portions re- presenting a. seven days' week, or into six por- tions? That was the question they had to de- cide. On a six days' week basis there would be eightpence a day extra to pay. On a seven days' week basis there would be sevenpence a day extra only to pay. The "Pooh Bahs of course decided to reckon as for a seven days' week, and it required a question in Parliament to restore the penny a day thus economised at the expense of the messengers. Doubtless some genius in a public office had been proud of that little saving. Mr. Bonar Law put the extinguisher on the shipowners' agitatioB against the new clause dealing with the excess profits of shipowners in the Finance Bill on Tuesday week. He merely gave his own experience as a shareholder in fifteen different shipping companies managed by seven different owners. The total amount of his investments in these companies was £ 8,110. In 1915 he received £3,624 on his investments and in 1916 he received £ 3,817. A profit of £7,471 on an investment orf RS,110 in two years! This profit was net, that is to say, it was the amount due to him after excess profits tax had been paid. The fifteen companies Wene concerned in tramp steamers only. Mr. Law also added that another shipping company in which he had invested £200, went into liquidation ,and his share of the assets came to over RI,000, and that another company in which he had invested C350 being overbur- dened with capital sent him £ 1,050 as his s hare of the surplus. This information should be ex- ceptionally interesting to working people who cannot make their weekly income stretch out far enough to buy their weekly provisions and pay their household expenses. I have referred to Mr. Bonar Law's profitable investments in shipping companies, particulars respecting which he gave in reply to the ship- owners' attack on the excess profits clause of this year's Finance Bill. It will be remembered that in the new Finance Bill shipowners are de- prived of certain priveleges extended to firms who pay excess profits tax that will enable them to set off future losses against past profits, the effect of which will be in some cases to enable firms to claim repiayment of the tax. A little further comment on the debate in Parliament on this subject is, I think, required. Of course, the shipowners who are members of the House of Commons were all opposed to the change pro- posed in the Finance Bill. One of them, IVflk Holt, distinguished himself by arguing that ship- owners' profits ought to be allowed to increase for the same reason as wages had been advanced. If the value of money had gone down for the wage worker, he said, it had also gone down for the shipowner., It did not seem to occur to Mr. Holt that, so far as the oollosal savings of the shipowners are concerned, the exact contrary effect has been produced by the war, seeing that the surplus profits of shipowners and other pro- fiteers are worth more, and not less, than in ordinary times. Invested in State Loans the shipowners savings will now realise 5i per cent., whereas before the war 3 or 3i per cent. only could be obtained. One member who took part in the debate when the shipowners attacked the new clause dealing with excess profits, gave, on the authority of the Statist, figures comparing total profits of shipowners in 1916 and 1913. According to the Statist shipowners owning ships of the capital value R200,000,000 made 220,000,000 profit in 1913, but in 1916 the same shipowners made a profit of £ 250,000,000. After allowing for the payment of the excess profit tax, amounting to P,115,000,000, there was £ 135,000,000 left for the profiteering shipowners to re-invest at the higher rate of interest then prevailing. And yet, Mr. Holt could see no difference in effect between the decreased purchasing power of wages and the in- creased prices the shipowner has to pay; because he argued on the false assumption that all the profits of shipowners are spent on commodities of one sort or another, as is the case with re- gard to workmen's wages. In addition to Mr. Holt, who is a shipowner as well as a Liberal, Messrs. Lief Jones, J. M. Ro- bertson, Pringle, and Sir J. Walton, all Liberals, took a prominent part in the debate above re- ferred to OJll the shipowners' side. Mr. McKenna also took the shipowners part, although, as an ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer he picked his way among the defenders of the shipowners in such case, but the rest are mare easily ac- counted for as they have hitherto belonged to the ¡ old Manchester School of politicians. In some quarters there is a disposition, to deny that the excess profits tax has had any other effect than that, of raising prices. I quite un der- stand why those who pay the excess profits tax try to convey this impression, but I am at a loss when I hear of Socialists who argue that it is so. The excess profits tax method is not the best method of dealing with profiteering, I admit, but it does compel the profiteers to disgorge part of their plunder, and the belief that prices are raised in order to enable the profiteer to pay the tax without loss to himself must rest, if it is sound, on the theory that profiteers will sell cheaply when they have it within their power to sell dearly. But all we know of the competitive system contradicts this theory, and, moreover, we have the most glaring case of the farmer profiteer to clinch the matter. a The farmer has sot the exepse of the exceas, profits tax for the prices has has been charging to the consumer for his products. He has, nevertheless, taken the fullest possible advan- tage of the public when lie has been in a position to do so. One notorious case has been frequent- ly mentioned of a farmer of 200 acres of land who made an excess profit of £ 10,000 on his po- tatoes as compared with last year. If farmers I were subject to. the excess profits tax 60 per cent. of this amount would have been taken by l the Treasury. Farmers, however, it is said, do not keep books, so they neither pay income tax nor excess profits tax. This is a poor excuse for allowing a section of the community to escape their fvjl share of taxation, and the sooner the excuse is disallowed the better. The real and effective method of preventing profiteering is, of course, for the community to take over all goods and services and end it. This is the measure already adopted in a large mea- sure for army requirements, and if the hay crop can be taken over for the military authorities, the potatoe and other crops could be taken over for the people. In the meantime, however, and whilst the people fail to see what ought to be done, let us do what we can by means »f taxation to get back from the profiteers as much as pos- sible of the profits they extract from the public. Last Friday's debate en the motion to estab- lish a. Finance Committee as an integral part of the Parliamentary system of this country re- sulted in the surrender of the Government to a. demand that had become almost irresistable. The debate was particularly interesting to me, per- sonally, although I was unable to be present..For the last ten years I have. advocated in the Social- ist and Labour press, and in tne House of Com- mons when there has been an opportunity of doing so, the establishment of committee control over all State Departments. At the I.L.P. Conference held at Merthyr, some four years ago, the Party adopted a reso- lution in favour of the system, since when Com- mittee government has been officially included in the Parliamentary policy of the I.L.P. The Parliamentary Labour Group, however, has never shown any interest in the question, and it has at last been forced to the front by the failure of the system of single ministerial con- trol in the present crisis. In the meantime a number of members of the- Labour Group have become Ministers themselves and this has strengthened the ves'Led interests to be overcome before the old system of personal government through bureaucratic officials can be replaced by Committee government. Speaking in the debate, Mr. Wardle supported the proposal to establish a Finance Committee but he added a word of caution against carrying the prmciple too far. This vice of excessive cau- tion has been the c-iii.-str of the Labour Party since its formation. In regard to this particular matter of committee government, for instance, the Labour Party has ignored, all these years, the obvious necessity of providing a mean whereby its members could get into active touch with everv administrative department of State, and now that the old system of single Minister- ial Control and Joint Cabinet responsibility has been found to be an absolute failure in the pre- sent crisis, the Labour Party spokesman pleads for caution! A little bit of the old system he is wilfing to sacrifice but not all of it. A little more power, the public representatives may be allowed to have, but not much!. When, however, Mr. Wardle, in excercising the moderating influence of the Labour Party Ot1 a too headling House of Commons argues that the experience of France should impose restraint on the British Parliament in regard to this re- form, I beg leave to differ from him. So far from this being the case it is an undisputed fact that the French Chamber has been compelled to extend its system of committees since the war began. Prior to the war the organisation of the Army was excluded from the scope of the system Committee Control in France, brut the first few months of the war revealed such a scandalous State of affairs that Committee Control was forced upon the Government by the overwhelm- ing necessity for it. There was a shortage of military equipment so scandalous that the army as a whole was, as a result, crippled and ineffec- tive..From this chaotic condition the institution of Committee Control rescued the French Army and it is not too much to say that but for its committees—however distasteful these may have been to the masterful domineering Briand- France would probably have met with disaster long ago.

Aberaman Colliers and Mesopotamia CALL FOR DISCOVERY OF "REAL I CRIMINALS." I At a general meeting of the Aberaman Col- liery Lodge, representing 1,000 workmen, the case of the Mesopotamia Enquiry Report was discussed. The men unanimously resolved to re- cord their indignation by passing the following resolution: — That this meeting strongly condemns the persons who are responsible for the tragic re- sults as disclosed in the Commissioners' Re- port, and calls upon the Government to give every facility for a further discussion in the House of Commons, so as to find out who are the real Criminals."

KIER HARDIE MEMORIAL FUND. I Merthyr and Dowlais Branch of the Associated 1 Society of Locomotive, Engineers and Firemen, ] 68. 6d. il,

Miners and Peace. i DEMAND FORM MERTHYR AND DOWLAl I MEN. A crowded meeting of miners at the 0 y Rink, Merthyr, on Sunday, presided o0f. e, by Mr. Lewis Jones, passed the t,ii,ng rej«. tion tion: ?That this meeting, representine: ?? thyr and Dowlais Miners, protests in ??.?S' est possible manner against the proposed c j? ing-cut  y ing-out of unc1el'guOU1'1d workmen for 111l'kel'¡; purposes, believing that so long as the w joBg of the nation agree to such processes, ??"Olong will the Government continue the awful s???. ter; and so long will hidden war-lords j! strained to pour away the life of the best  hood of the nation. We therefore call uP° trades unions to demand the Government gotiate for peace at once, Moreover, the c,orob- ing-out of miners is the repudiation b3'the authorities of a contract entered into be^ themselves and the miners and is ii-aligilt the  dangers t<? the liberties of the  the gravest dangers to the libertiof,the ject, and the rights of combination, ?" our fathers saceinced all, even to life It8el. b'" W? therefore pledge ourselves to "e6ist e-ery means and to the uttermost the ?PP1,?j-, tion of the comb-out in the two districts, further, recognising Hat complete success  would only touch the fringe of the probi?".??. instruct our oalcials to plaGe themselves of mediate communication with the Executive^ the S. W .M.F and the district oSciaIs ? the various South Wales districts, with a v'6'vvto evolving a scheme of concerted action blt-'Weeg the vdi iW,,?i-ei-,it units of the S.W.M.F. to offktively counter the operation of the miktar'v conrh"0 (lilt., Mr. John Dnvies, the Dowlais agent, s???t they could now claim a bona-fide collier ° AficU' they could now claim a bona-fid e co l l i er ?t pied in the pits before 1914, but that wa? 13#t, enough-they wanted the war brought to lqv end- Tdris The resolution was proposed b-r 34 ? ldkii Davies, wh# said if other mining parts of Soilti, Wales only had shown the same fight ? i? Merthyr and Dowlais the war would have I ,deJ in six months. He was of the opinion tb3 t if they started the ball rolling to-day there glimmer of hope that South Wales would fWO]ION -(applause)aoo after South Wales at (Renewed applause.) se' On the proposition of Mr. Jno. Davies* $e- cOlded by Mr. E. Roberts, a protest ,ag;\hfj Mr. Havelock Wilson, Capt." Tupper alid he Seamen's UnioB in preventing Megsrs. Ma.cdOd and Jowett proceeding to Russia, wa? pass6 • As a result of the meeting's decisions sg?fy d?trict and lodge secretary in the South Nv, leg Coalfield has received a circular intimating ^u, views embodied in the resolution on the cooti.. out and requesting full discussion by the lvorb?e, men and co-operation shouM their opini'o?? coincident.

Pontypridd Notes. Socialism and Peverty. Despite the weather there was a satisfcp. atttendance last Sunday evening at the }.e9 Hall, Graig Square, when Comrade Owen ITagbe lectured 0; ?SociaJism and Poverty." S?fal' leged panaceas as temperance, single ttxl- gal? tl-nsianism, etc., Iteing criticised. -ALn it1west, ing discussion ensued, Comrades E. J. Wlllo:Si0b Lewis, Cook, Morgan, Oliver Jenkins, and  Jones taking pa?rt. Jesse Humphries pre6? dei- "Pioneers" were sold out. Economics Class. 1-111 The Economics Class at the I.L.P. Hall is  every Monday evening at 7.30, to which aU cordially invited, Comrade Williams being teacher. v Seamen Turned Down. 1 At last Wednesday's meeting of the !Š' Trades Council a communication from the f c; men's Union asking support for their recent jJ, tion re delegates to Petrograd was rejected-

Blaina Notes. Open-Air Work. -A On Thursday last the Blaina I.L.P. conaweD its open-air propaganda. Mn. S. Jones, 1 Blackwood, was the speaker. He gave as >> subject ? Some Lessons Learned from the W\t Syd was in fine form and dealt with his w in an admirable manner, which was greatly j preciated by the large audience gathered rO" Mr. D. Minton, C.C., made an ideal chairi?"' On Saturday evening one of our own 111e:r: hers, Comrade J. Pow?H, took the street-cof?' ef He dealt wi-th his subject in a very able ^iatl p ( „Ae which was Socialism and the I.L P." O010/ Jas. Minton made a very genial ekairi-nan. lections and literature sales at both meet! were good.

The Theatre Royal. The performance of ? ? Jane Shore at -? Theatre Royal, this week, is a superb sta'g?, and meritorious handling of that historic ??,)! piece of dramatic art. The Watson-Mill pany have seldom been called upon to el" b l -bit their most marked power as histrions in a 010 fe delicate and difficult piece of work, and,  usual, when good players handle good plays vv,,tk the assistance of really effective staging* y? calling upon the beat that is in them hasRe- vealed powers beyond even those that we 5t15 have all along sung their praises loudly, hO ^gtJs- pected. "Jane Shore" has lived and boell 1it stantly performed these many years, has merits that transcend those of 99 pef ?-? of the plays that have succeeded it, and Cl'0llj.09  all those years that have passed since its flro production to now, never has it been done??'?{,t? than it is being done this week by Bernard gor, vyn, Miss Gertrude Glanmor, and their porters. I strongly recommend Jane Sh g' to all who are in need of a real enterta?"? between now and Saturday night. Next week the Company have chosen f?T? ? duction an ultra-modern problem play, pl9<Ý Woman Who Did Tell? It is a problem ?V}??y with a marked difference. It is free frolv ?ue dregs that taint too many of these SIIPP 06ed problem plays, and it handles a difficultfi1ø without nauseous mawkishneas, and with  strength that marks it as one of the few P?nf!? tions that will 00 revived by our grandc ptioJJ The moral effects of a play of this desc ? it cannot well be overestimated, well-don? ^^0 is certain to be by this company, it is ??f? powerful than the pulpit, more convincio????oO a scientific lecture, and more easily UP %o  a l s ie0i than a newspaper article. It appe?s ?t same senses that are called into pW ,in jg itØ life, and not to the head alone. Ther.,i strength. PLATUV-