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.MIDWIFERY. I

THE WELSH SUMMER SCHOOL. I

THE DEMONSTRATION AT AMMAN-!…

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

THE DEMONSTRATION AT AMMAN- FORD. To the Editor. Amman Valley Chronicle. Sir,—I hope you will allow me a little j space in your valuable paper in order that 1 1 may shed light on a deplorable incident of the demonstration held at Ammanford on Monday. January" 27th. Several sp&akprc on the platform at the Palace Theatre made j statements calculated to foster among the younger element employed in the mines in this district a revolutionary spirit adversely prejudicial to the cause of Labour, and not at all in keeping with the character of Trade j Unions, which are essentially constitutional. This Bolshevist spirit, if it ever got a real hold on Labour, would tend to the destruc- i tion not only of Trades Unionism, but ot society as a whole. These revolutionary ten- dencies must be combated if we are to sue- ceed in our efforts to obtain improved condi- tions of labour and a higher standard of living ■ m the future. By all means let us fight for improved conditions in so far as they can be secured constitutionally and within the borders of an ordered evolution, but it must be borne in mind that singing the Red Flag at the Palace is calculated to do more harm than good to the cause of Labour. Why, with the example of Russia continually before them, anyone can entertain revotionary ideals 1 do not understand. Our Bolsheviks profess a 1 profound admiration for the methods of the Russian revolutionaries and the results they have achieved, but they do not consider what 1 our case would be if we were reduced to the same financial position as that unfortunate j people. The crux of the whole matter lies in the fact that Russia is self-supporting, whereas we are not. That is suiffcient to condemn Bolshevism in the mind of any sane person, but no one ever accused a Bolshevist of being sane. If the value of our currency were reduced abroad as drastically as has i been that of Russia, we would starve in a short time. If the sovereign were worth only a quarter of its face value-which is quite feasible, as without credit money soon be- comes cheap—it would be rather a problem to live, I think. But perhaps we could live on Red Flags and seditious literature. It is easy to preach revolution immediately after a 4b.] good dinner, but distinctly hard to fight for revolutionary principles with an empty feeling under the belt. I have often been told by some of our own- Bolshevists at Ammanford that the majority should rule yet they admire a state of affairs in Russia which allows a minority of 200,000 to impose their will on the huge Russian population. Again, they agitate, so we are told, for freedom of con- 1 science, of speech, and of the Press; yet they exult in the spectacle of an administration in Russia which forbids criticism under pain of the death penalty. They admire a state of affairs in Russia which, while it theoretically j raises the status of the peasant class, denies any status at all to the middle and upper i classes, and aims at their annihilation. Per- j haps their admiration is based on a mis- j ception of the true state of affairs in Russia which is a mighty Empire, and a people with immense possibilities, robbed for ever of the chance of achieving anything towards the i ultimate emancipation of democracy through. out the world on a firm basis of right and' truth. men Labour has been sufficiently educated to emancipate itself from the fetters and shackles of autocracy, then and not before can its emancipation be brought about with safety to all concerned, and the working classes untrammelled by the shackles of indus- < trial despotism and unhindered by exploitation and vested interests may t h en enjoy a fair j share of the fruits of their toil, and in that i day we shall build a social order in which ao room will be found for men who think that by waving a Rea Flag L., iy help to usher in the Millennium. It has been said that the South Walvfi miners are an intelligent body of men." Let us hope that they will always j I t ^lb"jent enough to resist the blandish- ments of the votaries of the Red Flag, and that they always display that common- sense with the posse-sicr,, of which they are creclated in choosing eHveen the road to and national prosperity and the road to red Nrin.-YolLI's, &c., I ONE WHO DEMONSTRATED. 11

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DEMOCRACY v. ANARCHY. I