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Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

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Newyddion
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Rhannu

j. From the circumstances in which it is de- stined to b? held. the forthcoming annual ,oonferenoe of the Labour party at Manches. ter will be at once shorn of many of its nor- ??nally characteristic features and invested ^with a new and w der nationa.l importance. ?The main rolutions have already been tabled and they indicate that the principal r?)Ic of discussion will be the position of ?bour, and especially of organised labour, ?n the future which awaits the country after ?hp war; and two problems which naturally r titand forth conspicuously are the questions Ipf the restoration of Trade TTnion conditions jifend privileges a.nd the demobilisation of the j vast armies of industrial workers who have Kjfor the time being exchanged the civilian cc- j ieupations to which ithey must one day re- turn for the gallant/ta sk of' defend in-t their ,country, their homes/ and their women- folk from the Prussian aggressor. Though the voice of the irrepressible i ischief-ma-kers is certain to be heard in the Congress Hall, aud though the pro.Germ."n < minority may he trusted to pull every string f^at can.be made to serve the enemy's inter- ?t&st, we do not th'nk that anvone innide or ?ipu?gide the conference ivI ll pay too much attention to a faction which seeks to make ?p in noise what it ohiously hckR in m.m- .6rs The nation would .rejoice, indeed, if ? tt might be spared these anti-patriotic de- tnonstrations ?t such a tIme. but it will not 'pli-?ta.ke them for an authoritative cT r"pre- ntative expression of the mind of British  ]ab?ur in the ma' Magnificently led throughout the war, British labour has f turned with instinctive patriotism to ii?- rightful cuunsel!ois and suo?e-nten. and we look confidently to t-ii- conference for a pru- dent and bi-,L,a(ini;iirlod handlin? of tli" vei-v » important problems with which it lias to J • ( It is not OUT purpose, however, to attempt in any detail to anticipate the proceedings or de-liberations of the coming Congress. We desire rather to seek in its advent an S appropriate occasion for recalling and rû- viewing some of the fundamental changes which this great war has already wrought in the social and industrial life of the nation. The minds of many men-- aiid particularly of our principal War Ministers and of our Labour Parliaiiie,ilta-riati,are alreadv t.u,ii- ing, very properly, to the .problems of re- construction which victory will bring imme- diKiteK- in its train; and only, perhaps, those who have positively faced these ques- tions in the light of their own personal re- sponsibility have fully realised the depth and extent, of the alterations to which we have alluded. Organised labour in Britain, as the whole country will ever gratefully remember, has willingly made unprecedented sacrifices for the war. It ha? freely consented to set in ebayajice cherished fights and privileges which had only been attained -after years of concentrated effort and agitation. But the changes are not all of a material kind. Moj,-t important, probably, are the changes in outlook, and relationship, and understanding. Above all. we believe that the agony ot this desperate struggle for lie and liberty has made it manifest to j thinking mer; and women of all classes that the whole futue rof the Empire, after the war as during its contnuance, will depend on the establishment and maintenance of an entirely new accord between those old anta- gonists. the representatives of Labou r and of Capital. Concurrently with the sweep- ing aside of valued customs and traditions among the workers, there has taken place a general "scrapping" of old machinery and old methods; and the organisation of in dustrv throughout the country, for all the waste of the war, has undergone a tonic and thorough overhauling. Both parties to the industrial contract must inevitably ap- proach the questions concerned with their future respective rights and duties with a clearer vision and with a vastly accentuated sense of their mutual inter-dependence. Though statesment of foresight and genius have stedfastly laboured for years past to build the foundations of the bridge between employer and employed, the work, up to 1914, the year of destiny, had gone for- ward slowly—and not always forward. Perhaps this terrible struggle with the enemy at the gate was needed to make us Britons first and palftisans afterwards. Certainly no one had dared three years ago to hope to see the edifice as strong as it is to-day. By way of introduction to his appeal to all classes to take a hand in the | Victory Loan, a.s they have in the forma- I'tion and equipment of our armies, Mr. Bonar Law made a characteristic reference to a prospect, which has always inspired his public utterances, and which is now come so much nearer realisation. If we iiiav re- call Mr. Law's own favourite thesis, he' was woiit in the eld days to insist that 'the greatest social problem of our country was to produce a fairer distribution of wealth without drying up the springs of wealth." That is -not,iHMja^vertwas, a party stakes | m^nt. It- is a 'fundamental principle tn- wards which in spirit, the war has already carried us far, and upon whose attainment, iii practice, ti)e future life of the country will depend. We would urge, "wittt due deference, upon -a.ll members of the Labour Conference the vital importance of the ad- vance already made towards the oblitera- i lion of the suicidal ;■ rid unnatural ;ur a- gonisms of the past, and we would eni- phasise with all the force 'at our command the grave responsibility which will rest, whether now or hereafter, upon tho.-e who. for any factious or selfish put pose. try to substitute retrogression for progress: 'u  roc,,ress i on for p ro g l,e"

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