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Keir Hardie Caustic.!

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Keir Hardie Caustic. Present Government and Unemployment. A Word to Rhondda Miners. Mr. Keir Hardie, M.P., addressed a large meeting of Socialists at Tonypandy on Monday evening. The chair was occu- pied by the Rev. J as. IC 0 as, w 0, in opening the proceedings, remarked that at the miners' demonstration that day the Liberals had expressed themselves in fear and trembling lest Welshmen should leave the Liberal Party. He would be very pleased if Mr. William Jones, M.P., were there amongst them that night to see how they could follow leaders who wanted to "ive them the best that was possible in their own country (applause). Mr. Wm. Jones had told them what the Liberal Party had done, but he had forgotten to tell his hearers what they had kept from them (laughter and applause). Mr. Hardie said they had met that evening, not under the auspices of the Labour Party of the House of Commons, but of the Independent Labour Party, which was a Socialist organisation affiliated with the Labour Party, and the object of the I.L.P. now was to make Socialism known to the people. At bye-elections, when there was a Labour candidate, the electors were warned by Liberals not to vote for the Socialist, because, however good his ideal might be, it was a long way from being realised, whereas the Liberals promised immediate practical reform. The President of the Board of Trade had been sneaking that day at Porth (applause from a section of the audience). I wonder," retorted Mr. Hardie, when miners of the Rhondda are going to be loyal to their own party. I wonder when they are going to stop advertising a pushing Liberal statesman and Liberal politician. There are inside the Labour Party enough brains and platform talent to fill the bill at any miners' demonstration (cheers). Continuing, the speaker said that when Mr. Winston Churchill came to Dundee to keep the Labour candidate, out, which he did, by the way, he told the electors that if tney put him in they would get reforms, whereas if they returned the Labour candidate they would have to wait a long time before their ideals were real- ised. Proceeding to criticise juiberal ieiorms, Mr. Hardie said that the last Budget- made provisions for two sets of pensions, One set would come into operation on the 1st of January next year, whilst the other had already been put into operation since the 1st January this year. The pension that bea-an next year was the old ago pension for the poor, whilst the other that had already come into operation was the old age pension for the rich. Lord Cromer's pension began this year. He did not think Lord Cromer was et 70. but when he retired from public service lie received a present of E50,000 down on the nail, which, invested in a, Welsli colliery, would bring him in tl,,56,0 a year for lite (cries of "Shame "). Their pension, which was 5s. a week, would begin when they were 70. That was what was meant as Liberal reform. Dealing with the question of unemploy- ment, the speaker, said that when the people of this country dismissed the last Administration, the Tory Government, and nut in the Liberals, one member of the Cabinet whom the country had dismissed found himself out of a job, or at least out of a salary, and signed a declaration to the effect that it was impossible for him to maintain his position as ex-Cabinet Minister, whereupon the -esent Liberal Government granted Mr. Chaplin the sum of £ 1,200 a year out-of-work pay. What about cue workpeople who were un- employed? asked Mr. Hardie. The Un- employment Bill of the Conservative e Party would expire this year, and so far there was no intention of either re- enacting or improving the Act so as to bring decent work within the reach of every decent workman. The Liberals wanted to give them immediate reform. Was there a reform under the sun more pressing than the finding of work for the unemployed? They were now coming to the end of the summer, and he could take them every night along the Embankment or along the Strand in London, where they would find men, broken and decrepit in appearance, hobbling along between 1 and 2 in the morning. It was bad enough to see the men thus, but behind the men were the women and children. When the winter came on, between eight and ten thousand people were fed by the Sal- vation Army. These poor starvelings1 wandered along the streets without home, without food, and without shelter. Was there reform under heaven so pressing as to find employment for these people P- and their Liberal Government had been in office three years without finding em- ployment for them. Dealing with Socialism and the charge brought against Socialists of being Atheists, the speaker said that Socialism had nothing to do with men's religion. That was a, matter between man and his Maker. What Socialism did was to ap ■ the teaching of Christianity to our indus- trial system. No man living would dare say that Christianity was being put into practice nowadays, and all that Socialists demanded was that Christianity, instead of beine preached one day in the week, should be lived the whole seven days of every week (applause). Socialism was bringing the races and nations of the earth into closer communion one with another, and said to all whom it concerned that the exploitation by one man of an- other was wrong, and that the exploitation of one race by another was wrong, and under Socialism must come to an end (louil applause). Other speakers followed.

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