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WORKMEN'S NOTES. i

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WORKMEN'S NOTES. i REPLY TO SIR HIRAM 15.1 MAXIM. I By WILLIAM BRACE. [Vice-president of the South Wales: Miners' Federation.] Sir Hiram S. Maxim has a nature as ¡ hard as the metal out of which his guns are made. It is, therefore, hopeless to expect from him either courtesy or con- sideration. When he emphasises the fact that he did not make the world I breathe a prayer of thankfulness, for, judging his creative instinct by his doctrines, it would be a world of death and sorrow, without peace, joy, or hope, that would be the result of his handiwork. He may call seers such as John Buskin what he likes, but this nation, with all its short- comings, would, I verily believe, pro-! nounce that John Ruskin was a more valuable asset to the commonwealth than even Sir Hiram Maxim, whose thoughts dwell so lovingly upon dividends, and who considers that the be-all of human exist- ence is profit-earning. When he says that the soul is no factor, instead of proving he is right it simply demonstrates that, with all his ability, he is entirely ignorant of the make-up of human nature. If it would not be harrowing his feelings too much, I should like to present him with a quotation from this great writer and thinker. '"If the servant were an engine of which the motive power was steam, magnetism, gravitation, or any other agent of calculable force," Sir Hiram Maxim's views might be well founded, but as the workman is a creature "whose motive power is a soul, the force of this very peculiar agent as an unknown quantity enters into the political economists' equations without their knowledge and falsifies every one of their results. Incentives to work. The largest quantity of work will not be done by this curious engine for pay or under pressure, or by help of any kind of fuel which may be supplied by the chal- dron. It will be done only when the motive force, that is to say, the will or spirit of the creature, is brought to its greatest strength by its own proper fuel, namely, by the affections." This is as true as the hills. An employer may endeavour to get work done by his employes by watching them and keeping them alwavs on tho move. But does he succeed? I venture to affirm that when workmen are trusted instead of watched they will do infinitely more and better work. Like begets like. Watch workmen, and they will watch you. It may be true to say that some workmen will skulk if not looked after. Is that surprising? The surprise would be if they did not ¡ Under the industrial system practised by some employers. I am far from saying that workmen are all angels; but will Sir Hiram Maxim contend that the industrial system he stands for does not breed in the minds of the workmen that spirit of distrust which is the foundation of the difficulties which he so bc'dly argues are caused by the innate dis .onesty of the working classes? Let him ponder over this problem again and a little more seriously in the light of this proposition. There are many cases where old family servants who had been treated as human beings clung to those families after days of adversity had come upon them, without hope of fee or reward. The same spirit is possessed by the human race to-day, possibly latent more than active but that is in consequence of the mercenary indus- trial system of the age championed by Sir Hiram Maxim and those who think with him. Ruskin's Wealth. The offensive remark that Ruskin frit- tered away his father's money and that he did not make much himself is beneath eontempt. Ruskin was a genius who dedicated his life to teaching a higher standard of morality to this nation and the world. Had he directed his rich talents to money-making he would, doubt- less, have made a fortune. I would ask who is the truer friend to the nation and humanity—the man who makes a huge pile of money through exploiting and sweating the lass fortunate of his fellows, or he, like the noble Britisher Ruskin, who, although dying comparatively poor, left behind him tie ter&WSv&* £ ^pure^ ii^ high-thinking and aSulmg love for his fellow-creatures. Riches are a power like that of electri- city, acting only through inequalities or negations of itself. The force of the guinea you have in your pocket depends wholly on the default of a guinea in your neigh-1 bour's pocket. If he did not want it it would be of no use to you." "Labour Boss"—British and American. Sir Hiram seems to enjoy him-1 self hugely when referring to Trades Unions and the" labour boss." This is such an Americanism that I am moved to ask with bated breath if the great man himself is not an American. How our members must have smiled at the state- ment that they are deprived of their man- hood by being dragooned by their leaders into the Union! Such a wild charge! proves without a shadow of doubt that, | whatever else Sir Hiram Maxim does know, he knows nothing of the constitu- j tion of British Trades Unions, although, he has the assumption of much know- ledge. A British labour leader has no power other than to advise or recommend. He can take no action without instruc- tions from the members 0: his society. To say that the Trades Unions are respon- sible for the present dearth of profitable trade" is simple nonsense, and were it not made by one who poses as an authority would not be worth a moment's notice. Everyone who has given the slightest thought to this question, and who possesses the faintest knowledge of economic science, has no difficulty in cor- rectly diagnosing the chief cause of the present wave of trade depression. The war in South Africa, which, doubtless, meant profitable business for Sir Hiram Maxim, could not mean profitable busi- ness for this nation..€250,000,000 was expended upon that campaign, and if Sir Hiram Maxim thinks that even a wealthy country like Britain can spend this enor- mous sum of money in an unproductive ■undertaking without the trade and com- rasree of that country being severely handicapped, then I am afraid that he is merely a child in these matters. It is all very well to gird at Trades Unions and labour leaders as being responsible for this or that, but the greatest danger to the country lies in men of the type of Sir Hiram Maxim, whose love of wealth iha-8 become the passion of their lives, and who cannot see danger to the common- wealth so long as their own individual interest is served. Plutocracy-a Public Danger. Wealth, which in these days means power, in the hands of peopite whose only thought night alId day is how to aocumu- late mere, although possessing abundance, presents a dairger which will require most careful watching by our statesmen, regardless of party politics, if the welfare of the nation as a whole is to be safe- guardad, To such persons Trades Unions and their leaders are_, anathema maranat&a," because they" give check to their devouring ambition. Studying Sir Hiram Maxim's onslaught with this belief to guide me, the vigour of his attack causes me no astonishment, for it is part of his policy to try to enrage public opinion against the workers and their leaders, upon the principle that attacking others is the best defence for himself and his kind. May I repeat again, as a concludipg sentenoe, that I marvel if the British workers were what Sir Hiram Maxim would have the public believe they are that so much foreign capital should be invested in undertakings controlled and worked by British brains and labour. Sir Hiram requests me to name the firms. Will he deny that this statement is the fact? If he will, I shall be glad to supply him with a list —not that he requires proof, for he must be aware of what is common knowledge; and, therefore, for him to declare by way of answer that he knows that foreign jnoney is entrusted to British bankers and merchants without conceding that it is entrusted to British labour is a shuffling reply.

A GUARANTEED CURE FOR PILES,I

-----DISAPPOINTED LADY.

IWARRANT FOR ,610,049.

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LAMPETER GHOST. »

I A TRIP TO EPSOM. o

MELAMPUS COURT MARTIAL.

A WOMAN IN THE PILLORY.

MYTHICAL MILLION.

---SMART BUSINESS WOMAN.

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IMPERIAL GRANT: APPOINTMENT…

CARDIFF'S STRONG CLAIMS

PUSHING THE CLAIMS OF SWANSEA.

ABERYSTWYTH.

) SAILORS' SPREE AT CARDIFF

.--.-----BORACIC ACID IN MILK,

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