Welsh Newspapers

Search 15 million Welsh newspaper articles

Hide Articles List

15 articles on this Page

A Municipal Miiiercium.

News
Cite
Share

A Municipal Miiiercium. THE PARADISE OF THE FUTURE. (By Optimist.") It is Christmas, 1930. John Cynon Jones is on a visit to his native Alberdare after 20 years absence. He had to leave the banks of the river which gave him a name, and, like Brown's horse, seek fresh oats and pastures new. When he resided in Cynonland he was, it is Sieged, in the habit of sowing wild oats and seeds of dissension among his fellow miners. Some said that he was afraid of work, but others claimed that they had seen him lying1 down fearlessly by its side. He was, however, a brave man. Courage he possessed in superabundance, and as for danger he never thought of it. lIe would risk his life in the most Perilous of working places, and appeared to be courting disaster and wooing tnj ury. Some of the colliery officials were mean enough to say that John was a com- pensation hunter, and they refused him work. John, therefore, found himself in the ranks of the unemployed. Some well- leaning friends wanted him to avail himself of General Booth's Emigration Scheme. But he was afraid to incur the ^pleasure of his comrades, who looked askance upon that scheme, because it Was not identical with their own. They pel"suaded John to wait until H some- thing would turn up," for he was assured that the next Government would be a Labour Government, in the Cabinet of which there would be an Unemployed Minister. In the meantime he betook himself to singing ballads of his own imposition, for Oynon was a bard of no ftiean merit. He was also a lay preacher with the Wesleyans, and his sermons on Sunday added the fabulous amount of 2s. 6d. per week to his income. His friends organised a cock and hen raffle for his benefit, and he received also the flrooeeds of an art union and a compli- mentary concert. It is rumoured that he would have had a job as assistant orgCtniser of the I.L.P. in South Wales Were it not that the had leanings towards Mabon, was on friendly terms with the Railway Bell, and was not a good sound Socialist. At last, however, something did turn up for our Micawber. The newly-formed Labour Govoernment want- ed an organiser for a newly-established branch of the I.L.P. in the Transvaal, to inculcate the doctrines of independent labour among the Chinese coolies who laboured in the South African com- pounds. John at once became a convert to militant and progressive Socialism, and became a member of the local I.L.P., who furnished him an excellent testi- monial declaring him well-qualified to preach the gospel of I.L.P. itm to the Chinee. He got the Government job and sailed away to commence his COTnpound campaign. As to the rest of his acts and of his ways among the heathen tribes of China behold they are Written in the book of the Kings and Queens of Great Britain. Now Xmas was approaching, and John —r>" rather Mr. Jones, for he now wore a frock-coat and top-hat as a man in the Position of organiser should-was coming home on his first furlough. He was travelling to Aberdare by a. T.V.R. train, and was astonished to note the almost deserted stations and the scarcity of Passengers in the coaches. He overheard two travellers talking about the, dwind- ling dividends of the T.V.E. Then he remembered a text from which he used to Preach in the days when he was hard up. Be sure your sins will find you out." lie mused on the doctrine of retribution, and muttered to himself, "Ah, this is divine vengeance for the sins of the stiff- locked directors of the Taff in the days ot the great strike, and before Taff Vale ^w was annulled." Looking out through the window he saw that the dreams of the Municipal seers of two decades ago had Wn realised, for there was an electric service on the main road, and he learnt from a fellow-passenger that it was a municipal tramway. It covered the whole length of the valley, and, like the Path of glory led to the cemetery. Every village and hamlelt was illumina- W by electric light—municipal of course. lIe was informed also that the District Council had acquired the gas supply, and that there were quite a number of hu- man gas distributors on the Council. Alighting at the station and walking in- to the centre of the town, he. was im- pressed with the reforms that had been fried out. U Sweet 'Berdare" was Rweeter than ever. Avenues of municipal trees. in full foliage, even at Yule-tide, divided Cardiff-street, and imparted syl- Van beauty and inspiring freshness to the Square, where in the light of other days, he had, standing on th inverted soap box, held in a quivering hand the flickering candle of municipal reform. Proceeding to the Park, his eyes fell upon a, real paradise. The island was Morions even in mid-winter, and the Waters of the lake were troubled by ang- lers, who were hooking fish for the muni- cipal fish supply in Sown,for be it under- stood that the municipal waters of Aber- dare yielded fish at every season, of the Yea..r, and the fin market was a peren- nial blessing. Noticing a palatial struc- ture near the roadside, Mr. Jones was in- armed that it was the quondam work- house which Aberdare had erected after ^ffecting a separation from the Merthyr nion. He was told further that the gilding was used now as a. palace for the (!'a-dians who, met there to distri- iite the old age pensions that the Laibotir 0vernment had instituted, and to enter- tain not tramps, but "the gentlemen of the road," who were kind enough to par- take of the hospitality of the Guardians. As a workhouse, the institution was now non existent, for with the improved social conditions of the people; pauperism had become a thing of the past. Notic- ing another huge, and elaborate building he was told that it was the new head- quarters of the local I.L.P. whither the ark had been removed from its old rest- ing place in Cardiff-street, where it had its Qbed-edom for many years. One wing of the building had a tower and stained windows. This was the Labour church where the labour saints assembled on Sundays in throngs, the orthodox churches and chapels being now com- paratively empty. The gospel preached at this temple of worship is, of course, Christian Socialism (revised version). The preacher last Sunday was the Rev. G. H. Bibbings, B.A., who delivered the message of Calvary with inspiring force to a, perspiring congregation, the. edifice being crammed to suffocation. The police dare not interfere with the I.L.P. services now. It is on record that the officer who last attempted to do any- thing of the kind was killed by Mr. Bibbings" sneers. No preacher either dare say a word against the new evangel. The last stand for the old faith was made by the Eev. Cynog Williams, but he found himself at last in the same position as Casabianca. The visitor ob- serves that every barber's pole waves a blood-red flag, which is a sign to the destroying angel of Unionism that the occupant of the toiisorial establishment has conformed with the laws of the local authority and become federated. The non-federationists have all been executed by the municipal hangman with a rope made by trade union labor. Passing one of the' elementary schools, Mr. Jones observed that a. large addition had been made to the building- since he passed that way before. To him it gave- the appearance of a soup kitchen. His memory went back to the great strike of '98, and he began to wonder whether another such calamity had befallen the South Wales coalfield. However, he was scloii reassured on this point. He was told ¡ that no strike, had occurred for years— since the Government had passed the Compulsory Arbitration Act. The kitchens adjoining the schools were built for the feeding of school children who came to school minus breakfast or dinner. Mr. Jones questioned several mothers concerning this innovation, and one and all considered it a God-send. It saved them so much trouble now that their offsprings were fed in schools. Be- sides, it was so nice to think that child- less people had to help maintaining their progeny. Of course, the use of the cane is not allowed in school now, and if any domino or sub-domino dared to brandish such a weapon, the culprit had the right, to appeal to the cook to inflict penalties on the castigato-r with the kitchen poker. No rack-renters exist in Aberdare now. Mr. Jones was somewhat horrified when he was told by a. grim looking local Anarchist that the last rack-renter had been hung with the entrails of the last tyrant capitalist. Drastic evils, he was assured, required drastic remedies. Green Fach had been deleted from the map of Aberdare. Instead of the de- molished slumdom the town has its municipal brick and mortar, which even Park Lane cannot compare with in ele- gance. The new terraces are inhabited by the erstwhile denizens of the slums, but who have all been transfigured and regenerated since they have taken up their abode under the municipal roof- trees. It is rumoured that many of the tenants of Utopia terrace and Council Avenue are sadly in arrears of rent not- withstanding that it is low, but the local authority will not allow prosecution. No bailiff is permitted to set his foot in any of the municipal dewellings. The sages on the Council hold that the distress of destitution should not be met with by the distress of prosecution. The lucky tenants owe these philanthropists a great debt of gratitude—and money. The visitor was somewhat shocked to find that the municipal public-houses were very well patronised, and that drunkenness was apparently as much of a curse as when he denounced it from the lay pulpit in days gone by. A temperance advocate told him that an attempt had been made to place the teaching of temperance in the syllabus of the schools, but that the labour mem- bers protested against it, and obtained instead the teaching of the evils of land- lordism and capitalism. When the tie of the tied houses was broken and when the monopoly of the brewer was no more, the evil of the drink traffic ceased to exist-in their opinion. Mr. Jones was greatly impressed with the new Town Hall of Aberdare, the Capitol of Labour. When the munici- palists monopolised the District Council, the Aberdare Trades Council had no longer any purpose of existence, and there was a voluntary wind uyp. The leading members of the latter found seats on the former, and for the many professional agitators and would-be- organisers in the ranks of the T.C. soft jobs were found in the various depart- ments of the Town Hall. John Cyiion Jones is now sorry that he left Aberdare instead of waiting for the local millennium, for he finds that installing the ideas of Communism at the roots of pig-tails is hard and unremunerative work. —:0:

Llwydcoed .

IThe Dyingi Infidel.-

:&¡ New Post Office at .Mountain…

Advertising

R ADRAN GYMREIG.

LLINELLAU PRIODASOL

Nodion Cymreig.

Y DIWEDDAR MR. DAVID JEFFREYS.

[No title]

--WIT OF THE WEEK." ' -I

C!.",,-,_._ ..."";:¡-'¡",.:,;,¡,;¿""…

61 Hot Lost but gone before.…

Expired in the Pit.

Advertising