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CARMARTHEN I1 UNDER THE |…
CARMARTHEN I 1 UNDER THE SEAliCH LIGHT Dome, come, and jit you down; you shall not budge, You shall not go, till I set you up a glass c Where you may see the inmost part of you s SHAKJSSPEAB*. t One of the Cardiff papers refers to the ( recent Town Council meeting as a "bear- s garden." Isn't this rather rough on tlte j ? •»# I The Carmarthenshire Education Coin- mittee lias decided not to apprentice any more pupil teachers. The decision comes not a day too soon. For the post of eert;ficated. 1 headmaster at a Council School (salary. £8() I 10s and a house worth £8 10s) there were 19 t fully qualified applicants! At the same time colliers are earning £3 to fA a week. ( t The idea that a fortune is to be made by ( Education is an entirely err vneous one. I j don't suppose many people strive for eduea- tion in order that they may thereby become rich; the few who do usually find that it is a very poor speculation from a. business point of view. Of course, money is not the chief object to :i>e striven after in life: and its ( power is very often grossly over-estimated. The man who follows some honourable caning. and is respected by his fellow-men has after all more influence in the world than he who makes a fortune by some commercial specu- lations. It is no reflection on a man's char- 1 acter that he is rich a man may become rich honestly—in spite of all wild Socialistic talk, which we hear nowadays. It is very doubtful to-day whether wealth is even a means to popularity. The number who toady to a man because he is rich is probably counter- balanced by the numlber who detest him be- cause he is a capitalist. To be a capitalist nowadays is to be the Tmik, Jew, and heretic of the Middle Ages aill rolled into one. «*• This is a highly improper attitude on the part of the people who haven't got much money. After all, a rich man may be a decent fellow. Some of them are very nice people. And undoubtedly a. capitalist is a human beinig—a man and a brother. Yet at the present day, if you want to raise a howl against a man, yon have only to refer to his wealth, and his goose is cooked. He will be hated from that hour—.particularly by those who tried to get rich and failed in the attempt. There was a row in one of the back streets of Carmarthen the other day. One lady called the other everything vile; and the other retorted in the same strain. Finally she taunted her assailant with having £12 in the Post Office. The lady who had stood her ground against the torrent of scurrility threw up the sponge in the face of this terrible charge, and withdrew from the held amidst the hoots of the spectators. This only shows how rich people are detested in every walk of life. The description of Carmarthen by a Llan- elly journalist as a "decaying old townlet" is one which is far more false than even some Carmarthen people are aware. There is an idea amongst many Carmarthen people that the town is going backwards to some extent —because certain industries have disappeared To these people, the official census figures which I quoted last week must have come as a surprise. They are worth repeating. In 1901 the population was 5,548; in 1811, 7,275; in 1821. 8,906; in 1831, 9,955; in 1841, 9,526; in, 1851, 10,462; in 1861, 9,953; in 1871, 10,488; in 1881. 10,512; in 1891, 10,333; im 1901, 10,036. Yon would think to hear some of the remarks made about the importance of Carmarthen in bye-gone days that a century ago it had a population of at least 50,000. And yet as a matter of fact, its ^population a hundred years ago was about half what it is now. One man will tell you about the great number of liatters w hch there used to be in Carmarthen, and there are none now. Another will tell you about the great number of hand-loom weavers which there used to be. There are very few now. Somebody else will tell you that the county families used to keep their town houses here, and they don't do it now. This is the parish pump style of argu- ment. It is about as valualble as the argu- ment of the old lady who kept a little shop on the roadside, and said "Talk of the trade of the country going down it's all blessed nonsense. Why I've sold twice as much pop this summer as I did last season." These arguments are all beside the mark. It does not follow that there are less people working in town because nobody makes men's hlats here. A very large number of Carmar- then men work on the railways; and there was not a single railwayman in Carmarthen in the days of the hatters. There may be fewer hand-loom weavers; but the question is whether the big factories do not account for the employment of as many hands as were ever connected with the weaving industry*. It is quite true that the county families do not keep town houses at Carmarthen now. But there are more good houses in Carmar- then to-day than ever there were. We have heard a good deal lately about Gwynfryn, Uucheldir, Oakfield, and Oastle House. Well, none of the county families ever maintained as fine houses at Carmarthen in the good old days. These houses are <x;cupied; and it would fee no particular benefit to the town if they were town houses of county families instead of (being used as they are now. ••• There is one aspect of the question of which you hear very little—that is hundreds of people who are doing much better than their ] fathers or their predecessors in title used to do. For this there is a very obvious reason. The maddest thing anybody can do—espe- cially if he lives in a small community—is to boast that he is doing well. To begin with, there is the chance of stimulating opposition. Anybody who boasits that they are coining money in their line, wilP rub their eyes one fine to find somebody else starting, < in the same line. This, of course, perfectly] legitimate, although it i.s (lhard lines." ] But there are other rinks whiicli are not even legitimate. A is engaged in a certain ] trade and B in another. A certainly does not carry on his own business on phila n t thropic lines; but he loves B as a brother. 1 He thinks it a great shame that B does not supply the puiblic with his specialities at f cost price instead of trying to make a profit I out of the long suffering public. So A, whilst i carrying on has own business on strictly éotn- ( mereial lines, sell's B's specialities at cost i price to oblige his customers and to prevent f them being fleeced by B. This is ,a very poor policy. Putting all morality aside, it is not wise to beggar your neighbour. If you f divert into yotir pockets profits which might 1 go into his, you are of course the richer by so v much. But if you impoverish your neigh- 1 hour for the mere fun of the thing, you 1 damage yourself in the long run. It is nnrcli r better to have rich neighbours because they 1- will slY be able to spend money with you. < I ( 'ftten, again, there is the class of customer t IVho is so jelaousi of friend that lest c he should enrich that by a penny lie would rather go out of ius way and spend more elsewhere. In every town, there are a few people who try to impoverish evrybody, aid then if they succeeded they would ex- cfain, in indignation that the tcwn was going to the dogs. They would try to make paupers of everybody else; and then they would be surprised that they did not do a roaring trade with these paupers. For these, amongst other reasons, you don't hear much of those who are doing fairly welL The sure way to become rich in a small town is to pretend to be very poor. Nobody will expect you then to subscribe to anything; and nobody will try to give you a "take down" as they would if you tried to "cut a dash." It is a bit unfortunate that there should have been so much discontent at the Yeo- nianry camp at Llandovery at a time when the national need is for an increase in the military forces. There are stories of non" commissioned officers tearing the stripes off their sleeves and vowing that they will never go to camp again and of troopers who have no stripes to tear off saying that, they will send in their resignations. If they mean this to be taken seriously, they are labouring under a great delusion. The members of the Yeomanry—like the Engineers and the Infantry of the Territorial Army—certainly cannot resign when they choose. It is hardly likely that the officers wotu'id insist on retain- ing the services of any man who was really determined not to serve he certainly would not be worth much to the corps. But all the same if any member withdrew without getting a proper discharge, he would be liable to be dealt with as a deserter. The extreme penalty for desertion is—death. is is hardly likely that a deserter would be accommodated with a coffin and a firing party in Guildhall Square in time of peace. There would be articles in all the papers and questions in Parliament, and the Irish members would take advantage of it as an excuse for embarrassing the Government. Such risks could not be run. The deliai- quent, would be brought before the magis- trates. and fined 40 sand costs, and com- pelled to rejoin his company. The attitude of the public with regard to National Defence has changed greatly since the formation of the Old Volunteer Force 50 years ago. It is just fifty years ago since the Emperor Napoleon—or rather a clique of his fire-eating officers-expressed a. deter- mination to come over here and to root out this den of assassins—meaning thereby that they would overrun the country. And the response of the British public was an extra- ordinary one 'according to our present day ideas. They did not hold Empire days, and teach children to wave flags. They did not indulge in wild ,aillegat,ions that all the French dancing masters and barbers were Sipies-as we now hear about the German waiters. In fact, they did not go into a panic at all. They simply enrolled them- selves as Volunteers, and spent all their spare time and their money at the range, and they were quite ready to receive Napoleon and his. friends any time they choose to call. As a matter of fact Napoleon and his best friends did come over here a few years after- wards. They came here as refugees, because they had lost their jobs and they were in such a hurry to leave their last place that they never had time to pack their luggage. In those days when a, man joined a, Volun- teer Corps he had to pay his subscription just as lie would on joining a Cricket Club. In many oases a wealthy landowner found the money 'but in the cities the members each paid their "wliack." Now if people are asked to join the Territorials, they ask first of all how much the pay is and they are pre- pared to consider the matter if the employer is ready to spring an advance of 40 per cent., not counting overtime. We shaH never get our defensive forces on a proper basis until we make it a National Duty for every man to sere e his country in the Army, just as it is his duty now to serve on a jury when called upon. The trouble arose with the Yeomanry be- cause of the difference in pay. During the Boer war the men were enrolled at 5s 6d a I day, out of which they had to pay certain deductions for rations. Latterly the rate of pay has been altered, and the men get Is 2d a day and all found—or nearly all at any rate. As a result there were some yeomen in the Camp at Llandovery who received less than half what the others received. Those who joined under the old conditions were paid at the old rate, and those who joined under the new conditions, had to take what they got. It was a modern version of the parable of the labourers in the vineyard. The W ar Office might say "Friend didst thou not agree with me for Is 2d?" but the Yeomen cannot see the force of the argument at all. If some members of a jury were paid twice as much as others there would trouble too, and far more tha.n if nobody got a penny. People frequently do not resent injustice if it is an injustice all round. For instance, nobody is allowed to preach or conduct a re- ligious service in Carmarthen Park. No re- ligious body resents this as an iaijustice. This is "religious equality" if it is not "religions liberty," But if one particular religious body were allowed the privilege of preaching in the Park, or all Mertc allowed with only one exception, there wohikl a grievance created immediately—which those who were denied the privilege then do not feel now be- cause others are denied it equally. If every- body in the country lived on bread and butter and tea nobody would feel it a hardship > but those who have to- do so now feel it a great hardship when they see beefsteaks and legs of mutton knocking about. • I feel that- I am taking a considerable risk in referring to the question of the re-assess- ment of the Borough again. Ninety-nine per cent of the population of the Ancient Borough is entirely sick of the whole business and are so exasperated at the very mention of the assessment that they want to throw half a brick at the who mentions it. With the remaining one per cent, of the popu lat:on there is an equally great risk. They are divided into two sections who agree upon nothing at aM. You cannot make a single statment, but somebody will prove that you are hopelessly wrong, -and that YOIU have motive in saying so. If for the sake of ar- gument you agree with d other side, the first lot prove that you are absolutely inca- paible of managing your own affairs, and that it is high time your relation" took you for a change of air If you say nothing at nil about it, they both conclude that you need an eye kept on you. Perhaps it would not be a bad place to go for a three months tour on the Continent. By the time one got back the whole thing would have blown over, and everybody would have foil-gotten all about Assessment. That is a way which pulblfc agitators have. It is not so long since the Education controversy was the great pivot on which our nmnciipal life turned. One-half of the public were quite convinced that country would go to the dogs and the Empire would be mined, ex- oept the children had dogmatic religious L teaching, and the other half were equally as convinced that the fiires of Smitlifield would be ,reiiglited if any dogmas were tatiglit. And now the candidates on either side do not refer to the subject of Education in their addressess. The Assessment Question will go the same way. If anything is to be done in the matter, it had better be done quickly. In three months time, nobody will want to be worried with it. At the present time a petition to the Local Government Board is being promoted asking that authority to take steps to hold an en- quiry with the view of having an independent valuer appointed. The usual practice of the Local Government Board is to send such peti- turns to the local authority and to ask them for their "observations" on the subject. When the Town Council is asked to do so, its dbservation probably will be that it has deci- ded to take the matter hl1 hand, and that a re- valuation is 'being made. The Local Govern- ment Board" has comparatively little powef over local authorities. It can only call on them to do their duty when they shirk it. It certainly cannot override the decision of the Council on a matter of opinion. Now that the controversy is about over, it may perhaps be as web; to point out that both sides were perhaps wrong to a very large extent. The Town Council has little to do with the valua- tion of the Borough. That lies with the over- seers. The remedy of the Town Council, if the overseers do not do their duty, is to turn them out next year and appoint four ethers. But as a matter otf fact, the Council decided to pass a vote of confidence in the overseers. The great utility of the discussion .has been to ventilate the inequalities which have existed. existed. One day last week, the writer of the "Welsh Gossip" column in the "South Wales Daily News" quoted a bit of a whopper from the lucubrations of a rather ill-tempered Llanelly journalist to the effect that Carmar- then "was a sleepy, decaying old townlet," and a lot more of the same stuff equally as true. It was quoted with a comment, to the effect that this is how the Carmarthenshire towns love each other. One might as well quote an attack on the King from some Anarchist organ as a specimen of how the King and the Anarchists love each other! The whole feud is on the other side as it happens. Well the writer of "Welsh Gossip" has evidently read "Carmarthen Under the Searchlight." I am glad of that. I always like to know that my contributions are read by ,people of ability; that makes me very particular. On: Tuesday, the writer of the "Welsh Gossip" had another anti-Carmar- then note. This t,ime it was as follows "Carmarthen is one of the few towns in Scuth Wales that is making no progress. In 1831 its population wa,5 9,955, and 70 years afterwards—the date of the last census—it had increased by 81, a fraction over one a year. It is very strange that the writer of that note should have studied the figures quoted by me so carefully, and' should have extracted those for 1831. If he had taken 1801, lie would have found that the population of Car- marthen had increased by 5,000 in a century, or at th irate of 50 a year. Had lie taken 1851, he would have found that it had in- creased about 1,000 n 40 years-25 a year. But he hits on the year 1831. Why? How- ever, as this is a long way from being a "sleepy decaying old townlet," There are many county towns which have shrunk to half their population within the same period. One can understand the persistent efforts of a certain clique in Llanelly to belittle Car- marthen so persistently. Possibl'y, somebody has a fine house to sell for Judge's Lodgings. But we expect something better of "Welsh Gossip" in a great Cardiff daily paper. I'm half inclined to say something nasty; but as Mr Vincent Crummies says it's wonderful how the papers get hold of these things. Let us hope that they'll get hold of something which will' be in favour of Carmarthen one of these days. ALETHEIA. -6,
The Carmarthen Pulpit.
The Carmarthen Pulpit. IHE REV WALDO LEWIS AT PENUEL. The anniversary services in connection with Penuel Sunday School were held on Sunday last. The Rev Waldo Lewis, B.A., the pastor, preached at the three services. In the afternon, Mr Lewis preached an English sermon, taking as his text Matthew V., I., "Be ye perfect even as your father which is in Heaven is perfect." This (said the preacher) was the summing up of the Sermon on the Mount. He did not know that the Sermon on the Mount had had its due place in our Christian life and thought. It is tlie King's Speech of Christianity, the grea,t introduction to a spiritual campaign. In more senses than one, it was too often the Sermon on the Mount. We often treat it as something above pur heads, something which we hope to reaJCh soml. day, but in the mean- time we are content to live in the Plain. He had once heard of a lady who said that the Sermon on the Mount was not quite orthodox because there was so much in it about doing. There was a hymn which used to be sung in some Kngfish churches and in it occurred the lines- "Doing is a dadty thing Doing ends in death. But that was eerfcaindy not the doctrine of Christ said "He that hearyth hese my words and doeth them." He did not wish to say a. word about the true doctrine of Justifi- cation by Faith. But there was a oa,ricature of it taught sometimes which made people say that it i; as not necessary to be pui-e and holy; they say that f-"hri,,t will be righteous for us, and that His righteousness will be looked upon. Jesus Christ demanded real and jiersonal righteousness fiom all men. When IJu said "Be pure" lie meant it. When he said "Be holy" ne m^ant it, No amount of intellectual jugglery or subtlety pun gc, t away from it.. He (Mr Lewis) did not be- lieve that Pigul h.d ever taught that the righteousness of Cliri&i, would jbe takpn in place of ours. But even if thought rightly fthait Paul taught that, we must follow Jesus Christ. It is perfectly clear to all men that Jesus Christ required his followers to be virtuous and holy in reality and 4t in any fictitious way, They remembered how the old musty scroll of tile Ivaw was found in the Temple and brought out and i-e^d to tlie people. A new life went through the nation and they became strengthened mentally and spiritually once more. Something of that kind must happen in connection with our -hristian religion. The simple teaching of Jesus Christ had bp.en too often overlaid by I traditions and commentaries- and #j;egeses; these cobweds and dust had hidden the true teaching of Jesus Christ. We are not chil- dren of the devil; let that, lie be nailed to the counter. We are not the children of wrath. 'rhrl3 never was a man who was the child of the Devil unless he 4old himself to the Devil. Jesus Christ never taught the total depravity of the race. Theologians have tauiglit it,. rf'!¡k'l"e was a good deal of cant in the talk of those who said that they were full of sin. Men who spoke like' that inside the chapel would object very much to any such statements being made about them outside. if we (lid not believe that we were vife and full of sin, we ought not to say so. There are many expressions in the Bible, such as ill was formed in, iniquity" and "Oh wretched man that I am. These were true as expressions of the feelings of individuals at the time; but they were not true a-s a philosophical statement of the condition of the whole human race. We are the children I of God. Rank has its obligations. Noblesse oblige. You cannot be a member of the nobility and act in, an ignoble way. There are two dangers. One is the danger of the Pharisee The Pharisee was not necessarily a. hypocrite. He was true to his ideal; the error was that his ideal was too low. The man who gave up drinking or any other vice and stood exulting over his victory instead of climbing upwards might fall into Spiritual Pride which is the most deadly of all sins. And there is the other danger of seeing a noble ideal, and realising its possibilities, but being content to remain where we are. We must not sit down aimlessly in an easy chair of religion Our religious life is not a race to a certain, point at which we stop. We must keep on and on.
THE REV GWILYM DAVIES AT THE…
THE REV GWILYM DAVIES AT THE THE ENGLISH BAPTIST CHURCH. The Rev Gwilym Davies, B. A., pastor, preached at the English Baptist Church on Sunday on the subject of "The Prodigal's Brother." He took as his text Luke XV, 29 and 30. He said that it was only the narrow minded man who could dogm a tise as to the meaning of a text and say "It means just this." You may formulate a theory as to what this text means to-day; and six months hence you will have to confess that that theory does not- hold. It is said that the violin comes nearest to the human voice in its capacity for expression, and that the strings respont to the mood o fthe player. It was so with this text. We have played upon it scores of times and the music never will be exhausted until we cease to hear and feel. H did not know a more pathetic sight than that of an old man dying, a man whose lifo has been a "siuccess," a man who has stocks and shares and lands and houses, and yet rqpeats the Pridogal's cry "I perish with hunger." Many a younig fellow has gone from a sweet pure home to the City to make a mark, and the ma;rk he has made is that he has gone to the deepest pit. He can say "I perish with hunger." Some say that the Elder Brother is a type of the proud bigotted Pharisee; some say that he is the type of the narraw-minedd man whom Christ hated. This pairable was spoken on the night of a supper which Matthew gave not to the re- spectable religionists but to publicans and sinners. Luke was invited. He perhaps carried the message "Why are you amongst such company?" Christ limns on the 'can- vass the Lost. Piece of Silver, the Lost Sheep, and the Prodigal Son, and opens his eyes to a new truth. A man may often call at your lionise and may be very pleasant. But he is only an, acquaintance; there is an invisible barrier between you. You cannot take him to your heart and confidence. Is it not possible in the Church of God to be all most in the inner circle, and the relation between you and your Lord one which never ripens into fellowship. The worst thing that could be said of the Elder Brother was that he could never look on a day in his father's service with joy. The man who works for wages or I for ambition, or to be seen and heard will find his reward when it somes like that of the elder brother full of disappointment and bitterness. There is another side to the Prodigal's Brother. He makes a very proper protest. He appeals to justice and an appeal to justice is never popular. He asks "Is it right that it should go forth that the high I road to the father s favour is by way of pigs and harlots? He had kept his home together, and he appeals for justice. The Prodigal had his feast and his merrment; but at the feast there was a spectre; there Was the spectre of a husk which would follow him to the day of his death. We see the Prodigal's Brother at the worst in his objection to stretch out a helping hand to those who have been weaker than ourselves. We must, as Churches, render first aid to those who had been wounded in the Wars of Life. The preacher said that he had known a student at Oxford a cynic and an agnostic, who had given up his holiday to work in the slums of London. He was a type—agnostic though he was-of the Prodigal's Great Brother who came to die in order that the Prodigal might be saved.
Labour Meeting at Kidwelly.
Labour Meeting at Kidwelly. ADDRESS BY MR BEN TIL LETT. A well, attended meeting was held in the Town Hall on Saturday last at 7 p.m., when and address was given by Mr Ben Tillett, secretary of the Dockers' Union. Mr Dd. Rowlands presided, and he was supported on the platform by Mr Tillett, Mr W. Pugh, and Mr D. F. Griffiths, Llanelly. The vhairm^n in opening the proceedings expressed his pleasure in being present to hear one of the finest leaders of the Laibour Party, who had risen from the ranks, and whoso record was one of which any man might be proud, From what he had done in the past they could trust him, if his life was spared, to fight many battles in the future. Mr Tillett's health had unfortunately, failed ,and he had had to leave the country for the benefit of the better air of other countries. He had returned greatly benefitted, and he had lost, no time in paying Kidwelly a visit. On behalf of the town he trusted they would give him the best welcome. They were proud of him for having done his best for Labour generally. It was their duty to support the aims of those who were engaged in 'raising theirs. (Mr Tillett had he so desired might have left the Labour party long since, but he had been true to his principles and the great cause (applause). Mr PlJglr was pleased to be present on this his first public meeting at Kidwelly. He hoped it would not be his last. Before he was placed in the official position he to-day occupied he had never dreamt of its import- ance, He had been brought face to face with tlia real difficulties which confronted their leaders. Outsiders thought they could do the work better than those in office, but ho had altered his opinion. With their assistance he would do his best. He would not inflict a speech oil them—they were anxous to hear Mr Tillett—but he would just refer to the danger of the p-osirbion in the industrial world There was the possible lock-out in the coal- field and a threatened dispute in the tin- plate industry. They knpw whpre they were now, but if they embarked in a strike no one could teH what would be their position. A few years ago the tinplaters were wording at a figure far lbelow the '74 list. To-day, the prices were higher than the list. An import- ant gentleman in the tinplate world had told him that they could never have been so suc- cesful had it not íbeen fOf the Conciliation Board. Whih*, during the past 18 months there had W&n depression in most, industries in Great Britain and oil, the Continent, the tinplate industry had escaped. A good many people were of the opinion that this was due to the good feeling existing between the employers and employees. He hoped it was so. Every man woi+ld pray for the arrival of that great day, of which poets had sung, when "Hard times come again no more." They as workmen should use the present machinery to bring about improved condi- tions, 'but he would urgp them all to give of their best so that the works would give the best results (applause). IJe moved that this meeting of Kidwely worikmen hereby pledges themselves io fhe principle of Trade Union- ism and all working clafis orgaaiis^tion^ pro- moting the economic and social interests of the toilers. Mr ift. F. Griffiths seconded. He hoped the meeting -.Woulq do something to promote the unity and .real unionism of workers. Spufgeon hd said "When church and church quarrel the d»vil ckps his hands." He would vary it and say that when the workers quar- relled other devils clapped their hands (laugh ter). Division was the success of the devils in that sense. They had no quarrel with em- ployers per se, nor with capital per se. If there v. a*, lijcik of progress it was due to the workers themselves. 'l'hosti who wRre most strongly opposed to the liberation of the slaves in America were the slaves themselves. He trusted that a meeting of this character would stir up the workers to a state of being divinely discontented, and woujd tgacli them to think more of tiiemsejves. jn tiorseiuoti he had addressed a meeting, and had been interrupted by a niasty sort of working man who wo^ld shout that he was "only?' a work- ing man. Why this ;?only"? As Hllry George said a working man and a poor man were synonymous terms. His advice to those who wished to be rich in the financial sense was '-Don't vor'l;" (laughter). SPEECH BY MR BEN TILLETT. rlfTiUett who was Teceived with loud applause, commenced with "Mr Chairman and Brothers,11 and peierrad to a visit he had I jurt paid to the Old Oastle, where nature had been kind and did all she could to hide ail kinds of ugliness with the green foliage. Many tides had flowed since that old building was erected, and many would again flow before it would- be finally demolished. He coulld picture the Barons in the old days living in that stately old structure. What a taol-e could the walls unfold of jestlings, of love makings, of murderings, etc., and what a scene of bustle had there been with the shrill clarion notes, the -armed men, the lances, the arrows, and other means of war- fare. These castles had played an important part in the history of the nation. Those were times when human labour was property in a different sense from what it was now. Then the workers were serfs or slaves, and had to be maintaiued by the Baron, whether sleeping or waking. Now the worker is paid for the service he renders his master—so many hours, so many days, etc. The exact time of beginning and ending, his work is taken. He is employed to make profit. When his service ends he is cast aside to starve and die. His home may be broken up, and wife and children may have to suffer untold hardships. In the olden days, when there was no fighting to be done, the men were engaged in some peaceful pursuits. The Baro,ns kept the 'best physical type of men, who were maintained as the horse is main- tained to-day. The horse was of more con- sequence to the empl'oyer than was the man. Slavery had been, abolished, but in its place there existed a more sinister form of slavery. If the owner did not look after the horse, it would die, and there was no moral or legal obligation on his part to look after his wel- fare (applause). The workman could starve or die. Though the retainers of the old barons were paid no wa'ges, they were not so badly off, as everything was provided them, and there was no starvation. He (the speaker) felt sure the wives of the working- men would ,not grumble at an arrangement ullider which they were supplied with all they needed (laughter and applause). The other day he discussed the matter of the earnings of the workman with a person who would one day be a duke, and who thought a man might save cut of a wage of j61 a week. He put the question to him Could you keep a family on JE1 a, week ? No doubt he was considered a very imipudentfeillow for asking such a ques- tion to such an exalted person, but he pressed it, and worked it out himself as follows:—Rent 4s, food 12s, then there were clothes and he could save the rest (laughter). The fact of it seemed to be that no man could become rich by working for himself, nor by working for another. The only way to do it was to get others to work for him (applause). The wealth creators did not hold the wealth created. They did not own land, railways, means of transit or of trans- portation, churches gaols, the army or navy, etc., and having none of these they stood in their skins, and all. they had to do was to sell their energy in the best market. Thev could not compete with cattle. The system" under which the products of a locality were ex- changed by the peopPe living in a district had changed. Instead of staying at home and taking his goods to sell he now goes to the factory where he is regulated by the em- ployer. And he takes his service on his hind legs early every morning. In the North even, the wife and children join the husband, and the streets of the town resound with the clatter of the toilers as they make their way, n/Ke cavalry, to the factory. Unless they arrive at the tick of the clock, they are sacked or lose a quarter (lalughter). So a hurried breakfa-st has to be taken, then comes work. then home, then tea, then bed (laughter), and so on day after day with Sun- day's rest sometimes intervening. Man, who was a morally developed, a spiritually beauti- ful Ibeing, intelligent and wise, was expected to do nothing else but work (applause). The workman was too prone to describe him- self as merely a workman. The man who apologised for being a worker M as a slave in has heart a craven, a flunkev! It should be his proud boast (applause). The hands that built that Castle, and that built Kidwelly, Swansea, and the great towns was the same iasi theifrs. Merely a workman! Talk of miracles. The turning of the water into wine was no more marvellous than the miracles performed by such hands as theirs. Their hands worked the materials and moulded them and shaped them into the cities and towns of the world. Their hands built the railways, gathered the metals and wrestled with the elements. Wonderful hands (loud applause). There were people whose greatest boast was that they never worked. Says one of these "Oh! I have never worked my father never worked my mother's father never worked" (laughter), and so. on. These were the idlers and para- sites of Society—the aristocrats. If one of the workers is idle, he is a criminal and is sent to gaol or the workhouse. One thief loafer calls himself a gentleman, the other merely a working man. Why the steamships and every other-'great work were the result of human labour. The wonders of the Arabian Nights were not more wonderful than those created by the Magi of labour. The marvellous genius had conquered mountains, oceans, ay, and the world, but not itself. He had come there to organise the workers, and to get them to realise their faculties and sense of right, to make them recognise a reli- gious sense of their duty to their own class and children. The liberty of attending that meeting that night had been wrung for them- by their fathers, who had endured imprison- ment, bludgeoning, and even the gallows for demanding freedom of speech. As their fathers had made sacrifices for them so they ought to make sacrifices for their children. A child on his father's back can see things his father cannot see. So one generation should eaiiTry the succeeding one on its back so that the next, should have a better exist- ence, something 'better than slavery and black sweating toil (applause). The Trades Unions represented the accumulated effi- ciency of other men gileater than themselves. The nobility and energy of the pioneers were gro,i.t, Some men would not sacrifice 3d to gain a Is. They were more stupid than donkeys, who certainly would, if they under- stood, not mind losing three carrots if they could get 12 in return (laughter). A man's missus would be on his track all day if she could get 3!d for every 3d she could find (laughter). Although the labour organisa- tions had been instrumental in adding mil- lions1 of pounds to the workers- wages, some men were too mean to join a, Union. He believed that some men were so terribly mean that they would be glad to grow warts on their necks in order to save studs (iaugh- ter). The same olass would, if 3d were charged for admission to Heaven, siiuak round Peter to get in on the cheap (laughter and applause). They must realise their obli- gations to themselves and their fello" work- men. Capitalists had organised and Unions of workers followed. In the ea,Plv days there were several, organisations; to-day the ten- dency was in the direction of national and international organizations. The speaker re- ferred to the disappearance of the small trader aind the e-stalblishment of big concerns and to the absorbing of the smaller by the larger banks. Coin did not represent wealth. No capitalist would swop the earth for £ 4()0,()(;(J,()0{). Coin was simply a means of exchange, such as bricks might have been, Fancy a Rothchikl carrying P-50,000,000 worth of brick-dust about with him (laugh- ter). He (the speaker) was an advocate of advanced socialism; of revolutionary social- ism in the sense that he desired the whole condition of society turned topsy-turvy. Instead of the community being owned by a few, the community should own themselves Less than 12 Pei-soiis owned moire than a third of the land. If they all died that night they would not cover the earth. Thov also owned the workers. True they did not make prisons of their homes, chain them up, or force them by soldiers. They knew they would come to work. They had to, or they would starve and die. The means of Jiving should belong to the community and nation, i-rad&s Unions like Capitalist Unions looked after the interests of their members. They, like the employers, would get as much as they could. There was class antagonism. From an economic standpoint they were en- gaged in a class war, awl the results wara more important than those wluci; resulted on the battlefield. Trades Unions were a scien- tific form of protecting the rights of "workers. The conditions of civilization were such that oÍlIv 1 iu 100 lived to 70 years of age, and they the surviVors were given 5s a week for the cheek of having lived so long (laughter). Mr Chaplain, who was a crusted old Tory, was aghast at giving poor people 5s a week at ML It was teaching the working classes to be thriftless'. Chaplain was no joker he was too ponderous for that. And who was he that lie should begrudge the worker his pen- sion f He had a fortune of a quar- ter of a miJlioin and had lived luxuriously all his life. He had spent his money on what they would call "lbooze," but what he would term ivine, and horse racing. He now en- joyed an old age pension of £ 1,200. Ungrate- ful brute! (laughter) But their class were not made in God's mml, image like Chaplain's class, who were of the elect and quite a dis- tinct type from the mere working classes. He wished the Lord would take all the capitalists to heaven to-night. It would be a freer and a happier world. -If they took their money with them he feared it would not stand the climate (loud laughter and ap- plause). It was their duty as men to realise their own worth. Whetn. a man walked the streets lie should remember that they had been laid by his mates, and that the machi- nery, etc., had been made by the hands of his own class. The buildings on every side were monuments to his class. As he walked along with proud steps he should be inspired by the thoughts "My class built all these. my mighty ci/ass, my mightly labouring class" (applause) He should realise that, he is a man. He should not say "Please, sir," for being allowed to live. Why his class made the trains and conducted them in safety through the land. And he was wanted in the Unions. Employers might be in competition with each other, but they all combined against labour. It ""aiSl inevitable that it should be so. Sometimes it w,as said that skilled labour could always command high prices. Never was there a greater fallacy. In the fine lace trade, the manufacture of which necessitated the highest, possible skill, the workers were miserably paid, while in the coarser trade good wages were secured. The fine lace, which the Lady V-ere de Vere took such pride in displaying on her aristocratic shoulders, was made with blood. Its production brought at an early age dimness of sight to the toiler, and well might the article be likened to a funeral shroud. The best broad cloth, which required in its nianufactuire the most 'highly skilled labour, w-as made by men whose wages barely allowed them to live, while the <:> artizans who produced shoddy goods in Yorkshire were far better off. And why? The answer applied to both cases. Wages were low where labour was not or- ganised, and high where men had combined. It was not a matter of skill, but of organisat- tion. The difference between the treatment accorded by a capitalist to a representative of the seller off material commodities, and that to a, representative of* labour was humorously dealt with. In the former case it was a very agreeable meeting ending up with a whiskey and cigars; while in the lat- ter it was cold and ending with a request to the labour man to clear out of the office. "This I do" continued Mr Tillet, "and out go the men with me" (laughter). "They some- times come out when I don't want them to" (laughter). In the second interview there is an altered tone in the greeting and a settle- ment is generally effected. But the repre- sntative of labour Is not given a blessing. The capitalist does not wish him in heaven. The man who endeavoured to obtain for labour its proper value was termed an agita- tor. They were citizens of a noble country, which had the wisest and most democratic laws. They should look upon it as a sacred duty to understand its history and the duties of citizenship. They in Kidwelly were living in a beautiful locality. He noticed they possessed a mayor, and other like oranments of polite society, who had to perform useful and important service. They should take an interest in the local Council. Farmers, tradesmen, landowners, and even parsons, sought representation on such bodies. He wo'uld thank anyone who would look after the workers' interests, but the right people to do so were the workers themselves. Impora-nt matters, such as sanitation and maintaining of proper roads were dealt with by the Town Council, and they ought to take a greater interest in its affairs. They must not think it too smaH a body. London, the biggest corporation in the kingdom was also the most rotten. The Council could do a great deal for the health of the (jomniunity, it could do much for the welfare of their children. He wanted to impress upon them their duty to be good in all spheres, good citizens, good husbands, and good fathers:, and to utilise everything that would enable them to be better men. In order to do this they should send men of their own class to the TownCoun oil. Kidwelly was. not only ancient; it possessed many advantages. If he were a citizen of IGclwellly lie would be as proud as Lucifer (A Voice: Come here and live). They could make Kidwelly anything they wished. "hy not make it a centre for pleasant meet- nigs of happy recreation, of instructive lec- tures, of bathing, of anything that would make their lives nobler and cleaner. Provi. dence had not been unkind, and Nature was prolific in her bounties. They should not gi umble. He could imagine God sayino- in answer to one who complained to Him of hia lo. J have giieii you smiling lands, moim- tains, rills, seas, seasons, day and night, vegetables, minerals, brains, bodies, thought functions, organs, senses. Go back and work" (loud alppllause). The Chairman put the resolution to the meeting and it was carried unanimous-Iv. The Chairman proposed a, vote of thanks to Mr Iillett for bra admirable address. He agreed with the speaker that labour should be re- presented by labour men. He reminded the audience that lie would seek re-election at the November election, when he trusted the laibour Pait.Y would be true to itself. n3'j ,T' iM;anseU seconded, and it was carried amidst applause. Mr Tillett, in responding, expressed a hope that they would be better unionists and bet- tar citizens as a result, of his visit. That would be the best thanks they could give lum. He hoped he would not he so long be- fore paying Kidwelly another visit (applause) A vote of thanks to the Chairman concluded the proceedings, c
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