Llais Llafur

We Can Do Nothing." a Liebknecht Says "The Split Has Come." In this striking interview three of the ablest German Socialist leaders admit that Social Democracy is powerless to resist the Kaiser, the militarists, and the annexationists. "They will never give up the rich mines of France and Belgium," says Lieb- knecht. There could be no more signal justification of the over- whelming votes by which the Labour Party, at the Bristol Con- ference, expressed its determination to carry the war to a suc- cessful issue. The Socialists of Germany can do nothing until the Allied armies strike the fetters of militarism from their wrists. How ironical that some of the unbalanced pacifists of the I.L.P., by advocating a premature peace, are helping the Kaiser and the Junkers to maintain the whip-hand over the Ger- man Social Democrats! The "Outlook" of New York has re- ceived from a responsible source a deeply interesting account of a per- sonal interview with three of the leaders of German Socialism: Karl Liebknecht, the unterrified op- ponent of militarism. Karl Kautsky, the literary success- or to Marx as the exponent of the Social Democratic doctrine; and Eduard Bernstein. leader of the Re- j visionists, an Anglophile, and a courageous pacifist. The interviews shed a terrible light on the present mental condition of Germany; but they reveal Social De- mocracy as a Sphinx, who may yet speak a portentous word when the war is over. All three leaders talked in tones of extreme caution. Their remarks were pitched on a note of hopelessness so far as the actual developments of the war are concerned. Liebknecht, a man with "a dark round face, semi-circled by the sort of black hair that oomes from a hair- cloth mattress," spoke in a musical, gentle voice to the interviewer as fol- lows:- "AWFUL MILITARY POWER." "It is a war of lies. Every nation concerned lies. "German newspapers lie a-s a matter of course. When the war be gan the Socialists were fully aware it was due entirely to the capitalistic incentive of Austrian-Hungary. "We held dozens of protest meet- ings here in Berlin. The "Vorwaerts" published stout editorials. We had demonstrations against the war. "Then came the censorship. We could do, we could say, nothing. "But why, doctor?" asked the in- terviewer. "We Americans expected you to do a great deal." "You don't understand the power of the censorship," Liebknecht an- swered quietly. "Y ou Americans can- not imagine the awful power of the mi litary. "In one day, in one hour, we were cut off. Every man became like a separate call in the body politic. "Every man was isolated with his own thoughts, or else was drowned in the flooding idea of the war. MENTAL PRISONERS. I "From the moment the censorship shut down there was no more ex- change of ideas. Every thinking man in Germany became a mental prisoner. "But what is the war for?" "It is a war of conquest. What- ever its cause may be we know that the Imperial Government intends it to be a war of conquest. "There are rich mines in France and Belgium. They will never be given back. The Government will do with them and with us just as it pleases. "It has done as it pleases with all the German people. I am a member of the Reichstag. The Chancellor sent an ultimatum to Belgium on August 2, 1914. That ultimatum was never reported to the Reichstag until August 5. "The War Budget was presented on August 4, and passed on August 5 with the concurrence of all the Social- iis-ts eX'1t fifteen. Those fifteen Socialists who voted against the war credits were the only real revolution- I ists. BOGUS ATROCITIES. But they were helpless. The ly- ing Press was inflarnn people against our tnemies--ag-iltist the Russians, French, Belgians, and English. "German papers we r. J'lood<xl with Bt'?rie? of atJjÜes committed upon German s<?dier? which, to my certain kr '4l?d?' ?f a?t?rw?T<i<; disproved but never publicly denied. "People w ere told that the Russiaiis were barbarians, the Belgians super- stitious weaklings, and the English cowardly sneaks. "The causes of the war were ob- scure. The Socialists really thoucrht that Germany could not be really re- II sponsible for such a catastrophe. "Tsarism was ostensibly the issue on which war began, and it was that issue on which the Social Democratic bloc voted the war credits on August 5. "Nobody exactly understood the situation. The Socialists had lost their Press at one stroke. And so thev were like sheep without a shep- herd. ) THE TWO VOICES. "Now there are two Socialist parties in Germany. The split has come. Hereafter you in America must under- stand when 'German "Social ism' speaks to your Press it will speak in two voices, it will contradict itself, it will be pro-war and anti-war. "Only by remembering this can you understand the great internal struggle which must come." "How do you feel akout Belgium?" the interviewer questioned. Liebknecht continued: "I was in Stuttgart at the time that, Von der Goltz was appointed Governor-General in Belgium. I tried to get up a, pro- test meeting against annexation. The military government would not permit so much as a public poster advertising the meeting. Indeed, the Govern- ment forbade meetings of any sort for ,any cause. LAYING THE MINE. I "But you can see the newspapers preparing the nation for the final an- nexation of Belgium. 'We've bought this province with our blood,' they ar- gue* 'We'v e paid for it with our lives. the Belgians are little more than brutes. They are completely dominated by their clergy. They are ignorant, super&titutious, backward. They do not deserve to possess their own country.' All such nonsense as that passes current for wisdom in Ger- many to-day." "But what have the Socialists done P" the interviewer objected. "Very httle/' Liebknecht said. "The "Vorwaerts" has been closed up several times. It has had to agree that it will not mention 'Class war.' "Here is another example of what has taken place. My wife is Russian, and the war had barely started when my house was searched, my private papers seized and carted off, and the sanctity of my whole establishment violated upon the pretext that my wife might be a spy. "And in spite of the fact that I am a member of the Reichstag not one I word of this affair even got into the Berlin newspapers. THE MEN OF PROPERTY. "But,Herr Dr. Liebknecht," the in- terviewer said, "you Socialists seem to us Americans to have lost a great opportunity. Frankly, we cannot understand your attitude as a party. We think you've beeu-to put it very frankly—cowardly. "You think we've been cowards?" he repeated gravely, never taking his eyes off the interviewer's face. "Well, perhaps we have been. Re- member, the German Social Demo- crats own property worth more than 20,000,000 marks ( £ 1,000,000). They own printing presses, halls, theatres, and the like. You know, property makes men cautious. "Perhaps our possessions have made us Conservative; perhaps German Socialists don't dare risk all." "INTERNAL CENSORS." Kautsky, the interviewer found with Bernstein and he declares that every word they spoke seemed to come through double lines of internal cen- sors before it reached their lips. Kautsky's tale was much the same as Leibknecht's. "We can do nothing," he said. "We have no Press, no forum. We are heart and soul against a war of conquest, but we cannot even protest against the annexation of Bel- gium. When asked why the Socialists did not do something in the Reic hstag, Kautsky, speaking slowly .and gravely in English, replied, "What could we j do? The Kaiser doesn't ask the per- mission of the Reichstag to make war. He asks only for money to carxy an j the war. When the time comes to make peace, he wiU make peace with- out consulting the Reichstag." i "So," said the interviewer, "you I are going to do nothing until after peace is made?" "We can do nothing, he repeated. "We are leaders without followers.. "There are two million German Socialists in the army. That means that half of fiir members have gone. No Socialist in Germany knows what that half of ovr party is thinking. No Socialist can to .sure what those two millions think of this war. "We cannot- t, Ik to them. We can- not even QA,nd them letters. They are cut off, isolated, e"ery man of them. THE SECRET CODE. "Perhaps they may talk together by twos and threes, but each man is thinking alone. What do they think ? That is the great question for German Socialists to answ,er." The American interviewer says that t atmosphere' of caution and inact- ion seemed to him unworthy of a man calling himself a Socialist Internation- alist. He blurted out some frank criticisms. "You are an outsider," Kautsky an- swered. "The picture is not so black as you think. For years we have lived under a Socialist code--laws framed by the German Government prevent us meeting, reading, or even thinking. We have had a long hard schooling. We have learned how to convey information to each other secretly. "Intelligent Socialists are not being misled by the silence of the "V or- waerts." Some are confused, no doubt. but not all; and the "V orwaerts" will do all it can. We've learned how to read 'between the lines'

THE PEOPLE S WAR." MR C. JB. STANTON, M.P. APPEAL$ TO THE MINERS. I [ Mr. C. B. Stanton, M.P., and Mr. H. E. Pratten, Sydney, Australia, were the principal speakers at a largely-attended meeting of the Cwmdare miners at the pit-head on Tuesday, under the auspices of the Munitions Parliamentary Commit- tee. In his address Afr. Pratten referred to what the Dominions were doing in the matter of volunteers, gifts, and expendi- ture for the successful prosecution of the war. He said that all the Labour leaders in Australia were enthusiastically aiding the Mother Country to the extent of the w hole of the resources of the Common- wealth. He reminded the gathering that Australia's motto, in the words of her Labour Prime Minister, wa.s "Helo to the last shilling and to the last man." Mr. Stanton dwelt upon the seriousness and stress of the present situation creat- ed by the war. He appealed to the miners to drop all minor differences and to do their duty-an attitude which was as important to them as to the men in the trenches. The Navy, the inter-Im- perial communications, the munitions factories—in fact, th2 entire fabric upon which the was was waged, depended up- on the efforts of the miners, whose pre- diction was the very life of naval and military operations. His message from the Government was ooe of thanks to the colliers for doing th; ir part at the pit, and he (Mr. Stanton) felt sure that they would not relax their energies while the wa.r lasted, and that they would bury any little friction which might arise and give their whole-hearted support, es- pecially as the war was, after all. the people's waT. The sole object in holding such meetings was to bring together those who placed their country first; and he had no doubt whatever in his mind that, instead of encouragi ng any divergence of view, the great bulk of the miners of South Wales would be as loyal and pat- riotic as he was hims-If. (Cheers.) A cordial vote of thanks was accorded to the speakers. -.a.

SIR SAMUEL EVANS PRESIDES OVER PRIZE COlRT IN BEDROOM. Probalv a. unique incident in the an- nal of the Supreme Court was enacted on Monday when Sir Samuel Evans, seated in an armchair in a dressing gown, held a Prize Court in his bedroom at his home at 11, Lancaster-gate, W. It was only the Second occasion on which he had been up since a bad at- tack of pleurisy supervened upon the serioua accident with which he met early last December, when he was knocked down by a passing motor-bag outside the Law Courts his leg being broken. Looking remarkably well, his iordship received the members of the Bar and solicitors present with a cheery smile. He disposed of the business before him with his accustomed rapidity, and expressed the hope that he would soon be back at the Law Courts. He added that but for the pleurisy he would have been back already, though he would have had to walk with the aid of crutches. The proceedings lasted less than half an hour. Another sitting of the Prize Court will probably be held at 11, Lan- caster-gate next week in the library.

————. dft ———— HEART ON RIGHT SIDE. Corporal Richard Davies, of Bloxwic.h, near Walsall, has had a miraculous es- cape from death. He was shot through the chest, and it was believed the bullet h:d penetrated his heart. The doctors were puzzled, until an examination showfd that his herurt was on the right side. The bullet passed through the left lung, but Davies ha.s made a good re- covery. —————

RECORD WAGES FOR ARTISANS. I?ii\rniagha.m had iicver in ic«s hwitorv seen such wages paid to the artisan classes as in the past twelve months, said Colonel Wilkinson, chairman of Wilkinson and Riddel, Ltd., at the annual meeting. Not only was the breadwinner of the family at work but even his wife and daughter had found ready employment. In consequence all necessaries for the working classes, and even luxuries, had a quick sale, tjio only trouble being the scarcity of labour.

Every regiment in the Army lias its nickname. The Welsh Fusiliers are the Nanny Goats, the Welsh Regiment. the Old Agamemnons, and the Ches- liires the Two Twos.

A COALFIELD ISSUE. South Wales Conference. I I MOTOR AMBULANCE I SCHEME. ————— Three important issues were dis- cussed at a special conference of the South Wales Miners' Federation held at Cardiff on Monday—(1) Levy to- wards a scheme for supplying motor ambulances for wounded soldiers: (2) extension of the out-of-work fund scheme; (3) the pudgment against the Albion Colliery workmen for not work- ing the Sunday shift. With regard to Nos. 1 and 2, it was decided to take a ballot vote of the coalfield. The third issue evoked considerable j feeling, as the delegates contended that the owners were violating the spirit of the new agreement by de- manding that the Sunday night shift should be a normal one of eight hours without, extra pay. It was decided to write to the owners on those lines, and in the event of no satisfactory settle- ment being reached that a further coalfield conference be called.

'1 I SUNDAY NIGHT SHIFT The question of the Sunday night at the Albion Colliery created a good I ? create d a good deal of feeling, for several of the dele- gates contended that the coalowners were violating the spirit and the in- tention of the Conciliation Board Agreement by insisting that the men should work the full eight hours on a Sunday night without additional pay- (Continued at bottom of aext column)

UNION OF WELSH SOCIETIES PENSIONS OFFICERS AND PLACE NAMES DISCUSSED. Representatives from all parts of South Wales attended a conference of the Executive Council of the Union of Welsh Societies, held at the Llewellyn Cafe, Neath, last Saturday afternoon. Professor Joseph Jones, Memorial Col- lege, Brecon, presided. As a result of an interesting discus- sion on corrupted Welsh place names, it was decided to invite the different Welsh societies to prepare a list of such place names with an expression of opinion as to their correctness, such lists to be forwarded to a recognised bilinguistic authority for decision. Letters of congratulation were ordered to be sent to Sir Owen M. Edwards, Baron Rhondda and Sir John Milsom Rees. Alderman J. Jordan, J.P., Llan- samlet, was elected Chairman of the j Executive Council, and tTie agenda of the annual conference, to be held at Merthyr, was submitted to a sub-com- mittee. The Rev. E. W. Davies, Ton Pen- tre called attention to the number of English speaking pension officers in Wales, and instanced several cases of misunderstanding in support of a pro- posal to request the Government to deal fairly with the Welsh speaking recipients of the old age pension by making a knowledge of Welsh and es- sential qualification in fture appoint- ments. ) This was agreed to, and it was also decided to ask the Government to in- crease the. grants for Welsh classes in the Principality.

CARDIFF ROMANCE. MAN WHO TRAVELLED 8,000 MILES IN BASKET BED. A journey of 8,000 miles in a. basket bed ended at Roselawn, Indiana, on January 11, when C. C. Smith, a mining engineer, of Natal, South Africa, arrived at the home of his parents. He suffered a broken back in a mine accident (says an American contemporary), and is paralysed from the waist down; but, nevertheless, will wed Miss Amy Palmer, an English nurse, who cared for him in a hospital in Cardiff (Wales), and helped to bring him home. Smith and a companion were repair- ing machinery in the South Africa workings. A huge rock fell, killing his companion. At Smith's request, the company started him home, ap- propriating 25,000 dollars for the sur- gical and ?other expenses of the trip. The journey was broken at Cardiff, so that the injured man might receive special medical attention, and it was there that he met Miss Palmer. Be- caUSe of the size of the basket in which Smith travelled it was necessary to take out the windows of a railroad soach to get him aboard the train. The above story, reported in an American paper, is very pretty, path- etic, and romantic. If, however, the Cardiff referred to is the Metropolis j of Wales, and not the little place of the same name across the herring pond a veil of doubt must be drawn over it, says the "Western Mail." In- { quiries have failed to elicit any clue to the identity of Miss Amy Palmer | in Cardiff (Wales). But we give the story, nevertheless, for the benefit of those' w;ho can digest it.

ENLISTED AT 61. How he dyed his hair in order to appear younger and to join his three sons out at the front was told to a press representative by Lance-Corporal j W. W. Clarke, of the Army Service Corps. "My age," he chuckled, "is really 61, but I managed—partly by the aid of a hairdresser—to get through as 49." And the old patriot chuckled again. "Three of my boys— Harold, Leonard, and Bob"—explained "joined up shortly after the outbreak of war, and I soon felt I ought to be doing the same. You see," he went on, "I'm pretty tough. For many years I knocked about as chief steward on the New Zealand Shipping Line, in the days of the sailing ship. So, still feeling quite fit, I said to my missus, 'My dear. I'm going to follow the lads.' I did it chiefly," he remarked, "in order to shame the slacker. If my joining won't shame them-well, what will?

APPLICATION FOR 5 PER CENT. ADVANCE. It has been decided to make an application for an advance of 5 per cent. on the general wage rate of the South Wales miners. This decision was come to at a meeting of the executive council of the South Wales Miners' Federation held at Cardiff on Saturday. The wages stood at 30§ per cent, above the new standard from August till the end of November. This was equivalent to 96i per cent. on the 1879 standard. The last time that Earl St. Aldwyn adjudicated on the wages question, however, his lordship made an award in favour of the employers' application for a reduction of 5 per cent., bringing the percentage down to 25 on the new standard. This came into operation as from Decembe 1, and the miners' application now, therefore, is that the percentages should be re- stored to those ruling between August and .November 30. Saturday's meeting was presided lover by .Mr James Winstone. and those in attendance included Mr T. Richards M.P. (general secretary), and Mr A. Onions (treasurer). A report was presented by the wages committee of the result of its deliberations, and acting upon the re- commendation of that committee, it was decided to make the formal ap- plication upon the owners on Tuesday. February 1, in accordance with the provisions of the agreement. Several other matters were also dealt with. A long discussion took place relative to the prosecution of workmen employed at the Albion Col- liery, Cilfynydd, for refusing to work on the Sunday night shifts. It. was eventually resolved to give a full re- port upon the matter at the confer- ence to be held at Cardiff on Monday. It was resolved that a deputation, consisting of Messrs. T. Richards, M.P., A. Onions, Hubert Jenkins, and William Jenkins, should seek an inter- view with the Glamorgan Standing Joint Committee with a view of call- ing the attention of that body to cer- tain practices of an undesirable character wh'ch it was stated, were followed by colliery constables in re- gard to workmen who were in receipt of compensation allowances from the colliery companies. A deputation attended from the Dowlais District complaining of low rates of wages which were being paid to certain classes of surface workmen in that district. It was decided to place the matter on the agenda for the next meeting of the Conciliation Board. References were made to the failure of the joint sub-oommittee dealing with the matter to settle some differ- ences which had arisen in connection with the wages of craftsmen who were members of the Federation. It was resolved to make a report upon this question also at Monday's conference. The council confirmed the terms agreed upon for the Rock Vein price list at the Bedwas Colliery.

RECOGNITION ISSrE. I GRIEVANCES OF WELSH COL- I LIERY EXAMINERS. A conference of the South Wales and Monmouthshire Colliery Ex- aminers' Association was held on Saturday at the Park Hotel, Cardiff. Mr Morgan Dyer presided. The de- putation appointed to see the chair- man and secretary of the Coalowners' Association on the question of recog- nition reported the result of the in- terview, which the conference re- garded as very unsatisfactory. Correspondence was read with re- gard to the application made to the Industrial Committee of the Board of Trade for an opportunity to place be- fore that body the examiners' griev- ances. The conference felt that at this juncture any plans as to the future action of the association would be premature, and, therefore, resolved that the matter should lie in abey- ance. the council in the meanwhile to endeavour by every legitimate means to press upon the Industrial Com- mittee the urgency of the situation. The attention of the conference was called to the attention of the Powell- Duffryn Company, who were alleged to have refused to pay their examiners the bonus ff E5, usually paid at Christmas time for diligence and per- I severance, except on the condition that they seceded from the association, and a resolution expressing strong in- dignation passed. It was decided that the ele;en examiners who had declined to s mit to these conditions, and thus been deprived of the bonus, should cacli L5 from the funds of the association.

GERMANY SHORT OF SOAP. I I ) A Danish merchant who has reached j London direct from Germany states j that soap is apparently so scarce that j it is no longer supplied for the use of I passengers in railway trains. In the wash-room of Osnabruck station he was only permitted to "borrow" a thin piece of jealously guarded soap from the charwoman. Soap, of course, means fat. which might become ¡ glycerine for explosives.

I THE LAST AIR RAID. Reports on Monday night's Zeppel- in raid on England show that it was carried out over a widerarea than pre- viously. Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincoln- shire. Leicestershire. Staffordshire, and Derbyshire were flown over. It is estimated that about 220 bombs were dropped. Except in one. part of Staf- fordshire. however, the damage done was not considerable. There was no military damage. The casualties total 121—54 killed and 67 wounded. In point of casualties among the civil population this is the third greatest example of German "frightfulness" by air. There were 56 killed and 114 wounded in the raid on the East Coast and London district on September 7th I and 38 killed and 12. wounded in the attack on the London area on October 13th.

I THE HALFPENNY POST. I NEW REASON WHY IT MAY YET BE ABOLISHED. The.re can be little doubt that the new B Iget will impose heavy ad- ditiona burdens on the nation. Fmajicial experts are of opinion that the Government have not been courageous enough in their taxation proposals. In his first War Budget, produced in November 1914, Mr Lloyd George imposed new taxation which in a full year would have brought about £ 60.000,000 additional into the Exchequer. In his second War Bud- get, May 1915. he imposed no new taxes. Mr McKenna. in his first Budget, produced on September 21st last, increased the war taxation so as. to produce in a full year an additional revenue of over £ 90.000,000. Economists and financiers, while wel- coming this Budget (remarks the Par- liamentary correspondent of the "Daily Chronicle"), still cried out that the burdens imposed on the people were not heavy enough. The large and undiminished spending power of the nation, as evidenced by the ex- perience of the past four months, cer- tainly shows that the limits of profit- able taxation have by no means been reached. It may, therefore, be expec- ted pretty confidently that the next Budget will give a fresh turn to the screw of taxation. In searching for new sources of revenue Mr McKenna is not likely to discover any single tax so richly pro- ductive as the 50 per cent. levy on excess profits promises to be. Now that economies in the use of paper are to be enforced on newspaper companies there is a new arguement for the abolition of the halfpenny post in that it would discourage the consumption of paper for cicular and catalogue pur- poses. Incidentlly any diminution in the number of postcards, circulars, and catalogues sent by post would help to ease the labour problem in the Post Office. An alternative, or even a supple- mentary proposal, to the abolition of the halfpenny post is the adoption of a special war stamp. Canada has reaped a. substantial sum from a special war stamp, which is required to be attached to every letter, circular, and package sent through the post. A half-penny stamp—which would, of course, have to be of a peculiar and distinctive colour—placed on everv en- velope passing through the British Post Office would bring in a consider- able amount It may be taken for granted that one feature of the new Budget will be a tax on amusements.

I CONCEALING SWANSEA DESERTER. Henry James Lee, a plasterer, aged 57, was summoned at Swansea on Tuesday for concealing or attempting to conceal his son, Harry Lee, a de- serter from the 21st Welsh on Jan. 17th at Swansea. The defendant, in reply to inquiries after his son by the police, twice said he was not in the house, and he did not know where he was. The police then entered the house, and he was found coming down- stairs. The Bench fined him 40s.

MIXERS AND COMPULSION. The Council of the Yorkshire Miners' Association, at their meeting at Barnsley on Monday, instructed the delegate to the conference which is to consider the Military Service Act to vote in favour of a declaration seeking an interview with the Prime Minister to demand the repeal of the Act. ————— ————-

LONGEVITY OF DUNDEE FAMILY Mrs. Knight, who lives in Dundee, celebrated her 105th birthday on Satur day. The longevity of her family is rema.rkable. Her parents both" at- tained the age of 90, and no near relative has died under 85.

ANOTHER M.P. RENOUNCES HIS SALARY. Viscount Lewisham, M.P. for West Bromwich, who is serving abroad with the Staffordshire Yeomanry, has inti- mated that he does not intend to take his salary as a member of .the House of Commons.

(Continuing from preceding column). ment. Under the old agreement the men worked six hours on a Rlmrly; night. If they worked eight they were paid extra, but since the new agreement came into operation the owners had insisted upon making the eight hours shift a normal one. The workmen argued that the re- presentatives of the Government by "altering the agreement" made it clear that additional payment was in- tended for working a Sunday night shift of eight hours. The Executive Council was instruc- ted to inform the coalowners that un- less a satisfactory settlement of this point is arrived at—as other collieries are involved another coalfield confer- ence must, be called to consider what further steps shall be taken ia the matter.