Pioneer

The Lords and Labour Unrest. — PAGE 3.

Political Notes V- ————— By F. W. Jowett, M.P. v THE WAY TO PEACE. The Editor of a widely circulated provincial newspaper, in the course of an article dealing vith the threatened breakdown of the peace egotiations between the Bolshevik Government1 J Russian and the Governments of the Central1 Powers, asks whether British pacifists will ven- ture to maintain any longer, after M. Trotsky's denunciation of Germany's proposals at the re- cent peace conference, the legend of a mag- nanimous Germany ready to conclude a just and even a generous peace? Of course, the paci- fists to whom the Editor in question refers have never maintained any such legend, and he knows it. He mere ly suggests the legend in order to obscure the fact that, in stating, openly and honestly, their own peace terms, and compelling the Central Powers to disclose the real meaning of their proposals, the Bolshevik Government has, in point of fact, adopted the policy advo- cated by British pacifists. That the policy has so far succeedod is not now denied. It has cleared the issues, and, what is more, the adop- tion of this policy has proved, as we always said it would, that the most effective way of fighting the imperialist aims of German militarism is by publicly renouncing the imperialist aims of Bri- tish, French and Italian militarism. This policy, that has all along been advocated by British pacifists for adoption by the whole of the Allies, has been adopted by Russia alone, and the re- sult is that German militarism is already on its defence in Germany. If the same policy were adopted by all the Allied Governments German militarism would be defeated, and militarism in the Allied countries would, as a necessary part of the policy, have to be abandoned. This is the way to an enduring peace. There is no other. if: THE PREMIER'S SPEECH. I At last the Prime Minister has seen the wis- dom of addressing himself- more seriously to the task of explaining, so far as he dare, the War Aims of the Allies. The new and previously un- tried application of common honesty and truth- ful speech to international diplomacy (for whicii the world's thanks are due to the Bolsheviks of Russia) is working. It has put the oat among j the pigeons in Germany, and it is confounding the phrasemakers here. Mr. Lloyd George no longer talks of the knock-out blow or of the Germans "squealing for jieaee." He talks now to the German Democracy. This it is that is of vital importance concerning the Prime Minister's j speech at the Trades Union Conference last week. What he said was not entirely satisfac- tory, but the change from his previous speeches was most marked, and it was in the right direc- tion. He came very near to announcing; this country's adherance to the policy of no annexa- tions so far as our own national war aims are concerned. He did not, of course, say that Britain would not put in a claim at the peace conference, for the German Colonies on the ground that the native chiefs wish to be under British rule. That card he still keeps up his sleeve after the manner of Von Kuhlman with regard to the self-determination of Oourland. Even so. it V,,ns Mr. Llovd I Even so. it was Mr. Lloyd George's obvious in- tention to persuade the German people that Great Britain is willing to make peace without i territorial gain. We are therefore getting on. f ■ f THE LANGUAGE OF DEMOCRACY. I With regard to the Allies of Great Britain Mr. Lloyd George was quite clearly in difficulties and took lefuge in obscurity of language. The chief difficulty is in regard to Alsace-Lorraine. He promised that Great Britain would stand to the death with France for the re-consideration of the position of Alsace-Lorraine. It is probably the case that Mr. Lloyd George specially selected his words on this war-aim of France with the object of making it easy for France to withdraw her claim for the unconditional annexation of Alsace-Lorraine if she is willing to do so. But the Wail of the secret treaties is distinctly ob- servable in his reference to Italy and Rumania. What is the use of his saying, for instance, that he regards as vital the satisfaction of the le- gitimate claims of the Italians for union with those of their own race and tongue when all the world knows that the secret treaties cover, also, claims of Italy for the acquisition of terri tory inhabited by people who. in large majority, are not of Italian race or tongue? Or of de- claring that we mean to press that justice be j done to men of Rumanian blood in their legiti- mate aspirations if he means that Transyl- vania, of which it cannot be said that the in- j habitants are of Romanian blood, must be an- nexecl by Rumania? Mr. Lloyd George is making I an effort to speak the language of the new dip- lomacy, but he is only in the spelling stage yet. j Necessity will compel him to master the words j of the language and make use of them, in due course. THE TREATMENT OF TCHITCHERIN. I Although the Bolshevik Commissioners of .tussia have done more to embarrass and dis- i credit German militarism in two months than all that the military operations of the Allies have u done in over three and a half-years, at the cost of millions of lives, yet the British Government seems determined -.0 make an enemy of the Bol- t sheviks. No other explanation is possible that I will account for the miserable and fatuous treat- ti ment of M. Tchitcherin and the method of his release from internment. He was taken straight from the prison to the place of embarkation as if he had been a criminal. His papers and tbooks were withheld from him, and he was loaded with indignity. His treatment will not make the re- lations between the present rulers of Russia and the British Government more amicable. vr — v SNOBS AND BUREAUCRATS. When we read the marvellous stories of sue- cessful air raids in the course of which only rail- way stations, aerodromes and munition factories in Belgium and Germany are destroyed, it will be well to bear in mind the excuse given by the British Air Board for baking over the British Museum for the purposes of the Board. The excuse is th&t aeroplane bombs fall in particular places by pure chance, and that a deliberate at- tack on the Museum would only result in dam- age to perfectly innocent buildings far away. Having duly noted this admission for our future guidance, however, we may well pass on to ask why the Ritz, or the Carlton Club or any of the numerous mansions still in private occupation should not have been commandeered instead of the British Museum ? And the answer to this question is that the country is being run by men who a.re snobs as well as bureaucrats. II: "NUNQUAM'S" UNBALANCED PRAISE. This week, Mr. Robert Blatcliford devotes hia two columns in a Sunday paper to the task of proving, by assertion that there is no democracy and no real public opinion in Germany, and, by inference, that in this country Democracy rules and public opinion is uncontrolled. He cannot imagine this country with no voice in foreign affairs, for instance. He invites his readers to try and imagine the British Parliament with no real control over expenditure Blatohford, presumably, cannot imagine such an extrava- gant state of things. This new-born admiration on the part of Mr. Blatohford for Parliamentary institutions is interesting in its way, but, being new-born, it laeks balance. If it were not so he would be aware of the fact that the con- trol of the British Parliament over expenditure is subject to serious limitations, the net result of which is to make it altogether ineffective in practice. The British Parliament' is not allowed to have any say in the making of treaties. It is not even asked to sanction them hoforo thev are completed and signed. Furthermore, it is the habit and custom of the King's Ministers to enter secretly into far-reaching international ob- ligations and to deny the existence of such ob- ligations in the British House of Commons. On the whole, the German Reichstag, through its Budget Committee in the past and through its Main Committee at present, has had in the past and still has a more effective voice in foreign affaire than the British House of Commons. The power of the German Reichstag over Ministers of the Crown, such as it is, and the power of the House of Commons over Ministers of the Crown, such as it is, rests cm exactly the same exceed- ingly drastic proceedure, viz., refusal to vote the necessary funds to carry on the Government. Because it is so drastic this proceedure is in practice almost impossible for use in both coun- tries. A FACT. The German Reichstag is elected on a wider franchise than that on which the British House of Commons is elected. WIPING AWAY DISTINCTIONS. The substantial point of difference between British and German institutions is that mili- tarism has haod longer time .to grow in Germany than in this country, and, therefore, German mmfcariani is more ugly, ferocious and assertive. But this point of difference tends rapidly to be- come less substantial. British militarism m as- ser ng itself to some purpose among us. Diffi- cult as it may be for Mr. Blatchford to believe it of us, we can imagine this country in the grip of militarism bemuse we have felt it tightening on us already. Germany is not the only land in which there is a Press Censor, and if the Ger- man Parliament and the German voter has no say in the direction or employment of the Army as Mr. Blatohford states, neither have the Bri- tish Parliament and the British voter. As for oiffcers insulting civilians, as Mr. Blatchford says German officers do, I recall the case of a British officer who protested in a British Court of Justice that he was perfectly justified in striking a civilian with a horsewhip on the ground that the civilian had refused to answer when he (the British officer) asked the civilian in the public highway why he was not in the army. On the same day as I read Mr. Blatch- ford's article—indeed, I am not sure it was not in the same paper--I read a report of an inquest on the body of a soldier who had been driven to suicide by British militarism. He had disease of the heart muscle, fatty degeneration, atrophy, and chronic bronchitis, likewise diarrhoea, and had reported sick. For the offence of reporting sick he was punished. He was made to march round the pa,rade-ground heavily loaded from 1.45 p.m. to 4.25 p.m., with ten minutes' inter- val at the end of each hour. This case came into the papers because the man cut his throat, but there are many other cases of callous indif- ference to obvious serious disability in which the soldiers concerned become physical wrecks, or die of pneumonia or other acute disease conse- quential on their harsh treatment, that do not get into the papers. I can supply all the parti- culars myself relating to a few such oases. This is the growing menace of British militarism. Ite breed is the same as the more robust and sea- soned one reared-in Germany, but, although it is weaker here, as yet, and not so obstrusively active, it is progressing. I GALSWORTHY'S PICTURE. I For the better understanding of the danger which threatens the state of mind of those who can see only what is bad in the enemy they are fighting, let me take the liberty of quoting a passage written by Mr. John Galsworthy and quoted by "Comnion Sense" last week at the request of a correspondent. Mr. Galsworthy, as the reader will be aware, has declined to accept one of the Orders of the British Empire. The passage referred to reads as follows: One day we read in our journals how an enemy Socialist or Pacifist has raised his voice against the mob-passions and wa.r spite of his country, and we think "What an enlightened man! And the next day, in the same jour- nals, we read that go-and-go has done the same thing in our own country, and we think, "My God! He ought to be hung! To-day we listen with enthusiasm to orations by our statesmen about the last drop of blood and the last pennies in our purses, and we think, "That is patriotism I To-morrow we read utterances by enemy notables about arming the cats and dogs, and exclaim. What tru- culent insanity! We learn on Monday that some disguised fellow-countryman has risked his life to secure information from the heart of the enemy's country, and we think, That was real courage! And on Tuesday our bile rises at discovering that an enemy ha<s lm-(-n arrested in our midst for espionage, and we think, The dirty spy! Our blood boils on Wednesday at hearing of the scurvy treatment of one of ourselves resident in the' enemy's country. And on Thursday we read of the wrecking by our mob of aliens' shops, and think, Well, what could they expect, be- longing to that nation! When one of our regiments has defended itself with exceptional bravery and inflicted great loss on the enemy, we justly call it heroism. When some enemy "regiment haa done the same, we- use the word ferocity.

I DUllals. Raillaymen's Protest I AGAINST GOVERNMENT'S INVITATION I AND EXECUTIVE'S ACCEPTANCE. A special summoned meeting of the Dowlais Branch of the N.U.R. was held last Sunday to deal with the Government invitation to the Union to send 350 prominent members of its body to the Western Front on a tour of inspec- tion. There was a very pood muster of branch members, and after (lU<:> consideration of the question at issue, it was unanimously decided to pass the subjoined resolution, which the Secre- tary was instructed to send to the Labour Press, the South Wales dailies, the General Secretary, Mr. J. H. Thomas, M.P., the T.O., representa- tives, the Labour Party, the Prime Minister, Mr. Bonar Law and Mr. Asquith. The resolution read:- That the Dowlais Branch of the National Union of Railwaymen vehemently protest against the action of the Government, in offering to conduct a delegation of 350 railwaymen, members of this Union, to the Western Front. We also condemn the action of the Executive Committee for accepting this offer, knowing the long hours, and the severe physical strain already imposed on the heavily depleted staff. We are of the opinion that the best interests of the na tion is not being served by drawing men from industry, at a period when the nation is badly in need of good or- ganisation, to distribute foodstuffs to various parts of the country. "We further demand that the Government shall immediately canoel their offer to this, tand other Unions, as we regard this as a scandal- ous waste of time, and public money."

I Ogmore Vale Notes. I Bad Form! I The Trades Council were informed at their last meeting, that in the opinion of some em- ployers it is bad form for clerk's to belong to a Trade Union. We are glad to note that this view certainly does not commend itself to the Trades Council, and that the .employers con- cerned will have a shock when they learn the composition of the deputation who are to meet them. In the Valley the vast majority hold the opinion that all should belong to a Trade Union, and the Clerks' Union can rest assured that, if necessary, more than moral support will be forthcoming in their fight. Co-operation and Shortage. I The Co-operative Society which embraces a membership of over 2,300 members, at their quarterly meeting had the satisfaction of find- ing, despite" controlled prices," that Co-opera- tion still pays. Although apparently boycotted by some wholesale houses we still go ahead. A movement to prevent any more members being admittted was (we hear) under discussion. Short- age of essentials may lead us far, but surely we shall stop short of such proceedings. The man- agement Committee would be well advised to take the members fully into their confidence and say why the private trader can get supplies. If one goes to Bridgend the existence of the un- equal distribution is evident. Why is it possible for a oustomer to obtain from these so-called wholesalers goods retail, when retailers in the Valley are without supplies? We wonder if prices even when controlled have anything to do with it? The Motor Ambulance, I The Motor Ambulance scheme is being watched very keenly by the miners, who are not quite satisfied with the slow progress. If the neigh- bourhood is to have this public need supplied, then progress with the scheme must be much more rapid, or there will be discontent. The Sunday Concerts, I The Sunday night sacred ooncerts in the Workmen's Hall, organised by the Welcome Home Committee, are proving highly satisfac- tory, and the crowds that gather prove that the public are in full sympathy with this movement.

Labour and Foreign Policy. I.-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: MR. ROBERT SMILLIE. I BY LEONARD WOOLF. By the end of 1918 there may very probably be a Labour Government in power in this cofun- try. It is difficult to realise quite clearly what that iiieaziis--or may mean. There is Labour and Labour." Labour" parties have come into power before this in other countries, and their government has proved, to the bitter dis- appointment of Labour and the joyful relief of other people, not very different from that of— well, other people. But as the late Mr. Cham- berlain used to say when some African negroes had to be chastised with Maxim-guns, in order to make them citizens of the British Empire: "You can't make omelettes without breaking eggs." The governing classes cannot expect to make a bloddy omelette of half the world for four years without breaking some of their own as well as other people's eggs. And the egg which they have most effectually broken is the delusion that the governing classes know how to govern. In the 17th Century, King George V .'s ancestors or predecessors, by inefficiency and corruption, dispelled in this country the delusion that Kings can govern. The Stuarte broke so many eggs and made such a. niems of things, that after 1688 we determined that Kings must really be put on one side and the chance given to other people to see whether they could not do a bit better. Hence, there arose the governing classes, first the House of Lords and the aris- tocrats and landowners, then the capitalists and middle and professional classes, and finally a mixture of them all. The last few years have proved to anyone with eyes in his head, that the Cecils and the Lansdownes and Greys and Devonshiires and Carsons and Asquiths and Georges and Northcliffes IUld Rhonddas have made as big a, mess of government as any Charles or James Stuart. If a miner habitually blew up a mine instead of hewing coal. or a cotton spinner broke his machine instead of spinning cotton, he would get the sack. The governing classes were expected not to blow Europe to pieces but to govern it: now Europe sees that they can do neither with any kind of decent efifciency. It is, ther^f™ not improbable that Europe will sar to them: "Step on one side, gentlemen, over there with the Kings and Popes and Emperors, and let's see whether someone else can't make a better job of Europe." And then perhaps Labour and the People will try their hand at government. So 1918 may see a real Labour Government in power in England. I don't believe that Gov- ernment is a very easy thing to do decently, and I doubt whether even Labour realises the difficulties before it if it is going to make a better job of government than the Kaisers, the Cecils, the Devonports, and the Carsons. In these articles I propose to examine a particular portion of the difficult task which lies before the People in power. If we sack Mr. George, and Lord Curzon, and Mr. Balfour on a beggarly pension of £ 5,000 per annum, and if a Labour Government sits on the front bench in the House of Commons, there will at last be changes at the Foreign Office. A long line of the ghosts of many aristocrats will file out of Downing Street along with the last of the Cecils, Mr. Balfour and Lord Robert. And as they pass, let us at least be fair and take our hats off to them. They—or most of them—acted according to their lights, honestly and for the good of the country. They had a high, if narrow and false, standard of public service: That they have materially helped to bring Europe and this country to ruin was due to ignorance and prejudice, and to the (inefficiency which inevitably accompanies ignor- lance and prejudice. They were ill-educated men, ignorant of the world, for they were born, lived and moved in the narrowest circle and class, across the boundaries of whose prejudices they never passed. If Labour and the People are to make a better job of the Foreign Office, they must learn a lesson from these aristocratic ghosts, the lesson that ignorance and prejudice are the greatest curses of the human race. Well, the Balfoura And Cecils pass out of Downing Street, and there enters, let us say, Mr. Robert Smillie, as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Mr. Smillie will start with one great advantage over Mr. Balfour: he is more of a man of the world he belongs to a wider world, for while Mr. Balfour is one of a few hundreds, Mr. Smillie is one of millions. Lord Grey and Mr. Balfour were bound to fail hope- lessly at the Foreign Office because they had to (deal with France, Germany, and Britain, nations consisting of millions, and they dealt with them as if they consisted of the few hundreds in their own class. Mr. Smillie will escape that danger, being a man of the world. But Mr. Smillie would, I believe, be the first to admit that he, too, has his ignorance and his prejudices. Whether Mr. Smillie and Labour succeed where the Greys and Cecils failed will depend upon how far they are able to overcome th ese particu- lar ignorance and prejudices. Let us examine a little more closely the task which lies before Labour and Mr. Smillie when they enter the Foreign Office, say, about June of this year. If they are wise, the first thing which they will do will be to sit down quietly for a bit and try to get clearly into their minds what their work at the Foreign Office really is. They will see that the world is divided into and organised in nations or states, and that the mil- lions of individuals in these States are continu- allv in different kinds of relation with one another through trade and commerce, law and government, the post and railways and steam- ships. The relationships of these individuals living in different nations raise all kinds of ques- tions and disputes between them just as in in- dustry the relations between the workers and the employers, and between the different kinds and grades of workers raise all kinds of indus- trial questions and disputes. In industry the Trade Unions and their Executives are the means of communication between the workers and the employers, and between the different kinds and classes of workers, and they are also the means of controlling the relations and of settling questions and disputes. The Foreign Office is, or ought to be, the Executive of that great Trade Union, the Nation; for it is the means of communication between nations and the organ for controlling national relations and for settling international questions and disputes. Innumerable, most dangerous and difficult inter- national questions will be continually arising, and it will be the task of Mr. Smillie and of the Labour Government to control and to settle them in accordance with the will of the whole People, and also in the interest of all the peoples of the world. That is only a general description of Mr. Smillie's task at the Foreign Office. In order to perform it efficiently, he will have to have a perfectly definite and detailed idea of the policy which he is to pursue in general and the policy which he is going to apply to particular cases. Now, if he is to be a true democrat, his general policy must be laid down for him by the Demo- cracy whioh has sent him to the Foreign Office, I and even in particular cases his policy must be guided and controlled by the Democracy. This means that both Mr. Smillie and Labour musts have a very clear conception of the kind of re- lations which they desire to exist between the British Empire and other nations; and they must also have the knowledge and understanding of those relation* and of Foreign Affairs which is necessary if they are going to see that their general policy is applied in particular cases. This task will not be successfully accomplished un- less Labour persistently studies, watches, and understands the course of foreign relations, and unless both Mr. Smillie and Labour can in the Foreign Office overcome those ignorances and prejudices of which, with all other human beings, they have their share. In another ar- ticle or articles I propose to examine in greater detail the nature of the task and of the difficul- ties which lie before them.

The Premier's Speech. STATEMENT OF WAR AIMS WELCOMED BY LABOUR. Views of Labour Party leaders on the Pre- mier's speech o- _4 \n- r, wev Chnfeiwe of Trades Union delegates at Westminster on Saturday are: MR. ARTHUR HENDERSON- Labour welcomes the speech, in so far as it is a clear statement of the aims for the realisa- tion of which we are continuing the war. In some respects it embodies the declared principles and objects which Labour, at its recent Confer- ence, defined as essential war aims. The Labour Party accepts the principle of self-determination for all peoples, and believes that this can be se- cured for Egypt and India by a rapid extension of self-governing institutions on Dominion lines. "We accept the principle of no annexations. We will take no territory out of the war. In the case of populations which desire to be freed from their present governors, but are not strong enough to stand alone, we regard ourselves as under a moral obligation to secure them inter- national protection. But we do not desire to take this task upon ourselves alone unless we are explicitly requested to do so by the Peace Conference or some similar international author- ity. As for indemnities, we want none. But, like our Russian comrades, we demand repara- tion according to international law for definite wrongs done to nations or individuals. Weare now making every effort to arrange another Inter-Allied Labour Conference as a preliminary to a complete conference of the whole Labour movement of the world, and we desire nothing more than to have the freest and fullest joint discussion with the representatives of Labour, first among our Allies, and then with neutrals and with our present enemies." MR. PHILIP SNOWDEN- Mr. Lloyd George should go to Brest- Litovsk, Stockholm, or wherever Russia and Germany meet. There appears to be scarcely any outstanding points of difference not capable of settlement by a conference. The phrasing of the Prime Minister's declaration was significant. It should be noted that he did not lay down any emphatic demand. As to the questions of Alsace- Lorraine, there was ambiguity, but he was left free to accept a number of agreements. I think the statement is the most satisfactory that the Prime Minister has made. It is an advance upon the one he made in the House of Commons three weeks ago." MR. RAMSAY MACDONALD- "No one could be under the belief that the tone of the speech was the same as that of the speeches which had been delivered before. It was far more reasonable and far more calm-the speech of a man who felt his tremendous respon- sibility as Prime Minister of this country. It was far more: it was the expression of the views of a man who saw the matter clearly, and who saw above and behind the battlefield all the problems that would have to be settled when the clouds had lifted off the battlefield." MR. ROBERT WILLIAMS- "We are seriously wondering how far Mr. Lloyd George will go before he again becomes one of us. In my view Mr. Lloyd George has read the War Aims Memorandum of the Labour Party to some purpose."

I.L.P. AND FIVE HOURS DAY. At a conference of the Independent Labour Party (Scottish Division), held at Motherwell, on Saturday, it was agreed to advocate a maxi- mum of 30 hours' work weekly.

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