Pioneer

I Pure Forgeries. I "VORWARTS" AND "GERMAN GOLD" FABLE. According to the Horner Tagwacht of the 15th February, the Vcrwarts" refers to the telegrams and documents recently published in "Let Petit Parisien on "The Bolsheviks and German Gold and states that it is authorised to declare in the names of Scheideman and Parvus, the former of whom is alleged to have addressed a telegram to Moor and the latter to Olberg, Stockholm, that these decumentfe are "pure forgeries."

International Democracy States Its War Aims. SEE PAGE 3

Thoughts on a Miner's Book 11% 1 PAGE 4.

I Political Notes I By F. W. Jowett, M.P. I MR. GERARD'S PLAINT. I In mv first note in the Pioneer last week L railed attention to the objectionable in which the Kind's speech at the opening of Par- liament refer- to My Government, Mv forces," My people," etc. T have since then noticed that Mr. Gerard, late Amerioan Am- bassador in Berlin, in the fiivt- of a. series otI articles now appearing' in the "JTimes, ma kes it a sjieeia 1 point atrainst the Kaiser that the Ka'ser .speaks of llv troops, My offer. "My Ambassador," etc. Time- gives in largo type to this account, of Kaiser William's mode of expressing himself in relation to the people and institutions of Ger- many. as if King George did not also express himself in the same manner. Evidently Mr. Gerard is not well acquainted with the la nonage of Kings. whilst, on the other hand, the "Times takes it for granted that rhe British public is no less ignorant, in tli-o matter. THE AMBASSADOR'S MAZE. I 5fr. Gerard'* articles on Germany may he very lucrative to himself. hut they are not very use- ful to those who expect to derive information or enlightenment from them. It is impossible to • draw definite conclusions from the opinions ex- pressed bv him because he contradicts h'mself so frequently. He has much to sny, for instance, ahout the responsibility of the Kaiser- tor the action of Germany, and he outs sole blame for the war on the monarchv. Yet in "fil" !1(,(.ollllt of tht- r?,nTirms ??tw?pti ':he Kais?T and the Gen- ?ral StafF he expla:"s that th" Gen?')?? Staff and ff ]I(, tb.,it tltt, Gen,-z-,t l -;ttifF tri,l to detenuine whether G?'man ?'t?'fv ?haH L" di- rected towards peace or in favour of war. NOT KINGS, BUT CAPITALISM. I Moi •eover. Mr. Gerard either lacks the courage to ma ke fair comparisons Ijetween different forms of government or el-e he does not understand systems of government at all. In the course of one of his articles he relates thar the question list! rtb-rii t>iii i. him. as hoi ror had come on the world." To which he had re- plied: "It is the King business." Apparently feeling that th's reply might not be well re- ceived by the readers of the fimes, he ex- plained that he "did not mean nominal Kings as harmless as those of Spain and England. He was thinking, he said, or the power?ill mon- archs "—presumably German monarchs,^ al- though ,he had previously said that German monarchs are themselves ruled bv the German General Staff. Yet it is doubtful whether any European monarch—now that T/ardom has fallen in Russia—exercises as much, power as the Presi- dent of the rnitpd tntp". It lias so happened, throuirh quite accidental circumstances, that there has been a "President in office who kept America out of the war for more than two and a-ludf vears, but if, say, Roosevelt had been President it is quite certain he would have had America in the war soon after nar began. Mi ■ Gerard (lops not appear to know that imperial- ist qillls. prompted by the thirst of Capitalism for new fields for exploitation, are not confined to any particular form of government, and that a republic may be just as dangerous to democracy as a monarchy if, in that republ ic, there is per- sonal control of State machinery as is rhe case in America. THE BOLSHEVIK WAY. I In regard to this matter ot democratic control the Bolsheviks of Russia, whatever may he at- leged against them concerning then treatment of other parties in Russia, seem to 11, IA -V a more emTeet appreciation of the purpose and ob,w' of democratic ?ovM'nmpnt than any orhcr pohTK'n) party. Associated with each Bolshevik" Minister there is a committee which along with him de- cides what is to be done, and whoever is pn- trusted with a mission oil lwlwlf uf the nation must report concerning the business on which he is engaged to a of elected persons and not to the head of a government—that is to say. a. President or a King—or to a Minister to whom a Kimr lias delegated his authority as the pre- sent Kil1,g of England does to his Ministers. THE REASON. It is, of course, the main object of the capitalist press in all their references to the present situation in Russia to pretend that all the disasters that have fallen upon the Russian people are due to the Bolsheviks. The fact that the late corrupt government of the Tfcar was on the point of concluding a separate peace that would have placed the whole of the resources of Russia at the service of the Central Powers is conveniently ignored. The territories which the Bolsheviks have been com polled to a bandon to their fate were lost durins: the Tzar s regime. The whole economic structure of Russia was dis- organised before the revolution, and the rail- ways were almost at a standstill before the Bol- shevik government came into existence. Al- though the army was demoralised. the Bol- sheviks kept the remnants of it at the front for over three months and prevented the German army from advancing. Meanwhile, they tried to persuade the Allies to come in and help them to get a democratic peace, and at the same time vigourously upheld the principle of self-deter- mination at Brest -Li to vsk for the enlightenment of the German people. To all these efforts the Allied Governments made no response until the close of the Versailles Conference, and the re- sponse when it was forthcoming was, in effect, a re-statement of the "knock-out I)Iow T,)oli(-.vl which strengthened the position of German mili- tarism and checked, for the time being. the ac- tive opposition to militarism in GNman. Amd now that the inevitaMe result of eondiÜom which the Allied governments have delibeJatel ignored has followed, the Bolsheviks, who alone rind unaided have fought to prevent it. are charged with being responsible for all that has happened to Russia. THE TERRITORIAL QUESTION. I To make the case of the Bolsheviks appear in the worst light the press has deliberately con- veyed the impression that- Russia has surrendered all the territory mentioned in the ]>eace settle- ment to Germany. This, however, is not the Russia had already agreed to the forma- tion of separate States in all territory in dispute. The Bolsheviks claimed at Brest-Litovsk that each of the newly-formed Stqtes ,,Iiotil(i be al- lowed to proceed at once to determine, by means of a vote, its form of government, and, to make sure that the vote would be a free vote, the Bol- shevists demanded the Avithdrawal of the Ger- man and Austrian armies. The refusal of this claim by the Central Powers led to tlw failure of I Germany does not now I t. claim to annex the territory in dispute, but doubtless there is the intention to exercise some influence over the form of government that will be established in the newly formed States. It is impossible to say with certainty to what extent this interference will be pressed, but this much is certain, that Germany does not. want half-a- do;en Bolshevik States adjoining her own. Nor would any other capitalist state for that matter. HERTLING'S IMPROVEMENT. I It must be acknowledged that Count Hert- ¡Ijng" ,,¡¡pf'f'll on February 25th is a great im- provement on his previous speedw" With n'- gard to Belgium he said. It has been repeated- Iv said that we do not contemplate retaining Belgium, but that we must be safeguarded from the danger of a country, with whicTl we desire a fter the war to live ill peace and friendship, becoming the object or jumping-off ground of enemy machinations." As it was Germany who used Belgium as a jumping-off ground in 1914, this lfualific-ation, coming: from Count Hertling, is. an aggravation of the original crime, but the important point to be remeinhered is that safe- guards will be neces.-«s.i> against GenfUmy if not against other nations. General disarmament and the League of Nations are the only effective safeguards, and both are possible if only Gov- ernments would foIloNv tilt, lead given to them by their peoples. THE SAME BASIS. I If only the Allied Governments would a han- don their own imperialist war aims, peace nego- tiations could begin at once on the basis of the four principles laid down by President Wilson on The principles in question are as follows — (I) Kach part of' the ifnal settlement must be based on the essential justice of that par- t icular case. (2) Peoples and provinces must not he bar- tered as chattels or pawns, even in the discre- dited trame of the Balance of Power. Territorial settlements must he made in the interest of the populations concerned. (4) Satisfaction of all well-defined national aspirations which would not introduce or per- petuate antagonisms like.lv to break the peace. With regard to these principles which Presi- dent Wilson truly says are indispensable to any iust settlement of peace terms. Count Hertling, in the name of Germany, said, I can funda- mentally agree with the four principles which, in President Wilson's view, must be applied in a mntna? exchange of views, and thus declare with President Wilson that w, iiid w it'-] Wils(?ii tli-it a pe?"1(,(, (",In be AUSTRIAN SINCERITY. Tt is not enough to say in reply to definite de- clarations of principle such as the one made by Count Hertling in reply to President Wilson that they are useless because they will be given a nen meaning when negotiations actually com- mence. I his may be so, at least so far as Ger- Is There is no rea- son. however, to say this with regard to Austria. Count ti, on behalf of Austria, has given no sign of insincerity in his pronouncements re- lating to peace terms and the people of Austria-- probably also the people of Germany, hut cer- tainly the people ot Austria-—would revolt against their government if, at a peace confer- ence, their rulers prevented peace by breaking their publicly pledged word. If under such cir- cumstances war had to COlnm 11P tJw alliance be- tween the Central Powers would almost surely break, and, if the alliance did not- break, the unity between rulers and people in Austria and Germany at all event-, would be destroyed. EVER MORE DEVILISHLY MAD. And what is the alternative to this policy of seeking peace in tlw light of reason and under- stanôing: Let those who think that the alter- native is that of a peace imposed upon the Cen- tral Powers by force face the facts. What hope is there of piercing the impenetrable barrier of the Western Front? What hope is there now of starving the people of the Central Powers into submission? Even the military mandarins who have been so reckless in the matter of promises only speak now of their ability to maintain for some time to come, the defence of their lives, and the starvation policy seems, now to threaten the people of this country more than the people of Germany. The war becomes ever more devil- ish and destructive, and the madness of reprisals drags the nations deeper and deeper into a Hell of their own making. There is no victory pos- sible. but only different degrees of exhaustion, and no man can say what will be the end of it all if peace is sought that way. Let the people, therefore, speak if the rulers will not.. The War-God. Moloch, is drunk with human blood. Away, then, with the War-God Moloch and let us save what is left of humanity.

Return of E. D. Morel l ENTHUSIASTIC PUBLIC WELCOME AT I LEICESTER, The Corn Exchange at Leicester was crowded to suffocation on Wednesday last. Every seat in the building and every inch of.standing room was occupied. Hundreds were turned away at the doors. And as rhe chairman, Mr. Arthur Ponsonby. walked on to the platform, followed by a tall, heavily-built grey-headed figure, who still bore upon his features the marks left by months of prison life, the whole audience leaped to its feet and cheered again and again. It was a great reception to a courageous man. a.nd It is a pity that Sir George Cave, and the Bow Street magistrate who sentenced the author of Truth and the War and the deliverer of millions of natives of the Congo from the vilest oppression, were not there to witness it. It might have taught the in a le,.stln--if they were capable of learn ing anything. I MRS. SNOWDEN'S COMPARISONS. I The truth of the matter is this, that owing to the operations of D.O.R.A., a sentence of impri- sonment has become in the minds of the people, not a disgrace, hnt one of the, highest distinc- tions, the present discredited Government can bestow upon tiiv honest iiiin or woman. E. I). M orel." declared Airs. Philip Snowden in I ringing accents, has become by his imprison- ment, one of the heroes of the people. We think of him now as we think of Keir Hardie, of .Jean James, and of that great courageous soul. Karl Liebneicht." And the great audi- ence echoed her words. MR. MOREL'S SPEECH. I Mr. Morel spoke briefly but with great force. It w.as qUIte apparent that he had suffered se- verely from his experiences but that his strength was returning and that he would soon be able to resume his work for Peace with all his accus- tomed vigour. He spoke of the change in public opinion that had taken place since the publica- t'oii )f the secret treaties, and in passionate tones exclaimed that "the ivar continues only bt cause in every belligerent land men still re- tain power by their reckless rhetoric, or because they have become the tools of influences which they can no longer control. It is a matter of selt-preservation for all democracies to get rid of these men, and to replace them by men who are not committed to senseless and immoral im- perialistic annexations, to knock-out blows, and sec ret pacts; men with « clean slate, who can approach the matter from an altogether different aspect. Mr. Charles Trevelyan, M.P., and Mr. C. Roden Buxton also spoke, and a resolution was carried demanding a change of Government to new rulers who will be ready to take the neces- sary steps to secure immediately a peace based on no annexations and the self-determination of peoples." On the previous evening at a meeting of the Leicester l-.D.C. at the Co-operative Cafe an illuminated address, designed and executed by JIr, Roger Fry, was presented to Mr. Morel as a mark of appreciation for his great services to the cause of Democracy and Humanity during the present war. The presentation was made by Mr. Ch arles Trevelyan, M.P.. and short speeches were made by Mr. Arthur Ponsonby, M.P., Mr. C. Rod en Buxton, Mr. F. W. Pethick Lawrence, and Mr. Se vi-noiir Cocks. The following resolution has been passed by the General Council of the Union of Democratic Con tTol "That this meeting of the General Council of the Union of Democratic Control regrets that the Western Allied Governments of Europe have by the Versailles declaration closed the door to further negotiations. It further declares that the Secret Treaties concluded between the Allies during the war reveal a policy of annexations and indemnities incompatible with all their public declarations, and that the existence of these treaties is the most complete justification for the establish- ment during the war of the Union of Demo- cratic Control to demand public diplomacy. That the General Council further demands a new Government which will place no obstacle in the way of a meeting of the representatives of Labour from all the belligerent countries and will insist on all the Allied Governments agreeing to renounce all their, imperialistic ambitions as has already been done by the Russians and to demonstrate their readiness to enter at once into negotiations to obtain a democratic peace."

Winstone Wins The pit-head ballot for the Miners' Federation candidate for the Parliamentary "division of Mer- thyr took place on Thursday last. Mr. JJunes Winstone (President of the South Wales Miners' federation) and Mr. Enoch Morrell (miners' agent, Troedyrhiw) were the nominees. The re- sults ivere -T. Winfitolie 4,192 E. Morrell 2,716 Majority 1,476 The Lodge votes wti-.e: MERTHYR DISTRICT. W instone. Morrell. Gethm 263 95 Owmddiv 1,')8 64 Thomas-Merthyr 152 41 Castle Pit 424 86 Graig Pit and Level 318 85 South Pit No. 2 246 45 South Pit No. 1 394 143 Glynmil 87 44 Do-LAt-, DISTRICT. Bed!inog -N o I. 287 96 N-o. 2 127 30 South Tunnel 168 96 j1'od'l'iw Xo. 1 184 96 Nantwen 154 22 Fochrhv No. 2 428 120 TAFF ..D GYNOX DISTRICT. Merthyr Vale 659 1014 TrehatTis 142 639

I Music and The Peoplej AN INDICTMENT OF SOUTH WALES. MERTHYR'S NEW ATTEMPT AT EDUCA- q TIONAL TREATMENT. The institution of the military band promenade dances at the Rink last Thursday was an event which should give as much joy to the genuine lovers of music, as to the enthusiastic dancers of Merthyr, inasmuc h as indirectly it promises to foster the love of instrumental music that is so sadly unappreciated in Merthyr, as in most parts of South Wales to-day. With the excep- tion of a small circle around Pontardawe i- al- ways seenls as though instrumentation had no power of appeal over a populace that got,, wildly enthusiastic over the fervour of a tenor, the thrills and runs of a soprano, or the organi- sation of voices in unac-oompanied choirs. The only explanation one can advance for this is in the fact that South Wales has been badly served both by orchestral society's and brass and reed combinations but to a Northerner this is a poor explanation, since it is looking for a cause in what is really an effect of appreciation elsewhere. Where the love of massed band music, chamber music or orchestration is engendered, there will quickly appear brass and silver bands, orches- tral societies, and small aggregations for the performance of chamber music: just as the Welsh love of vocal music has given us a plethora of male voice choirs. THE HERITAGE OF THE PAST. I 1. .? jet the Welsh folks are behind no other part of the isles in tlieir temperamental fervour. No folk songs of Britain possess the richness of the Welsh folk songs, and it is in the old chanties, and the lullabys that have come down to us from the days when the music of the countryside was the product of the countryside's own soil and air, and lyefore the melodies that became cur- rent were bought in sixpenny pops, that we look for the ingrained poetry of life upon which the musical love of the present is firm founded. How is it, then, that the greatest faculty of the race is lost? Personally, I do not think that it has been lost altogether, but it has been pressed into an artificially narrow channel by the vogue for vocal music and the broader sweep of life that a properly balanced joy in the whole of music re- presented has Oeeome atrophied. Our concep- tions of band music are falsely based on braying street-coi ner hymn murdering, tempo lost mon- strosities and so firmly confii-i-ned are we in a foolish misconception that all band s are of this kind, that when a. band like the Welsh Guards visit us they do not take enough to pay the cost of travel and transportation. Nor has our one- sided development of the human voice lifted us high in music. It is true that Wales has given many of the best tenors to the opera and to the church but in competitoin our best combina- tions have not scored conspicuous successes over the choirs of Yorkshire and Lancashire, where, if anything, the potency of wind and wood and string are more highly evaluated than the com- binations of unaccompanied choral singers. The truth is our (boasted musical ability is at most a tradition, in the rags and tatters of which we display ourselves after the manner of lunatics aping the royalty that madness has convinced them they are. Our vocal crown is a tinsel one; our instrumental laurel leaf a paper imitation; and the royal purple toga of musical merit a sham cotton dress of our own manufacture. Mer- thyr under the patronage of its eccentric Craw- shaw did own a band that was inferior to none, but it was a mercenary band, and its memory is a mere memory that lacks the dynamic of emu- lation. THE NEED FOR ORGANISATION. I true, there are many music lovers amongst us. but they exist as individuals, and not as a com- bined body and it is because there is no society that there is no propaganda other than that car- i-i-ed on so valiantly by Mr. A. R. V. Laverock, R.A.C.M., as conductor of the Municipal Band. He almost alone is at the moment struggling to give expression to instrumental music in Mer- thyr, and it is solely by his efforts that the band has steadily increased in its technique and expression. It is to him almost alone that the band has now come to fill the new role of musicians, to dance to whose work will spell an awakening of the aesthete sense respecting the melodies; and a new conception of the joy of the light fantastic. And, personally, I enjoy the dreamy intricacies of the waltz, and find more sweetly cunning melody in them than I do in much of the open-air work that park playing necessitates. In the open-air the work must of necessity be clean cut, heavy, and meant to carry against adverse breezes and the chatter of the audience, and the wails of infants. In the dance room, the music is finei- in its make-up, more restrained in its scoring, and is developed in accordance with a purpose far different from that of al fresco composition. And on Thursday the work was handled as well as I have heard the Yorkshire Hussars attack similar work; the spacing was perfect, the attack excellent, the time true to metronome, and the filling in of the atmosphere worthy a philharmonic orclies- tra. There was no bray; the brass wa.s abso- ] lately restrained to its correct proportional con- tribution to the harmonisation of the music and the music was well chosen. Altogether, the music alone was worth the popular sixpence that was charged for admittance, and I am "pleased that at least four more repetitions of the event are to be tried during March. A.P.Y.

I C. H. Norman and I. P. Hughes. I ARRESTED AT DARTMOOR. There has been a dramatic sequel to the events which happened at Dartmoor Settlement in con- nection with the death of a C.O.. H. W. Firth. As will be remembered, 100 C.O. 's refrained from going to work on Friday., February 8th. for one day as a protest against the general hospital treatment meted out to C.O.'s both in prison and in Home Offi(i, Camps, and in furtherance of a demand for a full public enquiry into the circumstances that led to Firth's death. On Monday, February 18th. Major Terrell, on behalf of the Home Office Committee, visited Dartmoor Settlement for the purpose of conducting an enquiry into the cause and or- ganisation of the one day strike protest. From the start. Major Terrell seemed to fix the 14aiiie on a few men whom he considered were the ringleaders and Jaad agitated for a strike. Special attention was paid to the part played by the chairman and secretary of the Men's Com- mittee (Mr. Dan Griffiths and Mr. 1. P. Hughes) and Mr. C. H. Norman. Witness after witness, however, contended that the strike was the outcome of the indigna- tion felt by the men at the treatment meted out to C.O, at the prison hospital, and it was thought that some impression had been made or. the mind of this official. The result of the enquiry and the consideration thereof by the Home Office Committee, was an escort for Mr. C. H. Xorman and Mr. 1. P. Hughes, which took them to Exeter, where they will be oourt- martialled. This is pure Prussianism. especially in the case of Mr. Hughes, who was dead against the policy of a strike, and who only supported it as a decision -of the majority. Despite the arrest of these two men, the demand for a full public enquiry must be kept to the front, as the soul- Ies:, prison system of medical attention to C.O. 's must be exposed. Resolutions demanding a full public enquiry and pressing for the release of Messrs. Norman and Hughes should be sent at once to the Home Office Committee, Whitehall. London, and to the Prime Minister, The Home Secretary 'and Mr. G. N. Barnes, by every Trade rnion Branch and Socialist Society.

MERTHYR I.L.P. COLLECTORS' MEETING, A meeting of the Merthyr Branch I.L.P. Col- lectors will be held on Monday night (March 4), at the Institute, at 7.30 p.-ni. bring re- turns for .February.

HARDIE MERORIAL FUND. Collected by F. Rees -Anonymous, 2s. 6d., D.I.D., 2s. 6d.; E.W.R., 3s.; M.R., Is.; W.R., 6d.; F.R., 2s. 6d.; total," 12s.