Pioneer

THE ECONOMIC BASIS OF EVIL. PAGE 3.

Trade Disputes in March. 46,886 PEOPLE INVOLVED. I 14 TRADE UNION WINS, 9 LOSSES, I 19 COMPROMISES. The num ber of disputes beginning in March was 83, as compared with 82 in the previous month, and 29 in March, 1917 (says the Board of Trade Labour Gazette "). In these new dis- putes, 27.508 workpeople were directly, and > indirectly, in volved, and these figures, 8, W n d re when added to the number of workpeople in- voIN-ed in disputes which began before March and were still in progress n.t the beginning of the month, give a. total of 46,886 workpeople in- volved in disputes in March, 1918, as rompared with -L-n February, 1918. and 28,916 in Marah, 1917. CAUSES. I Of the 83 new disputes beginning in the I month. 54. directly involving 11,467 workpeople, arose on demand-, for advances in wages 8, di- rectly involving 8,250 workpeople, on other wages questions: 10, directly involving 4,299 workpeople, on disputes respecting the employ- ment of particular oi-, persons; 4, directly involving 1,752 workpeople, on details of work- ing arrangements; and 7. directly involving 1,740 workpeople, on questions of Trade Union principle. SETTLEMENTS. I During the i)iont.h spttleiiients were effected in the case of 36 new disputes, directlv involving 11,940 workpeople, and 6 old disputes, directly involving 1.578 workpeople. Of these new and did disputes. 14. directly involving 6,519 work- people, were settled in favour of the workpeople, 9, directly involving 2,929 workpeople, in favonr of the employers, and 19, directly involving 4,070 workpeople, were compromised. In the case of 31 orther disputes, directly involving 15.593 work- people. work was resumed pending further ne- gotiations. AGGREGATE DURATION. I The number of working days lost in March by disputes which began or were settled in that month amounted to 237,300. In addition 38,900 working day* were lost owing to disputes which began before March and wpre stilll in progress at the end of the month. Thus the total aggre- gate duration in March of all disputes, npw and old, was 276,200 dqv.,q. aA compared with 287,500 da-vs in .February, 1918, and 202.000 days in March, 1917. WAGE ADVANCES. I The changes in rates of wages (including war bonuses) reported to the Department as having been granted during March (to take effect either in that month or from earlier dates in 1918), re- sulted in a. net increase of over £ 67.000 in the weekh wages of more than 220,000 workpeople. The only decreases reported resulted from the withdrawal of certain increases and bonuses, aflwtimr les-" than 10,000 workpeople, which had In granted in the latter part of 1917 to operate during the winter months.

Whitley Principle. I WORKERS' FEDERATION AND SAFE. I GUARDS TO TRADE UNIONS. A con ference of the National .Federation of General Workers held at Caxton Hall on Wed- nesday expressed approval of the proposal to set up a statistical department to collect and distribute information relating to industries covered by the Federation, but thought it bet- ter to circularise the various unions with a view to the matter being further considered at the annual meeting. The Whitley principle was approved, but the conference urged that safeguards should be taken to secure that the scheme was not used in such a way as to damage trade union organi- sation. Mr. J. M. Bell, who presided, said that un- der the scheme it was proposed to set up shop committees, but there wa.s no stipulation that the representatives on those committees should be trade unionists. Consequently they might easily have an organisation of non-unionists set up as a rival union.

Aberdare Food Prosecution I RE-SOLD MARGARINE AT SAME PRICE. I Mrs. Mary Ann Da-vies, grocer, of Rrynmair- road, Godreaman. was summoned at Aberdare this week for selling marmalade at a price ex- ceeding the maximum. Defendant sold a 21b. pot for 2s. 4d., the authorised price being Is. 81(1. Mr. W. H. Morgan prosecuted for the Food Committee. The defence, for which Mr. William Thomas appeared, was tha.t the con- signment had only just come to hand. and that defendant herself had paid 2s. 4d. for a 21b. pot to other tradesmen. The Stipendiary held there were mitigating circumstances and imposed a small fine of 10s. and 2s. 6d. costs.

Extra Sixpenny Rate I I COST OF INCREASES TO CORPORATION I WORKMEN. The recent increases in wages granted to work- I men employed by the Merthyr Corporation is equivalent to a sixpenny rate, so the Boruogli Controller (Ir. W. R. Harris) informed the Estimates Committee on Wednesday. The total estimated expenditure for the year was put at £ 39,133, and the amount to be called for from the rates is £ 32.636, as compared with an actual amount of t27,361 ra)seti last year.

I LABOUR DAY I WEDNESDAY, MAY 1st, 1918. M I FINAL ARRANGEMENTS I I II a.m.-Marching Contest for Bands in High Street. I I 12 noon.-Dowlais Contingent meet at Bottom of New Road, Gellyfaelog. I I 12.30 p.m.-DEMONSTRATION starts from Fountain, High Street Cyfarthfa and I I Merthyr Municipal Band leading procession. I I 1.30 p.m.—Robert Smillie, Dr. Marion Phillips and the Rev. J. M. Jones will each I I deliver an address on The Terrace, Cyfarthfa Park. I I 2 P.m.-Children's Sports in Cyfarthfa Park (Record Entries). I B 3 P.m.-Brass Band Competition in Cyfarthfa Park Band Stand. I I 3 p.m.-ALL PRELIMINARY TESTS for Solos and Recitations at BENTLEY'S HALL. I ■ 5 p.m.—Eisteddfod at Rink; 1st Competition, Children's Choirs. I I TICKETS, ONE SHILLING (for all the above). I I Get your Tickets before May Day from Lodge Officials, Stewards & Delegates I I If WET, Same Time-Table, but all (except Sports) at Olympia Rink. I

Political Notes By F. W. Jowett, M.P. I THE RICH MAN'S BUDGET. I Once more the wealthy classes of the com- munity have escaped much easier than they ex- pected at the hands of the Chancellor of the Ex- chequer. The income tax which they feared would he to 7/6 in the £ is only raised to ,) on earned incomes of over £ 2,500 a year. The rate of 2/3 in the £ previously charged on incomes not exceeding i-i,rn,tin, at the old figure. The super tax on inwmes above £ 10,000 a year is advanced from 3/6 to 4/6. The scale of charges for super tax ranges now from 1/- on the first J.){)O over and above £ 2,000, to 4/6 on the excess of £ 2,000 in the case of incomes over £ 10.000. The first £ 2,000 is free of super-tax in all cases. Postcards are in I utlire to be charged a postal rate of a })("'nny and letters ljd. Sugar is to be 7d. a lb. in- stead of is to be 2d. per oz. more. The daily press is almost unanimous in praising the rich man's budget, and as there is no daily press to speak for the workers, an atmosphere of contentment appeal's to prevail. However, the reckoning will come later for the financial committments grow heavier as the war goes on, and even if, fs seems likely, the working-classes offer no resistance to the present infliction, the i hnnt of endurance will be reached later. Then I the real struggle will come. "MY NATIONAL DEBT." I Mr. Ljnch, M.P., recently invited Mr. Bonar Law to tell him why, seeing that in all Royal Proclamations the King speaks of My Amy," I I inly Nax-y, or Aly Empire," the Govern- ment does not also advise the King to claim the same relation to the National Debt. "Mv Na- tional Debt would read well in a King's Speech and there does not appear to be any good reason for the National Debt alone being regarded as a democratic institution. Mr. Bonair Law. how- ever, declined to reply to Mr. Lynch's enquiry. THE EMPEROR'S LETTER. I Several members of Parliament have placed questions on the Parliamentary notice paper asking the Foreign Secretary witether lie was aware that at the time of the refusal of the Bri- tish Government to consider peace negotiations the French President was in possession of a letter from the Emperor of Austria st,ating that he would support by every means, and use his personal influence with his Allies, to secure ''the .French just claims" regarding Alsace-Lorraine, and affirming that the Sovereignty of HpIgiml1 shouldiw restored as also that of Serbia, with an outlet to the sea for the latter. To all the mem bers concerned Mr..Balfour lias replied that the Government after most careful consideration has decided not to answer questions relating to the Emperor Carl's letter at present. This is not surprising, for whether the letter had been mis-translated or not there is no denying the fact that in the form in which it was received by the French President the letter covered all, and more than all, the original objects for which the people of this country approved of the war, and soldiers are asking why negotiations were not considered on the basis laid down in the letter, which, so far as was then known to the Allies. was genuine. Only one reasonable ex- planation can be offered for the refusal to con- sider negotiations on the terms suggested by the Austrian Emperor, and it is that new objects have been added for which the Allied Govern- Iments are committed to keep the war on. These objects are to be found, of course, in sooret treaties rfc?ntiy disclosed by Russia. BEFORE THE WAR. I Sjieaking of disclosures 1 am reminded of an- other sensational disclosure of which the Bri- tish Government is fully aware but will not publish for the enlightenment of the British public. It is the protocol of the special Russian Council held under the Tsar's presidency on Feb- ruary 21sit, 1914. The chiefs of the Foreign Office., the Army, and the Navy of Russia at- tended. M. Sazonoff opened the business by stating that in the near future events may arise which might alter fundamentally the ¡ international positions of the straits at Con- stantinople." Presumably the alteration of position referred to by Mr. Sazooff was that a German General (General Limau Von Souders) had been given executive command at Constan- tinople and the Bagdad railway dispute was ap- proaching settlement on ternis favourable to Germany. The position of Germany threatened, therefore to interfere with Russian plans con- cerning Constantinople and the Straits. M. Saxonoff, a.t the Council referred to, asked for ¡ plans to be prepared for a landing at the Straits. SHAMEFUL DOCUMENT. In the document above referred to .M'I &zonoff points out that the plan recommended by him could not be carried out without a European War" and that a clash with the Tri pJø AUiance" Was unavoidaMe. "We must," ho said, "strive to ensure success in the main theatre of war." The Russian Council then went on to discuss steps for hastening Russian measures of mobilisation on the German-Austrian front, and the final decision of the Council, signed by the Tssar. was that special measures would be taken for the acceleration of the Rus- sian mobilisation, in readiness for the imminent Russian attack on the Straits, which would give rise to the European war which was antici- pated. This, the reader will please note, was in the month of February, 1914, but the plan was not required for the anticipated European war because the assassina-tion of the Austrian Archduke later on in the saitie year precipitated the anticipated war without it. RUSSIA, THEN GERMANY. I If the Russian protocol above-mentioned, and 1 the memorandum by Baron Rosen, the Russian Ambassador to the United States, and the re- ports of the Belgian Government of the sinister forces at work in Paris and London for some years before the war fomenting conditions that made war almost inevitable—along with the Lichnowsky memorandum, could all lie printed in a collected form, they would, ta ken together, be a source of real enlightenment for the British public. Such a collection of decuments would show that this war is the deadly fruit of the action of a comparatively small number of in- dividual men, some of them working innocently I at cross purposes, others scheming for motives of imperialistic expansion, personal ambition, and capitalist plunder. Personally. I am of opinion that such a collection of documents would prove that the largest measure of re- sponsibility for the war rests upon the late nilers of Russia and that to the rulers of Ger- many belongs the next largest share. Two things, however, could not be concealed from the readers of the suggested collection of dis- closures. One is that the rulers of no w nation are exclusively responsible and the otfuar is that I in all the nations concerned the people have been hoodwinked and deceived. EQUALITY. I The German prisoners in Russia who were said to be about to take the field against the Allies under German generals have recently been the subject of a formal protest made by Germany aiMt Russia. The reason for the protest is that the German prisoners are farming revolu- tionary committees and are striving for equality with German officer prisoners. There has actual- ly been a congress of German prisoners of war at Moscow, and the German Government is wor- ried about it. Thus disappears another excuse for n. Japanese invasion of Russia. It is not the only lie that has been foisted upon the world with the same object. Another one was the lie that the landing at Vladivostock was the result of an international agreement. Mr. Francis, the American Ambassador to Russia, has now stated publicly that the Japanese Ad- miral landed men on his own responsibility and that the British Marines were landed because the British Consul anticipated that the Japan- ese landing would cause unrest in the town. Ap- parently President Wilson has put his foot on the Japanese invasion outrage for the present. It stands on record, however, to the lasting dis- grace of, the French and British Governments, that they were ready and willing to let Japan do on the Siberian frontier of Russia wjiat Ger- many has done on Russia's western frontier. The motive is almost surely the same in both cases, and is more concerned with hatred of the Bolsheviks and the wish to protect the threat- ened investments of the capitalists and money- lenders of the Central and Allied powers than (with anything else. THEN AND NOW. I The Black Slaves of Prussia" is the title of one of the latest official propaganda pamphlets of the British Government. The object of the pamphlet is to prove that Germany is unfitted to have any power over the native population of Africa. One of the leading London newspapers commenting on the pamphlet, suggests that the restoration of any ex-German Colony to the Boehe Beast," having regard to the contents of the pamphlet in question, would be "one of the blankest of crimes." And yet. one of the revelations contained in the famous Lichowsky memorandum—carefully seWcted extracts from 'which are also being circulated by the million by the British Government—is that shortly before the commencement of the war the British Gov- ernment had agreed to sign a treaty the object of which was to facilitate a vast extension of German rule over African natives. We are not allowed to know what is being said by the Por- tuguese about the British bargain with Germany to assist Germany to acquire Portuguese Colon- ies, for the treaty had not been signed at the outbreak of war, but we do know that Germany objected to the treaty being published because, so it is suggested of the contradiction between the treaty in question a.nd a previous treaty on the same subject with Portugal. Be this as it may, the point remains that but for the war the British Government would have assisted at a large extension of German Colonies in Africa, which it is now stated would have been one of the blackest of crimes. "SOME" DEAL. I The truth is. of course, with regard to all the adventures of European Governments in Africa, they are not, and never have been, un- dertaken in the interests of the natives, and if (Continued at foot of next column).

I The Visit of Soermus. I WONDERFUL MUSIC AT THE RINK. I AUDIENCE OF OVER A THOUSAND. Soermus is delighted with Merthyr and its people; the Merthyr people demonstrated their delight at the visit of such an artiste as the leat Russian so rcll hy Öeir attend- ance at the Rink and so exuberantly at the end of each recital by the performer that to say that the delight is mutual and reciprocal is to be platitudinous. Yet what was it we applauded so loudly Not the technique, for an apprecia tion of that would depend upon a. training iz instrumentation that not one per cent. of us ba.f had. Certainly not technique. Did we appre ciate the musical message then of Bach? I am inclined to answer that we. did not, for the uyes- sage was couched in language too fluent for our halting speech; too poetic for our prosaic souls.. We but glimpsed dimly the inspiring uplift of the mighty melody as a child might feel the wondrousness of the ethic of the Sermon on tie Mount, yet fail to comprehend it because the knowledge of good and evil, the actuality of comparison is forbidden to the purity of the vir- gin mind and life of the child. And so one might try, 1\.<; I have tried this last four and twenty hours, to explain the psychology of Tues- day night, when over a thousand of us sat in ecstactic rapture the while Soermus' magic music bathed us in a holy atmosphere not of this earth. But try as one will the explanation eludes one. It is as though the greatness of the love and appreciation of Soermus for his splendid art had for a while opened to us doors in tHe soul, that closed, alas, too early and that left behind 'out a recollection of a land not as this land, of a life not an this life. A land of always sunshine, and sweetness, and broad vL"ta. and blue skies and splashing waves on golden sands; a life from which the horrors of this materially enwrapped life had been remorselessly carved off, a life in which love and brotherhood and sisterhood was the sovereign rule. For brief spells it were as though the future was opened unto us, and we saw the world that we would hasten—a world that sounds impossibly Utopian to the squalidly environed soul of to-day. William Morris' "News from Nowhere" was visualised to ua. and our hearts throbbed with delight, as for that brief space we knew the joys of an existence I so alien to this—an existence in which there might be Golden Dustmen witlio11* any incon- gruity. Who shall explain arL t?At does bhis; gruity. ill dare to criticise; for criticmm of that which. could do these things to us in the mass is but the folly that would rob a child of its be- lief in the fairies, and would give it nothing to console it* broken heart. I am unable to cri- ticise, I can only remember, and be pleased that I was of such an audience; an audience that for the most part was of the people. For after all, the marvel is that such a message should not be far above the masses, who have not had the op- portunity to develop their {esthetic nature; nay, whose very conditions of life are artificially so deoased in the mad fight of Capital for Profit, that the very seeds of the soul that bring forth such wonderful flowers as this of music, and its appreciation, are poisoned ere they are quickened into life. But though the soil be soured and the air poisoned, the sun of such music as was given to us on Tuesday can penetrate the poison and neutralise the acidity, and stir up the finer life that is but wanting the warmth to germin- ate and flower forth, giving to us if not a new earth, at all events an earth so radically differ- ent to that which we know that it might well be new. Soermus did that for us. The pity is that there are not a, hundred Scermuses to do it on a bigger scale, and reaching a greater public. Soermus, the master artiste, himself bowed in appreciation of the choral music rendered by the Penywern Male Voice Party, and, indeed. all that I have found it possible to express of Scermus' work is applicable in only a slightly lesser degree to the work that thev did. Their contributions were as artistic as the massed human voice singing the language of Eden can be. It is given to few vocalists to visualise music; and it is a faculty pMSesRoo by even fewer choirs, but the Penywern Choir reached that exalted pinnacle on Tuesday night. Than that none could give them greater praise. A.P.Y.

Labour's Choice at Bedwellty. CHARLES EDWARDS TO FIGHT SEAT. At a. ronfe,rence of Labour organisations of the Bedwellty Division at Newport on Saturday, Councillor J. Powell, Risca, presiding, it was unanimously resolved to contest the division in the labour interest at t/he next GeneraJ Election. Councillor Charles Edwards, J.P., miners' I agent, Pontllanfraith, was the only nominee as candidate, and he received the unanimous sup- port of the conference. It was resolved to op- pose the proposal of the Monmouthshire County Council to schedule the countv for proportional representation, and the Chairman and Mr. W. Jones, Pengam, were deputed to give evidence against the scheme if an inquiry was held.

an European Government's claim to posses colon- ies in Africa had to be judged by its record in this respect Portugal and Belgium, both, would have to be deprived of their African colonies. Nor is the record of the Chartere d Conipany- concerning the operartions of which the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is at present hearing some most interesting evidence—clear of flagrant injustice or of cruelty. For P,11000 down and £ 500"per annum the Chartered Cora- pany pleads that it obtained all the land over which Lobengula. claimed to rule, and, in addi- tion, all Lobengula. s cattle. The I4ord Advo- cate quoted the fact that in 1894, after Lobea- guh had fled, the Company sold for its own profit certain sites at Buluwayo for £ 53.089. The Cbmpany is claiming ownership of 72,000,000 acres of land, and the total value of the land is now estimated at £ 15,000.000.