Pioneer

THE LLANTRISANT WAR MEMORIAL. I TO THE EDITOR. I Sir,—May I be allowed to reply to your cor- respondent for IJlautrisaollt-re the proposed War Memorial. In his notes for January 18th he informs your readers that my proposal is quite impracticable and quite incomplete. His alternative scheme for building a Memorial Hall through the Parish Council is much more im- practicable. In the first place the Parish Council has no power to levy a rate in the district for the purpose of building a Hall (we were advised on this point by an official of the Parish Council at our public meeting) and in the second place. if the council had power to levy a rate, is it likely that the members ftom Pontyclun, Tonyre- fail, and Gilfach Goch districts would support a scheme of this kind which would be of no benefit to their particular wards What appears to trouble your correspondent chieflv is the election of a Committee of Manage- ment. this is a matter in my opinion that can easily be surniourfced. I believe it would be grossly unfair to allow anyone beyond sub- scribers and discharged soldiers and sailors to have a. voice in this matter, neither would I con- sider it right to allow any person to have more than kno vote in the selection of the Committee, whether they gave a donation of €1 or Cloo. What 1 consider a, fair representation in a, Committee of, say, ten, would be as follows:- One clergyman, one minister, four tradesmen or professional men (two should be ex-soldiers or sailors), and four Labour men (two should be ex-soldiers or sailors), with an independent chairman selected at a public meeting. The question of maintenance could be left to the committee, and the Hall, in my opinion, would easily be self-supporting. Some years ago a hall and institute was built in one of the districts not many miles from Llan- trisant, at a cost of over t4,000. Two gentlemen became responsible to the bank for this latter sum, the amount was paid off in a very short period, and the hall and institute has been free for some years. There should certainly be a fee charged for the use of the hall for all meetings, but if the work- men of the district require it for their meetings the fee should only cover the cost of light and cleaning. There are gentlemen who 1 know who would not support a Memorial Hall if meetings were allowed on Sundays and if dancing was al- lowed there, but I can assure your correspon- dent I am not of that opinion. For many years I was a member of the X. U .R. and for a con- siderable time it was my privilege to represent them on the executive committee. Sunday was the only clay on which we could all meet together and had it not been for our Sunday meetings Railwaymen would not enjoy the many privileges they do to-day. Some members of the committee do not believe we could raise £ 300, but that only indicates how little the public of this district appreciate the sacrifices made and the victory won. Llantrisant contributed under voluntary en- listment more men in proportion to the popula- tion than any other district in Glamorgan. There are one or two gentlemen in the town who, as already intimated, will not contribute one penny in support of a Hall, but that will not prevent the scheme being accomplished. We maintained the Belgian refugees and the Soldiers' and Sailors' Comforts Fund without their support, and we shall go ahead again with a more deter- mined effort with a War Memorial scheme. 1 am quite prepared to support any other public scheme that may be carried by a majority at the next public meeting. My ambition is to do some- thing for the soldiers and sailors who have sacrificed so much for us. In conclusion, let me impress upon all classes to unite together so as to work harmoniously for one common purpose.— Yours, etc., T:l'nyhl'l) L lant.' ,,alit, J. WILLIAMS. I Tanybryn, Llantrisant, | -laiiii-ii?v 21,,t., j

A LEACUE OF NATIONS. f TO THE KDITOK. Sir,—It seems to many of us that the funda- mental error running through all the proposals for a League of Nations now before us is that of assuming the efficacy of armed force as an ultimate arMQcr. We are told that in the event of any mem ber of the League refusing to accept the finding of the International Tribunal, the whole of the armed forces of the remaining mem- bers of the League are to be used to coerce the recalcitrant member. Surely this way madness lies. If might is not right when applied by one nation to another, how can it be right when ap- plied by a group of nations to one of its neigh- bours. Mr. Balfour, speaking in the House of Com- mons on August 8th, 1918, made a very valuable contribution to the discussion as to the right basis for such a League of Nations as would en- sure permanent peace. He said:- If you can once make it clear to German minds that in modern civilisation the moral view of a majority of nations is sufficient to coerce recalcitrant members of human society, then, and not till then, is there some prospect of that peace which the hon. gentleman, as well as everyone on this side of the* House so earnestly desires." Now, sir, it is perfectly obvious that it is not onlySto German minds that this truth must he made clear; minds very much nearer home are sadly in need of enlightenment. It may be that Mr. Balfour himself does not realise the impli- cation of his dictum. But it is high time that statesmen and peoples of all nations recognised the fact that armed force, the doctrine of pun- ishment, is a complete failure in whatever cir- cumstances it may be applied. Just as the only result of our hideous penal system applied to our erring fellows has been to create a perma- nent criminal class ever at war with society, so, too. the only result of a League of Nations based on punishnu nt, would be to perpetuate the very evil we set out to destroy. We "punished" Russia in 1856; Germany punished France in 1871; and in spite of the fact that the blood-soaked Continent to-day bears ghastly witness to the futility of such methods, we are now engaged in "punishing" Germany. Is it too much to suggest that the only way out of this Hell is to give Christianity a trial A League of Nations based on the Sermon on the Mount is the only practical method of ensuring peace. The first step would be total disarma- ment all round. The force behind such a League would be that of an enlightened people who. realising their brotherhood, would refuse to be led to the shambles for mutual slaughter be- cause they haue not so much madness left in their brains."—Yours,etc. Birmingham, w..1. CHAMBERLAIN. B;rmlngliam, W. J. CHAMBERLAIN. I January 19th, 1919. 1

HANDS OFF RUSSIA. I TO THE EDITOR. Sir.-—Your correspondent Fred Sylvester, is certainly very tar wrong iffc assuming, as he seems to, that I had auv desire to whitewash Miliukoff, and I think lie will perceive that he is wrong in inferring that I interpreted facts erroneously. I wa.s dealing with the fact that the Russian people wanted peace, and that they desired to obtain peace by and through tin1 Revolution. 1 said that Kerensky and Miliukoff could not bring the peace the people so ardently 'desired. That is a fact. I was not. discussing why tluey could not, I know why. ) know that Miliukoff is an out and out Capitalist-Imperialist—almost as much as some British Labour leaders—and that his one burning ambition was to realise the ob- jects set forth in the Set ret Treaties made be- tween the Tzar's government and the British and French governments, beginning in March, 15)17. only the day before the Revolution broke out. His record, as your correspondent points out, proves him to be thoroughly unscrupulous. Your correspondent falls foul of me because I said that Kerensky was bullied into the July offensive (1917). In dealing with this matter in Russia. and the Struggle for Peace," Mr. Michael S. Farbuman sinns it up thus:— "To-day it is a. matter of common know- ledge that the July offensive of the Russian Army was the gravest and most fatal blunder of Kerensky and the Russian high command. It was more than a blunder. It was the heaviest crime any statesman could have com- mitted. It was equivalent to staking the whole fate of the Revolution and the very existence of Russia as an independent state on one very doubtful move. "History will never forgive Kerensky and his associates for this crime. Hut its judg- ment of him will be mitigated by the fact that he was acting under an appalling pressure from the Allies." The black letters are mine. Your editorial note correctly deals with the point raised by your correspondent re the attitude of Lenin and Trotsky towards the question of the separate peace terms, and to that, therefore, there is nothing I need add.-—Yours, etc., R. C. WALLHEAD. 1

THE RINK MEETINCS. I TO THE EDITOR. I •^1%—It is with greit, reluctance that I enter into a newspaper controversy. However, I can- not resist the temptation of criticising the letter appearing above the word "Enthusiast." What thoughts this word conveys to my mrtul thoughts of the coming Utopia, inspired by the real Aithusiast—the man or woman who would forego not only his tea, but his dinner and breakfast for the cause. Many men have often enough had no food of any description to go to owing to their real enthusiasm, for this noble movement of ours. Yes, my friend, the bleat- ings of your letter are not the words of an En- thusiast. Quite a number of the comrades walk from Aberdare, Bedlinog, Bargoed, and else- where to hear the pearls of wisdom, the great thoughts, the splendid encouragement the speeches give to one long after the meeting closes. These comrades (enthusiasts) discuss the speeches on their way back to their home, they have no immediate thoughts for food for their stomach. They have had plenty of food for the mind. My sympathy is with you, my friend, when you are gulping down your cup of tea, and also when you are rushing off to chapel. Surely it is a happy relief when you enter chapel and hear the drone of the speaker, and see the drab surroundings. Nevertheless, you have the satisfaction of knowing, whilst sit- ting there listening to those golden words, that this is gobd for the digestive organs, so you are compensated by being indiscreet in gulping down your cup of tea. From my own point of view, to go from our Rink meetings to a chapel is like going from the glorious sunshine into a. thick fog. There is, I understand, one grand exception to this; at the chapel I have in mind, there is a continua- tion of the Rink meet-in o-s' spirit there.—Yours etc., EDWARD SHADBOLT.

FINISH-CONSCRIPTION SUNDAY. I TO THE EDITOR- I ,OR I Sir.-The second of March is the third anni- versary of the putting into operation of the first Military Service Act. Conscription, introduced in 1916 as a temporary measure at a critical period of the war, is not likely to he easily re- linquished. The principal reasons for thinking so are that the Unionists are in control of the Government, that the Prime Minister, even for election purposes, would not promise its aboli- tion, that the term duration of the war or as nearly as maybe is capable of indefinite exten- sion, that there is no sign of a single soldier being discharged from the army except for medi- cal reasons and that the whole policy of the Al- lied governments is pointing towards a continu- ance and intensification of militarist imperialism. It is clear, however, that the Government is ap- prehensive on this point, and a definite declara- tion by large numbers of the people would serVe to strengthen the hands of those who do mean to fulfil the pledges given. A single Sunday, therefore, on which Industrial, Social, Political (Continued at foot of preceding column).

Ii: More About M -ooney.V, WHERE THE AMERICAN CASE STANDS TO-DAY. LABOUR STILL INSISTENT FOR NEW TRIAL. The Mooney Case, that stranger than fiction story of the San Francisco dollar kings' re- morseless hatred of Labour, has taken a new turn. Pioneer readers are already aware of the use made by a corrupt court of the dregs of Society to noose the rope round Mooney's neck as a. glaring advertisement to other trade-union j administrators. They succeeded—Mooney was sentenced to be hanged on thp word of an illiter- ate man who perjured himself, of prostitutes, a drug fiend and their like. Labour in America, and President Wilson intervened after the mat- ter had become an international scandal, and when a. Commission had recommended a re-trial. But the Californian courts could not face the exposure, and the President's request was turned down. istill Labour pressed, and at the eleventh hour, the sentence was converted to one of penal servitude for life. That was merely a "face saver" on the part of the authorities, and Mooney. who has all along demanded a re-trial, and not a. mere reprieve, promptly wired the President on December 2nd from San Quentin Prison asking Mr. Wilson to state exactly what you mean by commutation of my death sentence." Meanwhile the San Francisco Labour Council has had under con- sideration methods to be adopted to secure jus- tice and a retrial for Mooney, and on Sunday. December 1st, a. big special meeting was held, and thf*, discussion of ways and means occupied more tliatv four hours. There was no difference in demand, but there were two voluble sections *—one for the use of the loca l strike weapon, the other favoured the submission of the matter to the American Federation of Labour, and the in- ternational unions to outl ine a.n undivided plan of action. The local strike was the proposal of the Bomb Defence Committee," and they se- cured 43 votes against the alternative 41—but the two-thirds rule meant that this was no deci- sion. UNITED FOR MOONEY. The of Deeemlier "2nd said of the Meeting :— "The delegates all agreed on one thing, and that is that Labour is united in its desire to ob- tain a new trial for Mooney. Disagreement is upon the method of procedure to encourage such, and the means of expressing indignation and protest against the action of the Governor. As one delegate said: 'California stands to-day at the bar of justice charged by the workers of the world.' He asked the men and women of Labour to sacrifice and strike rather than lay down and be doormats for royalty to stand upon and sup- plant democracy. "Mooney was yesterday assigned to a place in the San Quentin prison foundry, lie having been a moulder before his arrest. Advices to the effect that his sentence had been commuted r)y Governor Stephens were received by Warden 71ohnson yesterday afternoon. They were accom- panied by a. copy of the Governor's statement setting forth his reasons for commutating the sentence." A HENRY DUBS UNION. I The intensity of the interest that has been aw akened in the Mqoney case amongst American Labourites is displayed in -the following de- spatches from the same paper—though inciden- tally the wea.k-kn^edness of some of the unions on the Pacific coast, is rcflected in the report from Portland which we hojje is only half-truth. Talk- about sacredness of contract in fa.(-e of a situa- tion such as Mooney's is cheap hypocritical clap- trap. ft "The Minneapolis Labour Assembly yester- day adopted resolutions favouring a strike of all Labour unions on December 9th, in order to con- tinue the campaign for a new trial for Mooney. COUNCIL OPPOSES STRIKE. PoRTi-Axn, Or., Dec. 2nd.—At a meeting here yesterday, attended by representatives from all Pacific Coast cities from San Francisco to ancouver, B.C. Joint Council o. 8 of the Teamsters'. Chauffeurs'. Stablemen's and Helpers' Union adopted a resolution opposing any strike on behalf of Thomas J'. Mooney, im- prisoned in California under sentence following conviction of complicity in the San Francisco preparedness day bomb plot. The resolution declares mem bers of the union will" do all in our power to gain a new trial for Mooney." but a. strike is opposed on the ground that its contract with the employers 'is something more than a scrap of paper.' Michael Casey of San Francisco, international vice-president of the union, presided at the meeting. RESOLUTIONS VOTED. CHICAGO, Dec. 1st.-—Resolutions protesting against the action of Grovemor Stephens of Cali- fornia in commuting the death sentence of Thomas J. Mooney to life imprisonment instead of pardoning him, and directing the executive board to call a conference of local unions to de- vise a plan of action, were adopted to-day by the Chicago Federation of Labour." A STRATECIC MOVE. It is somewhat difficult to discover why Governor Stevens (or President Wilson) com- muted the death sentence, owing to the irre- gularity of the arrival of local papers, and due 'also to the peculiarities of the American Press but from clippings to hand it looks as. though one of the causes is a letter sent to the War La- bour Board by the Central Laoour Council of Alameda county urging them to take over juris- diction in the Mooney case, in that letter the Board were warned that "All Labour has asked for a square deal such as the trial judge in the Mooney case admits he has not had. On May 1st last there would have undoubtedly have been an upheaval and strike in the industrial establish- ments in this district had not Tom Mooney from his prison cell stated that Labour should not en- danger any needed industry related to war pro- duction." That was a good move, but the War

Electric Theatre The picture version of Bairnsfather and El- liots' great play of the war. The -Better 'Ole, reproducing the adventures of that character Old Rill" and his cronies that have made the former s name a household one during the war. lias drawn crowds into the Fleet-lie this week, and left queues running down High Street every night. It was good policy to book such a picture foi the whole week, so as to give eveiybody a chance. It was even better to back those six icels with a solid programme that alone would have packed the house. For to me success is won only when deserved, and it is the successful effoit 4) deserve it that has lifted the Electric into its position of proud pre-eminence in the Merthyp picture world. The Refugee" that is being run in addition to "The Better this end of the week, is a top-liner anywhere and includes the finest work that Alma- Tavlor, Henry Edwards and Chrissie White have ever done for the movies. Another delightful fea- ture of the present programme—which includes, so many—is that new serial" The Romance of Olive, a worthy" follower of the greatest cap- tures of this home by serials. That reminds me that the next week Monday to ednesdav programme is to give us the open- ing chapters of another important serial cap- ture by this management in Count Bernsteins' Secrets, which week by week is to give us one by one the great German spy plots in America. Personally, I do not. suffer from spvitis," but I welcome the spy as a decided fillip to picture serials. There is motive and action -in a spv- story, and that is what a good serial demands. I4 or Liberty" is the top-liner this end of the week. Its plot is centred in Berlin, and its ob- ject is to prove that love will win through the clash of war—a sort of modern version of the old saw about love laughing at locksmiths. Gladys Brockwell's remarkable protean artistry is the big feature of the five reels, and Chas. Clary has been caste as hero. and that hiss- winner, Bertram Grassby, is the villain. All of which sounds good. Then there is a Charlie Chaplin in the same programme, with the King: of comedy as the Perfect Lady." Charlie features in the Thursday-on pro- gramme, too, in the "Floorwalker,- with "Lest we Forget." a powerful tale of love and danger, including a picturisation of the sinking of the Lusitania, in which Madam Jolivet,herself saved from the wreck, plays the lead The Romance of Olive unfolds its third section tell- ing of an attempt on the hero's life. There is al so a new Vitagrapli drama, The Picture AYritei to complete as strong a programme as Britain can produce. PLA YGOER.

All Out for Leicester Programme BARRY RAILWAYMEN DEMAND MASS MEETINCS. At a mass meeting of the members of the Harry Nos. 1 and 4 Branches of the National Union of Railwaymen on Sunday, the following resolution was carried :— That this mass meeting of Barry Railway- men approach all other branches in the South Wales area to convene mass meetings under the auspices of the South Wales and Monmouth- shire District Council to speed up the Executive Committee with a view to obtaining without further delay the National Programme as agreed upon A the Leicester Conference, we further decide to demand that all the men who left the railway service to .join His Majesties Forces should be reinstated in their former positions, and all men returning physically unfit shall be given other work at equal remunerative rates."

THE CRAFTSMEN AND THE M.F.C.B. I TO THE EDITOR. I Sir, As one of the surfacemen in the Federa- tion to whom Mr. D. B. Jones has issued his appeal, I may state that when the organisation to which I belong ceases to safeguard the inter- ests of the Craftsmen therein the reason will be attributable to the indifference of the men con- cerned to those interests. Writing as one who knows both organisations from within I unhesi- tatingly declare that the only hope of the Crafts- men, industrially, is to become members of the Federation. But, I am reminded by one of your contributors that a Craftsman member of the, Federation has been greatly wronged owing to the Miners' agreement respecting surfacemen's hours not being, watertight. I should think the writer of that gem was hard pressed for ammu- nition to trot out a. case which the local Miners' Agent will find no difficulty in getting redressed. How does the Craftsmen's agreement operate? Does it safeguard he interests of th?ir members 1.0 well as the Miners' Agreement does its mem- bers ? Let us examine it in practice. I will cite the case of two large steam-coal nits here in the Rhymney Valley. Tin1 Surfacemen at one pit are all members of the Federation, while at the other they belong to the Craftsmen's lTniøn. jn i on. The former, with one exception, finish every day at 3.15 p.m.. while the latter work until 5 p.m. alternate weeks. I have it from an authen- tic source that Craftsmen's Union members are suffering similarly in other parts of the coalfield. The gravamen of Mr. D. B. Jones and his fel- low oracle seems to be that inasmuch as the Miners' Federation does not possess sufficient brain-power to deal with the profound and intri- cate problems that, arise in the. mechanical de- partment, the Craftsmen in that body should come out and got them speedily solved by the paragons of wisdom in the Enginemen's Union. The Craftsmen in the Federation are endowed with ordinary commonsense, to say the least, and know perfectly well that most of the reforms that have benefitted mineworkers, and also 1)5 per cent, of wage demands have been initiated by the Miners' Federation. Who, may I ask is at present pioneering the six-hour day movement as well as sponsoring the 30 per cent, demand? Is it the Craftsmen's Union? Of course not. That organisation will keep well in the rear until those demands materialise, and they they will bring forward their ever-ready microscope to discover defects. Surely, the time has arrived w hen the Craftsmen's Union should "cease to re- vile those who are serving them in every way. Another great battle will soon be .raging in the British coalfields, and, whether it be won by the brains of our leaders, or, on the stomachs of the men and their helpless dependants, it would seem the duty of every workman in and about the mines to throw in his lot with the powerful Miners' Federation. The industrial army may then go forward conscious of its solidarity and undaunted in the face of a faction less and piti- less foe.—Yours, etc.. 115 Bailev N. PHTLLTPS. 115 Bailey Street, Deri.

and Religious bodies from Land's End to John O'Groats at their usual meetings or at special demonstrations, conferences and gatherings de- clared that conscription must go will undoubted- ly prove the most effective method of expressing the will of the people. Sunday, the 2nd of March is to be devoted to that purpose. The National Council for Oivil Liberties, 33 Henrietta-Street. W.C.2 has'al- ready secured a large number of the best known men and women to speak on that date and is willing in other ways to help with arrangements. Where spea kers are already booked we ask that their time on that day may be devoted to this subject. We look to every organisation and eve?ll- branch to co-operate in making this Sun- day a national demonstration against the con- tinuance of conscription.— Yours, etc. B. N. LANGDOX-DAVTES, Secretary. Lahour Board seems to have regarcfHi the Mooney case as a foundling they did not want, and from general experience of similar positions everywhere it is a strong presumption that they quickly pulled strings, and those strings worked the commutation." But that is not enough. International Labour has gone into this case for the purpose of securing justice, and justice, de- mands a new t rial and the punishment of the perjurers and the larger criminals who stand he- hind them. That is what Mooney wants, that is what America Labour wants, that is what Inter- national Democracy demands. IOLD, OLD STORY. Of course the usual pro-G erman, and Bolo gold stories have been fastened on to Mooney, but so long as American leader-writers can fasten such lies to tht' counter so promptly a.s the following we can ignore this story, which history has now rendered abortive. "A NEW MOONEY CHARCE." Senator Phelan went out of his way on Tues- day to ma ke on the floor of the United States Senate the silly and unsubstantiated charge that Tom Mooney had been bribed by the German Government to break up the preparedness parade in San I1 rancisco in July, 1910, by the use of dynamite. He further said that Organized Labour was absolutely indifferent as to Mooney's fate and that the President's Commission had reported that the courts had treated him, Mooney, with the utmost fairness. It is useless to argue with a man who will so far abuse his privilege as a Senator as to de- liberately lie about a situation which he knows is one of the greatest blots on the fair name of California. There is but one answ er that Labour has to Senator Phelan and his confreres of like type. and that is that the Senate has outlived its use- fulness and should be abolished." LABOUR'S DONATIONS. Just a word in conclusion in praise of Rena Mooney (Tom's wife) who is the head and shoulders of the defence movement, and who was charged along with Tom for complicity in the bomb outrage, and acquitted. Mrs. Moonev in her last letter wrote:— it has been a pleasure to be the wife of such a noble, courageous, unbroken a spirit as Tom -Aloolle N-. If he must die, he is mentally and physically able to meet the occasion; but he is confident you wjU not fail in this supreme test, and that you will bend every effort, not only to gain his release but to bring back the innocent Billings from a living grave and place this crime where Walker says it belongs—on the man who furnished the Kaiser's dynamiter wtih creden- ttats." That Amerieall Labour w ill do these things is surely foreshadowed in the following vote of funds to the Defence Committee": The elec- trical workers of the'Bristol Shipyards of Phila- delphia- (one day's pay), or $297,00. Bricklayers No. 5 of Cleveland, Ohio, sent a cause. The Pearse-Connelly Club of Butte, Montana, held a bazaar, and forwarded !?450,00. The miners of Dietz, AVyoming, with 285 members, assessed themselves $LOO each, as did also Miners No. 1978 of Shady Side, 0. The boilermakers. No. 104, of Seattle, sent$1,000.