Pioneer

Electric Theatre. I XoHsiiere is it so cool and refreshing these Summer days than in the Electric 111 eat re, Merthyr. Summer-time ennui is quickly ban- ished on the entering of the Electric Theatre portals and life's little troubles are speedily forgotten in the appreciation of the unfailingly interesting- screen programmes. From Monday to Wednesday of next week will be featured there, Towards the Light," a British produc- tion, full of light and shadow with the beatities of the English countryside, and one that gives Henry Edwards full opportunity for the expres- sion of his cinema-playing gifts. Opposite him in this drama, in which the riddle of religion is delicately handled, will be found that greatest of the British screen actresses, Chrissie White. In addition to the usual circle of comedy, news and subsidiary drama releases there will also be an exceptionally thrilling episode of the Brass Bullet" serial and A Fatty Arbuckle scream. Thursday onwards will see one of the Harma masterpieces, "Deception." with Charles Rock in the lead as Old Bill," and Rose Manners, dainty and vivacious, as the heroine. The Sun- shine comedy is the Fatal Marriage," a riot of healthy fun. Briefly, both are shows which will provide a pleasant break in the hum-drum of existence. a

I Merthyr's Scavenging Contractors ANOTHER APPEAL TO CORPORATION. I Mcrthyr Public Works' Committee granted on ?lI'Iiiii-sday further audience to the Corporation scavenging contractors who produced statistics to repudiate a suggestion of profiteering on their part. Calculations at a previous meeting were to the effect that whereas since the war the contractors had received 150 per cent. ad- vance on their contract prices they had not paid their workmen more than 45 per cent. in in- creases in wages.. This the -contractors now denied. According to them the actual contract price increase was 139 per cent. and wages advances conceded they insisted amounted to 66 per cent above pre-war rates They further stated that the upkeep of the means of transport necessary to their call- ing had gone up by 197 per cent. and that they were thus working at a loss which could not per- mit them to pay the wages increases asked by their workmen without an equivalent grant from the municipal authority. If the new rate were paid privately by the contractors (stated their legal representative, Mr. Pulliblank) the money spent on la bour would reach 110 per cent. on the 1914 wage which was 24/- a week or therea bouts. Air. Pulliblank informed the committee that .since its earlier decision to order the contractors to carry on the scavenging work pending the present meeting they, in order to comply with those instructions, had entered into agreement with their hauliers for the intervening two days to remunerate scavenging service at the full rate of 1/3 an hour. Mr. D..Parry (Labour) was under the im- pression that the workmen were making their de- mands retrospective from January 1st and put this in question form to Mr. Pulliblank. The solicitor replied that he knew of no such stipu- lation. Pre-war, he stated to another query, -Lte d to inot h er q-tiei,y, contractors expeider 7/- a day on a horse and man to-day the cost wa.s 16/9. Mr. Charles Griffiths (Labour) remarked that though the average might be £ 2 a week, some hauliers were only paid 27/6, and Mr. L. M. Jones (Labour) pointed out only three were paid each £2.. The discussion was adjourned eventually for the furnishing of further information by the contractors. It was agreed, however, to re-im- burse the contractors to the extent of Cl Os. 8 jd. a week until such times as the committee reached a final decision This decision was ren- dered necessary as the workmen declined to carry on at less than their demanded rate of £ 3 Os. 8d. a 47 hours' week, and as the contrac- tors protested their financial inability to advance over the JE2 limit.

UNIVERSITY COLLECE OF WALES, ABERYSTWYTH. SUMMER SCHOOL, July 29th to August 15th. SOCIAL ECONOMICS. A SHORT COURSE of 14 Lectures on Some Aspects of the Industrial Problem," by Mr. J. Morgan Reos, M.A., Lecturer, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. South Wales workers, trade unionists and tutorial class students heartily welcomed. Other courses in Philosophy, History, Geo- graphy, Education, etc. Fee for one or more courses t2. Syllabus and particulars re Residence at the Hostel from the Registrar, University College of Wales, Abery- stwyth, not later than June 30th. RHONDDA MINERS' FEDERATION. APPOINTMENT of Miners' Agent for ARliondda No. 1 District. All persons in- tending to apply for the above post must send in their applications in writing addressed to Alderman David Lewis, Miners' Office, Porth, not later than Thursday, June 19th. All appli- cants must be financial members of, the South Wales Miners' Federation. i HOPE. CHAPEL, MERTHYR. j SUNDAY, JUNE 15th, 1919. Preacher— Rev. J. Morgan Jones, M.A. i Services to begin at 11 o'clock and 6 p.m.

Co-Operation and Socialism r THF event of the week—apart, of course, from the holidays—has been the gathering of Co- operators in their annual conference, this year held at Carlisle. We welcome the fine Interna- tional utterances and militant Labourism of Congress, but it is to be feared that the con- sciousness of the delegates is too often belied in the spirit, and, in some cases, the activities of the distributive movement. The spirit of the ancient story that has done such good work from the Anti-Socialist platform is still all too pre- valent in the great mass of co-operation. The accumulated dividends effectively interpose themselves between proletarian consciousness and the co-operator, whose nervousness for his little share in the Co-op. has made him terribly frightened of the Socialist militant whom he has erroneously been told intends to divide up the wealth of the world—including that dividend. We in South Wales by reason of our aggregated industrial strength and the education of practi- cal experience in the realm of economic indus- trial conflict have in large measure escaped the odium of t-fie divi-hunter psychology, but in the larger co-operative centres of the North and Midlands it does possess terrible potency in the way of effectively barring the road to a rapid conversion to our principles. The mystery of it is that the delegates to Congress are almost al- ways-active Socialists, and it is the Socialist for the most part who carries on the work of the Society in Management Committee and on Co- operative educational bodies. That is a wonder- ful, though not unusual, tribute to the Social- ist, but at the same time the post is always sub- ject to a rigid condition, and that condition is the selfish and silly one that the Socialist shall not I ii-Itli the half-crown or three and sixpenny dividend on purchases. We know tow ns with huge and prosperous societies, where the Committees are anxious to bring the bless- ings of Co-operation to the poorer members of the community by the simple expedient of wiping off the dividend and reducing the prices of com- modities proportionally, but years of educational effort and of active propagamka has failed to re- move the selfishness of the vested interest of ac- cumulated dividend ano the very strata in Society to whom Co-operation could mean so much is locked outside the store, ami compelled to remain the victim of adulterating, profit- mongering syndicates, who have no fear of a Co- operation that aids rather than opposes them with a really effective competitive rivalry. Nor are we enamoured of the proposal that is being canvassed to erect a Co-operative college; for our experience of economic courses run by the Central Boards is anything but happy. The utilitarian gospel in economics is essentially the economics of individualism and an educational course in Co-operation that founds its system on the testament of Rent, Profit and Interest is doing anything but educational work. The great corrective is of necessity the fact that the ma- jority of Co-operators are also good trades unionists and their painful industrial experi- ences are in the long run bound to compel an in- vestigation that gets dow n to the bed-rock foun- dation. of class-interest and of class-struggle, and with that experience is bound to come an orientation of thought that will successfully de- monstrate to the Co-operator the truth that Co- operation so emphatically attempts to contradict the truth that exploitation takes place on the productive field, at the bench, the loom or the coal-face, and not in distribution. That is es- sentially the fault of Co-operation that it ima- pffries that the street corner grocer is the old man of the sea sitting upon the workers' shoulders, and that it contains the solution to industrial and economic salvation by offering to take his place. That idea is bound to go, and with it will disappear the fallacies that have ac- cumulated around it. In that day Co-operation will realise that its part in the Democratic fight for freedom is not that of arrogant leadership, but that it is the humble but necessary col- league to the greater movements of industrial and political Socialism; in that day its huge weight will be thrown, as it ought to be thrown, in the tasks of Co-operation in industrial con- flict, becoming the commissiariat of the fighting units; in education it will cease to think in terms of the petite bourgeoisie economy of the shop-keeper spirit, and will ally itself to the edu- cational movements that forsake a foolish im- partiality and toleration to class-conscious edu- cation and in politics will recognise that its task is one of bridging the transition between the collapse of Capital and the institution of the Social Commonwealth, and realising these things it will vote and think and act as an arm of the Social Democracy. Of itself its vision is not worth while. It is to Socialism that it must look for the true international faith. It is upon the splendidly inspiring philosophy and idealism of Socialism that it must base its faith, its hopes and its practices.

Russia As It Is BY WM. PAUL. I ["Six Weeks in Russia in 1919." By Arthur Ransome. S.L. Press, 50 Renfrew Street, Clasgow. Price 2/6 net; Postage 3d.] Every Socialist in this country is under a deep obligation to Arthur Ransollw for his famous ar- ticles upon Russia which appeared in the "Daily News." But Socialists must feel their obligation greater since that brilliant literary observer has now written a wonderful work about the Soviets. There has been a vast amount of calculated and deliberate misrepresentation in the press regarding the Soviets. There has also been a great deal of distortion in the Labour movement regarding the Soviets, due in some cases to sheer ignorance, and in other instances to reac- tionary maliciousness. We do not expect that Ran some's masterly exposition of the work of the Russian Soviets will convince the capitalist press, due. of course, to the economic interests behind these great newspapers. But we must insist that everyone in the Labour movement shall state his or her attitude towards Sovietism. as it is now being called, since Ran some has placed the actual facts before us. Whether we like it or not the new line of demarcation in the Socialist movement of this country is going to be* For or Against the Soviet form of future society. The revolutionary, or left wing, of Socialism in Britain—the S.L.P.—has unhesita- tingly declared for Sovietism and the principles laid down by the Third International. And speaking from a close acquaintanceship with the movement in the two most promising areas of working-class activity in this country—viz., the Clyde and South .Wales—we confidently predict that the rank olid file will overwhelmingly decide to endorse, and work to realise, the building up of Soviets in Britain. Some may. naturally enough, object to Ran- some's picture of Soviet Russia upon the groijnd that he is a prejudiced partisan in favour of the Bolsheviks. We wish to say that Ransome is not a Bolshevik. He is not a Communist. He neither sets out to praise the Soviets nor to damn them. Our author is an honest and straightforward gentleman who uses his literary skill as a medium for presenting to us Russia as it is, He writes about the Soviets with as much attachment and impartiality as he would write about a machine which he saw at work. For, just as it was said that Dean Swift could write elegantly about a broom-handle, so we be- lieve Ransome could write brilliantly about an engine in motion. Had our writer been a Bol- shevik, or a disciple of Lenin's, we could not re- commend his book as heartily as we do. But as Ransome is rat her a literary artist., than a Soviet propagandist, who truthfully depicts upon the literary canvass what is actually a true pic- ture of Russia—we feel we can honestly urge, nay, insist, upon every reader of the Pioneer sending for a copy of his Six Weeks In Russia In 1919." Man y people imagine that Bolshevism is a bru- tal terrorism which stands for some dastardly and systematic method of immorality and mur- der. Ransome, on the other hand, proves that murder and rapine is the main industry of the imperialist opponents of the Bolshevists. He shows, in his book, that the Bolsheviks are painstaking and energetic creators of a new world. He proves, in section after section, that the Soviets are laying the foundation of a new educational and cultural system. They arc ac- complishing feats of astounding engineering skill. They are introducing new ideas in all sorts -and conditions of things-from the inven- tion of new methods of wearing fabrics to the production of a. new kind of matches. As an il- lustration of what we mean, let us quote the fol- lowing passage, regarding education, from Ran- some's epoch-making volume:— All education is free. In August last a de- cree was passed abolishing preliminary exam- inations for persons wishing to become stu- dents. It was considered that very many peo- ple who could attend the lectures with profit to themselves had been prevented by the war or by pre-revolution conditions from acquiring the sort of know ledge that could be tested by examination. It was also believed that no one would willingly listen to lectures that were of no use to him. They hoped to get as many working men into the universities as possible. Since the passing of that decree the number of students at Moscow I Diversity, for example, has more iliali doubled. It is interesting to notice that. of the new students a greater number were studying in the faculties of science and history and philosophy than in those of medicine or law. Schools are being unified on a new basis in which labour plays a great parr. I frankh' admit [ do not ul1d('rstand, :111d II gather that many teachers have also failed to understand how this is done. Crafts of all kinds take a big place in the scheme. The schools are divided into two classes—one for ciiii(lreii from seven to twelve years old, and one for those aged from thirteen to seventeen. A milliard roubles has been assigned to feed- ing children in the schools, and those who most need them are supplied with clothes and footgear. Then there are many classes for working men, designed to give the worker a general scientific knowledge of his own trade and so prevent him from being merely a ma- chine carrying out a single uncomprehended process. Thus a. boiler-maker can attend a course on mechanical engineering, an electii- eal worker a course on electricity, and the best agricultural experts are being employed to give similar lectures to the peasants. The workmen crow d to these courses. One eouise, for example, is attended by a thousand men in spite of the appalling cold of the lecture rooms. The. hands of the science professors,, so Pokrovsky told me, are frostbitten from touching tlie icy metal of their instruments during demonstrations. The following figures represent roughly the growth in the number of libi-aries. In Octo- ber, 1917, there were 23 libraries in Petrograd, 30 in Moscow. To-day there are 49 in Petro- grad and 85 in Moscow, besides a hundred book distributing centres. A similar growth in the number of libraries has taken place in the countrv districts. In Ousolsky (ouezd), for example, there are now 73 village libraries. 35 larger libraries and 500 hut libraries or i-eadiii- rooms. In Moscow educational insti- tutions, not including schools, have increased from 3(59 to 1,357. Here we see the Soviets really at work. Con- trast the above state of culture in Russia with that which prevailed under the Tsarist regime. Small wonder that the imperialists wish to de- stroy the Russian Soviet Republic. The ruling class of the world are afraid that the great work of the Russian Soviets gets to the ear of their rebellious wage-slaves. The international im; perialists do not fear revolutionary Socialism as a theory of social development, but they do fear it as a working example. So long as our senti- mental Labourists talk about Socialism the capi- talist class treats them with unfeigned and de- served contempt, but when talking is translated into action then the Koltchak-Chnrchill conspir- ators with their murderous designs are re- (Continued at foot of next column).

The Police I BY E. H. 1 The likes o' they got their ways an' their convenience, an' us have got our ways an' our convenience, which is different, an' thev'm in the minority but the police is the means they've got for forcing their ways an' their convenience on the likes o' us. That's what the police is; an' so long as tlwy'm that, t'wont be no better; 'cause although the police belongs rightly to the likes o'us, 'tis bound to be to the police's ad- vantage for to play up to the likes o' they." Seems so. fStephen Reynolds.) A DISAPPOINTMENT. I was intensely disappointed on seeing Mon- day morning's papers that after all the police were not going to strike. And it was such an opportunity, too. Thby might have helped to make the crowd that went to .ee the Derby think a little, given fashionable plutocracy a topic of conversation w hen those who had backed the wrong horses wanted something to talk about, and shown the more imaginative that the old world was going to change. It would have been interesting to see what the Government would have clone. Would they have fetched out the Guards, would they have called out the specials, and how would the police picket, and how would the crowd treat the blacklegs? It would indeed have been an interesting strike. I WHAT POLICE AND WARDERS ENDURE. When slaves learn to organise they are learn- ing the way to unloosen their chains. That is why General Macready and Mr. Shortt want the police force to remain as it is. There is no greater tyrant than the bureaucrat beyond de- mocratic control, he gets into the habit of al- ways receiving implicit obedience from his sub- ordinates, and so becomes childishly resentful of opposition and criticism. In the Police Force and in the Prison Service this is especially true. I have heard a prawrtT governor talking to a war- der like a drunkard talking to a dog, and the man simply bit his lips in silence. If he had re- plied he would have been guilty of insubordina- tion. that dreadful, damnable sin. A prison governor has to send in a yearly report on each ofifcer. I remember coming across a document in the office of one of the prisons. It was the official form which had to be filled in every year. There were four columns. The onicer's name was in the first, then a column for a report on conduct, then one for a report on efficiency, then another for character. So the governor had abundant opportunity for studies in psychologi- cal analysis. The warders never saw these docu- ments. EFFECT OF LABOUR'S SUPPORT.' The police should have the support of or- ganised Labour. The unions should stand by them in their fight for recognition. It is a s hame that any union in 1919 should have to threaten a strike to get recognition. Besides, it would to create a better feeling between the police alld the general body of workers. When the police are thoroughly organised and get their recogni tion, and are represented in the trade union movement and the Labour Party it will be more difficult for the authorities to use them in industrial disputes. That is precisely the reason why the Government don't want the union to make headway, they want to keep them isolated from the Labour Movement. With a clear understanding between the police and the other workers it will be impossible to get a re- petition of the incidents which occur in all the big American strikes. THE NEW SOCIETY. It is to be hoped that the police force will not always exist as an institution. As time goes on and conditions improve, men won't get drunk on Saturday night. If I were a policeman how I should dread Saturday night. When work oe- comes abundant and easy, as it should he, and discharged soldiers can live without stealing loave^ of a lot of the policeman's work will cease. They will become as rare as beadles and clergymen in the new society. HUMANITY OF THE POLICEMAN. Who wi.11 do the dirty work under Social- ism." I was once asked. What dirty work." I enquired. Oh, the work of the policeman," was the reply. The policeman's work is dirty work in the true sense of the word it is work which must be repulsive to anyone with generous emotions and human instincts. The policemen will always tell you so. Many times -have T talked to men in prison, asked them details of their arrest, and nearly always they used to tell of little deeds of ki nd ness and courtesy, police- men meeting the men they wanted on the streets, telling them to come along later to the police-station, that they wouldn't come up to the house to disturb the old people, that they needn't hurry. Diity. you know it isn't my fault." When a stupid man wants to do something he's really ashamed of," says Bernard Shaw, "he always says it's his duty." And it falls to the police- man's lot to do some of the most shameful work in modern society to arrest the drunks, to give evidence against the starving thief, to take notes in anti-Government meetings. SLAVES OF A SYSTEM. But it is a profound mistake to imagine that the majority of the police arc bullies. It is not so. Unfortunately most of them are slaves. All unorganised workers in modern society tend to become slaves. Authority always wins against the individual, and that applies in the police force as everywhere else.

cogn ised" as the saviours of society. Soviet Russia is revolutionary Socialism at work. And the great value of Ransome's Six Weeks In Russia In 1919 is that it vividly shows us what a determined and class-conscious proletariat can accomplish in the face of a most damnable con- spiracy of international reactionaries. If we could devise some means of getting this book into the hands of the South Walt's miners it would send sneh a t h ri II tll rough their minds that they would enthusiastically rally t, the call of Russian Labour and compel their lethar- gic leaders to force the Triple Alliance to hurl its strike challenge, regarding the war against Russia, in the face of the Government. Be- cause we must not forget that the war against Russian Labour is but the beginning of the Bri- tish imperialists' campaign against Labour at home. Was not, for example, the infamous secret circular, which Koltehalk-Churchill ad- dressed to the army commanders, an enquiry as to whether British troops would break strikes at home and smash Soviets abroad? Does this not prove the connection between rebellious Labour in Britain and revolutionary Labour in Russia? Let us, therefore, see to it that Ransome's book is widely circulated in the South Wales Valleys. The edition is not a large one. We appeal to Pioneer" readers to sen their copies early in order to avoid the jHQtiisap- pointment of missing the greatest nook yet w ritten by any Englishman upon the Soviets at work.