Pioneer

Unemployment Dole Muddle. RECENT CHAOS IN SOUTH WALES. REMARKABLE EVIDENCE IN MERTHYR. That the maittei- of out-of-work donations in South Wales in April was chaotic, and that both unemployment grants and allowances from war pensions committees on the grounds of total dis- ability to work were being drawn simultaneously by thousands of men was the startling revela- tion made in a case that came before the Mer- thyr Stipendiary (Mr. R. A. Griffith) on Tues- day, when an ex-soldier, Thomas Daniel Jenkins, appeared before him on a charge of obtaining by false pretences k30 8s. Sd. in out-of-work donation. There was a second charge of attempt- ing to obtain by the same means 92 18s. Mr. J. A. Wilson (chief-constable), prose- cuting on behalf of the Ministry of Labour, said that from March 13th to November 12th Jenkins was in receipt of a total disability allowance of £ 2 17s. a week from the local war pensions authorities, yet he represented himself to the Unemployment Office of the Ministry of Labour at Dowlais as being capable of work, but unable to find suitable employment, and on these de- clarations he was granted an unemployment do- nation of £2 4s. weekly. This was paid him from May 1st to August 5th. The second charge re- lated to the week following. EX-PENSIONS INSPECTORS' EVIDENCE. Mr. E. R. Thomas, manager at the Dowlais Unemployment Office, said that when the ques- tion of double allowances wa,s broached Jenkins replied, If t was in -.receipt of full disability allowance I should not be coming here. I am only receiving 40 per cent, disability allowance." Mr. Trevor Thomas, secretary of the Merthyr War Pensions Committee, cross-examined by Mr. Edward Roberts, Dowlais (for defendant), said that the man, when discharged from the Army in January, was 40 per cent. disabled," but on examination in February was marked in the grade" total disability." Mr. Roberts contended that the- drawing of simultaneous allowances from the pensions and the unemployment authorities had been ram- pant in the country, and though his client was technically guilty, he submitted that Jenkins was "the victim of departmental muddling," and was no so much to blame as the authori- ties. Captain J. T. Yauglian (solicitor, Merthyr), who was mentioned by Mr. Roberts as an authority in support of his argument, was re- quested by the Stipendiary (Mr. R. A. Griffith) to enter the witness-box. Capt. Yaughan at first demurred, but on the magistrate intimating that if he did not accede to the request he would be su bpoenaed he consented to give evidence. Captain Yaughan said that on leaving the Army Pay Department in July, 1918, until June last he was superintendent-inspector under the Ministry of Pensions. The matter of out-of-work donations in South Wales in April was chaotic, and no one seemed to know whether a man was entitled to unem- ployment grant as full disablement allowance. It was due to lack of co-ordination between the pensions and unemployment departments. Alt. Roberts: Were both allowances paid to the men ?—In thousands of cases, but wrong- fully, of course. With the knowledge of the departments?—I won't go so far as to say that. But it was all very soon remedied when-it was discovered. Men suffering from partial disability up to 90 per cent, were entitled to the total unemployment donation. evi d ence, t l )(, Stipendlal'Y After hearing the evidence, the Stipendiary remarked that there was no do?bt that a. "very shameful fraud had been practised by Jenkins and thousands of others upon a generous pub- lic." He was satisfied that things were so loosely done by various authorities a.s to en- courage men like this to draw on both funds in the belief that they' were entitled to. For these reasons Jenkins would not be sent to prif?on but merely bound over.

Honour Where Honour is Due. COMPLIMENTARY BANQUET AND PRE- SENTATION TO MR. D. J. PHILLIPS. A STALWART SOCIALIST AND TRADE UNION OFFICIAL. Under the auspices of the National Amal- gamated Union of Shop Assistants, Warehouse- men and Clerks, a complimentary banquet was given to Mr. D. J. Phillips (Aberaman), on his recent elevation to the general managership of the Cwmbacli Co-operative Society. Mr. David J. Phillips is a well-known adherent of the La- bour Movement, having been a member of the Independent Labour Party since its formation. He has always worked untiringly for the cause, and lie, together with with other colleagues, were the means of getting the best platform orators of the Labour world to address meetings periodically in the Aberdare District, until the teaching of the late Keir Hardie" had laid a firm hold on the populace. Mr. Phillips carried such a "propaganda" into the camp of the shop assistants, and the last named organisation has become a strong- hold, to filit the problems of wages, working con- ditions, hours of labour-, etc. As secretary of the local branch of the N.A.U. for the last 17 years, he served that "body faithfully and loyally. For the last five years or so he has Slat as a member of the National Executive, being the only delegate representing the principality. Be- sides this lie was a Labour member of the Mer- thyr Board of Guardians, and although he was always so busily engaged attending divers com- mittees and doing clerical work. lie never failed to pay his monthly visit to "Dilke House" (London) the parliament of the National Union of Shop Assistants. In April last Mr. Phillips relinquished his posi- tion on the Executive, and in the meantime was appointed by the Cwmbacli Co-operative Society as manager of the Dyffryn Branch at Mountain Ash, whilst in the September follmrjng, he was appointed out of .50 applicants as general man- ager of the Society, thus attaining the highest position of trust offered by them. To mark his signal success, and their appreciation of his services, the National Amalgamated Union of Shop Assistants presented him with a, silver tea and coffee service, at a splendidly-got-up func- tion and banquet held at .the New Inn Hotel, Pontypridd, on Thursday evening last. The chair was taken by Mr. J. H. Job (Mr. Phillips' successor on the executive), whilst the presenta- tion was made in a neat little speech by Miss Nancy Morris (Aberaman), to which the reci- pient most suitably responded. Amongst the speakers were Messrs. David Evans (Mid Rhondda), F. C. HowelLs (Cardiff), A. J. Sains- bury (Merthyr), D. E. Evans (Mountain Ash), G. P. Roberts (Pontypridd), T3. J. Lewi,4 (Aber- airtan) T. Francis (Cardiff), Thomas Thomas (Aberaman), an d Mr. John Turner (General Secretary), Londofn. SOSIALYDD."

Music-Loving Wales. A FEW THOUCHTS ON THE FALLACY OF A FABLE. AND A WORD OF APPRECIATION TO THE I PENYWERN CHOIR. It is so seldom that music of the highest form and in a superior degree of executive merit stars in our music halls—sacred in its highest rewards to conjurers, gymnasts and the various brands of comedians and comediennes—that when the event does occur it is to be noted, and com- mented upon in the hope that the management may repeat the folly at an early date. And can- didly, 1 am not altogether sure thaLfolly is not the correct word, and that rather than congratu- late Mr. Price in staging the Penywern Male Voice Choir, I ought to commiserate with him. At all events the audiences were thin enough to turn an optimist into a pessimist, and an enthu- siast into a. cynic so far as the boasted love of music in the Welsh people is concerned. I am getting tired of travelling in the train, because it appears to me that after the weather is ex- hausted as a topic, and the miners have been slain individually and in shifts by the sharp tongues of men who would commit suicide be- fore they woukl work in the bowels of the earth, the occupants of the corner seats turn -on music, and particularly part singing as regularly as the Dowlais hooters hurt my sensitive ear. It is all very well to pity me because being a Lancastrian I have failed to be born with the traditional musical ear of the Cymru; and what I am anxious to know now is whether the Welsh ear is so finely inborn that it-tikes no delight in feasting itself on the luxuries of the best that Wales has to offer, or whether it is merely that male voices combine for the purpose of educating strangers like myself up to the Welsih stand- point. If the latter, then I am willing to con- tinue to be trained every week for the rest of my life. You s-ee I like music in my own way. I delight to be lifted up on the wings of mighty melody and shown the faerie countries that the great minds of great composers wove in fancy into surging harmonies, and musical liglit an-d shaae. No one knows better than I that the Cru- saders were a polyglot lot of brutes, but I can willingly forget it, and let my eyes grow moist as I see the valoairous piety and singleness of purpose, and admire in unmeasured terms the glorious chivalry of the Cross-marked knights clashing against the tawny sons of Saladin on the plains of Palestine. 1 can do that easily when a hundred or so voices wind together in glorious melody to weave a tapestry of glorious fancy. In reality I know that the lot of the bold buccaneer was a doubtful pleasure, but after the presto .singing of a rollicking pirate .song of the Spanish main by a. choir like the Penywern, I should not wait for the married slackers first" campaign if someone there and then announced that recruits were wanted for deeds of daring do in thigh-boots, a slashed jersey, .and a black-eye patch. That was how I felt in the Temperance Hall last week. I let melody soak into me. I went as joyously mad as an opium smoker as my ear bade me rejoice in the exquisite revelry of so perfectly attuned and interpreted melody. 1 soaked in it. I would soak in it nightly as a distraction from business; as an education of that better and more kindly me that the strain and stress of real lift- eriiiips and chokes so— but alas, the musical isense of the rest of us is insufficient to justify a frequent repetitionof so novel an experiment as Mr. Price last week- ven- tured upon. I know that that sounds egoistic; but if you want to know how superior I feel about it just wait till the next Welshman in a train tries to condone my alien birth, and its disastrous consequences on my musical nature. There will be a paragraph about assault and battery somewhere in the papers. Meanwhile, I want to express not only my own thanks to Mr. Price and the choir, but the thanks of hundreds of others who did appreciate to the top of our capacity the musical treat that last week meant for us. Our regret was that we were not com- pelled to queue for an hour to be sure of the seat. The music would have been worth it. [ A.P.Y. I I

Electric Theatre. I Of all the screen idols none have so great a following in Merthyr as the Eastern actor, Seissue Hayakawa, and so it is with something akin to joy that the Electric Theatre patrons will learn of Hayakawa's return for the three first da-i-s of next week in the most weird of all his productions, The City of Dim Faces." Its course through the picture halls of the country has been attended by consistent plaudits for its power and eerie atmosphere. Little less fine is the bill-topper for the latter end of the week, a fine part feature from the Phillips Studio, "The Two-Soul Woman." This deals with the fascin- ating problem of dual personality ip a manner reminiscent of R. L. Stevenson's immortal work of "Jekyll and Hyde." with the leading char- actor a woman. Here we have the problem whether the woman is a strident-voiced and shameless devil or the pure mind girl she is except when under the hypnotic influence of an unscrupulous doctor. A difficult subject for screen portrayaJ thougit it is, the picture-play contains a potence that fails little, if any, short of the Jekyll and Hyde standard. Fatty Arbuckle is one. of the healthiest human purveyors in the picture business. His absurdi- ties never fail to tickle and in "A Desert Hero" lie is to be found in his whimsicallist. The double- part comedy runs through without a dull flicker. Coming shortly is Francis Ford, the hero of many famous serials, in another big serial, A Silent Mystery."

Vindication of Steel Strikers. I The Committee of the Senate appointed to in- vestigate the strike of American steel-workers has just issued its report. It finds that the workers had just complaint against excessive hours of labour, which sometimes rise to 12 hours daily. It also declares that the workmen have the right to be represented in collective bargaining by delegates of their own choosing. But the Committee also took the view that neither Capital nor Labour had the right to de- termine great industrial questions in its own way, and that. there is no room in the United States for Capitailist or Labour despotism. It detects a strong undercurrent of revolutionary radicalism in the strike, and urged the American Federation of Labour to, purge itself of this ele- ment in order to sustain the country's confidence in Mr. Gomper's leadership. It recommends the Congress to set up a Mediation Board with the right of compulsory investigation into the merits lof industrial disputes, leaving the decisions of the Board to be enforced by the pressure of public opinion. Meanwhile the steel strike continues.

———————— N. L. P. ———————— BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS Parliament and Revolution By J. RAMSAY MACDONALD. The Socialist Library XII. Parliament and Revolution is written as a guide book to those who wish to see a Socialist Commonwealth won by Revolution and not by Earthquake." —(" The Co-operative News.") Paper 1/6 (1/8) Cloth 2/6 (2/10) Red Rubber By E. D. MOREL. The story of the rubber trade on the Congo. Without Morel the Congo would still be stewing in/its blood. No-one could desire a more glorious monument of his life than this book forms." (" The Daily Herald "). Paper 3/6 (3/9). Cloth 5/- (5/6) THE MEANING OF SOCIALISM By J. BRUCE GLASIER, WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY J. A. HOBSON, M.A. The reading of this book has thrilled me with the joy and fire and enthusiasm which captured me twenty five years ago when I first beheld the beautiful vision of the Socialisit ideal. If Humanlty in the mass is to be converted to Socialism it will be by the form of appeal which Bruce Glasier makes in this voltiiiie. "-(Philip Snowden). I Paper Boards 2/6 (2/9). Cloth 3/6 (3/9) 1 I Across The Blockade By H. N. BRAILSFORD. A most fascinating story of a recent three months' tour through the revolution- ary and famine-stricken countries of Central Europe. To understand the state of Europe to-day this book must be read. 2/6 (2/8) The State and Revolution By V. L. ULIANOV (N. LENIN). Deals with Marxist teaching on the State and the task of the Proletariat in the Revolution. 1/6(1/8) I Outlines of Local Government By JOHN J. CLARKE, F.S.S. Second and Revised Edition. A most useful handbook for all who are interested in Local Civic Life. 1/" (1/2) I Further Facts From The Coal Commission Compiled by R. PACE ARNOT. A history of the second stage of the Coal Industry Commission, with excerpts from the evidence: Contains The Nationalisation of Mines and Minerals Bill, 1919." 6d. (post free 71d.) I. L.P. DIARY FOR 1920. Cloth 1/6; Leather 2/6; (Postage 1-id.) Branch and individual orders should be sent in forthwith; disappointment will thus be avoided. The list of Speakers' Addresses contained in the Diary will be of special service to ail Branch Workers. I. L. P. BADGES. STUDS, BROOCHES, PINS. Metal and Enamel, 9d. each. Silver and Enamel, 2/3 each. Postage 1td. extra. LATEST I.L.P. PAMPHLET. Prisons As Crime Factories By A. FENNER BROCKWAY. The Author of this pamphlet served 28 months in prison, from Decemoor 1916 until April, 1919, for'resisting Conscription, and is, therefore, able to write on his subject with unusual authority. 2d, (2 £ d.) Post Free Prices in Brackets. Secretaries are urged to Cut Out this List for Future Reference. ORDER TO-DAY FROM The National Labour Press, Ltd. 30 Blackfriars Street, Manchester, and 8-9 Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, London, E.C.4.

THE N.C.F. CONFERENCE. TO THE EDITOR. Dear Comrade,—As one who was present at the conference of the Welsh Division of the No- Conscription Fellowship, I feel that the report that appeared in your last issue was generally misleading. I do not think that the majority of those who spoke were strongly in favour of the National Committee's recommendations." As one who took part in the discussion, I wish my criticism of those recommendations had been more correctly stated. It would appear from the report that I objected only to the first of the Committee's proposals, and that because it "would include persons who were not abso- lute pae'fists! That suited to emphasise the difference between my view and Emrys Hughes'. My view really was that one organisation would be enough to carry on the Anti-Conscription work of the N.C.F.—as long as that is necessary —and to organise pacifists for definite pacifist work.—Yours fraternally, MANSELL GRENFELL. I Penhafodai Cottage, Kingsbridge, Gorse] non. South Wales. v I

THE BOY ORCANIST OF MERTHYR. I TO THE EDITOR. Dear Sli-Kindly permit me a. little space in your correspondence columns to convey my ap- preciation of the movement that is being made to secure for Willie Ifor Jones, of Twynyrodyn, the talented assistant organist of Park Chapel, Merthyr. a R.A M. training. It would disgrace the town if such inherent musical ability were allowed to wither because the boy's working- class origin brevented the cultivation of his Yo-tirs, etc., great talents.—Yours, etc., EN AYANT.

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Reaction in France. Only in the ,French elections has Socialism received a set-back, and there the failure of the Party is more apparent than real. The extra- ordinary system of voting, a combination of the bloc vote and proportional representation, oper- ated to the se-rious detrimejit of the Socialist Party, whose strength in the new Chamber ought to be much higher than it is on the basis of the votes cast for its candidates. The Party, 'so far as the ifgures a.t present available enable us tc), 1 judge, Jias lost 37 seats, and will therefore have only 65 deputies in the new Chamber. It will almost certainly be found, however, tha.t the total of Socialist votes cast throughout the coun- try is much higher than in the last election; and the system which produces a decreased repre- sentation on an increased poll stands self-con- demned. Thus in Paris itself the Socialist can- didates polled over 3l million votes, as against less than of million for the Clemenceau candi- dates. Yet the latter have 36 seats and the Socialists only ton, instead of the respective 29 and 19, which would have been the proportion under any fair system of P.R.