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Trades Council Supports Pearl…
Trades Council Supports Pearl Agents lu Strike Action. 'Buses And Destructor For Town Considered. A Blind Worker's Indictment Of The Government. Like the November meeting, last Thursday's gathering of the Merthyr Trades Council and Labour Party was full of important 'and inter- esting business. Amongst other things the Council learned important details with respect to the powers sought under the Parliamentary Bill which the Corporation is promoting, from Alderman Chas. Griffiths' report on Council work. It pledged itself to give moral support to the Pearl Assurance agents, who 'are coming out on strike on Christmas tday for a higher re- muneration; and it strongly condemned and sought for effective steps to deal with the pro- fiteering in unoccupied .houses that is going on in the town. And it received a deputation from I the Swansea Blind Institute, a feature of which was the denunciation of the present Government from the blind workers' union for its 'heartless prevention of steps that could have been taken for the alleviation and improvement of the lot of the sightless. The question of the Assurance agents' strike arose on a letter received from the Treharris Branch of the National Amelgamated Union of Assurance Agents informing the Trades Council that the.strike was contemplated as inevitable, and asking that the Council should do all it I could to assist the Pearl Agents in their fight for higher pay. This was spoken to by the branch delegate, who pointed out that all that was asked for at present was moral support. Reviewing the causes of the dispute he startled the Council by declaring, in confirmation of the information conveyed in the lettter, that assurance agents had received no increase in wages during the past five years, although the companies had enormously increased their nett profits during that period. He said he knew cases of men w ho were earning no more than •"{•">/ a week, whilst the average weekly wage of the agents for the whole kingdom was under £ 2. In reply to ques- tions, he said the reason that the Pearl agents were coming out was because they alone of all the companies were really effectively organised into the union, and so they 'had chosen to fight the fight for the whole body of agents, the or- ganised men in the other companies having pledged every possible assistance in the struggle. Mr. Bert Brobyn was anxious to know just wiiat the union meant when it asked for moral assistance, to which the chairman (Mr. J. Ad- kins) replied that he took it that what was wanted was that the Council should use all its influence to induce the affiliated trades-unionists to refuse to pay their contributions to hlbek-leg agents that called at their houses. This raised the question of what would happen to the poli- cies in case such a course was adopted by a policy holder. The delegate pointed out that under the policy conditions no lapsing could take place under thirteen weeks, and the prevention of lapsing would itherefore be prevented by with- holding payments for twelve weeks, and then paying one week, a course that could ba kept up indefinitely. On t'he motion of Air. Bert Brobyn a resolution was adopted pledging any assistance possible, and requesting the delegates to take the ques- tion to their lodges so as to secure every support possible for the Pearl employees during the strike. WORKMEN'S TRAINS. I Two letters that had been written to the rail- way companies during ithe month were replied to. In the first case the 'request was made that in order that. the down-valley workers should not bo compelled either to pay the full return fare from the place of their occupation, or for the scheduled time at which workmen's trains were available, that in the event of work not being available the tickets should be used on any up- train to Merthyr, to be made available by the provision of an up-coach on the train. In reply to this the R'hymney Company could not do any- thing. Another letter had asked that the wait- ing-rooms should be thrown open to workmen travelling on cheap tickets. In reply to this it was stated by the com- pany that at one time the rooms (had been so open, but that owiJlg to the condition in p which the men left them they had bad to be closed, but the booking offices were quite avail- able i. case of inclement weather. In respect of rthe first point a colliery workers' delegate said that the position was that the down-valley surface workers finished every day in time to catch the :JO up train, but owing to the conditions of ticket issuance they were com- pelled to wait for the 4 o'clock up train before they could return home. The company provided coaches on the 7 and 9 trains for workmen, and one of these they would willingly sacrifice for the privilege of !a coach on the 3,30. It was agreed to put this view before the com- pany. LUXURY BUILDINC. I A letter from the Labour Party Advisory Com- mittee, requesting information on any luxury- building that was going on in the district to the detriment of private house construction, with a view to using such information for the purpose of forcing the Government- to seriously tackle the question of building working-class houses, was ordered to be handed 'over to the Building 'Trades Federation for particulars. It was asked in this connection whether plans for the erection of a musiehall had oome before the Town Council for approval, and on an a.n- swer being returned in the affirmative, the opinion was expressed that a protest should be sent to the Town Council, but this was not pressed when the President (himself an ex-build- ing trade official) reminded the delegates thai whilst the Council was inot getting on with houses and the building contractors were not en- gaging in Iiixiii-v building the workers in the building trades were idle, and they would pre- fer .to ,he engaged on luxury building to eating the bread of idleness. It was decided to seek further information be- fore expressing an opinion on a resolution sub- mitted from Bradford, and intended for forward- ing to the next Labour Party Conference, advo- cating a pooling of 20 per cent, of all national incomes from whatever source derived, and the distribution of the pooled sum to every indi- vidual at a flat rate irrespective of earning ca- pacity or other qualifications. s l'he Executive had considered a communica- tion from the Merthyr I.L.P. asking that the Council's 'own 'resolution to set up an Advisory Committee for the purpose of considering the question of the increases to high-salaried officials in the public services, and urging the necessity of a South "NY ales conference of La bour represen- tatives ou public bodies for the purpose of find- ing an uniform policy in dealing with the ques- tion should be adopted. The Council agreed to the Executive's recommendation that in view of the importance of the subject the question should be relegated to the new Council which will meet next month. CRAVE DICCERS CRITICISED. I I Recently the Council sent a deputation to the Municipal Employees' Association, as the result of representations made by the Graig Lodge, and supported by other bodies, with the purpose of trying to secure an alteration of the Saturday burial hours at the cemeteries. It was then pointed out that the added charges for the pay- ment of ogertime seriously penalised the poorer classes who more more concerned in Saturday burials than anyone else, whilst the observance of the present hours meant that any workers who desired to pay a last tribute of respect to a dead fellow meant the loss of a half -day's:wages. A reply ito that deputation was now read, in which it was stated that the sextons and grave- diggers employed by the Borough Council could not entertain any departure from their present working hours. If the public felt itself suffering from any grievance therefrom, it must take it up with the Borough Council, concluded the letter. That reply met with general condemnation from the delegates. The Graig delegate pointed out that no principle was at stake, for they found that the grave diggers were quite pre- pared to work if they were paid-and well paid for working overtime. When the general public, who had assisted them to get their demands by returning Labour representatives, asked them to meet them in a matter which greatly con- cerned that public, and particularly the poorer sections of it, then these men turned round and flouted that public. What they had been asked to do was not fto work extra hours, but to pro- vide an overlapping shift so as to meet the needs of the greater number of the community, a.nd their answer wa.s No, but we will do the work if we are paid for it! (Hear, hear.) Mr. Idris Davies said the question was getting far more serious than it was when the Council sent the deputation. Only the previous Satur- day lie had been tackled by some meji who had been to a funeral, arid owing to the existing con- ditions had been compelled to lose half-a-day. People then turned round and blamed the La- bour Party for the position. He saw no reason why these men could not tell off one of their number for the purpose of filling the graves, for the great task was in opening and not in filling the earth. The position was going to create a great deal of inconvenience and needless ex- pense, and the men should be compelled to meet the Trades Council on this matter. Bert Brobyn felt that it was unfortunate that the M.E.A. had taken up the attitude it had, and the delegates were with him and not with the chairman when he asked delegates not to stigmatise the action as unreasonable until they had heard the M.E.A. point of view, and it was unanimously decided that the M.E.A. should be told that the Council was not satisfied with the reply, and would expect them to attend before the Council for the purpose of explanation. MAY DAY SPEAKERS. The Secretary (Mr. W. J. Davies) intimated that Mr. Ben Spoor, M.P. (subject to no import- ant business being before the House of Com- mons) and Messrs. Bob Williams and C. T. Cramp had accepted invitations to address the Merthyr May Day gathering. They were ac- cepted. He also said that he wa.s still awaiting a reply from Miss Mary McArtliur (Mrs. W. C. Anderson) who had been away in America, and was endeavouring to get in touch with Mrs. Sheehy Skeffington and Mrs. Conolly for the same meeting.
The -Deputation from the Blind
The Deputation from the Blind INDICTMENT OF THE PRESENT GOVERN- MENT. The deputation from the Swansea Blind fn- stitute then addressed the meeting. Mr. Turrell, a well-known worker for the Institute, in a fine address on the work of the Institute said that during the past two years, and largely by rea- son of Labour's assistance in South Wales, they had succeeded in rising the blind workers' mini- mum wage from 11/- to £ 2 a week. Another great improvement that he mentioned was the grant of £1 a week to tthe, blind person entering the Institute for training as Confidence Money a sum that materially assisted the per- son to escape that feeling of absolute depend- ence that was so bad for the character. This applied, too, to the branch workshop that had been set up at the urgent request of the blind workers themselves at Pontypridd. There was a call for more of these branch workshops to be established in the scattered rallies of South Wales. In dealing with the i-esporlse to his pre- vious appeals he frankly ..said that it had not come up to his expectations, though the Insti- tute was deeply grateful to the Dowlais miners and steelw orkers for their splendid support. The Dowlais miners in particular had made a 6d. levy during the first year, a 1/- levy the second, and then had adopted the principle of levying themselves Id. per week. That had broken down temporarily during the recent strikes, but he trusted, and was led to believe that it would be reinstituted in the near future. Unfortunately, he had not succeeded in convincing the others to a similar course. Mr. Morgan attended as a representative of the National League of the Blind, the trade union organisation that those employed in the blind workshops had organised themselves into, and which was affiliated to both the Trades Union Congress and the Labour Party. That League had pressed for two things; first, that the Government should take adequate steps" to make decent provision for the blind in the coun- try in various specified ways; and, second, to assist, so far a.s they could, in the improvement of conditions at the prevailing institutions and workshops at which their Tuembers were em- ployed. Their delegates had been moving reso- lutions calling upon the Government to take ac- tion in this mattter for the past 20 years, and most of them had at last 'come to the conclusion that so long as we had a Government in power that (represented vested interests, so long were these matters not going .to be dealt with by the ruling class at all. (Hear, hear and Shame!) TRICKINC THE BLIND. I If lie was out to make an indictment of our present Government with reference to the blind he should say that they had not only done nothing in the matter, but that tho blind had been fooled and tricked by the present Govern- ment, which, so far as it could, had prevented such things as might have been done from being accomplished. (Shame!) As an instance of this he mentioned that in 1914 the League of the Blind had a, bill presented by one of the Labour members dealing with the question of the blind, and they were told by the spokesman for the Government that legislation was quite unneces- sary, but that they would appoint a Committee of Enquiry. He was of opinion that the present Government could produce Committees of En- quiry at about the same rate as hens produced chickens. The Committee was appointed and in- quired for four long years, and then, at the ex- piration of that time, the Committee said that whilst the Government was in, favour of all that the blind asked for the requirements could not be carried into effect without legislation. (Shame!) Which was what the blind had said in 1914. That was just a political dodge, and it had been played on a class of people whom it was thought in their 'weakness it could be played on without consequences to the tricksters. (Shame!) "We want you to remember, and then we are certain to make it known that we are linked up to the great trades union move- ment, and that behind our weak hands are your powerful arms, which will carry us through th,' crises." (Applaufse.) But, went on Mr. Morgan, in the meantime, feeling that no Government action of a reason- able sort would be taken on the matter, the blind workers asked the organised workers to give support to institutions that conformed to certain standards of efficiency and democratic control. As the representative of the workers on the Committee of the Swansea Blind Insti- tute he answered in that respect for it, and de- tailed its splendid remedial work, as well as the fact that the extension of that work was crip- pled and prevented from lack/of finances. What was wanted was that the Trades Council should assist in enabling deputations of the blind them- selves to explain their case and appeal for as- sistance at pit-head or lodge and branch meet- ings. This was readily promised. Mr. Idris Davies said that he felt that the deputation an particular were anxious that the Mertlhyr miners should emulate the Dowlais men in their contributions. In the past the\Merthyr District had received appeals from all the or- ganisations catering for the blind and had been unable to determine which was the most de- serving of support, with the result that grants had been 10s. or so. But what they had heard that night would justify them in going back to the district and declaring that the Swansea institution was de- serving of their best support, apart from any other—a statement that met with a fervent Amen from the other Merthyr miners' dele- gates present, of whom Mr. H. Lewis made a great appeal to every delegate to take the matter back to the ledges and branches with a view to securing an universal contribution from the workers of Id. per week. I GUARDIANS' REPORT. In presenting the report of tho work of the Labour Group on the Board of Guardians during the past month Mr. Idris Davies said that- the large sums paid out in out-relief showed no signs of decreasing except in the Dowlais area, whore a slow recovery was being made from the effects of the recent strike and stoppage in the steelworks. Many of the 'cases that came before the Board were tragic in ithe extreme, and it wa.s almost hear t-brea king to realise the depths of poverty amongst the people. In connection with the decision of the Boa;rd to assist where possible old age pensioners by the grant of medical comforts." Mr. Davies paid a fine tribute to the co-operation of the relieving officers in the work. In the past ItlIp relieving officers had been the butt of everyone's jibes, but backed with a strong and intent Labour Group they were doing thei'r work in a far dif- ferent and more humane way than in the past. (Hear, hear.) The Council expressed deep in- dignation at the he,-titlessness of those sons of inmates who deliberately evaded their duty to support their aged parents, when earning big money, and agreed that no act was too severe to bring home to the consciences of such that the first duty of the child was to maintain their aged parents, and only in the ca.se of their in- ability to do so should the community shoulder the task. He mentioned that owing to the system of collections of rates in Merthyr there was a sum off over £ 62,000 due to the Guardians, and pomplained that w hilst this 'huge sum was due, the Guardians were compelled to heavily overdraw their account at the bank and incur correspondingly heavy charges. He asked the Labour councillors to see if steps could not be ta ken to remedy this.
The Parliamentary Bill.I
The Parliamentary Bill. I WHAT THE DESTRUCTOR MEANS.. I The two important points dealt with by Aid. Chas. Griffiths in his report on Council work were the estimated costs of the provision of a refuse destructor, and the provisions incorpor- ated in the new Parliamentary Bill that will he before the burgesses at a statutory meeting on January 12th next. In connection with the pro- posed destructor on the site of the old Plymouth Works, and .which would serve from Dowlais to Abercanaid, he said that two schemes were be- fore ithe Council for consideration, one scheme was estimated to oost £ 130,750 and the other, and smalle-r £ 104,075. The large scheme would yield a supply of 12 million units of electrieity per year, a.nd the other 10 million. Assuming that t'he whole, of this supply oould be sold to the South Wales Power Company at Treforest, and the Merthyr Electric Traction Company, there would stilil be a loss to the town on the working amounting to £ 4,763 a yerur on the larger and more productive scheme and of £ 5,396 a year on the (smaller. The point now was to discover if t'he power companies would take over tins supply of electricity that would be available, for without them it was hopeless to think of going ion with the work, which entailed an annual charge of £ 24,763— £ 13,7o0 for cap! tal charges, and £ 11,063 for .repayment and in- terest. Even if all the electricity was taken the charge was a heavy one, but it would be repaid in the -greater Ihealth that would accrue to the town from the, burning of its refuse. OMNIBUSES.I I Included in the Parliamentary Bill, said Aid. Griffiths later, was a proposal to run motor omnibuses from Merthyr to Troedvrfaiw, from Troedyrhiw to Treharris, and from the car ter- minus at Dowlais to Pant. The Corporation have had the Leeds Tramways manager down to give expert advice, and those were his sugges- tions. The expert, who would be retained to give evidence, did not if hink that the sparce po- pulation of Penrheolgerrig would mal;,(-- a mar- ket-square to their route commercially possible, but they were going to make an effort to secure a through service of 'buses right through the town of Merthyr. Powers were to be souglit under the Bill to re- vise the water-charges. The question of a joint water board did not arise on the Bill, but it was just possible that the Parliamentary Committee dealing with the Bill would tell all those inter- ested in the isupplv to go home and try and form a water board amongst themselves. A HOUSING HUBBUB. I Several questions were put to the Aldesman on the points raised, but the most interesting question .seemed to be tlhe housing question, in connection -ix-itli wliieh Mr. Sliadbolt declared that ten 'houses in Penydarren Garden Village had been completed almost ready for occupation six years ago, but had never been occupied. The painter had completed his work there, and he was usually the last workman employed on house erection. Could not something be done to open these houses for .occupation in view of the urgency of housing accommodation> he asked. Aidermair Griffiths said the matter was re- ceiving attention, and it was hoped that by Spring the roads would be made and the houses finished for occupation. Butt the gravest scandal wa.s felt to be t'he house speculation that is going on in vacant houses, and one case cited in particular aroused the ire of the Council. It is Dowlais house that has been unoccupied for something like three months, and during that time lias changed hands, always at a profit, five times, being- bought and sold by men who did not intend to occupy, but who merely took advantage of the conditions to specu late profitably in property. It wa.s decided to take all necessary steps to secure tenancy in such cases. The recommendation that tiieoffiliiatio-n fee be raised from 9d. per member to 1/- for affiliaml trades-unionists and Socialists, and from 2d. per member for Co-operative Societies to 4d. per tncmber. Mas left for submission to the lodges. The increase is necessary in view of the greatly- increased representation for which the body is responsible on local public authorities, and the general increase that has resulted in costs during the past few years.
I I Regarcless of Cost ol…
I I Regarcless of Cost ol living. I N.U.R. EXECUTIVE STATEMENT ON NEGOTIATIONS. i Mr. J. H. Thomas, M.P., in a statement at thpelo of the meeting of .the National Union of Railwaymen's Executive last Friday disposed finally of the rumours of n lightning strike before Christmas. There was a. genuine desire for satisfactory settlement, he said, iand he hoped such would result. He believed that the new wages offcr of the Government would meet their desire for a mini- mum which, while being just in regard to the present abnormal period, would be really inde- pendent of the cost of living. The meeting of the Executive was called to discuss the details of the wages standardisation scheme presented to Mr. Thomas, Mr. Cramp, and Mr. J. Wilson by Sir Eric Geddcs last week to be referred to a special delegate conference- of the Union of January 7th, and which will be explained by Mr. I homas at a mass meeting at Birmingham on the Sunday immediately preced- ing that date. The text of Mr. Thomas' com- munication is as follows :— The position is that we have received from the (roverumect an offer which, in the judgment of the Executive and myself, should be sub- mitted to a full delegates' meeting for ratifica- .tion or otherw ise. The difficulty of our negotia- t ions has been the attempt to fix a new standard basis whieh will be the minimum standard re- gardless of the cost of living and at the same time do justice to the abnormal period in which we are living. f believe that the scheme will meet both these points, although on certain details it is obvious that modifications may be necessary. I shall myself explain the whole matter at a mass meeting in Birmingham on Sunday, January 4th. On the following Wednesday, January 7th, a special delegate meeting will be called to con- sider the Executive's report. "1 hope this announcement will put an end to the statements about the IÎntention of a light- ning strike before Christmas, which never emanated either from myself or from this office. As a matter of fact, the negotiations (have been conducted on botlh sides with a, genuine desire to effect a satisfactory settlement, and that I hope will be the outcome." Mr. Thomas added that no official statement of the proposals would 'be given, .so far as the National Union of Railwayman was concerned, before his Birmingham speech.
Sankey's Christmas Gift.
Sankey's Christmas Gift. Mr. Justice Sankpy's declaration of the ille- gality OT tin- proelamations 1100. • whtrh rnrpoV are being restricted is to be appealed against, but nobody who reads the considered judgment he delivered, and has regard to the .recognised principles of Jaw will doubt that the King's Bench Division has again proved a bulwark against the encroachments of the Crown. In his argument for the import restrictions the Attor- ney-General was driven to contend that undea-,a clause of the Customs Consolidation Act dealing with arms and ammunition the right had been reserved to the Crown to prohibit any import whatever into the United Kingdom. That is to say that, by an Act rightly described as the Magna Chart-a of Free Trade, passed by a Par- liament of which Gladstone, Cobden, Bright, and Villie rs were all members, the Parliamentary control of fiscal affairs tarnl -the results of the long struggle against the encroachments of the Crown were deliberately surrendered. The argu- ment failed ,to impress Mr. Justice Sankey, and it remains to be seen whether it will carry any weight with the Court of Appeal. Meanwhile the decision stands as law, and its effect is to make illegal and invalid almost the whole of the importation restrictions that the Government has attempted.—(" Saturday's Westminster.")
Coaltrimmers and Pearl Agents
Coaltrimmers and Pearl Agents A mass meeting of Cardiff and Penarth coal- trimmers was held art the -Cory Hall 'on Sunday when bhe President, Mr. J. T. Clatworthy sub- mitted a .report in relation to the national meet- ings recently 'held in London, when the ques- tion of hours and tariffs came up for considera- tion. )11". Clatworthy stated that the hours question had been made Ithe subject of an ett- quiry under the Industrial Courts Act, whilslt the question of the revision of tariffs would in the meantime be proceeded with by the ordinary process of negotiation. A 'representative of tlit agents of the Pearl Assurance Company attended the meeting and asked for the support of the coal trimmers in the claims of the agents for increased remunera- tion. The meeting unalnimollsly passed a reso- lution calling upon the members- to Tefi-,iin from paying premiums to any agents who might caU for them during the period of the strike which is ill contemplation.
i Labour and Ireland.
i Labour and Ireland. The Parliamentary Labour party have been considering the present position of the Irish question and the situation in Ireland and, realising the desirability of securing accurate in- formation, lvave decided to spud a. deputation ta I re I and during t'he coming recess to investigate the conditions in t ha t country-and to ascertain the effect of the pgp-ent system of government and to what extent- this system is interfering with legitimate individual liberty. The following, deputation ha.s lweii appoint(,d :-I%ti-. W. Adam- son, Mr. J. R. Clynes, Mr. A. Henderson, Mr. Tyson Wilson, Mt-. Parkinson, and Mr. Smith.