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I LOST AND WON !

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I LOST AND WON I By TOM SMITH. The terms which Mr. Runciman took away Mr. Lloyd George has restored. The classes which were excluded are now included again in the terms of the New Agreement.—"Engine- men, Pumpmen, Stokers, Banksmen and work- men engaged on the mechanical staff." For a time it seemed as if the sun had set for these classes of workmen, and that they were- in for another long night of struggle, fighting to share in the same advantages of payment for the same conditions of labour that is. work;ng on afternoon or night as every other class of workmen in the coalfield. It was meant to be a rending and dividing of our forces. It seemed as if between us as different classes of workmen there was to be another long farewell-You are going there, but we must go back here. But a shout of pain and anger went up. This cleavage was cutting through everything, not only creating econo- mic differences, but differences in the social conditions as well. Pitiable. Poor Ignorance. In the same home some members of the fam- ily would be paid for working on afternoons or nights because they belonged to certain classes of workmen; others would not, because they belonged to others. Among companions, some would be paid, others would not: al- though the Lloyd George Award of July 20 had said they should be. The revulsion of feel- ing against such an attempt was beyond mea- surement or control. There were to be no par- tings, no leave-takings this time. And the poo." ignorance which pictured this to be the result of pro-Gorman sympathy is too pitiable to be noticed. The miners of South W ales are conscious as they have never been conscious before, that they are brothers of each other in the great working class. And their determination to stand together was just an expression of a noble feeling, a, holy passion, an earnest of the highest stage of progress the poor humans in this great world of struggle can hope to reach or attain. "I Wili not do it." I Two men with whom I was Intimately ac- quainted were one evening sitting conversing earnest together in the back parlour of a little public-house. It seemed to me as if there were some secret conclave between them. be- cause the one was heard to say. "I will not do it." with an emphasis that s howed that he was labouring under some strong feeling of re- sentment. From their youth they had been companions together. They were of similar age left school together; entered the estab- lishment of a big engineering firm together; and between them their many inventions and improvements wjiicli they had made and plac- ed on the market were fairly on the way to dominate the business. The man who was speaking was of exceptionally strong personal- ity: a man to command and to be obeyed. "ill at morning the head of the firm had call- ed him into his private office and offered him a leading position in the firm at a princely sal,-ti- Foi- a moment the offer was exceeding- ly tempting, and he felt strongly inclined to accept it. But then another thought, another vision flashed through his mind, and turning to the head of the firm, he asked: "But what, sir. of my old friend and fellow-worker? What ot him' "He'll remain where he is." d Then you make no offer of advancement to him?" one. None?" No. we have one vacancy, one position or advancement, and so only one man can be ad- vanced, and that man we have decided to be yourself." The strong man stood with an expression of resentment visibly written across his face. Un- der all this he felt there must be a motive, a strong motive for separating them in their life's work, and turning again to the great man. lie asked: sir. if I may ask, why is there no offer of advancement made to mv friend? Is there anything standing to his dis-credit? Has he fa iled in his duty? Has he not at all times rendered equal set vice, as I myself have, to the success of this firm?" "Yp- that is true, and we certainly lian-e nothing against your friend. And we readily acknowledge all that he has done and accomp- lished. But the real point is that for years we have watt bed you have noted your strength of character and power to control: and have Ion" realised the fact that between you both there is nothing you may not accomplish but without vou it will be impossible: therefore, the offer is made to you." A Strong Man's Decision. n The strong man stood silently reflecting tor a few moments. Not that he was any longer tempted by the bait thrown out towards him but reflected upon the motive actuating be- hind it. all, to separate tlieiii. to prevent them obtaining any further economic power or con- trol: to rend and divide their forces; to keep themselves, the exploiters supreme. Then, lifting his head and turning four square towards his tempter, he said: "Sir, I can accept no position which separates my friend from rue. or which places him beneath me in a mote disad vantageous position in life. \Ve were children together: went to school to- gether, entered upon life together. Since then we have worked and laboured together; giving to you the very best of our brains and hands. And together we shall go forward to work out our salvation, and will allow no man to separate us." What a blessing for him that the great world's war was not in swing at the time, or he would most certainly have been dubbed a pro-German. The Analogy of the Mines. That is all the South Wales miner has been guilty of. For years these excluded classes of men from the bonus turn have worked with him in and about the mine. Their lives have intermixed in a hundred different ways. They have worked together, lived together, and in a hundred different ways have contributed to the successful working of the collieries. And now the coal owners wanted to divide them; to split up their organisation or-to prevent any further organisation taking place. To the demand for a bonus turn they had been com- pelled to say "Yes. but not to these, the weak the less able to take care of themselves. The Pro-German Charge. To this the miners replied they must; no work until they do. But to do that was "pro- German." so the so-called anti-German said. Pro-German to ref use to be satisfied with what they had not acquired pro-German to stand hv the weak, to succour the helpless, to fight their battles, and refuse to put down the wca-? I pons of warfare until they had won the same privileges for them also. Pro-German? Why, the men who cry themselves anti-German have illuminated the other word pro-German. Nor that the South Wales miner was concerned at the time with German or British. He was engaged in a struggle; a struggle for life and existence—but as real deadly earnest as if "ie had been on the fields of Flanders. It was just an episode in the great class war, and au- gurs well for a glorious future, because when the strong refuse to move, until hand in hand they can take the weak along with them also when those who are strong enough to obtafh whatever they demand, refuse to touch it un- til the weaklings who cannot so obtain have al- so obtained what they demand, then indeed is the great working class humanity saving it- self redeeming its future, and preparing for the great day of liberty, when every man, wo- man and child will exist to live; not live to exist as now, but exist to live on everything that is noble, pure, inspiring—the arts, sci- ences, literature but especially in life; to live not that individualism may exist, but human- itv with all its endless potentialities and in- finite possibilities. And surely the South Wales miner is walking in the pathway which leads upwards to the glories of that morn. Won Because True to Self. I But the thing for the moment is that the South Wales miner has won, and won be- cause lie was true to himself. And to-day he has got an agreement which secures the in- terests of the Federation members, an agree- ment which WIpes ouL the previous defects of the Hunciman Agreement: an agreement which establishes a five days' working week, and protects them against the abuse of the management, and maintains any better condi- tions which may exist elsewhere. But all this must surely lead us to one con- clusion In order to secure the united interests of the members of the Federation we must have a fighting purpose for all: a purpose in which all are to participate, and from which all must benefit. We all start from the same economic basis—we are all wage-slaves. And so between us as miners we can always dis- cover a community of interest. In the past there were sharp distinctions drawn between one class of workmen in the mine and another. The labourer was the commonest thing of all-" a necessary evil." He was unskilled in everything; he could use the shove", but a mandril or hatchet, these he shculd not touch. They were tools which re- quired a lot of training to acquire skill in their handling. And so there was a great deal of antipathy between one class and another. Gradually all this has been removed: preju- dices which destroyed every effort towards progress and advance have in turn been de- stroyed. and in its place a strong feeling of class consciousness is daily growing. Preparing for Greater Things. I The miners of South Wales are leading the \a:l and are preparing for greater things. There are higher things to be reached greater needs to be satisfied; every advance made in wages, every improvement in conditions of la- bour can only be temporary. Every time it leaves a thousand evils behind to be remedied. Labour all the time has to be exploited, and so long as ever exploitation exists, so long must there be suffering, inequalities, and the other evils under which society continues to reek and groan. But the next great movement must not sim- ply be a movement of miners. It will be a movement embracing miners, railwaymen, and transport workers. This movement has long been talked about, and had it not been for the war, would have crystalized ere now. And it is full time this matter was pushed forward. There should be no waiting. The demand should go up from the rank and file. Do not wait simply and solely for an official lead. Let the parties concerned hold their meetings; branch, lodge, district pass resolutions and make the cry so insistent and persistent that the leaders will be compelled to go forward and complete their scheme, and livae every man organised ready for the great struggle. If the workers in these three great branches of industry say these things must be, then they will be. No leader can prevent this if the workers are decided. After the War. I And there will be infinite need after this war to have this movement in readiness for action. To-day women are crowding out every indus- try —except, perhaps, the mines-where men were formerly employed, and they are doing this at a greatly reduced wage; at a wage, in- deed, which will make it impossible for men to have the opportunity to return to their former employment and wages. Our social and industrial arrangements are going to be turned upside down. Men will walk the streets while poverty will ravish the land, break up our whole domestic arrangements, and gaunt hun- ger will make men everywhere servile and sub- missive to any conditions the capitalist class may choose to impose upon them. And the question which the workers ought to be facing at this moment is—Shall we wait until that crisis comes, or shall we organise all our forces ready for action? The Duty Now. Time is ours while we have time. After that, when the opportunity is passed, when the storm ha,s burst aoo the flood gates are opened, it will be too late to talk of what we should have done. Enough that we see the signs of the tunes that we know the greed, selfishness and inhumanity of the employing class. Do we need any other incentive, any other causa 01 reason for action? If we do, then we are play- ing with fate, simply allowing it to future events to shape our destiny, instead of at this hour guiding and shaping those events by which our destiny as workers must be decided. Our duty at this very hour is to be moving forward in advance, laying down our future pobcy, our mode of action, and unifying and organising every tittle of power which may lay anywhere in our movement. Then when the blow conies, as come it will against the workers of this country, it will be met by an- other blow so strong, so irresistible, so over- powering and crushing in its weight and di- rectness that the common foe will fall a man- glefcl shape, a useless ruin, that will never rise agam to dominate the workers, an d make them the slaves of a horde of parasites.

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