Pioneer

ENGEL'S PROPHECY. A WONDERFUL FORECAST OF ARMA- GEDDON. (To the Editor of the PIOXKER.) Dear Sir,-Woukl the following interest your readers ? It was sent to the "Cotton Factory Times of the 4th inst. by J. B. Askew, who passed it on from the "New York Call." It is a passage written by >Friedrick Engels, the eminent collaborator of Marx. in 1877 (29 years ago) And, finally, no other war will be possible for Prussia (Germany), but a world war, a war so extensive and frightful as has hitherto been unthought of. Eight to ten million soldiers will murder one another and inciden- tally devour Europe as would a swarm of locusts. The devastation of the Thirty Years' War pressed together into three or four years and spread over the entire Con- tinent. Famine, epidemics, a partial return to savagery on the part of the armies and the masses of the people, brought about by acute suffering; demoralisation of trade, in- dustry and credit, ending in general bank- ruptcy. An absolute impossibility to pre- dict how it will all end and who will be the victor. One thing is absolutely certain general exhaustion and the bringing about of conditions which will be necessary for the final victory of the working class. This is what must be looked for when the system of com- petitive armaments will have borne itls inevit- able fruit. To this pass princes and states- men, you have brought Europe, and if no- thing else is left to you, but to start the last great war dance, we may well be satis- fied with it. The war may perhaps force us (i.e., the Socialists) into the background for the moment, may even take from us many a position we had conquered, but if you loose the forces which you are afterwards unable to oontrol, things might as well go as they will. This requires no comment.—Yours sincerely, M, 8. WOMEN AND CONSCRIPTION. (To the Editor of the PIONEER.) I Sir,—Will you allow me a portion of your space in order to express an opinion upon the agitation now being conducted throughout these districts in opposition to Conscription. What I particularly desire to do is to express a woman's point of view upon this question. The men are being appealed to and exhorted to do all that lies in their power with a view to preventing Conscription being adopted; that is now being done, the object being to get the Act repealed. But there is no suggestion what- ever with regard to women taking- a part, or in any way assisting tke men in their fight for Freedom. This question of Conoription affects the womenfolk almost, if not equally as much, as it does the men. although it may be indi- rectly. The nature of woman's work being of such a character that it prevents her organis- ing, and being able to wield any great economic power, it is not thought necessary to give her much consideration. Since the war started, the women of the working class have been appealed to on every side to sacrifice their husbands, sons, and sweet- hearts for the firing line, and it has been re- sponded to in countless numbers of cases. It is due to the readiness on the part of the women to respond that there is in existence to-day ato army of at least four million men, although we must bear in mind that in the agricultural districts and the lower paid industries that the increased income due to the Government allow- ances has been a great inducement to enlist- ment. Now, I believe, Mr Editor, that many of your readers will agree with me when I suggest that the women could be appealed to with regard to urotesfing against Conscription as they have been to persuade their men folk to join the Army. The women can do their bit m both directions, and something should be dene to endeavour to get the wives of the min- ers and other workers really interested in this movement. It is too well known that the lack of interest, and oftentimes the direct opposition of the wives, is a great drawback to the married men who are enthusiastic in the Labour or any other movement. It must be agreed that any sacrifice a man is prepared or compelled to make. affects his wife and family, though indirectly" and brings suffering upon them. The man may have the satisfaction of feeling something of a hero, if he is called upon to give up or do anything for the cause that he holds dear, but the wife is compelled to take a silent part in the self- same struggle, and she and her children suffer more than the husband. A capitalist paper mentioned only last week in regard to Conscription that the miners are the star turn in the Trade Union programme, but I believe 'the miners' wives are kept a long way from the limelight and can hardly come on, even as scene shifters. For these reasons any movement should be welcomed that, may in- duce women to take a greater interest in these matters; that would encourage them to use their influence, and support their husbands when it comes to taking a part mi the work of the Labour .movement. I would suggest that the men who are now actively engaged carrying on a propaganda for the prevention of the extension of Conscription, and, if possible, obtain its repeal, that they should invite their wives, sweethearts, moth- ers, etc., to come to their meetings, or if this be considered infra dig, that meetings should be arranged in the different districts, where the men's policy would be explained to them. I feel certain that by these means their co- operation and support would be obtained, and h6pe that this expression of opinion may lead to some steps being taken in this direction. — Yours, etc., MINER'S WIFE. WORKING CLASS EDUCATION. I A CHALLENGE. (To the Editor of the PIONEER.) I Dear Sir,-In last week's issue of the I PIONEER there appeared a report of, a meeting hed at the Aberaman I.L.P. on Working Class Education," wherein Mr J. Thomas, B.A., the official representative of the Workers' Edu- cational Association, replied to my attacks on the W.E.A. That report was written by Mr. John Thomas himself! I do not complain of this; it was helping along the PIONEER. But I do complain that the report contained some glaring misrepresentations. Having taken the responsibility of writing his own report, he might have stated the issues fairly and retained as a result some of that spirit of playing the game which seems to have animated his conduct in the past. The whole report was of a na- ture ealculated to ensnare the readers of the PIONEER. And that is why I write. The meeting in question was composed of 1. L. Peers. Noone present seemed to have any definite views on working class education. Them were, however, two members of the W.E.A., but since these meetings have taken place they have come over to the Central Labour College and all it stands for. Mr. Thomas attributed to me the statement that it was "sheer waste of time to talk of educating the working man until ttie class struggle was abolished." In the same breath, so to speak, he says I was advocating working class education. What I did say was—but there, that shall come another time. I have asked almost all who were present at my lecture if they heard me making such an 'idiotic state- ment. Not one heard me utter anything of the kind. Such an diea, therefore, if it exists any- where, exists only in. Mr. Thomas' perverted imagination. To attribute such a statement to myswlf or any other member of the Central Labour College is to misrepresent the whole of our position. If Mr. Thomas cannot defend the W.E.A. without stooping to such insidious methods as this one, then he had better throw up the sponge. I claim that Mr. Thomas has misrepresented the issues; that he reported his own speech in a way which would bring the W.E.A. into the limelight, and that as a consequence, the rea- ders of the PIONEER have not had a fair ehance of discriminating between the spurious W.E.A. and the Central Labour College. That being so, I challenge Mr. Thomas, or any other accredited representative of the W.E.A.. to discuss the matter with me in the pages of the PIONEER. Then let your readers decide for themselves whether the W.E.A. or the Central Labour College is the genuine arti- cle. Failing this, then, Mr. Editor, with your kind permission, I will write a series of articles on Education in general and the W.E.A. in particular, "By their deeds ye shall know them. "— Y ours trulv Aberaman. W. J. EDWARDS. ANARCHIST OR WHAT? I (io the Editor of the PIONEER.) Dear i)n"H I have let the sins of the Nihil- ists fall upon the backs of the Anarchists, it is because there are so many Anarchists with different definitions of Anarchy. Prince Kropotkin has given us his views, but 1 am nob aware that he has come to those con- clusions from a study of the works of evolution- ists and Atheists. Until we know what Anar- chism means; until we know what Torrez really believes, we cannot have a prolonged ar- gument And because I kicked against Parliaments, I am henceforth a full-blown Anarchist. If I believe in lunatic asylums, ai-ii-I then to ke called a lunatic P Was William Morris a poli- tician? Did he not in his "N ews from No- where" turn the House of Commons into a. storehouse for the nation's dung? And is he to to be called an Anarchist for saying this? Does any man in England in his senses be- lieve in Parliament after the glaring exhibitions of misrule and blunders made during the last 50 or 60 years, by even the most angelic of British Parliaments. Morris did not believe in Parliaments; loan does not beliave in Parliaments. I believe in the Pstrliament of the People. And still I claim to be a Socialist. And now I wait for Torrez's replv. Yours faithfully, Dowlais I.L.P. IOAN. THE C.L.C. AND W.E.A. DEBATE, I (To the Editor of the PIONEER.) I Sir,—Being one of the Comrades present at that I.L.P. meeting held at Aberaman, in which Mr. John Thomas, B.A., Trecynon, the Honorary Secretary of the Workers' Eduoation- al Association for Wales, defended the above- named association against the attack levelled against it by Comrade Edwards, a C.L.C.'ite. The report written by Mr. Thomas of his de- fence of the W.E.A. is quite correct; but the report of Comrade Evans winding up his reply by saying "It was sheer waste of time to talk about educating the working man until the class struggle was abolishecf" is not correct. The two Comrades, in xchanging their views, spoke of how pleased they were to have read in the daily paper that the S.W.M.F. and the Na- tional Union of Itailwaymen had bought ovet- the Central Labsur College, and everything showed tiiat there was a bright future ahead for the education of the working man. If the statement which Mr. Thomas has made in his report with reference to Mr. Edwards' reply was a correct one, Comrade Edwards would not have gloried in. the success of the College; but, on the contrary, lie would have trotted off home and wou. J sit in his library keeping on educating himself until the class struggle would end--a very pleasant task. I am sure.— Yours, etc., DAVID HENRY JONES. I 29 Regent Street, Aberaman.

JThe Storm on Sulva Bay. I MERTHYR PRIVATE'S STORY OF EX- POSURE. The frightful experiences of our soldiers dur- ing the terrible storm at Sulva Bay were de- scribed by a young Merthyr soldier invalided home through frost-bite, to a Pressman this week. It was in November that the storm com- menced," he continued, and it was not long before the water started to rise in the trenches, dug-outs, and everywhere else. The men stuck it well, and were fighting in about five feet of water. We soon had to give up our dug- outs, as the sides fell in. The men of some of the trenches had an anxious time in leaving them. The fellows had stuck up it to the last moment, as there was only the open to go to. Some of them man- aged to climb on to the parapet, and then' they did their best to help the others out. Many of them owed their lives to the fact that they could swim. Most of the equipment was carried down the trenches in the flood. The rain was followed by snow and frost, and when we left our dug-outs we marched ab- out in the open to .try sad keep ourselves warm. For three days and three nights we had no cover whatever, and had to keep in the open. Owing to the storm, very little fighting was possibly, for the Turks were in the same plight as ourselves. Thanks to friends, we had tobacco and cigarettes out there, and I can tell yon we would not like to have been with- out them."

I Religion Revised. By THOMAS THOMAS. In Wales at present it is considered more i-igliteotis to obey the High Priest of Welsh Non- conformity than to obey the commands of Christ. The Gospels aceording to Matthew, Luke, Mark, and John have been relegated to the limbo of a decadent literature, whilst the more enervating and militant gospei according to Lloyd George lias become the accepted belief of the people. The New Testament is still read, and is still the source of texts for Sunday preaching, but its interpretation must coincide with the regulations of the Defence of the Realm Act. Before the war the Munitions Min- ister was the Welsh idol; to-day he is their god, and woe betide him who refuses to make obeisance before the great Nebuchadnezzar. If Christ came to earth at the present time He would join the No-Conscription Fellowship, and would be treated like a i-nale,facthr-a man void of patriotism, and who would be dubbed a pro-German for his I)ro,-peace proclivities. There is no doubt about it, the Welsh people have taken unto themselves idols before which they do abject homage. Christianity has be- come a mere lip-worship, a mere pretence, with no more living vitality than dead sea, fruit. Church adherents have become fire-eaters, mad worshippers of Mars, whose souls are athirst for the blood of their fellow-men. The man who dare accept the New Testament as the basic principle of his conscience is considered a. trai- tor and shirker deserving and getting the ut- most contumely of the Church. To Noncon- formist Wales it is inconceivable that the teach- ings of Christ should be contrary to the opinions of her darling idol, or to the shibboleths of the Liberal Party. If there be a clash of interests, then; assuredly, the Scriptures are at fault, and Christ must take a 'oack seat. One would think from the teachings of Christ that the Church ought to be foremost in defend- ing the young men of the country who, from principle, refuse to countenance the taking of human life; but alas! the Church is to-day, as it has always been--at least since the Reforma- tion—on the side of Christ's enemies. Church adherents show as much hatred and intolerance against the No-Conscription advocate as any unbelieving Philistine or imperialist swashbuck- ler. Christ was a hater of war. His mission was to establish universal peace, with all men united in a world federation under the Father- hood of God. That human nature has not de- veloped to a standard high enough for this de- sirable consummation is no reason for professing Christians to persecute the men who are en- deavouring to carry out Christ's behests regard- ing peace. If Welsh Noneonforalists believe that this war was unavoidable, and that its pro- secution is essential for the future safety of Bri- tain, their religion should, at least, have givex them sufficient grace to tolerate without moles- tation the few Christians in their midst who are true to Christian precepts. But no, the more righteous a man may be the greater danger he runs from the persecution of these renegade religionists. Whatever other results maf accrue from the present war, it is evident that Churchianity is doomed. Welsh Nonconformity is on its last prop; it is in the last stages of consumption. Apart from the prostitution of the most sacred covenants of the Founder of Christianity, Non- conformity is bound to collapse with the down- fall of Liberalism, and Liberalism is generally acknowedged to be in a stata of deoomposit/on. Both Liberalism and the Welsh Church have failed in the essentials of their existence. The moment they were subjected to a vital test both miserably collapsed, and after the people will have returned to their normal passions and real- ised how shadowy were the. bulwarks of their political and religious edifices, few tears will be shed when these inglorious institutions become things of the memory. From the wreck of a corrupt Church may be a Christianity pure and undefined will arise, untrammelled by Liberal tradition or pontifical lawyers. To open wide the doors of chapels for the oratorical declama- tions of Liberal agnostics whilst refusing en- trance to Socialist ministers of the Gospel is a common occurence in Wales. Llovd George may hold a recruiting meeting on Sunday without a word of censure, but let a Socialist attempt to hold a peace meeting and the followers of the peaceful Nazarine will howl anathema. During the Boer War, when the present Mu- nitions Minister did what the No-Conscription Fellowshp are doing to-day, he had the majority of Nonconformist Wales on his side, but, al- though, from a Scriptural standpoint, both the European and Boer Wars are equal evils, be- cause the Liberals were in power at the out- break of th-a present war, and the Tories were in power during the South African War, religi- ous Wales are bitterly opposing the opponents of war. Religious ethic do not enter the question at all; Welsh Cliurchianitv is govern- ed by Liberal politics. Were the Munitions Minister to turn Conservative it is difficult to imagine what attitude We lshmen would adopt. The whole religious atmosphere was in a ferm- ¡ ent the other day when it was rumoured that Mr. Lloyd George was working for the Premier- ship. Victory in the war is of secondary im- portance to Wales to the necessity of Mr. George keeping undefiled his political faith. Re Mr. Russell Williams. I t1 or a man of such pedantic knowledge, Mr. Russell Williams can be very tiresome. I en- dorse every word he utters condemnatory of the defection of Labour leaders. Nothing can be more reprehensible than their conduct, but I would remind Mr. Williams that the defection of Labour leaders is not a weed of late growth it flourished in the days of Richard Bell, and if Mr. Hardio remained firm to the Alliance despite the renegades of past year, it is fair to assume that the reactionary antics of Mr. Hodge would still find him of the same opin- ion. The Labour Party Aliance has many dis- advantages, and unquestionably some means must be provided to allow freedom of action to I.L.Peers in constituencies represented by Trade Union leaders of reactionary tendencies, but un- til we get a united body of. I.L.Peers it is fatu- ous to talk about severing the Alliance because of the jingoism of a 'few leaders. It is rather late in the day for Mr. Williams t. say that the Labour Party neverad a guiding princi- ple, for the reasons adduced from the forma- tion of the Alliance still remain, and Mr. Wil- liams, by his past acquiescence, has subscribed to those reasons. For him to assume that his speech at the Divisional Conference influenced the decision of the delegates is about as delight- ful an example of puffed conoeit as ever afflic- ted man. However, he means well, and merits our toleration. He only needs to keep in mind that high falutin' adjectives, nor "grossly immoral" assertions, do not prove anything.

j OUR PRINTING IS GOOD OUR TERMS ARE MODERATE, OUR STAFF IS TRADEB-UNIONIST, Ana we give a guarantet-d undertaking to DELIVER IN TIME. -It II II II 01 *A, '_iHi'" E Itd: Y, IInlte! I I A I f!o PE'R TI'IE SiOf\Ir'l t1" L8. d I- | 16, 17, 18, and 19, Union Street, Dowlais. • DRAPERY DEPT. J I We are now showing a Lare Ass?rt?ent of New Goods for the I.. | coming Season■ j Household Unen. Blankets. QuHts. Sheets. j B Carpets and Rugs. I B MBBa?mM, „ ?.n,??.. ?  MILLINERY DEPT. | I MILLINERY DEPT.. ,I, I I Costumes. Jackets. Blouses. Ladies and I  ChHdren's M?Hnery. j • nil III III I* I VALUE AND QUALITY GUARANTEED IF YOU BUY AT 5 16, 17, 18 & 19, Union Street, Dowlais. I j Pantscallog;, Dowlais. Caeharris, Dowlais. Ijj | High Street, Penydarre?. j I Station Terrace, BedHnog. I > fan»i»—1 ■ "Ml—«—<1—a—11J

Navvy Pat's Views. Sure. I don't know what to make or you boys at all, at all; ye shoitt for freedom, but ye fol- low them that gives yer freedom away. While I was a baby Ben D'Israeli, long before he was made Beaconsfield, towld ye that ye'd list-en to the speaker that could play on yer emotions, yer sentiments, yer passioils; an ye'd follow him to the death, but the man that talked rea- son an sound sense to ye, ye'd run away from him to look at two dogs fightin. An ye've raised the shout that the democracy must rule the world has been governed, or, rather, misgoverned, too long by the aristoc- racy, an now the people must govern their- selvos. Well, that's aJJ. right, but how do ye set about it. Ye look round for men to man- j age yer affairs, an a few busybodies wid the best oiled tongues gets the job, an ye lave it to them an go about yer sports, an ye nivver look after them, an all at wanoe ye find yerselves in a hole, an them doin. well for theirselves, an givin ye away in bundles to the bosses. (Shouts of Question" and Draw it mild, Pat"). Oh, be jabers, ther's no question about it; ye seem to forget the Combine Strike wid its Pandy riots, an Mabon an Brace an Watts Morgan an Smillie an Harvey an Ashton an a few more ov the wide-awake leaders ov the blind, tellin ye that ye'd got what ye axed for. What good did yea- riotin do wid yer leaders an the bosses hand-in-hand agin ye, and the police on their side too, even the London police. N ow, ther's just wan or two things I want to bring before ye, an ye could get them from the papers if ye read them onderstandinly for wan hour a day; altho the Press wud rather be shot than tell ye them; but ye can find the informa- tion by readin between the lines. An the first is that the upper classes believes that the lower classes must be governed, an they, the upper classes, are the natural governors of the masses. If ye study while ye read ye'll find that while they govern ye they rob ye. An the second is that when wan ov ye gets a bit more eduoo- tion than the rest an ye begin to notis him all giv him a job, he mostly always joins the upper classes in believin ye were created to be gov- erned, an that he is wan of yer natural gov- ernors. An the third is that among them ov all classes who really see through the abuses of the present arrangements, social, moral, and political, and who form societies for reforming these arrangements, there are too many differ- ences of opinions. and these differences end in ruptures; fresh societies hreak off from the first wans, an work agin each other instead of for the common good. Now just let me give ye a few examples that will prove me right in what I'm telling ye. Ye appoint a wruks committee of course, an' this committee has its rules an' regulations, an' is supposed to carry 'em out, an' to look after all cases brought before them where the bosses are takin' advantage of the men. Well, it happens that all the wurks com- mittee strike aganst some grievance in the districts they were wurkin' in, an' they agreed to pay themselves 30/- a week strike pay (ye'll remember the case, Sandy), an' by-an'-bye an- other w-urkman struck and came to the com- mittee, an' while they bad his case in hand they offered him 101- a week strike pay, accordin' to the rules; but he towld them he knew they were paying theirselves 30/- a week, an' if they didn't give him the same, bed raise a rumpus. Of course, he got the 30/ but it got talked about( and there was a burst up. The County Councils an' District Councils was invented, an' ye made councillors ov shop keepers, house owners, publicans, mine owners, mine managers; very few Labour members. Well, it happened that a branch of the Na- tional Secular Society was started in Pandy, an' they got one ov the halls for a Sunday lecture by one of the leading London Secula- rists The Council was alarmed, and passed a resolution that no hall should be opened on Sunday for any purpose or it would lose its licence; and now we cannot have Sunday sac- red concerts for the benefit of the wounded; the councillors are too busy governing llS. There is to be a big conference on Con- scription, an' your wurks committees send a delegate each to the district meetin', an' whin that meetin' assembles it sends a delegate or two to the conference, an' there is a lot of delegates, an' each delegate is supposed 0 represent all the wurkers in his district 0f hi, Union; an' so there is a million a half ms- Joritv agm Conscription. But ov all the mil- lions on tiotn smSS*" man in a hundred, perhaps not one in five hundred, had a voioe in framin' the mandates that resulted in such a large majority. You twice refused to dubble your Federation contributions by two ballots of the entire coalfield; but your leaders arranged a conference of delegates selected as above, an' that conference gave them what they wished. You still refused to pay tili some of the mine managers gave notice that those who did not pay up would be dismissed; an' ye all risked breakmJ yer necks in yer rush to pay up, an' ,y_ ex neoiis In pity ye didn't! Ye might have known that if the federation Executiv were any good to ye, the bosses would have been glad to see ye fight- in' them; but it paid the bosses to back them up, for they give the bosses what we would re- fuse; an' ye deserve to be governed an' robbed whin ye allow the bosses to be collectors for your Federation. So ye can see that everybody but yerselves wants to govern ye; Parliment makes laws, but nobody knows exactly what a law means till a judge gives a verdict on it an' then that verdict is a precedent which may alter an Act of Par- liment. Smaller laws are interpreted by the magistrates to suit the temperance party" or the N onoonformist, conscience, an' ye've got to submit to them an' the police. An' every penny that pays the expense of all this governin', from the King's hundred ov thousands, the Cabinet's thousands, the magistrates' hundreds, an' the bobbies' pounds a week, all cunis from ver lab- our; every penny of value existin' in the country, tlie finest cathedrals, the largest fac- tories, the ancestral homes of the nobility, the finest ships, warships, tramp steamers, luxurious liners; all the railways, the very delicacies and wines at one of the meetings that recommend economy to you, are all either produced or pro- cured by your labour. O. ye blind! God gave yer eyes, fists, an' feet! Why don't ye use 'em? Now let us Ink at the Guvvernment itself; ye choose yfar M.P.'s. and the M.P.'s choose the Prime Minister, and he ohooses the Cabinet, an' the Cabinet guwerns the Empire, an' as much more of the wurld as it can manage to dominate. Its nrincipal object is to do every- thing possible to keep itself in office, an' ever- since the Tones went out, the peace retrench- ment. an' reform party has forced so many eco- nomies on the Government that the present war found us without an army or sufficient arms to take the field; but they sent what they had and docked publicans' howrs to show they could still govern. Things went wrong an' Wisher an' Ian Hamilton an' French were super- seded, an' wurkmen's clubs were closed durin' the same hours as licensed premises. Zepelin raids began, an' we were towld they were of no military importance; they continued, and increased in size, in destructive effects, in non- combatant bloodshed, and in daring, and be- yond passing the "no-treating" bill, nothing was done. Fisher would have built a cupple ov thousand large aeroplanes carrying guns and shells, an' would have by this time destroyed every railway station an' bridge by or through which munitions are brought across the Rhine, an' would possibly have demolished every Zep- pelin factory in Germany, an' the imperial pal- aces at Potsdam and Befrlin; but our Cabinet were too busy wid the Military Compulsory Bill to find time for such hooligan work, and one of our judges has penalised some miners for refusing to work a Sunday shift, which does not belong to our week's wurk-overtirne pure an' simple. 0 poor Britania, when thy lawyers &n' politicians not only govern thee but conduct thy wars, plav duoks an' drakes wid thy genera.18 an' admirals, and rnalae a shuttlecock of Kit- chener. All together, bhoys, Britons never, neirvir, never,' etc.)y (To be Concluded in our next.)

I Cyfarthfa Black. I MERTHYR MINERS TO CO-OPERATE I IN RESISTING COMPULSION. The monthly meeting of t??M???r district f. I ld f;: J'" .1.0.L" of miners was held on ?."t.??"?? *r- W. Jones priding. ???y evemjig, ?. d? Williams) reported that shcfw ? ts ?..?? held during t? week, and thei-e ?"' "'i iIilprovement with regard to I non-members aId a.rreal's. There was st^ill a ? rit ????? Pa-rticularly at Cyfarthfa ancfit feflyi.?ld that the matter could not be remedied to ?? extent desired wihout putting in nr.+ 'ir"" ??LMe.s. A deputation of the Merthyr branch of the N o-ConscriptioR Fellowship waited upon th:' meeting with a view to securing the support 't-I the miners in resisting the operation of the Compulsion Act. The meeting agreed unani- mously to co-operate in any agitation that might be made for the repeal of the Act. A resolution was received from the Cwmdu and Mountain Levels Lodge asking the dele- gates to do all in their power to abolish the double shift on the coal in the district. It was agreed to take the matter up.