Pioneer

CHWAREU TEG I INFFIDELIAID. (At y Golygydd.) ,m n" I -I Syr '-Darlienais lith agored Asaph lHyn inedd at ei gvd-grefycMwyr yneich pa pur adnabyddua am Chwef. 26, ac yr wyf yn gwrthod ei syniad yhglyn a ragrithwyr Cristionogol ac Inffideli- aid. Ni wvddwn pa hawl sydd gyda'r gwr hwn i wneud cysylltiad o gwbl rhwng Inffideliaid a'r dynion sydd yn anffyddlon i egwyddorion Sristionogol. Yn fy marn i. nrae'r syniad yn hoHol annheg. Nid yw'r Inffideliaid yn credit yn NUK y Testament Newvdd. ac ar y tir hwnw nid v"dynt yn euog o frad tuag at Oristionog- aetli. Credaf fod Asaph Glyn Ne-ii *x ii gwy- bod fod InffideliaiS yn cadw tu fewn i ffiniau reswm, ac ni dderbynient renyn 0 gred heb brawf i brofi ei bodolaeth. Mae v ffaith yn ddigon amlwg i bawb. Os ydyw ef yn gweled be iali il- ei f d cl wvr. 'aylai d.dilvia heiau ar ei gy d-gref y ddwy r. dylai ddilya y beiau hyd at yr eithaf. heb ymyrid dim a phersonau ereill. Hefyd. v mae cystal a thseflu fod Inffideli- a-Ki i gyd yn rhyfeigar, ac mi allaf gymeryd hynyna. oblegid y mae'n annghywir. Wrth rs mae llawer o honynt felly, ond mae ereill 1 W cael sydd yn cystal tangnefeddwyr ag ydyw Asaph Glyn K ,dil ei hun neu unrhyw Gristion arall. Yn bersonoL yr wyf yn methu'n Ian a chredu v gall unrhyw ddyn garu ei elyn. Mae'n groes i ddeddfan natur, ae i fexidithio y rhai sy'n ein melldithio mae'n ammhosibl. Yn wir, i mi nid oes synwyr o gwbl yn yr adnod, "Cprwch oich geJvnion, bendithiwch y rhai a'eh mellelithiant." Mae Garu o honoch eich gilydd" yn llawer iawn gwell. frail dynion wneud hyny os dewisent. Am y rhyfel, nid wyf yn cydfyned a hi, neu unrhyw rhyfel arall. Mae llinellau cedyrn Telvnog wedi sefydlu yn fy nieddwl. A ydych yn eu cofio?— 0. ryfel erch ofnadwy yw dy wedd Dy hyder orphwys ar y gwn a'r oledd; Creulondeb, eligter. dial, brad, a gwg, Ynyrithiant yn dy lygaid euog. drwg; Sarngrwydd beiddiol ar dy wyneb sydd, Brioed ni threiglodd deigryn dros dy rudd! Dy galon galed sydd callestr certh, Ac vn dv ddideimladrwydd mae dy nerth: Mae" rhuad gwrdd dy bus fel taran gref, Llewyga'r ovd pan glvw dv frochus lef; A Dy orsedd liwiwyd gyda rhuddgoch waed, A dynol gyrff 'yw'r palmanc dan dv draed; Df dated hvlosg! dy eiriasboeth fin, Sy'n gwaeddi Gwied gwaed dynol yw dy WIn! | A* r waed wvt feddw. lid sveh yw dy safn, Pegallet vfet waed y byd bob dafn heb leihau dy wane. Crechvvena'r byd pan wawria dydd dy dranc; ^°rphoraist lawer llajierch werdd a gwaed, A. hiethraist lawer gwron dan dy draed; Gwnest lawer gwraig yn weddw, unig. dlawd, Phlant amddifaid yn wrthddrychan gwawd! ?-6w? dirmyg chwerddaist am bob och a chwyn, thoraist galon llawer geneth gwyn. ?fyT?aso?dd dreiglant rhag dy anadl di. ? Hohe,di?<'mr megys blu; tvla() an,?-aug3,?a.ui Yn hongtan wrth dy ochrau gwaedlyd di; A. phan vn gyru ar dy gadfarch coch. Ysgjrdwa'r clychaii nes gwneyd rhuad croch, feychry'nllyd. ac ofnadwy. Daear gref A. gryn reI deilen wan, gan drwf y lief; GQ1I"Sed£lan cedyrn ant yn cidai-iiiii bi-iw, A syrth coronaii megys ffigys gwiw." Dyna bortread cyfiawn o ddrygioni rhyfel, ac y mae wc-di gwasgu arnaf i fod beunydd yn ^rbyn ryfeloedd. A ydyw hyn yn ddigon t I ddangos mai nid Cristionogion yw"r unig rhai sy'n caru heddwc-hP Wei, peidiweh a chaim- lltnio Inffideliaid rhacor.—Yr eiddoch.  EVAN JOHN. I A b ercaQ'ai d WAYLAND ON WAR. (To the Editor of the EIONEEE.) Sir.—Discussing the finance of the war in the "NéW York Times" of January 17, Pro- fessor H. J. Davenport estimated that if the \Va,¡' goes on for a year or a year and a half longei the Euro{>ean nations will have to bear a burden of £ 20,000,000,000 indebtedness, and £ 1.000,000,000 of interest payments a year. The financial aspect of war is enough to stagger humanity. But what of the ethical side of the question? Well, I must say with all seriousness it id above my feeble comprehension. However, I will just give a few extracts from "Wayland on Moral Philosophy: The individual has, by the law of God, 110 right to return evil for evil; but is bound to conduct towards everv other individual, of Vliai nation soever, upon the principle of Parity. "The individual has no right to authorise so- to do anything contrary to the law of God. that is to say, men connected in societies sire under the same moral law as individuals. What is forbidden to the one is forbidden al- so to the other." 'Henoo I think we must conclude that an in- jury is to be treated in the same manner; that is, that we are under obligation to for- give the offending party, and to strive to ren- der him both better and happier. Consequent- ly it would seem that all wars are contrary to the revealed will of God. and that the indivi- dual has no right to commit to society, nor so- ciety to commit to government, the power to declare war, "Such. I must confess, seems to me to be the Will, of bur Creator, and hence, that to all Irgumen ts brought in favour of war, it would pe a sufficient answer that God has forbidden it, and that no consequences can possibly be conceived to arise from keepino- His law so terrible as those which must arise from violat- ing it. God commands us to love every man; ctlion or citizen; Samaritan or Jew. as our- selves and the act neither of society nor of government can render it our duty to violate this command. The miseries of war are acknow- ledged. Its expense at last begins to be esti- mated. It is admitted to be a most cala- mitous remedy for evils, and the most awful seem ;o that can be, inflicted upon the human hace. It will be granted, then, that the re- "rt to it. if not necessary, must be intensely kicked and if it be not in the highest degree Useful. it ought to be universally" abolished. And the universal abolition of war would be one of greatest blessings that could be con- lerred upon the human race. It is granted that it would be better for man 311 general, if wars were abolished, and aH ?ans. b ?mi of offence and defence, abandon- ?- NQw, this seems to me to admit that this 18 the condition under which God has created man.. But this being admitted, the question seems to be at an end; for grod never places men under circumstances in which it is either wise or necessary, or innocent, to violate His laws Is it for the advantage of him who lives among a community of. thieves to steal; or for one who lives among a community of liars to lie? On the' contrary, do not honesty and veracity, under these very circumstances, give him additional and peculiar advantages over his companions r The very fact that a na- tion relied solely upon the justice of its mea- sures and the benevolence of its conduct, would do more than anything else to prevent the oc- currence of injury." I thought the above quotation from Way- land may be useful now when people seem to be in the depths of ignorance and indifference as to the war from a moral, as well as a financial point of view. One of the greatest sins of the age is the want of thinking, aIV it is sincerely to be hoped that the above points on war will set the masses to think, and cease to be the beasts of burden, as the late John Bright used to say.—Yours in Peace, T. E. DAVIES, Trimsaran. March 4, 1916. '1. E. DAVIES. OUR READERS AND MR. BATES. (To the Editor of the PIONEER.) Sir,—.Reading Mr. Bates' reply to Councillor Morgan Jones in last week's Pioneer," I begin to wonder what sort of a man Mr. Bates is. I always considered him a gentleman in every sense of the word, but I must say his correspondence does not appear to me at all, gentlemanly. I see that he has not confined his attack to one individual, but to a large num- ber who are members of the Independen' La- bour Party in and around Bargoed. In tact, we are all implicated (according to Mr. Bates), old men and children, young men an3 maidens; also the married ladies. Mr. Bates says that the members have been seduced from attend- ing a place of worship in order to air their superabundant knowledge at debating classes, &c._ held on Sundays of the Innocent Little Puppies. Don't v smile, please." For my part I don't claim to be a pedestal of inno- cence I own I am not very big, but as for the latter phase. I am no puppy, neither am I what is termed a two-year-old. but am on the way to reaching the age where, classed with Mr. Bates, I should be termed, to use the canine phrase, an old dog. He states that we as I.L.Peers have been seduced from attending a place of worship 011 Sundays. I am not aware how many do not, neither am I aware what is to stop them, seeing that whatever debating classes are held, are held either in the afternoon or after church time in the evening. I must say that Mr. Bates is either telling an intrutli, or has, unfortunately (for him) been misinformed. I would advise him to visit our quarters some Bunda y and ascertain for himself the truth before again taking the of- fensive on the questions of the doings of the members. I am not going to attempt to defend Councillor Morgan Jones, knowing his ability to defend himself; but I should like to touch upon the words which Mr. Bates calls a paraphrase—Iconoclastic Licentious Platitudin- arians. On looking up my dictionary I see the first means breaking idols. I'm not aware of any members breaking idols, but we aire continually setting up ideals, and endeavour to stick to them. To come to the second word, evidently Mr. Bates was under a wrong im- pression when he decided to use this word. As to its definition, according to the dictionary the meaning is—Indulging freedom, or rather lust, to excess not restrained by law or morality, dissolute, wanton. With regards to Mr. Bates using this word, I think the least he could do, as a gentleman, is to apologise to the members for using it. As for the third I have failed to find such a word in the dictionary, and would ask him to give us something easier in the future. I will not indulge further with your valtiable. FAitor. Wishinf, your pa- per every success.—I am vours trulv. F. LLOYD. 15 Usk STraet, Bargoed. (To the Editor of the PIONEER.) Sir. To answer a. fool according to his fol- ly is a policy not always wise; because, if you do, you leave him as you found him—still a. fool, and sometimes a noisy one at that. If you were to ask one hundred men to-morrow, Wkt, is this person called Bates, ninety-nine would, answer, The man with a loud voice." The remaining one would hold his tongue. No self-i espeeting individual cares to admit being on speaking terms with a man who writes as he has done. This man in the past has preached from various pulpits, as an Ambassador of the Prince of Peace, I presume; and probably has repeated the Lord's Prayer many a time, wonder if he left out the line which reads: Forgive us our sins. as we forgive THEM that trespass against us"? If not, surely he must. know that only in the same measure as we forgive, are we fOl'O"iven If Mr. Bates still retains ""his' Bible, let him read again the 27th Chapter of Matthew. There is a story told in that Chapter of Jesus before the Tribunal, with Pilate in the chair. The two great person- alities in this soene were Pilate's wife arid Christ. Why Pilate's wife? some may ask. My answer is the eternal instinct of the mo- thers in every land. Site warned Pilate that Christ was innocent. The two verses following tell of the trage, d -.N tell of the tragedy. I shall quote them in full: But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask for Barra- bas and destroy Jesus. 11 The Governor answered and said unto them, I Whetliox of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said Barrabas.' Two thousand years have passed—still the sani-9 answer. This applies not only to Mr. Bates, but to hundreds more like him. His bitter attack upon Councillor Morgan J onc and other members of the Socialist move- ment is justified, in his opinion, because they have heckled Mr. Amery, M.P.. and Mr. Clem ? 7 and Mr. C & eyn Edwards, M.P. In those days it simply meant the life or death of a political party at the most. To-day it means the life or death of all we hold most dear fathers, brothers, sons, and the race to come; faith, hope and love, including mercy and peace; and a man's right to work out his own salvation according to his conscience. Where is Mr. Bates' sense of pro- portion ? Morgan Jones has endeavoured to put into practice what Mr. Bates has preached. H.o- dare her-Yours. etc., DAN JONES. Merthyr Tydfil, It DAN JONES. MR. BATES-WITHOUT HIS nlc- TIONARY. (To the Editor of the PIONEER.) Sij.—air. Bates may shout to his heart's COiltC nt that I am the most dogmatic, the most self-assertive and the most egotistic of men. I care not a straw, but shall be content to con- tinue doing the work whjich I feel needs doing. But, as he says, two blacks don't make a white, and so Mr. Bates cannot find my short- comings to be an adequate defence of his own. Mv quarrel with Mr. Bates is-if, indeed, it is a quarrel-is just simply this. He. has chosen to indulge in public controversy with people woo do not agree with his view either of the war or of Conscription for single men. And in doint so he ought to have applied himself to argcments rather than hurl epithets- abusive and foul epithets—at his opponents. Now I challenged his right to use the word licenti- ous 1/ He replies with another abusive letter, in which he both denies and repeats the charge. He says I as a schoolmaster, ought to know the primary meaning of the word. Fiddle- sticks! He was not writing for schoolmasters; lie wrote to the public at large, who don't trouble, and are not generally expected to trouble about the primary, secondary or ter- tÜlI y meanings of the words used. They inter- pret the word in the way it is generally inter- preted. Now, what does Mr. Bates say? With great condescension he admits that, of course, t liea e is aJso the generally accepted meaning of lewdness and immorality. Exactly! And I challenge his right to apply the word licen- tious," which is irllus generally interpreted,' to the members of the Bargoed I.L.P. I tell him and now: he cannot prove it. I challenge him to prove it. Why, therefore, repeat it. We may be wrong in the views we hold (though tha is not admitted). It is possible that Mr. Bates can show us that we are wrong. Good! Let him use the oolumas of the Press for. that purpose, and that purpose only. We are not blackguards; we are not immoral; we have no desire to be lewd, and Mr. Bates has abso- lutely no right to say ive are One further point before I leave the matter. Mr. Bates hints at the terrible sin we are com- mitting in holding certain meetings on Sundays at Bargoed. Truly a pretty picture we have here I can imagine Mr. Bates (and others) on Sundays, with their hands together'in holy self-gratification, turning up the whites of their eves towards Heaven, and thanking God that they are not as other men; that they never break the Sabbath, and then on Mondays tur- ning upa,t recruiting meetings to ask young men to go blowing thousands of Germans and otheiv to eternity—also on Sundays! The I.L.P. at any ra.te (howerer mistaken their method) teach the saving of life on Sundays and Mon- day?. There are others with other gospels. — Yours, etc., MORGAN JONES. 21 Park Crescent, Bargoed. (To the Editor of the PIONEER.) I SIJ ,—It is with reluctance I write to your columns. It has long been a maxim of mine— one that was. given by a literary friend neve' to write in haste or passion, or, if im- pelled to write, to post it, in the top drawer. This I have done on several occasions. Yet there are times when it seems necessary to send the missile farther than the top drawer: hence this letter. When war first broke loose Conn. Morgan Jone.- was subjected to many bitter attacks for the attitude he then adopted. At present he is still the target for the Conscriptionists. If any* ne defends the position, he, in common with several others, takes up, they are sub- jected to most venomous attacks. Yet it seemed quite natural to give our Comrade all the en- couragement possible in his attempt to maintain the Christian idea of Thou sliait not kill," and, latterly, in his endeavour to maintain the right- of ANY individual to deny ANY authority tlie right to command him to shed human blood; especially So when we realise that offi- cial Christianity deems it expedient to remain silent. I think that the,, future will reveal that Coun. Morgan Jones is on the right side. But this is not my chief reason for troubling you. In a. Jetter you published recently, a cor- respondent was moved to pity for the set of living young men who had been seduced from church and chapel" to attend I.L.P. de- bating classes, held on Sundays." I happen to he one of those young men. Perhaps it would be best to state here em- p,li.tic-ally that the local I.L.P. has never yet held any meetings, public or otherwise, that would in any way interfere with the religious devotions of any of its members. As a matter of fact, quite 90 per cent, of the membeus re- gularly attend a place of worship. If this is a fair standard for judging anv cd-gaitisation, then the loaal I.L.P. is second to none in the district. The charge of seducing young men froa; elulrehand chapel is as unjust when ap- plied to the I.L .P. as it would be if applied to the Young Liberal League or the Conservative Association; men do not join any of these or- ganisations because, they hold certain views on religion. They seek the organisation that re- flects their economic and political point of view If they are content with things as they are, they join the Conservative Club. If thej are content with the present system, with certain modifications, they j»ia the Liberal League. thit if they are anxious to establish a more just and equitable system, they join the Socialist Movement. It may be that Christian- ity and Politics are more closely related than is apparent; that the political system reflects the true religious state of a nation more truly than all its professed creeds. It is but a cheap sneer to throw at those who attemp to solv J the problems that present thesmselyes in mocern society by calling them Platitaidinari- -an,. The modern Socialist movementas not exisied many decades. Christianity is 2,090 yea-* old. "Love thine enemies is a command of Christ's. Does Mr. Bates, who is an ardent church worker, dare to call that a platitude and dub Christ's followers as he does the I.L.P. P The I.L.P. has never yet shirked facing any problem raised in the country and the world. It has often proclaimed its solution to the un- willing ears of the people. It has exposed ruthlessly the system that encourages the adul- teration of the people's food; that drives young girls to the various trades which are veritable dens of disease, and which reduce them in a short time to toothless premature old age. It tell, how capitalism stands condemned for the deaths of thousands each year. It has told the work: fearlessly that the present, system en- courages prostitution and all the in it& train. (The White Skrve Traffic Act has not abolished it; want eggs it on. WilL the Go- vernment attack want ?). It has ofttimes told the workers of the evil of altowing wealth that justly be longs to them to accumulate rapidly in the hands of the few who. in their turn, seek fresh fields for their investments. It pointed out that a time would come when the capitalists of the different countries would clash in their search for profitable areas of exploitation and that when the clash came, the diplomats of each country would be behind its capitalists un- der the pretence of looking after the interests of the country. The workers were then robbed of their just reward for their labour now, and in the future, they will have to pay the prio for their folly in increased taxation rendered necessary for the defence of those in- terests created by the wealth filched from them. The attitude of the I.L.P. during the war is too recent to have been already for- gotten. These are a few of the proolems that the I.L.P. has attacked. 1-n Christian England it should be a crime th -J, evils such as these should have to be ex- posed so often as to earn for those who utter them "Platitudinarians." It is not the. mem- bers of the I.L.P. who need blush at the evils t-lia-, still exist, but Miose who, standing use- lessly by. taunt them for their endeavours and malign them for their ceaseless exposure of the evils which beset modern society. It may be that. after all, it is not those who cry "Lord, Lord," are the tnue followers of Christ. How- ever this may be, I confess myself proud to belong to an organisation that still proclaims thh Universal Brotherhood of Man."— Yours, etc..  STAN JONES. Bargoe d THE N.U.T. AND THE WORKERS. (To the Editor- of the PIONEER .) Su,—How essentially characteristic it is to see Mi*. Price, the local secretary of that most heterogenous and mycomycetous body, the N. l .T spreading parochial nonsense so deeply on your valued periodical. For Heaven's sake, Mr Price spread it thm-nei-m war time, at least. fhie N.U.T. sent their circular to various pub- lic bodies from ulterior motives. The circular concerns itself chiedy with the question of the staff ng of schools in the near future, and in- cidently refers to the lowering of school age and the feeding and medical treatment of school children, the "red herrings" which the N.U .T. makes use of when they are most insidiously engaged on the "wire-pulling" game. With- reg-ard to school leaving age, feeding of school children, and such other educational questions, there is no need for the N.U.T. to voice them now as Trades Union opinion is a generation ahead of that of the drowsv drones of Russell Square. The circular was drawn up by the protagon- ists of the N.U.T. in order to save their own skins We know these protagonists. We had the miserable spectacle of watching their he- rob ,alonr in the fight against priesthood at Dow lais. and againjst Episcopalian tyranny at Burston. The real wail of the N.U.T. is some- thing to this effect:—"Please, profane mob of worl ers, will you assist us in our nefarious at- tempts to bring pressure on the Board of Edu- catior and War Office to star all married teacl'ers particularly those who have attested. If we go to the Army, education will go to the dogs We are doing 'our bit.' We have taken the 2/9 and donned the armlet. We have saved the education of the rising generation by send- ing our wives out to t-each in the place of the single slackers who have now been pushed into the Army. We have found the necessary mea- sure of patriotism to leave the care of our pro- geny and the economy of our household to kitchen sluts of tender years, whom we pay at the sumptuous rate of about one penny per hout, whilst we and our wives look after your brats, for a miserable pittance of about 1/6 per hot.: We are saving money. We are teaching children how tq, defeat Germany as, of old, Samson defeated tire Philistines, with the jaw bone of an Do star us! Do get us stan ed Do say that pro. tern, we. the dernier cri in all that is patriotic are absolutely in- dispensable!" Thf N.U.T. has not objected very strenuously to the closing of Training Colleges. Medical Schcols, and Museums. Oh, no. There were single slackers there! Nought it mattered that the. were potential geniuses and conscientious objectors there too. We were in the war. We mnsget on wft I- it! Verb sap. Vi hen single men whose activities as teachers wer« at their maximum were being morally compelled to join the army and the wives ef mairied teachers were replacing the really able, and energetic teachers in our midst, nought was said by the N. U .T. about the staffing of schools. Now when the replacement of the old guard of male married teachers is immirpent, the N.U.T. suddenly forgets salaries, and, after 18 months of vegetative torpor, suddenly realises that the staffing of our schools or, rather the unstaffing of them, is a matter endowed with prim.; import—to them. The non-affiliation of teachers to the Trades and Labour Council is not a red herring"; it is a stinking proof of their inward class eon- sciotsness. Teachers are superior to ordinary people in every respect. Their morbid ana- tomy requires fewer working hours. longer holi- days higher wages per hour and more artificial bolstering than any other body in the State. They can't go to fight for their king and coun- try even without better terms than any other clans of worker. They canvassed very busily and successfully to get the local Education Com mittee to pay full wages to the married teachers who might attest-not to the single ones who had attested. They asked individual members of the Trades and Labour Council for help Have they done anything to obtain simi- lar terms for Corporation employees, colliers, steciworkers, and other mere working men? War has changed our system of values. The louse-eaten Bradford wooloomber, the humble scavenger of the public market-place, and the hiccuping groom of my squire's shire horse are starred by the present rulers of the land. The teachers, the married teachers even, are left undecorated. Unhonoured, unsung, but not unheard in limine litis they stand. Some change! Pardon the lepgthiness of my letter, Mr. Editor, for it is only the witty can be brief, and 12 hours a day at the Steel Works does not malic for wit.-Yo-Lirs faithfully, CRAFTSMAN. CONSCIENCE-HOW MEASURED? (To the Editor of the PIONEER.) Sir,—Kindly allow me a short space in your paper to make, an inquiry concerning the above question. The definition of conscience which the writer accepts is: Conscience is the moral sense which determinies right and wrong." When a person is asked to show the quality and quantity of hi's conscience,, say, to a Tri- bunal, how is he going to do so to the satis- faction of such an august body? Whatever the applicant for release from military service may say on conscientious grounds, the military representatives act as a kind of Advocates Diaboli, and indeed, not only they, but the great majority of their civil colleagues also. The applicant is asked, to all intents and purposes, "Have you a con- science? If so, we (the Tribunal) must have unmistakable outward and visible signs of the existence of such a sense in you. Failing that, we cannot listen to vour tale. Many aire in a dilemma, because they are at a loss of how to make clear the fact that they have a moral sense which determines risrht and wrong." Many ask in all seriousness, What do the Tribunals require by way of proof in this respect P" In 'judging, the conscience of the individual, do the Tribunals look upon conscience as something concrete ? Do they expect that they can procure half-an-ounce of eflcih man's con- science. pack it in a box. send it away by registered post to the borough analyst, and wait for his report thereon ? A man says that he sneaks the truth. What rubbish to be sure. How are we to know Can anyone get half-a-pound. three yards, or one gallon of "truth"? Or analyse" truth" -is you would a compound salt in a laboratory ? As with truth, so with conscience. The majority of the members of the Tribunal are married men. When they were courting, many years ago, they no doubt said to their sweethearts that they had a great deaJ of affection for them. If their wives did not be- lieve them then, where would they be to-day? So conscience, like affection, and all the oth- er abstract elements of our nature, cannot be standardised by any of the Board of Trade units of weight, measure or capacity, but by the, general conduct of the individual concern- ed. under varying circumstances, over a, long period of time,-Yours. etc., fi R. J. NICHOLAS. GWALIA GLEE SOCIETY. (To the Editor of the PIONEER.) Sir.—I noticed in last week's issue of the PIONI2R.ii reference made to the "singing par- ty." It is altogether a mistaken idea of your 001 respondent to infer that the persons con- cerned should not be allowed to select their own company of singers, attested or unattested. urn- less he wishes us to be Prussian ised into ac- cepting undesirable comjiany. possibly men who have declared that they would not assist in the cause of the Allies if they could by any means avoid it, and for them to think that they could sing and entertain wounded soldiers with a real spirit of comradeship would be no- thing if not an insult to our brave Tommies.— Trusting you may find space in your paper for these few lines.—Yours sincerely. EDW. JAMES (Hon. Sec.) 69 Prichard Street. Tonyrefail, March 13, 1916.