Pioneer

f The liners and Lord Muir Mackenzie i I" RENDERED IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM I TC) ADJUDICAIE." I ————————— i I STRONG RESOLUTION AFTER DISCUS- I ? I SION ON LETTER. A serious deadlock has taken place in the tr negotiations between the South Wales miners t and the coalowners relative to the wages ques- tion. and in all probability the Board of Trade will he called upon to intervene. At the last meeting of the Conciliation Board 3 the workmen sought an advance of 15 per cent and the owners a reduction of 7, per > cent in the wage rate, but they failed to ag- ree, and the question was referred to the in- dependent chairman. A meeting had been fix- ed for Thursday next. but in the meantime Lord INtuir Mackenzie wrote a letter to the secretary of the owners and the secretary of the workmen. This letter has not been made public, but it is understood that his Lordship expressed his view as to what equivalent r should be fixed to the minimum. The owners and the miners have for some time been at variance as to what the equivalent should be h -the workmen's representatives arguing that it should be fixed according to the decision of Sir David Daile in 1903. and the owners urging that this is impossible because the cost of pro- Iduction has so greatly increased. The letter was discussed at .the meeting of the Executive Council of the Miners' Federa- tion on Monday (Mr James Wm^ stone presiding) and the following resolution was passed: — That the Executive Council having care- fully considered the letter of Lord Muir Mac- kenzie s-ent to the joint secretaries of the Conciliation Board, and dated the 15th inst, expresses its regret that his Lordship should have given an opinion upon the application under consideration by the Board before hav- ing the matter discussed under his presiden- cy" The Council are. therefore,. of the opinion that having done this it renders it impossible for him to adjudicate upon the ap- plication. It was further resolved that copies of the resolution be sent to Lord Muir Mackenzie, the ooalowners' secretary, and the President of the Board of Trade, and that the President of the k Board of Trade be asked to meet a deputation I of the workmen in order to considfq, the S j deadlock created bv this deci?ou I The Anthraciate Five Per Cent. I The Council also received the award of Judge Arthur O'Connor on the inquiry recently held relative to the "5 per cent inquiry." This award though against the woikmen, was ac- cepted and it was resolved that. in carrying out the necessarv adjustment of percentage in the Anthracite District, the figure, of 45.78 be added to the standard instead of the 50 per cent the workmen thought they were entitled to under the agreement of 1915. I A Llwynypia Dispute. h. uu, J A deputation representmp. mo members of the Ltwvnvpia House Coal Lodge attended the Council respecting a matter in dispute bet- ween the lodge and one of its members upon which the Council had passed a resolution which the lodge refused to comply with. They asked that the Council should reconsider its decision, out it was resolved that the previous resolution be re-affirmed. I Craftsmen and the Bonus Shift. L1- I A deputation representing vuv  and stokers employed at the Cynon, Oakwood and Duffryn Rhondda Collieries also attended the Council and intimated that the owners re- fusad to give them the full benefit of the bo- nus shift under the new agreement. It transpired that this matter had been lefeiied by the Conciliation Board" to Messrs. D. Han- n'ah and Waiter Lewis, and that they had reported failure to agree to the Disputes Committee. It was resolved that the latter .report be made to the Joint Conciliation Board at its next meeting. Another deputation attended the Council from the Dunvant Penlan Colliery in regard to a price list for the colliery. At the same time intimation was received that the agents of the district decided the matter to be re- ferred to them so that another effort might be made to arrive at a settlement. This course was adopted.

Merthyr Conscientious Objectors. I SIX OF THEM BEFORE THE MAGIS- I I TRATES. THE NEEDLESS PARADE OF FORCE. '?ix of the Merthyr Conscientious Objectors-I David Williams; Herbert A. Davies, M.A. (Hons, Oxon); D. Lewis Henry Thomas Rich- ard John Nicholas; and John Alfred Lewis- appeared before the Stipendiary (Mr R. A. Griffith) and other magistrates at Merthyr on Tuesday, charged with failing to report them- selves under the Military Service Act. The Clerk (Mr T. Elias) asked the defend- ants whether they admitted the offence, to which Herbert A. Davies replied, "We do not admit the offence." Captain Morgan Thomas, the Recruiting Of- ficer for Merthyr, called a clerk from the Re- cruiting Office, who stated that he had posted the requisite notices to the defendants. The Stipendiary: Did you send them by the registered post ?-N 0, sir. Stipendiary: That is no evidence of delivery. You are called upon to produce evidence of de- livery. Military Representative I have police evid- ence to prove that the notices were received. Stipendiary That is what I want. Dropping a letter in the post is no evidence that a man has received it. especially in these days when so much is lost in the post The Military Representative further claimed that the Proclamation under the Act which had been posted in the Parish was sufficient not- ice. and asked for a ruling,on this. The Stipendiary said he would not give a rul- ing at that juncture. It was ,however, found that the Military Representative had handed to the Clerk of the Court duplicate copies of the entries on the books keut at the Recruiting Depot, and this was held by the Stipendiary to constitute sufficient evidence. On these duplic- ate sheets were written the remarks or facts of admission of receipt of the notices of the de- fendants. David Lewis' sister was reported to have said. My brother does not intend going until he is fetched/' to which Lewis in court replied,. I am not responsible for that re- mark. WilHams (of Dowlais) was reported to replied" Williams (of Dowlais) was reported to have said" I do nnt nit?T"? s'o until they come for me. On being asked if they had any questions to ask, H. A. Davies said, I submit that Lieutenant Thomas has no proof of delivery." The Stipendiary: I can put you into the witness box. Do you want to be put into the witness box and to say on oath that you did not receive itp H. A. Davies: No, six- I submit that it is his duty to prove that. Speaking for the six, H. A. Davies later said: In the first place I do not admit that I am an absentee. Lieutenant Thomas has referred to us as deserters. That we cannot be. De- sertion is not proved. Stipendiary: Why not ? Failing to report yourselves is desertion. I fail to see how we can be deserters from an army we have never joined. The very fact that the Government has said that we are ab- sentees, does not make us so. The Stipendiary said that he could not go into this, and Herbert then asked that the case should be adjourned since Lord Kitchener had a scheme to deal with conscientious ob- jectors. The Stipendiary We cannot deal with that. It has been disposed of b" the Tribunal. But the Tribunal did not go into our case. Stipe-ndiary: We oa/nnot deal with that. I maintain that Lord Kitchener's scheme— stipendiary: No! No! I cannot go into that. j A fine of 40/- was imposed in each of the six cases and the men remanded to await a I military escort. As they left the dock Mr H. A. Davies said, I shall obev no orders. A huge crowd had gathered inside the court to hear the case, and outside to wait for the decision; and on hearing that the men were to leave under escort by the 12.50 for Cardiff the crowd flocked down to the station With eminent good sense the Chief Constable had arranged with the ooys" to go quietly under an escort of one unarmed N.C.O. from the Merthyr Depot; and accompanied by Corporal Jones they qut m an appearance quietly on the platform, only to be recalled to the Town Hall to await an armed military escort which had been notified by telegraph from Cardiff at the last moment. Why it was necessary to parade this force when the men had promised to go quietly with the one man, has not been explained, and certainly it has served no use- ful purpose. Rather, it has stirred up re- sentment, and there was much said on Tues- day morning in the malH street about making an "exhibition" of the "boys." At all events the fruit, and good wishes showered upon the "boys" shows clearly that in Merthyr, at all events, the public sympa- thy is far from being alienated from the Con- scientious Objector. The armed guard arrived at 5.40, and the "boys" were removed to Cardiff by the 5.45. We understand that they expected to be re- moved on Wednesday to Kinmel Park.

Lord Kitchener and the Con= scleotious Objector. Dealing with complaints as to the treatment of Conscientious Objectors, at last Thursday's House of Lords' Second Reading of the Military Service Bill, Lord Lansdowne said there might be cases in the Army which it was necessary to handle with a certain amount of discrimina- tion. He had discussed the point with Lord Kitchener, and he was able to state that the Secretary for War had under consideration a scheme which, for obvious reasons, he could not describe in detail, but which he thought would go very far to met the criticism which had been made.

The Abercynon Sentences. NINE MONTHS' DETENTION FOR EMRYS I HUGHES. ALL SENTENCES COMMUTED BY COM- I MANDER. Sentences in the cases of Gwilym Idris Smith (22). school teacher; Emrys Hughes (21), school teacher; and Percy Kendall (23), platelayer, three of the five Abercynon Conscientious Ob- jectors court-martialled at Cardiff last week for refusing to obey the commands of their su- perior officers under the Military Service (No. 2) Bill were publicly promulgated from the Barracks Square, Cardiff, on Saturday as fol- lows Gwilym 1. Smith, two years' detention with a remittance of 18 months by the Com- manding Officer of the District—meaning six months in all. Emrys Hughes, who was further charged with threatening his superior officer two years' hard labour, commuted to detention, with a remittance of 15 months, meaning nine months. Percy Kendall, two years' hard labour, commuted to detention, with a remittance of 18 months, meaning 6 months in all. Beth Morgan's sentence was made public this week. It is the same as his colleagues- six months' detention.

Llandebie Notes. I The O'Connor Award. I Great dissatisfaction is felt in this locality with regard to Judge O'Connor's Award re the lost 5 per cent of the Anthracite District. It will be remembered that the lost 5 per cent was lost from our percentage, and not from our standard rate until the 1915 general agreement came into force, under which agreement the lost 5 per cent was made subject to an inquiry. It was at this stage that the owners, instead of taking 5 per cent off the percentage, as had been done in the past, added 45.78 to the old standard instead of 50, thus causing a loss to us of 4.22 plus the Concliation Board rate of percentage. A mass meeting was then called at Amanforcl to protest against the introduction of this new and alien standard, and to discuss the advisability of downing tools ag- ainst it, but Mr J. D. Morgan (the agent) gave an enthusiastic speech in favour of adopting this new standard until the enquiry was over, and that he felt quite confident that the enquiry would find in our favour. And at a special meeting of the Anthracite District at Swansea the down tools policy was defeated, although Caerbryn and Llandebie Collieries were almost unanimous for it. I dare say that those who voted against the down tools policy, together with Mr J. D. Morgan, are now convinced that the best line of action would have been to down, tools then against this alien standard which has been forced upon us, but it is a pity that it needs a judge to give his decision in favour of the masters to convince some people of the proper line of action. I hope this will be a lesson to the Anthracite District to be alive to their own interest vahen the next general wage ag- I reement is negotiated. COMRADE j

Conscientious Objectors. LORD KITCHENER ANNOUNCES A CON- CESSION. On the motion to go into Committee on the Military Service Bill in the House of Lords on Monday, Lord Courtney asked the Gov- ernment if they intended to provide for a review of the cases of conscientious objectors. Earl Kitchener said he recognised that the subject of the conscientious objector had given rise to considerable feeling in various parts of the House, and had been the cause of considerable anxiety. He had gone very care- fully into the question with the authorities at the War Office, and they were of opinion that under the powers possessed by the Army Coun- cil they were in a position to deal with the matter in the manner which would meet the views of noble Lords, that is to say, the gen- uine conscientious objectors would find them- selves under the civil power. (Hear, hear.) The whole 'question was under their most careful consideration, and though the difficulty of discriminating between different classes who alleged their conscientious objection to military service was one of extreme delicacy, he felt convinced they would find a satisfactory solu- tion. (Cheers.) Amendments in the Bill. in the Committee on the Bill, Lord Sand- hurst moved an amendment declaring that the power to grant special certificates of ex- emption in the case of an application on conscientious grounds was additional to and not in derogation of the general power con- ferred by the principal act to grant a condi- tional or temporary certificate. The amend- ment was agreed to. On Clause 6 which reduces the period of grace given to men whose certificates of ex- emption have been cancelled or expired from two months to a. fortnight except in the cases of men engaged in the manufacture of munitions or in work certified to be of na- tional importance, Lord Reay moved an am- endment, the effect of which was to make the two months' grace conditional on the man hav- ing been engaged in such occupation before August 15, 1915. The Earl of Derby, in supporting Lord Reay's amendment, stated that the Minister of Munitions and the First Lord of the Admiralty had agreed to the formation of a, committee of three, who shot1 J ). ve power to deal with fla- grant cases of shirking. When such cases were discovered they would be brought to the atten- tion of the tribunals. i The amendment was then agreed to. The Committee agreed to a new clause mo- ved by Lord Sandhurst providing for the es- tablishment of medical committees to deal <i with the claims for exemptions by medical men other than on conscientious grounds. ? The Bill then passed through Committee, and .1 the House adjourned.

The Man on the Cross. Nineteen hundred years ago, the Man on ■ ■ the Cross was the object of abuse and insults, which were hurled at Him by the very people for whom He gave His life. They railed at Him. spat in His face, and struck Him with their hands, and in other ways showed their disapproval of this innocent Person, Who went about doing good, and Whose only crime was that he endeavoured to establish a more bro- therly feeling among men, and asked them to let love rule in their hearts instead of hat- red. His effort was apparently a failure, for to-day we find that the spirit of hatred is as dominant as ever, while the spirit of love and fellowship is so seldom seen, that we are bound to come to the conclusion that it is al- most extinct. There is a "man on the cross' (Tonyrefail) to-day, who sells the "Pioneer," and. like hs predecessor of 1900 years ago, his only object is the dissemination of the princi- ples of love and brotherhood among his fellow men. He is also received in like manner, with expressions of hatred, and even with blows, by some of the misguided partisans of British Militarism. Last Saturday week one valiant war- rior told the "man on the cross that he would like to have the pleasure of shooting him," Ancither vehement advocate of milita- rism expressed a wish to "choke the (man on the cross,' and then throw him through the window of the boot shop on the corner." Needless to say, he lacked the courage to put ■ his spoken desires into execution; but this is not to be wondered at when we remember that although the war has lasted nearly two years, this vehement militarist has up till now not been able to screw his courage up to the point of donning the khaki himself, but he has been content with urging others to go and do what he considered to be their duty, but not his own The "man on the cross" is hon- est in one thing at least: he earns his daily bread by the work of his hands, and inciden- tally he earns a little more than he gets him- j self to enable some of the idlers to live; this j is more than we can say about some of those who attack him. Blows were struck, and the authority of the law interfered; but, strange to say, it was on the unoffending man on j the cross" their condemnation fell, and he was ordered to go home, or he would be locked lp. The poor sheep had to submit to the majes- ty of the law, while the ravening wolves who attacked him were left alone to gloat over j their victory over a man who would not j strike back. Truly a wonderful exposition of law as it is administered in Britain to-day! But it was ever so. The Man on the Gross of 1,900 vears ago was subject to all these things; and the law, instead of protecting a harmless and peaceful Citizen eventually pass- ed sentence of death upon HIm, and removed the tliorn from the side of the tormentors who persecuted Him. But the result of this opposition is a stronger and more determined attitude on the part of the "man on the cross" and his fellow-pacifists, to pursue their policy of Peace and Brotherhood whatever may be the cost.

A SWAN S: SONG. SEE PAGE 2

The Need for a Positive Theory of Socialism. k SEE PAGE 4

  So rvice Problems. Mifita? Series Problems, (LABOUR CONFERENCE TO BE CAlLED t SHORTLY. I It is highly probable that an important La- I bour conference, representative of all sections of the Labour and Socialist movements, will be held at an early date to consider the effect of the Military Service Acts on labour and other problems arising out of the war. The proposal for the conference comes from the rasik and file, who have sent in shoals of resolu- tions to the Workers' National Committee, of which Mr Robert Smillie is chairman, asking them to convene it. A sub-committee of the Workers' National Committee has now. recommended that a conf- erence should be held, and it is expected that this decision will be confirmed by the mian body this week. The Parliamentary Committee of the Trade Union Congress has circularised affiliated Trade Unions asking for lists of their perman- j out officials and organisers for whom they desire exemption from the provisions of the new Military Service Act. The Committee pro- j 1 pose to arrange for a reasonable number of fijffioi&Ls being retained in order to prevent any Prions interference with the work of Trade t Unions, especially hi view of the important nature of their war connection with the Min- istry of Munitions and other Government de- partments. r Mr W. A. Appleton. Secretary or the Gene- ral .'Federation of Trade Unions, has made va- rious suggestions to minimise jbke ill-effects of the withdrawal of their affieials.

I LLANELLY The Lktnelly Branch of the I.L.P. com- menced their open-air series last Sunday af- terrnoon with Miss Sylvia Pankhurst. Never in the history of the movement had there been such a large audience ready for the Chair- man's opening, so he quickly made way for the speaker, who was given an attentive hear- ing. There was an equally large crowd at the evening meeting, when Dan Griffiths held forth from 8 p.m. until all the extra daylight had used up, likewise Dan." He has not had a chance for about two years, so he was in form. Will all readers,of the "Pioneer" in Llanelly understand that we are not running these meet- ings for a hobby, but to secure new mem- bers. When we want a hobby, we shall take to fretwork!

| h Welsh Labour Federation. I I IMPORTANT SUGGESTION FROM LLAN- ELLY. TO EXPEDITE BUSINESS AND STRENG- THEN OUR FORCES. We have pleasure in reproducing the two sub- joined letters we have received from the Llan- elly and District Labour Association. The letters are self-explanatory, and is the first step to- wards the solution of the new organisation which we advocated in our leading article of last week We trust that all the Labour As- sociations within our area. will take the matter into serious consideration at once, so that our front line defences may be in perfect order when they aire needed at the close of the war: Llanelly and District Labour Association. Mav 22, 1916. (To the Editor of the PIONEER.) I ) Dear Sir,—The Llanellv Labour Association I would esteem it a favour if you could give space to the enclosed circular, which has been despatched to all the Labour Parties and Trades Councils in South Wales and Mon. We in Llanelly feel that there ought to be a real live Federation of the different bodies in this region so that when it is necessary to se- cure a swift decision on questions of import- ance to the workers, there shall be no delay. It would be very helpful if the organisations that favour this proposal were to include in their reply any suggestions that they may think ii!,seftil. -Yours trulv D. ROGERS. Secretary. Llanelly and District Labour Association. 3 Coronation Road, Llanelly, Date as Postmark. Dear Sir,—I am directed by the Association to send you the following resolution which was passed at our last meeting: -"That we test the feeling of the Labour Parties and Trades Councils in South Wales and Mon- mouthshire with a view of holding a confer- ence to consider matters of import to the movement, and possibly forming a Federation." The failure of the Labour Party Conference at Bristol to handle the proposal for a South Wales Advisory Council is one of the reasons for the proposal, and it is suggested that such a conference held prior to the National Conference to go ti 'oug' the agenda may prevent a repetition. We hope that your Association will give this proposal earnest consideration and favour us with an early reply.—Yours truly. D. ROGERS, Secretary, 1