Pioneer

CORRESPONDENCE. MR. DOCKERAY'S REJOINDER. (To the Editor of the PIONEER.) Dear Sir,—I am sure Mr Dockeray will for- give me; but I admit that his first letter did give me the impression of the attitude of time-serving." It is a pleasure to know that I was more or lees wrong. Equally ready am I to agree with the "other half" of the truth, that we must stand, with the minority for the sake of fhe majority." This is axiomatic; and is of the very essence of the spirit of So- cialism. As to Mr Dockeray's two questions, viz.: Does our isolation serve our brethren? Does our ideal serve the present?" I must &ay that I do not know exactly what he means. Is our isolation one of thought, or attitude, or organisation? Is our isolation one that we create for ourselves, or does it only exist in the minds of others ? Or may it only mean that our viewpoint and activities eharacte,rise us as removed from those of other men? If the last. then our "isolation" is not more strange than that of every other "movement" and a similar question may be asked of all organised bodies of opinion and belief. And, by the way, it is not men that organise their beliefs and ideals; but ideals and beliefs organise men. And it is this organising force of ideals that makes isolation possible and effective. Hence I conclude that isolation always does and must serve our brethren." An amorphous mass of electricity only becomes effective or useful when it is isolated "ma dynamo, and serviceable when directed as currents along wires. Does our ideal serve the present?" Again it does and must do so. But it seT" s ac- cording to its channel of service and r > in the way in which the non-channel thinks bo! That is the difficulty so often! The channel mav be new and in a oad state-hence the flow may be muddy; is that the fault of the flow? As sincerely, I hope, as Mr Dockeray himself, I deplore, as most if not all Socialists deplore, the necessity for and the spirit in which the class struggle is conducted. (There is little difference between Mr D's campaign" and .c class struggle.") There is a reason or H cause," however, for both the campaign" an the spirit." Why, first, the "campaign"? If we care to look back over the history of social and indus- trial developments, we will find that a stupend- ous change took place at the beginning of the period which is called the Industrial Revolu- tion." The introduction of applied science into industry has revolutionised industry, and has enormously multiplied the power of produc- tion. The machine has and is increasingly taking the place of human labour. On the one hand, capital organised and extended its mighty -control over the production of the means of phy- isicial existence; new improvements in machinery meant increased fortunes for the few On the othi hand, the worker is compact;- e v lit- tle better off he is sadder, weaker, his life is cramped and huddled, and his health undermin- ed. Humanly speaking, the life of the modern worker is a continual weary tragedy; but when we think of the enormous increase in wealth production, the position of the worker is a wailing denial of common human decency, not to mention morality, justice and brother- hood. This" great betrayal -11 is awful en- ough when merely seen impressed on the faces —wan and pinched—of our workers and poor folk; it speaks louder and expresses itself in far more better and galling tones than does the or- atory of an impassioned agitator. And the great betrayal is not merely one of physical sufficiency an d comfort; it is also a betrayal of opportunities; a betrayal of leisure; a bet- rayal of beauty in all its forms, and above all a betrayal of love and human fellowship. We know it should not mean all this. We know that the great increase in production and wealth might have meant longer and better edu- cation for children; it might have meant in- creased comfort for the whole of the people, and especially the aged; it should mean the cessation of child labour up to far higher age than at present; it should means less struggle between worker and worker, worker and master, master and another master; it should mean that leisure time 00 the right Df *all and not the appanage of the few, leisure in which to culti- vate a taste for literature and for the arte, and recruits health and strength. The advent of applied science into industry might have meant all teft, for the worker to-day. with the aid of machinery, can produce about fifty times as much in an hour as he could two cen- turies ago. And to-day, where are we? Despite the po- litical and indurtrial "truec-l" we know we are on the eve of the biggest conflict which has ever been waged between Capital and Labour. It is useless to try to blind ourselves to this very real probability. Useless to shirk our re- sponsibility in bringing it about. We are all involved, all responsible, either by our indiffer- ence and neglect or by our activity and agi- tation. And which is the worse of these two things ? I recently heard an educated man of high moral attainments say that after the war we, as a nation, should reap the Karma (law of cause and effect) of our social neglect and indifference by being plunged into a huge class conflict. If the European war is a redemp- tive process which will help to purge the great evils of our national lives then, surely, by a parity of reasoning, might not the coming social conflict be considered as a redemptive process? There is another aspect to consider, and very briefly. It is the "spirit" in which the campaign" is now conducted. Will Mr :000- keray be surprised at this when he considers what might have been in our social rela- tionships? It is true that the growing con- sciousness of the worker expresses itself in maik, formidable and undesirable ways. It must inevitably so express itself; it must grow and develop; and in growing must rudely snap the bands which bind and limit. If he 'snaps" also at the men who kindlv see to the "shac- kles." then it is only in the nature of things as they are that he does so! But—and this thought weighs considerably with me-what if there were few or no shackles to attend to, how would the growing consciousness ex- press itself? Would it express itself in hate, in vindictiveness. in fighting, and so on? How may workers fight and prepare to fight when their -time could with far more intellectual and artistic profit be spent in other pursuits ? —Sincerely Yours, I DAVID J. WILLIAMS. I Gwyn Grove, Pontardulais, W. Glam. I- I

OUR PRINTING IS GOOD. OUR TERMS ARE MODERATE. OUR STAFF IS TRADES-UNIONIST, And we give a guaranteed undertaking to DELIVER IN TIME. 11 Merthyr Amateur Orchestral Society (Assisted by well-known Local Vocalists). A GRAND Open-Air Orchestral and Vocal CONCERT WiH be given by the above Society on Thursday Evening Next the 17th August, at CYFARTHFAPARK Conductor Mr A.' R. V. Laverock Gates open at 6.30. Commence 7.30 p.m. Admission SIXPENCE (including Tax) THERE 18 ONLY ONE OINTMENT THAT CURES And this is supplied by Chemists and the MANNINA OINTMENT CO., FISHGUARD, And is sold in Three Strengtbs-1, 2 & 3. GET YOUR TOBACCO AT Our Shop .1 74a, Pontmorlais, Merthyr. I PROGRESSIVE LITERATURE I Kept in Stock or got to order. j 'Phone 597. 'Phone 597. WILLIAM TRESEDER, Ltd. THE NURSERIES, CARDIFF. WREATHS, CROSSES, CUT FLOWERS, &c. BEDDING PLANTS. Asters, Stocks, Dahlias, Marguerites, Lobelia, &c. Tels TRESEDER, FLORIST, CARDIFF. SALE Owing to depletion oi Staff, the Stock must be re- dnced, consisting of Clothing, Boots, Bedding, etc. M HAMtS'S. 5 Castte Stratt. Merthyr ————————

Miners' Leaders and Pro- Germanism. The featpre of the past week's papers has undoubtedly bepn the venom with which the old pro-German South Wales calmuny has been res- uscitated by men who have found sudden and startling oonspicuity as miners' leaders in the columns of a press that they themselves have, we fear, never appreciated at its true worth until this opportunity of self-advertise- ment and self-abasement presented itself. That this press should have screamed its nonsense we are not surprised, in view of that almost forgotten series of lies that it uttered with such an air of conviction during the last dis- pute anent the mythical German Gold that men claiming to represent the coalfields that so justly resented those lying charges should now land themselves in a resurrection of this very story in a new garb, is as surprising as 1t is a woeful confession of their inability to lead, and of their mental incapacity to play any role other than that of sheep. There is one point on which both we and they are agreed- the unquestionable loyalty of the overwhelming majority of the South Wales minei-s; and in view of this unanimity we are surprised that the leaders should have preferred vague, gen- eral declamation against unnamed individuals in a Capitalist Press that has never failed to vilify the worker and his cause; to definite and sub- stantiated charges brought against definitely named individuals in mass meeting assembled. That is the common-sense course that any leader," sure of his, leadership, would have taken, and that attitude would have been one that would have commanded our respect and sympathy. Since these leaders have failed to take that course, what are we to believe ? Ob- viously many considerations arise out of such a query. First it might argue that the miners' leaders have so little faith in the S.W.M.F. that they do not believe it capable of curing itself of this ill, though essentially it is a work which the S.W.M.F. should do without any ex ternal pressure or assistance for the preserva- tion of its own good name. It may be that the "leaders," knowing of these men, are afraid to take the only safe and logical course, because the men they would have to charge in their re- spective districts would so effectively check the charge that the leaders' views would be negatived in mass meeting, in which case it would merely prove that these leaders do not lead, and might give rise to the suggestion that they were afraid to bring the charge for fear of a defeat, which might imperil their job. and crush the fond dreams of the magic M.P. that too many of these place- hunting leaders suffer from, and which is, alas I .the bugbear of the miners' organisation as at present constituted. But we do not believe that these considerations have weighed with more than a negligible few of the leaders who have been so vociferous over this question. We believe that they have been carried away into expressing themselves in bombastic rhetoric, which they themselves will be the first to be sorry for. It may be that each leader be- lieves the pro-German element is strong in every other district than his own; and it probably is that a few of them, ignorant and uncritical they must be, still favour the idea that every- one who believes in attempting to secure the ends for which we are in the war by negoti- tion in some vague way favours the Germanic Powers at the expense of the Allied Cause. In any case the whole story is a, lie. There is no more pro-German element in South Wales than there is in the aristocracy itself. The whole thing is a dastardly piece of scandal- mionging for which someone will have to pay. It is probable that the inmocent will pay if too long a time is allowed to elapse before the incursions into the journalese of the Yellow Press of these misguided leaders is checked and denied. This task of nailing the lie to the coun- ter before it is too late is one that must per- sonally affect every individual miner who cares for the good name of his Federation and his trade; and we suggest that the lodges could not do better than summon mass meetings in every district in which these agents have given oredenee to the story, and at those mass meetings demands that the whole thing shall be thrashed out. Labels, we are repeatedly told, are the easiest things in the world to stick on; but that is no reason why the sticker, when he can be got at, should not be compelled to prove that the label is a true one or to scrape it off with the publicity that he found in stick- ing it on,

Gorseinon Notes. Dr. Mitchell's Park. I had the pleasure or paying a visit to the Doctor's Park, Conservatories and kitchen gar- den, the party being composed of the Gorseinon Loughor and District Horticultural Society. It was surprising to find what a collection of fo- reign plants is grown by the Doctor. Indeed some of the specimens I should like to give my readers who have a delight in gardening. The Japanese Berry (which was in bloom) js the fin- est shrub for cutting in Christmas—its berries being of such numbers and good colour. The burning bush mentioned in the Bible was a beautiful shrub very peculiar that the shrub planted near the bush was a tree which had been purchased as an ornamental tree with dark red foliage. After three years' growth the gar- dener found it hanging with peaches. The Doctor could not believe his own eyes; and really was timid of eating them—so was Mr Hullund (the head gardener). But Jack (the second gardener) believed they were all serene, and with delight ate every peach upon the tree Jack is still alive and happy. The bamboo oanefi were 18ft. high. I must congratulate Mr Hullund upon the geraniums grown from seed; they were a picture. Also the antirrinum, ver- binas, and gloxinias; and also the variety of ferns, in which he has to use the most careful judgment. The roses were of maiv varieties;, also the sweet peas. Onions were of an enorm- ous size; broad beans 17 and 18 inches in length. A vote of thanks to the Doctor and Mrs. Mit- chell, and Mr Hullund (the gardener) termina- ted an enjoyable evening. Gorseinon Peace Council. I A public meeting was held last .Friday to form a Peace Council. Mr J. T. Hughes (Loughor) presided. There was a good roll eall of deleg- ates appointed by the different Trade Unions. Let me say that there was not a single repre- sentative of the Church (Nonconformist or the Church of England) at the meeting. I must ad- mit the Vicar sent a letter, which was read, of his inability to attend the meeting, as he was preaching at two services at Builth Wells which I was quite aware of two weeks previ- ously. Nerertiieless, without the Church, a Peace Council was decided upon. Discussions and questions were frequent, which, to me, were of a high tone and edifying. I was compelled to leave the meeting ere it finished. The man in the street making such a shindy," I was asked to send him to High Street. Anyhow, reader, will you ask your minister or deacon why his church was not represented? Do they believe in hatred; malice; murder; prostitution; hard- ness of heart; feeding the rich; stealing from the poor driving those who want heaven to hell; or publishing a 1914 to 1916 Bible and burn the one we have as it is useless and debasing? Will they hand to you Ellicotts, Barnes and good old Matthew Henry's Commentaries as they cannot understand them? I say to you, reader: Ask them; you may forget all I ask write them down with a space for an an- sw to each. ? Not he that saith 'Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of God; but he that doeth the Will of My Father." "Bles- sed are the Peacemakers." I may be permitted to sing a hymn at the meeting next Sunday night, entitled-" There must be something wrong, and you shall answer for yourself." Our Loughor Stalwart. I I must ask my readers to join in sympathy with Jack Jones, the unflinching I.L.Peer at Loughor. also Mrs. Jones, in their sad bereave- ment. What a bonnie little girl they have lost! Jack has had many hard rocks to climb over; I trust the days in store will be less troublous for them both. Let me remind you .that Mr W. O. Anderson is to speak next Sunday (August 13) on Kings- bridge Common. Mr George Lansbury (London) will speak on Sunday, August 20. Meeting to be held at St. Catherine's Parish Ohurch. A brass band will assist as accompaniment to the hymns sung. Now, reader, if you come from afar off, send a. Postcard to aOimra/' 4 Prospect Place, Gor- seinon; and you may get a cup of tea and your car stored safely, Lansbury's meeting is at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The vioar desires the Ohurch packed; I am afraid he shall be com- pelled to get an ambulance corps. A review of Mrs. Annie Besant's book. "In- dia—A Nation,' 'The People's Books" (6d.), is sent me by Mr D. J. Williams, Pontardulais. I am sure our Editor will insert same, which is most interesting. CHUM. DOWLAIS I BIG DAN'S REPRIEVE—Over 4,000 signat- ures have been appended to the Memorial pre- sented to the Home Office regarding the move- ment for the reprieve of "Big Dan Sulli- van, the Dowlais coker, now under sentence of death at Swansea Prison for the murder of his wife. Last night (Thursday) a public meeting was held outside the Dowlais Inn, and a reso- lution was adopted urging the Home Secretary to grant the reprieve. The Memorial has been signed by all the officials and workmen of the Dowlais Works, where the condemned man was employed. There is considerable sympathy in the locality for Sullivan. PRESENTATION TO MANAGER OF DOWLAIS WORKS—Tho agents an4 officials of the Dowlais Works and Collieries and Cyfarthfa and Aber- cynon Collieries have presented Mr T. Faenor Jones, on the occasion of his recent marriage, to Miss Amy Evans, daughter of the late Mr William Evans, J.P., Brynteg, Merthyr—for many years general manager of the Dowlais, Cyfarthfa, Cardiff and Abercynon Works and Collieries—with a complete set of sterling silver table cutlery of exquisite pattern, fitted- into a. specially constructed ebony table of "Har borne" design, with a silver plate, suitably inscribed, let into the lid. Mr Fa,enor Jones is the fourth son of the late Mr Thomas Jones. J.P.. of the Hafod. Dowlais (for many years cashier to the Dowlais iron Company), and is a. brother to Mr Howel R. Jones, the present general manager of the Dowlais and Cyfarthfa Works and Col- lieries. Mr Jones received his early training in Dowlais, and for some years occupied the posi- tion of steelworks manager under Messrs. Crawshav Brothers. Cyfarthfa Works, and sub- sequently that of works manager to the Glas- gow Iron and Steel Company at Wishaw, which position he relinquished a,bout 15 months ao to fill a similar appointment at Dowlais.

"Like Indian Mutiny." MOUNTAIN ASH STREET SCENE. What was described by Mr T. W. Griffiths. so- licitor, as something like an Indian mutiny, was described at Mountain Ash last week when a, number of summonses and cross-summonses for assault were heard. In one of the cases Blodwen Dyas, Cadwal- adr Street, Mountain Ash. was fined 205, for assaulting Mrs Ann Bowden, a neighbour, It was alleged that defendant jumped on Mrs Bodwen on the ground with the result that she had passed through a serious illness. It was stated in evidence that John Dyas, defendant's father-in-law, looked on and said, "Leave it between the women." The Stipendiary (Mr R. A. Griffith) said that, if there was anything more disgraceful than defendant's conduct it was the, conduct of the man John Dyas. who was scarcely fit to be called a man. He had never heard of anything more cowardly, and he only wished he could fine him. John Joseph Dyas was summoned for assault- ing Wm. Lewis.—Lewis stated that Dyas came up to him in the street; and without any pro- vocation struck him several times on the face and nose with the result that he was stunned Mr T. W. Griffiths, who appeared for the defence, pleaded guilty, and said that his client was of a, very excitable temperament. The Stipendiary, who referred to previous convictions against the defendant described the assault as a dastardly one. He imposed a fine of £ 5— £ 3 of which would go to complainant.

The Electric Theatre. Tke introduction of that wonderful boy sop- rano—Jenkin Whiting-a,, an holiday attrac- tion at the Electric Theatre this week has met with a big degree of success, though not with all that it deserves. The Theatre would not hold all who ought to go and hear the triple Eisteddfod winner. Jenkin, I understand coiines from Penydarren or Dowlais, and my surprise is that this is the first I have heard of him. It seems to me that local singers are not appreciative enough of the younger tal- ent in our own boroughs, for J. am confident that had Jenkin been a Cockney or an Amer- ican, his photograph would have appeared in all the illustrated press, and maybe we should have had an infant prodigy brand of cigarettes; or flavour in chocolates called after him. My own one regret is that t'he beautiful voice will in all probability be lost to the world of music by the time he is a mere callow youth; and that is a calamity that almost makes me wish that Jenkin had been born a girl. I do not know whether the slides which illustrate the songs Jenkin sings have been chosen for him by the Electric management for this week, or whether they are old possessions of his, but in either case I want to compliment both the ™nage,neM t and the singer on the appositeness of the victiires and the songs. The sincerest and best advice I can offer to anyone who loves a well sung song —and who does not?— 's to pay a visit to the Electric Bheatre these last three da\s The pictures have also been of exceptional merit-a real holiday feast, if I may so put it—and I am pleased to find that many more like myself are learning that in these red hot days, the Cinema is one of the coolest and pleasantest places to spend an hour or two in. When out in the country under a glaring sun the thermometer is creeping beyond the 80 degres mark, and perspiring people imagine they are enjoying themselves; the Efeotric tem- perature is cool, the seats cosy, and the pic- tures Al. It is a lesson in cheap personal com- fort and luxury that I have learnt by experi- ence, and it will have to be a. more portent argument than scenery that will drag me to the Blue Pool when I have made up my mind to go to the pictures. I have been particurlaly interested in this last instalment of "Greed," featuring the fight with the Insurance Trust, as much as a study as a picture. and I have thoroughly enjoyed it from both points of view. As a piece of ro- mantic adventure it has had few equals, and certainly very few superiors. The sensational scene in the air-tight safe vault is one of the most breath-stopping that even the Cinema has had to offer. Next week we are to have another unusual programme, headed for the first three days with the new film that has caused so much talk in the flickergraph world—"The Price of Her Silence." This is a powerful 4-act drama telling of a girl's sacrifice for her sister and the price she paid; and the producers have been lucky in securing as principal lead Miss Florence Bailee, the brilliant actress whose work in The Million Dollar Mystery" won her a foremost place amongst film favourites, and stamped her work as of the very cream of the new school of acting for the camera. When you get her allied with that little mar- vel Helen Badyley-one of the brightest and best of the infant actresses for the films-you may be sure that the resultant reels will be worth going to considerable trouble to see. From Thursday on the "star" attraction is a war story that has just been released, and of which I hear some very encouraging reports- The Blind Man of Verdun." "Greed" deals with the fight with "The Opium Smugglers," and has a dramatic face to face with hungry lion scene that is even more startlingly real than the air-locked vault of this week. The Girl of Lost Island" comes to a close this week to the regret of hundreds of us who have found pleasure in the acquaintanceship with we have struck up with her through the med- ium of the Electric Theatre. PLAYGOER.