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Merthyr Hospital Appeal. SEE PAGE 2
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A Merthyr School Medical Tangle. SEE PAGE 6
Economic Meaning of War.
Economic Meaning of War. fe;' ——— l' I A 1500 Cottage for Everyone Already Spent. —————— ? ? 1 The £ 560,000,000 Budgets of the Future. I ? —' I Dick Wallhead's Startling Pacts. I t Why You Cannot Tax The Rich. ■ Why You Cannot Tax The Rich. !?■■ A remarkable examination of the Economics I of the war was made by Mr. R. O. Wallhead at a Peace meeting in the Rink, Merthyr, on Sunday afternoon. Although it was only known that Dick was coming to the Rink on Thursday night, and the time for advertising the meeting was short, the attendance was big and the meeting was one of the best from every point of view that the local Peace Council has organised. MR. F. H. JONES occupied the chair, and in the course of a brief introductory speech said the question was sometimes asked: "What is the good of holding Peace meetings?" To him the facts revealed at home and abroad on the battlefields were sufficient answer. We knew that the spirit of Prussian Militarism was a thing which did not exist alone in the enemy countries. It was a product which, unfortunately, was being produced to an alar- ming extent in our own and other lands. One had not to go further abroad than our own neighbourhood to find a more terrible and raal Prussianism than they had ever thought possible. DICK WALLHEAD said that we had recently been passing through what one might term a debauch or oratory in order to celeb- rate a peculiar word in this connection the opening of the war. One. would scarcely have thought that the opening of a war such as we had lived through these last two years was a thing which one desired to celebrate. We who belonged to organisations—sadly too few in number—which had taken the point of view that what the people wanted was to keep a sane mind and maintain a reasonable attitude have been pronounced "pro-Germans." He wanted to say frankly that the charge of pro-German" left him absolutely cold. (Ap- plause.) What he was concerned with was that 89 far as lie possibly could with the extremely limited means at our disposal, we should tell the people the truth, not so far as we knew it. but so far as we were allowed to tell it- there was a distinct difference. In this connec- tion lie gave a fine eulogy of E. D. Morel's book Truth and the War," which he trusted everybody would buy and study, and then pass on to some reluctant friend who did not want to be told the truth. It was curious to note that whilst the ultra-Jingo reviews had deplored that the book had appeared, they did not in the slightest attempt to challange Mr. Morel's main' contention, which was that the peoples of Europeof Britain. France, Russia and Germany—had been innocently hurled into this bath of blood; were simply the tools and dupes of a handful of men in each respective country. That was the truth that the war- mongers dared not have known; that was the truth they did not want to be told. They were engaged in telling the peonies that one country and one country alone was responsible for all the tragedy of the last two years. We did not want to mitigate the responsibility of the ruling classes of Germany; but we did not intend that the ruling classes of our own country should escape scot free. (Cheers.) So far afc we could we were going to try and clean out our own stable and leave the German Democracy to clean out theirs. This we wanted because we were sincerely desir ous of establish- ing some kind of relationships that should make this war the last war. He sometimes thought we were the only people in the coun- try who did want that; and that whilst we talked of Peace by Negotiations we were actually likely to get Peace when the condi- tions favourable to another war had been established. That was the conclusion that one was driven to when one read the speeches of men like Lloyd George, the doings of Economic Conferences, and the writings of popular writers in the press. Because we believed that we were out to protect by all the means in our power against the establishment Qf such con- ditions. It had been said that it was quite an feflsv thing to play the flame of hatred, and that was quite true, and it was a profitable thing for many men. Why should we attempt to get peace at the earliest possible moment, and strive to bring this terrible war to a conclusion. Let us deal first of all with the econoll-tic situtt-tion as it presented itself to him. for it was not one that could be passed over so lightly as Mr. McKenna had passed it over in the House of Commons a fortnight ago. He told us that by the end of March, 1917, the war debt of this country would be £ 3,400,000.000; and we were told that if the war went on for six months after that the war debt of the country would be £ 5.000,000,000. Might he be allowed to illustrate what that meant, for it was dif- ficult to grasp £ 5,000,000,000 even mentally? A million sovereigns weighed 8 tons. so we spend 4S tons of pure gold ever day. If a man earning £ 2 a week had to work to earn what we are spending ever- day on war, how long would it take him to earn it? He was not a betting man, but he would bet anyone in the audience a new hat that they did not get within 10,000 years of the answer. (Laugh- ter.) It would take him 55.000 years to do it. (Astonishment.) The Panama Canal was the biggest industrial undertaking that had ever been accomplished. and it cost £ 100,000,000. We were spending £ 6,000.000 a day on war, and so at the rate we are going on we could get one Panama Canal for every three weeks. Take Oxford! Oxford was the centre of lear- l ning in this country; it had some wonderful museums and libraries, and they were all en- dowed. But if you take -the whole of Oxford and all its educational establishments and all its endowments, they were only valued at £ 6,000,000. We could cover the country with 30 Oxfords -for one month's expenditure on war. Let him put it another way. Up to now we had spent as much as would provide every family in the United Kingdom with a freehold cottage worth C500. (Surprise.) If we spent on our own people as much as we had spent up to the present on war, in providing them with decent housing accommodation. we could have presented to every single family in this country freehold and absolutely free of cost a cottage worth £500. And for most people to live in a cottage worth £ 500 would con- stitute a domestic revolution. We are going to have this debt of £ 5.000,000,000 at the end of the war, if it ends about 12 months from now and one was not so sure about that. He was an optimist and believed it might end some time, but it de- pended how many Stantons and Edgar Jones' there were who, in order to Igut an insane feeling of revenge, would continue for ever. Mr, Wedgwood was in that day's paper sug- gesting that we were getting to the end of our man power, and suggested that we should bring thousands of black men from the forests to fight for white .men's liberties and rights. But, to continue, the interest on that £ 5,000,000.000 had got to be at 5 per cent, which meant that we had to produce in inte- rest alone not less than £ 250,000,000 per year Then we had to produce at the very least 1 per cent. for sinking fund. and that meant another £ 50,000,000; so that our normal Budget interest and sinking fund on the war debt alone at the end of the war was going to be £ 300,000.000 a year. Now. prior to the war. the normal Budget of the country was £ 200,000,000. We spent that for the upkeep of the Army and Navy, for education (such as it was), civil service, and matters of that de- scription and if vou add to that £ 200,000,000 Budget the £ 300.000,000 that we have to pay as interest and sinking fund on the war debt, then we had a Budget" of £ 500,000,000 a el Then we had to estimate that there would be a larger expenditure on the Army and upon the, Navy, because this was not a. war to end war, and our Government knew it. The other Governments of the world knew it, too; and it did not matter how we crushed Germany this war would not end war. There are others left besides Germany, Therefore, he thought we might estimate that when we had provided for pensions for the men and the widows and orphans, and provided for increas- ed naval and military standards, our normal Budget was not going to be far short of £ 560,000,000 a year. Did the gentlemen who came down to counsel us to continue this sense- less struggle ever tell us what our condition was likely to be after the struggle was over? (" No!") Did they ever picture to us, in the golden tongues that some of them possessed, the awful economic bondage in which the working class was going to be enchained when the war was over? A Budget of of £ 560.000,000 a year! The annual wealth production of this country is certainly not more than £ 1. 200,000,000, and at the rate we were going on it would take more than one-third of the total annual wealth production of the nation to produce the Budget. When we put that position before ourselves we began to under- stand why we had several influential organise ttons now who told us that Protection was our only economic safeguard. That was why we had the talk at the Economic Conference, and other insane talk of that description. The economic position of the people of this country was going to be such that from the Imperial point of view alone out of every £ 1 we earned 6/8 would go in the form of taxation to pay for this war, because you have to under- staml this: He did not know of any economist who would tell us that the working class re- ceived out of the total wealth production moto than R850,000,000 a year; and if the interest and sinking fund was R300,000,000 it was more than one-third of the total wageis we received. And we will not be allowed to escape pay- ment. We were not only going to be taxed in that way from the Imperialist point of view; there was also the point of view of local rating. He had the "Manchester Guardian," and it had columns of advertisements from m- nicipalities all over the country asking for money on loan at 5 per cent, 5| per cent, and as much as 5!- per cent..and that meant that in Manchester alone, if the rate at which the Corporation could borrow money went from 31 per cent oir.3t per cent to 5 per cent it would cost lOd. in the £ on the rates, and it would cost Merthyr the same. So rates would go up, and we would be faced with an increase in rents of, at the very least, 25 per cent. We should not get off with less. If we wanted to build a R250 cottage before the war we could borrow the money at 4 per cent. from the Co-op., Trades Union or building society, which meant £ 10 per year in interest. isociety, had to pay 5 per cent, then the inter- est would be 212 10s., or Is. a week more. If this was true in regard to ua borrowing money, it was also true right through the building trade, and a rise of 1 per cent in the. price of money meant a further increase of Is. a week in the rental of a 6s. a week cot- tage. We were faced with all these problems from an economic point of view, and when these gentleme* confidently urged us to con- tinue the war it was well for people to think from the monetary point of view,' of the B t it might burdens they would carry. But," it might be said, "it will be all round. The rich man will be taxed." The Democrat who thought that was an optimistic person. We could 0 not do it. The rich would not let us. He supposed that the majority of Trades Unionists in these islands thought that at the present time the rich would be taxed very much more heavily than they were before the war. Then the ma- jority were absolutely wrong. Do not forget that they had raised the price of money. When we began to weigh up how much the rich were taxed, we had to consider how much they were getting for their money. Suppose that a. wealthy man invested £100 before the war and the interest was 32 1 per cent. and the income tax 9d. in the L. The return on his hundred was t3 10s., the income tax 2 f7!, leaving him with £ 3 7s. 4|d. But it was said, look at the income tax now—5s. in the R. He knew, but the price of money was 5 per cent, and that put him right. One hundre pounds invested at 5 per cent gave an income of jE5, income tax at 5/- in the £ 25/ take 25/- from jE5 and it left £ 3 15s.. whereas he only had j63 7s. 4i-. before the war. (Loud applause.) Do you think you can get them w hen they play that with you? You are too trustful; that is what is thematter with you." (Cheers.) You imagine that the men sit in the House of Commons and hold political pow- er in order to work out problems in connection with the working classes, whilst as a matter of fact the only thing they are there for is to work out how much they can work out of the working classes without the working classes tumbling to the facts." (Loud cheers.) What we were actually doing at the present time was producing out of the national credit and the national resources a vast number of para- sites who were going to live on the interest from war loan stock out of us, our sons, and our grandsons, unto the third and fourth gen- eration. (Cheers.) That was one reason why looked at from the monetary point of view, and that was a low one, why we should say, We have had quite enough of your postula- ting." (Cheers.) But there were other points of view from which to look at the question. There was the industrial point of view; it was not easy; it was not good. It was all very well to talk about a tax on this and a tax on that, but how were, they going to put a tax on coal the production of the miner, and all the other people on whom a tax could not be put? The working class stood or fell together; it could not be saved by sections. It had to be saved ei- ther as a whole or not at all, and we of the I.L.P.—(loud applause)—try, so far as we pos- sibly can, to tell you the truth with regard to your future industrial situation, and to tell you of the. conditions that are growing up around you. (Cheers.) What was the position that was growing up? All round in the great industrial centres conditions were being established which meant nothing more or less than the absolute industrial slavery for the great mass of the producing population. Funds were being built up in all parts of the country for making a direct attack on the industrial organisation of the working class. We were to e held in an economic bondage besides which that from which we had escaped was mere child's play in comparison. He knew all that was being said about the new conditions that were going to be established, about the "more considera- tion for the poor man at the gate," of which Horatio Bottomley and others wrote, but even now though we were going through the Rake s progress, though we were pawning our indus- trial prospects to the now, there was plenty of poverty, and plenty of misery and plenty of disgusting conditions under which the mass of the people were living. He had some recent returns from the Board of Trade from which he learned that even now the average rate of wages in the textile trades was only 26/- a week. and if they were only 26/- a week then there must be a. fearful abyss of poverty remaining still. The sensible man judged the future by the present. If in the future we were going to rely on the mercies of the rich- and those mercies were being expressed as now -then what had we to expect from the fu- ture. (Loud cheers.) Read the report of the building of huts, and there we find them struggling like ghouls to make tha las7b i per cent they possibly could out of the nation's needs and necessities. If that was the, spirit now what right had we-ana what fools we should be-to rely upon the promises of these gentlemen for in the future they are going to be more kindly disposed towards us. We should be fools if we did not recognise the necessity to maintain as intact as we possibly can. Then we had to consider the whole question of international relationships from a new point of view. If this war was to be the end of war, we had to consider what kind of rela. tionship was going to be built up in the future, and what kind of a, peace we were going to get. He was not a, conventional theo- logian but he had to recognise that the teaching of the Carpenter of Nazareth con- tained the essence of the wisdom of all the ages It was after the Garden of Gethsemane —where the Nazailrene fought out the lonely fight—that the voice came, "Put up the sword again to its sheath; for they who take the sword shall perish by the swcird." (Loud applause.) And there is no escape from that; it is the ineradicable writing of history, wrote down through all the ages. We might build up hatred now. but hatred would ultimately consume us in its own fierce spirit. If we did not get a new shuffling of international re- lationships. it was only a matter of mere arith- metic to prove that ultimately we had got to go down, and would go down. The shores of these islands were immune. Why? Because we had builded the greatest outward physical force ?th,it the world had ever seen. They were im- mune because she had become truly the mist- ress of the seas—but what of the air? What of tke advances of science? What would science do in the next 20 or 30 years? Were we going to get the same immunity from attack? The air was not the sea. We could not control the illimitable spaces of the atmosphere as we controlled the seas to-day. And already war was moving in that direction. We had to at- tempt to beat down and live down these con- stant animosities. Although we might want hatred now—what of then? It was population that would ultimately count and what guar- antee had we that we should not again pass through that which we were passing now unless we adopted different methods? Whilst we were there talking about a conclusive victory to bring a conclusive peace, the diplomats were already at work finding out what the next combinations could be to bring about the next Armageddon. The interests of the working classes ley in securing at the earliest possible moment a peace that would guarantee us from this. The resolution asking the Government to begin negotiations for Peace was carried una- nimously.
Mr. Clifford *Allen Court-Martia....
Mr. Clifford Allen Court- Martia. PRELIMINARY SECRET EXAMINATION I BY THE WAR OFFICE ALLEGED. Mr. Clifford Allen, ex-Chairman of the No-Conscription Fellowship, was court-martiall- ed at Warley Barracks, Brentwood, Essex, on Friday. There was a large attendance of friends and sympathisers, including Mr. Philip Snowden, M.P.; Mr. T. Edmund Harvey, M.P., the Hon. Bertrand Russell, Mr. George Lans- bury, Lady Constance Halleson and many others. The Court, which was presided ove2- by Major R. C. F. Batley, was held in one of the bar- rack rooms, the public having to sit on the beds ranged round the room. Asked if he had any objection to the com- position of the Court, Mr. Allen, said he must object to the prafeence of Lieut. Blumenfeld, the son of the Editor of the Daily Express." He had had private conversation with him, and un- derstood he war; riot /tit of with the virulent attacks made by his father's paper upon himself and other Conscientious Object- ors. The objection, however, was disallowed. The, charge was that Private Reginald Clifford Allen, of the Seventh Eastern Com- pany of the Non-Combatant Corps," had dis- obeyed a lawful command given bv a superior officer in refusing to tidy up his cell. He said he would not do anything in response to a command of a military nature. Mr. Allen immediately asked for the hearing to be adjourned, as he had received the charge sheet less than 24 hours before the hearing. He had not had time properly to consult his law yer, whilst his cell got dark before 7 p.m., and he had therefore been unable to work late in preparing his defence. He hoped to demons- trate that he was not a soldier of the regular forces, and therefore it was not necessary to call witnesses. By the Court: You are only charged with a military offence. Have you been before a court of summary jurisdiction? Mr. Allen: I do not think this point arises in the defence I wish to make. By the Court: You must give an answer to the question. Are you Guilty or Not Guilty? Mr. Allen: I am not guilty; I apply for an adjournment. Mr. Allen referred to Page 579 of the Army Manual, in which it stated that if essential witnesses for the case a<re not present the case must be adjourned. Continuing, Mr. Allen said he objected to the third line of the charge describing him as a soldier in the regular forces. To substantiate this he wished to call evidence. By the Court: What are the grounds of your plea? Mr. Allen: That I am an exception under the Military Service Act, paragraph 6, First Sche- dule. I require to call evidence to prove that fact. I have already sent application to my Commanding Offioor- President (interrupting): You admit you have a Commanding Officer; if I were a man of law I eould nrnke something of this most damaging statement. Mr. Allen (continuing): Whose jurisdiction I deny- President: That is an afterthought. Mr. Allen (continuing): To produce the ne- cessary evidence as set out in the Army Act. That evidence is not here1, and without its presence the Court cannot proceed to continue the case because I am entitled to cross-examine witnesses. The Court is not therefore in a po- sition: President: That is not a valid remark, but I enjoy writing it down. Mr. Allen: I will not continue if. you are not going to administer justice-- Peaident: That is a grave charge. There is no fairer court in history than a court-martial Mr. Allen: I am hoping to prove that. I would like to add that yesterday afternoon I was examined in secret by a member of the Headquarters Staff without ;any witnesses be ing present except my escort. The subject of the examination was the production of the evidence that is not here. After having heard my case and discovering my line of defence, the cross-examiner was satisfied that I had established reasonable grounds for the produc- tion of the evidence I deired, and suggested it might be necessary to adjourn the case to procure this evidence. If, as the President of the Court has stated, the court-martial is the fairest court in the world, I am confident I shall be allowed, as provided by law, to call the evidence I deisire- President: I think I should inform you that .the expense of calling all these witnesses fall on you. Mr. Allen: Thank you. sir; I know the law. President: No doubt you do. Mr. Allen (continuing): To establish my objection to the jurisdiction of this court. By the Court: Do you wish to give evidence or call evidence in answer to your plea? Mr. Allen: I wish to do both. Bv the Court: Have you an exemption oer- tificate ? Mr. Allen: I must refuse to reply without witnesses being present. I cannot answer the question until you have disposed of the quea tion of evidence which preceded it. I will then answer your question on oath, provided you allow other evidence beside mine. By the Court: What application did you send to your Commanding Officer, whose jurisdiction you deny? Mr. Allen: My application was for the pro- duction of the following evidence, namely: — The Medical Officer at Warley Barracks, who on Tuesday passed me as fit without examination The Medical Officer at the Recruiting Station, Camberwell Baths; The Clerk to the Local Tribunal at Bat- tersea The Clerk to the Appeal Tribunal of the County of London. My application also contained the names of the witnesses of character that I required, and who are now here, namely, Mr. T. Edmund Harvey, M.P., Mr. Philip Snowden, M.P. and the Hon. Bertrand Russell. After a short adjournment the Court put various questions to Mr. Allen, but be said he was unable to give evidence unless the wit- nesses were there, as he wished to prove the exact facts. By the Court: He has been handed over to us; all this civilian business has been settled before. Mr. Alfred Baker (solicitor for Mr. Allen): May I respectfully submit that you are up against the fact that the witnesses must be here and once and for all make a complete thing of it. That they are not here' is only a question of time. Mr. Allen stands in a very peculiar position. His case is not like other cases. He desires to show he is not a soldier, and he should have sufficient evidence to prove that fact. Mr. Baker (in reply to a question): You must not ask me if he is between the ages of 18 and 41. and whether he did not refuse to go before the Medical Board. You are assuming that he refused; the doctor is not here to prove it ai. V essentia! witness. Mr. Clifford Allen has inever appeared as an ob- structionist. He is not asking for this adjourn- ment for the sake of time, but that the case may be presented to you in an acceptable form. The Court then decided to adjourn, the point regarding witnesses to be referred meanwhile to the Convening Officer of the District.
Theatre Royal.
Theatre Royal. There is a. treat in store for the lover of drama who has not as yet visited Mother Machree at the Theatre Royal this week. Leonard Mortimer has told a good story strong in all the essentials of drama with unusual skill; the playing of himself is more than ordinarily powerful, and he is more than well supported by the work of a strong caste, while so far as setting is concerned, I have never seen any drama staged so beautifully as "Mo- ther Machree." Indeed, the setting reminded me more of a musical comedy than travelling drama. Of course, the incidental music is guaranteed by the name of Bert Feld- man, though, as in most dramas, the incidental music does not play a very prominent part in the story. Leonard Mortimer shows a great aptitude to sink himself in the characters he is playing, and a wonderful versatility in the playing of contrasting histrionic parts in his. work in the three characters he himself takes. Whether it be as the kidnapped son of the millionaire, or the peasant boy hero, or the hard-headed Saxon Wise, proprietor of "Kew Yord Life," Mr Mortimer succeeds in getting the right touch, the correct inflexion, and those unnamable little details that go to the successful presentation of just what the character would mean in everyday life. And the same might be said in a contrary direction of the villainies of Mr Rupert Talbot as "An- gelo Angels." His capable handling of the part won the execration of the "gods" and the de- testation of the stalls and circle. The ladies of the caste are, I say it without fear of con- tradiction, the cleverest dramatists we have had in Merthyr this long time. Miss Oonnie Norris' playing of "Mother Machree^^is^ja beautiful natural piece of fine work that-will live with me for a long time; and Miss Ida Clifford's charming studies as "Edna Mary Canning, the Millionaire's Daughter," mark her out as a distinguished figure in that rising school of drama, that promises to win back to plays of this description the popularity they once so deservedly held and which it has only been robbed of by the inferior work of bung- ling players. Next week is to be another drama. week, and with two of Mrs. F. G. Kimberley's best plays down for presentation, I expect that good business will result. Mrs. Kimberley ia un- questionably belonging to that small group of two or three present-day writers who know how to handle melodrama, and who do not make the absurd mistake of believing that a grown- up public want a visualised boys' bload, sugar coated with ludicruous emotionalism. My read- ers will remember the success which attended the visit of her "Little Grey Hotne in the West" here, and those who witnessed it will recognise the distinction I am trying to draw between her work and the bulk of that which too often is placed before us. "In Was She to Blame?" the programme for the first three ?ni,hts, the authoress has dealt with a modern moral controversy in her well-known style, and has produced a story of stage and church that is as novel as it is interesting. From Thursday on "Her Secret Lover" ig the theme, and with both plays well caate. and well staged, they should prove a big draw. PLAYGOER.