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,,Outlines of Industrial History…
Outlines of Industrial History I I. [CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK.] TTT 20.—IN CONCLUSION. 'lTT we can now pause to summarise the whole of sons> make a mental stocktaking, and in retrospection retrace our journey-a journey through the long avenue from prehistoric time, a. time when no man knows," to the known ex- perienced events of modern days. The evidence unnUated and pieced together by archaeolo- gists groping in the past, misty traditions of ancient poples, and the surer written records of later times have all lent us their aid. Brief re- ferences were made to the Stone and Iron Age, the coming of the Aryans east to Europe, of how our own particular country emerged upon the "tage of written history with the coming of the lloln!ans and of how Saxon Dane and Norman nowe.d and finally lost their racial identity in lat'?r times. The geologist told us of the strug- ? between the elements in the earth's forma- tIon. The biologist showed how individual ani- fInals and species struggled with each other. And 1\'e passed on to sociology and witnessed a struggle still proceeding. In this struggle the ne class and the old class were engaged, and oufc of it came the evolution of society. We fol- lowed "the chain of change" from mark to from tribal communism to slavery, from slavery to feudalism, and then onwards to manu- facture and machingfdcture and our own indus- trial system. The evolution of the warrior, the rnerchant, the guildsniaia and of the industrial '^pitalist with his inevitable companion the Wage-worker has engaged our attention. The growth of trade, the division of labour, the rise and fall of handicraft, the division be- tween town and country, the development of the local, the national and (with the discovery of new continents) the world market, the dawn of the new day of science after medieval night— wiese and many other things figure upon our "Syllabus. The attempts of each rising class to gain political power, the different phases passed through by capitalism, the beginning of perma- nent organisations by our own class, with the success and failure which attended its attempts, all formed subjects for later lessons. We have hatched new orders and relations arising out of the old; and have seea that the triumph of •each class, as well as its birth, always coincides with the development and progress of material COiiditions. Every system in its maturity aloo contained the germs of its own decay. From being a helper the particular system becomes a hinderer. Instead of being revolutionary and a Useful aid to production, it becomes reactionary and a useless fetter upon production. Then "Oomes into play the new class which the old has begotten and carries forward the banner of pro- gress. Therefore, using history as a touchstone and recognising that new ideas, new codes of morality, new laws, etc., have their origim in -changing economic conditions, we are now in a Position to clearly examine the economic factors which are at present at work, to act in accord- ance with their evolution, and take up our stand with the new class in its forward march. THE LOGIC OF THE MACHINE. I This is, a term often used to describe the eoon- omic factors which are inherent in capitalist Production and which, as we have seen, especial- ly since the Industrial Revolution, have been compelling the working-class to take up arms in its own defence. Right at the beginning of the Lesson it was s\ nown that man only differed from the animal in 18 power of tool-making which of course predi- on f a CIOT"(-,sponding development of the think- ing faculty, and this again would be closely con- nt} with a vocal language; tool-making, 1. thiiikiirig and talking being inseparable and cor- relative in their growth. Man has in common With the animal" Ithe will to live," but he has something else, rrz., the will to live better." Now the economic needs of man for food, cloth- ing and shelter are satisfied by contact with Na- ture, i.e., the soil, fruit-trees and all the earth's inhabitants. Moreover, these bodily needs must be satisfied before he can indulge in art or any other spiritual needs which in later development Inay he his. Naturally, man tries to satisfy those former needs with the least possible exertion. But he can only continue to live better by constantly developing and improving his tools. For here, with the making of the first tool, be- gins the great gulf between man and the ani- mal. The animal acts directly upon Nature; but man interposes between himself and Nature a tool an action mighty in its consequences as We shall see. For examp le, a dog and a rabbit *orateh and burrow the ground with their paws; .?tman makes a sharpened stick, a spade, and ? time a steam plough, and he successfully, by an:s of his tools, honeycombs even the rocks ef th' earth in search of minerals. The fox jumps for the S?P?s? but man as a result of his im- prov i technique thinks of a ladder. When even the ??s eye fails to pierce the distance, man's 'te iicscop? ? more successful. Man's power over his atural environment results from this inter- Position A fish ourt of water has become pro- ?bial of an unsuitability of environment which Rpells death. Likewise, a bird cannot live under "ater. But man, with his technique, becomes a sfi m his submarine and a bird in hia aeroplane. dense forests are cleared; the jungle in- liabit.ed the oceans spanned; the deserts irri- 'ated; the microbe-infested fever swamps made ?althy; and the mountains bored because man increases his science, harnesses natural forces to 0 his bidding, and is ever perfecting his tools -?d machinery. There is another aspect of the important re- Uof the tool, and that is the consequences rising from its ownership by particular persons. a.ck London in his pamphlet, The Strength of the Strong tells in a simple, picturesque n the story of these results. To cut a Ion story short it can be said: the class of per- s owning the tools or the means of produc- vmu Is the ruling class. In the realm of biology th ere 'S a division of labour based upon physio- 10 icaj grounds, e.g., that of sex. It is impos- SiSMe ? f? the queen Dee, the worker bee, or the 'drone. But in sociology, with the coming of tØO'!f a new division of labour based upon econ- OttT?t? ? Bounds arises. It has already been shown th Inan, unlike the animal, is not physically by his environment, but that he is able W úha,nging and improving his tools to overcome it Woix^ come a difference between man 'and  ?cc[ upon tool-using; in modern life the diffen reriCe between a miner and an engineer, a paint ?? a plumber is in the different tools they use Physically a capitalist and a wage- wor k er y work ,a queen and a washerwoman are ahe. The di??' ??s one of economic position which is  this case upon tool ownership. Tech- in fV1"8 case upon tool ownership. Tech- iirm has dV'eloped to the extent that a lesure w, extent that a leisure to the extent that a leisure ?r?T? ? ? tribal community of pau- & Peris™ the !Ie. of private property and the 'State, the division ? society into classes, and ihe 1^1 e of t sl1 aves have been noted bv us previous- Und^c ofs ,Iavery caIne feudalism. Then, the nd  chief means of production and as the fi ght-'s 'am* it- owners they were the 'l"ulUlg class. Gradually we saw trade and the lUe!rchant class moreaa? From handicraft evolved manufacture. New means of production dwarfed the importance of the land. The old relations were broken down, and a new class rose to power. We witnessed how it asserted its strength upon the economic field first, and then later in a political revolution, but how the in- dustrial capitalist was never all-powerful until he possessed the machine. The following is a bare, enumeration of some of the effects of the operation of its logic. In dealing with the re- sults of the Industrial Revolution we have had occasion to notice them before: — (1) The machine breaks down all barriers of age, sex and race. The use of machinery de- stroyed much of the laborious heavy work, and thus made possible its performance by women and children. The merciless exploitation of the child slaves of the factory has not yet faded from our memory; and, though restricted, it has not up till now disappeared. The" breaking-up of the home "-that Anti-Socialist bogey-has al- ready been in many instances accomplished. While women's entrance into industry may, es- pecially if the male workers do not tackle the problem intelligently, at first, haSye disastrous results, still, if she gains finally economic inde- pendence and becomes the true equal and com- rade of man, undreamt of beneficial results will accrue. Again, the impossibility of sharing the Imper- ialist's ideas of their being superior and in- ferior peoples is clearly revealed if we recog- nise that the difference between lesser and mope developed peoples, just as between man and the animal, is one of more or less developed tech- nique. One need not be very well versed in world politics, to notice demonstrations of how the capital and commodities of the more ad- vanced countries by investment and export beget their like in all the ends of the earth, and of how the so-called backward countries are repro- ducing the industrial systems of the forward ones and following practically the same lines of development. (2) In the wake of the machine comes the crisis, the growth of large production and the in- creasing of the rate of exploitation of the worker. There is no need to elaborate upon these points as they have already in previous lessons been dealt with. They occur as the in- evitable outcome of the inherent laws of the capitalist system and were given as the funda- mental cause of the Industrial Unrest in the eighteenth Outline. (3) Born before the machine yet made doubly necessary by its coming, trade unions com- menced, striving to retain by collective effort the imperilled status of livelihood of their mem- bers. InAvidual bargaining having failed, work- men formed local trade clubs..From these grew national clubs or unions of each separate trade. These again formed into federations and con- gresses to gain strength. Some attempts were made to form international unions between like trades, and national delegates were appointed at some of the congresses to express the interna- tion-al unltv of Labour which was being already felt. Our recent lessons have indicated how the logic of the machine has destroyed the craft basis of the older unions by destroying handi- ,y destroyiiag lian d i- craft and introducing unskilled labour—the ma- chine minders and "hands", of modern produc- tion. Changing circumstances thus caused the basis, aim and policy of the unions to be revised. The members at an' industry union now aim to control industry through their organisation. Having understood the logic of the machine, they seek to master it. To do this, they have first to shape their own "union, control its policy and representatives, and convert their organisa- tion into a fighting machine capable of efficiently waging war on the industrial and political fields. Before our lesson finishes an endeavour will be made to direct attention to the theoretical weapons already at hand, which will give the worker a clear understanding of his proper aim and stimulate him to practical work and to solve the question of ways and means to attain that desired end. de. sired en d [TO BB CONTINUED, j
Abercanaid Girl's Education…
Abercanaid Girl's Education I AbercanaidGirl's Education APPEAL TO GUARDIANS FOR EXAMINA- TION FEE. There was an unusual case in the outdoor re- lief applications heard by the Merthyr Guar- dians on Saturday. An Abercanaid woman asked for a grant of 30s. to enable her daughter, aged seventeen years, now in a Merthyr secondary school, to pay the entrance fee for an examination. It was said the woman earned 17s. a week herself, her son 18s. a week, and outdoor relief of 20s. 6d. a week was allowed her. Mr. T. T. Jenkins said that this lad, too, had been in a secondary school, but his career—a brilliant one—had been cut short by poverty, and he had gone down the mine to work to assist in keeping the family of six. Mr. F. T. James (clerIK): I happen to be chairman of that committee (Merthyr Second- ary Schools Committee), and this case was not brought to my notice. And I will take care it is not brought before the board. (Applause.) Mr. T. T. Jenkins: I am sure the parent will be delighted, and I am sure the child will. But I would like to call the attention of the board to the principle we have to settle. Either we stop our children to go to any secondary school, or we support them when they get there. On Mr. James' statement, it was decided to leave the matter in abeyance.
" Our Own Battallion.".1
Our Own Battallion." .1 TOWN COUNCIL AND THE 5th WELSH I IN PALESTINE. Prior to the business meeting of the Merthyr Town Council on Tuesday night the Mayor (Mr. N. F. Hankey) said that since the last ordinary meeting of the Council the British forces had won a considerable victory against the Turks in Palestine, and the General Officer Commanding in his report stated that, amongst others, the Welsh did splendidly. They were aware that the 5th Welsh-" our own battalion "-was in- cluded in its ranks, and he thought that it was a source of great pride that their battalion had done so well. On the other hand, amongst other casualties, they had to deplore the death from wounds received in action of the Commanding Officer of the 5th Welsh-Major Southey. Major Southey was well known to them as a very keen and most efficient soldier in the days when soldiering was not thought quite so important as it now was. He went through the Gallipoli campaign with his regiment, and then to Egypt, where he was promoted to the, rank of Lieut.- Colonel, but rather than leave his own men he went back to the rank of Major. He was the kind of man that the country, and particularly Merthyr could ill afford to lose and he would like the Town Clerk to write a letter to Major Southey's father saying how deeply the Council deplored his death, and to express their sym- pathy with Mr. Southey and his family. This was agreed to, all standing.
Ablett at Aberaman.I.
Ablett at Aberaman. I. THE ORIGIN & IDEALS OF THE CENTRAL LABOUR COLLEGE. Ablett's lecture, The Ideals of the C.L.C. given last Sunday was timely and significant in view of the recommendation, frem the S. W .M.F. Executive upon the Agenda of the Annual Con- ference to be held on the 30th of April, that the College be closed and the building sold." In the speaker, the audience had a member of the Executive who disagrees with the majority of his colleagues upon the question, a man who helped to found, and who has worked hard to carry on the institution, and who was able, with the ready language of a quick mind, to detail all the vicissitudes through which it had passed and to present the case for its future and continued existence in a lucid fashion. He narrated how, as a Socialist, he with other I.L.P.-ers at Ruskin College found the specious lies of the professors in contradiction to their workaday experiences; how impossible to them seemed the mutual understanding between em- ployer and employee there advocated; and of how difficult they found it to answer the plau- sible arguments of the trained scholars even though feeling them to be incorrect. Some of their fellow students, overcome by the glamour of a University career, fell captive to the nob- bling" process which was especially pushed for- ward by Lord Curzon and others after the La- bour forward surge in 1906; set themselves to gain the alphabetical decorations for the end of their names which the Universities, in their de- sire to take the potential kick-out of the only working-man's college, now graciously made ob- tainable; and they, in after life, have in many instances sailed into the sure and safe haven of an official job, leaving the vessel of their class to struggle on as best it may. The lecturer showed that many" of the stu- dents had at first an aversion to, and an ignor- ance of, the Marxian Theorilef, which were asso- ciated in their minds with the hard and fast dogmas of the S.D.F. But the need of combat- ting the professors drove the more intractable of the students to read Marx for themselves and slowly they realised that this Socialist had pro- vided for them an efficient armoury. The vision of the necessary class war upon the intellectuat field, the, formation of the Plebs League, with its monthly organ, the consequent strike at Rus- kin College, the appeals made to the rank and file of organised Labour which at last culminated in the taking over of the C.L.C. by the S.W.M.F. and tho.N.U.R,all these develop- mente were described. The remainder of the lecture dealt with the ideals of the movement: The provision of an educational wing to the Labour Movement to supply that theoretical knowledge of the past, present, and future of society in order to enable the workers te realise their trxe position and satisfy their universal desire for the betterment of their lot by taking their part in the fight which must precede it. Another ideal was to completely destroy the capitalist influences which reconciles the worker to his commodity status and fill his mouth with big phrases about what is really an illusory free- dom. The hugeness of this task was convincing- ly demonstrated. The age-long traditional ser- vility of an oppressed class, the virus of patrio- tism inculcated in the national schools, the un- holy alliance between the pulpit and the big pew," and the dope administered daily by the capitalist press are obstacles to progress and pre- vent the worker recognising the present para- sitic nature of the capitalist class an d socially distributing through the pay-office the value of what is socially produced in the mine. The aim of the C.L.C. :Î8, to provide an antidote to the above and, a knowledge of the way out by equip- ping a nucleus of the workers with a, necessary theoretical knowledge to decide the aim and to solve the problems of the Labour movement. In conclusion and in reply to questions, AMett gave many arguments against the proposed closing of the college; showed the cost of keeping it open to be less than one-third of a penny per year per member; spoke of the Executive's re- fusal to print the report and the explanation of the Board of Governors (which would have made the particulars supplied on the Agenda a little less like an uncompleted balance sheet with only the debit side shown); and impressed upon all present the importance of showing at the annual conference their estimate of the indispensability of the Labour College.
IThe Electric Theatre.I
The Electric Theatre. I No prettier or more delightful photo-play has left the .Fox studios than "Little Miss Happi- ness," which topped the bill at the Electric during the initial days of this week. It was one of those plays that lift the cinema occasionally into the realms of the highest art, a delightful, fragile, sweetly pretty thing, toot grips hard hold of one, but which is too subtle to be com- mitted to paper, and can only commiserate with those flickergraph visitors who allowed them- selves to be inveighled away from the Electric by any other attraction during the early days of this week, Bedelia's Bluff," the new Triangle comedy, is even better than many of those delightful burlesques in the past; and "Liberty" is as attractive, as anything cam be that has to hold interest from week to week, and there were quite a number of really good fill-ups. From Thursday on the star attraction is an- other of the great Pro tea spy films, "For France." Although the interest is largely topi- i cal, Protea's exploit this week will be a welcome return when the Great War has ceased to be topical, because of its really splendid qualities to interest and excite., It is as I said last week, a true Dumasque type of story, and so long as the great French novelist can interest so well For France." Love's Cornet," the Triangle comedy, is another item that is alone well worth I' the charge for a best seat at the Electric, and Mary Page still excites my interested wonder and speculation. Next week's big feature from Monday to Wed- nesday is the visit of that marvellous story of the squared-circle, gambling dens and circus, Kent the Fighting Man, for which Bombar- dier Billy Wells played the title part. I have read the book, and it has all the features that go to make a fine exciting sport special film, and I am told that Billy is as fine an actor for the films as he is a fighter, and that both his at- tributes are fully brought out in the film. The fight scene is one of the finest ring fights that has ever been done. Wings and Wheels is the title of the Triangle Comedy. The End of the Trail," a Wm. Farnum Fox story of a fight for love in the far North is the attraction for the second half of the week. It is as strong a story as Jack London's "Burning Daylight was in literature. Willie's Wobbly Ways" is another of the delightful new, Triangles. PLAYGOER. I
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Attack on I.L.P.
Attack on I.L.P. lOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD AND EXPENSES. SHARP CRITICISM BY THE RECTOR OF DOWLAIS. When the re-election of representatives of the Merthyr Board of Guardianst0 the Asylum Visiting Committee was raised at Saturday's meeting of the Board, the Rev. Llew. M. Wil- liams (Rector of Dowlais) questioned the policy of doing so. He said he had come to the con- clusion that, the Local Goverimment Board was going to make a dead set against paying any expenses for delegates representing the board on various bodies. That was to say, they were going to cut down allowances to such an ab- surdly low figure, and no self-respecting indi- dual would accept any payment sor delegation from a public body. Is it absolutely neces- sary for us to send representatives to the Asylum Committee? he asked. Mr..F. T. James (Clerk) replied that as there were a number of poor people in the institution it was advisable to keep in touch with their in- terests by visiting the committee. Delegates would always get their tpain fares, even if there were no margin. Rector: They are doing it (cutting expenses) now. Mr. R. Abraham (Chairman): We have re- ceived no intimation. Rector: You won't -get any intimation until you commit the sin, and then you wil get your ears pinched. (Laughter.) He added: "They cut down the figure to what the auditor thinks sufficient for sustainance charges for a day. I have discovered—and it is a matter for those people to attend to—that really it is a question affecting the whole Labour party in the mining districts of South Wales. I have discovered it is really an attack upon that party, and unfor- tunately in order to get at that particular party they are making others suffer as well." This state of affairs (he went oil) had come to pass through anonymous letters being sent to the auditor. Let that be so, but he didn't see why he and members of public authorities aot con- nected with the I.L.P.—or any other political party for that matter—should be drawn into the business. Mr. T. T. Jenkins: There is no doubt about it, there is a dead set being made against us, and in trying to get at the people they would like, to crush, innocent people are suffering. (Hear, hear.) But he thought it better to go on electing representatives as before, and asked the Rector to accept his suggestion. Rector: I withdraw. Let those who wish to be surcharged be surcharged. Accordingly delegates were appointed as usual.
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IThe Theatre Royal.
I The Theatre Royal. "Peg o' My Heart," the most sweetly cap- tivating, love tinctured comedy ever staged, is doing big business at the Royal this week, as it expected, and as it undoubtedly deserves. This is, if I remember aright, the third visit of J. Hartley Manners' pretty little play to the Mer- thyr Theatre; and each time it has shown a great improvement in presentation. I had ex- pected, because of the havoc that the times have played in theatrical circles as in others, that the caste would inevitably be weakened; it is more than pleasant to find that it has been strength- ened. Miss Ethel O'Shea is a perfect Peg," by artistic instinct and by. nationality; no one but an O'Shea, or no one unpossessed of an equally distinctive national surname, could give that little chiaroscura to this nerfect little picture of the Irish girl as, lonely main philosophicaUy humorous, but with humour that sets the tears perilously near the eyes, as well as brings the laugh heartily to the lips; and the perfect lover, Mr. Wm. Kershaw's Jerry is equally clever- ly true to the book; while the Chichester family never had a better trio of representatives than Mr. H. E. Garden, Miss Ethel Percival and Miss Beatrice Drury. The work of Mr. Geo. Good- win, Mr.W. J. Yeldham, and Miss Hylda Thorne is far above the ordinary. It is a great play wonderfully well done, and everybody is highly appreciative, especially those from down the valley who arrive and depart by 'bus. Every playgoer in Merthyr will echo my "Wel- come back! to clever Miss Lilian Hall Davies, and those other brilliant players of the Watson Mills Company who spent an interesting, enter- taining and instructive few weeks with us just a short time back. It but needs the announce- ment of their return to pack the Royal; when it is added that they are playing two such well- known dramas as "The Night Side of'London (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday) and the still more distinguished The Cigarette Maker's Romance," on Thursday and Friday, to establish a record in box office takings for next week. PLAYGOER.