Pioneer

I The Workers' and Soidiers' Council. I CONFERENCES TO BE HELD IN SWANSEAI AND LONDON AGAIN. Representation of London Conference. I The bodies which were to be represented at the London Conference were Trade Unions 18' Trades and Labour Councils, 41; Trade Union branches, 162; London District Committees of Trade Unions, 9; Trade Union Shop Committees 10; Local Labour parties, 4; Co-operative So- cieties, Guilds, etc., 11; I.L.P. branches,41; B.S.P. branches, 27; Local branches Workers' and Soldiers' Councils, 3; Discharged Soldiers' and Sailors' branches, 3; other Democratic or- ganisations, 112. Representation at Swansea Conference. At Swansea the bodies to be represented in- cluded 26 Trades Councils, and 125 Trade Union branches, of which 66 were miners' lodges, and 13 N.U.R. In the evening the Executive Committee of the Swansea Labour Association met and resolved to inform the Home Secretary that the Conference would be held in Swansea, to demand adequate protection of the right of free speech, and to approach the Watch Committee on the acquies- cence of the police while the rioting was in pro- gress. A successful Conference was held in the Kingsley Hall, Bristol. Mr. S. Oaten (Typogra- phical Association) presided. One hundred and twenty delegates atttended, representing 100 or- ganizations, including 7 Trades Councils, 37 Trade Union bodies, and 20 I.L.P. branches and Co-operative Guilds. Arrangements are proceeding for holding further conferences in London and Swansea. TOM QUELCH, (for the, Provisional Committee). ■ I f

"Liberty to Know, to Utter, and to Argue." LONDON, Newcastle, Swansea—three new smears, and three of the ugliest, soiled the pages of Eng- lish constitutional history last Sunday. Ugly and sinister they are, from whatever standpoint they are regarded. The loss of the meetings to the peace movement is negligible, since all at- tending them would have been the converted, and the injuries inflicted, and the irrational na- ture of the means employed to make those meet- ings impossible has done more to strengthen their opinions than would the best argued speeches of national orators. Nor was the studied indifference of the police to the rule of mob-law the worst feature of the outbreaks in our opinion. The argument for or against the police activity on our behalf has been put so well by the Liberal Press that it is unnecessary to do more than to recapitulate it, to receive the assent of every right-thinking individual no matter what his views on the war, and the peace movement may be. It has been pointed out that these gatherings are either legal or ille- gal either within or without the provisions of the Defence of the Realm Act, which is obvious. And the conclusion from it is equally clear, if within the regulations of that Aet then the case for protection is unanswerable; if without, then the meetings should have been prohibited, and these horrible outbreaks prevented in that way. The Government and police authorities have to face that indictment ultimately, and we are pre- pared to leave the matter where it is until saner times shall bring the demand for that explana- tion. The ugliest feature of the whole business to us is the ease with which public passion can be aroused to consent to the commission of this breach of our most-bbasted-of liberty of free- speech by hooligans, incited to the task, if not pecuniarly enghged, by people with axes to grind. The liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience," said Mil- ton, is above all liberties," and that great sen- timent so grandly expressed by the poet has been the touchstone of re formers throughout the in- tervening centuries; and for the last hundred years we have assumed as a matter of common knowledge and irrefragible fact that the senti- ment had become so deeply organised into our national temperament that it was ineradicable from the humblest of our citizens. The war has proved how superficial those fundamental reali- ties of our national greatness have been. "The liberty to know" is even forbidden to us; "to utter and argue," is suppressed with hired ruf- fians, and the fury of bestiality, and that with- out so much as a protest from the docile prole- tariate, or a gasp from the professional classes. Not one in a dozen of these knew what were the objects of those conferences, not one in a thou- sand could even plausibly sophisticate the argu- ments by which we justify our position had they listened to them. No, they were whipped into a blind fury by the misrepresentations of their enemies and ours, and that blind fury urged them to connive at, if not to actively partici- pate in, the scrapping of the very bases on which the whole of our civil life are founded. We have been wrong in attributing to the mass a sense of critical appreciation; and in assuming that the social ethics were deep moulded int othe con- stitutions of our people. These things have been but hypocritical prattlings in our genera- tions; and the throes of crises were but needed to strip away the fallacies from the faces of our people. In future we dare no more trust to these things again, than we dare rely upon the intervention of the forces that authority has created to protect us. We are treated as out- laws by the latter with the consent of the for- mer. But our movement is too strong and too far advanced to be brought up s'harp by these sprags in the wheels of the chariot of Demo- cracy. But we shall have to face the problem of our relationship to the State machinery and its relationship to us, in the light of the experi- ences of the past week-end, and of our growing strength. We have weapons strong enough to compel our position upon the attention of ths authorities; and those weapons we shall have to wield in our own defence. Public opinion, like Napoleon's god, is on the side of the best armed force, and perhaps, when we drop our quiet ac- ceptance of incitement against us, and secure the punishment of the inciters; when we cease to ap- peal to organised Society for protection against the onslaughts of its sweepings, public opinion will again put on its- mask of hypocrisy and con- cede us the "liberty to know, to utter and to argue freely according to conscience."

Political Notes. BY F. W. JOWETT, M.P. A white paper has been issued this week stat- ing the conditions under which an additional 2/6 per week will be given to old age pensioners. The statement is a very brief one, but it is nevertheless difficult to understand, because it is carefully framed to exclude: (1) pensioners who are already receiving an extra 2/6 a week on the ground of special hardship, and, (2) pen- sioners who have been allowed to retain their pensions although their income is over the statu- tory limit by reason of the fact that they are working, specially, on account of the war, or they are receiving separation allowances for sol- dier or sailor relatives. Setting aside the technical points, in order to make the present position clear, the effect of the new regulations is to grant an extra 2/6 a week to all old age pensioners whose income, exclu- sive of their present pension, does not exceed 12/11 per week, and, providing, that, the pen- sioner is not already receiving an extra 2/6 per week on the ground of special hardship. X It is estimated that the number of pensioners .who will be entitled to an extra 2/6 under the new regulations will amount to 350,000, and the cost of the concession is estimated at £ 2,250,000 a year. With regard to this estimate the point of importance is that so many as 350,000 old people in this 20th Century are in receipt of less than 12 li a week and will regard an extra 2/6 as a veritable god-send whilst, on the other hand, l on the other hand, the gross income brought under review for in- come tax assessment purposes has increased from £ 1,167,000,000 for the year 1913-14 to £ 1,670,000,000 for the year 1916-17. The sinister political methods favoured by the Prime Minister and used by him ever since he became a Minister are likely to cost the country very dearly in the long run. He relies mainly on his dexterity in buying 'off the opposition of the various property interests affected by his proposals for his success-that is when mere bluff fails him. He began his ministerial career by a shameful concession to shipowners when he gave up for the advantage and profit the Plim- soll load-line. His next exploit as a Minister was to bluff the railwaymen into signing away their liberty of action for seven years, getting little or nothing in return for it, in 1907. In 1911 he bribed the railway directors to go a little —a very little—way to meet the men's leaders by promising to give them legislative power to increase their charges. To get his famous peo- ple's budget through he knocked the .bottom out of the land tax proposal by imposing an expen- sive valuation procedure on the country and whittling down the land tax to next to nothing. He bargained with one vested interest after another to get his insurance bill through, with the result that doctors are now in receipt of splendid incomes from panel patients whom, for the most part, they treat as inferiors to their ordinary patients, only to be seen in rapid suc- cession within certain limited hours each day. The Prime Minister's latest deal is embodied in the Corn Production Bill now before Parlia- ment. Sir F. E. Smith pleaded that the main provisions of the Bill must be regarded as a bar- gain when he was opposing the minimum wage amendment last week. The figure of 25/- repre- sented a bargain, he said, and could not be al- tered. A bargain, that is to say, with the landed interest for the agricultural labourers were not consulted. In return for a, guarantee of high prices for their produce at the expense of the consumer or the State the farmers have agreed to pay a minimum wage equal in value to 14/6 a week at pre-war prices. In this way the affairs of the country are being conducted. This bargaining, huckstering way of doing things, which is the outstanding feature of all the Prime Minister's legislative activities, is also the leading feature in his dealings with persons. His Government is the result of a series of deals first with one party and then with another. It is a ramshackle government, the members of which work continually at cross purposes and contradict each other with the greatest uncon- cern. Far-reaching decisions of the greatest im- portance are arrived at during hurried conversa- tions that take place whilst the great man is walking from his motor car to the train. New departments are established without forethought and the number of Ministers grows day by day. The expenditure on offices and staffs mounts higher and higher without a thought of the in- evitable crash that will come in due time. One comforting thought alone is it possible to cherish in the midst of all the wreckage of the time, viz., that the wreckage is so complete it cannot be patched up or repaired. Peaceable or other- wise it will be nothing less thap, a revolution the future will bring. Already there are signs that the ramshackle Ministry cannot hold together for long. The dis- concerting effect of the Russian revolution is compelling t^he Government to face the question of applying democratic methods to the solution of international problems. The presence of no less than three of the most deadly opponents of democratic progress that are to be found in this country, in the very War Cabinet itself, is driv- ing a wedge into the Lloyd George Government. Cur/on, Carson and Milner cannot change their skins or be born again. At a time when the claims of peoples rather than Kings and Thrones are in the minds of men this trinity of Junkers are out of step with forces that are taking the field. Their followers, too, have no sense. They will insist on forcing them into awkward situa- tions, such as the one now existing over Mr. Henderson's journey to Paris with Macdonald for company. To-night (Wednesday) the adjournment is to be moved with the object of attacking the Gov- ernment for allowing Henderson to go to Paris and make provisional arrangements for an In- ternational Socialist and Labour Conference. What will be the result of the debate no one can say. The Government may fall, or Hender- son may resign., The important point, however, is not the Paris incident itself, it is, that disin- tegrating influences are at wor k. Great diffi- culties developed by the war—which cannot be shirked or compromised because vital principles are also involved—have to be met by this Gov- ernment and all other Governments concerned in the war. It is a mighty struggle that is begin- ning. I wish the people of this country under- stood it.

The Theatre Royal. I The concluding play of the present visit of the Watson Mill Company to the Theatre Royal, Merthyr. will be long remembered by the many playgoers who have been privileged to sit through the performance this week. Certainly I did not think that Mr. Watson Mill could rise to such heights of sensational work as he has done in A Warning to Women," which in many re- spects recalls the sensational character creations of Guy Boothby, Sax Rohmer, and largely, too, the 11 Barrabas of Marie Corelli's book of that name. It is much more powerful than any of his other works that I have seen; though there could be no doubting whose work it is from the particular touch that is his. The etchings are in his best and most sympathetic style. The pre- sentation, too, is admirable, all our old favour- ites of the company doing the very best that is in them. Bernard Mervyn, Miss Glanmor and the rest of the company will leave Merthyr on this occasion with a still greater number of ad- mirers, who will look forward to their reappear- ance at the cosy little theatre with warm thoughts. The minstrel entertainment last Friday proved a bumping success, but no more than it deserved, for the whole entertainment was far above ama- teur level. I sincerely congratulate the Dow- lais Minstrels on their talent, and their stage- manager on his ability. Next week is to offer a welcome change from drama, for Mr. Rea has secured that delightful musical burlesque, "Simple Life," as his holiday attraction. Simple Life has all the charm of revue, wedded to the smoothness and sequence of musical comedy; and the company that is to play it here includes such well-known "stars" as Sid Kerby and Jennie Russell, Vicky Serraid, Dick Henderson and Arthur Laurence. Simple Life is certain to be the big draw of Bank Holi- day week, and I strongly advise booking early as the only certain way of securing a good seat. PLAYGOER.

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Statement of the Russian Delegates. 1 WORKERS' AND SOLDIERS' COUNCIL- t (To the District Conferences of the Worked and Soldiers' Councils). Deair Comrades, We regret very much not to have the pleas0 of being present at your conference. Permit us to send you the sincerest greetIngs While in Russia, we read a telegram from Londo that in the United Kingdom there was a strong movement in favour of the formation of a Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Delegates. Great was our satisfaction. Certainly we iindly stood that although bearing the same name 28 that which grew so popular in Russia, it cannot be the same thing given the difference in Polil tical, social, and other conditions of life iB btb countries. Nevertheless, there must be a common ground of wants, feelings and ideO8be- tween the Russian and British Councils. l?, being in yourountry we were so happy as meet some of the organisers of your movemsD?t to speak with them and so we, arrived to the o elusion that the Councils on the British soil a making progress. We are convinced that these Councils forrned to a certain degree under the influence or the great Russian Revolution are the legitim3^ ] fruits of the development of the Labour DeJO: cracy in your country. They represent an I portant step towards the genuine Government the people, for the people and by the people- J At the root of all political institutions lie the immense social problems, questions of a b,5t, ter social organisation, of a realisation of t?e human iMdividuality in a society of Orkilig comrades, free from every struggle of class and from classes themselves. Therefore y?? Councils in their natural growth and in their natural inter-dependence will be able to g6?  nellclem of a mighty and universal sod#11^ fabric. As to the present, their immediate ê' ject, we cherish this hope, should be the P?? gation of the great idea of Peace; this Peace t ? which humanity longs so much, which is destiB to reconcile and unite the Labour Dernoci*aoiO$ of the world and an earnest of which will be tb International Socialist Conference shortly to bO held in Stockholm. The Russian Delegation— H. ERLICH, ] J. GOLDERBERG, M. ROLTSSANOFIlri 1 A. SMIRNOFF.

Women's International Council of Socialist & Labour Organisations (BRITISH SECTION). .I j POLICY OF THE COUNCIL. I The following resolutions were unanimonS I passed at an extraordinarv meetino- of the Con cil held on Friday. July 27th, 191-7 L—This Council declares itself in favour ?{ and undertake to work for an agreement ? tween the peoples of the world for the lIshment of a general peace which shall not te0d to either domination by or over any na,tio?-? J seizure of their national p06sessions-a P    without forcible annexations or penal iiid"exn i- J ties, and based on the right of nations ? cide their owii affairs. 2.—The Council re-affirms the declaration v. the Berne Women's International Socialist 8b}ø ference, and pledges itself to use every pOISSl effort to bring thi&.wa¥ to an end. A With this object in view it supports Women's Peace Crusade and urges its affilh^T societies to join in any local or national eff^r which may be made to secure an early peace negotiations based on the principles laid dowJ1 in the first resolution. u -u

Correspondents are requested to condense. their letters as much as possible.  Letters of a personal character will not be inserted. d r' The Editor wishes it to be distinctly un  stood that he will not hold himself response for the opinions or statements of eorrespondeO? Mr undertake to return rejected manuscript Correspondents MUST wriw on one side of paper only.

NOT OUR "JUSTICE." TO THE EDITOR. Dear Sir,—May I crave the indulgence of  small space in your columns. This Le-ag1^ (Home Rule for India League) has issue a lea"0 entitled the Coming Storm," which is a J"?' print of an article by Mrs. Annie Besant "New India." There is reference therein t??. paper called Justice," which is the paper p^11,0' lished in India with a policy favourable to British bureaucracy. J! Unfortunately, misunderstanding has aris0j* over here with reference to "Justice," the P9, per formerly the official organ of the Social yK mocratic Party, which for some years was edi by Mr. H. M. Hyndman and now by Mr. H. tbe Lee. I desire to have it made clear that ef "Justice published in England is not the PaP referred to in Mrs. Besant's article. The lish paper Justice has always been in fa," of the claims of the Indian people govern! oJ! themselves. Apologising for trespassing up of your space, but it is in view of the importance of the matter,—I am, yours sincerely, JOHN SCURJ, Hon. beo-> Heme Rule for India Leag11 1, Robert Street, Adelphi, W.C., July 27th, 1917. 1. WHO WILL OBLIGE? TO THE EDITOR. t Dear 8ir,-Kindly insert this in your n issue, that is to ask any one of your readers to save the P)oneer after they. -b ,,0 read it, and just put a little string round It va also the following address: Gunner D. 'rig?itbi 114344, H.G.A., 70 Siege Battery, B.?- F.l .France, who was a faithful reader of same up the time of leaving dear old Wales. T-be'c'1*5 also the postage which I would gladly reP WHEN I return. kjpd Trusting this will strike the eye of some ,?' .?ct friend, and if so, I feel sure that the Pi'O]aeer will bear fruit here. Wishing the paper ,e,:r success,—I am, etc., RHONDDAI Somewhere in France, July 23rd, 1917.

At a meeting of the Birmingham Trades ? r?ttC* At a meoting of the Birmingham Thades e 011 cil on Saturday a heated discussion took pla~^op.. a proposal to send delegates to the Soldiers ?pj Workers' Conference meeting in Birrningbamat, August 18th. An amendment to remit 'the ter to the branches was lost by 38 votes to ,49,, and the resolution was carried.