Pioneer

—————————————— The I.L.P. at Aberfan. ENTHUSIASTIC SEND-OFF ON MONDAY i NIGHT. Merthyr Vale is now coloured red on the map. On Monday evening last some thirty of its best and brightest young lirains-witli a leavening of the ladies—met in a state of suppressed excite- ment at Harvards Cafe, Aberfan, and founded a branch of the I.L.P. If their excitement was suppressed, that of Comrade D. J. Lewie, of Troedyrhiw, Comrade G. Richards, Aberdare, the Federation secretary, and of the four of us who travelled up from Merthyr to give them the advice of veterans, was not so well contained. Here we were seeing a new spiritual child of Socialism being born, and we were all most anxious to caution the founders against that ex- cess of enthusiasm that lead s to hasty and facile action, that is repented during the leisure of painfully and laboriously unweaving of the tansiled skein of our own making- Our ideal is always, of course, to be in at the formation of a branch that will start right, keep right and end right on that day when the constituents of the Socialist Itepublic of the world will sing The Red Flag in Esperanto, in signalling the end of the thraldom of Capitalism, and in- augurating the dawn of Justice, Fraternity and Equality amongst all peoples and tribes. It is iJ. good ideal, and if human nature makes it an improhable one, we are still sufficiently optimis- tic to hope that the next will be better. At all events, we fall gave good advice, and what more could the Aberfaneers desire of U8. We told them how very necessary the study of Social Sciences were, how the spirit of Socialism in social contact and interchange and sympathy was; and Hugh Jones, that splendid old war- horse of the I.L.P. in the Welsh Vallies, pleaded in the mellowness of his experience of the world and its Welsh inhabitants for the exercise of that spirit of toleration that is the most diffi- cult of the social virtues, and that the im- petuousness of youth inspired by a great ideal can never see with that distinctness that men who, like Mr. Jones, have been through the mill of the most bitter intolerance, acquire. Nay, we .went further, all of us—with but one trifling and not to be considered exception (who only proved the rule)—we told those young men that the I.L.P. was a religious organisation, and that only in religion was brotherhood to be found. Anyone can thus see that if the Aber- faneers exercise a super-human sagacity in se- lecting their officials; burn the midnight oil studying Bax and Morris and Marx and Boudin and 'M:acdonald-with light collateral reading of the whole of the I.L.P., Fabian, B.S.P. end S.L.P. pamphlets and publications, as well as the authors included in the Kerr and Sonnen9- chenien libraries meet together for a discussion into which they introduce the best of spirits and the psychology of the humanities and top it by regarding their I.L.P.ism with the fervour of the early Christian*, and a tolerance for the views of ail who differ from them; they will have an I.L.P. of which they may well be proud—and incidentally they will have made of their meet- ing-place a place of Pilgrimage as sacred to Socialists as is Mecca to the Musselmen; a place to which the physicians of the Utopia of to- morrow will order their pessimistic patients. for miraculous cure; as does the Catholic priest re- commend Lourdes to-day. Merthyr Vale and Aberfan may do all of this, and we who have been responsible in robbing our own branches of this claim to historic honour, told them eo; ergo, our visit was happy and well timed. It is to be hoped that our new comrades appreciated this. Of cotjrse, they thanked us for telling them these things; though they ought not really to have taken the trouble, it was a real pleasure—as lecturing others on their duties and opportunities always is, somehow. And it seemed as though they did at least heed-some of our remarks, for they chose as their officers Guardian William Jones (chairman), "Billy" Williams (secretary) and R. Evans (treasurer). A good start, I really believe, and if they only take advantage of George Richards off,&r of speakers, and the Merthyr comrades promises along the same lines they should do well. At all counts here's to the success of the now httlc branch—mav it be little only a little time and, to be selfish, mav it be the source of the dis- tribution of a big bundle of "Pionr" from now on.

Pontycymmer Notes. Good Going. I At the I.L.P. branch meeting on Wednesday last an interesting paper on "War after the War was read by Comrade A., Pearce. A very interesting discussion followed m which » goodly proportion of the 40 members present took part. We were pleased to find four of our lady com- rades taking an active interest. It was decided to hold a social in the near future. Our mem- bership is etill steadily increasing, and to-day we have turned the 90 mark. Any members ex- periencing difficulty in obtaining their copies of the" Pioneer" or "Labour Leader" should' get in touch with the secretary, W. Hengoed. War Aims. As in other districts the War Aimers, who visited the Rink, have left us wondering what the War Aims 'are. The whole affair was a fiasco—no resolution being submitted and no questions answered. Frank Hodge's Views. Frank Hodges, the Miners Agent, speaking at a meeting of the workmen oh the "Down Tools Policy and the Comb Out," declared that he was not in favour of the Federation becoming a, recruiting agent. He had been in favour of Peace by Negotiation" this past nine months, and had supported the Stockholm Conference. If he had his way he would have two ballots: (1) Are you in favour of the war-yes or no and (2) Are you in favour of Peace by Negotiations? Then, they would know where they were. Mr. Hodges, in the course of his remarks, referred to the C.O. as men who knew what they were after, and who were suffering for their convic- tions. Land Nationalisation. On Tuesday last week Mr. Joseph Hyder de- livered an interesting lime-light lecture on "Land Nationalisation." The meeting,. which was held under the auspices of the local Co- operative Education Department, attracted a good attendance. i

I Avan Valley Notes. I (By DEMOCRITUS). J I" ,Dick's" Big Task. I Next week Mr. R. C. Wallhead is to deliver a series of lectures in the.Avon Valley, under the auspices of the Co-operative Society. Mr. Wall- head, an all who have heard him know, is a gifted speaker, with a persuasive argumentative eloquence calculated to pierce a heart of flint, but his power of oratory will be tested to its ut- most capacity to effect a reform in the dividend- hunting crowd who call themselves Co-operators. The majority of our local Co-operators know as much about the ttivo functions of Co-operation as a Tory workingman knows about Socialism. Business ie conducted on the principle of laisser- faire, and little hopes of improvement will be effected until lthe antiquated fossils who con- stitute some of the management committees are pensioned off. What prlnelplc, of-Co-operation ie involved in the practice of allowing certain members to carry away tons of goods to non-members every quar- ter, whilst they themselves buy their commodi- ties with private traders ? Some of the tlocal Co-ops., Taibach in particu- lar, have emerged, or are in the process of emerging, from the thraldom of an obsolete cus- tom, and are devoting a moiety of their surplus funds to the cause of education. The society is bound to benefit by such wise expenditure, for the more knowledge the Co-operator has the better equipped lie, or she, will be for the intel- ligent conduct of the business. It is to be hoped that Mr. Wallhead will be able to iafuse some life into the dry bones of the atrophied societies. Tai Mainwaring—War Aimer." We breathed some ozone at Bethany Square last Saturday sight. Really, if matters continue to evolve as at present, this Square will become an historic site fit to rank with Trafalgar. How the gods did laugh, end how .poor Pater did squirm. Fancy the impudence of the thing: these daring I.L.P.ers—these men who don't be- lieve in Gcd and war, presuming to encourage one of their number, to wit, Tal Mainwaring, to one of theii- ini?iiii b pi- to, w* ascend the platform of the War Aims Committee and expose the War Aims speakers in their nakedness to a vociferating and hugely delighted crowd The ignorant lot. The- oh! but it was glorious; spiffing! Tal let out right from the s houlder and reached the spot every time. Mr. Pater, figuratively speaking, was in tatters, and the War Aims a mythical incubus by the time he had finished. Good luck to the War Aims people to continue in their good work. Why Not? I- After a loag period of political apathy trades unionists in the Swansea District haTe begun to think that they deserve a better Parliamentary representative than their present member, and some have gone so far as to whisper Harry Davies (Cwmavon) as a candidate. Well, if they are wise in their generation that whisper will soon develop into a shout, for unquestionably,- no one has put so much work in the constituency as Mr Davies, and it would be difficult to get an abler, a more sincere, a more disinterested, and a more unassuming candidate. Mr. Davies is a staunch I.L.P.er, and with the Co-operation of Trades Unionists and Sialists he ought to be returned with ease. Mr. Fairchild, and Sorra Melody (?). I Mr. Fairchild, who spoke at the New Docker's Hall on Sunday evening is a short, da-pper gen- tleman, but he has immenee mental stature, and, if available, branches of the I.L.P. would do well to engage, his services. He spoke on War and Democracy to an overcrowded hall, and al- though no great orator, his remarks had an in- tense effect on his hearers. The only draw-back of the meeting was its singing which resembled more a festival of tom-cats than human har- mony. It is a pity that in Wales the I.L.P. should so neglect this necessary and becoming adjunct to an evening lecture. Why not get programmes printed with words and sol-fa, so that an opportunity be given of properly learn- ing the tunes; and, in heaven's name, get some- body to pitch the tunes in their 'proper keys, and not as in last Sunday's meeting, pitching them so high as to make it impossible for short per- sons to sing them. A Query. If Alsace-Lorraine is the chief bone of con- tention between the belligerent nations to-day, how it it that the ferocious elderly gentlemen who want the prosecution of the war to the last young man, did not in 1870, when they them- selves were of military age, put on soldiers' uni- form and stop Gormany from annexing these provinces ?

The Tongue of our Fathers [" Word Book of the English Tongue," George Routledge and Sons, Ltd., London. Mock leather, 1/6 net. ] Messrs. George Routledge, that well-known publishing house, has sent u's a copy of their new Word Book of the English Tongue," in mock leather, 1/6. We are grateful. At first! I thought that it was a he-who-runs may- read dictionary, and that the word book title had merely been used because the editor was too honest or too laav to give us Greek or Latin roots—a useless part of the dictionary except for pedants. I apologise. The editor, or com- poser, I am not sure which term to me, is a man with a strong love of Anglo-Saxon English I —and a sense of, hnmóur. He claims that modern English as displayed by some of its ex- ponents is not English at all but sheer French. Personally, I do not care a damn—I am not sure of the derivation of that word—whether a word comes from French, Teutonic or Chinook roots, if it effectively embodies an idea, and gives euphonious sweetness to the running of the sen- tence; but I am prepared to admit that "not to bo sneezed at" as a Saxonised synonym, for "pass- able" will strike many people as more colloquial able will strike many people a. more colloquial than tho" stock loan. word" passable. Again, I can imagine that marly will delight in a collec- tion of synonyms that give us such a choice as this- "Money, brass (all worship), gold, silver, < tin wealth the needful'; wlierewith(al), (raise the) wind: (the almighty) dollar; the o-uilders sinews of war; (opens to the) golden key." I do not know whether that alternative to money the guilders," is a subtle attempt to libel our friends Cole and Arnott; but I can well imagine that writers and speakers would cultivate what is known ns "raciness in utter- ance from a study of The English Word Book."

PROPAGANDA, NOT PROFIT, is the motto of the "Pioneer Press." If you are alive to the tremendous social improve- ments that the Party tho" Pioneer" represents stands for, then it is your duty to all that all your Trades Union, Co-operative, and General Printing comes to Williams' Square, Merthyr, the Home of the Pioneer."   < I DOWlAIS CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY, Limited, j J 16, 17, 18, and 19, Union Street, Dowlais. DRAPERY DEPT, 1 I We are now showing a Large Assortment of New Goods for the I ooming Season I I: Household Linen. Blankets. QuHts. Sheets. | ) Carpets and Rugs. I I I: MILLINERY DEPT, I I Costumes. Jackets. Blouses. Ladies and || | ChHdren's Mit!<nery. ? | VALUE AND QUALITY GUARANTEED IF YOU BUY AT I I !6, !7, 18 & 19, Umon Street, Dowlais. j I PantscaHo?, Dowfals. Caeharris, Dowlais. | 1 High Street, Penydarren. I 1 Station Terrace, Bedlinog. | Lt'_II It II -It -et It .-It_i NATIONAL Amalgamated LABBMEM' UNION, I | Registered Office-I ST. DAYID'S PLACE, RUTLAND STREET, SWANSEA. ITne Live Fighting Union for South Wales. | We Don't Merely List Benefits on Paper—We PAY Them. | General Secretary: JOHN TWOMEY. I Organiser: "BOB" WILLIAMS, 220 Blackfrlars Road, London, S. E. District Secretaries: A. BARTON, 6 Stuart Street, Docks, Cardiff; JOHN O'LEARY, Century Institute. Winmill Street, Newport, Mon.; Coun. J. POWLESLAND, 10 Picton Place, Swansea ALL CLASSES CATERED FOR-MALE AND FEMALE. Affiliated to thfa National Transport Workers' Federation, Trade Union Congress, and National labour Party. Approved under the National Health Insurance Acts.

Theatre Royal. If yon have not met Abe Potaek and MatrrtK Perlmutter at the Royal this week you are to be pitied. Potash and Perlmutter," of which they are the principal characters, is as distinc- tively above the senseless nonsense of average comedy, or the inane jingle of revue, as axe the, novels of Charles Dickens above the rubbishy I)ot-b-ollors of the penny libraries that pass for literature these days. Alojitogtie Glass, in writing it, wrote better than he knew. "Potash and Perlmutter will be a favourite play in the days when our children's children look upon the theatre as a necessary part of education in the., Socialist state. They may then need a foot-note to their programmes explanatory of the mys- terious balefulness of the American lawyer in his hunt for commission; they will .need no ex- planation of the epic to friendship that Glass has written under his brilliant dialogue and spark- ling comedy; no introduction to the inherent nobleness of these two gentlemen who were per- petually quarrelling, but who were prepared to face oankruptcy united rather than split when the honour of one is disinterestedly extended to a fellow being in direst need. It is a wondrous story, and as it is told by Fred W. Ring, Wm. Allison, H. W. Radford, Gladys Newton, and Beatrice Grosvenor, it moves you to oonstaat laughter, but often enough there is a. lllmp in the throat and a moisture in, the corner of thel eye that is due to other reasons than hilarity. Oh, it is a classic; a play to rhapsodise, over; and aibove all things a. play to see and enjoy whilst the chance lasts. The chance passes with 1917, for before the dawn of next year the play will be withdrawn from the boards. Take the hint while there is still time. The 1forton Powell Company will be back next week in their powerful two-house-a-night dramas, and it will be with some amount of expectancy that we shall look forward to this clever little company's work in Lady Godiva that has been chosen for next week. This great tragic historical drama is well known, and well loved of all theatre-goers; and it ie at the re- quest of a number of Merthyr Theatre Royal patrons that it is being staged. I know that it will admirably fit their style of forceful playing, and I mv" ftelf shall go early to the Royal next week. PLAY co us.

Maesteg Notes. Co-operation. Under the auspices-of the Caerau and Maesteg Co-operative Society a series of lectures is being arranged by the Education Committee during the winter by well known speakkers upon popu- lar subjects. The first of the scries wa.s given at the Workmen'a Hall, Caer?u, on Thursday, Mr. W. BetLey plesJdlug, when Mr. T. C. Mor- ris (president of the Rhondda Laoour Party) nd-I drosse.d a well attended meeting upon Demo- cracy and Co-operation." He urged Trades Unions to adopt the C.W.S. as their bankers, I thereby diverting to the interests of the workers. capital now being utilized to enrich tho Capital-l ist class. The commissariat was vital to men on strike, and by the Co-operative trading system workers robbed their employers of the economic weapon in defeating strikes. Mr. Morns will give another lecture in January.

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Pontypridd Notes., A Full Programme. Last Sunday night week at the I.L.P. Hall, Graig Square, Comra.de Harrop, of London, N.C..F. organiser, was the speaker. He sooke in an optimistic tone of the future of the C.O.'s, Comrade E. J. Williams presided. On Sunday evenmg last Comrade Owen Hughes took the place of Noah Tromans (unavoidablv absent) and lectured on "Socialism in Britain." Dan Fletcher, Styles, Andrews, Ivor Morgan, Jenkins and Josiah Jones took part in the discussion. Jesse Humphreys presided over a good attend- ance, and one new member was made. Walton Newbold's lectures, the second and third being on "Economic Basis of Imperialism" and "Arma meirtg, Industry and the War," were presided over by Pryoo Va-Dghan and David Lewis re- spectively. A good impression has been, created- and good result* are anticipated from them. A Conflict. Mr. F. Skirrow. of Keighley, addressed the local Trades Council at their last meeting on "Taxation of Land Values." A lively encounter (orally) ensued, when Comrade Hughes criticized the Single Tax itS being no panacea for poverty, the lecturer getting quite "ratty" but after- wards apologilir^. Industrial History. An industrial history class is held every Mon- day evening at the Labour Exchange at 7 p.m. The teacher is Mr. E. J. Williams, ex-C.L.C. student. Everyone is cordially invited.