Pioneer

Mr. Woolf replies to Marx Critic. /> PAGE 3.

.Political Notes I f By F. W. Jowett, M'.P. .jf—: THE LANSDOWNE LETTER. I Lord Lansdowne, iIil. his letter published to the world last week, takes up the same attitude regarding the war aims of the Allies as the I.L.P. :and other bodies that stand for peace by negotiation. He sees, as we have seen all along, that the only way to shorten the war is to make it clear to the people of Germany that the peace terms of the Allies are based on jus- tice and are free from all taint of Imperialism. He includes no territorial claims against the Central Powers in his statement of War Aims. He throws over, absolutely, the policy of the "knock-out blow." The five points he seeks to establish in order to make, the road to peace I easier are the following: — 1.—That we do not desire the annihiKation of Germany as a Great Power; 2.—That we do not seek to impose upon her people any form of government other than that of their own choice; 3.—That, except as a legitimate war mea- sure, we have no desire to deny to Germany her place among the great commercial com- munities of the world; 4.-That we are prepared, when the war is over, to examine in concert with other Powers the group of international problems, some of them of recent origin,* which are connected with the question of the freedom of the seas"; 5.—That we are prepared to enter into an international pact under which ample oppor- tunities would be afforded for the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means. SECRET HISTORY OF LANSDOWNE I LETTER. It is freely stated in conversation between members of the House of Commons that Lord Lansdowne embodied the substance of the letter he sent to the co Daily Telegraph last week is. a meUlortúdum lie sfulamtaxi to the Cabinet before he left the Ministry a year ago. If so, he gave the Government a lead then which if it had been taken would have prevented the loss of all the lives that have been sacrificed from that day to this. The Central Powers were then willing and anxious to make peace. There is every reason to believe they would make peace, rtill on those terms, although the military posi- tion is now much more favourable to them. Even if it were not so the Allies would have gained enormously if the Lansdowne policy— which was also the I.L.P. PcJiey-had been adopted, for, not only would it have strengthen- ed the peace party in Germany and Austria, but it would probably have prevented the collapse of Russia. Because the Allies have persistently rejected the appeals of Russia for a, revision of war aims and a people's peace, Russia, war- weary and famine-s t ricken, has been driven to seek peace separately, although, Russia wanted, and still wants a general peace. WILSON'S POSITION. President Wilson's message to Congress will greatly assist the war party in Germany, although in substance it is an endorsement of Lord Lansdowne's policy in regard to war aims. President Wilson disclaims, as Lord T-ansdowne. does, the intention to interfere in the internal affairs either of Germany or of Austria. He will have nothing to do with plans to impair or to re-arrange the Austro-Hungairian Empire. There is, moreover, to be no penalties inflicted on enemy nations. All he asks is that the peoples of those Empires should, presumably through their respective Parliaments, assume the respon- sibility for their countries' engagements when peace is arranged. With regard to freedom of. the aeas President Wilson was emphatic as to its necessity whilst Lord Lansdowne only included it as one of the international questions for exam- ination. i AN UNFAIR INDICTMENT. It is not the substance of President Wilson's speech that will be commented on and used in the formation of public opinion, but the phrases in which he condemned Germany as the villain among nations alone responsible for the war and all the evil the war has brought upon mankind. Germany, he affected to regard as the home of combined intrigue and force without conscience or honour or capacity to keep its engagements. He was careful on this occasion, as he has been on previous occasions to make a clear distinc- tion between the ruling classes of Germany and the German people, but, even so, President Wil- son's indictment was one-sided and unfair. The late corrupt Russian Government had its share in bringing about the war, and* in view of the revelations of the Russian secret docu- ments recently published to the world, President Wilson has no excuse for speaking of Germany as the only home of intrigue. The conscience and honour of the late rulers of Russia are at least as much open to condemnation as are those of the ruling classes of Germany. What could be more dishonourable, or more cynical, than the passage in one of the ,Russian documents which refers t,olthe Roumanian military disaster as "not unfavofurabl-e to the political interests of Russia? And what intrigue could be more at variance with the principles which President Wilson declared that America intends to observe in the settlement of peace terms, than the in- trigue between Great Britain, France, Russia and Italy which led to the secret treaty by which the first three of these powers agree to Italy an- nexing Trentinoi and Southern Tyrol, Istria, Dalmatia, certain islands in the Grecian Arohi- pelago, and territory in Asila Minor and Africa? The war party in Germany will have so much splendid material for denouncing President Wil- son's unfairness in overlooking all the intrigues of Allied Governments—and especially the share of the late corrupt Russian Government in these nefarious operations—that the substance of the President's speech, which is essentially a repu- diation of the war aims of the Allied Govern- ments, will be hidden from the German people. « BOLSHEVICS "MERTHYR" POLICY. I The Bolshevios, whatever else may be said of j them, and of course much is said of them that is far from being true, have a way of going straight to the heart of things. Their idea, of representative government as applied to the management and control of the administrative departments of State, for instance, is thoroughly democratic and sound. They have announced that each Government department will be placed under the management of a committee of repre- sentatives. Each committee "will elect its own chairman. The chairmon of the various com- mittees will form a Cabinet. This is the policy adopted at the Merthyr Conference, as the I.L.P. alternativ to, the present system of Cabi- net Government. GERMANS ON LORD ROBERT CECIL. The German Minister for Foreign Affairs ad- ministered a well deserved rebuke to Lord Robert Cecil in the course of his recent speech in the Main Committee of the German Reichstag. t)bat Lord Salis- One would think," he said, that Lord Salis- bury's son, having from childhood breathed the air of great international affairs, might have some knowled ge of affairs outside England, but since that gentleman has pinned the British Government to acoopta,nee of the ridiculous and disgusting story of the utilisation of corpses and since he now in all seriousness declares the alleged plan of a Bill to introduce polygamy into Germany'to be ch-tra-t h' risiic of our vleAV3 one must say that the world is to be pitied if, in its most vital affairs, for which thousands are daily sacrificing their lives, it is led by men who are so shockingly ignorant about their adversaries mentality and habits." I Respecting the cock and bull stories referred to by the German Foreign Secretary I cannot imagine it possible that Lord Robert Cecil be- lieves either of them. He surely has inrbelli- gence enough to know that the fighting power of any European army would be seriously affected if soldiers learned that if they are killed in battle their bodies would be utilised as food for pigs. The same applies to tihe other story about their wives and daughters being encour- aged by legal enactment or Government direc- tion to become mothers of any man's children. It is probably the case that some orank pub- lished a tract advocating such a policy, but I recall to my mind in those connection aa-ticles that appeared in a British Sunday paper that enjoys a very large circulation in wihch the writert", a lady of title, if I remember correctly, boldly advocated polygamy for this country with the object of replenishing the man power de- stroyed during the war. Although it is extreme- ly likely that the articles referred to would have a much larger circulation than the alleged German tract advocating similar views it would strike us in this country as being supremely ridi- culous if it were seriously stated that the British people believed in polygamy and were about to adopt it. Lord Robert Cecil does not believe that the German Government is pressing the German people to adopt polygamy and he does not be- lieve that German soldiers killed in battle are utilised as food for pigs. He giave currency to the stories and put the weight of his influence behind them to poison the minds of uneducated people and make them want to kill Gerrmans- that is all. "27C." STILL. :¡< I The Government has not yet announced what change is to be made in the newly issued regu- lation relating to leaflets and pamphlets dealing with the war and the making of peace. There is a general impression, however, that a, make- believe amendment, said to have! been sug- gested by the Liberal loaders, will be adopted. The suggestion is that copies of leaflets and pamphlets instead of being submitted to the censor for approval and awaiting his reply should be deposited at the Censor's office-, leaving it for the Censor to take action if he thinks fit. It is not suggested by the Liberal leaders that the Government should only act through the Courts by means of a prosecution. Therefore, the only difference the amendment referred to would make as compared with the regulation now issued is that the Censor could wait until the whole order for a particular publication had been exe- cuted by the printer and then have the lot seized and destroyed, instead of giving his decision when asked for as the regulation now in forofe implies that he should. It, should be noted in connection with the press censoring of leaflets that Lord Lans- downe's letter which was printed and circulated in full by nearly all the newspapers in the coun- try and oabledaJl over the civilized world (which means that scores of millions of copies of it have been distributed) was not submitted to the Cen- sor because it appeared in a newspaper. As a leaflet it would have to be submitted to the Censor, and, if the writer had not been Lord Lansdowne, in all probability its publication would have been prohibited.

The Food Question in the Rhymney Valley Labour Demands Nationalisation I A food conference was held at the Council Chamber, Hengoed, last Saturday evening repre- senta,tive. of the Labour organisations- and Co- operaitive Societies within the urban districts of Gelligaer and Caerphilly, organised by Mr. T. I. Mardy Jones (agent, S.W.M.F.). There were 35 delegates present representing a net member- ship of 18,290. Mr. Walter Lewis, J.P., pre- sided. Mr. Lewis expressed the opinion that if we were to maintain the unity which was essential to carry us through this war to a successful conclusion it was of vital importance that the Government should take over the control of all food supplies and to retail at prices within the reach of the poorest and in quantities which [would secure equal supply to rich and poor alike. HARDSHIPS OF SHORTAGE. I There was a keen discussion and numerous in- stances ,were given by delegates of serious shortage of foodstuffs, notably of butter, tea, sugar, and jam. In several villages there was a very serious shortage of paraffin oil which was a household necessity in many homes. Several delegates gave instances of miners having to go to work with bread alone and detailed the grow- ing strain this entails on the stamina of the miners. Mr. T. D. Matthews, Bargoed, criticised the local Food Control Committees as being more concerned with upholding the capitalists than with the enforcement of the food regulations. EXPLOITATION OF RETAILER. I Councillor John Jones, Bargoed, was of the opinion that the tradesmen were largely at the (mercy of the wholesalers who gambled with the food of- the people; and he showed how the Food Vigilance Committee which had been set up for Gelligaer area was doing excellent work in checking this evil. Councillor T. James, cliairman of Caerphilly Urban Council, stated tha-G, these Food Commit- tees should be watched by the vigilance commi t- tees as the regulations were practically ugeless as at present administered, COMMANDEER! I It was decided on the motion of Councillor Evan Phillips, Caerphilly, seconded by Mr. W. Lewis, Tirphil, that the conference call upon the Government to commandeer all food supplies forthwith, and to institute a national system of distribution of all food supplies and other neces- saries so as to stop profiteering and to guarantee an equitable distribution of all the supplies available in the country. It was decided to appoint a deputation to in- terview the Gelligaer and Caerphilly Food Con- trol Committees with regard to local grievances, and to advocate the mixnicapalisation of food dis- tribution and that Mr. T. I. Mardy Jones con- vene another conference to receive reports from same and to decide on future action.

i The Case of Harry Thomas I Recognisances were entered into at Merthyr Police Court on Tuesday in connection with the appeal to be heard in the King's Bench Division against the decision of the Stipendiary (Mr. R. A. Griffith) in the case of Harry Thomas, C.O., respecting which he was asked to "smite a oaee."

Theatre Royal. I hare just been reading an old book of re- cipes by one of the hoary old medicoes, one of t hose forgotten old fathers of science who pro- bably believed in e efficacy of the word Abra- cadabra worn round the neck as a cure for rheumatism, and attributed ills to supernatural visitations, but what I have found attractive in his worm-eaten tome is the poeey of his phrases; there is a certain poetry 8,bout the way he has of setting out his prescriptions, with his Of this take one part," that makes the modern in- junction of "Dose: one teaspoonful," look like a child's effort to paraphrase Shakespeare com- pared with Lamb. And it was in this vein that I went to the Theatre Royal and again watched the Morton Powell Oompany playing in melo- rama that savours of that old physicians Eng- i hsh prose. For it is the distinctive character of this little company thai it has an admirable choice when selecting plays to present to us. It selects a play that has comathing more than sen- sationalism to hold us a work with its savour- ing of temperamentaliem, its tincture of literacy handling its basic element of strong melo-drama, and its trace of the anodyne of laughter. Arid after all it is to the pliay that the audience must ultimately look for the meat of its feast, for the artist but lays the table and garnishes the dishes. The table laying of this company s, shall we say, Ritz-like, and the garnishing the triumph of a cordon bleu. That at all events was how I felt after watching the excellent pray- ing of that fine piece of stage workmanship "Tle Old Home," as interpreted by the company this week, and I think it will be conceded that I went to the Royal in a critical humour. Next week we are to the week again divided, and the two plays offer a wide range of histrionic appeal. From Monday to Wednesday night the famous drama, of the Wild West 11 Cripple-Creek," is to be the feature, whilst from Thursday on that 2,000 night's triumph of I pathos and tragedy and fun and stark human nature "The Girl Without a Home," will at- tract crowded houses. Both plays make con- siderable demands on the playerso but in this company we have ability that reaches a great height, and overspreads a wide range of true > artistry. •

The Evolution of Exchange. I The Economic Factors at Work I I How Money Came to Function I [The following lecture an the evolution of ex- change is Mr. Williams' key lecture in his Economic Classes in the South Wales area, and it is at the request of students from all sections of the coalfield that we have reported it in full and produced it here. It will be completed next week.—Ed. ] I wish to show, as best I can, why the other economists failed to understand the money ques- tion, and how impossible it is for any of us-no matter how brilliant we may be, to understand the functions of money, how it came into being, without having studied Industrial History. It is impossible to understand money, just as it is impossible to understand anything else, unless you understand its origin—and why it will cease I-i.a t a comji-io d ity is a to be as well. Knowing that a commodity is a thing produced for exchange, we have to next consider the origin of exchange, by means of which a use-value is turned into an exchange- vahie, and thence, how, in its further evolution, exchange develops the economic category—money. Exchange is not an eternal thing. It is rela- tive to a certain form of production which is called production of commodities. Commodity production in its turn depends upon a certain form of economic and productive social organisa- tion, which in its turn depends, upon a stage reached by man in his means and methods of production. I INDIVIDIJAL OWNERSHIP. I By commodity production, upon which ex- change, depends, we mean that form of produc- tion by which individuals or groups of indivi- duals carry on production on their own account and initiative and without direct reference to co-operation with other individuals or groups of individuals, whether producing the came or dif- ferent services. Stated in another way, com- modity production is individual, private, or anarchial. There is no social direction behind it: everything is sporadic. This individual production has not always existed. It has developed out of a preceding system of non-individual, hence non-commodity, production. It is the result of growth, and three main stages are observable in its development: (1) non-commodity production, known as primi- tive communism; (2) the transition stage, known as group-exchange or barter; and, (3) the fully developed form of commodity production known as Capitalism. These stages a.re typical though not clearly defined. In actual development they overlap, and exhibit a graduated develop- ment the one into the other. PRIMITIVE COMMUNISM. I The first stage in this evolution of exchange is the negative no-exchange of Primitive Com- munism. Under this system the whole of the individuals and groups of individuals perform- ing the same or opposite functions entered into direct cooperation. The needs of the primitive society group was ascertained and the Labour it possessed planned according to its different func- tions and technique in such a way that there was just sufficient to provide those particular services which society required. There was con- sequently no waste of labour, and no dispropor- tion between society's demands and sooiety's supply; hence there was no need for producers to bring their products to market and bid with one another for the sale of their goods. The goods were produced and distributed according to the known demand, which had been ascer- tained before production took place, hence, there was no need for exchange in the sense of exohange on the market. Whftot really happened was an interchange of services. The means of production were controlled in common, and the products collectively owned and distributed. Such a system of non-commodity production was inevitable by reason of the very low stage reached by man in his means and methods of production. Only by working in co-operation oould man win a livelihood from his labour. Here we have exemplified the fundamental Marxian principle of social development, that the stage reached in the development of tools determine the economic relations of men, and that this in turn determines the ethical and legal principles and institutions obtaining." RISE OF PROPRIETARY RIGHTS. I But as time went on we firid that owing to the gradual development of the means and methods of production the productivity of La- bour reaches a point at which the community produces a surplus over and above it& own needs, and this surplus is exchanged. The na- ?ttire of the first exchange rela?onships is that of exchange between different gens, or tribes, which functioned as corporate groups and not as individuals, since exchange implies that the parties to exchange should have proprietary rights in their products and under Primitive Communism those rights did not exist. Exchange is collective exchange. But with the still fur- ther passage of time we find that this primitive exchange is supplemented by internal exchange between individuals, or groups of individuals smaller than the whole. This rise of internal exchange, with its consequent change in the character of external exchange is determined by the rise of private property in the product-of labour. Primarily all the men in the commun- ity had to fight and to produce due to the sim- ple reason that even in co-operation with his fellows man oould only produce enough to keep himself. But the development of tools increased the productivity of labour to the point at which a man, either by himself or in co-operation, could produce a surplus over and above his own requirements, and at this point arose a speciali- sation within the community as between pro- ducers and fighters. This was the first division that takes place, in human society. The fighters were the strongest, most cunning, and therefore most capable of overcoming the enemies. This specialisation heralded- the breakdown of Primi- tive Communism and instituted the rise of class- society the abolition of ocJmmunal property and the substitution of private property. The war- riors in waging war brought back the spoils of war which they naturally claimed for themselves, and amongst the spoils were captives whom they could now use as producers owing to the higher development of tools and technical knowledge. Private property in these things were against the old communal constitution, and the constitu- tion had therefore to be swept away, and was swept away by the warriors exercising their monopoly of cohersive force by which they were able to make their economic wills and interests dominant, by the overthrow of the old gentile constitution, and the substitution of laws of pri- vate property. These laws were then enforced by the State, representing the warrior caste, which thus oomes into being, for the first time. Slavery which arose from external fighting based on the higher productivity of labour, was ex- tended by internal oppression of the peaceful producers by the warriors. Individual owner- ship of the means of production comes into being. OPPRESSION BY WARRIORS. Each warrior who became a slave-owner was a feudal lord, owning part of the land, and each feudal lord cultivated his land without reference to what the rest were doing. Living in different parts of the land with different natural advan- tages, each produced with his slave-, or serf- labour, surplus products of different kinds which were each exchanged against the other, and in this way commodity production arose. AMALGAMATION. There was another way in which internal ex- change developed out of external exchange, and that was by the amalgamation of different tribes who had previously been parties to ex- ternal exchange. Marriage would ensue between the oo-related tribes, and finally what were autonomous tribes would be welded into a federacy or nation. Finally, still further divi- sion of labour would give rise to the notion of individual property, and develop towards individual production and individual exchange. Tho effect would be to turn the goods into com- modities having the twofold form that charac- ises commodities, the bodily form, or use-value, and the exch,a,llge-nilue form, by means of which a commodity i equated with other com- modiities entering into exchange relations with it. THE FUNCTION OF MONEY. Once exchange had arisen it passed through different stages of development. The first form was simple barter, the second that of money- exchange, and thirdly, credit-exchange. Simple barter was that exchange *of one use-value for another. The motive for this exchange was the reciprocal need which two persons had for each other's use-values. They were not very much concerned with the labour they or the other party to the exchange had expended on the pro- duction of an article desired. As time went on exchange evolved and in place of barter arose money-exch&nge. Money exchange is the indi- rect measure of value of a third article. It 4 the growth of the number and variety of ex- changeable commodities that developed the need for money. I (TO BE continuhb.)

I CORRESPONDENCE. Correspondents are requested to condense I their letters as much as possible.

I INFORMATION WANTED? I TO THE EDITOR. Dir,-T,hrou.gh the press I am informed that Lord Bute has been, appointed Director of La- bour Supply for South Wales. I should be pleased if anyone would through the columns of your paper answer the following questions:- 1.—What are Lord Bute's duties? 2.—What are his qualifications ? 8.—Is it true that the appointment was mad. some months AgoP If so, was the official announcement withheld until the result of the Minet-s' ballot was known P I am, yours, eta., IKQUIRB*.

RHEUMATISM- KIDNEY TROUBLE. Rheumatism is due to uric acid w-yatau ia the joints and muscles, the result of excessive uric acid in the system that the kidneys failed to remove as nature intended, and this acid is to a great extent the cause of. backache, lum- bago, sciatica, gout, urinary trouble, stone, gravel and dropsy. The success of Estora Tablets for the treat- ment of rheumatism and other forms of kidney trouble is due to the fact that they restore the kidneys to healthy action, and thereby remove the cause of the trouble, and have cured num- berless cases after the failure of other remedies, which accounts for them superseding out-of-date medicines that are sold at a price beyond all but the wealthy. Womei frequently suffer from ills, aches, and pains under the impression that they are victims of ailments common to their sex, but more often than not it is due to the kidneys, and in such cases Estora Tablets will set them right! The test is at lttast worth making, as woman's happi- ness and success in life depends on her health. Estora Tablets fully warrant their description -an honest remedy at an honest price, 1/ S box of 40 tablets, or six for 6/9. An Chemists or, postage free, from Estora Co., 132, Charing Cross Road, London, W.C. Ba.rgoed and Aberbargoed AgenW. Pa& £ y WiLMAMO, M.P.S.