CORRESPONDENCE.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 17 November 1917, Page 4

CORRESPONDENCE.

(To the Editor.) Sir.—Recently 1 spent a Sunday evening listening to tho speakers at a meeting of Wocial'sts. There was th> old vhii,e— everything wrong in tho world was due to the present capitalistic system. Only le\h the workers rur. PaiiMament, or in other word put the Trades Hall candidates in the House, and everything would go har moniously. It seems to me that those '•'poijticians" in embryo need to cultivate fhheir observing faculties. What has private enterprise to do with drinking, gambling, or immorality ? Tlieue h.abii:,s come from within a man's evil na.hure. Those who practice such vices would go still further to destruction it they had more money. One speaker asserted thai'; more Trades rlaill (people im'e.tigated political problems thai tir-r- were M's P., w'hich is not saiyi'-V;.

much. The truth is the Trades Hall and rlie JM.'s P. vie with each other 1.11 shirking, to them, difficult problems, They are both fiscal shirkers and shy of the prohibition issue. Yet fthese two questions should form the .first planks in a genifijne labour programme. The speaker next discussed the incrcaso of salaries to aire ady highly- paid civil servants. Here he was on sounder ground. He stated that Parliament was not in sympathy with the people, whidh is true enough. But he forgot it was the people, largely the working classes, who have elected Parliaments. Having oho power, it dhows tli-at they have not the intelligence to use it in (promoting theOr own interests. Why is this? Put plainly tlie .answer is "Booze." Men with brains fuddled with alcohol need not be expected to act sanely. As might be expected, all the Speakers objected to the proposal to disqualify members of t)he T.-W.W. and those who refuse military service, or that men should be conscripted for labour n»'i miliiiarvyi wages. It is a pity we can't place the contingent of eliirket>" 4 ihn Germany—they arc unworthy of British citizenship. Then they saw another propective trouiblei, viz., the return of tlhe soldiers afi'itsr the war. According; to them they were surei to maike employment harder to get for someone else. Well who has a bettor claim for ■•'ihe work of the country than the men who defend it? Another injustice to labour was seen in the fact that interest would lhave \:o be paid 011 our loans. Tt was assumed that -this burden would fall prneiipa'lly on the workers. Th drinkers and smokers are mostly landless, and will contribute fo'r a time towards it. But )':he bulk of the burden will be borne by the owners of property, among whom there will! be the more thrifty and saving of the working classes. One fiery speaker showed his .sympathy with sedition and crime by sayiitg that restityjave legislation breeds revolution. 15:ich spea'keir must of course express his indignation because our primary producers are having a prosperous time. Are not the Trade Unionists well paid? Tlio difference between the two cLwes is tlf:is. Th'e dairy farmers work about 15 hours per day while tradesmen and labourers when they work get high wages for eight hours a day. I don't wish to -discriminate between the different of workers, but I certainly object to this sinister metbb(J of hounding down a most deserving

cflass of workers. Surely even a Socialist should pee that our producer.; of food l commodities are entitled ':o rojtio extra profit. (The last speaker bewafcled the fate of the workers who slaved all the year round for an exist, eiice, and looking into the fu/hure ho asserted that wihcn the workers took the wealth of the country then labour would be emancipated. Then no charitable aid would be required and everybody would be contented. And it is nonsense of this kind the Sunday aud.iences in our cites are regaled 1 with, yet Socialists are surprised that the people turn ('lirein down. ,1 tarn, etc.. AN HONEST SCEPTIC, 'Heatherlea.