In Our Opinion

Maoriland Worker, Volume 3, Issue 61, 10 May 1912, Page 1

In Our Opinion

mHE workers will be satisfied when tue A robbers stop robbing. _ *■ ■ LABOR in the future will be engaged in a world-wide struggle. Let .New Zealanders be ready. 9 " TTSFFTJL people" will soon be known U by the amount of wealth they possess. IT is impossible to think without employing brains. That is the reason why so few think. 4 IT is said that human flesh tastes somewhat like pork. Looking at certain of our "prosperous" fellow-creatures we can readily believe it. « THE manner in which certain capitalist sheets are rallying to the support of tlie "Unity" Scheme may be the real criterion of its merits. ft ■ THE new Defence rooster, on the military dunghill, is crowing for all he is worth to attract the attention ami the kudos of tho jingoistic and imperialistic hens- but by the time he has lost a few of his tail feathers aud other attractive ornamentation—as happened to his unhappy predecessor— he will not crow so loud. « THE chief aim of the militarists in getting the boys and youths into the Territorials is to teach them, under compulsion, to fight, and how to tight. If theu, on their grounds, it is to fight in a good or deserving cause with bayonet ami ball, it must be equally justifiable, if not more co, to fight, and to know how to fight, without them. This is a point all in the favor of the antimilitarists. . » rpiIEY who admire Myers, Myers adA mires. They whom Myers admires, admire Myers. They who admire Myers, admire Myers' mire. What Myers admirers admire is Myers' admiration for mire. But what we admire are the admirable anti-conseriptionists, who, in helping us out of tho mire, admire neither Myers nor his mire, nor his admirers, nor his miry admiration! 1 THAT nine-tenths of the entire income of the Imperial Government of Germany already is paid out for the maintenance of Germany's Army and Navy is the argument advanced by "Vorwarts," the central organ of the Social-Democratic Party, against further taxation for the purpose of increasing both tho army anil navy. —. * MORE unity! "Professor Mills, proceeding, said that for too long a time in Auckland and other centres of New Zealand had a small crowd of men, who had tho capacity to Cioato disorder but not to oreato anything else, been permitted to hold the stage. The present disturbance was the death rattle of a discredited canso. There were in the Dominion 10,000 working-men who stood for Libor. who had no sympathy with the disturbing element. Tie asked for their help. They bad listened to misrepresentations long enough." Walter 1 nomas has been talking quite a lot in New Zoa- . H.:s«'t he?

SIGNING himself "A Socialist," a VVangautii correspondent takes "Tho Worker" to task for what he calls its continued "whine" about conscription, which he alleges ia a term misapplied to the compulsory military defence training which ia now a. law of the land, ".and should," ho says, "be a law of all lauds without exception, as it i« no more and no less than a part—and an essential part—of compulsory education." Our (*>rrp„spondont describes himself aa "a Socialist of tho Socialists in everything," and then goes on to observe-, "but, of course, with a limit." Queer sort of Socialist—"a Socialist of the Socialists in everything, but with a limit." and that'limit—well, howfar on the vuvanl and upward march of humanity to Nxialism ia that limit? Why, our alleged "Socialist" has baJked at the. very first step—a step which proclaims the' fraternity of mankind and the communis of interests of tl: toilers of all lands.'and insists on the disarmament of tin- nations and the entire destruction of th'> vampire curso of militarism ere humanity can how to attain to the higher lii'H of which* Socialism is tho glorious harbinger. The voice of the worker is heard the world o'er in the rhout, "Down with militarism !'" Shall it be silenced in N"w Zealand by pseudo-Socialists <>f the \j-pe of our Wangamii correspondent: Never! 4A SIGNIFICANT sign of the times is contained in the text of a resolution unanimously passed by tho Canterbury tieneral Laborers' Union at a recent meeting. The resolution roads as follows; "That this Vnu.a fends intern aI iu-inl ifroetim-'s to all fellow-workers, and rh-laies th.it'iii the event, of the '■npititl-i-t class bringing about a war between :viv two na.il.ms it. will join with brother v eYtiers lo Mown tools' and thereby tdop tin; war." i -$ ! IfJIMU IIARDIE, M.P., speaking at Ji-V Rochdale last week, declared that I; ,c Independent Labor I'arty was oat for a revolutionary upheaval which would change tho face of society. Now what ha-, George Fowlds and party got to nay about it? Or is brave old Ramie, outkuL- tli.- pale of "usd'ul people?" Ts he one of those "fearful Reds" who aro so vi.., impu.s-.ible. Wo pause for a reply. « IT used to bo said of the Standard Oil Company that it always avoided conflicts with" its workers, and that as a business proposition it recognised the wisdom of paying its employers decent wages and treating them fairly well. Thus, whilst other employers of labor were losing wages through industrial squabbles, the gigantic Standard Company went cheerfully on cheating and lobbing tlie public and its workmen—ono by ext.ortior.ato prices, tho others by exploitation. « \ GTTATE and educate, organise and federate, to 'stablish Right we must keep pounding e'er away; there is Sighting to be done, mighty vic-fries to be won, ero the dawning of Emancipation Day. Stony fields there are to till, rankest' growths there aro to kill, Ignorance and Prejudice to overthrow; now the fertile seed—make, it portion of your creedtill the earth with peace and plenty is aglow. Now's tho day and mow's the hour, soon the plant will burst in flow'r, then abundantly tho fruit of Freedom bear; what a harvest it will be. when the slaves, rejoicing, free, shall gather in the prop f"v ail to share. 4 THE "Butt and Petone Chronicle" often waxesS angry because of this paper's opposition to conscription. In. a recent outburst it says: "When the day of battle begin,?, the shirker* will light nut for the mountains—< r any other old place wlitie thero is no danger from the enemy's bullets." Of course, the "Chroni '"'knows what it is talking about. As a supporter of the shirking class it ought to be we'l acquainted with the habits of its cowardly friends. Tt is co-tain tiiat the real shirkers will keep out of bullet range, nno it is also pretty certain Utat Hv"y will bo bu.sy scheming how Inst to unload rotten meat and shoddy clothing iinon tho fool workers who will be doing the fighting. It is a pleasant little way these shirker friends of ti.a "Ch~>niclo" have.

TWO hundred and eighty-tnreo coal miners were entombed in a colliery in Japan through an explosion last week. There is no hope of rescue, if any of these uufortunates had dared to raise a voice against the damnable conditions of their labor, the united press of Japan would have howled them down. What is true of Japan is true of New Zealand. I » — BADEN POWELL, of Boy Scout shame, will arrive in New Zealand boiore long- This will give the jingoists an opportunity to slobber their nauseating piffle about "silken threads" and "dear old Empire." iioy Scoutism will, be extolled to a sickening ext ut, and tho ideas of glory and territory-grabbing yelled into the ears of impressionable children. The youngsters, beholding the abasement of their elders at the feet of a military idol, will think it good foirin to kowtow to every licensed butcher let loose upon those shores, and will feci instinctively that the civilian is a very ordinary creature indeed as compared to these war-lords in miniature. • THE hye-clection to fill the vacancy on the Wellington City Council caused through the election of I). McLaren to the Mayoralty takes place on May 17. Edward Tregear, the notable ex-Secretary is Labor, is the endorsed Labor candidate. Though we are sorry lie is not a Socialist candidate, Mr. Tregcar's life and record is Biich that "The Worker" has no hesitation in asking its Wellington readers to do their utmost to secure Tregcar's leturn. There is not a man in tho Labor movement more sincere and earnest than the big-hearted Edward Tregear. He has always done the best he was able to do to advance the interests of the working-class. The workers in turn need to rally to his support and show that the service and capacity of Mr. Tregear are appreciated by them. TFIE head of the "useful p-'"ole," Walter T'-omas Mills, Profes: •'r, M.A. or A.M., having lectured for t":e "usefnl people," the T<abor Party nn s the Prohibition Party, is now turning bis luminous orbs upon the V.M.C.A., am' is going to lecture for it. Supposing tbi- Amerionn visitor was in the United PM.cfl, would the American Socialist Par' i. of which he is alleped to be a men-be.", put up with the anti«B ho indulges in in New

Zealand? Mills knows that it would not, hence the tugging at his heart-strings and the calls lrom America of which he speaks so longingly and lovingly are ignored, and the "little man in the grey suit" stays in New Zealand and draws his .screw from the V.M.C.A. Inclination calls him to America, but "duty" says stay right here. Ah, "duty!"—what uoblo sacrifices you will make at its bhriue, Walter Thomas Mills! « . ANDREW CARNFGIE, owner of the j\. souls of thousands of steel mill workers, hater and backbiter of union labor, says: "I can confidently recommend to you the business career as one in which there is abundant room for the exercise of man's highest power, and of every good quality in human nature. I believe the career of the great merchant, banker, or captain of industry to bo favorable to the development of the powers of the mind, and to the ripening of the judgment upon a wide range of general subjects, to freedom from prejudice and the keeping of an open mind.'' "Every good quality in human nature," says this man, can be developed by a business career. No doubt it was this beneficial training which was responsible for the murdering of Carnegie's employees during the bloody massacre ol Homestead. __ $. THE recent great coal strikes called j forth considerable newspaper comment. Tlie vast majority of the press was against the strikers. Naturally so. The moneyed interests controlling the press are profit-makers; relentless in their greed. The Chicago "Public," however, was an exception. It is not a Socialist or Labor paper. It puts tho position as follows:—"You aro cursing in the wrong direction when you curse the strikers. You bark up the wrong tree. Instead of cursing them, curso tho owners. The owners of natural coal deposits are responsible if coal ja short-mined. They are responsible if diere is a coal famine where natural coal deposits are abundant, for they hold title to those natural coal deposits as trustees for the common good. On no other sound principle can monopoly of these free gifts of nature be justified or excused. When mining stops in consequence of labor strikes, the crucial question is not whether strikers are overexacting; it is whether owners of natural coal deposits are true to their trust."

WHERE and by whom should marriages be solemnkod? This questioa has again come to the fore in, Sydney, as tlie result of a proposal of the Attor-ney-General that both parties prior to marriage should formally produce a certificate, duly signed and witnessed by a registrar, as a guarantee that both the contracting parties have either attained their majority or, in lieu thereof, secured tlie consent of their respective parents. Slight as this proposal may seem, it has aroused in the clerical ranks a storm of paot<*t against a supposed infringement of priestly prerogative. The belief is that tlie Attorney-General i> introducing the thin edge of the wedge which will eventually make marriage a civil affair, and po doubt this is Mr. llolman's ultimata ideal. And why not? Marriage is primarily a civil contract, and in its nature and results is of direct interest to iho community. Apart from the fact that the hold of the chmvhes. even in regard to marriage, is rapidly becoming so feeble that it soon will nervelessly cea.se altogether, why should individuals about to marry necessarily make a public exhibition of themselves in a church, to which anybody may gain adnii-sion? There is no less modesty in being married in the privacy of home or a ream set apart for the purple by the civic authorities; and, indeed, ninny seio-iiiv.t minded people, hold if: a = :\ doetriii" (and a healthful doctrine it L-) that me.in,<g« is too solemn a ceremony to bo. made tfw gaping stork of stranger.-. Surely, ail thr.t is neccs-ary in the eyes of (h? law would be a simple ceremony before a civil authority. -* JTHiST it was the Sin > of .Society. Xwr it is the Sins of ckicinli-Mi'.. Tho English "smart set" ha» been given a temporary re.-pite. By Father Herncid Vaughan, the sensational sermoni-er of London. Who has been making :>/i eiiuit to "re-establish" Cimsi huiily. In New York of all places. And to seiueleh Socialism. Particularly to squelch Socialism. Foolish I'athrr. T;; -ui'ely >.!isi're>« Partington with a broom re.divh us. lie wanted to know things. Asked some questions. No. 1; "Who is the Socialist?" Well, in the viev of Caste, Capital and Co., he's a pernicious agitator. He's a blatant demagogue. He's a wrecker of the 'appy 'onii 1 . He's a menace to Society. He's a lot of other terrible names. But he's none, of these filing?. No! He's the chap who's out to establish a neiy social order. To abolish millionaires and paupers. To construct, a civilisation that will be civilised. To create a citizenship that will be truly free. To transform this earth into a-smil-ing land of peace and plenty. In short, to make this old world a place worth while. No. 2: "In what school has he been trained?" In th" school of poverty, hardship, want. In the school of human suffering and slavery. In the school of LIFT']. No. 3: "What is his knowledge jf human nature?" He has eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart to feel, a brain to understand. TFe knows human nature as few 'of preachers know it. He sees that the mass of the world's workers live a life of drudgery and degradation. A mere brutish, hand-to-month exi-dpnoe, Oppressed, repressed, depressed, di-pos-sessed. He knows that the environment of man is the deciding foci or in his mental and physical wxdl-being. Ho knows that till his material conditions are vastly bettered, he will remain a sinful, stunted, soul-starved creature. As the Polar bear is while amidst tho "limvs, ns the butterfly is rninUiW-liued amongst the flower*, so tlie soul of man takes color from its surroundings. Ts't not so, reader 0 No. 4: "What lias he dull' fur humanity?" Ah, a* yet not mch. His time is to come. No - .cHhcless. he has freed the mind from Superstition. He bus nvulo millions think. To has underlined the Castles of Capitalism ami th» Palaces of Privilege. He has ensured tlie of Reason. But what will he. do? He will reconstruct Society, lie will slay the dragons of Pesnnir and Destitution. He will brintr in the days that are to Ih\ when none shail want and all men shall be free.

Tlie agitation for the reeluctTon of tli« hours of labor is hoin<: carried on with remarkable victor in Fiance. TJio organisation behind tlie movement is the Confederation of Labor. Thi' Miners' Phthisis Hill, which is to be dealt with by the Parliament of the South African T T *'ion, imposes on mines an annual pom'ltv of or 5 per cent, of tho total dividends paid durinpr the last 12 months.