"NO TREACHERY"

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 229, 24 November 1916, Page 5 (Supplement)

"NO TREACHERY"

H. M. HYNDMAN ON THE SOCIALIST QUAKERISTS. THE GREATEST LIVING BRITISH SOCIALIST SAVS WHAT HE THINKS ABOUT THE TRADE UNION CONGRESS. What <:o the Pacifists Lack? Why, Common Sympathy.—The Workers Want a Genuine Peace.—How German Socialists Sold the Pass. "Tieachery" the Only Word For It. —"I Take Off My Hat to Rosa Luxembourg."—A Straight Talk to I.L.P. Anti-Nationalists.—Who Says They're Socialists."—Keep Your Kye on Asquitfi and Grey.

It was certain that so soon as the nvading German armies were being di n - en back from the territories which they had occupied and to a large extent devastated, great efforts would be made by their friends to save the aggressive Central Powers from complete defeat and to obtain for them as favourable peace terms as possible.

ing to Belgium her independence and self-government while putting her under German control s worthy of his brethren who are named above. What honest man of any class can ever again shako hands or co-operate with men who have thus sacrificed all to which Wilhelm Liebknecht, and Bebel, Singer, Auer, Motteler, with the thousands behind them, devoted their lives? THE GREAT BETRAYAL. Many and grievous as were tho mistakes which Germans had made in International Socialism, nobody before the war could have expected from them such wholesale treachery as this. They, with Legien and his trade unionists, have done their utmost to prolong and intensify the (war. To me, as a follower of Karl Marx in political economy, and indebted to German writers for much of what I know of history, the deliberate betrayal of Socialism by practically the whole party _ cam® as a great shock. True, there is now a minority which declares, late in the day, for peace. But the German Government knows well whom it is safe to leave at large, and this same minority seems very safe no .v that the German General Staff knows well that the Central Powers cannot hope to win Karl Liebkniclit and Meyring, Rosa Luxembourg and Clara Zetkin really have attacked and denounced the Kaiser, the Federal Council, and the militarist jackbooters. They, of course, are all in gaol. To them I take off my hat and bow low as worthy of the great traditions of Socialism: men and women who from the very first have relentlessly opposed an abominable war of aggression. With them and their followers it is still possible for the workers of all lands to unite. With the others such fraternity scorns to mo out of the question for a generation at least. Scheidemann, Suderheim, Heine, and Co. stand on the same plane as the Kaiser, von Falkenhayn, von Bissing, and their fellow butchers. NO SU®!NDER! The numbers reckoned in the minority vote on the recommendation of the Parliamentary Committee of the trade unions th:it our enemies of the working class in Germany should be admitted to discuss tho terms of peace in congress More Belgium and Franca and Serbia are cleared of tho German armies—these numbers by 110 means represent the real weakness of the pacifists. A large proportion voted in opposition to the motion of Thorne and Jones out' of loyalty to their own committee, and some of the rest because they wished to show good feeling towards Gompors and the American Federation of Labour. 1 believe Thorne was perfectly right ■when lie said that ninety-nine ot >f every hundred of the people of this country arc against any surrender to Germans of any class, either now or later. More, I am confident that the Independent Labour Party has no following in the country on these issues which i . worth consideration. It Messrs. Ramsay Mac Donald. W. C. Anderson, Jowett and others were to resign their seats in the House )f Commons and challenge re-election on their pacifist programme at the pros- j out time, what chance would they have j of being returnedel' None at all, 1 am j convinced. They entirely misrepresent the views of their constituents. Yet | they owe the position which they hold : 111 the public eyj and the criticism ; which gains them so much advertise- j rncnt to the fact that they are mem- j hers of the House of Commons, 1 and are thus able to pose as voicing the opinions of a large number of ix.-ople. I They thus lead the shrill but far Ironi numerous section of anti-nation-nlisls. Unpopular theories are by 110 ; means always incorrect, as 1, at any j rate, have good reason to hold. But j the following resolution- the I.L.P. is ; essentially a revolutionary" party • j passed without opposition by the nde-[M-ndent Labour Party at its Easter L'oncrence by 230 delegates, binds the , M.P.s of that group : That this conference is of opinion t.lmt the Socialists of ail nations should agree that henceforth Socialist parties should refuse support to every war entered into by any Go>ornmont, whatever the ostensible object of the war, and even if such a war is nominally of a defensive character. I That resolution, 1 say, wa> earrXMi ' vith virtual unanimity by the LLP. Congress of delegates, and hinds 'ill ts members. WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN ? j HAT ENGLISH, FRENCH. AVP ! JELGIAN SOCIALISTS, TO S.W j s'OTHING OF OTHERS. SHOI LP ; iLLOW THE .IUNKEHPHIL GER- I iIAN SOCIAL DEMOCRATS TO ; HOE POUCH-SHOP OVER THEM , V ANY WAY THEY PLEASE WITH- ; )Vt resistance. I That is not Socialism of any school. ; tis 0111 v a SHAM RELIGION OK i IUMANifY. There arc not ten thousand men i .nd women in the country who would ! gree with it. We have opposed GerI inv because G» rocm victory must ; lean the ruin of Democracy and : Joi-iali-m in Europe for many a long j ;1 v. That, our pacifists arc scennngh' I II ii.■ prepared to welcome. No, there is 110 danger to a genuine | .■•ace from anti-national Quaker- ! Tliev amount, all told, to verv ttle. The danger, in my opinion, ! omcs from another and much n voi">

Strange as it may seem, extreme pacifists in Great Britain appear 10 have little or 110 sympathy for Belgians, French and Serbians who have suffered such terrible things by Imperial order from tho highly disciplined and thoroughly educated German hordes.

Even the horrors now being enacted at Lille by the same agency do not attract their atention. Neither do they feel in the least troubled' about the crimes committed by the crews of German submarines and Zeppelins. The sinking of the Lusitania and the drowning without warning of poor working fishermen in tho North Sea leave them quite cold. The raids upon London and the East Coast towns, as well as the bombardment of peaceful watering-places, seem to be for them merely the natural incidents of legitimate warfare, though these acts are one and all directly in violation of International Law as formulated by Germans themselves. That is a fr.ame of mind which it's quite impossible for the overwhelming majority of Englishmen to understand. We caHnot rise to the height of "magnanimity" that eagerly condones tho almost unspeakable atrocities of Wittenberg and Ruhleben. Attempts to treat as comrades men guilty of sue!', terrible misdeeds are not only an insult to all who are fighting at the front today, but a betrayal of the interests of humanity in the future. To overlook these crimes now, and to shake hands with those who have committed them is to encourage similar "frightfulness" directly Prussianised Germany is ready lo begin her campaign of butchery and torture afresh. THE WORKERS' STAKE. This was the view of the matter vigorously pirt by Will Thorne. .Lack Jones, M'Kerrell, Roberts and Wdkie at the Trade Union Congress, when it was proposed that the trade unionists and Socialists of the Allied Powers should meet the representatives of similar working-class bodies in German*. 111 order to discuss with tlfcm, under existing conditions, the terms of peace. The two first-named speakers, it may bo observed, are themselves thoroughgoing Socialists of very many years' standing, while their loyalty to and their work for trade unionism has been surpassed by none. This does not mean that they anJ those who agree with thorn are not earnestly desirous of obtaining a satisfactory peace at tho ealicst possible moment. The workers are suffering far more from the war, alike in the field and at home, than any other class. They have nothing to gain and everything but the freedom of their country to lose by protracting hostilities. But- it is just this last consideration which makes them refuse to vote for any measure which may lead the , enemy to imagine that they arc weak- , ening in their resolve.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEM TO BELIEVE IN THE GOOD FAITH OF THE GERMAN NATION, WHICH HAS NEVER YET REPUDIATED IN ANY WAY THE DECLARATION OF ITS RULERS AND STATESMEN THAT GERMANY WILL BE NO MORE BOUND BY ITS TREATIES IN THE FUTURE THAN IT HAS BEEN BY ITS TREATIES IN THE PAST.

How are terms to be made with a people which remains content with n Kaiser, a Chancellor and l a Foreign Minister who talk in that fashion? A Prussian Peace is but a preparation for vet another Prussianite war.

Unfortunately, the German Social Democratic Party, as Jones truly said, "sold" —the word is not too strong the whole international working-class movement at the beginning of the war. Nobodv accuses them of pecuniary corruption. But they were over-mastered bv the national greed for territorial expansion and militarist domination. Tliev could not have prevented war. That I knew and proclaimed aloud when warning my countrymen foi many a long year against the German menace. But they could at least have plaved the game and voted against or have abstained from voting for the War Credits. This without any jjersonal risk to themselves. They preferred to wreck the whole of the great organisation of which they formed a part. They out.l tinkered the Junkers, whom they had just denounced, in their infuriate zeal for German aggression and

THFY SACRIFICED ALL THE IDEALS THEY HAD HELD UP TO MANKIND FOB THE SAKE 0«' VICTORY IN A MOST INFAMOUS WAR.

Haase and Muller, who in BrnssrU and Paris lr.wl pledged themselves .0 stand liy tlioir French and Russian brethren. threw overboard everv pWllio immediately on their roturn. Spli(' : dcniann. Suderhenm TToine, Xosk.\ We 11 del, I'Vter, And the rexb ef t'lo maiorit-v from August, lOij. until this very day liavo nevw ceased to livl; up t-lio Herman flovprnment m it'c criiups; and TTamscli, m ,ii« letter to tlie 'Vorwaorts.' does hut ox-i)-ess their considered opinion ot the smallest hnotv with which tlirv as ronresetiiatives of Herman Social Demo cratio .lingo'sni, will he satisfied. His hypocritical pretence of comerv-

serious quarter. That quarter is our ])resent Government itself.

THE VERY SAME MEN WHO TRICKED AND BETRAYED IS UNPREL'AKED INTO WAR ARE STILL IN* POSITION'S WHICH WILL ENABLE THEM TO TRICK AND B!v TRAY IS INTO A PKUSS UNITE PEACE.

Theie is a growing feeling that this may be done. J find it wherever ] «o. I ndergrouiul propaganda and utrigues in this sense aiv proceeding more vigorously than ever. A very well-known American Socialist, now resident at Geneva, warns me that never were German agents so active is they are to-da\, and active in favour of a pro-German peace. He himself - afraid 01 the result, though, jis he supported the Ziniruerveld Socialists' Congress, he is certainly not opposed to any fair terms of settlement.

ASQUITH, GREY (WITH HHI HALDANE), CREWE (WITH HIM ROBERT CECIL) ARE THE POLICIANS WHO, WITHOUT ANY REFERENDUM WHATEVER TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THE COLONIES, HAVii SECURED TO THEMSELVES THE RIGHT TO SPEAK FOR THE AVHOLE EMPIRE, THOUGH THEY HAVE NO MANDATE AT ALL EVEN FROM THE BRITISH ELECTORATE.

Can we rely upon them to withstand the unseen pressure which is being brought to bear in favour of Germany? How can the nation feci perfect confidence in those who maintained the legally invalid Declaration of London, at the cost of hundreds of thousands of Jives to the Allies, and do not even now press the blockade? It is improbable that I shall myself livo to sea the full effect of any proGerman peace. But that Great Britain and her Colonies, who are bearing more than their share of the weight of this tremendous war, should fail to uphold their Allies in a strong endeavour to cripple permanently the power of Prussia would be deliberate treachery to our fighters on land and on sen, mat ocurred at Birmingham shows that, while there is no desire among unionists, any more than among the rest of the population, to indulge 111 vindictive reprisals, the workers will not accept a peace which can help militarist Germany to organise a still more formidable attack on Western Europe. The freedom of the seas and the freedom of German State competition mean, if accepted, that the war has l>ecn fought to no purposo.