SOCIALIST PARTY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 331, 19 October 1908, Page 7

SOCIALIST PARTY.

At His Majesty's Theatre last night, Mr. P. Bickey (president of the Blackball Minors' Union) gave an address on "Civilisation, Past, Present, and Future." He sketched tho progress of social evolution from its commencement (in simple form) in tropical lands, to its immense complexity in modern times, and pointed out that the knowledge of to-day was tho accumulated wisdom of past peoples; that liberty and progress had alwnjs been won by those who did not live long enough to enjoy tho fruits of their efforts—who, in fact, often wore martyred as a result of their light. He stated that tho earliest records we liavo showed that the warrior kings created magnificent cities by slavo labour, tho result of successful wars, and tho most of tho necessary work was done by the same slaves. The first changc camo when tho Church becamo dominant and wrested from tho temporal rulers tho reins of power, Capital had in more recent times taken tho power away from tho churches, and was now the ruling forco in tho world, and it remained for labour to wrest from capital tho flag of advancement, and carry the human raco into a future of civilisation, whore justice, wealth, leisure, n,nd honour would bo distributed to all.