MAUD ALLAN AND SOCIALISM.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 5, Issue 178, 1 July 1914, Page 6

MAUD ALLAN AND SOCIALISM.

(To the Editor). ' Sir, —Will you kindly allow mc to comment on some recent articles which have appeared* in the "Worker r" I should li&e"To r k'now7bT'wh')t: bonefit to tho Rods is the opinion or' "The Vag." re the Mauri Allan Company. Is the paper so badly off for copy that they print'such stuff as "The A'ng.'s" comment on what was a musical treat? I admit that every man has a right to his opinion, but I contend that, better use can be made of the "Worker" than lor a controversy between "The Vag." mill the author of tho previous article on a subject which "Tho Vag." obviously knows nothing about..-. 1 should aho like to know whether the eternal question of Prohibition is-go-ing to be a divided matter anmog'-t working men.-' I understood that itv.'as decided by Conference to have i;o----ll'.iuci whatever to do with the nucstion, recognising that it is only one of the "red herrings" that is al\yays

drawn across the track of the working man prior to an election. There is not a student of economics who'-will'admit that 'the principle of Prohibition is right. Democratically, it is wrong, and therefore we ought to have nothing to do with tlie question from a political standpoint. The Bible-in-sehools question is different,' I consider that tlie "Worker" docs not devote sufficient space to this question. To my mind, there is not a. question before the people of this country that is of greater moment than the proposal of the Hible-in-Schools League. Everyone knows that the greatest force against progress m the past was the religions quecstien, and if the people of New Zealand allow the schools to bo o-errun by a medley of different denominations, then we are reverting to an ago that has been buried-this last'3o'-years. Trusting that: the above comments will be taken in the spirit in which they arc written,—l. am, etc., Wellington. W. H. DOUGLASS. [([) 'We have 110 more right to stop "The Vag."". and others from giving their, opinions, than to eto'p you, or any other reader. (2) T'horo' has'liot been an issue 6i , tho "AVorker" for a very considerable time . that lias- not dealt with some aspect of the Bible-iu-Schools question, and as much space has been given to this as to any other of our planks, so it would not seem as if our correspondent is cither an attentive or regular reader.—-Ed.]

(To the Editor.) Sir,—A lengthy controversy is being carried ou in the columns of ' tho "Worker" ovor the question of' Maud Allan, a visting danceusc, and her tcrpsichorean relations .to' Socialism. The first writer, apparently a single and very emotional young man, has been knocked off his economic basis by the seducti'-e charms of tho danscusc, in whose method of earning a livelihood'he sees a \ciy close relationship to Socialism. Several well-known "Worker" writers have entered this intellectual contest and given readers their views on the art' in question. . I must confess to' feeling a good deal of disappointnlout at so much space being taken up with such trivial matter. There r.ro so many other matters that we want discussed in our paner—matters that concern ue here and now in our everyday life. There aro scores of working class papers tliat reach tho ''Worker" oifi'co from all over tho world ; let us havo some bright articles out of them, let us havo information regarding the movement in olher lands,. something that one :-eols instructed by raiding. What has it got to do with "Worker readers whether "The Vag." would sooner go to a threepenny picture show than spend two "bob" on a scantily-dressed danseuse, or whether it is tho opinion of some young Lothario that Maud Allen and her dancing is oiily "one step from Socialism." "Tho V-ag." says the dancing looked "damned si'ly," and tl* same applies to the controversy about it. in tho "Worker." Knock it off, you vobcls! Give us some •Moro book reviews that aro so entertaining, Comrade Bloodworth; give us fiomo more of your interesting and amusing "Open Letters," 'Comrade "V.ng." Let tho writer of the ai'ticlo fell us something concerning . the planks of tho S.D P., and let the three of them put'their artistic opinions away and leave more space in the "Worker" for instructive matter.—l am, etc., THE REBEL. [We agree with our correspondent that more than "enough time has been given to this trivial subject;'the correspondence is accordingly closed. —Ed.]