A SOCIALIST VISITOR

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7943, 28 October 1911, Page 7

A SOCIALIST VISITOR

MOVEMENT IN ENGLAND. j SOME OE ME HARTLEY'S IMPRESSIONS. “Slowly but surely there is a social party evolving iu England which will separate from the Labour party on socialism, but will work with thorn on all; Labour questions/' said -Ur E. R. Hart-: ley, of Bradford, a -well-known English ! Socialist organiser (w ho comes under cn-5 gagejueut to the New Zealand Socialist i party), to a “'limes ' reporter. “Ear m- : seance,” he added, “i have been for; iilteen years one of the Labour group oi ! the Bradford City Council, always work- ; ing with tho traoc.s unionists, but acting independently when it came to a question i of out-and-out Socialism.” ! The visitor was critical in regard to tho Lloyd George Budget us affecting the working classes, "i challenge anyone to suy iliac the‘Working man is any better off as a result of the Budget; what ho has got is extra taxation. 1 know of the taxation of land values, but that, won't got the woikmg man out of his troubles. It; won't even relieve the situation, because whatever you give with the one hand will bC taken buck with the other. Take old age pensions: i They cost England, the first year nine millions. The sumo year the coal-mine owners got thirteen millions marc from the people by the extra cost of coal, to make up for what they wore paying away ; by taxation for old age pensions/' j INDUSTRIAL UNREST. j What lessons did ho draw from tho re-! cent English strikes.*' “Thar tho workers are at last awaking to the fact that they have power. They never believed it before in tho way they do now. Behind ' it all is this important fact; That: everywhere tho traces unionists are bo- ‘ ginning to rebel against their old load- ’ ors. This is very significant. Why? , Well, I attribute it to tho propaganda work that wo Jiavb clone. Tin/ working man iu England to-day is no bettor oil than ho was ten years ago. as a matter of fact, the advance in wages lias been very small during this period. Take the . railway-men. They are no better oh. Any ; slight advance which has gone to v. sec- ; tiou of tho men is counter-balanced by cho fact that promotion has become much slower. Yet'in tho same ten years tho amount paid away- in dividends has grown by over seven millions. The sum; total paid to railway-men to-day is prob- i ably less than it was ton years ago, : though tho sum total paid to tho shareholders is seven millions mare.” UNEMPLOYMENT. "Insurance against unemployment is; like a man with a hungry dog' cutting f on tho tall with which to food the dog. • The cost always comes back to the worker who produces tho wealth. The ■ Score- • tary of tho Board of Trade could give on eight hours’ day without consulting Parliament. Why-doesn't he do it; if tho Liberal Government is in sympathy with Labour? Curtailment of hours or work in England would do much towards remedying the ’hardships of unemployment. Lloyd George, when ho was at the Board of Trade, could have given an eight hours' day. His reason for not doing it, he told us. was that some of the companies were paying very small dividends. But what has the worker got to do with the idle dividend monger? The result of the recent strike is that tho men have come together, and they now see tho unity - side of it. F'or. instance, the transport workers' in London have federated 150,060 strong. Next time there's trouble they will down tools as one man. They have soon the advantage of unionism. As to the Socialistic movement, 1 have been in it now for twenty-two years. It is making great headway in England. Tho young men in the Labour party are Socialists. Personally-, I shall never bo satisfied, but 1 am very gratified with the progress made.”