INDUSTRIAL WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18050, 25 September 1920, Page 14

INDUSTRIAL WORLD.

NEWS AND NOTES

By J. T. Paul.

LOCAL UNIONS IN CONFERENCE Tho conference of delegates from local unions assembles for its first meeting O n Monday evening next. The order paper is a fairly longthy one, and contains proposals of much interest to organised Labour The conierenco is expected to extend over several ovorungs, and it is hoped by its promoters that it will result in a moro complete and iiarmonious welding togothor of the varied viows on tho subject of. future organisation. It i ? expected that upwards of 50 delegates -will bo present.

BRIBING THE PRESS. Tho cablegrams indicate that tho exposure of the offers of money to tho Labour JJaily Herald have created a sensation at Home.. It is feared that the evil of subsidising tho press is all too prevalent, and tho current Labour Leader publishes the following as from the Information Committee' of the Independent Labour Party: Humanite (the organ of the French Socialist Party) of July 22 contains s ome extraordinary rovclations of the amount of money used in 1913 and 1914 to influence the French press in support of a Turkish loan. This was apparently tho one floated in various countries in April, 1914. tho total being 20 millions, some of which was taken up by British investors. Unfortunately tho papers in tho list are all French. We shall probably have to wait some time before wo know what tho English papers received for their support. Frcs. Figaro secured 120,000 Matin secured 170,000 Lβ Journal secured 282.500 Temps secured 120,000 and the total, which seems to have been distributed right through tne French Capitalist Press, conies to over 2,000,000 tics. The man who handled tho bribes secured a commission of 487,000 frcs."

A RENT WAR IN SCOTLAND. A Glasgow councillor writes as follows English Labour paper:— "In Scotland, at least, a Rent. war has been declared. It may bo remembered that the first Rent Act, passed in 1915, was the result of very direct pressure on the Government from the Clyde • and Scotland generally. To-day the Government has givon the landlords permission to mako up for lost time by imposing very heavy increases of rent, and the forces arc marshalling for a big struggle. Our difficulties aro now greater. The war is over and the Cabinet not so susceptible to pressure. Houses are terribly scarce, and people aro tempted to offer the highest rents for any shelter. And, finally, an Act on the Statute Book can only bo nullified by forcing the Government to perform a humiliating climb-down. We recognise these difficulties, and are preparing for action on a suitably gigantic scale. "The Scottish Trade Union Congress has just held a special conference which is calling on the executives of the various Trade Unions to render the fullest assistance in the 'No Rent' campaign. A number of influential unions like the miners and steelsmelters have already made the decision to down tools for 24 hours on the appointed day. Defiant meetings axe being held everywhere, and the demand for speakers can hardly be mot. This is, an agitation that the' I.L.P. in Scotland' is throwing itself into with a will. In addition to the various Glasgow districts, great gatherings—many of them running into thousands—have been held at Leith, Edinburgh, Rutherglen, Larkhall, Dumbarton, Dundee, Cambuslang, Hamilton, Blantyre, and Aberdeen. A solemn covenant has been already signed by 30,000 tenants, and this work has not properly started. Window cards with the bold device: 'Rent strike against increases. We are not removing,' are being bought , up"- in thousands for public display. Our English brethren may imagine that the rent increase is not a serious matter, but the Scottish working-class are determined to -cut the vicious spiral, and no better battleground could be chosen than the prosent. We will wins though it may be necossary to bring down the Government first."

SABOTAGE AND SENSE. The whole-hoggers in Sydney Labour Council are endeavouring to make the life of the Labour Government, just as a similar section endeavoured to do in Queensland when the Ryan Government was in office. Some of the released I.W.W. prisoners are particularly violent in condemnation of the Government, but Mr John Storey (the Labour Premier) has shown that he is not disposed to truckle to the impossible element. Speaking recently ho emphasised the necessity of increased production, and said— " His way of dealing with those who advocated that Australian workmen should follow the example of the Italian workmen by seizing the means of production, he said, would be to send them to Italy. If the employers would undertake to take more interest in the welfare of their workers, he, as head of the Government, would obtain a reciprocal undertaking from the workers." By way of couuterblast to the successful efforts now being made to reorganise the Sydney Labour Council in order that it may express the ideals of the Australian I/abour Party instead of fantastic illusions, the following motion was carried: "That this council congratulates the jobhunting fakirs and political adventurers on the great .fight they are making to capture this council in order to maintain Capitalism intact, and to perpetuate tho economic "enslavement of Labour. " We aJso desire to express out appreciation at the unanimous and enthusiastic support accorded this sandbagging and strangulation policy by the whole of the Capitalistic press of Sydney, and the splendid spirit of solidarity displayed by those forces. The heart of the working class of Australia should rejoice at this offensive against industrial unionism and the economic organisation of the working class, side-tracked and betrayed."

THE EVILS OF " CA' CANNY." A few fti the Labour papers and many prominent Labour men in England are speaking with no uncertain voice on tho subject of "ca , canny." For instance, Cr C. Keatley, of Birmingham, expresses the following views in the Clarion:— " How on earth any clear thinking man can advocate ' ca' canny' as a solution of unemployment, or as an intelligent policy, is beyond my comprehension. "I have, in various situations, been compelled to practise ' ca' canny,' because of the stupidity of employers, and through tho absence of a more intelligent defence against extra reward being used, as a temporary device to find the workers' top speed. The greatly increased strength of trades unionism to-day, and the more enlightened selfishness of many employers, has eased the way to a square deal with adequate safeguards. I fully subscribe to all you say as to the mental and moral degradation accompanying the practice of ' ca' canny.' That can only be alleviated when there is consciousness that it is degrading, and thero you strike the trouble. "It mav be unpopular, but it is, nevertheless true, that a vast number of workers are not conscious that it is degrading, and that, particularly at this stage, it is fosteri ing the continuance of the 'Vicious Circle. , Practised under the compulsion of circumstances, it has boconie to be looked upon as a good thing in itself. Because, in a narrow sense, it may create employment. _ It is not seen that, in a wider sense, it creates unemployment. Under capitalism, or any system, you cannot in general, escapo its deadening effects. Its continuanco simply fosters in the mass a dullness of perception, and obscures the real solution of tho trouble. A consciousness, of the stupidity of ' ca' canny,' as a policy to encourage, is tho necessary prelude to a moro intelligent method of defence." > Commenting on.these views, Mr R. B. Suthers, a well-known Socialist writer, says:— "I think Councillor Keatley has put tho position very _ clearly and frankly. His is the right attitude. It is no use arguing that, 'ca , canny , does not exist, or that it is an excusable defence against the employers' ' ca' canny,' because the real question is: 'Is "ca' canny" becoming the policy of trade unionists at largo, consciouslv or unconsciously?' " If it be a fact that " ca. , canny" has taken hold of largo numbprs of trade unionists, Mr Suthers says:—"lt is a serious matter, because, as I have tried to show, 'ca' canny' is a bad policy for the in(lividu:,! trade or group of trade unionists, and if it infected tno whole move-mc-nt, would hav? disastrous results."