PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3114, 19 November 1913, Page 72

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

THE COMING MILLENNIUM. Last week I suspended ray Chats on the political history of Ireland and gave a Chat on “Syndicalism and the Co-opera-tive Commonwealth : How We Shall Bring About the Revolution.” I said, in concluding, that I might give another Chat on -this book, which is regarded as a kind of text-book, showing what the “Independent Workers of the World” (the 1.W.W.), or Federationists (as opposed to' the Arbitrationists) believe to be the right course of action, and what it will develop into. Well, after the Parliament was overthrown in Paris, after the means of production and the banks -were taken possession of, and after the army was won over, the strike took hold of the provincial towns. The following- is taken from the chapter “General Strike in the Provinces” ;—“ln those purely industrial regions, where all the power of the Capitalists and the State had finally come to nought, the workers did not rest satisfied. with their own victory. They did not forget the duty of solidarity, and they hastened to the assistance of their comrades elsewhere. From those human hives, where hope arose, whole companies of rebels started out. They went to neighbouring towns, where their help would be of use. These bands of people were an impressive sight, marching to songs of deliverance sung with wonderful sonorousness. They made one think of those who, escaped from Dante’s hell, were marching to the assault on Paradise.” Then followed the revolt of the peasantry and the appropriation of the land. ‘The pariahs of the soil were no longer human dust; societies, solidarity, had given them vigour and force; they had ceased to be apathetic beings, dull of spirit, and they did not fear the future, for they familiarised themselves with the work of emancipation and the taking possession of tiie land, of which they cherished the hope.” THE END OF COMMERCIALISM.

Schedules were drawn up with mathematical accuracy, showing how much of each commodity was required, and the unions concerned knew exactly how much to produce. As “things were made for use, and not for sale; for utility, and not for profit,” wages disappeared; and as wages disappeared “all trace of subordination had to disappear too. No one must be, iu any case, either the hireling nor the subordinate of anyone whatever: between human beings there w-ould be contacts, contracts, associations, an intermingling of groups ; but each would render service to his fellow on the footing of equality, to be paid by some service in return. And because the new society was going to be like- this, any Legislating Assembly was out of date, whether a national, departmental, cantonal, or communal one.” Land had now “only its usefulness, so all its financial value had vanished,” so the proletariat—probably that name disappeared too —had comfortable houses built, and containing all modern improvements and labour-saving appliances. Water, gas, electricity, and the telephone were all free, and so were the tram, railway, and post office services. Wages—the equivalent allowance given by the. State—were given in consumers’ notes and books representing the value of the person —all had the same value; and these notes were exchanged with others for equivalent values. As the productive power of each individual exceeded in value his necessary wants, the surplus notes were interchangeable for luxuries purchasable at the rates fixed, by the now nonexistent capitalistic society. “Gold, henceforth dethroned, reduced to being no more than a simple article of merchandise, was deprived of its poison; it had no more power of absorption, nor of exploitation; consequently its use was no longer fraught with danger.” Once it got into the public

chest, however, it was not put into circulation again, “except in very special cases; either to get exotic products from abroad or to buy from those refractory people who did not yet agree to the new social system.”

The children became the care of the State, and pensions commenced at 50 at the latest, with the proviso that the age should be lowered to 45 as soon as the social working made it clear that there were more hands than were necessary. NO PRISONS. These were opened, and all political prisoners liberated immediately. The common law 'prisoners were examined by “specialists who had the best repute for knowledge and integrity.” Those physiologically or mentally defective received expert treatment, and the others were given ,the choice either of joining a Trades Union (capitals always) or of being deported ; in the latter case they were given the choice of country, their passage paid, and a sum of money given them to start upon. The result was the complete disappearance of the hooligan. There being no criminals, gaols and courthouses were either destroyed or put to other uses. MATTERS RELIGIOUS. ' As one of the institutions connected with the capitalist regime, the Church had to disappear. “The disagreement in individual beliefs no longer set men quarrelling. They ceased to hurl invectives at each other because of philosophical or metaphysical differences; they no longer cursed each other because their ideas about the universe and the problems of life and death were opoosed,’ What was to be done with the Church buildings where “its [the Church’s] work of evil and perversity was crystallised”? One section was in favour of razing every one to the ground; but another section thought they could be made use of in various ways—as public halls, museums, etc. Didn’t the aans-culottes in 1793 transform them into meeting-places, and into barns and stables? And weren’t thev used in the Middle Ages as markets and playhouses? A compromise' was arrived at by sparing buildings symbolising an epoch the art of which it expressed, and by pulling down buildings lacking in art as in faith. The more the new order was understood the more creeds declined. “Formerly, many sought a consolotion for the miseries of life in prostration at the foot of altars; as others hoped to find it at the bottom of a glass of alcohol. Religion and alcoholism played the same part as narcotics—the one more Intellectual, the other more material, —to which many people had recourse, choosing one or the other, according to their moral condition, their degree of development.’’ As the new order gave material, security, “alcoholism disappeared and superstition lost ground.” The appropriation of private collections and of private wealth, the freeing of women from life’s drudgeries, and many other topics I cannot touch unon; but these two Chats show what is the aim of Syndicalism as outlined by two of its most prominent exponents in France,