Welsh Journals

Search over 450 titles and 1.2 million pages

occupy the four corners. Interspaced in the border are imperial crowns to which the arms are linked by a conventional scroll work formed by the national floral emblems. Among other decorative work recently produced by Mr. Richards were the official programme of the Shakespeare Centenary and the Certificate of Honour designed for the Lord Kitchener National Memorial Fund. In Mr. Richa rds'schemes of decoration, in his choice of a well cut beautifully formed font, in his fondness for heraldic devices, the influence of William Morris is everywhere apparent. But, unlike Morris, whose work in printing was confined to the sumptuous expensive productions of the Kelmscott press, Mr. Richards has already been enabled to exercise a beneficial influence on productions of a popular character such as the booklet on Hampstead," and as adviser to the Welsh Department of the Board of Education he has demonstrated that the publica- tions of a Government department can be made things of beauty. The booklet on the observation LABOUR PROBLEMS XI. THE INDUSTRIAL SITUATION AFTER THE WAR (Continued) WE are coming to realise that an industrial revolution has been effected during the three years of the War. There can be no return to the position of 1914. It is therefore of first importance to enquire closely into the facts of the revolution and to attempt to arrive at some conclusions about its possible consequences. The recent inquiries as to the causes of industrial unrest have revealed a widespread feeling that, on the conclusion of the War, the promises which have been made to trade unionists will not be fulfilled. The unions, at the request of the Government, agreed that the whole fabric of trade union conditions should be set aside. These conditions, customs, rules, and understandings constitute an elaborate code which has been built up by generations of effort. The code is regarded as the safeguard against chronic unem- ployment, speeding-up, cutting wage rates and naked tyranny in the work-shop. It has been severely criticised, generally on the ground that the conditions enforced by the code limited output. To this charge workmen could reply that the employers really paid for labour performed under these con- ditions, that limitation of output is not of necessity an evil, and that such limitation is some kind of check on profiteering. The War, however, de- manded a great expansion of output and the Unions of St. David's Day, those entitled Patriotism and a A Nation's Books were printed and pub- lished for the Welsh Department under his direction. With the exception of the illustrations the first and the last of these were printed in Wales on Welsh paper. The beauty of type, the admirable page arrangement, the design of the front page, and the dignified simplicity of the cover have given pleasure to all who love good craftsmanship in book production. Wales requires persistent education and stimulation in this respect. Few of her printers take a n adequate pride in their craft, though of late years a distinct improvement is visible. The reprints of Dr. Gwenogfryn Evans, for example, produced in his private press, are models of good craftsmanship and his edition of Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin marks the high water mark in Welsh printing. The general standard of crafts- manship in Wales, however, is much in need of improvement, and Mr. Richards' ideals, not only in book production but in all other crafts should appeal to all lovers of the beautiful. Edgar Jones. consented to the abrogation of the code. In return for this sacrifice the Government gave a solemn pledge that the conditions were to be restored after the War. This pledge was unconditional and is binding on all parties. Mr. Lloyd George told the Trade Union Congress on 9th September, 1915, that the pre-war conditions are to be restored. We have done it, not merely by solemn declarations on the part of the Government, but we have em- bodied it in an Act of Parliament. We have a statutory guarantee, carried unanimously by Par- liament, by men of all parties. Why not fulfil this pledge fully and to the letter ? Because this would be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible. During the last three years factories have been completely transformed, new machinery has been installed, and new classes and grades of workers have been introduced. The restoration of trade union conditions in the engineering trade would involve the exclusion of all women, unap- prenticed men and labourers from skilled work, the abandonment of dilution of labour, the scrapping of valuable automatic machines, and the abolition of Scientific Management.* It would mean the The whole question is considered in some detail by Sidney Webb in The Restoration of Trade Union Conditions. (Nisbet & Co. One shilling).