Welsh Journals

can be no doubt that the insufficiency of housing accommodation and the depressing and insanitary character of the environment in which men live and work are a fruitful source of unrest. The Govern- ment and local authorities should be ready with their housing and town-planning schemes so that they may be proceeded with at once when peace is restored. And surely it is not a materialistic but an idealistic philosophy that underlies this emphasis on improved conditions of life and work. (3) The Report recognises fully the indispensable value of the Trade Unions, and boldly advocates compulsory unionism." Every workman to belong to a recognised union of his industry, and this to be a condition of employment (p. 41). This would put an end to one of the most prolific causes of sudden stoppages and strikes. (4) As an ardent Welsh nationalist, the present writer is glad to find the Commissioners recognising the fact that it is an advantage for colliery officials in Wales to have personal knowledge of the Welsh temperament and outlook as well as of the Welsh language (p. 15). It is surely the duty of every man to study sympathetically the psychology of those with whom he has to deal day by day, especially of those by whose toil he himself makes a living and perhaps a fortune. The stupid neglect of this elementary duty is responsible for much ill-feeling and suspicion, not only of workers towards their employers, but of small nations (such as Wales and Ireland) towards the big ones that exercise authority over them. (5) Most heartily do we endorse the view that what is most of all wanted is a new spirit," a more human spirit," a new spirit of partnership as between employer and employed. Such phrases may seem to some to be mere platitudes fit only to adorn perorations. But in our opinion the para- graphs at the bottom of p. 27 and top of p. 28 are worthy to be printed in letters of gold, and in them- selves would redeem the Report from being a mere dry-as-dust official document. We agree that the main cause of unrest lies deeper than any merely material consideration, that the problem is funda- mentally a human and not an economic problem." Hence it follows that no mere mechanical re-adjust- ment will remove misunderstanding between master and men, except in so far as it is the expression of a new spirit, a spirit of mutual sympathy, under- standing, and confidence. Perhaps the intense class-consciousness which is so marked a feature of modem industrialism is necesssary as a stage in social evolution, but it is essentially divisive and militant, and is based on the assumption that the interests of master and men are conflicting and irreconcilable, an assumption which would lead to a sort of chronic civil war in society, and would perpetuate class antagonism. There is need to encourage the attempt on the part both of employer and employed to under- stand the point of view of the opposite party, and still more the point of view of the general good. Especially should we all learn to think of our work in terms of social service, rather than in terms of private profit. Perhaps this may be said to be Utopian, and to leave human nature out of account. But no progress can be made if we are for ever to assume that men are incapable of advancing beyond the point of view of individual or class selfishness. We welcome the suggestions given in this Report in favour of common conferences for discussion between employers and employed (p. 28), and especially the proposal for the establishment of Joint Standing Industrial Councils made by the Whitley Report and here endorsed (p. 29f). (6) The Report puts in a plea for increased facilities for the spread of education and knowledge, and urges our University to take the lead in the matter by means of Tutorial Classes, etc. There can be no doubt that both masters and men need that larger outlook which education and knowledge alone can give, so as to help them to see the other point of view. The Central Labour College movement is based frankly on the class-war idea. True education must be of an unbiassed and non-partisan character, and a truly live and democratic University should bring such education within the reach of the common people. (7) The most far-reaching constructive suggestion in the Report, and one that points towards a per- manent and not merely a temporary remedy for the unrest, is that the present system should be modified in such a way as to identify the worker more closely with the control of the industry in which he is engaged (p. 28). And it does seem to us too that the next stage in economic evolution must be along those lines. The wage-system is surely not the last word in economics it has been weighed in the balance and found wanting. The grievances of the miners are now too deep-rooted to be cured merely by advance in wages. It is time to make the experiment of giving the men full recognition as partners in the control of the industry. This recognition of the personality of the worker would enhance his self- respect and feeling of personal responsibility and pride in his work. Some degree of personal owner- ship and control is necessary to bring out a man's best in his work. It may be said that this is a step towards Syndicalism. It is true that the cry of the