Welsh Journals

"Trade Unionism on the Railways, by G. H. D. Cole and R. Page Arnot. Fabian Re- search Department. Cloth 2s. 6d., paper Is. 147 pp. The Fabian Research Department is an association of en- quirers into social, industrial and political problems. A number of valuable reports containing the results of close and thorough investigation in various directions by competent enquirers have already been issued and others are in preparation. The present volume is the second in a Trade Union series, and its object is to state clearly for the guidance of railwaymen and economic stu- dents the history and problems of Railway Trade Unionism. What Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Webb did for Trade Unionism as a whole the present authors have done for organised railwaymen. Industrial re-organisation is necessary if the difficult after-War labour problems are to be satisfactorily solved, and it is essential to such re-organisation that the people concerned should have full and clear knowledge of the structure of the societies in which they are banded, and of the difficulties that hamper their progress. This study of Railway Trade Unionism is lucid and exhaustive, and deserves a large circulation especially amongst the railway workers themselves. A great need exists for a similar study of the mining industry, which is linked up with the Railwaymen and Transport Workers in the Triple Industrial Alliance, and we would urge the Fabian Research Department to give this matter its early attention. The present volume traces the growth of Trade Unionism on Railways from its inception in 1865, analyses the organisation of the various societies and defines their relation to one another, and discusses the various burning questions that have aroused the interest of railwaymen during recent years, as for example the National Programme, the Abolition of Craft Unionism, the Triple Alliance, Nationalisation of Railways, etc. It is clear from the account given that the railway workers are pressing towards Industrial Unionism, and that when this object is achieved they mean to have a voice in the control of their industry. Not the least interesting chapter in the book is the last one which gives an account of the attitude of the men towards public ownership and management of railways. The various railway unions have long been committed to railway nationalisation. They now realise very clearly, however, that State Capitalism may be no more advantageous to them than Private Capitalism. The various unions have therefore recently registered a demand for democratic control of the industry, and at the 1916 Trade Union Congress a resolution was passed at the instigation and with the full support of the railway unions calling on the Government to nationalise the railways completely, and at the same time arrange for the Trade Unions concerned to have such a share in the management of the railway system as will enable railway workers to have a real voice in the control of the conditions of their life and work. Early in the present year a National Conference of the N.U.R. District Councils passed a still more drastic resolution, demanding that railways should not revert to private ownership after the War but should be acquired by the State to be jointly controlled by the State and by representatives of the National Union of Railwaymen. The tendency obviously is in the direc- tion of Guild Socialism, and it is towards this goal also that the miners of South Wales are marching, with the exception of the more extreme element to whom the notion of a State is anathema. E.L.C. Please send this Magazine to a Soldier at the Front. BOOKS RECEIVED Towards Democracy," by Edward Carpenter. Geo. Allen & Unwin, Ltd., London. 3s. 6d. Pp. 519. Old Worlds for New," by Arthur J. Penty. Geo. Allen & Unwin, Ltd., London. Pp. 186. Problems of the Self by John Laird, M.A. Macmillan & Co., London. 12s. Pp. 375. Neutrality versus Justice," by A. J. Jacobs. T. Fisher Unwin, London. 2s. Pp. 128. Gloucestershire Friends," by Lieut. F. W. Harvey. Sidgwick & Jackson, London. 2s. 6d. Pp. 71. The Next Thirty Years." Viscount Bryce's presidential address to the British Academy. Humphrey Milford, London. Is. Pp. 30. Cicero Pro Rosio Merino," by A. H. Birch, M.A. Southall & Co., Newport, Mon. 3s. Pp. 151. Industrial Reconstruction," by Huntley Carter. T. Fisher Unwin, London. 6s. Pp. 295. A History of the French Novel," by George Saintsbury. Mac- millan & Co., London. 18s. Pp. 491. The Value of the Welsh Languace," by 0. J. Owen. Western Mail, Cardiff. 4d. Pp..5. War Poems and other Verses," by R. E. Vernde. Wm. Heinemann, London 3s. 6d. Pp. b8. A Celtic Psaltery," by A. P. Graves. S.P.C.K., London. 6s. Pp. 175. The National Food Supply in Peace and War," by T. B. Wood, M.A. Cambridge University Press. 6d. Pp. 43. "An Alphabet of Economics," by A. R. Orage. T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd., London. 4s. 6d. Pp. 172. The Monarchy in Politics," by J. A. Ferrer. T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd., London. 10s. 6d. Pp.342. Life of Sir Charles W. Dilke," in two volumes, by Stephen Gwynne, M.P., and Gertrude M. Tuckwell. John Murray, London. 36s. Pp. 557 and 614. National Economy," by Henry Higgs, C.B. Macmillan & Co., London. 3s. 6d. Pp. 147. British Foreign Policy in Europe," by H. E. Egerton, M.A. Macmillan & Co., London. 6s. Pp. 440. National Defence," by J. Ramsay Macdonald, M.P. Geo. Allen & Unwin, Ltd., London. 2s. 6d. Pp. 132. Towards Industrial Freedom," by Edward Carpenter. Geo. Allen & Unwin, Ltd., London. 3s. 6d. Pp. 224. Aeneas at the Site of Rome," by Warde Fowler. B. H. Black- well, Oxford. 4s. 6d. Pp. 1 29. Germany's Annexationist Aims," by S. Grumbach, trans- lated by J. Ellis Barker. John Murray, London. 3s. 6d. Pp. 148. The Progress of Capitalism in England," by Archdeacon W. Cunningham. Cambridge University Press, London. 3s. Pp. 144. Economic Problem of Peace after the War," by W. R. Scott. Cambridge University Press, London. 4s. 6d. Pp. 122. Dan yr Helyg," pan y diweddar Lieut. Gwilym Williams, B.A. I. T. Williams, Gelliwen, St. Clears. 2s. Pp. 125. Where is He ? A one act play, by D. T. Davies. The Shakespeare Head Press, Stratford-upon-Avon. Is. 28pp. Cwsgi yr Hogyn Diog," by W. C. Williams, Aberdare. Hughes & Son, Wrexham. 4d. 39 pp.