Ammunition from the Enemy
Though the Reports of the Commissioners “who have been enquiring into the Causes of Industrial Unrest have now been issued nearly four months, a suitable opportunity has not previously presented itself for making any reference thereto or extracts therefrom. Suffice it to say, therefore, that any delay in the matter is of small moment, for practically all the information contained in the reports is merely of a confirmatory and documentary nature emphasising what the Socialist propagandist has been stating for a considerable period.
The quotations which follow are taken from the Report of the Commissioners for the North-Western Area, including a Supplemental Report on the Barrow in-Furness District (Cd. 8663, price 4d.) We are obliged to the enemy for this further consignment of ammunition which we there and now place in the Socialist “dump” to be ready to hand when needed.
In the early part of the Report the Commissioners set out by stating (par. 10) : “We desire to preface our observations by saying that we have directed our enquiries to causes of immediate unrest in the local area. The basic social and historical aspects of Industrial Unrest are mot matters that we consider we can usefully discuss. In setting out these local causes we do not pretend to have decided that in fact the complaints we refer to are well founded, but we have endeavoured to report faithfully what working men and women have told us is troubling their minds.” The Commissoners are to be commended for their frankness contained in the utterance “The basic social and historical aspects of Industrial Unrest are not matters that we consider we can usefully discuss.” Of course not: they have not come to bury capitalism, but to endeavour to give it a further lease of life.
In par. 11. we read that: “Industrial Unrest is no new thing. Mr. A. A. Purcell, President of the Manchester and Salford Trades and Labour Council, declared that it was not caused by the war, but that it had been greatly aggravated and intensified by war conditions. The Rev. Canon Peter Green, who has lived and worked for twenty-five years among the poorer class of workers in London, …. and now for fifteen years in the Greengate and Islington districts of Salford, tells us that for many years before the war there had been a discontent among skilled and unskilled workers alike.
“They do not see,” he says, “why their hours should be so long, and their wages so small, their lives so dull and colourless, and their opportunities of reasonable rest and recreation so few” ; and he asks, “Can we wonder that with growing education and intelligence the workers of England are beginning to contrast their lot with that of the rich and to ask whether so great inequalities are necessary ?”
The paragraph concludes by stating that the “main causes of unrest, which no Government can allay, arise from human selfishness in all classes, a narrow outlook on the possibilities of co-operation, and forgetfulness of the golden rule to do unto others as you would be done by” ; and further hints at the advantages to be derived from the adoption of a system of welfare work.
Passing over the portion devoted to leaving certificates, some concessions having been made on this point, we come to a significant admission in par. 15, which states: “At the same time, although the atmosphere of the area is patriotic, the long continuance of the war has certainly brought about an altered feeling. Men begin to ask themselves whether the sacrifices they are making are really necessary. They chafe under the restraints upon individual liberty, and are made angry at the high cost of living.” . . .
Under the heading “Condition of the Cotton Trade” the following illuminating passage occurs, which shows up the ineptitude of some of the local tribunals dealing with exemption from military service.
“[Par. 18.] The representatives of the Operative Spinners’ Amalgamation reported a grievance in connection with the working of the Military Service Acts, which merits the consideration of the authorities. Many of their members, working as spinners, coming within the scope of the Certified Occupation List, and who held exemption certificates, are being informed in many cases by local tribunals that exemption can only be continued on their enrolling in Volunteer Training Corps. It should be remembered in this connection that the atmosphere of a spinning room in a cotton mill ranges from 70 to 100 degrees, that the spinner is scantily attired and works in bare feet. In the course of a day’s work, the character of which necessitates constant walking about, a spinner will walk on the average from 15 to 20 miles. It is contended by the operatives’ representatives that after a day’s work under these conditions the spinner is not fit to engage in military drill. Representative employers agree with this view, and express the hope that something will be done to meet an undoubted grievance.”
Considerable space is devoted to the Shipbuilding trade, and the question of foodstuffs and prices in relation to wages stands out above all others. The Commissioners say (par. 25) : “The business proposition, as we understand it, is that the Government should undertake the full control of all necessary foodstuffs, in which we include milk and domestic coal, and that they must understand that the people will expect them henceforth to control the supply and deliver the goods. If they fail to do this there will not only be unrest before the winter, but something much worse ; nor can we honestly say that the frame of mind of the working classes is altogether hopeful about the position. They grumble a great deal, and not without reason, about the result of Government control in the matter of sugar. They consider, rightly or wrongly, that their interests in this matter have been neglected, and it has been put to us that the real value of the experiment of sugar control in relation to the distribution of sugar to working-class households is an example of how not to do it. It is certain that in the future, if bread and flour and coal and milk are to be controlled and distributed as sugar has been controlled in the past, it will be disastrous. We have gone very seriously into the question of sugar control, which has been in existence since 1915, treating it as a working example of Government control over a necessary foodstuff. The question we have asked ourselves is, how far this has been satisfactory to the working classes, and we regret to say that they are of opinion that their interests have not been adequately safeguarded by those in authority.”
Continuing the same theme one would quote the following (pars 27 and 28) : “. . . But our outlook on the matter is confined to the consideration of how far the control of sugar has been satisfactory from the point of view of domestic households, and we feel bound to report that the method of distribution to the workers and their women and children has been a cause of unrest.
“Nor can we wonder at it when we hear their story face to face, and try to put ourselves in their place. Their position is this. A working woman with young children wants to obtain a ration of sugar, which she reads in the news paper the Government says she ought to have. She hunts from shop to shop to get it, and she is very often refused…..The belief among many, working people is that rich people receive it and poor people do not. This is probably incorrect, but the belief exists, and obviously it is a cause of unrest. When the husband returns from long hours of labour, and he hears the complaints of his wife, he is naturally indignant, and blames the Government for not carrying out their widely advertised promises. Now, if you multiply this picture in thousands of working-class homes, you have a cause of dissatisfaction and unrest which has been going on for a considerable time in this area, and it has surprised us that the authorities have not discovered this, and done something to enquire into the working of their system, and to better it. If during the coming winter other necessaries of life are controlled and distributed in alike manner the position would, in our opinion, become exceedingly dangerous.”
On the subject of discontent (referred to by employers and workmen) brought about by contradictory orders and directions which are sent out from different departments the Commissioners say (par. 42) : “We ourselves have not been without experience of what they mean, on one occasion we received a notification from the Treasury calling upon us to cancel our advertisements, and on another we were informed by the Stationery Office officials in Manchester, who were within a few doors of our headquarters there, that they had been instructed by their London office to refuse us further assistance. These blunders were promptly set right by Mr. Hodgson, but it involved our wiring to London, and putting before Mr. Barnes petty details about which he ought not to have been troubled. Moreover, if we had acted on the Treasury instructions and cancelled our advertisements in Barrow, we should ourselves have been a cause of unrest there. We cannot understand how it is that officials in London, who must be assumed to have known that we had received express orders to carry out our duties with all possible speed, are permitted to interfere with our carrying out those instructions by putting ‘grit in the wheel.’ ”
Regarding the question of promoting peace in the industrial world, the following pronouncement is indeed interesting (pars. 46 and 47) : “It is at least interesting that three men of widely different experiences agree with absolute unanimity that what is at the bottom of the trouble is that Governments have relied too much on the aid of judges, tribunals, and officialdom, guided by cast iron rules and orders, with the sanction of police force at their back.
“. . . there is no doubt that one cause of labour unrest is that workmen have come to regard the promises and pledges of Parliaments and Government Departments with suspicion and distrust. Many an instance has been put before us of what seemed on the face of it to be a clear announcement amounting to a distinct promise, which has afterwards been interpreted by judges and officials to be something quite otherwise. It was painful to hear the common use of the phrase ‘a scrap of paper’ so constantly used by working men in describing what they felt about Government promises.”
Under the heading Local Administration of the Military Service Acts there is much food for thought. Particularly noteworthy are the observations in pars 63 and 64, where we read : “We find that there are many complaints that Government promises made to the people by Ministers in Parliament have not been kept. They say that the Government word was given that national registration would not be used for military conscription, that the widow’s only son would not be taken for the Army, that rejected men would be allowed to settle down to work or business and not be called up again, that conscientious objectors, some of whom in this area are trade unionists, would be entitled to exemption that they hare not received, and that businesses built up by one individual should receive consideration from the tribunals that has been denied to them.
“With regard to men who have fought for their country and been discharged, the feeling is very strong throughout the area that in calling them up again there is a breach of faith, and that the methods by which it has been done were wanting in humanity and common-sense. The Government having set up a Special Commission to consider these matters, it is unnecessary for us to report the details which have been brought to our notice, and we have in al] cases advised men who have stated their grievances to us—and we may say that we feel these were very real grievances—to report them without delay to the Commissioners who are now sitting.”
In the Supplemental Report for Barrow-in-Furness District the seamy side of industrial life was brought to light, and the disgusting revelations were of such a nature as to shock the Commissioners.
Under the heading of The Housing Problem they state that they found a most unsatisfactory state of things, and go on to add (pars. 6 and 7): “But for the fact that Barrow lies in a very isolated position and that it is considered inadvisable to inform the public through the medium of the Press of many of the evil conditions of industrial life, we cannot believe that the facts we propose to set down could so long have remained actual conditions of domestic life in England in the twentieth century. We had no power to examine witnesses from London as to why no remedy had been attempted, nor do we desire to lay any blame upon officials for what has happened and is still happening. The fault lies, of course, in the centralisation in a corner of the Sou of England of the only people who have any power to set things right, and their ignorance of the problems they are supposed to deal with. The witnesses from whose evidence we quote a few statements were not drawn from any one class, and indeed no decent person who understands the conditions of housing in Barrow could do anything but condemn them. One who thoroughly understands these conditions made a report to us at once when we were first appointed. ‘I put,’ he writes , ‘the housing question in the forefront. For the majority of the workers here, there is no home life. In some instances the wife is engaged on munition work, but in the majority of cases she is occupied with looking after lodgers. The housing question is acute. The number of beds occupied by night and day on the Box and Cox principle is very high and runs into thousands. The married man returns home to find his wife cleaning up for the lodgers and his own meal not ready—in fact with children, lodgers and husband the wife has her hands full—with the result that one or other is neglected, and naturally becomes dissatisfied. Also I would point to the very inadequate provision for maternity cases. In many homes it is impossible to deal with them, at any rate with decency. Cases have been brought to my notice where nine persons have lived in one room, sixteen in one small house, and a bedroom is occupied by two grown-up sisters and their two brothers, 16 and 17 years of age. The alteration in the train service and the reduction in the number of trains has made the housing question even more acute, in consequence of the withdrawal of trains to and from Ulverston, people in business have had to come and live in Barrow, as otherwise they could not have got to work in time.’ ”
“Mr. Councillor C. G. B. Ellison, J.P., gave us the following instances within his own knowledge of bad housing conditions which require no comment from your Commissioners :
(1) Wife five weeks off confinement. Husband working on munitions. They were given notice to leave their apartments. A fortnight after they were refused admittance, and their belongings were put in the back yard, and they were told to take them away and clear off.
(2) House was sold over the people’s heads, and they had to go into a one-room apartment. Six children, one working. The mother was confined in this one room.
(3) Married woman working on munitions until shortly before confinement. Husband fighting in France. Landlady could not do with her over confinement, as she had other lodgers. The mother tried to get afresh lodgings in Barrow, but no one would take her in as she was expecting confinement. She finally had to go to some friends in the South of England.
(4) A woman was confined in Barrow recently in one room, in which were a husband, one child, and a man lodger.
(5) Father and mother and eight children, two of whom, a boy and a girl, were over 17 years of age all living in one room. The mother was confined of the ninth child in this same room.
(6) Husband in France fighting. Wife expecting confinement. Told she must leave the apartments. Offered 25s. a week to be taken elsewhere, but was refused. Had to leave the town.
(7) Husband on munitions earning good wages. No place for the wife to be confined. Guardians had to take her into the workhouse. Husband paid the Guardians for her maintenance.
Those who desire to continue this sordid story of Christian civilisation would do well to obtain a copy for themselves. The Commissioners terminate their report with the following :
“We cannot but believe that if in the different departments Joint Works Committees dealing with detailed matters connected with the Industry were to be set up, it would be a message of hope to those who are rightly dissatisfied with their conditions. Many a sensible young man who now thinks that the only hope of betterment for himself and his class lies in the spreading of advanced doctrines would understand how far more useful he would be to himself and his fellow men by taking a seat on the Shop Committee and doing direct work in improving the conditions of the Shop. We think that what is driving many well-meaning enthusiasts into very extreme propaganda is the hopeless feeling that they have no place or voice in the management of the work they are doing, and that the only way in which they can assert their knowledge and individuality is by promoting disorder and thereby calling the attention of the authorities to things which all reasonable men agree are wrong.”
S. W. T.