New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-10-18

tacit agreement, 20 say as Nttie as
possible about the Trade Unions fla
grant attempt 20 bully the government
Scdition. mutiny. treason al these
words have been avoided Punch ha'
caricature Of a Stacker shaking his
I fist at an honest nottingham doing his
T best 20 turn out munitions for tde
men In the trenches Says the Stacker:
you're a traitor 20 the Union"
Says the patriot-worker:
Better that than traitor 10 England
IL is ono Of the few examples OF
I truth-speakng on this dangerous sub
ject.
But now comes Mr. Blatchford. be-
lieye Mr.. Blatchford is not unknown
in America. His writings are not un-
known. Much of his life has been de-
voted 20 the mischievous work of So
cialism. lie is in fact q Socialist. lie
is editor Of The Clarion" a Socialist
sheet. He has led rough life and has
a rough side 30 his tongue.
or Labor, right or wrong. and most
y when wrong. he has been Che u0-
fiinchiuC and terminating cham
F pion. The Trades Union has been 90
him the Government and the workshop
his country. But since the War began
he has found salvation I'M the Camp
and new religion in Patriotism. and
pulpit in THE Weekly Dispatch" lie
was once himself q soldier in The ranks.
He describes himself as educated mo-
where" He is wrong. lie was cdu-
Gated in the barrack room and the firing
line. and there are not many better
schools
Have Soldiers Any Rights?
The view he now takes of Mr. !. II.
I omas and the Trades Union mutt
neers generally is the view taken to-
day in the trenches. The trenches do
not say much. Mr.. Asqu.th disapproves
Of messages from the trenches and re-
minds officer n. P.'s that they repre-
sent their constituencies and rot the
Army. Does be mean 20 disfranchisc
| tho soldier? r there w-rc a General
Election tomorrow does he mean the
soldier % have no vote? I presume
not but he is in danger Of being mis-
understood
Captain Guest. Mr.. Wedgwood and
other members Of the House OF Com
mons who have been nj the front and
done good service there are men who
know the truth. No man is so much
dreaded by Ministers as men who know
the truth and wish 20 tell it. For are
we not always hearing that IL is not
for the public interest that the truth
should be known?
Soldiers in Flanders who have died
for telling the truth 10 Germans with
shrapnel and bayonet We're never OF
that Ministerial mind Those Of them
who make no part, get. Of that awful
and ever-~lorious casualty list now
wellnigh touching the half million
still think Of themselves as citizens,
as subjects as voters when the time
comes. and meantime as having earned
the right 70 be heard even in ;he House
of Commons. When the South Wales
Miners rcvolted their message TO those
Welsh Germans was:
wait till we get at them"
The Remedy for Rebellion.
This has carried me too far from
Mr. Blatchfcrd. He also. Socialist as
he was and perhaps u.s. wants to get
AZ Nh J. II. Thomas and the kind o.
Labor men who threaten revolution II
the government does not obey .hc
Trades Unions Whether YOU call
Revolution industrial or nor does uo.
matter. In Wa; there is but one kind
Of Revolution. You are for the War
or against it. and Il you are against it
or arainst the moa urPe essential fo
the successful conduct Of III" war, your
proper place Is With your back 10 a
wall looking down the muzzies o.
certain number of loaded rifles
think that would be Mr. Batch
ford's view. lie says Of Mr.. J. II.
ThOmas's speech that it was the speech
of a rebel:
at was an insult TO the House Of
Commons, to the working classes, to
the Nation. II is no wonder we
puzzle our Allies. Apparently the
British public do not know VIVA. War
means, or 90 not think sedition mat
tiers Such speech is worth ,eEs Of
thousands lhc does rot saw Or whal
to the Germans, even if it has nothing
behind it but the bumptiousness OF a
Trades Union official"
Mr.. Blatchford, who is in a good
position to judge. does not believe that
these islands contain more than a
handful OF men base enough TO act on
Mr.. Thomas's shameful hint Unhap-
PLY, they have powerful backing. II
the Radical Press were in German pay
il could not serve the German cause
better than it does by fomenting or
excusing strikes and by its support Of
men who are loyal If the Government
viii take orders from them and not
otherwise. think il misfortune
that the Rational and loyal papers do
not at once take up the challenge which
Mr.. Thomas and the men behind him
flung on the floor of the House. It's a
misfortune that Ministers did not, but
they may yet adopt National Service
and then we shall see. Meanwhile,
Fnglishmen owe debt 10 Mr. Batch
ford. &. W. s.