The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1917-10-05

Amusing Incident.
Nothing funnier has happened In this
country since the war began than the
holding up, at Aberdeen, of the two
pacifist labor leaders, Ramsay Macdon-
aid and Il. w. Jowett, both members
of parliament, who were on their way,
or thought they were, TO the Socialist
conferences at Stockholm and Petro-
grad. says a London dispatch to the
New York Tribune. Both Macdonald,
who sits In parliament for Leicester,
and Jowett, who represents West Brad
ford, are peace cranks of the extreme
type. They were elected as delegates
to the two conferences by the wholly
unrepresentative gathering of labor
men" which recently congregated at
Leeds. The whole tone of this con
gress" was "be nice to the Germans"
and Its delegates had no instructions
to demand reparation for Belgium or
any of the other rayaged countries
when confronted with their German
brethren at the Swedish capital.
Macdonald and Jowett felt certain of
getting away They reckoned, how
ever, without the patriotic sailors or
Great Britain. who are banded together
In trade union of their own, known
as the National Amalgamated Sailors
and Firemen's union.
The sailors decided that the peace
cranks should not sail. The crew OF
the good ship Vulture, on which Mac
donald and Jowett had taken passage,
declined to leave port If the pacitist
pair were on board. When the two
peaceites reached Aberdeen they were
virtually made prisoners. Pickets were
placed around their hotel and they were
shadowed wherever they went by repre-
sentatives of the seamen's union Or
course the crew of the Vulture risked
being sent to jail for breaking their
articles of agreement rather than take
the cranks to sea, but they risked that.
1t was said that if the Vulture men
were arrested every sailor and fireman
In the country would go on strike. How
ever, the government accepted the stu
alton and So perforce, did the two paci-
fist delegates" After being marooned
In Aberdeen for three weary days they
returned to London much downcast.
The man who, more than any other, |
is responsible for this thwarting OF the |
British pacifists is Joseph Havelock /
Wilson, the veteran trade union leader |
who Is general president Of the Ma |
| honal Seamens union. Wilson, who is |
ffty-nine, was the original organizer Of
the union, which has over 40 branches
and between 10000 and $4,000 mem
bers, During the years that he sat In
parliament he was known as the Sail |
ors' NJ p" and what he says mostly |
goes In the shipping world here.
Wilson didn't divulge all the details
OF how the NARROWING" Of the outward |
bound peace cranks was managed when
he addressed a big meeting Of members
of the British Workers league in Ira
fal square recently, but he made it |
plain how big shock their detention at
the eleventh hour was to Macdonald |
and Jowett
Joseph Havelock Wilson is one of the |
most striking personalities in England. |
Born In a seaport town OF seafaring |
stock, he shipped before the mast as q |
boy and for many years lived life Of
adventure on the deep. The more he
saw, however, of the wretched condt- |
tions OF sailors life then the more
determined he grew to get them better
ed, and with this in view left the sea
and settled on land
When he put his hand to his self
appointed task his friends frankly told |
him that he was a mailman the idea OF |
being able to get sailors to combine, |
still less to fight the shipowners, seem
ed chimerical to a degree. But the |
Sailors and Firemen's union became !
an accomplished and potent fact In
shipping circles, and what the mercan-
tile mariner of today owes to Havelock |
Wilson in the way Of greater security
Of life and limb, better food wages and, |
generally speaking, improved conditions |
OF existence only the tars of the old |
days know.
However, the very success of the
union nearly proved Wilson's undoing. |
1t brought him into bitter conflict with
the shipowners and involved him in
several libel actions, in one of which
heavy damages We're given against him.
Among the many reforms that he
initiated and carried through may be
mentioned the extension Of the EN-
ployers' liability act to seamen, the es-
tablishment of an authorized food scale !
and parliamentary legislation against |
foreign seamen
This born fighter is Of middle height, |
square hewn and powerful Of Frame |
with big head, an aggressive beak of
nose, firm mouth, thrusting chin and
steely, fearless, blue gray eyes. He is
an eloquent speaker, a wonderful or
ganizer and a tremendous worker who
has put In on an average sixteen tours
a day throughout life and il \. TO
have addressed more meetings within
tWenty-four hours than any other man
In England. Finally, he has a sense of
humor, which, as rule, the British la
Dor leader lacks
Maryland Rounds Up ldlers.
Governor Harrington recently issued
a proclamation requiring unemployed |
ablebodied men in Maryland between |
the ages OF eighteen and fifty years to |
register on or before Aug. 20, name, ad-
dress, age and other needed ini orma-
ton.
On and after Aug 20 the sheriffs will
begin rounding up the dodgers. The
governor is determined that those who