Widnes Examiner. — 1912-07-13 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

EARLESTOWN AND NEWTON.  NEWTON DIVISION LABOUR DEMONSTRATION The annual demonstration and field day of the Newton Division Labour party was held on Saturday afternoon at Ashton-in-Makerfield. Representatives of miners' lodges and trades unions from Ashton, Haydock, Newton, Earlestown, and other parts of the division assembled at Ashton and marched in procession, aceompanied by brass bands to Stubshaw Cross, where two platforms had been erected in the football field. Mr. W. Speakman presided at No. 1 platform. Mr. Thorpe proposed, and Mr. German seconded, a resolution stating that it was imperative that all workers should join th.ir trades unions, thanking the Labour party for the , Minimum Wage Bill, and pledging the meeting to secure more Labour representatives.. Miss T 3 nan, Shop Assistants' Union, supported. Mr. Stephen Walsh, M.P., said that was the sixth or seventh of those demonstrations that he had attended, which were held for the purpose of inculcating the necessity of strong combination, both political and industrial, and he was bound to say that be was sick of repeating the same kind of speech. What was the reaaon that they had so many attacks OD trade unionism? Once upon a time trade unions were regarded as most beneficent organisations, but when the working people, by the growth of a very slow intelligence, began to see that there were better ways of fighting the employers than by striking, then the trade unions were denounced as cruel and dangerous organisations. They should recognise that everything depended upon the working people themselves. They need not blame the capitalists or the landowner. They were simply doing after their kind. It was no good the workers having representatives if they themselves were blind to the signs of the times. Now they were accused of being simply members of a coalition with the Liberals, and of being simply the tail end of the Liberal party. There never was a word of truth in that. (Applause.) They were fighting Hanley and they were fighting Crewe, and it would not be the Labour party's fault if there were not in the near future a bigger number of Labour members in the House of Commons. But more than that. Take every Labour man out of the House of Commons, destroy everyone, sweep the party out of the House altogether— would that destroy and put an end to the Labour movement (" No ")? No ; the Labour movement would go on ; the people with their growing needs and their , sense of growing power, the knowledge that they were level with their masters if they cared to exercise their power-all that was a growing force. , Mr. T. Watson presided at No. 2 platform, where the , resolution was proposed by Councillor J. Roberts, , seconded by Mrs. Sutton. Mr. J. A. Seddon, in supporting, remarked that when he was the representative of Newton Division he was charged with breaking all tbe Commandments except that of murder (laughter), and since he had been out the Conservative party had changed almost as often as the wind. Immediately after the last general election it was said by some Tories that "Seddon was all right ; a decent sort of a fellow for all that, and he ought to be in the House of Commons, but not for Newton. (Laughter)." A week or two ago a rumour was floated that he had taken a job at £750 under the Government. That was unmitigated nonsense. He would tell them, that whenever he made up his mind to sell his class it would not be to the Insurance Commissioners; it would be to the Conservative party, who would pay big figures for Judas's from the ranks of the Labour party. Mr. G. H. Roberts also spoke, and the resolution was carried heartily.  Dr. Adeney's Retirement. The "British Weekly" states that at a 1 recent meeting of the committee of the Lancashire Independent College Dr. Adeney foreshadowed his intention to retire from the appointment of principal, at the end of ten years' service, in 1913. Dr. and Mrs. Adeney leave England for Carlsbad on the 15tb inst., and do not expect to return until the first week in September,