Worker (Brisbane, Qld. : 1890 - 1955)(about) |
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Thursday 22 October 1914
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The Thing That Tolls.
A southern paper commenting on the fact that the jockey who piloted the winner of the A.J.C. Derby and the winner of the Breeders' Plate at the recent A.J.C. meeting received a per centage cheque amounting to £320 for 60 doing, says it is 'rather a handsome
return ror sugutiy ovtsr imw »nu «* half minutes occupation in the saddle.' But really was it only for the three aud a half minutes actually in the saddle that the jockey received that tidy cheque? Did not the years of practice which seasoned his judgment and kept him bodily fit contribute some thing towards the result? You might take almost anybody else, George Appel for instance, and put him on the same horses for about the same time, yet not achieve a similar result. The actual time occupied in doing a special thing counts little. It is but the flower, as it were, of the slow growing plant of preparation. ♦ ♦ ♦ The Point of View. The extremely curious ideas that the influence of environment, and the pre judice due to the manner in which edu cation is received,. will produce in men's minds are well shown in a letter re cently written by att Australian touring England. U fairly reeks of snobbish ness, jvt sunhbishness of an unconscious kind. 'Everyone who works in England,1' ha says, 'is subject to authority and knows his or her place. Servants and einployot-K show great respect for their employers. There is not that rush for existence. It is wrong to think ono
man is as good as another in England, for ho is not socially. The millions given away in charity show what kind ness exists amongst the people.' Everything in that description is exsictly what ought not to be, even though the writer thereof states it with quite evident approval. It is right that every person should know his or her place in the scheme of things. But they should not know it in the servile sense meant by our friond, and others of like thought. In a properly organised social system all would work for the good of all, and each individual in the scheme would understand that the part he played, no matter how humble, was just as neces sary to the community's well-being as that performed by anyone else; thaftho difference in the occupation made no difference to the fact that the singleness ol1 the general purpose made equals of :ill. He tells approvingly that 'servants and employees show great respect for their employers.' And be thinks this slavish sort of servility a proper thing to survive in a country whose people sing so much of liberty! No one can find fault in employees exhibiting re spect for employers, in such cases where they are not being exploited too cal lously but since democracy asserts that all men are created equal that respect should be reciprocal. While a lino of strong social demarca tion exists in any country it is idle to sing that we 'never shall be slaves.' ♦- ♦- ♦- Kindness — of a Sort. 'The millions given away in charity,' continues the writer,' show what kindness exists among the people.' If Bill Sikes w.ent through your house and confiscated everything of value, leaving you only a few dilapi
dated objects would you describe that as kindness ? Yet that practically is what charity, employed in the -sense- that that writer means, amounts to. It is tho sop thrown by the exploiter to the exploited to delude their imaginations and pre vent them from falling quite into that depth of necessitous desperation which leads to indiscriminate retaliation, and as led to the revolution in France. On that occasion sops were not thrown in quite sufficient number, with the result that the dull minds of the exploited people got thinking and thinking until some idea of the real position dawned upon them. Then they got a hustle on. If the peoples of the earth were suf ficiently educated and' intelligent enough to scientifically socialise wealth production and wealth distribution all would be so adequately served that there would be no need or scope for charity at all. Indeed, as none would have too little and none too much, since nothing could be gained by selfish accumulation of the communal wealth, it would not be pos sible to indulge in degrading charity. The millions our friend speaks of as being given away are not given away at all. They simply constitute an invest ment the object of which is to keep the
exploited grateful and submissive, and prevent the TRUTH from dawning too early upon their half-starved intellects. ♦ ♦:♦ ♦:♦ 'A Tory Democrat.' Among n.any war-cries and shibbo leths to suit his day and generation, Disraeli invented the soubriquet of 'Conservative Working-Man' ; and he exploited the idea, too, for all it was worth — which in the long run wasn't much. The Governor of New South Wales, Sir Gerald Strickland, must be' of the same kiduey as BeiiBeacoustield's horuy-banded ton, only at the other end of the social scale. Hearken till him in a recent public address : ' I don't want to sail under false, colours ; I am a Tory, a Tory demo crat, and have always been, and I approached with a good deal of diffi dence and wonderment the Ministers of the Australian Labour party. At the same time, 1 regard it as a privi lege to have como in contact with
the leaders of the Labour movement in Australia.' And, no doubt, such ordinary demo crats :is Billy Huglios, Tom Givons, and W. (5. liiggs will return the coinpli nieui. H will by :i ran* 'privilege' for th.Mn to Ir- tmahlftri io size up such a. curious specimen of cross-breeding ;is u 'Tory democrat' in tho wool.
Armageddon— A War Song of the future. .M.i roll injr down to ArniageiUlou, Urotlicrs, stout and strong ! Li-- us cheer the way wi- trviid on With a soldier's song ' Fiiinl we by the weary road, Or fall wo in the rout, Dirge or paean. Death or Triumph, Let the snug ring out ' We are they who scorn ihe HonrniM-«, Loto the lovers, lmt« A'oiip within the world's four rorners— All must share one into. We are they whose common duuinr ficarB no badge or sign, Save the light which dyes it white, The hope that makes it shine. We are they whose bugle rings, That all the wafe may cease ; W-- arc they will pay tho fcinjrs Their cruel price for justee. We are they whose steadfast watchword Js what Christ did teach — 'Kadi man for his In-other first — And heaven, then, for each.' We arc they who will not falter— Many swords or few — Till we inaico this earth the ullar Of a worship new. We are they who will not rulso From palace, priest, or rode, A meaner law than 'Brotherhood.' A lower Lord than God.. Marching down to Armageddon, Brothers, stout and strong ! Ask not why the way we tread on is so rough and long \ God will tell us when our spirits Grow to prnep liis plan \ Let. us do our part to-day And help him, helping mnnl Therefore, down 1o Armageddon, Brothers, bold and strong ; Cheer the glorious way wo tread on With this soldier's song ! Let the armies of the. old Flags March in silent dread ' Death and Life are one to us, Who tight, for Quick and Dead ! —Sir Edwin Arnold. [Written 30 years ago.]
Rich and Poor. A New York physician, recently testi-; fying before the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, declared that lie would not treat millionaire Ivoekofuiiwr uuleao that money king paid in advance. 'The rich,' said the doctor, 'are ever disput ing their bills.' Tlie doctor wasn't far wrong. The rich are the most troublesome customers in' the world to deal with. They can afford to dispute their bills without sub jecting themselves to any humiliation. That they are rich is known, and that they keep people waiting for their money, and haggle over the amount, often to the disadvantage of their credi tors, is indisputable. The only people who pay more than they ought to for everything that they get are the poor. They try hard to be independent, and they will almost pay more than an article is really worth rather than lay themselves open to criti cism by disputing the price. Your keen retailer selling on a cash basis reasons to himself the poor are numerous, the rich are few. Therefore, if the former have to pay prompt cash my profits will be greater than if 1 sold only to the latter. It is out of the poor all big fortunes are piled up.
♦;♦ ♦;♦ v Strange Bedfellows. Sufficient for the day is the enemy thereof. The concentrated animosity of Britishers the world over is at present directed at Germany. She is the pre sent enemy. Nothing is too bad to say about her. No fabrications concerning her, however fantastic, but are readily believed. And in like manner Germans speak of us. For prejudice and passion aro in the ascendant. Such is the way of all countries in all wars. On the other hand Russia is taken to our bosom. Not from any excellence of her own so much as because she is the enemy of our present enemy. Yet on other grounds it is an unnatural alli ance. England is the country of con stitutional monarchy, where, according to polite fiction, the people rale. She cherishes the 'belief that she is the
world's leader m freedom and progress. Russia is the home of practical abso lutism. For the Duma is a very much shackled sort of Parliament. The Court party predominates. Russia is the land of the knout, of semi-barbarism, or ig norance, of tyranny — and Siberia. So we were wont to be told. These two dissimilar couutries now are allies. Verily a strange alliance, as strange as oil and water. The Russian Czar and Government did not accept war altogether disinterestedly. Russia was seething with discontent, and all the elements of revolt were manifesting themselves, in not only the populace but even the army and navy. The Duma was getting restless. Strikes were taking place on a huge scale. If no antidote were found the days of the dynasty seemed numbered. The war, which the rulers of Russia made no attempt to avert, came as a timely antidote. The Czar has now a new grip ; militarism a greater dominance. When Germany is subdued Russia will be a mighty military nation. She will extend her influence and territory. She may conceivably impose vexatious conditions on British trade in Eastern Europe for the benefit of her own tradespeople. She may cause trouble in Persia, where she was itching a few years ago; and even in India. ? / , Then, perhaps, we shall look to our present enemy for help. Such are the lessons and the queer cycles of history. But sufficient for the day is the enemy thereof. ♦- ?- ?-
What the Farmer Saw. A Tenterfield farmer has had quite an apocalyptic vision recently, accord ing to a statement in a North Coast N.S.W. paper. What that farmer saw, or thinks he saw, bad nothing to do with the aeroplane or Zeppelin which fitfully hovers by moonlight over Bil linudgel, and Lismore, and the Broad water sugar mill. Nor does he claim to have heard that awful cannonading out at sea, which recently consternated in their beds the denizens of Tweed Heads. Not at all. What he vouches to have beheld was this, the time being early forenoon. An enormous lion crouched ready to spring on the north of the sun, and facing it on the south side was a huge eagle with wings and talons out
stretched in an attitude of vicious at tack. Both figures were red, and so dis tinctly outlined that no artist could have painted them more clearly. The farmer was so wonder-stricken that for a moment he thought it some optical illusion, but its clear defination and continuance caused his doubts to vanish. But fancy his amasement, while his hair stood on end and his boots became incorporated with the chocolate soil of his dairy farm, to see the eagle gradually fade away and a
gigantic bear take its place, leaving the silhouette of the lion still visible, until the sun, mounting higher, dissipated the phantasms into the infinite blue. The account adds that tins agriculturist is a particularly healthy, level-headed man, of uniformly sober walk and con versation — the last man in the world to see aerial visions or dream noontide dreams. What then does the portent, symbolise ? Will some seer expound ? ♦- *** ♦- Passing It On. The Industrial Board system in operation in Queensland is a fool sys tem, also a snare and a delusion. When Wages Boards were introduced in 1908 the aspect of the economic mar ket changed, and the working man en joyed a, short-lived prosperity, until th-s employers and middlemen discovered a scheme of 'passing it on.' And it has been 'passing' on' ever since.
It is this promiscuous, random, un controlled passing on that has nullified the good of increased wages. The drowning man was, so to speak, hustled from the deep into a leaky tub, and given a jam tin called 'Wages Boards' and asked to bail himself out. He has bailed, but he is still financially water logged, and his industrial position is getting hopeless. The leaks in the tub of the economic system are high and unregulated rents, and lack of properly represented com modities prices boards. The Govern ment is endeavouring to plug the leaks with temporary legislation which is no good to the occupier, or the tub. That is the situation of economics as handled by the Denham Government m skeleton. ♦♦♦ ♦♦♦ ♦- Mum's the Word. Cabled to-day (20/10/14) that Mon sieur Muram of Champagne fame, a German naturalised in France, has been arrested for treachery to the land which made him a millionaire. He told his employees in the Rheims district that the industry shortly would be German, and that if they cared for their own interests they would do all they could to help the Germans. So the authorities ran him into durance and confiscated all his barrels and bottles. Good biz that. Mumm ia
i Prussian, leastways a native ol Silesia, where they make that soue 'Schlesier wine' which, according to Sans Breitmann, 'der Teufel himself souldn't trink it ven he vas sufferin* a recovery from a schpree.' It isn't the first time that champagne played a bumper rote In French iut!k|tf ? When Bovlanger looked like becoming a Napoleonic dictator, the DucM|; D'lfees, owner of the famous JaMi!) berger vineyard, producing the 41KH 'fizz' in the world, gave him a pjH (pounds, not franca) to enginej^H coup d'etat. But 'le br&v- Q***WJM was no Julius Osesar of NapoleW^^K Mark Antony rather. There was aOtao? patra in the case— Madame Bonnemittti —and soon after her premature 4m$|» Boulanger shot himself on her grave fb. Brussels. Che Duchess D'Uses dona tion became the theme of a music-hall ditty at the time, beginning: 'Queen of the King of all the bdogei,
Hip-hooray for the Duchess D'U«es.' Which almost outrivalled another. Dhanson that used to be sung in Lotft Napoleon's time by bibulous dudes and mashers in prase of 'La V«uy*i DHcquot' (pronounced 'Oleek-o'): 'New nectars may come, and okjl tipples may go. , f But the lady we love is the 'Widow*' Clicquot.' Anyhow, Mumm's case is an example of the value of reticence. If he had lived up to his name and kept his tongue in his cheek he wouldn't be jugged as he is to-day. * ♦ ♦ A 'Courier' Way. The 'Courier,' even in the patriotic line, has its own typical way of doing things. The ordinary casual reader would not know from his morning; glance over the sheet that there were two separate and distinct patriotic funds running. But it is so, and there is a competition. Granny is pushing and hoorayingher own list — significantly called the 'Courier Patriotic Fund,' which now amounts to, roughly, £25,000, while the Queensland Patriotic Fund, whose stan dard bearer is the Mayor of Brisbane, is barracking for public support and has collected over £90,000. Granny gives her own list snace from a column to
half a page, while the fund which has ,. over three times more public reepresen tation has to be satisfied with usually two or three inches. The 'Courier' observes this chart for its political course also. It' represents the political views of 25 per cent of the community by upholding Denham Tory ism, while the other 75 per cent*- which is Labour, is browbeaten and hushed up. The 'Courier' has a courier way of doing things that is traditional.