The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard

FOR CARDIGAN'S CONSIDERATION. THE tjown of Cardigan is well satisfied with itself, but that is no proof there is not much in it that ought to give rise to grave anxiety. We do not want to make out a case against the members of the Council, or against the owners of property, or against the tenants of the houses, but the condition of the place as regards footpaths, drains, manure heaps, scavenging, and other matters is far from what it ought to be, as we will try to show without imputing personal blame or attempting to appor- tion responsibility. PAVEMENTS. The pavements of the footpaths in the main street and in other streets are made of slabs of slate. In many places they are worn, broken, and uneven. No attention seems to have been paid to them for years, and after a fall of rain pools of water are left and make walking most uncomfortable if not actually dangerous. We do noij wish to make too much out of these im- perfect footpaths, but there they are and they ought to be improved. Again, in the main street the method of dispos- ing of surface water is far from satis- factory. Untrapped stone gullies carry the water under the houses down to the Mwldan stream which runs parallel with the main street into the harbour. Is it not; a fact that some of the house drains in this neighbourhood have been connected with the surface water drain with the unhealthy result that when there are exceptional rain- falls sewage mattet is forced into the cellars of the houses? THE STRAND. As we have often said in reference to municipal defects elsewhere, familiarity breeds indifference, and at Cardigan the indifference is of the most callous sort. How often do-the town's cavengcrs- we suppose the town has scavengers- visit his district? The surface of the roadway is very defective and full of muddy pools in wet weather and of disease-spreading dust when the weather is dry. There are ill-kept stables here and a'ongside of them are manure heaps with the stinking liquid oozing out on to the roadside. There arc no channels to carry it away, and at several corners there are kitchen mid- dens where ashes and all sorts of refuse arc deposited. These middens arc left, apparently, to work .any ill that filth is capable of working and nobody is disturbed in the least degree. A wail runs parallel with the river and at intervals on the river side of this wall there are square outlets. Through these outlets liquid stuff of a filthy sort runs steadily. When the tide is cut, this liquid filth spreads over the beach until it finds its way to the river. There are scarcely any municipal abominations which cannot be found on this part of the beach, but nobody seems to mind. There are not nunv peaces even in the most neglected neigh- bourhoods of the worst-managed towns in the district that can compete Carrier's-lane in the Strand district. Cari ier s-lane reeks with filth and is a standing disgrace to the Town Council. I No attempt whatever seems to be made by the Council to improve this district and to make it habitable, although it I.. I:"> is thickly inhabited. The poor people have to take their chance. They pay raties, but all they receive in return are disease and premature death. SANITARY DEFECTS. It must be known, or it ought to be known, to the members of the Council that there are scores of houses in the town which are unprovided with cOSCJr. In the Quay district the roads and alleys are greatly in need of repair. There is a plenitude of soft, black, stinking mud. There are pigsties which make their presence felt in most offensive ways, for if they have not got living tenants they are used for other dirty purposes. In the Mwldan neigh- bourhood there is ample room for all sorts of municipal activity. A stream —practically an open sewer—works its way through a wilderness of tins, jam pots, and alii sorts of more offensive rubbish. Here are to be found more deposits of kitchen refuse, dung heaps, and other offensive matter which oug-ht not to be found in any civilized place. The windows of the Town Hall face the Mwldan and every pane of glass in the lower windows is broken. That, perhaps, is a small matter, as broken windows are not a sanitary defect and secure ventilation even if they detract from appearance. There is- OJllv the breadth of the houses between the main street and the Mwldan which runs par- allel with the street and often contains biood and offal which probably comes from the municipal slaughter-house. It is not to be wondered that the neighbourhood is infested with rats- they seem to be the only scavengers the town possesses. We have not space to deal with the badly-kept Cemetery, Catherine's- terrace, which is not, we believe, connected with the town drains, or with the defective troughings, downspouts, and pavements of Priory- street, and other dirty and neglected places. We will probably deal with them on a future occasion. Enough has been .already said, although we have not tried to deal with the filthiness in adequate language, to show that Cardigan is sadly in need of sanitary reform, and sanitary reform it must have if there are any inhabit- ants in it who have the least public spirit. It is noti necessary to enter into details for the instruction of the members of the Council. They either know or ought to know. What is necessary, however, is to bring home to the Council the discreditable fact that the health and lives of the people are endangered by the filthy condition of the town and that there is no excuse whatever for its discreditable state except the insane dread of higher local rates. Loathsome diseases and pre- mature death are preferable to an extra sixpenny rate. Again, we express the opinion that the real culprits are at the Local Government Board. Cardigan Town Council ought to be forced to get rid of insanitary conditions which would be a disgrace to a Hottentot village.

EVEN THE BLIND SHALL SEE. THE prolonged meeting of the Aber- ystwyth Town Council on Tuesday was probably the most irregular that ever was held as far as the Standing Orders are concerned, but the report is most instructive reading from start to finish. There was no pretence of order from first to last. Our readers will see that everybody spoke as often as he pleased, and the only consolation is that the gallery financiers were certainly brought still nearer to the complete realisation of their own fogy. The remnant of the Blind Following cut a sorry figure. They seem to have been painfully aware of the fact. The per- sonal aspect which has been given to the absolutely necessary enquiry into the borough finances is deplorable, but we think the final result, will be worth far more thana l it will cost in legal actions, personal bitterness, and Town Council disturbances. Already something has been saved. Our task, and we do not mean to abandon it, is to make clear to the ratepayers of the town that they are paying money in interest every year which many of them can ill afford and then in the end they have also to discharge the debts on which the interest is paid. This is plain to everybody. QUITE IRREGULAR. There was an extraordinary display of ignorance in reference to the action, PHILLIPS v The Corporation, and in the end Mr. T. J. SAMUEL scored. The Towx CLERK was badly and unfairly treated and the Blind Following greatly befooJed itselt. We fully agree with Mr. SAMUEL that an apology is due to the Towx CLERK who was grossly misrepresented. It is yet well within the power of the Council to vindicate him, and in the interests of the town he ought to be vindicated. Mr. GIBSO raised the point that the whole discussion was out of order and in the end his proposition was carried, notwithstanding resolutions which were passed by the MAYOR'S casting vote. Mr. PETER JONES dragged out the remarkaHIe fact, notwithstanding much opposition, that the TOWN CLERK had been misrepresented. We do not think that the last word has been said on this subject. The TOWN CLERK'S version of what happened was vouched for by others and there ought to be a full retractation of what was said that in any way cast the least reflection on the TOWN CLERKTS version of what transpired. The ratepayers will read the two versions. We care far less about results than about methods. In our opinion, the methods were most reprehensible. The people are slowly learning their lesson, but some of them find the proccss very painful. Mf- ISAAC HORKIXS'S sugg.>stior^ that when- ever anybody brings IUI action against the Corporation it should be settled without a fight may be called an easy way to enable needy people to make a living our of the Corporation. The TOWN CLERK dealt wisely with this absurd proposal in what strikes us aS" the right: spirit. THE MAYOR'S ACTION. The MAYOR'S action against te- Council, as far as. it has gone, is llf favour of the Town Council. We are not going to discuss the action's wis- dom or unwisdom, as the MAYOR saXs that the last has not been heard of tillS case. Very likely not. For the pre- sent the Council has won. Further proceedings are sure to be interesting- NEW RATES AND OLD. When six months ago the last rate was made of 3s. 3d. in the pound It was said by the gallery financiers to be far heavier than was necessary. The result has proved that it was scarcely heavy enough, for the indebtedness is increased. At Tuesday's meeting a new rate of 3S in the pound was made, but even that does not cover the cost of building a new bridge over the Y stwyth, and it makes no provisiQn whatever for meeting the overdraft of about on the Borough Fund account. Interest on this overdraft will have to be paid, and in the end the 1,500 will also have to be liquidated. Is there anybody in the town so utterly ignorant, as not to see that as the indebtedness on the Borough Fund account is not met by the present rate about £60 per annum will have to be paid in interest on the overdraft. We do not say, and never have said, that all the overdrafts ought to be met by one heavy rate. What we say is that every account, and there are sixteen of them, ought to be in credit so that interest) would not have to be paid on overdrafts, as the interest is money thrown away. Mr FRED MORGAN* and Mr. SAMUEL made it perfectly clear that the system of not levying rates- sufficient to meet the requirements of the town has brought about very serious financial difficulties. Mr FRED MORGAN moved that £200 should be included in the estimates for the Ystwytn bridge, but the Blind Follow- ing objected and carried t.he exclusion of the amount by the casting vote of the MAYOR. This expenditure has not been finally got rid of, but the door has been left open for what might be called an "accident." This is an almost perfect sample of what we call gallery finance. During the discus- sion a good deal was said about Mr. WILKINSON'S finance. We do not think we need say anything about his views. He evidently does not know anything about the subject, and to enter into any sort of discussion with him would only tend to further confuse the subject. There are four points which we think are now clear First, that the profit on the workmen's houses is wrongly used to pay interest on overdrawn accounts which it is said is not paid; second, that a necessary payment for a bridge over the Ystwyth is not included in the estimates; third, that no provision has been made in the new rate for reducing the indebtedness on the Borough Fund account; arfd fourth, that interest on that account will have to be paid, no matter where the money comes from to pay it. Gal- lery finance is in a very bad way indeed. As regards the anonymous financial statement which the MAYOR said he published we have nothing to say. Several members dealt with it on Tues- day. The statement bears on the face of it its own refutation. There are two statements, namely, a statement of interest received and a statement of interest paid. We contend that the money received from the workmen's houses is not interest and that sum, which amounts to more than 2s 7ld per week, is used to pay interest on over- drawn revenue accounts. This is wrong in all sorts of ways. The existing overdraft on the Borough Fund will cost the ratepayers some- thing like £60 per annum and in the end they will also have to pay the £1,500. The only people who gain by the present system of gallery finance which is in its death throes are bankrupts and temporary residents. The subject is not yet by any means exhausted, for there is much still to do before adequate rates are levied, illegal payments are put an end to, and illegal transferences cease to be. The odd thing is that some of the gallery financiers would if they could maike an illegal transfer of the water- works depreciation fund to other funds so as to relieve the rates Thev do not object to illegality if it serves their views of what ought to be done. We think there are glints of daylight in the town's finances and we are glad, for we have struggled long and arduously for this result. Mr SAMUEL, the chairman of the Finance Com- mittee, was not granted fair play on Tuesday, but he need not despair. All he has to do is to persist. The people are with him.

WOMEN MUST TAKE WHAT THEY GIVE WOMEN have a perfect right to adopt whatever tactics seem good to them in their arduous struggle to obtain poli- tical enfranchisement. We have never attempted to dictate to them, or to find fault with them, or in any way to belittle them. Even when we have thought they were unwise in their action we have always frankly con- ceded the point that he outsider is not always a good judge of what is wisdom for those within the fighting circle. Long before the present militant movement came into existence we con- tended that women would never be en- franchised until they fought for poli- tical recognition as men fought for it, at the cost if needs be of life and liberty and reputation for sanity and decency. Not long ago, at Cardiff, a women's meeting was violently broken up, mainly by college students, and women were refused a hearing. The proceedings from first to last were as foolish, as brutal, as short-sighted, and as opposed to the public good as could be conceived. The only possible defence of the course pursued is that it is the course which women themselves pur- sue even against their friends. The Dundee bell, for instance, was an attempt to prevent meetings being" held by the Liberal candidate. If It is right and prudent for women to break up public meetings, then it is also right and prudent for men to break up public meetings, and in mere physical conflicts it is almost certain that men