The Carmarthen Weekly Reporter

KAY'S "Linseed Compound' (Aniseed, Senogs quill, Tolu, &c.) for Coughs and Culds.

CARMARTHEN UNDhR THE SEARCHLIGHT. Come, come, and sit you down you shad not budge, You shall not go, till I set you up a glass Where you may see the inmost part of you.- SHAKESPEARE. The Guardians ha.ve decided to postpone the question of building a Cottage Home. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. If the Guardians huilt ft house like the Hotel Cecil, and provided two servants for every child, and sent all the boys to. Oxford and all the girls to Girton. the public would in the end only can it the the "Workhouse," and would rather see children boarded out in a slum. Seeing that public sentiment is what it is, it is a pity to waste, any more money on Poor-Law buildings. There was a certain individual in Carmar- then who bought eggs at 3s 9d a dozen on Saturday the 1st March—St. David's Day. This individual thought the eggs were too cheap, and that it would be better to keep them a little longer unt,il the price recovered and went back to 4s 6d. On Saturday, the price was down to 2s and even Is 8d. The eggs were cleared off in double quick-time— lest the price next Saturday should be 20 for Is. It will come tio thatt by May. Again I have been quite touched by the pathetic confid-e-nee, which most people have in the "power of the press." In the years 1915 and 1916, I was told by consumers that it was a shame to be "printing ainything in the papers about the high prices of things." Now on Saturday I have been entreated by several poultry keepers "not to be putting anything in the papers about the way prices is going back." **» It is quite flattering to meet with the assumption that the public know nothing except what they read in the newspapers. But experience shows that there is nothing so widely circulated as the stories that never get into the papers at a:l—in fact the stories j which nobody would print. The price of eggs is now quite normal. They have been sold at 2d each this week, and] before there ever was a talk of war eggs fetched 2d each in March. So there is every likelihood that thev will be sold at 10 for 6d by Easter. One fact which is worth noting is that the fowls kept by farmers turn out, a better article than the fowls kept by cottagers. The cottagers have to feed the fowls on this offi- oially controlled food-which is apparently a mixture of Portland cement, pulverisd motor tyres, and! superphosphate of lime. The fowls kept by the farmers are fed en corn f I am told that it is illegal for the farmers to feed rats'. Some cornet acks have been have corn which they can't market, and it s-ems better policy to feed fowls on it than to feeed rats. Some corn-stacks have been so thoroughly excavated by rats that they are expected to fall in any day. TLey are merely empty shells. There are two factors which have brought down the price of eggs with a bang. (1) The demand is lessened and (2) the supply is in- creased. The unemployment benefit is now down to tl a week which means that ma<-seu of people who used to earn from £3 to £5 a week aire on very much reduced incomes. Moreover the Red C'rons Hospitals are nearly all empty. At. one time there were hundreds of thousands of men in hospital, and many of them were too in to eat meat and were fed on custards. The formerly well-paid muni- tioner is now living on bread and margarine, a,nd the, discharged soldier is back at his old job and able to eat anything. Hence the demand for eggs to-day has been reduced by one-half. # And on top of that the demand has slack- ened just at a time when the supply has begun to increase. The food difficulties were so great last year, that most poultry-keepers managed things so a.s to have their fowls rest- ing in the winter. There was not the usual succession of eggs at all. Pullets which were due to lay in the winter did not do their duty on account of the quality of the concrete supplied as fool. Now that food has become plentiful—there is corn to throw away—the winter layers and the spring layers have all started together. The high price of eggs too induced many people to rear huge batches of pullets to start laying this spring! The egg quelstion will solve itself like the potato question. In May, 1917, decaying and offensive potatoes were sold at 3d a Ih. In July the same year the finest new potatoes sold at three-farthings a pound. There is one advantage in high prices. They stimulate production. If aparticular article is dear, everybody tries to* prtduce it. Then the market gets glutted and over-stocked and competition brings prices down. Once there is a free trade, prices may he safely left to settle themselves. Personally, I don't believe in food control in any shape or form—even if the control were carried out in the most effieient manner, which u seldom is. When there is not enough to go round. we must agree to share equally and to fix the prices or the people with* most money would get all and the poor would starve. Bot once things get plentiful, there is no need for con- trol. When there is enough to go round, the price must be such that the poorest can pay oi- c)L,s,e the sellers would have the stuff i-, it on their hands. At Christmas the six- pences were more plentiful than the eggs at Easter the eggs may be more plentiful than the pennies. # It, would be much better if milk prices were left to regulate themselves after May. If the Government says that farmers are not to get more than Is 3d a gallon the farmers will fancy that they have a grievanoe, and that if it were not for the Government they would get a lot more. My own belief is that if the Government left the milk business aione, the summer price of milk wo,uld fall automatic- ally to lOd or Is a gallon. /i The country is going to be flooded with milk in the coming summer. Between the battle of the Somme in September, 1917, and the "big push" in August, 1918, there was an average of half-a-million wounded soldiers on milk idiot in this country every day. There are plenty of disabled men unfortun- ately;, but the wounded have either recovered of their wounds or have died. This part'y explains the "miik shortage." which existed at one time. The bacon Shortage and the meat shortage in the spring of 1918 drove many families to live on oatmeal porridge or rice-pudding- which meant more milk! There was no, need to worry ahout the milk shortage. When tens of thousands of men were being operated on daily, there was a shortage of chloroform. The chemists were not foolish enough to think that the chloro- form shortage would keep on after the' war when there would not perhaps be a hundred operations in a day in the whole kingdom instead of tens c.,f thousands. Somebody has managed to "kid" the farmers however that there will be the same demand: for milk after the v ar as during hostilities and the meat famine. I should be sorry for any farmer who is a friend of mine to make any specula- tion on that basis. There aire so many elections impending just now and candidates aire so numerous that 1 think it would be advisable to establish a Diploma of General Information. A few meetings have already been held, and it is hoped to get the University of Wales to take the matter up. Then nobody would be allowed to become a candidate for a public, body until he had taken his diploma. The foliowing test paper has been drafted for the first examination which is to be held on Mon- day, April last. '••• DIPLOMA OF GENERAL INFORMATION. The widest latitude is allowed to opinions; but candidates are expected to display ordin- ary intelligence and to aivoid absolute idiocy. Time allowed for this paper-li hours. Not more than six questions are to be attempted by any candidate. Questions 3 and 10 are only to be tilken by candidates for the honours' certificate, Candidates for the pass certificate may choose any six. 1. If a munitioner earns £ 5 a week at home whilst a soldier is serving in the trenches for Is a. day prove that the munitioner is en- titled to 29s a week pension whilst the soldier is glad to be back at his oM job (25 marks). 2. The higher the price of milk rises, the greater amount of water is used for adultera- tion. Give scientific reasons for this fact. Prove by algebra (25 marks). 3. Give a rational explanation of the theory that, landi for allotments should be let at a nominal rent, whilst the tenant is allowed to sell the produce of the allotment at the highest prices. In view of this theory, is it your opinion that allotments should be managed by the Lunacy Commission in pre- ference to the Board of Agriculthre (75 marks) 4. If the Government can keep the rents of houses -t own to pre-war level, why can't it keep down everything else in the same way ? (30 mark'?). 5. The reason given for the, high price of milk is the great cost of feeing stuffs. The reason given for the poor quality of the milk after the price is raised is that farmers can't get feeding stuffs. Reconcile these two statement by some method which would be recognised by John Stuart Mill (45 marks). G. Milk was 8d a gallon in 1914, wheat 6s a bushel, and meat Gd a lb. In 1918 the price of milk was 2s 3d, wheat lis, and meat Is 2d. Prove that the farmer can only afford to pay the labourers the same wages as in 1914 (40 marks). 7. If the total takings of the railways are required to pay the wages of the railwaymen ought the former shareholders to be compen- sated by the Treasury or ought they to be allowed outdoor relief by the Guardians of the Poor? (30 marks). 8. Arising out of the above question, ought the repairs and depreciation to be deducted from the takings, or should the railway em- ployees get the gross takings, and the raJ- ways to become a charge on the taxpayer (20 marks). 9. If the Kaiser is hanged, what ought to be done with the Britons who hoarded bacon t until it. rotted, whilst British children starved (25 marks). 10. Prove that men who are drawing 32s a week war bonus should get houses at a rent of 5s, the bnjancc to be levied in rates and taxes on shop-assistants, road labourers and others who earn less wages than the tenants of such houses (75 marks). 11. What is your candid opinion of a Gov- ernment Department which under pretence of "control" adds Is a tb to the price cf wooi. Profane language is not admissible in answer- ing this question (40 marks). 12. Why is the Government so anxious to kill butter-making and to encourage the mar- garine trade? (30 marks). 13. If the high price of boots is due to the high price of leather, why are a.il, the big boot firms paying treble dividends? (20 mark)s 14. Are you in favour of such an alteration of the Old Age Pension Act as will lower the age to 40 and raise the pension to 30s a week ? (25 marks). 15. Write a short essay on the advantages which are likely tio follow from the appoint- ment of a separate Astronomer Royal for Wales with offices -art Cardiff, the staff to be wholly recruited from the counties of Carnar- von and Anglesea (50 marks). 16. Prove that the League of Nations ought to be supported in so far as it would favour the British Empire. What, would be the correct attitude of every patriotic Briton if the League decided against this country? (40 marks). 17. Ought the solicitude for "small nations" to extend' to those small nations which are hostile to the British Empire, or merely to those which happen to be hostile to the Central Empires? Point out the differ- ences in the case of Bohemiai and Ireland. (30 marks) 18. Prove that Welsh Nationalism can best be realised' by denying the people of Wales a voice in the management of their affairs and ruling Wales from Downing Street through Cardiff (40 marks). J Amy candidate who takes the diploma will be well qualified1 to. hold his own in a debate. ALETHEIA.

KAY'S "Linseed Compound" with warm water is an excellent gargle for t-oar throat.

Llandilo News. -0-0- CANTATA AT NEW CHAPEL. The cantata, "Cambria." was given a most creditable rendering by the choir of the New Chapei, Crescent road, at that place of wor- ship on the evening of Thursday the 6th of March. There was a good audience. Mr J. Picton, J.P., Trusooed, presided, and re- ferred to the lamentable absence, through illness, of the Rev W. Davies, the pastor. The first part of the programme was of a miscellaneous character. It opened with a violin concerto, with orchestral accom- paniment. The soloist, was Mr Willie Ed- wards. The piece was played with abundant and appropriate spirit, but was a trifle too long. l ne song, tymru r yud,. was sung with her usual taste by Miss Bronwen Wil- liams. This was followed by "GWIad v Ganu" I by Mr D. Lewis and "Hoff Wlad fv ngene- digaeth," by Mr D. J. Rees. Both singers had a. fair meed of applause. These items were all in Welsh, and as the cantata was also Welsh (iby Dr Parry) the concert was purely Welsh. The cantata was of a higher standard than is usually given at Llandilo, and contained some stiff music, but that it was mastere dby the choir, only goes to show that there is the material in Llandilo for something still more ambitious. The items in it were the solo (contralto) Miss B. Wil- liams a.nd chorus "Deffroed eich meddwl." There was a splendid outburst by the choiir with good harmony, which latter was charac- teristic of the choruses generally. 2. A C rus of Druids, "Mae'n Nos." It was a weird chorus and was a fine bit of male voice singing. The orchestra gave the singers most substantial support. 3. Ile(,i,t u,n(f ai,ii (soprano) Miss Bowen "Distawodd y derwy- ddon." The solo was extremely well given. 4. Chorus of Early Christians, "Hosana," a chorus containing pretty music and which received a rood rendering. 5. Solo, Miss B. Williams, "DfJl i mi ddysgu," was given an excellent rendering. 6. Recit, contralto and tenor. Miss Williams and Mr D. J. Davies. The latter took the chief part and sang ex- tremelv well. The piece was entitled "Pwy a gwyd i gndi Cymru." 7. Solo (baritone) Mr D. Lewis and chorus of soldiers, "Br mwyn Llewelyn." It was given by soloist and choir in good spirit. 8. Chorus. "OW<lC, gwael." The sopranos were a powerfu lot and quite shone m this chorus. 9. In the two-part chorus, soprano and contralto, "Mae'r hen deynau," the contraltos though only num- bering about a third of the contraltos ac- quitted themselves most crcUtaibly. 10. Cambria,invocation "Cydunwii i alwl" Mrs H.. W. Griffiths showed in this she possesesd good elocutionary power. 12. Emyn wladol, "Mae-'d dewrlon Cymru." was well given. 12. Roc it and air soprano aind air, Miss Bowen taking the former and Mr J. R. Evans the latter "Duodd y nos." The air was given a really masterly reiidering by Mr J. R. Evans and thoroughly deserved the un- stinted applause he received. 13. Song (Mr J. Williams) and chorus "Yn r hen amser." Mr Williams was heard to much advantage in this, and the choral responses were o,ooJ. 14. The four-part song "Aeth y dyddiau" was followed by 15, a tenor solo (Mr D. J. Davies "Hoff cle'ynau." It Was a difficult song and was well rendered. 16. Quartette, "Cymru." The artiste were Miss Bowen, Miss B. Williams, Mr John Williams and Mr J. R. Evans, was a bit of good quartette sing- ing. 17. Epilogue (at the lake), "O dawti nos." in which Mrs H. W\ Griffiths again acquitted herself. 18. "0 Arthur Fawr," taken by Miss B. WTilliams., Miss Bowen, Mr J. R. Evans was another bit of good singing. Mr J. Evans, the conductor, is to be heartily congratulated on the production cf the can- tata and to have got the choir up to such a fine pitch must have meant careful and dili- gent training. At times the chapel between choir and orchestra, was simply flooded with mus:c. On the whole the performance was delightful. The artistes were joprano, Miss I Nelilie Bowen, Miss E. J. Ross; contralto, Miss Bronwen Williams; tenor, Mr D. J. Davies; bass, Mr D. Lewis (Llew Cib). Mr J. R. Evans- elocutionist, Mrs John Williams Mrs H. W. Griffiths. Orchestra First vio- lin, Mr Frank A. Jones (leader), Mr Willie ] Tdwa.rds; second violin, Mr Edison Price; viola, Mr Ja<k Morgan flute, Mr T. Morgan; piano. Mrs P. R. Daniel, A.L.C.M. organ,. Miss Olwen Williams.

The Danger of Indigestion. j Indigestiofn is a very real danger, a menace to your health and strength. It robs you of the nourishment you should obtain from the food you ea.t; it loads the system with im- purities that finkli their way into the blood, causing headaches, languor, and bJotchy skin, Certainly vou can't afford to indi- gestion. tt won't et yo uin any case. You will, therefore, be well avdised to take a,n occasional dose of Mother Seigel's Syrup, the great remedy far the common ailments of the stomach, liver, and bmvetls. There is nothing better for indigestion or for biliouis-1 ness. constipation, flatulence, headaches, and pains after eating. Not onlv d)o-es Mother Seigel's Syrup speedily banish the symptoms of impaired digestion, but it keeps they away altogether.

Carmarthenshire County Council. -00- RESULT OF CONTESTED ELECTIONS. ABERGWILI. *John Griffiths (L. 321 William Wiliiams (C.) 305 Majority 16 AMMANFORD. Rev John Griffiths (Lab.) 969 Thomas Evans (Lab.) 432 Majority 537 BERWICK. "D. Harry (L.) 589 Thomas Jenkins (Lab.) 272 Majority 317 CAIO. Miss M. Davies, Froodvale 294 Isaac Williams, farmer 255 Majority 29 CARMARTHEN—ELVSTERN UPPER. Percy J. Williams (,D.S.Cl.) 375 "Rev A. F. Mills (L.) 341 Majority 34 HENGOED. *D,iiiviid John (C.) 392 Joseph Howell. (L.) 338 Majority 54 Klil),WEI,Li. *A.fred Stephens (C.) 674 Wm. Lewis Williams .(Lab.) 277 » Majority 297 IiLANDIIiO. *Lord Dynevor (Ind. 440 Jlohn Stephens (Ind). 186 Majority 254 LLANDOVERY. H. V. Watkins (L.) 383 *J. C. V. Pryse-Rice .(Ind. 191 Majority 39 LLA NGENDEIRNE. *Rev R. H. Jones (L.) 368 Tom Jones (L.) 344 Majority 24 LLiANGElLER. Henry Davies (Ind.) 570 E. F. Owen (Lab.) 567 Majority 3 IJJAN GUNNOR. John Richalfds (L.) 287 «.1'. Howell Davies (L.) 275 Maority 12 LLA NFIHANGEL ABERBYTHICK. Rev T. Thomas (L) 340 *Wrilliam Harries (L.) 250 J. T. Stephens (Li.) 22 Majority 10 LLANFIHA N GEL-A ll-ARTH. *T. R.Jones .(C.) 389 Rev T. Lloyd Jones (L.) 214 Majority 75 LLANSTEPHAN. *G. Barrett Evans (L.) 390 J. J. Bowetn (L,.) 229 Majority 161 LTANGÂDOOK. W. T. Lewis (L.) 488 *Mervyn Peel (C.) 248 Majority 240 LiLAN GBNNEGH, *J). J. Jones (Ind.) 481 P. F. Owen (Lab.) 327 Majority 154 LiLANON. *William Greville (L.) 621 Rhys .Niorgati (Lab.) 607 I Majority 14 LiLANEDY. J. T. Parry-Jones (Lab.) 591 David Evains .(Ind.) 367 John White .(Ind.) 230 Majority 224 LtLANEL/LY, DIVISION III. J. R, Jones (Lab.) 311 *T. P.Jones (C.) 228 Majority 93 LLA NELLY, DIVISION IV. John Thomas (L.) 472 Tom Charles (Lab.) 390 Mrs Brinley Jones (Ind.) 162 Majority H2 LILANELiLY, DIVISION V. Miss Gwen Trubshaw (Ind.) 134 *D. C. Parry fL> 1<9 Majority 245 LLA NELL Y, DIVISION VI. T. Williams, auctioneer (Lab.) 4?3 *Jo'oph Roberts (L.) 416 Majority 7 I LLA NELLY, DIVISION VIII. 11. W. Bowen Lab.) 459 D. W. Jor.es L.) 248 Mrs Alicia Phill.p.; Cnd.) 49 Majority 181 PElM BiRE Y — N OR I II. William Rogers (Lab.) 520 E. T. Davies (Lab.) 368 Majority 152 QUARTER BACH Griffith Williams (Lab.) 661 Gomer Harries (L.) 463 Majority 19 ST. ISfBMAEL. John Jones (L.) 304 *E. Bowen (L.) 208 R. B. Elliott (C.) 164 Majority 96 WESTFA ANiD GLYN. William Jones (Lab.) 383 D. J. LJoyd (Laib.) 214 J. Rees Humphreys (Ind.) 163 Majority 169 WHITLAND. *Willia.m Thomas (L,.) 502 Peter Howells (L.) 137 Majority 365 RH YD YCY1MERA U. D. E. Davies 234 Rhys LI. Evans 230 Majority. 4 LLANDEBilE. *David Davies (L.) SUM Jtoihn Davies .(Liab.) 601 Majority 207

West Wales Divorce Case. CARMARTHEN SOLOIER'S DECREE. In the Divorce Court on Thursday the 6th inst., Jacob William Rogers, Water street, Carmarthen, just demobilised, petitioned for dissolution of his marriage on the ground of the misconduct of his wife, with the co-res- pondent, Frank Roilason. He stated that the marriage took plaice in 1908, and they afterwards lived at Water street, Carmar- then, where two children were. born. He did not know the co-respondent, Frank Rollason. Mrs Ovan a married woman, living at Car.. marthen, said that in Oeioher, 1916, she was living in apartments with her husband at Water street, Carmarthen. Mrs Rogers lived in the same house, and in Novembre, 1917. Frank Rollason, the co-respondent, visited Mrs Rogers, and till January, 1918, I the respondent and Roilason occupied the same room. A decree nisi, with costs and the custody I of the two children, was granted. AMMANFORD WIFE'S SUIT. Mr Justice Coleridge granted a dissolution of marriage to Mrs Doris Irene Wise, of Ammanford, on the ground of misconduct by her husband, Herbert Victor. Wise. The suit was undefended, and petitioner in evidence said she was married at Llandilo in Aprii, 1911. In January, 1912, her husband left home, atnd never returned. He made no complaint and witness had not the faintest idea, why he deserted her. She went to her mother's home with the child, and s-htortly afterwards her husband wrote her a letter in which he said he was going to Russia. She had revived small sums of money from him through a solicitor. The petitioner kept herself by working as a clerk in munition works. In 1915 her hu-band re- turned from Russia, and joined the Army later, taking a commission. In 0, 1918. she heard that he was wounded, and then came a letter from him. In this he said: "I am sure that by my ab- sence from all these yearns you will realise I shall never live with you again, If it will interest you. and he of use, I have been un- faithful to you at a London hot^J." Further evidence was to the effect that I co-respondent had stopped at an hotel with a woman who was not his wife, and on this His Lordiship granted a decree with costs.

Whitland Petty Sessions. These sesions were held on the 5th inst., before Mr David Evans (in the chair), Mr Henry Morris, and Mr Daivid Davies. LICENSING. The licenses of the Whitland Arms. Whit- land, and the Plaserwn Arms, "Login, were objected to on the grounds of redundancy. Both were referred for compensation. BEER PRICES ORDER OFFENCE. Mr T. R. Davies (Inspector) acting on the instructions of the Ministry of Food sum- moned Thomas Williams, Station Hotel, Whitland, with selling beer by retail in a public bar at a, price exceeding the maximum as set out in the Beer (Price and Description) Order, 1918"—to wit, 5d per pint. Mr W. R. James appeared for the. prose- cution and outlined the case, stating that on the 29th aMy last Mr T. R.. Davies, acconi- panied by P.S. W. G. Morgan, visited the hotel in consequence of complaints, examined the barrels of beer and invoices, and finding thatdefendhnt had committed the offence, charged him. He (defendant) made a state- ment as follows: "I wrote to Mr Williams, of Narberth, the owner of the house. I had the barrels of* beer before I had the invoice. I told Mr Williams tlhat I could' not sell the beer at 4d. I received no reply. I have sold some for 4d and some for 5d. Yesterday was a busy day." Defendant was fined £4 inclusive.

1HE PASSING WKEK. "Let there be thistles, there are grapes. If old things, there are new Ten thousand broken lights and shades Yet glimpses of the true."—TENNYSON. In the year 1815 this country had just finished the Long Watr-which had lasted ovei twenty years. This country then found it- self burdened with a debt of eight hundred millions of pounds. It was a, terrible war; t but our forefathers faced the struggle and came through it triumphantly. It is high time we amula.trd the pluck of our forefathers. We are burdened with a terrible load of debt ais a result of the present war. It is true that our debt as a result of the pre- sent war is about six times the debt that our forefathers had to tackle in the nincetenth century. But having regard to all the cir- cumstances of the. case our burden is lighter than theirs. In the first place the popu- lation of this country to-day is four times what it was in the year 1815. Moreover the value of money is entirely different. £1 in our day is only equivalent to about 5s in the year 1815. The national wealth is greater.. Our trade in the year 1914 was fifty times what it was before the Liong War broke out. **• If all the facts of the ease were taken into account, we are not nearly so deeply in debt as our forefathers were a century ago. Debt is altogether ai r-ela.tive, burden. A poor man who can barely maintain his family may say quite truly "I am ruined I am t50 in debt." It is all nonsense for another man to come along and say "I aril worse off than you .1 am t500 in debt." The 1:500 may be a con- spicuously slight matter to the second man. If he is so well off that he can put aside £100 a year to pay his debts he can clear himself in five years. On the other hand. the first man may be so poor that he can only pay 10s a month—which will keep him in debt for about nine years! What happened in the nineteenth century? Did our forefathers sit down and groan over their hard lot? At a time when working mene,arned on an average less than Is a day each individual in this country was about L100 in debt. To-day the general tendency is to sit diown and groan o-ver a, debt of about JE150 a head at a time when the average pay of workmen is from 6s to 8s a day. Our forefathers did no groaning. They set their teeth hrurd; they put their shoulders to the wheel and the nineteenth century saw the most amazing burst of prosperity ever seen in the history of this country. *«* What dio we find taking place as soon as the country settled down after the iong war? Railway development started. A few years after Waterloo, the great Duke of Wellington was present at the opening of the line be- tween Liverpool and Manchester. The cotton which came in at Liverpool had had to be towed up a canal to Manchester in order to be manufactured, and the finished goods bad to be tawed down to the port again in order to be sent abroad. The great demands of our expanding trade immediately after the war called; for more adequate means of locomotion and the more adequate means were supplied by "Geordie" Stephenson, the Durham pit- boy, who had regarded himself at eighteen as ai man because he drew a man's wages. "I'm a made man now," said Geordie, "I've got my twelve shillings a week." However ridiculous it may seem now, twelve shillings a week was a high rate of wages then! **» These were- the sort of men who made England's commercial prosperity. The iai!- way movement spread, and the country was covered with a network of steel. All that the masses wanted in those days was work. [ It never entered into anybody's head to pay men for loafing. The men of the early nine teenth century found England exactly the same country as it had beeen in the Middle Ages. and they transformed it in one gener- ation. They tunnelled through mountains; they blasted their way through rocks to make "cuttings" and they bridged rivers. Robert Stephenson, the son of Geordie, made the bridge over the Monai Strait and linked Anglesea to the mainland. And one thing reacted on another. It is difficult t1- say whether the increase in our trade caused the railway development, or whether the railway development caused the increase in trade. It is like that old conun- drum about the hen and the egg. The hen could not have been first because it must have been hatched from an egg, and the egg could not have been first because it must have been produced by a hen! «*# It might be possible to argue in the same way about the railways and trade. But the explanation is very simple. They were both the outcome of the same abounding national energy. Factories spring up all over the country. Britain became the workshop of the world. Manchester cottons were worn rv a!l peoples who wore clothes at ail Birming- ham hard ware found1 its way into the homes of all the nations of the earth; ships built on the Clyde flew every flag and sailed every sea; and all the chilly countries warmed themselves with Welsh coal. Our forefathers developed this amazing energy, and wealth from every country of the world flowed into I the pockets of the peopie of this country. **♦ It is true that we had the "hungry forties," but they were due to artificial causes—to a series of laws designed to protect agriculture at the expense of the rest of the community. The hungry forties were not in reality so I hungry as the period 1800-1810; but we to- j day know more about the forties because wo have talked to people who have lived through them. The term the "hungry forties" was applied afterwards by the people who were rejoicing in the splendid prosperity of the sixties. *#* When trade was freed by the abolition of the Corn Laws, tfte prosperity of this country was advanced at a redoubled rate. Who has not. read of the "glorious sixties?" Most middle-aged people have heard their fathers speak with enthusiasm of the sixties. Trade was booming; waiges were going up; and food prices were coming down. The working- class et> actually saved money in those days. Men who earned £ 1 a week often left L300 or t400 to be dividied amongst their children! Everybody worked hard, and everybody was well off. Workmen often put in a week of 60 to 70 hours and they never hid the least suspicion that they had a grievance! Are we going to set to work to bring about another amazing trade development? Xot at all. Work is igone out o;f fashion. All the talk we hear now is .about a six hours day, a thirty hour week, and the proposed increase of the unemployment benefit. Some of the talk which we hear from I "workmen" (so called) nowadays would have fceemed like the ravings of lunacy to our fore- I fathers. Thus at a meeting of the "unem- j ployed" held at Manchester last week, a j demand was made that the unemployed should receive the standard rate of wages in their different ocoupntie: whilst in m !pt j of the benefit! Thus if a carpenter happens to be, uiu :■ ployed he would according to this scheme receive Is 6d an hour. j Xobodv troubles to explain where the j money is to come from. If a carpenter spends his time making a table or a door or a garden frame the Is 6d an hour is charged up in the price of the article and the purchaser pays for it. But who is to pay Is 6d an hour to unemployed carpenters? There is only one method. The money is to be raised by taxing the people who are in employment! Do the workers of this country reaiise that Great Britain no longer commands" the mar- kets of the world? Do they realise that we can't dictate prices, but that we hatve to cut our terms to meet foreign competition? Is the year 1862, this country produced five times as much iron as the United States ot America. To-day the United States pro- duces three times as much pig-iron as Great Britain. «»* In the year 1864. Great Britain produced 70 per cent. of the coal supply of the world. In the year 1914, Great Britain only produced 25 per cent. of the world's coal supply. The fact of the matter is that if there is much more colliery nonsense, the world wili do without British coal. At the present, moment, the United States produces double the quantity of coal produced by Great Britain, and at the same time the United1 States employ 300,000 less workers in the coal trade than we do. At the Coal Commission in Cardiff last week, it was pointed out, thatthe Durham miner who worked six hours a day produced in his shorter day 22cwt. of coal to every ton produced by the South Wales miner who worked eight hours a day. So far as the facts can be gauged by sta- tistics the Labour value of the various col- liers may be estimated as follows American, excellent; North of England, fair; South Wales, shameful. Whilst the output per man has decreased in this country from 312 tons to 244. in America irt has risen from 400 to 660. This means that the Yankee collier turns out 2 von 17cwt. of coal for every ton turned out by the British collier. From Cardiff to Buenos Aires is practically the same distance as from New York to Buenos Aires. American coal can now he landed in Buenos Aires at practically the same price as coal costs at the pit-head in the Rhondda Vail ley. The fact of the matter is that except wo have a complete change of policy the South Wales coal industry is absolutely doomed. The coal industry is kept alive by the export trade; the home demand would not keep the collieries going a month in the ;eir 1' xeept the coal-owners and the colliers get down from their peicli very quickly and aure*. to reasonable prices, the colliers will ir. another ten years be looking for .? as pgriculturai labourers, and the coa-i-owju Ts will he investing their money --i-. railways. It is quite useless to indulge in any recrim- inations between capital :iid labour ovei this question. If the British ship sinks, British capital and British labour will go down to- gether. It is high time the crew of the ship stopper] quarelling with the passengers, whilst the ship .*s drifting headlong to destM.-sion No unemployment benefit and no Trades Union can help the British work.m.n if British trade once collapses. 'Yo can't have a workhouse except there is somebody to pay the poor rate. We can't pay unemployment benefit except there is somebody to pay the taxes out of which it comes. There is not a Trades Union in this country which would not go bankrupt if all its me-mbers came on

Correspondence. To the Editor, Carniartheit Weekly Reporter. THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE PUBLIC HOUSE. Sir,—May I be allowed a very little of your valuable space in order to draw the attention of your readers to the, attempt which is now being made to carry out a rational and effec- tive improvement of the public house by the introduction into Parliament of what is called the Public House Improvement Bill. The object of the Bill as set forth in the Mmorandum is "to assist in the transforma- tion of the public house into a refreshment house in the widest sense of the term." I think the large majority of sour readers will agree that real tempera.nce reform lies in this dJir ecti on and not in the direction of fur- ther restrictions or in the ah')()/ut.e- extinc- tion of the public house. I would explain that the Bill itself is the outcome of certain recommendations made at a, conference of the True* Temperance Society and. it is significant to note that a. large number of influential gentlemen, in- cluding ai number of the leading Peers, Bishops. Members of Parliament of all shades of political creed, Scientists and others have signified their distinct approval of those re- commendations It is to be hoped that the Government wil' give the Bill its ready assent and will provide for it every faculty to on- able it to pass quickly into law. Yours, etc., A. G. HARRIES. Lampeter, March 6th, 1919. CARMARTHEN—Printed and Published by th Proprietress, M. Lawrence at her Offices 3 Blue Street, Friday, March 14th, 1919

the funds. The principle of Trades Union- ism is that those who work shall support those who are on strike. For instance, the Car- marthenshire teachers went on strike some months ago. The teachers of the other 84 counties in Great Britain could have paid the salaries of the teachers of one county for ever. But if all the teachers in Great Britain had come out on strike, the length of the strike wouid depend on the extent of 'the reserve fund into which nobody would be pay- ing and out of which everybody would be drawing. In the face of a slump in coal. this will be the position of the Miners Federa- tion. If the Welsh collier has to take hii. f his present pay and to do double the amount of work he does now, he will simpy have to grin and bear it. In the course of a couple of years, it may mean the choice between that and the closing of the collieries. The world can do without British coal and it is determined to do'without British coal at the present price! Of course much of the lunacy which is abroad is due tothe. cry, "No trade with Germany after the war." Certainly not. But not a word has been said about trade with America. Even if we wake up now, we sliill have our work cut out to face American competi- tion. America has been only slightly touched by the war. With double our population, her losses in men have only been one-eighth of ours. America has drained this country of its capital in payment for food,, and that capital is being put into industrial develop- ment. Whiltst crowds in this country are foafiiiig on "unemployment benefit" and gassing about a six-hours day, alit the factori.es and the mines in America are working over- time to oust British trade from the world's markets. «*» Unless some striking, change comes over the mass of the people of this country, we shall in five years be a nation of beggars— only that everybody will be so poor that there ¡,ii he nobody to beg from.