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AGRICULTURAL NOTES

DRESSMAKING AT HOME, I

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Cefn-y-Bedd and District Notes.

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ENEMIES BOUND & FREE.

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ENEMIES BOUND & FREE. HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM. A familiar item im the picture-papers is the snapshot showing how British pnisoaiers in Germany are made to do all manner of work, Mght and heavy, though mostly the latter, under the supervision of their captors. So long as our men receive decent treatment (though there is plenty of evidence to show that they do not), there is nothing to com- plain of in their being set to manual and other work, for idleness is a poison to any man. These observations are offered as a prelude to a suggestion that we ourselves might very well profit by the example of our enemies, who, being tightly organised and officereds we are not—both in peace and war, allow nothing in the way of labour, or any other resource, to run to waste. At the moment no statistics are available; but at a rough estimate there must be in this country, interned and free, something in the neighbourhood of 200,000 Germans. Probably there are thousands more. The interned are largely or mainly composed of men of mili- tary age who, being at liberty, would be a danger to us whether here at home, or, if they could smuggle themselves out of the country and: back to the Fatherland, would join the enemy forces. Meantime, these able-bodied meu, all bored to death in their imprisoned idleness, are fed (well fed, too), housed, and guarded at the expense of the already over- burdened taxpayer. And, meanwhile, a hard winter, maybe the hardest in our history, is close upon tlJS; agricultural labour is terribly short, and food prices are rising rapidly. All this points to an obvious conclusion. These interned Germans should be turned out to a man and put to work upon the land. Where the experiment has been tried of put- ting interned enemies to work it has been found that they jump at the chance to escape from idleness and boredom and to get to the work; and that they are glad to do the work at a wage of 2d. a day, or less. Had this been done months ago, wholesale and not experimentally, it is hardly too much to say th; t the produce in foodstuffs of our neglected countryside might in the coming sea- son have been doubled. Even yet there is time largely to increase productiveness and make a profit where there is now only loss and burden — if only this business were set about energetically by our slow moving authorities. There would be no question here of displacing British labour or lowering its wage. As for the enemy aliens at large, women and children and men beyond military age, some of these are a danger, and all are a burden upon our State, already gigantically over- burdened by the war. Here, a beginning has been made at sending these superfluous and unwelcome visitors back to the Fatherland. They should be returned en masse and forth- with and why this has not been done long since is one more marvel wrought by a slow- working and unready governmental machine. There is the need here for a popular agitation to speed up the engine. By the way, the ships used for the transport of these undesirables to the Fatherland should be German ships, re- leased from captivity and officered and manned by Germans. Should any of them be torpedoed and sunk by their fellow country- men, here would be an opportunity, fresh and fine, for Hunnish dexterity in lying. AN "INTERNATIONAL" COMPANY. For the benefit of those, in case there be any still left amongst us, who think that too much fuss is being made of "German hold upon and influence in our trades and indus- tries, here is a pretty example. There is, or was, a business with the high-sounding title of the Great International Plate Glass Insur- ance and Cleaning Co., Ltd. In July, 1914, its issued capital consisted of 5,407 shares. Of these, 3,600 were held by Herr Rob Staehr, of 17, Petri Strasse, Berlin, Germany; and 1,801 by Mr. Max Kuehn, of West Heath Lodge, Hampstead, London, N.W. That leaves six shares, and these were held by gentlemen all of Berlin, Germany, save one, who gave the Hampstead address; and all of them bore names quite as British as the two above quoted. It is a neat example of Germany's idea of Internationalism, and chimes with the spirit of the German national song, which many a one of our fighting men must know by heart long since, Deutschland, Deutschland, fiber Alles." Which, being freely translated, signifies-In the comity of nations Germany is almighty and supreme, and all the others occupy the place of bottom dog. It illustrates beautifully the Teutonic notion, in trade, of free communication and fair play amongst nations. It is a sample, too, of how Germany, educated, trained, mobilised for invasion, made ready in peace time for dominance by force of arms of Europe and the world be- yond. "Weidin-aaht oder Umfall "-World Power or Downfaii-that was amongst her national mottoes, signifying German ambi- tions. And, such is her terrible efficiency and persistence, that, unless we realise betimes and act upon it, how, in the arts and industries of peace, Germany still has an iron grip upon us, and take steps to free ourselves from that deadly hold, we may beat her in the field and yet re- main her vassals. Then our fighting men will have fought and died in vain. But we are waking at last to that prospect of infinite dis- honour. ANTI-GERMAN EXHIBITS. Speaking of the German hold upon our trade, and as a sign of our national awaken- ing to the danger of it, here is interesting news for all active Anti-Germans, also for those who are limbering up for action. At the annual exhibition at the Agricultural Hall, Islington, which opened, on September 6iJh, ,and whereat the baking and various allied trades were fully represented, it was appro- priate that a Vice-President of the Anti- German Union, Lord Headley, should be chosen to preside at the opening luncheon. More- over, there was a new and welcome depar- ture in the way of exhibits. The Anti- German Union, whose membership, activi- ties, and power still grow and increase phenomenally, had a stall at the exhibi- tion, at which officers and members of the Union, including ladies, were on hand to make clear and emphasise the objects of this patriotic association; literature was dis- tributed; and the Union's coloured and at- tractive bills and carda for display in shop windows, hotels, &c., were all on show, also war trophies taken by our men at the front. The aim of these exhibits and exhibitors was, if possible, to increase the fervour of those who are already pronounced Anti-Germans, and to bring conversion and stimulate to activity those who have not ytt formed action front" towards the Germans and their vile machinations which they still continue to carry on in our midst. Lord Headley, as his address fully proved, is the most uncompromising of Anti-Germans. T..? Islington exhibition was concerned mainly with the national food supply, upon which, even now, the band of our enemy lies heavy. Anti-Germafl Union, 840, Strand, London, I W.C.

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POULTRY KEEPING.

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i !THE FUTURE OF IMPERIAL…

i !THE FUTURE OF IMPERIAL…