Llais Llafur

FINDING 100,000 MEN QUICKLY. Mr J. M. Hogge, M.P., speaking at a protest meeting of discharged and rejected men against the new Act in Trafalgar Square. London, said: "If the authorities would hand over to me amd a committee of discharged sold- iers the task of finding the 100,000 men wanted, and would give us per- mJission to go into the Government offices and banks to find them, I would offer to get tbeiii pretty quickly."

ECHO OF A GREAT STRIKE I The death has occurred at Gates- head of Niched Knox (60), a North- Eastern Railway engine driver, who was the cause of the strike on the sys- tem in 1912, th men coming out as a protest against Ms benng reduced in grade after a. conviction for alleged drunkenness. Mr Chester Jones sub- sequently held an iinquiiry for the Home Office, and enriched the English languag by certifying that Knox was not drunk "in a police court sense." Another phrase arising ehit of the con- viction, which obtained common cur- rency on Tynesidie, was a request in public-houses tfor "a small Knox," meaning a rum foot, the potation Kmcx indulged in before arrest. —————

THE IDEAL CHURCH. I Addressing the annual assembly of the Baptist Union at Bloomsbury, the new president, the Rev. W. G. Fuller- ton, said his ideal for public worship in a village would be for Anglican Methodist, and Baptist services to be held in the same building, in succes- sion. In towns, each might go to his own church or chapel on Sunday morn- ings, but in the evening he would like to see all the people of a neighbour- hood gathered together in the nearest church, regardless of differences of creed, in a friendly communion of wor- skip.

MINERS AND THE ARMY. I Among the answers in Parliament- ary Papers for Tuesday were the following:— Mr. Bonar Law: The subject of man-power had best be discussed in a private sitting of the House, and I hope to be able to give the date of this session by the end of this week. Mr. Macpherson: The question is be- ing considered as to what extent more miners can be spared for military ser- vice, having in mind tho requirements of coal for ourselves and our Allies.

FOOD CONTROLLER AND SUNDAY SCHOOL TREATS. A conference of representatives of various organisations from' Neath, Briton Ferry, and Skewen districts was held at Neath with a view of de- ciding as to the action to be taken locally in connection with the Food Economy Campaign. Mr. D. M. Jen- kins presided, supported by Alderman D. Davies and Mr.Arthur J. Evans (the convener). The question was asked if it would not be advisable to refrain from giving the usual Whitsuntide treats to the school-children. The Clerk replied that he had communicated with the Food Controller on this matter, and received the following reply: "We do not feel that, exceptional as the present cir- cumstances are, there is any need for such retrenchment as you suggest in the local Sunday schools, providing the provisions supplied conform as near as possible with the Food Controller's requirements." An advisory commit- tee was appointed to carry out the campaign.

CASE OF THE DISCHARGED MEN. t Twelve months from the date of discharge is allowed to every man who has had at least one month's service with the colours, or whose disable- ment has been caused or aggravated by naval or military service, before he can be called up for medical examina- tion nnder the new Military Exemp- tions Act. When he is called up such a man will have the usual right of appeal to a tribunal. If he is again rejected when called up he will have six clear months' exemption before he can be again required to come up for examination. If on his first examina- tion he is not accepted on the ground that he is permanently and totally disabled for service he will receive a complete discharge under this Act and will not again be liable for examina- tion.

EX SOLDIERS COLONIES. I I GIFT OF 1,000 ACRES IN HERE- I FORD. I The experiment of putting ex-sold- iers on the land and training them as small-holders is taking definite frihape, and in time the first. land settle ments, comprising 6,000 acres, will be occupied by 240 men. More estates will be acquired if the result of the experiment warrants an extension of the movement. At the present moment 60 cottages are being erected at the Crown I Colony, Patrington, about 15 miles from Hull. At the Central Farm, of about 200 acres—the estate has 2,363 acres—the mtn who propose to settle on the land wii'l 'be employed under the supervision of the director, and when they have obtained the necessary experience and saved a little capital they will be put on to holdings, of which there will be 60. In the course of time tihe Central Farm will dis- appear. The scheme does; not make provision for disabled men ss such; the root principle is to determine by experi- ment how far the recommendations of the Verney Committee -cian be rn.ide a sucoess. It is hoped, however, t)i.,it a certain number of disabled men will be among the settlers. After the cottages, the farm buildings will be erected, and the Y.M.C.A. bave under taken to put up a recreation hut. The Board of Agriculture will ob- tain possession of the land at HoJ- beach for their second colony in October. Here preference will be given as between men of equal qualifications to those whose women- kind have agrciultural experience. In addition to a. cokmv to be es- tablished in the southern or western counties of England and one in Wales, Mil" Buchanan, a prominent agricul- turist, has made a gift of over a thousand acres in Herefordshire to the Board to accept the gift a Bill has liajd to be int,) Parliament. --——-——

MR BALFOUR TO ADDRESS U.S. CONGRESS In the cours* of Mr Badfour's visit to Vice-president Marshall the latter expressed the desire of the Senate that Mr Balfour should addreas that body. Mr Balfour aoquiesced, and a date will be arranged to s-uit his con- venience. The probability is that both Mr Balfour aild M. Viviani, the French representative, will address a joint session of the House and Senate. Mr Balfour informed Vice-president Marshall that he expected to remain three weeks.

1104 SHIPS TO BE ARMED I Mr Daniels, & cretary to the Ameri- can Navy department, has submitted to Congress a supplementary estimate of five million dollars ( £ 1,000,000) to provide arms «ind ammunition for 1.104 merchant ships. Bills have been introduced in both Houses of Congress empowering President Wilson to confer posession of interned sihipg of any nation with wfaich the United States is at war.

AMERICAN ARMY FOR EUROPE I NOT THE MAIN QUESTION. Mr G. Butler, a member of Mr Balfour'? imssi»,vi, in an in- terview, stated that several big questions of principle would be settled as the result of the visit of Mr Balfour's 'mission. He added:— "We have made a great many mis- takes during the wa.r, and, for some of those we paid dearly. We want to put at your disposal the record of these mistakes. Then i t will be for you to decide whether you will follow our example. We want the advice of experts in the United States on many subjects. Your experts have a way of solving knotty problems, and you will nndoilbtll-dly be of great service to us before we return home." Another official pointed out that tihe commission was not concerned with the immediate Mending of troops. The man-power was sufficient for the moment, and sending great masses of men to Europe now would make the food problem critical and out of all proportion to the fighting strength gained.

NO NEW NEWSPAPERS. I By an Order of the Board of Trade no new newspapers may be started and published without a licence. Pen- alties for infringement of the Order will be exacted under the regulations of the Defence of the Realm Act.

I MUNITION WORKS AND SUNDAY LABOUR, I ——— Sunday labour is as far a.s pœsib} I to be abolised in a large majority of the establishments contrdlled by the Ministry of Munitions from the be- gmning of May. A communica.tion to this effect is being addressed by the Ministry to the ifrms concerned, and steps wm be taken forthwith to bring the change into operation as smoothly as possible. Establishments in which the process worked is of necessity of a continuous nature will not came within the opera- tion of the New Order, and an excep- tion will also be made in the case of firms whose contracts are of great urgency. Such ifrms, after consulta- tion with the Ministry, may have re- course to Sunday labour, but on the understanding that it will be dispensed with as soon as the required output has been obtained.. Further shifts beginning on Sunday night or ending on Sunday morning will be continued, and in all cases provision w*i31 be made for work con- nected with the necessary repair of plant and machinery. The abolition of continuous Sunday labour in the national factories and in the controlled establishments in the Tyne and Toes areas has in most cases been "highly beneficial,, and it is be- lieved that an extension of the experi- ment made during the past four months will have equally good effects on the health of the 'workers and the output of munitions.

PREMIER'S CONFERENCES ABROAD. Apart from the far-reaching political aspect of Mr Lloyd George's visit to France, there were some novel and charming incidents connected with it that should be chronicled. The Prime Minister met his foreign con- freres at the little town of St. Jean de Mafurienne, situated high up in the mountains near the Franco-Italian frontier. A special train with Mr. Lloydy George and M. Ribot arrived there from Paris on Friday morning. A few minutes later another special train arrived from Rome with the Italian Prime Minister. Signor Bos- elli. The two trains were shunted (into sidings and the conference took place in the French train. The dis- tinguished party also took their meals there- Towards the evening Mr Lloyd George left the train after business was over and walked up to the cathedral of the little town with Baron Sonnmo, the Italian Foreign Minister. A little girl was voted by her village schoolmates to present 81 bouquet of Alpine flowers to Mr Lloyd George. He received them delightedly, and gave the little maiden a kiss for it, and she returnd blushing and smiling to her playmates.

ii. n ^pi — 'C' IIIEN FOR FOREIGN J SERVICE. I We understand (says "The Times") that it has been decided to employ suitable -men in Classes C 1 and C 2 for service on the lines of communi- cartion in France. No decision has been corfic to with respect to C 3 men but it is regarded as very improbable that they will be called upon te per- form any military service abroad. .—

FOOD WAITING FOR SHIPS. I Speaking of the shipping difficulties in New Zealand, Mr. Massey, Prime Minister of New Zealand, said at Walloend that within the last few days 'there were 2,000,000 carcasses of sheep waiting to be shipped, and be- tween now and the end of next month there would be 3,500,000. If they could get boats, they would be able to ex* port 8,000,0001b. of dairy produce within the year from New Zealand.

FIFTEEN LEFT AT SWANSEA OUT I OF 61. It is stated that about half a dozen doctors are affected by the new regu- lation, and that afterwards only 15 doctors will be left to do the whole of Swansea, the usual number being 61.

"I think it is an oppressive pro- ceeding in this time," said the the Sti- pendiary at Merthyr, when the owner of certain property applied for an ejectment order against his-tenant and next door neighbonr. The ejectment order was refused.

I. SOME FOOD FINES. BREAD AND SUGAR CASES AT SWANSEA. The first cases in Swansea, of sum- monses for imposing conditions on the sale of Kugar were heard at the Police Court on Monday. Emanuel Thomas, Alexandra road, Swansea, trading as Emanuel Thomas and Son, was charged with imposing, or attempting to ianpose conditions on the sale of sugar: Eva Saunders, an assistant, with aiding and abetting in the commission of the offence. Peglere,' Ltd., grocers, High street; their manager, Oswald Roy, was si-miaajlly charged; and their assistant, Florence Crocker, for aiding and abetting. In the first case, Mr King, who prosecuted, said the facts were that Mrs. Arthurs entered the premises of Messrs. Emanuel Thomas and Son on Thursday. April 5th, and asked the young lady if they had any sugar. She said. "No." But apparently Mrs. Arthurs knew the way of trans- acting business, and said, "Come on! You have got the sugar. How much must I spend?" The youpg ladv re- plied, "Four Shillings. Mrs. Arthurs spent 4b., and her bill, with the sugar, came to 4&7d. The Bench imposed fines of L5 cm Emanuel Thomas, £1 on Eva Saun- ders Messrs. Pegler 25, their manager £2 and their assistant £ 1.

POTATO PRICES. FINES OF C12 IMPOSED AT NEATH. At Neath on Monday, Tom Thomas. seedsman, Britonferry road, and hi* daughter Evelyn Thomas, were charged under the Seed Potato Order (1916) with setting potatoes at a. price exceeding 3d. per lb. Mr Edward PoweD, for defendants, pleaded guilty. Chiof Constable HigOns said on Wednesday last He visited the Market. and saw Thomas and his daughter sell jng potatoes at 71b. for .2f¡. The potatoes were large and he warned defendant Thomas to stop selling them. As soon as he teft the Market another complaint was made to huB that Thomas was selling potatoes at 4d. per lb. The price was a ridicu- lous one, and in order to protect the public !he asked for a substantw penalty. In mitigation of the offences, Mr Powell said potatoes were scarce. and to meet the demand Mr Thomas paid 25s. per cwt. for a potato called Golden Wander. These were pnoed high in seed catakpiefl, and the profit which Mr Thomas made on the was not a fabulous one. The Chairman Mr B. W. Davies) announced that the Bench took a aer. ious view of the offences, and fined Thomas Lg and has daughter f4. The cases against Dinah Jones, Giant's Gawe, Britonferry; Catherine Crewe, Cadoxton terrace, Neath; Mary Howells, Efailfach; Ellen Jane Wil4 Hatns, Britonferry road; Mary MiDI Jones Pontteg, Resolven Sirrh Hap- kins, Toivmawr road, EfaiWach; Jno. Morgan, London road; Elizabeth Mor- gan, Resolven, who were dRarged with aiding and abetting bv purchasing the potatoes were dismissed on. pay- nient of costs.

RABBITS AND GOATS CHEAP MEAT PRODUCTION AT HOME. To make up for the loss of the thou- sands of dead rabbits formerly import- ed from overseas, it is suggested that the killing and marketing of wild rab- bits at home should be organised. They do serious damage to crops. The -sup- plies of rabbits for food are small and prices are high. Rabbit-keeping by householders is also recommended. The Flemish Giant and Belgian hare are suitable breeds; cross-breeds will do as well. Scraps from the house, the garden, or the greengrocers, and greenstuff from country lanes will feed them; they will eat even tea tiaves. They may be eaten at four or five months old. One doe will in a year produce 1201b. ot meat. The goat, says one authority, is an- other animal that gives a handsome return for cheap keep. Like the rabbit the goat will live on almost anything; but the difficulty is to get any large number of them irnm"ni.t"ly.

FEWER SWEETS. It may, be expected that, at no dis- tant date the manufacture an d sale of sweets will be the subject of are- stricting Order.