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[No title]
lflr. Sydney Burgess, at the Mayor's re- caption of the Swansea Consular body, di- rected attention to an inexcusable defect in the local system of education. We have in the town elementary schools, secondary schools, intermediate schools, and a techni- cal college, and yet, with very rare excep- tions, the boys who present themselves for commercial work in business offices have hardly any qualifications for it. They have to be taught even the rudiments of book-! keeping and correspondence; theur arith- metic is untrustworthy, and their knowledge of English as a rule lamentable. And this after spending seven to nine years in the schools learning—what? On the face of it there is something radi- cally wrong with a system yielding such grossly unsatisfactory results. Mr. Burgess asserted that in Germany and France boys, after passing through the educational course,: enter business so well grounded in essential I matters that they are useful from the start ■ fir progress is rapid. Whereas in! this m ustrial and commercial centre, where ecoreg of thousands of pounds are being a,n- 31-u.ally spent upon education, it is difficult to o !.am a boy capable of being trusted with doing more for the first year or two than run errands and lick stamps. For the edu- cation they have received is of the most un- practical character, and whatever know- ledge they possess cannot be applied to any useful purpose. Education authorities, school inspectors and teachers keep along their appointed course apparently without the slightest regard for the use that can be • made of the education imparted. It would be a wholesome experience for theee to be occasionally brought into conference with the commercial and trading classes to whom iboyg not destined for manual labour must look for employment. The secret of this failure—for failure it must be considered-is that education now- adays is too diffusive. This or that subject is added because of the problematic possi- bility that it may prove beneficial, wdth the result that adequate time is not avail- able to thoroughly ground the pupil in the three R. 's, with the result that he obtains a smattering of knowledge of many subjects— I as soon forgotten as obtained—and a mae- [ tery of none. He reads indifferently, writes badly, and though ostensibly conversant with the higher branches of arithmetic can- not be trusted to tot up the details of a small bill or work out the price of a small quan- tity of ooa.l or other commodity at so much I per ton. The general impression aiaonget experienced men Lo; that the old-fashioned education, simple and inexpensive, was bet- ter than the present, which apparently does not even include spelling, not to mention grammar, if we may judge from the major- ity of the replies to any advertisement re- quiring applications in writing from appli- cants. It is about time that education au- thorities gave serious consideration to the manifest crudeness and incapacity of even the most advanced pupils, when discharged from school, to apply in a useful way the knowledge they are assumed to possess after years of tuition. In 1906 and 1907 the liberal party suc- liaeded in bringing about a considerable re- duction in naval armamente. To-day, the Chancellor and the great bulk of the Liberal Press have lent the light of their counten- ance to a renewal af that feat. It ill worth while recalling the ervents that have oc- curred in the period intervening between 1906 and 1914. There were a grealt expan- sion in the German naval programme; a burst of aggressive energy upon the part of Germain diplomacy; serious rebuffs and discredit to Franco and to Russia, in Bosnia amd Morocco a naval panic in 1909 in Britain leading to extraordinary exer- tions to riepair past neglect; imminent peril of war between Britain and Germany in 1911-a. portion of the Home Fleet, cut off isolated and outnumbered off Invergordon in Northern Soottand actually lay cleared for action, and with torpedo nets lowered act- J ing attack from the massed Germain Fleet concentrated near tlhe Scottish coast—and fi-liall, a long-drawn cl-isis iti European af- fairs, reaching its chmax in France and Ger- many using up all the nesouroes available oa* deemed expedient to be drawn upon for the time being in great and extraordinary mili- tajry exertions. These powers are armed as no powerB have ever been armed before; and our position? Our solitary asset, a dwisn'-ve naval superiority over the most likely foe, has so depreciated that for practical purposes it is on the verge of disappearing. The reductions of 1906 weTe made at the commencement of a period of danger and un- rest upon the Continent that has been un- known since the sixties and seventies of the nineteenth century, when France, Germany, Denmark and Italy were embroiled in war. Reduction is now proposed hardly a moment after one of several climaxes of peril has been safely passed, when the Near East may be aflame anew at any hour, and when it is vital that the Triple Entente should stand as atrong and ready with arms as it has until recently been loyal and steadfast in policy. The effect of Mr. Lloyd George's speech in France can, in these oonditions. be understood most readily. Had he the de- liberate intention 'of destroying the Entente by sowing suspicion and distrust in the minds of he French, reviving anew the le- t gend of perfidious Albion," discrediting a partnership with a colleague divesting her- 1 self of everything that makes her co-opera- tion and friendship of any weight and worth, the Chancellor could not pursue a, course better calculated to achieve such ends then that foreshadowed in the Criccieth interview. For in France it is clearly perceived that the obligation incurred by Germany to main- tain a naval strength sumcient to ensure a Sghting chance at sea against Great Britain (under certain well-understood contingencies that imply the diversion of a great part of the British fleet to a distance from the North Sea) is a factor keeping down the amount of mon-y that Germany would otherwise have available for the purpose of Parsing her Ai-rny-Nvhioh needs only mon.ey, 88 there are still great reserves of men un- tapped—to a pitch of strength that no fur- ther French sacrifices could offset. The I French sq e that, apart from the folly of a British proposal that would diminish the ? of Britain herself, any reduction ef- j ted in co-operation with Germany would I ?"iply enable the latter to spend on the *?iy the money saved upon the Navy. !rhen.- aee that the British Government, or Jj* ?pologiets, evoke the French fleet as an 8tunent when attention is drawn in Britain to the lack of adequate Britmh naval provl- ? ?? kr MAdAft*&amn needs, Md that France, with her taxation and compulsory, service exploited to the uttermost, cannot do for her friend's interests what her friend deolinea to do for them herself. "Le Temps" declares that "to talk about disarmament at the present moment is mad- ness"; and asks if the guides of the Triple Elntente are not losing sight of its main function, the restoration of the balance of power upset by German supremacy. It cannot be driven home too clearly that if the French do not feel that they can trust implicitly in us at a grave hour in their national fortunes, when their entire national strength has been put forth, their friendship may wither away, may even be replaced by contempt and anger, possibly by a readiness to co-operate against a country that has been disloyal, untrustworthy, and slothful. Eng- land and France have as their first duty their own self-defence. England, should the Liberal proposals be carried into effect, will be incurring serious risks of the derelic- tion of that duty. But they have also com- mon interests, and it is indisputable that tlie burden of defending them falls upon the French nation incomparably more heavily than upon the British, who do not possess national military service. The French have been very patient with us; but they cannot indefinitely endure these vagaries upon the part of a nation that is irresolute and waver- ing, loth and slow to do the most elementary of its duties, niggard and grudging in its assistance. French confidence must ulti- mately be destroyed by the incomprehen- sible attitude of such politicians as Mr. Lloyd George —who so lately as last August told the House of Commons "there is not the slightest prospect of reduction. The prospect is all the other way. It is no use concealing- that fact from our minds. The reason is because every country in the world for the moment is being lured on to expendi- ture. The Chancellor's facts a."e as much at sea as his sentiments. Mr. Asquith told the recent deputation of Liberal members that we spend 7 per cent. less of our national income upon the Navy now than we did in loco. The reserves of wealth available are indicated by Mr. Chiozza Money, the Datas of the Liberal Party, who points out:- "The rich people of this country .spent (Lord Montagu's very conservative estimate) £ 45,000,000 on the mere maintenance of motor-cars; I put the figure higher myself. The maintenance of the Navy in 1913-14 costs us £ 51,000,000." The source of our financial embarrassments so far as they exist is chiefly in the financial methods of Mr. Lloyd George himself-his piling up of vast national commitments, his enormous miscalculations, his taxation that is drying up the springs of revenue and shaking the confidence on the basis of which alone in- dustry can he conducted, his hordes of non- producing officials who eat up the oountry's revenue and contribute nothing towards it, his imposts, such as the land duties, the loss on which would be enough to bankrupt hundreds of enterprises every year and throw many thousands of men into un- employment. In the lsust rasart the Unionist party may have to come to the help of My. Qhuirchill and extrdoate him from his threatened diffi- culty as it has done so often in the past, with Mr. McKerana and others. They will not lack cixxperatian from Liberals who have not forgotten that the country has alwia, a displayed sagacity enough to resent hotly any tampering with the defence of its out- wiaird, ssecurity. Mr. Ohiozza Money, the last of all men to endorse expenditure upon warlike purposes that is not demanded by necessity, declares that lie has voted in the past year or two for Navy Estimates th&t, it seemed to me, give us a barely sufficient naval supecriority —observe the qualifica- tion—that his vote meant that in the forth- coming year there would be a logical aaid automatic increase in the estimates, and that the majority of other Liberal members who voted similarly either understood that such a thing would fallow or are "unfit for their positions." He "hesitates to believe that Sir John Brunner understands what he is now asking for. He tells my Liberal association to t-edl me to vote in stultifica- tion of my previous votes, to oanool con- tracts and actually to reduce the Navy frlom t.he standard of superiority already decided upon. I beg leave to tell Sir John Brunner that he ought to have considered the affect of his words a little more carefully before 'rendering advice to a grau party. It is ?wd,e f.?turiat-a that Sir John Brurmer should use the weight of his raajme to make it appear that the German Navail Law is not what it really is, a legislative instrument creatintg and maintaining in perpetuity the greatest navy ever dwamed off in the world (sixty-one Dreadnoughts, etc.) rila,vy which, if Sir John Brunner's advice were followed, would, in te course of not many  years, give the command of the seas to the nation which poss-essee the greatest amy in I the world." —————
[No title]
Of the 156 students receiving instruction at the Swansea Training College 133 are in residence. Not one of these is from Swan- sea. A dozen are from various parts 01 England the remainder are drawn from North and South Wales, principally from the counties of Glamorgan, Monmouth, Carmarthen and Pembroke. Swansea girls, without exception, are day-students, con- stituting not fewer than 37 of tho total of 42. Whether all these are unable to secure admission into residence, or prefer to re- main outside, it is certain that they are losing one of the chief advantages claimed for college training—close and hourly asso- ciation with the corporate life of the foun- dation and the consequent moulding of char- acter by atmosphere and discipline. The most serious objection urged to the grant- ing of degrees by University authorities, which are merely examining bodies, to stu- dents who have: not been residential col- legians, has always been that the system places a premium upon the acquisition of oertain knowledge, pure and simple, whereas. a degree should imply possession of higher qualities which collegiate life is believed to create or develop. The parents of Swansea girls destined for the teaching profession may save something in expense and avoid the heartaches arising from long separation from their daughters, but the latter are, on the other hand, losing substantial benefits in point of training by not going into residence in a college here I or elsewhere. During the controversywver. the building of the new Swansea Cone-go, and the incurring of a municipal obli gat-ion of a permanent and, most onerous nature. the argument which had the strongest appeal with the local public was that the institution would exist primarily in the interests of Swansea girls. The selection of nearly the most inaccessible and least convenient site for day students did not lend support to the contention, and it is now obvious and in- disputable that the greater part of the fine building was designed solely for the use of students from outside. This fact enforces the view consistently put forward in these columns that Training Colleges should be nation&l institutions provided, maintained and managed by the State, and that no single municipality should be expected or induced by any section whatever to afooul-^ der the financial and other obligations oil satisfying national requirements. Swansea's yearly demand for certificated femaJe teachers is limited to about a dozen, and in recent years many of the qualified on emerging from college have had to wait many months to secure situations under the authority morally committed to their em- ployment. It is a preposterous proposition that it was necessary or expedient to spend £ 45,000 to £ 50,000 im raising a palatial edi- fice so that the interests of a few might be. served. More especially as two essentially Swansea. scholastic foundations, the Techni- cal College and the Grammar School, are crip- pled in their usefulness for the want of suit- able buildings which the town has not the money to provide. The municipal resources ha.ve been dissi- pated upon an avoidable enterprise which Swansea, was under no compulsion to under- take, whilst the capital is denied to the Grammar School and the Technical College, .vhich latter offers a chanoe to Swancea 01 placing itself on a level with Cardiff, Aber- ystwyth, and Bangor, by qualifying in respect of building, equipment and staff as one of the constituent colleges of the Welsh University, incidentally making Swansea the knowledged centre—as would befit an area of such varied in-dustries-of technical education in Wales. But the realisation of this hope is being impeded, if not absolutely frustrated, by the inadequacy of buildings only recently erected on a manifestly unsuit- able site. If the means were available, the pro- per, if the heroic, plan would be to raze the present Technical College buildings and "cut the loss," utilise the site, as it was meant to be utilised, for the building of a new and emlarged Grammar School, and put up e l se- where in a more accessible spot a Technical College worthy of its possibilities. The Board of Education will presently be de- manding some such drastic corrective of the blunder in placing two distinctive education foundations on a space only sufficient for one.
[No title]
Actively aided by +*>- Liberal Press, Mr. Lloyd George is doing his best to get out of the very awkward fix in which he ha.s been placed by the Duke of Sutherland's offer to sell to the Government Highland. deer forests at a price liltle, if at all, in excess of that of prairie land in Canada, in order that Mr. Lloyd George's claim that these barren tracts are potential corn- fields may be put to the test. At Swindon, the Chancellor of the Exchequer declared I that "tens of thousands of people are turned out of their homes in order to get sport," and added that "we" (the Govern- ment) "want to repopulaite these glens, getting back the population, who will have winter employment in looking after the forests and summer employment in cultivating the valleys." Given the opportunity to suit the action to the word, Mr. George now declares that the price asked for the land in question is excessive, and attempts to sidetrack the real issue by raising a discussion about the Duke of Sutherland's estate which has nothing to do with the original question. The whole point of the Chancellor's attack upon the owncs of Highland deer forests was that if he could get the land away from them and their deer he could make it. support tens of thousands of people in oomfort. He has been offered the land to which he referred at £1 5s. and £ 1 2s. 6d. an acre, and. by his declaration that it is not, worth these amounts, he has shown that his original references to it and his attack upon the owners of deer forests were mere electioneering artifices. If the land utilised for deer forests is not worth prairie value, it is obviously not soil capable of profitable cultivation, and Mr. Lloyd George's attempt to represent it as being almost as suitable for cultivation as the rich Surrey land which a Liberal Peer has turned into a deer park without a word of remonstrance from Liberal land "reformers" is exposed in its true light. If the Chancellor of the Exchequer's indict- ment of the owners of Highland deer forests was iustifiable. the land "under d(,er" would obviously be worth much more than the price at which it has been offered to the Government, and the fact that the Government have, through Mr. George, declined the offer proves that the allega- tions against the owners of deer forests are no more worthy of credence than Mr. George's nightmare of mangel-wurzel devouring pheasants. The "2s. 2d" lecturers of the Liberal "lancT bursting" campaign—they receive that fee for allowing themselves to be crammed with such book knowledge of agriculture as the wirepullers of Liberalism have at oommand-intend to make the fullest use of the misunderstanding that exists in connection with the enclosure of commons in Britain. They will talk about "stealing the common from the goose" and ascribe all manner of evil actions to "the wicked Tories." In view of their inten- tions, it is well to recall a few facts in connection with the history of commons enclosures. These enclosures were effected under statutory authority by Whig and Tory Governments alike in the second half of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century. They were rendered necessary by the fact that t-he population was greatly increasing, and it had to be fed. Foreign imports of food were not then available and the enclosed commons were largely devoted to the imperatively necessary purpose of growing food for the nation. Professor Conner, a high authority on this subject. has declared that the enclosures resulted in an "increased utilisation of what is after all the dis- tinctive agricultural wealth of England- rich grazing and dairy lands." Those who take the pains to study the facts of the matter as opposed to the "Two-and-two- penny" fiction manufactured at the National T,i"h"-v''1 Hrb and circulated bv the "land- bursting" lecturers will find themselves obliged to agree wW. Professor Gonner that the enclosure of common land was un- questionably necessary and that, to quote the authority to whom we have referred, "the accusation of general arbitrary or un- fair treatment does not appear to be tenable." In considering this ques- tion it should also be borne in mind that the commons were, not open to everyone, but were the perquisite of a portion only of the rural community which had by purchase, inheritance or otherwise secured "commoner's rights."
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Is the Parliament Act, with which the Government armed themselves in order to force Home Rule Bills on to the Statute Book over the heada of the people, a gun that won't go off? Mr. W. Joynson-Hicks, the Unionist member for Brentford, is of the opinion that it is. In a communication to the London "Dailv Express," Mr. Joynson-Hicks has drawn attention to a number of facts which combine to give the impression that "with all their vast array of legal talent" the Government have left in "the instru- ment which they forged two years ago for carrying out their unconstitutional object" a fatal flaw. The member for Brentford oontend8 that while the Parliament Act "contemplates an actual rejection by the House of Lords of a Bill" it "does not pre- vent the possibility < f the Lords adjourn- ing the debate sane die." This difficulty was apparently seen by the Cabinet, and therefore they introduced into their measure a subsection which provides that "A Bill shall be deemed to be rejected by the House of Lords if it is not passed by the House of Lords." There is, however, as Mr. Joynson-Hicks points out, "no limita- tion of time within which the non-passing by the House of Lords shall cause the Bill to be deemed to be rejected." Mr. Joynson-Hicks contends that "the House of Lords have until the end of the Session of Parliament within which, to assent to or reject -sthe Bill, and that it ia only at the conclusion of the Session that this non-aoceptance will be deemed a re- jection." But after the "deemed rejection," the Government will still have to secure the Royal assent to their Bill, and that can only be given by "the attendance of his Majesty or his Majesty's Commissioners at the House of Iiqrds with the presence of the House of Commons during the, Session of Parliament." This being the case, Mr. Joynson-Hicks considers that: "It is clear that the royal aSM&nt, whether actual or by Commission, must be given during the Session, but on the above facts the Session is over, because the House of Lords cannot have been deemed to have rejected the measure until the last second of time when they had power to pass or reject it, namely, the end of the gessift. If my reading of the Act is correct, it is clear that the Government cannot pass this or any other Bill under the provisions of the Parliament Act if tc House of Lords simply adjourns its consideration from month to month." its consideration from vionth to month.
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The conduct of the Government with re- gard to the Brussels Convention has certain- ly not tended to ehfaanibe the prestige of this country among European nations. It ha6 laid us open to charges of duplicity and breach of faith, and lias caused our policy a.nd methods to be regarded with sotpething like contempt by the other signatories. The position which the Government bM-re balken up has no doubt been forced upon tfhem by their desire to placate, certain of their in- fluential supporters whose object is to db- tain snjgssr at the Jbweøt possible price, re- gardless of the question whether that price be a natural or an ^rtificaal one. Tlbey hiaive evidently found it impossible to squfl" attitude with loyal adhesion to a Conven- tion whioh w-as entered into primarily for the purpose of aibolashing sugar bountfciea. They prefer to expoae the sugar producers of the Weet Indies afd Queensland to the unfair 'Competition of the bounty-fed Rus- t' sian p"uceir mth?w t.??a? ensm?e tlhe sale of sugar at its natural paice. Taims we have a Government pledged to Free Trade" -who will take no abept to aibolsish the most obnoxious flonn of protection, amd who, in fact, desire the bounty system to be re- tained because it emaVtes some of their sup- porters who use sucar iaceelv in their busi- nesses to fctotaa* il ?r"-ioct at en airti- fieiaJly low pricey k) fk,6 detriment of otor ougo,r producing Colonies. The Brussels Sugar Convention was sug- gested by this country in 1900-e Unionist Government being thftn in power—and was signed by ourselves and the principal Euro- pean sugar producing ocruntries on Septem- ber 1st, 1003. The solemn obligation thus entered into to abolish the sugar bounties, and to- secure these countries against the competition of bounty-fed sugar on British markets, was repudiated by our present Government on their getting into office. In doing so they left the other contracting' parties bound bv an International Conven- tion to produce and export their snigar without bounties or excessive surtax, while in Great Britain, their principal market, they were smdde-nly called upon to compete once more with bounty-fed smgar, notwithstand- ing our solemn undertaking to the con- trary. Our Government claimed the right to import freely bounty-fed sugar while st-'U remaining in the Convention for the aboli- tion of bounties! A shortage of 1.700.000 tons in tihe world's crop of sugar-beet in 1911 waa the pretext, seized xroon by the Government to giN-P TiAtice of the denuncia- tion of the Convention. In their instruc- tions to the British Pelesjate Ellt Brussels the-v. made the motJ of the grosslv-exaigger- ated fact that Russia—«■ bounty--paving ominbrv-did not ait- the moment export quite all her surplus They entirely (lis- regarded the chief nhifCt of the Convention, -iz.. the ahoIit.]oI"J of bo-.}rrlde. and benlt, all their enwqios to obtaining more sugar from a. bounty-fed source. From a recently-published White Paper entitled "Correspondence respecting the Withdrawal of His Majesty's Government from the Brussels Convention, we see that the Government, whila anxkvus to upset the Convention, were ctesi-ro- also to avoid drawing down upon themselves any retali- a.tory measures which their indignant co- i signatories might contemplate. The British Delegate was therefore instructed to assure his colleagues of the British Government's intention not to depart from the funda- mental principle of the Convention by grant- ing either bounties on the exportation of sugacr, or a preference to Colonial sugar, or again, by subjecting to a differnt rate beet sugar and came sugar." But surely "the fundamental principle of the Convention," which ia the aboliticn of bounties, was re- pudiaJted by the British Government in the 1 very fact of their making the want 01 bounty-fed sugar from Russia the pretext far denouncing the Convention. Further, there was nothirag whatever in the terms of the Convention to prevent us gi-ving a pre- ference to ColoniaJ suigar. France, which is one of the signatory Powers, gives a prefer- ence to her Colonial sugar. Whv. then, should t'he Government go out of thei. r way to deprive themselves of this freedom? It is quite evident that their object was to aim a blow art, Imperial Preference, and to tie the hands of their successors in regard to it. Since September 1st, 1913, this country venition. It has been agreed, however, that those States which continue to be parties to the Convention will not modify in an un- favourable manner the system applied by them to English sugar and sugared products so long as the British Goverrament do not, on their part, introduce into their existing fiscal system (with regard to sugiar) any .modification prejudicial to their interests." Thus the party which is comtmonly caJ3ed the Free Trade party, but which ought to be known as the Pro-Bounty Party, have. once more succeeded in their favourite ta.o;k of facilitating the admission of bountv-fed goods into our market. The present position is not likely to be a permanent one. When European nations find their mairtcets flooded with British confectionery made with the aid of bounty-fed sugar, which they them- selves are debarred from importing, there will be such an outcry as will speedily put a stop to each an anomalous state of thing's. Nor can it be forgotten that we have a nascent beet-sugar industry of our own and that a. Free Trade" Government have claimed and exefrci°ed the right to exempt its products from duty. This may yet be- come an important factor in determining our future policy with Te??rd to 8Ug'M im- j Dorte and the whole po?oy of heferenœ. J
[No title]
 Have you had one of those sixpences yet? I A Swansea man was bemoaning the loss of his purse the other night. "That's noth- ing," said his cheery friend, "a week ago I lost a tiamcar! Witness (,aA Aberavon Police court on Monday) It was an 'ea.ted aiigiument. Judging by the subsequent admission, it was a "wetted" argument also. I The "ordering off" of Vile at Devon- port places the W.R.U. Selection Committee in somewhat of a difficulty, since Vile and Martin seemed certs, for Twickenham. I At Swansea Police Court on Monday one couple who had fallen out had been fifteen years together and another couple had been four months together. The long and the! short of it. Was it not superfluous of Coun. John! Henry Lee, chairman of the Swansea Parks Committee, extending the wish for "A Happy New Year" to one who is always in a state of BliB? Before paying his entrance-money for the Swans—Chester match at the Vetch Field on Saturday a conscientious objector de- sired to be informed whether Give it to Bailie was a Mond instruction? <Xj>-<$xSXSxj5. To the casual spectator the most inter- esting "movement" in Saturday's cup-tie! game was that when Bob Crone hoisted up the injured Bagsett, and with him galloped i into the pavilion, On the back of Daddy, i oh!" fashion. We have been arguing ,,bmtt the cJii- iniates of India- and Africa for four years," B''i<id a witness at the Aberavon County Police Court on Monday. It is surely time raw that the matter was submitted for ailbitration. A printed notice is stuck in the dock at Swansea Police Court. What its contents are about cannot be ascertained, except by those who actually stand within the dock. It may tell prisoners that "No whistling or smoking is allowed "or it may not. Is it surprising that Sir Alfred Mond, the one time accidental" member of Parlia- ment for Chester, and the present repre- sentative loi- Swansea Town. was not in at- tendance at the Vetch Field on Saturday afternoon to welcome the "Past and the Present? Mrs. Shackleton, widow of the late Dr. Shackleton, who lives in De-la-Beche-road, Sketty, is a sister-in-law of Sir Ernet-t Shaoklerton. Mrs. Shaokleton's daughter, who is on tour with the Moody-Manners Opera Company, is a singer of very consider- able promise. .e..c. "The Cowboy's Wedding" closely held a keenly excited audience at the Theatre Royal, Swansea, on Monday evening. Cow- boys and Indians, judiciously blended in a thrilling story, possessed a strong appeal for all, and especially for the boy element in the audience. Wot's this? demanded the man with an aching thirst at half-time. "No re-ad- n-iission ?D-*you know young fellar to close the gates with all these people on the field is 'ighly dangerous. S'posin' there was a fire? There was no ifre, so the thirst went unquenched until "full time." Too old at forty has never been heard of in Swansea Corporation employ. The age of a Corporation workman wav, given at j the Police Court on Monday as 73. A fact testifying alike to the indulgent kindlinessi of the Corporation as employer and to 'the I physical sturdiness of the old man. Mr. Dan Perkins, of Port. Talbot, may be an excellent lawyer, but he had sadly ne- glected the theoretical side of boxing. On Monday he said: "I understand the 'half- Nelson is a boxing term which they use in the Navy?" The witness then very kindly offered to give him a demonstration of the half-Nelson outside after the court. I Mr. E. W. T. Greenshields, who speaks at the C.M.S. meeting at the Central Hall, Swansea, on Tuesday evening, has his sphere of work on the Arctic Circle, at a place to which the postman may come once a year, if the weather is propitious! He will have many thrilling tales to tell the men of Swansea, and it is expected that the hall will be packed. The meeting will also be addressed by two of the younger cam- paigners, Mr. Buxton and Mr. Shaw. It e4! Bella and Bijou provided for years an al- ways bright turn at the Empire. Only a few knew that Bella was the sister of Bijou's wife, and that when she married the latter occupied her place until death intervened two years later. Then Mrs. Bijou succeeded the sister, but in turn died, and Bijou- whose real name was Cannon, a sprig of a famous family of jockeys, and himself or- iginally meant for the saddle—was about to resume his (C turns" in the halls when again death intervened and broke up the fresh combination. The Welsh side to confront the English at Twickenham on Saturday of next week will consist of players who have never had a chance of acting together. Whereas the English fifteen, by means of a series of test matches, will be in the position of a club side with a knowledge of each man's special strength and weakness. The English Union has left nothing to chance, the Welsh ditto will field its representatives, heavily handi- capped by the limit in unpreparedness. Is it reasonable to expect a Cymric victory in the circumstances? Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Eden, Rliydrysihelyg, Lower Sketty, gave a dance to their serv- ants and friends on New Tear's Eve at their residence, and, with Miss Boundy, led off the dancing. At midnight the company sat down to a seasonable repast, and were again favoured with the presence of Mr. and Mrs. Eden. and toasted "The Old and New Years." Later, variety was given at intervals by the introduction of games for the non-dancers, and before parting Messrs. Jones and Graham Griffiths, on behalf of those present, tendered sincere thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Eden for their hospit- ality and kindness': also to Misoes Doyle and McLio, Mrs. Ourran, and Mr. Smith (ohauffeur) for oarryinjr out the arrange- ments. When is the new Swansea Y.M.C.A. clock going to start operations? What's this cod about cod? At Leeds it is threepence a pound, at Liverpool 6d., and at Swansea 8d. -?>-<?x>-<)x?- We are somowhat apt rail ag&in? t?e quality of potatoes at Swansea compared with other places. Is there a Bristol Chan- nel quality? IVe <><:Xt><>-?X> t hoes bridges We have come to one of those briœ V"t crow the riv?r of Time," said the Rev. ?or?n Gihbon at Momaton, in raf?pance to tile present age.  re-open to- <?<:><??<?-<><t> Swansea elementary schools re-open to- day. An event giving rise to mingled feel- ings—regret amongst the children and re,- ,iFeli amongst the parents. I Swansea "young bloods" are in a state of exhaustion. Balls and private dances have been ab frequent the last week or two that their vitality has been severely tested. It licoks as if some people haven't got over their Christmas heed yet, and don't feel i -e up to another spree. That seems the moral of Saturday's clean sheet at the police court. There is- curiosity in certaifi circles at Swansea to learn whether the dumbness of the platelayer at the Workhouse has been I' tested by some euch question as: And what's yours, old boy ?" There are indications that the advent of Mr. A. P. Higham as responsible manager of the Swansea Radical organ imports a return to the tra-diiiions of journalism as understood by journal ists. In a flippant Jityie a witness at the Swan- sea Sessions told learned counsel that he wag a general dealer. "I buy and sell.) everything," he said. "I will buy you if j you like." One wonders what he meantr There is no such thing as waiting with some of the Harbour Trust rolling stock. As soon as some of the trucks are discharged of their export burdens, they are loaded again with imports without going ten yards. A young Sketty lover winds up his letter to hi s best girl, With tons of kisses." On Monday morning he received a retply; "I don't mind the tons of kisses, George, but for goodness sake don't try and break Swansea's record <?x  -?<i>- < > < > Mamy a cargo shifter's mouth watered as he saw the officers of H.M. Customs draw- I ing off bottle after bottle of Dublin stout from an American consignment on the deck of a Blue Star liner at the Prince of Wales Dock on Saturday. v A funny remai-k was made at. a Mumtbles card party the other evening. It was get- ting well on in the "a. m. w hen a young follow pulling cut his watch, remaiked, "Wetl, well, fancy craning here yesterday and going home to-day." The Swans did not deear\ e to win against Chester. They lost many chances to score in the first half, and in the second half were outplayed by the visitors. In the last twenty minutes nothing seemed to go right with the homesters, and the steadying influence of Nicholas, the captain, was missed. Professor David Jenkins, Mus. Bac., brings a charge of inconsistency against the, Bangor National Eisteddfod Committee. "Why debar previous National solo win- ners? he asks, "and at the same time de- cide to give a performance cf the Elijah, which has been given before at Bangor and at over thirty other eisteddfodau? The German soldier may be a better man than the English soldiex-tihe French sailor may be better than the English—I doubt it, but he may be-briit the flag makes all the difference. However good the French or German may be, they are no good for us; they don't defend our shorf-IS. (Rev. Morgan Gibbon art, Morraston Tabor- uaclc. As luck comes in streaks, the supporters, of the SNvanw are' hoping that last Saturday's disappointing display was the prelude to a "top-notch" performance next Saturday against Merthyr. The chosen players are to spend the week at Langland, making the I Osborne Hotel their headquarters, in the I hope that the invigorating breezes there will make them fit to fight for a kingdom. A Swansea trailer shipped some fowls for New York. When thev arrived the customs weighed the birds, coops and all, then took out the chickens and weighed j the coops separately, and charged duty on the lot. The s.s. Chicago City is just loading up about 150 barrels of Guinness' stout for "Uncle Sam." After he has drank the contents do we get our barrels back free? (asks a correspondent). The new Corporation Year book has just been issued, and the salaries of the officials shown, ex- cludin,g the police force (except the Chief Constable) amount to about 22,5,000 per annum. The street mileage is 84, as against just over 50 in 1889, and the ratable value of the borough is £581,043, as againsti j3140,000 in 1872. A good judge of Rugby football at Swan- sea. has the hardihood to predict that Wales will defeat England at Twickenham on Sat- urday of next week-if the selection com- mittee be granted the wisdom and courage to discard all good old has-beens, and go for young blood. Amontrst the rejected he would like to see J. P Jon.es, Pontypool, despite the latter's flashes of his best form in recent matches. "An Old Cape Hornier" (Swansea) writes: —It is about 51 years since I first heard j your latest "nautical problem." T wa., then an apprentice on board one of the copper ore men. The captain ga ve it to me slightly different from yours in Saturday's "Post." His was: The wind was west, And West sterred we; The wind was right aft, How could that be? Answer.—The helmsman's name was West. He told me it occurred with him coming home from Cuba one voyage. "What is the matter with Swansea pota- toes? asks a correspondent, who adds, "As a rule they are of very' inferior quality, as any housewife would be able to tell you." It is not generally known that last week saw the one hundreth anniversary of the death of M. Parmentier, the Frenchman, to whom the potato owes much of its popular- ity as an article of food. It was he who submitted the tuber to Louis XVI. and per- suaded him to have it put on the table at a Court banquet. The experiment, we are told, was not entirely a success, for the Royal chef made the mistake of cooking and serving the leaves instead of the roots, and both host and guests pronounced the refec- tion execrable. There were two mighty falls at Neath this week. Councillor E. S. Phillips and "hot, spur" were the tumblers." 'Twas the iof that did it. <  >-<  x  ?< S x  > A Swansea man on the way back from the Welsh West Coast writes: "They are very backward at Aberystwyth. They haven'* had any snow there yet." "Tom Bowling" (Mumbles) writes solv- ing the last problem propounded in the "Post Bag "the nautical one-aa "a shroud knot." An old copy-book text ought to be written right down the page in large bold charactere by the new Labour member of the Neath Town Council—"Look before you leap." To wait for a pen and ink at the Swan- sea Post Office is bad enough, but it is worse to ask for a postal order and wait whilst the official filis in somebody else. 's. They do things differently in far West WTaks. In a Cardiganshire weekly we read in a report of a concert that "the house roared with laughter, and the storm outside was silenced for several moments." The only serious trouble, as far as a cor- respondent knows, during the holidays, was at the Sandfields, where one of the family knuts" came home and lit his pipe with a paper pattern of the latest Parisian gown. The literary grace of Councillor Challa- oombe's letter, read at the Neath Towm Council yesteiday, its bubbling sympathy, and its almost fierce denunciation, were all spoiled. The facts were wrong. A noble mansion had been built on sand.-("Hot, spur.") A hundred years ago this week tlie pri- sonars in the Carmarthen Borough Gaol re- turned" their sincere thanks to John Jones, Esq., of Ystrad Lodge, for his beneficent and seasonable donation of a waggon load of coals. <txSxJxi>0<5> Here is another "nautical problem we have had inflicted on us:- The wind was west, And West steered we j Our sails were full, How could that be? It is to be hoped that now the Neath Corporation has put its hand to the plough it will not rest until there has been a thor< ough turning over of the financial soil. Th. Corporation owes it as a duty to itself an< to the public to place before the latter 4. plain unvarnished statement of the positios, of every undertaking under its control. It is a suggestive commentary on the pre, dictions of those who opposed the construo tion of the King's Dock that the latter would never secure the trade to make it a good business proposition, to have a shipper, Mr. T. P. Cook, citing the circumstance that fourteen or fifteen vessels were on Thurs- day waiting for berths at the two principal docks, and un^i that the Harbour Trust ..oLonhl begj. to lit"1 1:; consider th c ex- pediency u: increkting the dock acccmmo- clation; and this within three years of the opening of the King's Dock, which, acccra- to the adverse critics, was to represent L all time a ruinous superfluity. 0 I r,¡; A Truthful Tory," in "Truth" this week In the eighteenth century Eng- land was governed by the Walpoles. Pel- hams. Russells, Cavendishes, and Pitts. In the nineteenth century the phalanx of great families, as Lord Beaconsfield called them, shared their power with the best of the middle class, the Peels, Gladstones, Barings, Brights, and Codbens. Since 1905 the rul- ing families appear to be the Brunners, Monds, Isaacs, Henrys, Samuels, Montagus (a variation of Samuels), and Lloyd Georges. Is the change for the better? Many of the stately homes of England are in the hands of Germans and Americans, and the patter of Yiddish and Yankee is heard in their saloons." "Punch" has some humorous parodies on the supposed further dealings in property of Mr. Mallaby-Deeley. "We have it on the highest authority," it says, "that Mr. Mallaby-Deeley purchased Manchester last week for a sum approximating to £ 16,000,000. Mr. Mallaby-Deeley chanced accidentally to hear that Manchester was in the Market when crossing Piccadilly. With the greatest non- chalance he paused and wrote a few figures in the mud with his walking-stick, dropped into a telephone box and bought the lot. It is, we believe, the intention of the enterpris- ing member for Harrow to spend about a million on washing Manchester, and then put it on the market as a Garden City." -r ""v' Though the shop was full of customers, the fierv female had to be heard. "This," she excfaimed sarcastically, as she banged lump of yellow substamce on the counter, "is the soap that does the washing itself, that makes washing a pleasure, that "That is not soap, ma'am," observed the grocer, examining the substance; "your little girl was here yesterday for half-a- pound of cheese and half-a-pound of soap; that is the cheese." "The cheese!" ex- claimed the dazed woman; "then that ac- counts for the other thing." "What other thing?" asked the grocer, and the shoppers listened breathlessly. "Why," said the wo- man, "I was kept awake the whole night wondering what made that Welsh rarebit wa had taste so queer!" ++ With the exercise of a little foresight both Rugger" and Soccer" football could have been saved the loss bound to be caused to both by the clash of important fixtures at Swansea. on Thursday. There is a great body of football supporters who would have been glad of the chance to see the Glamorgan v. Monmouth match as well as that. between the North and South Wales dribblers. As it is they can only see one of the two matches. So that the takings will have to be divided. As the county match is really a test for the candidate* for places in the Welsh national fifteen it will doubtless have the preference. All the same the clash could so easily have been avoided and both codes would have been gainerf, to a substantial degree thereby. It does seem a pettifogging business to have J.P.'s laying down the law as to what hour people, whose social status and char- acter are as good as their own, shall finish social evenings and dances at hotels, in a rranner that almost suggests that grown- up people axe first standard children who should be attached to the apron strings of their mothers, or that they are dipsomaniacs lusting after every hour's extension of li- censes so that they can drink themselves into stupefaction. Every country has its own form of besetting tyranny. In Russia that form is political, in the United States economic; in England it consists largely in the legis- lation bearing upon social convivialities. And of all these the English form is in many ways the most petty and humiliating. Savoir faire and tact are demanded from magistrates in dealing with ca-es as well as sentimentality.