The Cambria Daily Leader

NORTH-EAST DURHAM. Wales if> peculiarly cpticeracd over the resutt of the North-Wet Durham election, as Mr. Aneurin Williams, who I nAams the seat for Liberalism by a majority of is a Welsh man who bas addied distinction to the niune. Ho was a member of the short Parliament of 1910, representing Plymouth, but he will bo best, remembered by his unsel- fish labours for the better of the people, and his work for the Garden City and co-partnery movements. He «ill be an accfuisitktti to the Hou.se. An analysis of the figures arc de- structive to the 1 11 ioi list case or clamour over Home Rule ajid Welsh 1)i«e>sta Mishnient. Both Liberal and I/a hour candidates were strongly i,n! favour of Homo Rule, the Welsh Dis- establishment Bill and other planks of the Government, programme. And the battle was mainly waged on the first question—a -striking iact for the Bishop who believer the Englishman is greatly v-ioved in anger against the (Govern- ment for iu Church Bill! That Home Rule was the deciding issue, the evi- dence of the Times" correspondent shows. It has be-e-ii impossible to divert the attention of the electors- from the Irish question," he wrote on Thursday. "This is nndouhtedly the chief issue of the cont-e-st, and Mr. Hardicker, who has ootrtested the division before in the Unionist interest, haS based his campaign • primarily en his party's appeal for a General, Election on Home Rule." We may now exj»eci that appeal to be moderated. Adding together the Liberal and Labour vote on the ques- tion, as we have a right to do, since Mr. Stnart is a good Home Ruler, we have a majority for the Government policy of 6,703, the greatest ever secured in the I constituency! It should suffice to l moderate the zea I of the Orange patriots for ? general ete?tion on Home Rule. Every innuenco that could possibly i-ell was brought too bear against the successful candidate. It is said that the Unionists brought up a remarkable number ot out-voters, one gentleman travelling from Switzerland to giro Mr. Hardicker his support. Mr. Williams also had to bear the brunt of an atttack upon Liberal policy because of the South African deportations, although it is difficult to tee how the home Govern- ment can he held responsible for the autocracy of Botha's rule. Mr. Stuart and his party, however, squeezed every possible ad vantage from the circum- stance, and on Saturday the Times estimated the number of votes thus transferred as no fewer than 500. Mr. "Williams came to the constituency a I comparative stranger. He was thus doubly handicapped, for in North-AV»?st Durham the mining vote, which Mr. Stuart expected, is exceedingly strong. The result is a message to the Govern- ment to proceed with its programme un- changed in the slightest degree. It should serve also to warn the Church defenders in Wales that they are living in a fool's paradise if they believe Eng- land has been aroused to revolt against the provisions of the Welsh Bill.

CO-OPERATING. WELSHMEN I There was an influential gathering at the Swansea Guildhall on Saturday aftcincon, received and entertained, we are happy to state, by the Mayor of the town. It included representatives from all the Welsh Societies within a large radius of Swansea: The Cymmro- dorion and other national societies of Abertuwc, C'astcllnoddj Afan and Max- gam. Goworton, Pontardawe, Llan- sawel, Glais, Fontardulais, Pem-lawdd, etc. No fewer than four Swansea Welsh organisations were represented, the Cymmrodorion, the Cymdeithas w ri- Keiiffig—which may be defined as the advanced section- the Mabinogion Society—the first reading circle of its sort, we believe, in Wales—and the Oymdeithas Hen Oartrefi Cymru— which exists to make pilgrimages to historic Welsh houses. Mr. Abraham H. Thomas, J.P., preside 1 over a meet- ing which in earnestness and fervour promised great things. Importance must be attached to the meeting because it is a sign of n. new development that is coming over various aspects ot Welsh life. In the past we have been nationally weak because of our divisions. We have trained our- selves well in the art of opposition a ud splits. The National Memorial had a hard battle for existence, and PCOJ- brokeshire is still recalcitrant; but the Memorial has revealed to us that national movements must be united movements before they can succeed. Welshmen are net sheepish, but the de- scription came to them, and with justice, because at a time of affront. they lacked an organisation which could voice their resentment. Sections cannot make themselves heard. So ire are learning wisdom and creating a chain of societies tha.t can, when the occasion needs, act as one. Over South Wales the national societies are draw- ing together, linking up their activities, and s howing a common purpose The I effect will be astonishing. There are | many fields in the study and fostering of language and literature which can now be explored with promise. The dictionary project coilies appreciably nearer realisation wo hope that the relorm of some eisteddt'odic abuses is also nearer! And it is pleasa-nt to dwell upon the community nt interests which in these societies draws together all types of Welshmen. Just as the National Eis- teddfod is, once a the meeting ground of ail the warring sections m ales, who ifnd peace under the nile of the Archdruid, -so in these societies are oppoitunities afforded lor the Celts of every religion and of every political persuasion to gather together in the • dtseussion of common purposes. These are not the least of t-h-ir merits they have a positive aim in which all Welsh- men who love their land, can join.

Thp Welsh Baptist-s lose, by the removal of Dr. W. P. Williams, of Lan- dore, their most prominent figure. But his death also deprives Welsh Noncon- formity of one of its leaders. In public affairs Dr. Williams was perhaps better known to an earlier generation than our own. He did excellent service as a member of the Swansea School Board. In denominational life he remained to the end its trusted his was al- ways the deciding word in its affairs. And now, suddenly, at the age of 74, his venerable form disappears from our ken. He served Wales well. He was a link with a great age of pulpit giants. Who can speak of the effect his long and gracious ministry has had upon Lan- (tore ? Statistics may be imposing enough, but they can never tell a tithe of the real work done by pastors and leaders of the calibre of Dr. Williams. As editor of Seren Cymru for IS years he was able tA1 influence pro- foundly the thought of his readers. He received every honour his denomination could bestow. Lives so full of activity and years are rare. He laboured with- out ceasing. A fe ilent. crowd watched the exit of Swansea Town from the English Cup competition. The defeat of the team hy Queen's Park Rangers was too decisive to be cavilled at; Swan-sea lost because opposed to it was a better fiide. | There will be yard-s of comment in the press this week by those entitled to speak as experts, but we may predict i that it will all be reducible, to this pro-1 position: tba.t the Rangers played more sure football. And, although there are explanations galore, complaints are un- necessary. Swansea Towu played the best it knew. The units failed now and then-on lieth ,Icle.,i-but the defeat cannot be ascribed to this or that weak- ness. The loss of the toss affected the fortunes of the Town considerably., and left them worn in the second half after facing a strong wind for forty-five minuter. Only the extreme enthu'sia?t, however, will say that the loss of the toss meant the loss of the game. There was a finish, a plan, about the plav of the visitors, that impressed even I the casual speci a tor who i-s more familiar with the Rugby than the Associat ion Code. Let its, then, ho good sports enough to wish well to thej side who through our misfortune are I a etage nearer the Cup!

UA'IA K IN HOSPITALS. I To the Editor. Sir,— Speaking on Tuesday last at the annual meeting of the Swansea Branch of the British Women's Temperance As- sociation, I gave sonic figures as to the administration of alcohol in the Leeds, Royal Infirmary. They were adduced as striking proof of the altered taitii and practice of members of my profes- sion. Your reporters dJd noc get fix; figures correctly. May I give them again ? in the year 1869, 1,833 patients passed through the wards of the Infirmary, •; nd the expenditure in alcohol was £ 593, 'h.at is at the rate of 6s. 6d. per head. ]n j:J2 there were 8,346 in-patients, and the x- pendituro in alcoholic liquors of all icilds was £ 69, or at the rate; of id. per heid. If time bad permitted I should liave given other very .yt-riking sta-ti-Stics as to the uso of alcohol in hospitals of the English-speaking world, culled from a paper un Iiistittitiotiiii aii(I National Tempcrance," written by Dr. Bond, of Leicester, which appears m tho "British Journal of Inebriety" for the present month They are so thought- provoking, and so encouraging to patient workers in tho cause of tem- perance, that I venture to ask you to give rue space to yet them out. I will just quote five sets of figures out of the ,16 given. Tho figures refer to the year Guy's: In-patients, 0,753; alcoholic liquors, £ 138. Edinburgh In-patients, 1.2,091; al- coholic liquovs, £ 83. Hull: In-patients, 3,560; alcoholic Leicester: In-patients, 5,711; alco- liqlit- liquors, f(iO. I may add to this, the most striking of all, the fact that the Boston City Hospital. U.S.A., which had, in th? saiito year as the other hospitals re- ferred to, 15209 in-patients, the amount spent on alcoholic beverages was under L40. I aiii sorry to find that our own hos- pital compares veixy uidavouialily in this matter with any in the above list. The number of in-patients was k2,039, and the amount .spent on alroiiol iu various forms, £ 9t>. If Boston City had spout nt tho same rate as Swansea Hospital its alcoholic bill would have I ecu nearly £ 500. Putting Swansea, aside, Lh, signifi- cance of these statistics io that they suggest a waning faith in alcohol as a drug and food, or beverage, and (hat medical men in the best hospitals of the world are finding that they trciit the several forms of disease and injury with less, and still 1(>"S, alcohol. To quote Dr. Be nd: "They are saying tie., thflse tigllr) in authoritative language to the citizens of this land tha.t. if they can recover tuore easily and quickly on milk than alcohol when they are sick and likply to die, fliey will, in all human probability, do 1 otter work a.nd lead healthier lives withnit alcohol, but with nourishing food, when thry are exposed to the. burden and btruggle of daily life." Yours, ot<■ John Adam Rawlings. I

Paquin, Ltd., announce that, as x result of the ball held last Tuesday at Pri nce$» Rooms oil behalf of French charities in London, a contribution of £10 each has been forwarded to the treasurers of the Frenc h hosp,J-' ynd ,the French Benevolent Society.

Zabern and After. Its Effect upon the German Democracy. By J. C. Squil-c. I WITH the reference to 3 Reichstag W Committee of. the extreme motions on the Zabern affair, the affair may be regarded as closed-— except in so far as it is hut one episode in the long history of Germano-Alsatian relations. The Reichstag in the end did nut come out very strong. The Liberal and Ontral speakers—every- body, in fact, hut tIll' Soeialists-made their loyalty to the Emperor and their reverence for the army very clear. They gave the impression of people with mild barks aud no bites. Tlie authorities moreover are again holding their heads high. In reply to a question, the War Secretary made it pretty clear that the removal of the offending regiment from Zabern was not to be regarded as a punishment. And the Kaiser has caused a good deal of talk by refraining at a recent reception from shaking hands with old Herr Kacmpf, the Presi- dent of the Reichstag. The offence of this most loyal old man was that he did not intervene to protect the Crown Prince from the rebukes of the Socialists Frank and Ledebour. The Kaiser cannot possibly approve of his son's recent indiscretions; but he means to show people that nobody shouid venture to comment on that son's behaviour save himself. The Reichstag's Come-Down. Outwardly, in fact, the dominant Prussian militarists have come out victorious, from the struggle. The ques- tion as to whether the military had illegally invaded the province of the civil authorities was tried by a court- mai tial with a verdict in tlie army's favour. Colonel von Renter was ac- quitted; the I'eichstag has, if not crawled to heel, at least fallen back' on the mildest of critical positions; and the civil authorities in Alsace-I/orraino have resigned. There is something of tragedy about the resignation of the venerated Count Wedel, Statthatter ot the, province. He Is much liked by the population of Germany's Ireland, and ho is regarded as the father of her constitution. His Secretary—we might call it Premier— Herr Zorti, i,s a born Alsatian, and his, resignation will a lso be regretted in the conquered territories. It -Is not yet known who will be the new Statthaler, but the German reactionaries are calling loudly for a man of crude militarist notions, who will give the Alsatians what Mr. Arthur Balfour, in speaking of Ireland, u.sed to call resolute government." The Effect upon Alsace. What effect has this affair had upon AIsace; what are its results in Germany, aud what light funs it thrown upon the mentality of the German people r" Take the first question first. Jt seems to be universally agreed amongst those who are qualified to speak that the good re- sults. of forty-three years of pacification havo been destroyed at a blow. 1 do not suggest that Alsace is hack again where it was in 1870. I havo no figures by mc, but the resident popula- tion of Germa.n 'extraction has con- siderably increased in the intervening period, and the imperial Government has done all "in its power to promote the Gcrmanization ot A lsace- Lorra ine. But in so far as efforts at conciliation, not- ably the conceiwion of a modified form of lioni., Rule, had diminished the hos- tile feelings of that part of the popula- tion which is French by race and speech, everything will now have to be begun over again. The Social Democratic Party. But Alsatian feeling in this matter, in so far as it is anti-Prussian feeling, i, reflected throughout South Germany. The ,Prussian militarists have beei very aggressive and imprudent of late, and throughout the soiitit, notablv in Bavaria, thy view that Prussia muJt be remiud+nl of her place a-s first amWlgst equals is strengthening daily. And so tar as Alsatian feeling is anti-militarist it is reflected in the views of the over- grow ing party throughout the Empire. The very tur- pitude of the other parties during this crisis has helped the Socialists. "They alone have taken a straight uncompro- mising line to their arms alone can the man come who is disgusted with Zaher- oism and wishes to see no more of ii and their strength once more lias been increased by the folly of those who 'I east desire to increase it. Every year the German reactionaries play into the hands of th'- Socialists with a sys- tematic thoroughness which looks al- most d('li, In the pre?nt Reichstag the Socialists are repre- sented in unprecedented force; but the next elections will see. it is estimated, another twenty-five per cent, increase in their members. Germans and Militarism. Zabern has thrown hack the work of pacifying AI.sa< e-fjorraine. It has stimulated anti-militarist feeling and as-sisted lo throw the German demo- cracy into the Social-Democratic (amp. But in honesty it must be admitted that it has done one thing more. It has proved that there are still millions5 perhaps a numerical majority, of Ger- muns, or at any rate of Prussians, whose ideas on the subject of liberty, of militarist' and of constitutional government do not conform to our own. I heard last week irom a friend in Ber- lin who told me that he w as astonished by the numlier of quite intelligent and enlightened friends of his who, although they did not approve of applying swords to shoemakers' heads, were on the whole on the official side in this busi- ness, Of course the army in a country where so many have served in it has a strong sentimental hold and the huge number of officers exercise a great, in- fluence on opinion a.mongst the middle- classes. A Change Coming. But there is more in it than this. The average German is not yet used to assorting his rights or -.question- ing the act ions of the. authori- ties. All his life he has been accus- tomed to seemg everything done by ministers responsible only to the Crown and by permanent officials, national and local, who control enterprises and er-I vices of extreme diversity. and "ho as a whoh do it verv wpl! and very consci- entiously. English notions of repre- sentative government (though the poli- tical .scienti6b a lways c?f) such notions Teutonic or Germaniei have not pene- trated very deopiy into the conceptions of the modern Germany and generally speaking lie is still willing to leave the conduct, of public affairs to the Emperor and those to whom (he Emperor cares to delegate his powers. A change is com- ing. The increase of the Socialist strength is the index of that change. But the German is still nowhere near as thorough a democrat -is the Briton or I the Frenchman,

News & Views 0- Maxim for To-day. Don't stand at the bottom of a ladder wondering what is at the top- climb up and see!"—Clifford James. Any Pun Intended? The follow ing is taken from a cata- logue of second-hand books:—"Memoirs of Charles the First, with a head capi- tally executed." Written in Sight of Death. Mahler's -symphony, "The Song of the Earth," which was performed at Queen's Hall, London, on Saturday, is said to have been written by the com- poser under a presentiment of hi" death, which recurred soon after its completion in 1011. This would seem to be borne out by the music itself, which begins and ends in sombre colour. A Borte Collector's Epitaph. One of the many quaint epitaphs to be found in country churchyards is the following:— Here lids the body of Ebenezer Jout-S. Who all his life collected bones. Till death, that grim and bony spectre, That all-amassing bone collector, Bailed old Jones, so neat and tidy, That- here he hies all bona fide. How C.B.S. Described It. The innovation ot printing th, West minster Gazette" on greee | paper drew from Air. Gladstone an inti- mation*that he preferred the violent contrast of black and white, and from Air. Bernard Shaw the characteristic comment that while in "good light the colour was ifrst rate," in the railway carriages of a certain company "it would make eveu the Rev. Hugh Price Hughet publicly dauin his eyes." Mr. Birrell on journalism. "A journa)iht writ-es. Sha? spfare cannot do a?y more. Wbethel he has written what is called hteraturf means whether lie has written some think that a w»t'k hence will give any- one the slightest pleasure. A dewerip- tion of a pricket match tnay be as im- mortal as a poem by Theocritus. An account of j. prize fight may last for mer if YOII know how i-o do it. A re- view of a book may he much better literature than the book itself."—Mr. Birreil at Bristol on Saturday. Mr. W. B. Yeats' Face. Mr. Yeats wears long hair and a black velveteen jacket. His friend, Mr. Richard Le Gallienne (says a cor- respondent in the "Mirror") once de- scrilied his face as a slip of the youn"g moon looking through the, pine trees, but this wa.s. poetic licence. Mr. Yeate s poems are amongst the bos* sellers in the United States, and when he lectures, there he is always certain of a large audience of women and girls- If you don't know- Y'eats's poems in the States they think you a.re unciii- tured," and that is a terrible socia sin. Weeding Out Old Books. The weeding out and destroying old books recommended by Sir Henry Hol- land, the late I/ord Knutsford, find modern advocates in Mr. Edmund Gosse and Mr. Birreil, both of whom have publicly affirmed that our libraries, public and private, would be the better fdt drastic periodical clearances- Walter Bagehot, too, approved of burning useless books. "The bar- barians burned books," he wrote, "ar^i though all the historians abuse theiD for it, it is quite evident that in their hearts they greatly rejoice. If the books had existed they would have had to read them." Psychology of Clothes. I The Command performance of Diplomacy at Windsor ClasVlo tc).,algilt by Mr. Gerald du Maurior and tho Wnyclham Theatre Company, reminds a correspondent in the "Daily Sketch'' I of the first run as years ago. In 1880, he says, an. actress had sometimes to I be villainous in the clothes of virtue- Roughly, the contrast may be set out thus — 1880. 1914. I Bustle Hobble skirt. Polonaise Slit skirt. Yards and Inches- and Yards of (perhaps) inchas I Ma terial. Of material. Odious and Dreadful System." Sir Thomas Snagge, County Court Judge for the QxfordslHre district, died last evening at hi is re.:idenoe id Cadogau-gardens. He was chieflv famous for h?s attack on the judgmcr? summons system. Here," he once aid at Kettering, are four or five score of poor wretched peoyje, broken down bankrupts of the working class, who can hardly keep .body and soul to- gether,-with too large families and toe ismall wages, with the cost- of living in- creasing and further taxes about to be put on them. In face of that J have to make orders to screw the last penny out; of them or give the breadwinner three. weeks in gad. Jt is an odious aiid dreadful .system." Ths Spirit of Institutionalism. Writing |o-day in the "Daily News and Leader" of the change that ton years has made in the big London churches, the Rev. C. Silvester Home, .Yl.P.. says: There has lieen no servile imitation. \o stranger, dropping in to Whitefield's has imagined himself at Westminster Chape), ?o Bibie student at Westminster has mistaken it for the City Temple. Mr. Philippe at Bloomsbury and .\11-. Ratfeiiourv at the Kingsway have had the courage to take their own line. But what 1 may I' call the spirit of 'Institutionalism' has, been common to us all, even when the ( forms of church activity have differed most." incident. An Umgeni Incident. Umgeni has not hitherto been onf of the innumerable South African narnel which bring memories of struggle to the English mind. But there are prob- ably still old Natalians (says tho "Üaily Chroniclp") who can recollect the tremendous controversy that raged when the first bridge over the Umgeni river was opened. On one side of the bridge was Durban, on the other the country of Victoria; and the town and country people could not agree as to the celebration of the event. A compromise celebration on the bridge itself was out ¡ of the question, and in the end rival luncheons were he'd on either side of the bridge, and the chief .speakers had to be rushed backwards aud forwards W attend both. Parsifal" To-Night. The follow ing are a few of thfl novelties of the Covent Garden pro- duction of "Parsifal" to-uight, which will last from 5 p.m. till 11 p. m. lu the third act a beautifully painted panorann nearly an eighth of a inile )-,ng. painted by Mr. Joseph Harker, slowly across the stas? on "riant rollers SpYf?ty feet of canva-s, weighin about t*? jv ton, ie exposed at one tun?. A wonderful mu-iral n?vc'ty in the «'?<? iti the Hall of the Knights of the Grail f8 I that three choruses of men and boys sr0 placed one above the other in tiprt4 reach- ing almost to the roof cf the theatre. Great bells are aleo chimed, in this act. Twenty bars of mutiie hasp to bp learned I by the orchestra .ind played from m#3mor3-, for the whole huose will be in the coin- pletest darkness. ly Each pillar in the Grail Temple wiU flDIIr r ccal a musical conductor Jn