The Cambria Daily Leader

THE RAKE'S PROGRESS. )1; J. H, Thoma.s, M.P., just returned from America, declares that From what I can see at pre- sent, we are drifting; headlong to ruin," aud Mr. Thomas is right. We havA exhausted cur visible wealth, and mortgaged our future. But we 'are repudiating payment. That is what limitation of output, really means. In private life, denounce the man who disowns a debt as dishonest; but what elM are; we. who have called upon the future? to help us defeat a menace, and then refuse to honour our own draft' Shorter hours are right-if the contention so often made that they do not; reduce output is proved., But. shorter hours which lead to & deliberate lowering of production, J and the ea-canny principle of labour,; are not only dishonourable just; now, but they are taking us "head- but iiie,N- ,ire t?tkl,n g ii, cl t,-? ri I The effects of the Coal shortage will be upon us almost immedi- ately. We shall see unemploy- ment grow; we shall find some essential commodities scarce ai, though men are anxious to manu- facture them; we shall find in ?-, h a t l fiiid in. numerable articles increased in; price—because the collier, or tht:1 i system—we will not argue here which—brings less coal to the sur- face. Let that same economic rule infect other trades, and our bankruptcy is certain. We- shall I reap in bitter tears that which ha¡ been sowed in thongthlessness and ignorance.

I THE EISTEDDFOD AND I ITS REWARDS. ¡ Prize, £ s. d. I A stry describing Welsh life, not less than 30,000 words (for children) 10 10 0 A story for boys, not less than 30,000 words, dealing with the pirates and wreckers of the Bristol Channel. 10 0 0 Any interesting book for child- ren, describing recent inven- tions and character 14) 0 0 A story for girle, not less than 20.00 words 7 0 0 Nursery book (with illustrations 5 0 0 plus 10 royalty. We take the above from the List,! of Subjects in the Barry National Eisteddfod programme for 1919, and with them quote the following rules also set out: The successful compositicus, it litera- ture. music and science, unless other- wise specified in the List of Subjects, shall be the property of the General Committee. but if they are not. pub- t mouths after the Eisteddfod, the authors as well as the Committee, or the Eistedd/od Associa- tion, shall have a r'ght of publication. i Now the National Eisteddfod does not exist for commercial uses, and the a.mount. of the prize ought, not to bear relation to the value of tia, production, otherwise the eih-teil- fod would deteriorate into a kind of publishing institution. But we won- der, as we read in the programme of the 30,000 and 20,000 words stories, whether it is the intention of the General Committee to publish these themselves; or whether that I right. has been assigned to tho donors cf some of tlie p' rizes, who J. includ e, we ll-known publi. shi, ng hnufcs. The ten per cent, royalty | mentioned for the ursery book I points to a decision to place the sue- cessful work on the market. If then we say. with regard to some -,)f the competitions, that the prizes offered—if indeed they include all that the author is to get—are miser- ably inadequate. Ten guineas for a thirty thousand words story is not —well, let us be moderate, and, keeping down our wrath, say that it is net an encouragement either of literature or pot-boiling. In the Art and Craft section, most of the exhibits are. returnable to the com- petitors. Why should it be other wise in the literary section? We fancy the writer of a good 30,000 story for children or for boys or girls. could make more than ten guineas out of it!

THE MEMOIAL. THE MEMORIAL, We have so pften pleaded in theee columns that the. Swansea War Memoiral should not be de based to serve the ends of the liv- jing, that it 8hould b? dedicated to I the dead, and not a mere conYeti-1 ence t? selfish people who seize the pretext to further their own. plans, that we will be forgiven for setting forth here the argument of Mr. Garvin in yesterday's "Observer upon the general subject of war memorials. Judgment has swung brrelv into true balance he wrote. Just and necessary it was to plead thnt thank- offerings and remembrance frhouid rather take shape aft-er a utilitarian than a monumontel pattern and be the first stones of Jerusalem in this green and pleasant land. This was tho coumel of reason and self-re- straint, not un tinged with whole- some sentiment. But even utili- tarianism can have its excesses. A new gasworks under any inscription is no memorial.. It would exploit and nofc express tho occasion. And, after all the model dwellings and scholarships, conceived in the most loayl spirit of dedication, the guid- ig, iiituit,e part of us remains un- satisfied. It asks and now insists that art shall embody its desire in a • single national symbol, a mcmon?l n?it-?cl-,iql -Mb ol, ,t a purpc.se fublimer than all the utili- ties. < The massed, anonymous heroism of it alljias stamped the war, and the dead lie numberless. We can- not pick but a name here and therms upon which to hang the memory of an event, and no names, however brilliant, can represent the huge | aggregate of the unnamed. This is I the truth which a memorial must re- iJNt. It must he simple, imper-, sonal, and majestic, a literal tran- slation in stone. So we urge again, upon the ev? of the meeting of the Swansea NVar Memorial Committee, that in our remembrance we shall honout the memory of the dead, and decide upon some form of memorial—a I centotaph like the Lutyen's model, or a cairn as a ercs-that will ex press adequately our homage. After we have looked to t-hift first call, which need not be an extravagant call, we can search for noble oppor- tunities of disposing of the surplus in utilitarian works. But the main I point to urge is that. for all time we shrill, set up, a memorial to the ¡ heroes wbo did not return.

FARMS AND FACTORY SOLD. I Messn. William and Waiter James, F.A.I., sold at Elandilo on Saturday the following freehold farms and woollen fac- tory :— Mount Pleasant, freehold farm, near Capel Isaac, 5aa. 3rd.V3par., in the occu- pation nf Mr. Thoanas Thomas, it £ 25 per annum, sold to tenant for .£500. Frehold farm and lands called Peny- graig, together with the Pontaber Wool. len Factory adjoining (with vacant pos- session at Michaelmas next, sta. Spey. Timber on this lot was valued at ki. sma to Mr. J. Thomas, Carnaugwynion, j for JES05. | t Tho e.nme auctioneers eold Glaspant HoTjse, Ffa.:rfach, a a rental of £ 14 per annum (inclusive); ground rent of JM 5s.; taold for .£2&5 to Mr. W. Havard Wilaame, [Ttmrbrjn, I^andilo.

DIRECT ACTION, i — ■—* I How it would work] Out I I (By. A Spceial Correspondent.) J At a delegate meeting in London last í vi'eek. the Triple Alliance resolved to recommend to its constituent bodies— namely, the reilwaymen, miners, and transport workers—to take steps to ascer- tain whether their members were prepared to take industrial artion b enforce the Alliance s demands. Let ns see Trhr.t this involves? Three of our most important trade unions fire asking their members whether they are willing to go on striko if the Government refuses to abolish con- scription and discontinue military inter- vention in Russia and in trade union, dis- S putcs at home. THE CHALLENGE. I Pome of the younger and more impet- nous workmen will say at (11H: "Why I should anv strike fo!Io? this threat? H is a f?oaditionn! Hir?a'. There is an if in t'!? re?"'?.!tion. The GoY?rnmcnt itsp'f can stop tho strike hy agreeing to the conditions laid down," The ohier and more experienced workmen howerer- perfectly well that the Government cannot allow itself to lie ordered about in that fashion. It would become the laughing stock of the world if it were to reply to the men Certainly; you tell us what to do. end we will obey." Let us take it for granted that the Government has no I intention of adopting the humiliating posture. STOPPAGE OF WORK. I I- I As the upshot o* the threat cannot he the surrender of the Government, one or two other results must follo-a climb- down of the Mireateners or a stoppage of irork. The latter course means loss of i« n-res. less of output, an intolerable inter- fcrenee with the facilities of the travelling puhnf. and empty grates tor the ?or next? vultcr. It. may a'so w?!! im-f?vf riotviig and destruction of property, with p'ts'ni j afterwards for some of the wilder spirits. Tltat is not the prospect. It is a pro-, glin.Hní of civil strife engineered to a great extent by those who call themselves pacificists It is an enunciation of infu- riate war aims by the friends of the con- scientious objectors. WHAT IS THE REMEDY? Only on • way out of this danger exists. The members of the trade unions who are I beiny canvassed must vote against indue-1 trial action. They have many reasons for \1 voting no to snch' a proposition. First of all, as already indicated, they can by such a vote save the Triple Alliance from ) the folly of a falsa move and from the re- sentment that would fall upon the Alli- ance as the outcome of the misery that a strike would cruise. They can save the ÎI Labour Party from thelmage that will accrue to it, by being split into two camps, for it is well-known that mauy of the rqost capable leaders of that psrty are deter- millod opponents of direct action. They can save the country from a possible en- ¡ counter between the strikers and the au- thorities. It will thus lie seen that an appeal for a sane decision on this issue can be founded on the interests of trade unionism and on the interests of the coun- try at large If it is a matter that affects I material welfare, it can also, without any cant, be said to be concerned with the principles of morality or religion. lLe I average man is either worldly or religious; in either case he should think twice before he helps to plunge his fellow men and his native land into the turmoil of an indus- i tTlal conflict. A TWO-EDGED WEAPON. I Mr. Arthur Henderson, whose long (ifficial connection with the Labour Party has shown him the great possibilities of reform that can he obtained from Par-! 1 lament, is genuinely alarmed at^ the idea J of substituting a strike policy for?political organisation. He declares, in an article in the monthly journal of the Ironfoun- ders Union, that direct action is unneces- sary and dangerous in a country such as ours witl) its broadened franchise, where representative institutions count so much. He points out that it is a two-edged policy, fo- a Labour Government might come into power and find itself confronted with a strike of medical men or with a revolt led by Sir Edward Carson. What con id such a labour Government do m the emer- gency suggested by Mr. Henderson? The answer is that it would have to declare such direct action to the unconsti tutional and it would have to use force to suppress such manifestations of unconstitutional method^. The sane trade unionist must surely see that his best interests in the long run are served by voting no to this direct action proposal.

I I LLANELLY ACCIDENTS. I 'j' A little girl named S. Lester, of James- street, Llanellv, broke' her' leg on Friday night whilst playing on a bridge near the work house. First aid wa-s rendered by Mr. D. Ilenshaw, a constable, and the xirl was then removed to the workhouse infirmary, where her mother is the as- sistant matron. I BOY'S FALL. I The same evening a iitile boy named Willie John, Stepney-row, Felinfoel, fell awkwardly and broke his leg. In this instance also Mr. Henshaw rendered first- aid, and the boy after having been attended by lr)r. Hamil. was removed to the Hospital. ¡ MAGNET DRIVER INJURED. Wm. Anthony, .St, Andrew-street, Llan- elly, has been admitted to the local hos- pital. Whilst following his duties as a magnet driver at the Llanellv Steelworks on Friday night, a back CA Trent caught lum, and, in falling, he caught in the cogs, with the result that one of his heels was almost severed. I AT OLD LODGE TIN WORKS. J Mr. Daniel Jenkins, Penallt Terrace. Llanelly has been admitted to the local hospital snffprmg from a severe fracture I of the l?g sustained whilst following his I employment at the Old Ix<d?e Tinpiate Works. I

TO OPPOSE SWANSEA. I The Penarth water polo team to oppose Swansea at the Swansea Baths on Thurs- day evening next. will be an exceptionally strong one. The selected men are :00111. T. Parsons: Backs. Chris and G. Taylor; Halt'-baf-ks, A. Uardridge; For. wards, W. Street (capt.) W. Smith, and F. Parr. (

TOWN TALK. Neath had a T'cd nagDay on Saturday. The story—not the flag-is unfurled in another column- —; O' — Sunday Hying, judging from yesterday'* patronage, bids to be very popular., Tho price is hizh-like the game. -:0;- "Kind words can never die." sang tlii Neath soldiers on Saturday. But the blows at eventide did—a deep red; —icx — There must be an epidemic of stiff necks in Swansea those days. Every- body seems to be looking upwards. — SO!— Silver cups and medals are being pre- sented for the best. kept, allotments at Neath. Ought to produce good produce: —: t* A Swansea man after his first trip on the Neath tramcars remarked rhat these vehicles still had the dews of the Deluge on them. The Channel sea-pilots are demanding a rl€e- At. present we understand that their in-comings and out-goings exactly balance. —: o: — The least concerned in the aeroplane flights from the sands yesterday was a pretty litt.e hhck dog. taken up by one (if the pUc's. A real "sky terrer! Xo doubt the cjuestion will be asked why the (hT-n Hall, Neath, m-as denied the Socialists on Saturday night. The answer is, of course, that no boxing matches are permitted there! — »}— A weekly paper, referring to the coal trouble says that we had no sooner settled the major fight on the Continent than the nation was engaged in a miner batHe. of somewhat serious proportions. —!<!?-. Manager Richardson of the Empire was a passenger in the Avro yesterday afternoon. An alleged "-it in the crowd said he had been lip looking for stars. but as it was davtime, the joke fell Cut! I — £ > i— At Swansea on Saturday a defendant wbj was charged with being drunk and incapable said it was tKit caused hy the amount of drink ne had taken. The c hair- man (Mr. J. TT. ttosser) said it must have been the quality! c; — A well-known novelist write* fin rticIe in a Sunday contemporary < n Books that girls write." But. ob- serves a cynical male, he does not men- tion the most popular of all—the litt'e books with powdered leaves! -:0- Some rf t.iip Swansea school children are looking upon the breaking up of the. schools next Thursday as a huge demobi- lisation. One little chap, writing to hi father on the Rhine, said: If you don't .sharp, I shall be demobbe^ before you. you. A Swansea man had a unique p- perience en Saturday. Just before 12.30 he called in a public-hou.se just off the Market ;i"d found himself the sole occupant of the bar. Ho called for n. drink, and there was actually a rush to servo him — -ot— A French professor claims to have invented i "tonic" the use of which will pionuce an .increase of 38 per cent, in a crop ol potatoes. H^w^ver, there is greaW fame awaiting the man who can introduce an antidot-o to thoir ore- sent high price. — ?o■ There have been n troduced of late with the ?poeial purpose of increasing the efficiency of our educw- tionfl' £ v-tem. But the latest novel' in this direction is the appointment by an education committee of a phrenollogist to examine school children and to advise as to their abilities and future. — ■«:— I have never een more people on the Sands in my life. said an elderly Swan- fea man standing on the Slip J3ddg-¡> Saturday afternoon. What wi^h tho crowds, the bont/ng. the bathing, and t'tig flying, the old town seems to- he the hub of this part of the uivverse at any rate- We are knocking them all out." It may not bo generally j-Tiat we have in Swansea a. gentleman who, 30 years ago, wrifi called the father of the ■ confectionery trade." manufacturer of sweets tends to longevity, pnd even y-t there is n->thing nt. all to suggest, the old man about the confectioner referred to. Judging: by apr»e«ranees, he is likely to go on making lollipops for another century or eo. —:0:— Some of the d:stnct picnic parties thnt mak heir way into Gower see to it that they take their refreshment with them. but they fometimes consume a goodly por,; ClI of it. before they reach '.heir des- tination. One party on the way down oil Saturday halted on the Common, an:1 the number of cork s, e':c., left behind gave "nm stakable proof that they had been doing themselves well. —: 0: To nearly everybody on the Sands on Satur'ithe aeroplanes, cf course, were th a princinnl at Taction, hut there was one little fellow to whom they made no great appeal. He was from the Rhondda Valley, and had never seen the 6:t before; and what interested him chiefly were the bathers, the boats, and the steamers crr>s;rsg the hay. He was positively fas- cinated by them —1>:— lias P-xpres4?P(i M:\ R. A. M'CaH. K.C hae expre?Md himself with marked emphasis on several occasions durng his Commissionership at the S\xaasea Assizes on the sanction which tho p:e-ence of the Pr<s and Cue public giv<s to the administration of justice. ITJs remarks on the great im- portance of the former ought not to He overlooked by the much less far-seeing people who indulge in sneers at its ex- pense. — ft:— Agood character was given at the Birch- grove Eisteddfod on Saturday to the pro- prietors of the Birch grove Colliery. Messrs A. J. Phillips and Ashley Evans, and their head manager Mr. T. Maddocks. A Ito- gether they had given towards the Eis- teddfod 16 guineas. Not only towards Eis- teddfodau held in the locality their gener- osity is to be seen, hut every other deserv- ing causa receives their generous support. -:0:- Swansea, drapers' assistants began to take holidays a fortnight, ago. Local houses ehed theS(n in batches of five or six. according to strentgh, so that tb* holiday season lasts well into Septem- ber. The best that can lie wished for them is that the much-needed rain show Id fall during the nights, and that the days of the assistant's holiday shall be flooded with that warm which is equally needed for all garden and field crops. -:0- One of the telegraph messenger bo-t? attached to the Swansea Post Office tele- graphic department is very proud, inas- much as he is the first of the local boys to go up in an aeroplane. It- came about in this way. He had to deliver a message to one of the Avro pilots on Saturday, and. having done so, he was asked if he would like to go aloft. He replied tJut he would be more than pleaded. Jump in." ssiid the pilot; and off they went. When 1>hd about the sensation of flying, he said it was all right going up, bwt when coming down I had a rather tick. iling feeling iti the tummy." -čÍ¡"> )