The Cambria Daily Leader

HARBOUR TRUST'S PROBLEMS. Not onh- will the busing pecpir' of Swansea a.nd est \V nIcs frell profound STmpathy with h. Roger Beck in regard to the important and serious announcement whi:'h h? found it neco^ary to m?ke a? I t.be nfeet:ng of the Swansea lbr. bour Trust, on Monday, but th4 whole .community will undoubtedly realise that only stori rnecessity would liavo elicited from Mr. BEjk the brief, but forceful, outline of the difficulties which the port must now [fiee. There is no need to minimise the gravity of the position, which arises from the effects of the areat war. But it is essential to the interests of the Harbour Trust and of the town of Swansea, that .everyone concerned should look ahead, 3s well as at to-day's facts, and lend any and every possible help to those who have to tackle the problem now facing them. Mr. R-cger Beck's unique posi- | ticn in the industrial and com- mercial life of West Wales is such that; his guidance in regard to "the way out" will unquestionably be regarded by all as a sine qua non in solving that problem, and how keenly be felt the responsibility, ott Monday, may be gathered from the Tact that, when making the an- nouncement that the Trust would be unable to pay interest to the bondholders at the end of the year, he was so deeply moved as, at times, to be almost unable to pro- ceed with his remarks. The £ 150,000 subsidy provided by the Swansea Corporation has been exhausted. More thail that. Modest and diffident as he always I is, Mr. Beck, while merely indicat- ing that he had done something by stepping into the gap," gave only a very faint notion of what that involved. It meant direct I financial, responsibility underta ken voluntarily by him, and it may be added tbat the he&vy sum thus I brought to the assistance of the Harbour Trust has also been ex- hausted. Therefore, the step ad- I vocated at the meeting had to be resorted to, and the only question is how, and by what scheme, and through whose Jn £ trumentality the essential step 1 to be taken to en- able the Harbour Trust to retrieve its position, for retrieved it will be when the present abnormal circum- stances have passed away. It is in ¡ that respcet thatf patience, forbear- I' ance, and unity of action must be asked for from all who"desire to tee Swansea quickly occupy the situa- tion which seemed to be a certain prospect just before the war broke out. I Soitife idea of the causes of the Harbour Trust quandary may be gathered from the speeches of JMr. W. T. Farr and others who followed Mr..Roger Beck's statement at tho meeting referred to, but it is ad- visable once more, to emphasize I the utter failure of all efforts to get I the port of Swansea placed by the Government upon the fcame footing as railway-owned ports. Possibly, even government departments may see the folly and unfairness of their past attitude now that the crisis has com. Wcj do not ue the word crisis as indicating & menace t-o the future of I the port. It is only a temporarily $u*;ute difficulty which will, as we have observed, be overcome, and the small, as well the large holders of bonds and shares, need [ have no far as to the ultimate b-it. any mere than, the towns- people need have as to tlw pres- prci; of the p'"I,rt.. The trade returns of the wbcl2 country are showing a fairly rapid reversion to the normal condition of things. If we look at the Board oi Trade returns for the first 11 month; of this year we see that the excess 1 of imports over exports shows a heavy adverse balance of trade— 017 million pounds—reduced hy the earnings of shipping and irt- surance and pofits on oversea in vestment. If, en the other hand. we watedi the monthly returii, .ii,f, see a steady and extraordinarily rapid increase in our exports, ac- companied by a- steady but smaller j increase in imports; till finally, i:1 the month ending November, the excess of imports is only 36 mil- lions, as against an excess of 82 millions in January—a state A affairs in which, with shipping learnings, etc., we are at length sol vent. Moreover, figures from the re- turns of the Swansea Harbour Trust bear proofs more or less, the same tendency, and the more re- cent the returns the surer arc the signs of returning pros- perity. Apart from the e-fffc-ts of the severe \teo.ther, last week, which contributed to the reduction of trade transactions, the move- ments Were decidedly upward and tti is the case with regard to tinpt?tc?., hip- merits and stocks lying at tho docks showing cheerful impove- li A?vl although general car- goes, coal and patent fuel showed a the resumption of th* trade with Hamburg. Rumania and Black Sea ports accounted for thousands d tons of :H ( ¡tJOnai ship t h cuc.?n d s f. f f.'n-. r'f nddit'onal sh  ) merits during the past mouth. Without entering into details, we may ctlt that the facts and the figures, are reassuring enough to make us ejuite optimistic as to the immediate future. The clouds out of which "the bolt from the fell on Monday are merely passin. clouds, and we have the fullest con- fidence that, It-it to the careful handling of the men who have battled with the trade tempests of the war-time period, the proverbial silver lining will soon become visible, and Swansea and its Har- bour Trust will weather the storm and emerge triumphant ere long.

PORT TALBOT TRADE. I Traffic a.t Pert Talbot DdWkfs during the pa#t va.e an. follows £ xportB: Coel Ud ocke. 06.5(2; pat-ent fuel. 5.137; aftRlfeS. 1,129; ballast, 1.245; making a total of 44.077. Importft were 2,6S. c-ifflpriMng ballast. 463; j iron ót. 1,500; pitwood. 703; making the tot-il tonna,?« 46.740. compared with 41,551 in tile Corr( week of last yr.

I TOWN TALK. I I -.u?io uiuloub ealy h;v.- rharuv to ihe Msvagt- breast, but in the subject seems always to roust the contentious in who pi> ( liciy li.-cus. it. [ .0:- 1 wo years ago to-rfav Jerusalem I captard by the Biii.^h forces ,ictij; under C^neral -ileces:- attack \elsli troops were to tin- fore, an were thefer&t to enter the hViy City.  hciIS3 .?S3a?ea?n':t)-i.). sptiing?hou?a UII :,lond, rojllt"¡ mttt?nt it \?s pretcy neo a cinirch andnottarrmm? publfc hou>. to that aU the amenites of hft? were at'he disposal of the purchaser -:0&- A corre?podpnt hopes that the Swansea playerwill t;e at- their Ijest at St. ifchn's on Jjaindity. The flying men, hu says, are sure > do a lot of damage unlt.> they ure brougt down before thoy reach their objective. Judging by the-eport or' the Select Com- I re.it i.ee whb;h irnjirerj in to t h charges t' -lie H'omen'i, K-oyal Air iotce. he result has ffoved that its members ?'tf: not, ad '1'ra alle-gocl, coifttMsed of riff-W:v.x\ p ) A local critic wh, ,{eride<2 tiie Bind nr Hope I'.i.stedofod at b. Central Hall savs that no fear need be tf- q"; to tbe mUiie11 future ol Swansea. ome ?? ?? com- petitors there, he says ??hpd a ?.y h? tard 01 ment indcf. -:0:- Four W(.I.,Ii t'lem I/ewis. A. H, 1. rubsn^ and Gwyn I Francis—take part in th inter-Varsity match at Queen's Club t,(I, r. Oswald Jenkins, of course, is tl. popular All White centre three-quarter. — :o:—' The Archbifdiop als-o told, story of schoolboy who. in answer to He (luestion !z,, I loo l it(-, *v w l l(). i-?i -tn? What is associated r. it" Caterbury r" replied, "Frozen mutton nd arch- bishops." Yem will observe he order of priority," remarked the ArnhiRhcp. -:9.- One of b(, most exclusive ft*trell M; ancient of thft learned bodies n this i country is the S'iety of A -Miona'pf. It has nearly 700 fellows, of whoni thro am seven in Monmouthshire and sixt#n in the other twelve fou'itios. — Answpr to TTouf les?."—^ es, ther are some housing scheme^ which pronco houses. In fact, the newspapers luivrre- corded CHg of houses in certain aNif¡, erected since the ecbemos wero moohI. which liavo actually been cocupe. Hope on. — :0:— The caricatures on the "Leader" dir ncr menu point the way to brighte-ninfc sueih fenction->. IIow much livelier thfl Chamber of Commerce banquet would have btv-n it a couple of dozen such draw- ings had been sprung: upon the unsuspect- ing colli pany' —:?;— One of the latest Christmas noveltieSt as advertised yesterday by one of the big London stores, is a surprise pot of rasp- berry jam, which, when opened, ('nt'\k(!t jump out." "Is it » souvenir from thf Mace<ioniau fronts' asks a Tommy who was there lor three years! — «t— A correspondent propounds the fono" ing problem. Supoosinf; i person to b<» I sentl:"l1C'f'd to p?y 20s. and costs or go to )ri"o'l for 7 days for non- T)a?-ment incom?tax. If I)e to rrisnii for tli^ week, is b« on bi? rfic?se still !iah!? tc pay th? tax. Perhaps someone wil oblige with the answer. -4 Mr. Brown: But, my boy, Bu.rely yoJ are too young to rrtarrv my dauphter- How old are you?" Voung Jones,: I aJtI eisih!.een, sir" J[r. Brown: « AM she îJ twenfy-three—too Rreat a disparity. Wh.f not Wait for half-a-dozen Tt'f'l? TMfl ,on will he twenty-four and fllI"Il protr I ably bo the same age." Llaneily ?eem« to be in for a lir^ of The ntutf and fame of Mr. John Rees are known to retwlers of this column, attl bie. Aiiccp4-W following in hii steps. One ulgft* last week Mr, Winl"e>rbottorn gave all admirable TcnnySCn recital, and the nEtt n?ht was lecn\b ?n bc?. • — The "Star*' suggests t b efollowing « Christmas Presents for Coleb 1-itieg Dr. Addison—A box of toy bricks. Mr. Bottomley—A few French lottefl bonds.. Joe Becktft-A framed photogroph ^j Cnrppntier. Mr. Justice Darling—A signed photo » Gaby Deslys. Husband Cfnriously): Herd's, mr bo; meerschaum pipe broken' Hew ;n tlf name of sense did that hftupen\T if^ I don't know, except thnt when I go up this morning I ,iiiid .Iqf -Xps left o your meerschaum pijie on Ht" front doo nail and your shoes on the parlour man I 'el-pifce." ITusliand (mildly): "Oh, d accident; will happen." to osdti. the poet, kept all kind# ot ) bcas< s in the lara;e walled gardfu behid 11' his house in Chelsea. Tie bought a wlup bull because it had (>Yf\8 tike Jam Morris," and tethered it on the 1 a w He inviied people ro meet.it. and hfap<t favours on i' Miss Ellen Terrt" reht until it kicked everything to piece'- when he reluctantly got rid of it," eye and nil. f — Yesterday was not a particularly brigh- one for Swansea. Its financial po^itioi did not s how up to the best advantage the outlook being an exceedingly gloom: un", Yet there is no reason for despair— all ipi not lost." a-s th-e hNO soy? in tin melo-drama, and those who are in a posi- tion to know are definite in their faith lhnt there are glorious days for the good old town in the very near future. They were discus-sing the value of knowledge of foreign languages in a cer- tain place in Swanscvi last night which shall be nameless, and this is viiit onq old boy said to an ambitious young?te; engaged at the Docks: You may be ac quainf-ed with several languages—I hopi you irp-biit there is one tongue Pbiel the finest linguist in the world ha6 no mastered yet. You will know what I neat when yon tiave been married a yea- o two." Not very encouraging, is it! — :0 :— The Archbishop of Canterbury sEeJ in rrt after-dinner speech recently on one occasion a letter was f>ddres«efco him from Franco as follows j 11 Ane- veque Canterhury. Londres." u* puKKled the postal authorities, and ar it ba(l i go-YI hit, letter was delivered to him with words inscribed on it, N,)t knowii t tho C-anterhui"y Music Hall." That. *» marked his grace, amid wholesome reminder to one holding tJ1 position he did not to be a litt! ?"? up with the thought of what his o?? signified. -10— Commissioner Wh?tmore. in +v# E1y:um on Sunday, had very e^riki» ?.t?rl? to tell of his tra?I o1per,t1(1 For instance whi? on a four mont'v voyage to Java on A trader, be coul«n sleep in bis cebin for the tremendous so went on d?c?. He was di?nrbcd  I :rll1:<h b:>, rat?. and to ?car? th?m off 113', a h?Lgp fan ?on?ide i ob b hMt vi?oro??v when h« hp:?d 13? Th-?. however, but h?usht tb? T^ around him in ?rct?r numbers, and^ h" dt-Mv?r?d. t?' h1< honor. that he w*^ i sleeping over a rat hclel

FUTURE OF GAS. A Letter From ririr. W. H. Johns. To the Kditor, Cambria Daily Lender." Sir.—It iroulr! /ippc;ir front tho report in your papei of Dccc: 'her itli, referring to ijiv in^eww with thft Highway Com- mittee, that I hàd datpfl in reply to ques- tions pnt to me that g,!i woulrf in future be iisNI for heating and industrial pllr pofop only, and not for liphtirijar piirpo^s. This mi«rcpr<v=cnf« wha<t t wished to convey to tho committee. I stated at tliG intervieir that it was tbé proposal of tbo Board of Trade that should )tell g-ik and charge for thfc saiae on ;he heat iiiiic basis in immediate future, ar.d it is anticipated that gas will be used t'oj lightinj; purposes by means of irtCamWcpnt burners far liiorg in the ftitufe, in additioil to being ueed very Ittrilnl-t, for heating, cooking, and indus- trial purpose. I shall be pleased if you will tfive thii explanaiiou thp prominence thai you have giv&n the original report, and oblige. —Yours faithfully, (Per pro Swansea Company), W. H. Johni.

LAY MEMBERS. St. David's Diocesafn Elections The result of the election of Iv mem- bers for the Diocese of St..UnVids to serve on the Patronage Hoard and I'.pipcopai College of tho Church in Wales after Match 81st next (when the Church Act comes into operation) is rt-t follows Ihe tirst three tn the following list will serve on the Patronagv. Board, and the next six will form a .supplemental list, who will act on the in the case of the death of n member of the hoard, or in the case of the member failing to at- tend — Chancellor Marlay Samson, K.C., Mr. W. S. de Winton. Brecon; Sir John T. n. Llewelyn, Mr. W. E. Cecil Tre^on- ning, Llaneily Mr. Frank < .ibert -on, Mumbles; Lord Dvnevor, h, Frank Morgan (secretary of the Representative Body), Mr. C'baries H. Men. Blackpill; Col. K Venahles Llewelyn, Xewbridgo- on-Wye. EPISCOPAL COLLEGE. I Follow in u are the nam8 ot those d'OO members of the Episcopal Col- If?p. It a mcanpy occurs in the Dio- eefce of St. Davids the first six will act, and if a vacancy occurs in some other diocese, the first three will act, the re- maining members forming a supple- mental list:—Chancellor .Marlay isam- son. K.C.. Mr. W. S. de Winton. Lord Dynevcr, Sir John T. D. Llewelyn, Mr. W. L. C<"?H Tie?onnin?, 1r. Frank W ], -Ni i- Frink Sir O?n Philipps, K.C.B., M.P., Mr. Charles H. Eden, Col. E. V?nablcs Llew- 'i! b ert?,oii, Pont- elyn, Mr. Charles G. Gilbert-son, Pont- ardawc, Mr. G. B. Bowen. Newport (Pern.), Mr..Vtervyn Peel, L.an^adock, Mr. Charles Lloyd, Waunifor, Sir Charles E. G. Pliilipps. The. list of the elected clerical mem- bers was published on Monday.