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--LE,-' OPEN LETTERS TO WELSHj…
L E, OPEN LETTERS TO WELSH j LEADERS OF OPINION. NO. XXII. SIR HUSSEY VIVIAN BART. M.P. DEAR SIR Hcst EY.—I tell you candidly that I 'disagree with you in many things, and, though we are said to be of the same colour in politics, it is your politics that I don't care about. I hope you won't think by that that I hato you. No: for weaver may be my faults, I must say that I love and esteem a gentleman wherever I find one. My creed is Cromwell's, as that great Independent expounded it in a letter to a frienil who reproached him for not employing i: gentlemen as officers in his army. The answer of this great God's Englishman" was worthy of himself. 1 love and admire a gentleman as much as any," said he, whenever I find him. But I prefer to employ to those who call themselves gentlemen those russet-coated captains who know what they fight for. and love what they know." I'm not sura that the words are quire cor- rect, but the meaning is right. You can easily cor- rect the worus for yourself, for you have a much better library than 1. And you aro one of those whom Cromwell and the world would call a gentle- man. You are an upright, honourable man, -whose iafiuence and example are all on the side of right, truth and purity, A man who has thoroughly un- derstood what is meant by noblesse- oblige, who knows and has honourably fulfilled the duties which great wealth and a high position have en- on aira. You have shown a noble example to vour class, andtihe statue which has been exected to you in one of the principal streets of Swansea shows how generally you are esteemed in that ancient borough. It is but right that Swansea should be proud of her greatest crtizen. You are great as a manufacturer, as an analytical chemist, as an agriculturist, and as a mineralogist. The firm of Vivian and Sons is known all the wide world over. and your father, the late 3ohn 1 Henry Vivian, was familiarly known as the Copper Kina-. Your bre«d of short horns is known even ousLrie Wales, and I have heard even a omv'mr-v-r like the late Mr. Push, the M.P. for East Carmar- then, the octogenerian for whom the poet of Pen- brvn was so rudely, not to say cruelly thrown over —I have heard 21-7. Pugh speak highly of the purity of your stock. And praise from 'Sir Charles is praise indeed. Your farm, Park le BjK?os, in Cower—the old dwelling place of the ancient Norman knightly family of that ilk—is, I am told, It marvel of agricultural beauty but tot being sufficiently btcolie, I prefer to gaze on, and admire those stupendous works of yours at Trc- forris and in and around Swansea. It is your boast, though not a teetotaler, that you have never allowed a single public-house to be erected on your estate, and it speaks well for the spirit in which you have used your well-nigh fifty years- stewardship. Personally, I would prefer to see the right of refusing or allowing- the erection of a public-house in a certain district vested in the people. I am not a great believer in the patriarchal or paternal system of government. This is what Edward Da vies did at Llandinam the other day. and it is the more excellent way. It is gratifyinn-, however, to iind that ont of the strong1 -came forth sweetness," and that ysnr influence in the matter has been always excited, on the side of soberness. We can't expect, I suppose, men of your position to give up all at once the old-world i idea that the people cannot be trusted with looking After their own best interests nor can I believe that, after centuries of alternate paternal coddling and reproving, too much neglect or too much looking-after, the people are as able to judge what is best for them as ihey would had they been allowed an unfettered freedom of choice for generations. But. though your firm is better known as the great copper firm of Swansea," you have made a name for yourself as an authority—and some will say the greatest living authority— on the coal resources of England. It isn't only z, that your practical knowledge of the subject is so great. but you may not inaptly or incorrectly be termed the Poet of Coal. I know the vice-princi- pal of Jesus College, Oxford, won't like this, but I am a man of my own opinions, and in spite of the fact that the Rev. Llewellyn Thomas once won the Newdigate for a poem on "Coalfields," I re- iterate my opinion that !pm are the Poet of Coal. The vice-principal commences by apologising for his prosaic subject, and then goes on to talk prose in several hundred heroic couples. A man who begins by apologising for the prosiness of his sub- ject can never be a poet. Look at our great modern Welsh bards—Hwfa Mon or Gurnos, Ap Gwrda or Liwydfryn—they never apologise for their subject. Give them a brick wall to write an "awdl" on, and they'll compare it to the Tower of Babel and the walls of Nineveh and the sacred Temple, till the subject is no longer seen in its native hideousness hut iQ resplendent with all the hues with which a poetic fancy can invest it. That, now, is true poetry And that's where the Vice-principal fails and you excel. I don't mean to say that you write t; awl- au" or "pryddestan" on coal, though you are an eisteddfodwr. No, I have never yet seen a verse of your composition, but your prose is more like poetry than Sir Edward Reed's rhymes. You have never looked on coal as a prosaic subject, and you have made even dry-as-dust coal speeches in the House interesting- by your lively fancy and poetic imagination. Your first public glorification of coal was made as far back as 1856, before the Truro Institution. You had been then the member for Truro for four years; for though you were born at Singleton Abbey, the Vivians come of a good old Cornish stock. At that time you showed how the great towns," the foci of manufacturing industries, have multiplied and increased, how new cities, surpassing in magnitude the capitals of the proud nations of Europe, equalling in popula- tion the petty states of Germany, overflowing with wealth, exceeding the El Dorado of ancient Spain, have sprung up in the green meadows and haw- thorn glens of merry England and what but coal is the very essence, the being, the heart's blood and pulsation of this essential portion of our country." An old satirist once said that there was nothing like leather." You have modernised the aphorism, and changed it into nothing like coal." What is the reason, you asked, that the raw pro- duce of other lands is sent to England, and is re- exported to those very lands ? The answer is Coal. What is the reason that the railroads of America, of Russia, of France, of Germany, are all formed of English iron, some of English gold ? Still the answer is Coal. And the Cornish engine, of which the Welsh of Cornwall are so proud, on what does its fame rest ? Still Coal is the answer. It is needless to recount how, in your speech on the mineral resources of England in the House of Commons in 13M. you demolished Horsman's theories, and demonstrated that there was enough coal still left in England for five hundred years. But it was in. 1S36, in your speech for the institu- tion of a Royal Commission to inquire into the coal industry, that you surpassed yourself. I confess that my intellect is too feeble even to criticise your speech, but the theory which you propounded was at all events ingenious. You tried to show that many other stratifications besides the carboniferous represent an age more or less lengthy in the history of the world that each stratum had its flora, its deep woods, it may be its laden swamps, its tree ferns which, in the blast of the tornado or whirl of the torrent were swept, to lie until transformed into coal. And the morn- ing of each stratum, and its night, make the creative day, as pictorially represented to the mind of the Biblical narrator. I am not up in modern exegesis, nor dol know, except by repute, the works of heretics such as Marcus Dods, or investigators, such as Dr. Rees. of Bronaut. But ti) speak at a venture, I think I may say that your theory is sure to be othordox, for aren't you an earnest Church- man and a loyal Gladstonian You have drawn a very sombre picture of a coal-loss England. You have piled up agony on agony there would be no wealth, no commerce, no manufactures, no popula- tion in merry England, were there no coal. And after driving us nearly mad by contemplating the mere possibility of a coal-less existence, you appeal in a fine burst of rhetoric to the nobler inssincts of the Englishman. But for coal, You said, "peers would be as they are on the Continent, equal to our baronets, baronets would be squireens." Heaven make us thankful for our escape The Lord preserve us from the bare possibility! Fancy a most noble Marquis of Ailesbury being only equal to Sir Hussey Vivian, or an immaculate Sir William Gordon Gumming to a mere squireen like John Hampden. No, no anything but that. Let laws and learning, trade and commerce die, But save us our old aristocracy. The contemplation of the danger takes away one's breath, and cne feels inclined to fall down and worship that black diamond which has saved us. Thank the stars, we have still half a millenium left of cur glorious nobility, and our less resplendent but eminently respectable baronetage. Best of all is the lesson which coal has taught you with regard to the Land Question, and I only lope that your ideas on this subject arc as sensible low as they were in 1853 when you. a young man if 35, addressed your constituents at Truro. Land is chiefly," you then said, a vehicle 'or the manufacture of food, and the sooner this truth is recognised the more security shall we have for its due utilization—the sooner tvi.ll attempts cease to exact for it more than its lue in our social system." An excellent thought, ,rlily, and excellently expressed. Land is jhiefly a vehicle for the manufacture of food." [f this truth were more universally realised we would sooner be rid of the expansive and un- productive parks with which noblemen, and even some baronets and squireens, encircle their man- sions, of the neglect of landlords to encourage their tenants to cultivate their land; of the miserable, mean props of privilege which we satirically dignify and enoble by the name of Land Laws of the unrestrained and irresponsib] c tyranny and oppression of landlords and the grind- ing thrift and aoject helplessness of the pauper i peasant—aye. we would soon be rid of the tribe of landlords, "ppnitns ?nodi> i (,a (I make no apology for quoting a bit of Latin for I know I am addressing an Eton and Trinity, Cambridge, man.) Your utterances on the sub- ject of Welsh Disestablishment arc quite satisfactory, though possibly I am inclined to arrive at the same conclusion from different premises. Your political opinions to-day are the same in End as these of your father in 1832, when first he stood for Swansea. The principle which I shall take for my guide." he then said, is to preserve whatever is sound, to correct whatever is defective, and to reject whatever is unsound. I am not for violent changes, nor for pursuing vision- ary schemes." And as your father thought that no further measure of reform was needed after the great Bill of '32, so you thought that after the Bill of '84 nothing more was necessary in the way of radically reforming the constitution. You, like your father, are not in favour of violent cnanges or visionary schemes. You are a sound, hone.-t, prac- tical man. Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule Bill was at first, to you. a violent change, and the Nationalist movement in Wales is to you, to-day, a visionary scheme. You have never fully grasped the logical corollary of Mr. Gladstone's policy of granting Home Rule to Ireland. You wavered in your allegiance for a short time, and more cut of re- spect and loyalty to your time-honoured chisf than for any real insight into the significance of his policy, you threw in your lot at last with the Nationalists. I don't wonder at it that you have never quite grasped all that adherence to Mr. Gladstone's policy entails that it means the re- cognition of the right of a nationality to rule it- self that it confesses the truth of the visionary scheme of the Young Ireland party— That never lived a nation yet That ruled another well. You are doing your best to keep abreast with the times on this matter. You are reported by the South Walt* Liberal to have said that Wales is a nation on account of her homogeneity and her language. And you even quote Dr. Johnson to prove your point. But you show in that very speech that you but dimly understand the ques- tion. "The Welsh," you say, were an unmixed race, and had remained so from time immemorial." Even granting, for the sake of argument, that this is strictly true that no Normans invaded Glamor- gan, no Flemings conquered Pembroke, nc Irish settled on the banks of the Teifi and in North Wales, it is not homogeneity or the possession of a common language that makes a nation. Ireland is a nation, as you have admitted yet the Irish have lost their mother tongue and use but that of their conquerors. The men of Tipperary are 'said to be the most Irish of the Irish, Hiberniores Hibernis." and yet they are but the descendants of Cromwell's Puritan soldiers. There is something more subtle even than common origin and common Language required to make a nation. But we thank you for the admission that Wales is a nation. It is a step in the right direction, and we are glad to hear one of our lost countrymen—a Cymro o Gerp-yw "-hoiiourin- himself by honouring us. It is only a small step—but an important one— that you have still to take. Wales is no longer satisfied with a sentimental recognition of her nationality on Eisteddfod platforms and country hustings. She is demanding that she shall enjoy the rights and privileges of a nation the right of self-government, the right to regulate her own affairs, the right to work out her own salvation in her own way as best she may and God directs. I c You are a kindly, courtly gentleman of the old school. You are alive to the responsibilities and the duties of a member of Parliament. You know you are there to represent the opinions and the ideas of your constituents, and you try your best to act up to your responsibility. If in some things you are lacking, Wales will not on that account repudiate one of the honestest and ablest of her foster sons. If your sympathy is not as active with the Young Wales Party as some of us would wish, it will never be forgotten how, since 1857, first as the late Mr. Talbot's col- league for the county of Glamorgan, and then as member for the Swansea district. you have fought well and worthily for the cause of Welsh Liberalism. You have always taken a promi- nent share in the work of Welsh education, and there is no firmer believer in the virtue of educa- tion as a leveller-up. You have always, at some personal sacrifice, been true to your side, and some of your colleagues would do well to take a leaf out of your book and be as loyal as you are to your party. You have been a good society man, and your readiness to act as host and entertainer of the great ones of earth has been of great service. In 1881 you entertained the Prince and Princess of Wales when their Royal Highnesses opened the Alexandra Docks at Swansea. And next year you got your reward, for you were made a baronet and the equal of foreign noblemen. In 1887 Mr. Glad- stone, as a reward for your loyalty to the Liberal party, spent a few days at Singleton Abbey, and shook hands with thousands of hardy Welshmen, and opened the Public Library. Possibly a still greater reward is destined for you when the Liberals come into power at the next election. It has been truly said that if you wish to know a man as he is, enquire into his character at home. You needn't shirk from this test. There is no doubt of your great and enduring popularity at Swansea. You have been loyal to the town, and the town is loyal to you. Your services in promoting the new docks, in trying to get the University College for Swansea, your work as senior trustee, next to Mr. Dillwyn, of the Harbour Trust, and your ever- green faith in the town which you assert is destined to be the ocean-port of England" have not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. It is true that as you have but little society to mix with at Swansea you appear to be a little haughty and reserved; but the men of Swansea can for- give the mannerism which only hides a warm heart. In business you are shrewd. Your word is your bond and once a thing is determined on, you carry it out. Your habits are plain and simple and though you employ no secretary, you are yet a prompt but laconic correspondent. You are generous, very generous, though not lavish. You have more method in dispensing your generosity than your father. You don't fling money among the people while riding from Single- ton to the town but your generosity is none the less noble because it is more systematic or less real because it is more secret. You are not a fluent speaker. Indeed, in spite of long practice you still hesitate, but your sentences read well, and though you use a few notes which you elaborate, they do not serve to restrain you too much. You are always listened to with respect and attention in the House, for your speeches are always sensible, well thought out, and to the point. » I have said that the people of Swansea know and appreciate your long services. They have already erected your statue in the main street of the town. And the people of Wales honour you equally. If they do not love you as they love those younger jnen who can speak to them in their own tongue, and can make articulate their own long-felt wants, and can clothe in words their own ideas, their heart is still large enough to find a warm place for one who has for nearly half a century done his duty nobly, painstakingly, and conscientiously by them. And among your many admirers and well-wishers you can reckon on none who esteems and loves you more than, dear Sir Hussey, your candid friend, THEODORE DODD. Next week Theodore Dodd" will address an Open Letter to the Right Hon. GEO. OSBORXE Morgan, M.P. NOTICE,—We wish to state that Theodore Dodd is a turn de plume and that the writer of the Open Letters is not Mr. J. Theodore Dodd, barrister-at-law, of Lincoln's Inn.
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ALIQUIS AND MAJOR JONES.
ALIQUIS AND MAJOR JONES. Our correspondent Aliquis" had the pleasure )f meeting the Major a, day or two ago in ;own. The Major, he says, looks well, and is as 'dl of fight as ever. However the bard nay take for the present at Carmarthen, certainly lis rival, the man of war. is as cool and business- like a" when, years ago, he went with the Welsh Brigade into battle against the Saxon and rebel slave owners of the South, and he goes as regularly to the office of the Shippiny V/iwUl as though Carmarthen boroughs were in a state of political ciuiet. Aliquis Major, what is ycair opinion of the Mackinley tariff, especially in relation to the in- dustries of South Wales ? Major There is no doubt that for the moment the tinplate industry is disturbed by the increased exportation from America. But this is not so much due to the effects of the tariff as to the large exportation of goods made to precede the passage of the Act. But the disturbance will soon pass away as demand once more overtakes supply. So far as we can gather, the policy of the democratic party which in America is the party of free trade, it is one of attack upon the Mackinley free trade, it is one of attack upon the Mackinley tariff in detail. Next November it will be. to use a political expression, a battle all along the line. Ex-President Cleveland will, in my opinion, be nominated for the presidency next summer, and elected next November, and the issue will un- doubtedly be joined on the Tariff Act. The elec- tion of Cleveland will undoubtedly be followed by a large instalment of free trade and a substan- tial modification of the Mackinley Act. Leaving America, the conversation turned to Welsh matters. Aliquis Do you think, as has recently been suggested, that the Welsh Liberal party should prepare a Bill for the Disestablishment of the Church in Wales Major I think we should have a conference over it but the thing to which Liberal candidates in Wales should be tied down by the constituencies is the maintenance of Welsh Disestablishment in its present position in the Liberal programme even at the cost of making themselves exceedingly disagreeable on the floor of the House of Commons. Aliquis Disestablishment; many lawyers con- sider. would not really give the Church in Wales independence, but, as a spiritual body, subject her absolutely to the Convocation of Canterbury. May I take it that you would leave the Church, so far as law can do it, absolutely free to settle her own destiny ? The Major looked a little surprised, and Aliquis thought to himself, Ah these practical Ameri- cans (and the Major, if he is a true Welsh patriot by birth and feeling, has yet learnt his political philosophy in America) can never bring themselves to realise the feelings of the old world when the medifevai ideas of Catholic unity have struck such deep roots alike into our feelings and our laws. Can canon law or consecration or apostolic succession possess any meaning for such a mind ? And may he not all unwittingly carry out the national and just aspirations of Wales in such a way as to outrage the feelings of the Churchmen to whom the spiritual side of the Church is a priceless possession, but who are willing that in all matters touching its position and endowments the will of the majority should prevail.' But in a moment the the Major's words reassured him. The Major does not believe in attacking the Church as a spiritual institution. In that sense he is as devoted to her welfare as Lord Selborne himself. and he answered with real earnestness, I see the question has difficulties. I will endeavour to set the Church in Wales free to mould her own history, so that her connection with any other religious body shall be her own act alone," and then the conversation drifted to foreign offairs. Aliquis You have lived in America. Do you consider that a free Church system success there Major The history of the Church in America demonstrates beyond contest the superiority of the voluntary to the State system. Tocqtievillo and others have made out this case fully and imparti- ally. Aliquis What is your opinion of denomina- tional jealousies in Whales Major Difficulties between the Church and Nonconformists can only be alleviated by Dis- establishment. There is no other way. As to denominational jealousies among Nonconformists, such jealousies to the best of my belief do not exist in Cardiff, where I have enjoyed good opportunities for forming an opinion. I am not disposed to think that there are valid grounds for the charge of sectarian bitterness or jealousies among the Nonconformists bodies in Wales. There is of course a spirit of rivalry, but it is wholesome and beneficial. Aliquis Do you believe in a Welsh University and Museum! Major Certainly, I believe in both. I should like to see a system of education free from bottom to top. The scholarships provided for by the counties of Glamorgan and Monmouth, under the Technical Institution Act, afford a considerable in- stallment in science. We want free scholarships in arts under the Intermediate Education Act, and this will mean free education up to and including the University. The one thing remains is power to grant degrees, and then we shall have crowned the edifice. I am in favor of join- ing the theological colleges, and adding degrees in theology as soon as theological colleges can be treated all alike. Aliquis But why cannot we do so now ? Major: If the theological colleges are of suffi- cient excellence they should be included at once. This question was considered by the committee at Shrewsbury. Aliquis What will be the burning question in Wales after Disestablishment ? Major The land question, with its neces- sary concomitants, leasehold enfranchisement and allotments. Aliquis I may take it, Major, that you believe in Wales a nation. The Ma j or's face changed. The man of business was the youthful patriot., as enthusiastic as Ellis of Cynlas. Certainly," he exclaimed with gen- uine earnestness, we have our own language, our own literature, our own history, and we shall con- tinue to cherish them for a period, the 'duration of which only the mind of a poet can conceive." After this elaborate declaration of faith the Major answered a few qnestions on the subject of the Carmarthen Boroughs election. He refused, however, to discuss the origin of the dispute, as he does not wish to give the enemies of Welsh Nationalism cause to blaspheme. Aliquis Do you not think that you or Mr. Morris had better withdraw Major: A majority of one against me would cause my immediate withdrawal. Aliquis: Will you not withdraw under any other circumstances.' Major My dear Aliquis, if yon ha.d known me longer, you would not have asked me the question. Aliquis I may take it that you have no feelings of personal animosity against your opponent ? Major Animosity is a quantity that I do not carry about with me. I have no ill will to Mr. Morris or to any of those who have opposed me in the present contest. And so closed the formal interview but as the Major and Aliquis afterwards chatted over coffee and cigars, the Major added: I have been a soldier, and soldiers do not hate. In the war of the North against the South we hated the principle of slavery but against the persons of the Southerners we cherished neither hatred or rancour." I may say that the Major is absolutely firm in the Home Rule faith, and he cherishes the hope that some day the fatherland will enjoy the same right to mould her own destinies as is possessed by each of the different States of the American Union. He smiles at the paper unionists analogy from the struggle of the North against the South. The southerners he says had Home Rule, and we Northerners never disputed their rights to it. It was because they wanted to force their slave system on new States, and were rebels against the federation on imperial, and not State grounds that made the war necessary. In conclusion I will say that although I think my dear friend the Major has still something to learn of the political and ecclesiastical system of the past in our country before he can thoroughly reform it, although his ideas of politics are perhaps a little too American at present for any nation in the old country, yet our national interests will be safe in his keeping. He is a patriot and he is not a provincial. Narrowness forms no part of his creed, and bigotry and rancour he laughs at. Unlike some of our M.P.'s he understands foreign, Ameri- can, and Colonial politics thoroughly, and he will bring the experience of all that is best in the new world to aid by counsel and advice those who like yourself, my dear editor, will labour in season and out of sea»on to give to Wales her proper place among the nations of the earth. Next week, in the light of Mr. Walter Bund's paper on The Early History of the Church in Wales," I hope to renew in your columns the dis- cussion on Britain's Early Faith." ALIQurs.
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THE AGRICULTURAL MOVEMENT.
THE AGRICULTURAL MOVEMENT. [BY AG-RTCOLAE FiLirs.] L The position and attitude of farmers at present is important and interesting in an economical, poli- tical, and civil sense. Various causes have combined to produce a severe pressure upon the farmer throughout the county—a pressure which, with intervals of more or less relief, he has had to con- tend against for many years, and which has, at last, driven the Welsh farmers to adopt methods and to use means to which they have hitherto been strangers—viz., combination and common action. No one who knows the Welsh farmer's character will for a moment suppose that he is a man to grumble without cause, and the existence of a severe strain upon his resources will be readily admitted. But the observant will not, we think, attribute the novelty of the course adopted to unprecedented depression. Depression we have had before, but in previous times agriculturists used to meet the difficulty by pouring isolated complaints into the unwilling ears of the land- owners. Farmers of the present day assume a higher and more independent tons. This is a step in the right direction., which every citizen- must regard with satisfaction. The literary parasites of by-gone ages, who lived by the breath of princes and nobles, have given way to men who live in the air of public opinion, subject to no personal thraldom; likewise the farmers of the past, whose position and attitude towards their landlords had always something of the patriarchal in it, and much of the feudal, have given their places to men who act with the consciousness that the supreme judge of their couduct is not their feudal superior, but the opinion of their fellow- men. Not merely the exercise of civil rights, but moral advancement requires this and when we consider that independence does not necessarily imply defiance (from which the fanners seem fairly free), still less disrespect; it is a sincere pleasure to be present in the agricultural tenants' meetings (which the writer has attended), and to witness the freedom with which they discuss their grievances, and their readiness to act together. Of the causes which affect farmers' prosperity, the most important, according to their own testimony, are—foreign competion, bad harvests, the taxes remaining unaltered in spite of remissions of rent. and the high and un- abated price of labour. Let us hope that the last bad harvest will be followed by good harvests foreign competition is not likely to diminish appreciably, although some authorities believe that the worst of that is over. In many parts farm labour is very scarce, and has to be highly paid for, owing to the influx of workmen into the mining and manufacturing industries. As most, and the most important of these causes are likely to be'more or less permanent, the agri- culturists must seriously consider how to meet them. It is not agriculture rersus the other in- dustries, but the landowner versus tenant. In the former sense, of course, the interests of land- lord and tenant are identical, but the question is to find some equitable means of adjusting rent. Many practical farmers believe that steps ought to be taken to reduce the emoluments of the middleman, and bring the farmer into more direct contact with the consumer. We would suggest to the Welsh farmer not to stick to his Welsh home at all costs. The land hunger and competition is an essential factor in the question. But the method of an equitable adjustment of rent still remains unsolved. If individual contract fail, tho farmers ought, as they now do to combine and ap- peal to public opinion, and, in the end, appeal to the law. The Welsh farmers, in their meetings, evidently wish to avail themselves of union and public opinion, and it is to the fact alone that these forces are of comparatively recent growth, and not to any decrease in their characteristic thrift and industry, that we must attribute their conduct. Failing a satisfactory adjustment of the rent by this means they will, no J doubt, turn to Mr. Chamberlain's hint given at Llanybyther, and hope to have a land court. With such a land court disposing of rent matters established by the Liberal party in Ireland, and a like court for Wales hinted at by one of the chief supporters of the Tory Government, the landowners had better think twice or even thrice before they refuse a reasonable accommodation to their tenants Many of the landowners act most honourably, and require neither union, nor public opinion, nor law to bring them to terms. But for many, chiefly, perhaps, those whose estates are not very large, there is need of some force stronger than has hitherto acted to bring them to a sense of their duty. For Welsh farmers, a good Tenant Right Act, providing security for capital invested in the soil, a just apportionment of the burden of tax- ation between owner and occupier, and the creation of councils empowered to grant allotments, are matters only of time. A Welsh Land Bill, sup- ported by all the Welsh members, would not be rejected by a Liberal Government, while the Liberal party is fully pledged to act on the two points. We hardly need remind farmers that these reforms they will help to bring about by giving their utmost support to the Liberal party in the coming election. In the sedulous court which is being paid now by the Conservatives to the agri- culturist, the farmer will, we are confident, dis- tinguish between the true and the unwilling friend. We speak in a political sense, and are far from being unwilling to recognise the honourable con- duct of many Tory landowners towards their tenants. But the Tory party is pledged by its principles, by its conduct, and by its history, to part with privilege only as a last resort-only when they are convinced that reform is inevitable. Even then they try to retard it by passing half measures, such as their County Council Act. The present state of things in Wales-the meet- ings hdd iA Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, &c., suggest reflections deeper than either the economi- cal or the political. It is quite true that rents must be paid, and obligations must be met, and it is equally true that it is the duty of every citizen to distinguish between parties and measures, but the way in which he does so—the proper exercise of his civil rights and the morality of his conduct are considerations which outweigh even these. All-important as the industrial arts must b8, poverty of means is to be preferred to moral poverty. Our best and most upright citizens and politicians will, no doubt, watch the coming elec- tion with a keen eye to the moral, as well as to the political, working of it, and would prefer defeat to victory won with corruption. But we believe the moral danger is less than it was, and our con- fidence is decidedly strengthened by our acquaint- ance with the farmers' movements. Never before were the farmers so ready to discuss their grievances freely before the owners of the soil and in the face of public opinion, by which they abide. The day is come when the farmer, in spite of the insidious conduct of some landowners and land agents, is gradually discarding the forces of habit and tradition, and is freeing himself from the influence of delusive and superannuated feudalism. If any feudal superior dare trench upon the civil and political freedom of voters in the coming election, we hope that it will be stoutly resisted, and that any such abuses will be promptly dragged to the light of day. Of course, the hus- bandman, in claiming to think for himself, and in adopting commercial habits, loses something, but gains mdre. Just as the physical health is better now than it ever was, in spite of the manifold evils incident to civilisation, so the moral health improves, in spite of the vices of politics, and every step receded from patriarchal protection is a step forward in civil and political freedom and morality.
THE LATE MR. SON LEY JOHN-STONE.
THE LATE MR. SON LEY JOHN- STONE. We are glad to hear that itiis intended to raise a fund as a memorial to the late Mr. F. Sonley John- stone, editor of the South Wales Dally News. The deceased gentleman held an eminent position in journalism and politics, and was well known in this district. It is a source of regret to all that Mr. Johnstonf, owing to ill health, had not been able to make due provision for his family. Subscriptions may be sent to the hon. treasurer, Mr. W. L. Daniel, Merthyr Tydvil. The secretary of the committee is Mr. W. H. Davies, of the Cardiff Figaro.
\ BARRY RATEPAYERS AND | THE…
BARRY RATEPAYERS AND THE ROYAL FAMILY, In response to the resolution of sympathy with the Royal Family in the death of the Duke of Clarence passed at the recent ratepayers' meeting at Barry Dock, Mr. J. A. Hughes, clerk to the Barry and Cadoxton Local Board, on Friday last received the following letter Sandringham, King's Lynn, 20th January, 1892. Sir,—I am directed by the Prince and Princess of Wales to beg that you will convey to the ratepayers of the Barry and Ca.doxton district the heartfelt thanks of their Royal Highnesses in the great bereavement they have just sustained.—I am, sir, your obedient servant, D. M. PROBYN, General Comptroller and Treasurer. J. A. Hughes, Esq. ——
[No title]
LEWIS'S PECTORAL BALSAM did me a wonder- ful amount of good. It relieved my cough instantly -Is. lid. per bottle
FOOTBALL NOTES.I
FOOTBALL NOTES. LBY THE DRUID.] As I ventured to suggest last week, Cardiff made a far better show against Swansea than was generally expected. The "All Whites" crossed the Cardiff Rubicon twice, which, all things con- sidered, was nothing to make a big boast of. The Cardiff pack did fairly well; but the visiting halves were so thoroughly beaten that'their three- quarters were well-nigh useless—except from a defensive point of view. Swansea played a very good game and Ban- croft, in his new position at three-quarter, covered himself with new honours. The Jameses were on the ball with a vengeance, and fairly made rings round the Cardiff couple. The home pack did good work, but they will show up very poorly by the side of the Newport forwards. The citizens will have a warm time of it," was my last week's tip for the Newport and Exeter encounter, and the citizens did get a warm time, too. At tempxis fug it the score was— Newport, 4 goals, 8 tries. Exeter, nil. As the score indicates, the play was all in favour of the Newportonians, whose play was one series of attacks on the Exeter citadel. Why will New- port play such teams when there are half-a-dozen teams in Wales that could easily thrash the citizens, and would give Newport a far better game Maritime fell before the 'Quins, who are just now in tip-top form. In the tight scrums the colliers" did pretty well as they liked but in the loose they were not equal to their clever opponents. The 'Quins' backs were far too tricky and smart. As I have mentioned before. Maritime have an excellent pack, but their backs lack com- bination. The Batley team came down from Yorkshire with a splendid reputation, and they have certainly upheld it in Wales. Llanelly beat them after an excellent game. but the Yorksliiremen defeated Penygraig on Monday, and the 'Quins on Tuesday. To win two matches out of three while on tour is certainly not a bad performance. Penarth once again paid the penalty for taking away a weak team, and again Penygraig van- quished them by a single try. I understand that several of the Sea-siders" could not possibly accompany the team, and thus are not to blame. But why F. Garrett and Hubbard should be the pair to take the place of Rowles and Hutchings I cannot say. Whore was Tom Brown ? who is cer- tainly a better man than either of the subs. who played on Saturday. I congratulate Penygraig on the victory, although it was gained by the hardest of fights ever witnessed on the Belle Vue grounds. Had Penarth played their full strength, it is only reasonable to say that they would have won. I am afraid my readers will think me rather egotistical, but does it not speak well for my pre- dictions when I stated that Morriston should run Pontypridd very close-to a try"! And this actually was the result of their match last week. Pontypridd have picked up wonderfully of late, and on Saturday they intend—so I hear—to defeat Penygraig but I am rather inclined to think that Rowland's boys .will be j ust a few points too good for them. However, the contest will be a good one, and will, I am sure, draw a big crowd. Cogan journeyed to Cadoxton to play off their return fixture with the District team. The an- nounced time was 3.30 p.m., but at that. hour the field was deserted, and the only signs of foot- ball was a group of would-be spectators anxiously awaiting outside the Witchill for the arrival of the Coganites. About 10 minutes to 4 the two teams filed on the ground, and, after spending another ten minutes in hunting up touch-flags and arrang- ing to play with cross bars, the fight began. Throughout Cogan held the advantage, except perhaps, for the last few minutes. The forwards were well matched, and both lots played really well; but the visitors excelled in the heeling- out business. Behind Cogan had a strong pull, and when the ball got air things generally went against the homesters. The District" required a few good three-quarters and a couple of halves who will do some feeding." Their full-back is not safe- he is too fond of flying kicks. Wright, Hoult, and T. Morris were the pick of the visitors. Aberavon went up to Neath intending to do or die," and so far succeeded as to make a draw. nothing being scored by either side. The game was far from interesting, being confined mainly to the forwards. When the ball did get air, "the homesters were not long in asserting their superiority. Bridgend had a visit from Maes teg, and after a fairly good game, won by 1 goal and 2 tries to nil. The visiting pack played pretty well, but their halves and three-quarters were not equal to the home backs. Emery, Evans, Fell, and Gregory played with good judgment and combination, and at times their passing was really very good. el I., The team selected to do duty for Wales against Scotland at Swansea, on Feb. 6th, is as follows :— Bancroft (Swansea), Back. Pearson (Cardiff), Three-quarter. A. Gould (Newport) „ C. Ree3 (Llanelly) M'Cutcheon (Swansea) „ D. James „ Half-back. E. James „ „ C. B. Nicholl (Llanelly), Forward. F. Mills (Swansea) „ Deacon" „ Watts (Newport) Hannen „ „ Day „ Graham Boucher „ „ All except Conway Rees and H. Day are old Internationals. SEASON 1891-92. Results of inter-club matches played by first- clasa Welsh teams up to and including Saturday, January 23rd, 1892 :— A win counts 2 points; a draw 1. — — — r -g— 93 | I O CO 3TAMB OF CLUB g O g 5 5 W P j *j P3 OUpH 5S Ph Q W 5, m Wo Ch 1 Newport. 6 4 0 2 10 83 2 Swansea 9 5 1 3 13 72 3 f Llanolly 9 3 3 3 9 50 {'Quins 4 2 2 0 4 50 5 Cardiff 5 2 3 3 7 42 6 Penarth 8 3 5 0 6 37 7 Penygraig. 7 2 4 1 5 35 8 Neath .9 1 5 2 6 33 8 Neath .9 2 5 2 6 33
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