The South Wales Star

,0' Last Monday was Mabon's Day. # Mr. F. W. Taylor, of Barry, is an ideal old electioneering hand. The petty sessions at St. Nicholas will be held bi-monthly in future. Alterations are about being made to the St. Paul's Iron Church, Barry. « it The Liberals of the Graig will have a. grand old flare-up in the shape of a dinner soon. Wednesday's '-opereUic performance at the Barry Public-hall was perfection itself. The most difficult meetings to report in creation are those of the Dinas Powis Highway Board. # When next the Barry Trades Council run a labour candidate they intend to plump for him like nails. # Mr. D. T. Morris, the poetical author of Echoes from Wales," has left Ferryside, and now resides at Penarth. A Barry pilot has a good tale to tell about a trip down channel. Three ministers and a bottle of brandy are in it. Xf A Barry medical gentleman has two brass plates affixed outside his residence. His name is spelt differently 011 each. The dance given by the officers of the Submarine Miners at Cardiff on Tuesday was very jolly. About 200 attended. It takes exactly as many days for a parcel to travel from Cardiff to Cadoxton as it does hours from London to Cardiff. # Barry railwaymen should understand that if they desire to get their demands conceded they must stick together like pitch. # General Lee has 140 acres of land which lie would like to let for allotments. We ought to charge for this as an advertisement. # # Mr. John Robinson has chosen the Old Village as the ward which he will represent. He expects to be returned for services rendered." >I< What, with great eisteddfodic and sports meet- ings, Cadoxton refreshment house keepers ought to have a busy day on Whit-Monday. Dissension has arisen in the ranks of the Barry Brass Band. The drummer has struck-not the drum, but the whole business altogether. # it Barry's intermediate school is to be erected opposite the Buttrills. Something else be- sides nightingales will be heard of now in that part. A correspondent, in sending us a report of the horse-whipping of a postmaster, from whom blood freely flowed owing to the heavy belabouring he received, terms the affair a somewhat amusing incident." MharOn. ugBmr eParn roy notwn yapSs riuda nd dmraey opslot arstateg, r raetnred aavbhele e lleiand nfwod rimtlh os qtuuhs ae ctilhoauates t companion. A speaker at the Cardiff Liberal Club dinner on Monday night said," An old proverb teaches us that to spare the rod spoils the child. I am determined not to spare the child." The chipped potato business at Cadoxton is on the ascendency. The man sports a donkey, and the master a bicycle. This is since several printers have withdrawn their custom. To assist in completely restoring to health Inspector King, the genial Penarth police official has recently availed himself of a fortnight's visit to Somerset. His health, however, has not yet recovered its customary vigour. tk The parting between the retiring Highway Board surveyor and the members was a painful one. To quote the words of the funeral reporter, there was scarcely a dry eye in the room. Mr. J. P. Jones—we be- pardon, Councillor J. P. Jones—made an ideal chairman at the Cardiff Liberal dinner, and Alderman David Jones made the most amusing speech of the evening. # Hugh Price Ilughes holds, with Thomas Carlyle, that the man who is not working is stealing. He told this to the London Vestry employes when un- furling their new banner the other night. Who says trade is bad at Barry ? A county- court bailiff was asked on Wednesday how business was, and he replied. Splendid, splendid I shall have to get another assistant down here Pontypridd will look pretty when Mr. James Roberts' suggestion for weiring the Taff for boating purposes, and the promenades along Zion- street and Berw-road will have been accom- plished. Four new correspondents for the South Wales Star have been appointed in the Rhondda Valley —one at Porth, one for the district between Ystrad and Tonypandy, another for Ferndale, and another at 'ireorky. f Sir Charles Dilke will make an ideal Radical leader in the next Parliament. He is a man of tried worth, a good debater, an experienced politician, a supremely clever man—and has no chance of office. The familiar figure of Mr. Smith, New Wallace, was missed at the monthly meeting- of the Dinas Powis Highway Board on Wednesday. No more, alas shall we hear those graphic descriptions of Wenvoe's monthly requirements. There are no public-houses in the villages of Ewenny, Merthyrmawr, Tythegstone, St. Donatt's, and Margam, so we read in a Cardiff daily but a few of those at Llantwit-Major and Cowbridge could be very well spared, if necessary. While not disapproving of the Salvation Army and their work, a Barry professional gentleman has a strong dislike to the early Sunday morning service, with drum accompaniment, outside his house, while he more especially is in bed. » $ Sir Charles Dilke's speeches at Cardiff on Monday were worthy of his great reputation. His pro- nouncement in the question of Welsh Home Rule was opportune and statesmanlike. It is. he said, the logical outcome of Home Rule for Ireland. Mr. A. E. Jones, Penarth, has composed an anthem, entitled" Â.!j it began to dawn," which was performed at the Arcot street Wesleyan Chapel on Easter Sunday. It gave great satisfac- tion to the large congregation assembled at the service. It was a matter of general comment on Tuesday the great difference between the way business was transacted now at the Barry Local Board and last year. The difference lies, not with the board, which is the same, but in the chairman, who is— well, not the same. There is a valuable carpet in the Penarth Local Board room. They think a lot of it; and don'tyou forget it. Some lead pencil cuttings were found on it one morning, somewhere near the reporters' table, and the users of the latter have been hated ever since. # So far Mr. John Robinson has not proved him- self to be a very able chairman of the Barry Local Board. He is very loose in his method of keeping order, and is especially notable for his dilatoriness in putting a resolution or an amendment to the meeting with which he disagrees. » Barry and Cadoxton are not represented on the Cardiff Union Assessment Committee. Mr. Alexander was selected for his general knowledge of the work, but not as Barry's representative, although like General Lee, he has no mean acquaintance with the district ♦ Mr. John Robinson has determined that the meetings of the Quoit Club and the Primrose League should henceforth be held at King William IV., Cadoxton. Mr. John Robinson knows nothing of electioneering dodges, and intends to stand for the old village when the district is divided into wards. A member of the Pontypridd Local Board spoke 99 times at the last meeting before the reporters retired, and even then the whole business was not concluded. In future the reporters will keep a record of the times members speak, and publish the same for the benefit of the electors at the end of the year. ♦ A young lady played oa an instrument with a. name a. foot long—aquadigipsycharmcnica—at the Pontypridd Town-hall last week. A collier asked what it meant, and was told that aqua meant water. He replied that he would prefer to drink whisky than pronounce that word, and we agree with him. A complainant in an illegitimacy case upon being told at Bridgend Police Court that an order had been made for the payment of 3s. a week upon defendant, said" But I want you to order him to marry me." The clerk's deputy was equal to the occasion and said We don't make marriages here, but we sometimes break them." 110: It didn't take very long to discover at the Barry Local Board meeting on Tuesday that somebody else besides the signer of the letter re the printing contractor of the board had a finder in the dictation of that communication. The board acted wisely in depositing such a libellous and dirty piece of scribble in the waste paper basket. » ♦ The maiden speech of the Wenvoe guardian at Wednesday's Highway Board meeting was like that of a distinguished statesman—not a success. He got up and muttered a few words, but owing to the general hubbub had to sink into obscurity. But, oh that look upon his countenance. "A time will come when you will hear me." it said Business transactions between the towns of Pontypridd and Barry and Cadoxton are rapidly increasing, for last week a large number of Barry gentlemen were seen parading the streets of the Rhondda Metropolis. Even a large number of Pontypridd business men were seen in the Barry district during last week. A Penarth school teacher had the permission of the headmaster for a few day's leave to go away and give evidence in a police court case. Mr. Evan Roberts, one of the members of the Board, is in a deuce of a tear because the well-paid teacher had not a day's pay deducted from his salary, and has accordingly written to the Education Department n reference to the matter. ♦ A Detroit paper says that it has discovered the origin of "Ta.-ra-ra.-boom-de-ay." It is the tune that Orpheus began to sing when Pluto declined at first to give up Eurydice. As soon as he had heard the first verse, Pluto begged Orpheus to take his wife away. "If the people here catch up that tune." he said, we shall have a Hades of a time." And that was how Eurydice got free. All the M.P.'s—except Mabon—failed to turn up at the Labour demonstration at Cardiff. It is rumoured that the reason was that they didn't wish to appear on the same platform as Sir Chas. Dilke. It might be said, however, as Watcyn Wyn said at he Brecon Eisteddfod, when the Prince of Wales, as usual, disappointed the land of his title, Os nad yw'r tywysog yn yr wyl, Mae'r genedl anwyl yno. The members of the Llantwit-Vardre School Hoard were rather hard upon the Rev. Simpson .101H>. Treforest, at their last meeting, because the genilelll;m had insisted upon putting himself for- ward as a candidate for the recent election. It was contended that, as he was not a ratepayer nor a resident in the parish, he should have retired, and thus saved the ratepayers £ 60—the cost of the election. # Talk about about the slave days of selling human flesh and blood, an incident occurred at Cadoxton the other night which should make our modern civilization blush. A drunken navvy, in Barry-road, who was rolling home with several of the same ilk, was heard loudly offering to sell to eithe of his companions, one of his two wives for a bob Goodness knows, the offer may have been closed with by this time. Mr. F. W. Taylor. the Secretary of the Barry Liberal Association, has nearly 60 canvass books ready, and two committee-room registers. Each shows the qualifying address of the voter, and the address he has removed to. It also shows" for," "against," "doubtful," "dead," "removed." &c. We hear the Conservative secretary intends to get up early in the morning, but it will take him all his time to walk round Mr. Taylor. A great row is made in some quarters because a Cadoxton Church of Wales Baptists h.we gone in for a prize-drawing on behalf of their building fund, and comparisons are drawn between ths Cadoxton Baptists and the gamblers of Monte Carlo. Moreover, they are called Jesuits and are told tha.t the day of repentance is at hand. But why condemned the V< elsh Baptists more than those who go in for bazaars Mr. Tom Ellis is a busy man. Here is his pro- gramme for Easter week :—Monday, visiting old friends in and around Mandderfel Tuesday, at Llanuwchliyn: Wednesday morning, attending' the Merionethshire Education Committee Wednes- day evening, with Mr. Stnart llendal at Siaehyn- Ileth Thursday. public meeting at Trawsfyndd Friday, meeting in Harlech Saturday, at iive o'clock, meeting in Neviu and at eight o'clock same day, another meeting at Pwllheli. An intelligent ( .') son of toil was canvassed for his vote at the recent local board election at Barry, on behalf of four of the candidates. His reply WJIS, 011. vug I'll vote for them." However, just as the visitor was carefully shutting the garden gate the proud possessor of the vote called out, Are there any more than those four When t'dd in reply that there were altogether nine candidates in the field, the voter, just befors closing the door, signified his intention of bountifully extending his patronage by voting for the whole nine. And yet they have registered that man's paper among the spoilt votes. About 10,000 spectators witnessed the hisw1 ia Easter Tuesday feotbail at Workington. The occasion is observed as a holiday. The goals; are W orkingtoil Hall and the harbour, about three- quarters of a mile apart. Hundred" take part in the struggle, those kicking up being called the Uppies," and those playing down the •' Downies." For many years a man named Daglish has thrown the ball off, and he did coon Easter Tuesday. After an exciting struggle, in which tome of the com- batants plunged freely into the river Dvnnmt, and. pieces of clothing were lost, the Uppies'' proved victorious an hoar after the start. £ !■

THE RELIGIOUS CENSUS OF BARRY. OPINIONS OF LOCAL MINISTERS. Last week we published a religious census of the district, in which we compared the results of this year with those of last. The proportion of worshippers to the population seemed to be so small that we instituted inquiries among the local ministers as to their opinion of the results of the census. We have received the following replies. and others will be publishvd next week :— THE REV. J. H. STOWELL, M.A., EXGLISH CONGREGATIONAL CHAPKL, BAKJIV. TO THE EDITOR OF THB SOUTH WALES STAR. Dear Sir,—Those who are interested in the religious welfare of this town are greatly indebted to you for the clear picture your census gives of the attendance at places of worship. (By the way,. there is a neat structure, externally one of 1,1. neatest in the district, in Porthkerry-roid. Barry, belonging to the Brethren, where. I believe, there is a well-attended service, of which no account is given in your statistics). The general results are not on the whole discouraging, though the number of persons willing to worship God in the" morning is lamentably small. You speak of the Salvation Army as the only missionary Church, but surely every Church that owns he headship of Christ ie missionary, and the are the mitxlonarit x. What are they doing ? According to your calculation there are 3.778 missionaries in the homes, and work-hops, and offices and docks of Barry. These can all be reckoned as missionaries, for if .they attend Christian worship they are in a degree Christian, they presumably benefit from the worship, and to that extent t.iivre is missionary obligation lying upon them. What are they doing ? During the week very few of them give a hint. either by word or deed that they are worshippers of Christ. On Sunday they mostly stay in bed or by the fire for the morning reading the papers and in the even- ing they come to bervice languidly and late. It would not take long to double the attendance if these Church-goers of Barry would think of this mixxiofuiry aspect of their duty, and shew as much zeal for the Kingdom of God as they do for a Local Board election The only ■'organised.movement'* that is wanted for the district is that those who know a little of Christ's teaching shouldorganise" it into practice.—FaithfuHy you- J. H. STOWELL. l."1'

THE REV. CHRISTMAS LEWIS. BARHY ENGLISH METHODIST CHURCH. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SOUTH WALKS STAR. Dear Sir,-If the census published by you last week gives the actual number of worshippers in the district, then religion amongst us is at a low ebb. I am disposed to believe, however, that you have quite unintentionally made matters to appear slightly worse than they really are. Not that I have any ground for supposing the enumerators did their work carclessly the fault, if fault there be, lies with the system adopted and the manipula- tion of the figures. In the first place, one-third seems rather too high a number to subtract from the total as having been counted twice over. The persons who attend a place of worship only onca during the Sunday are, I fear, getting more numerous every year. Being generally well-to-do, they set the fashion for their humbler brethren. Another class, which also I fear is on the increase. attend one service and the Sunday School. In the second place, you make the population of the dis- trict in 1891 p thousand more than it is in a copy of the census which I happen to have by mc- When these two points are taken into. account, it will be found that the number of worshippers a week last Sunday was one-third the entire popula- tion and not one-fourth. This still seems bad enough. It is evident, however, that the number of persons who could attend a place of worship on a particular date is considerably less than the num- ber of persons who would like to attend, and who, therefore, should not be classed with the heathens of the district. Allowance will be made for com- pulsory Sunday labour, which I am told is more prevalent than it need be, and for sickness which nearly always keep at home more than the individual sufferers, and also for old age and infancy which keeps a considerable number more at home. These, together with some other less evident causes, would probably keep or bar a third of the population, i.e., a third of the population could not attend any place of worship if they would. This leaves a third of the population who would not attend though they could which means that in the district there are about 5,000 heathens. Not a bad outlook for a man with the love of God in his breast, and blessed with a missionary spirit! I find, however, that if that man arrives here he must arrive soon or all the work will be done. You assume, Mr. Editor, that the increase of 'L population last 'yelLr: was 500. With these the Wesleyans alone have been able to cope. Thus the other denominations are given a free hand to work among the 5,OCO heathens, of whom they have succeeded in converting about 500. If, therefore, the same amount of work is done by us every year during the next ten years, the Barry and Cadoxton. district will then be within measurable distance. as Mr. Gladstone would say, of being an earthly paradise.—Yours, &c. CHRISTMAS LEWIS. MAJOR-GENERAL LEE. Major-General Lee, speaking at the Church Con- versazione, on Monday afternoon. said that most of those present were probably aware that a religions census of the district had been published in the South H ale* Star. He was sorry to see the Church occupying the second and not the first place, and he hoped that by next year. when another census would be taken, the Church would have regained her old place at the top of the list.

CORRESPONDENCE. THE WIDENING OF PARK CRESCENT, BARRY. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SOUTH WALES STAB. SIR,-I notice in your issue of last week, "A Ratepayer calls the attention of the Public Works Committee to the widening of the road at Park- crescent, Barry. I endorse his remarks as to the state of the roads in wet weather, and owing to,this state of affairs being allowed to exist so long it has depreciated the value of house property in this locality, and it is a difficult matter for property owners to induce persons to reside in this other- wise healthy and desirable residential part of Barry. Trusting that our members for this ward will bring the matter up at the next meeting of the committee, and apologising for occupying so much of your valuable space,-I am A;c.. PROPER L'Y OWNER. (For continuation see page 7.)

NOTES FROM LONDON. I wonder when we shall be done with these glimpses and reminiscences of Carlyle ? It is almost impossible to open a magazine or a paper without being confronted by them. And some of them are very small beer. The just deceased Sir Lewis Pelly provided the latest instalment. Here is an item Tea. over, he went to the mantelpiece and filled his pipe, which he smoked often. I ventured to suggest that his smoking might, perhaps, injure and depress him. l; Yes," he said, and the doctors told me the sa.me thing. I left ott smoking and was very meeserable; so I took to it again and was very meeserable still; but I thought it better to smoke and be meeserable than to go witnout." What is the use of printing and printing, and printing again, such twaddle I cannot comprehend, unless it be to make people so meeserable as to swear. Besides, it is unfair to the peevish old Scotchman. Carlyle made the wisest remark that ever wax made on the tobacco question. Inveterate smokers will appreciate its sad truth. He said smoking was a time-waster. A man who, if not smoking, was bound by his very physical nature to be doing something—something useful—could, with a pipe in his mouth, pass hours and days and weeks and months and years, in sheer laziness and do-nothingness. The valiant Vestrymen who swore they wouldn't raise a ■' rector's rate for St. George the Martyr, Southwark, have given in. The mandamus was toe much for their feelings. They don't seem to have any of the spirit of the Smithfield martyrs. So they do just what a dog does with its tail when it has been introduced to the cobbler, and pay the whole cn.it of the ease. I wonder what the rector will think of these men as his eyes rest on them during service, and what they will think of him, the Sunday after they have paid the heavy legal bill, as he piously expounds, say, the meaning of the Sermon on the Mount! And the other day application was made for a hundred summonses against defaulters for the vicar's rate at Coventry. This sort of thing brings home the real meaning of a State Church. By my life, a plague on this marrying and giving in marriage by our Royalties The ink on my pen seems scarcely dry since writing you last week respecting the large number of his own beautiful cousins, Prince George has been an- nounced as about to marry, when the same thing breaks out in another branch of the family. The Princess of Marie of Edinburgh has been pro- spectively espoused by society journals to nearly every unmarried Monarch, Prince or grand Duke in Europe, and only a fortnight ago I was wondering in your columns whether, on her marriage with the Crown Prince of Roumania, Parliament would be asked for an annual subscription. It is now announced that the Princess in question is going to marry the young Grand Duke of Hesse. That is, the late Princess Alice's son is going to marry the Princess Alice's brother's daughter. And alongside this is the item that her Majesty desires Prince George to marry the late Princess Alice's daughter Alix. Really, if this cousin business is carried much further the Royal Family will get so much mixed up that we shan't be able to tell t'other from which. Colonel" Lucy Booth, "General" Booth's daughter, was engaged to a young Indian gentle- man. The engagement has been broken off, and Miss Booth is very ill. Sow, I am sincerely grieved to hear of anyone, being in trouble, and offer my genuine sympathy in this particular case. But I am utterly at a loss to know why such a purely domestic detail of the Booth family should have been so obtruded on public notice, and that, too, in what seems to me such a heartless way. Colonel" Lucy is described as being completely prostrate," and in a state bordering on collapse," while the "General," in the War Cry, piously hopes no one may ever have to go through such agony as he has gone through in connection with the affair—to which it is easy to say amen. But why should the public mind be thus harrowed by an incident purely private to the Booth family 1 It is unkind, indelicate, and thoroughly unmanly. Real heroes do not shed their tears in the market place. Only such men as Mr. Pecksniff. Life is threatened with a new horror. Mr. Duerdin Dutton, the well-known London solicitor, is the owner of some remarkably fine St. Bernard dogs. It is Mr. Duerdin Dutton's pretty fancy to utilise these animals as collectors of sub- scriptions for various charities, and during the last three months they have collected about J616 for the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society, respecting which performance a suburban paper says, Would that more dogs could be enlisted in similar service." Surely the insurance canvasser and the rate collector, to say nothing of subscription canvassers, are already sufficient plague, without this added terror If Mr. Duerdin Dutton's example be widely followed, he will certainly go down to posterity as a. well-cursed man. The society" papers are occasionally un- consciously interesting. Where they get their news is often a matter of wonder, though it scarcely need be, considering that what they say one week they religiously contradict the next. In this respect they harmonise exactly with Poor Joe's description of the Sunday preachers at Tom All- Alone's Wot one cove said one Sunday was mostly that wot another cove said the Sunday afore wasn't true." Be that as it may, however, one of these papers has collated a very interesting and suggestive paragraph— The Empress of Germany is said to have become extremely devout lately. She consecrates most of her time to pious discourse, deeds of beneficence, and de- votion; and, having abandoned novel-reading, im- presses upon her ladies-in-waiting the necessity of following her example in this respect. Just so. The devil was sick, the devil a saint would be." But why the ladies-in-waiting ? What have they done ? Another lie nailed to the counter Mr. Glad- stone has always been credited by the Tories with Gordon's death. Surgeon Parke, who took part in the Nile Expedition, has now clearly explained that a deplorable error of military judgment was the cause of Gordon's death. There is no need to mention any names. The explanation is not made out of any political motives, but it is clear, em- phatic, and beyond dispute. Music hath charms There is to be a Wagner Festival at Bayreuth in July. Three months be- fore it commences the tickets for every performance of the whole series were taken. The seats are £1 each, and the whole booking amounts to £ 28,000, of which £4,000 is drawn from England. Wagner is now revenged on his critics. Many of your readers who, when in London, had a sail down the Thames, will have a good recollec- tion of Chiswick House, where Charles James Fox and George Canning both died. Some years ago the Marquis of Bute rented it, but it has been let by the Duke of Devonshire to a gentleman who will utilise it for a private lunatic asylum. To what base uses- Lord Londonderry is a High State official, and might be expected to set an example of obedience to the law. Ever since Mr. Balfour commenced his drastic and cruel regime in Ireland that has been the cry to those oppressed—■' Obey the law." Yet now, when there is looming in the immediate future—Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule Bill and an Irish Parliament-Lord Londonderry,speaking at the Rotunda, Dublin, says that if Home Rule is carried there will be civil war in Ireland. Such a man, occupying such a position, and using such words, is a traitor to the Queen and country who honoured him by office, and should be impeached. It is said that Mr. Stanley, having no further countries to explore, wishes to enter St. Stephen's. It seems to me that every man, as soon as he has made plenty of money, no matter how, and has nothing else to do, wants to get into Parliament. I cannot think how it is, unless it is, as I said last week, such a nice club. I can't think of a single person which would induce me to vote for these carpet-baggers. They enter Parliament simply to suit their own convenience. The Exeter Hall meetings are on this week, and the streets of Babylon are thickly strewn with clergymen, Nonconformist ministers, secretaries, and supporters of the various associations which make Exeter Hall their Mecca once a year. It is the fashion for the London Press to speak of these people sneeringly as "rustics," and to describe them as asking every policeman they meet the way to the Strand, and blowing, instead of turning, out the gas in their bedrooms. But a Cockney sneer is a very harmless thing, and not worthy of notice by the salt of the land." The influences which radiate from Exeter Hall are the work of the noblest men and women in England.

CARDIFF COLUMN. BY TRIBUNE. —-O- The Demonstration But, there, I had better not give much time to it, as the readers of the Star will see plenty about it elsewhere. It was a big success, in spite of the absentees and the weather. The latter was a miserable com- pound of east wind and rain, enough to crush any demonstration, nevertheless the half-mile of pro- cession held gallantly on its way, the big banners threatening every moment to come to the ground. That the abstentions would be numerous I hinted last week, and I indicated the cause. There was some resentment expressed, but after all there was no principle at stake. Another time the invitations must be more carefully made. Every hostess who gives a dinner-party knows she must not ask people who will not mix. Sir Charles Dilke's speech was moderate, weighty, and full of details which showed how thorough was his mastery of the subject. That he is a great statesman is more than ever clear, and the labour party have secured in him an adherent of sufficient value to their cause to outweigh many backsliders. It. was a treat to see Cochfarls beaming face as he stood up behind and watched the crowd, as who should say-" My children. behold the man whom I desire you to follow." Mabon was in good form—a little too mild for the temper of some of his audience, but thoroughly popular with all. They feel his value they can't get along without Mabon somehow. Any fire wanting in his speech was made up for by Mr. J. H. Wilson. And it was a spectacle to see Mr. Allen Upward hurling veiled menaces at the corporation from a break containing the deputy-mayor and any number of councillors. Councillor White's presence was another sign of the times. He is another Conservative who has the sense to see that the democracy has arrived. For his assistance in the matter of opening the parks-when he discovered a popular right reserved by Act of Parliament, which the town- clerk had wholly shut his eyes to—he has earned the gratitude of the community and I understand an effort will be made to prevent any Liberal opposition to his return to the Council when his term expires. I hope it is not true that his own party are down on him for his action. If so, I can only offer him a cordial welcome to the Radical ranks, if he likes to come over and help us." This building strike is a very grave event. There is probably no place in the kingdom where builders form so large a proportion of the popula- tion. And yet the town is certainly not over- built. As fast as you put up new houses the human tide flows up and fills them. Out by the Roath Park you may see a row of small houses, to which no sort of decent approach in the shape of a street has yet been made, and yet the people are pouring in so fast that you actually see curtains up in one house of the row while the next to it has not yet got the doors and windows put in. Naturally, this is the moment the master builders choose to quarrel with their workmen. What!" exclaims the puzzled reader, surely, you mean that the workmen choose to quarrel with their employers ? Employers never begin a quarrel they never do anything wrono, Humph! The points of disagreement are too numerous to specify here, but they include two which affect the Corporation. On some of the other points the Corporation are already on the right side, and others do not concern them. But their employees require the advance in wages from 8d. to 9d. an hour, with the privilege of ceasing work at 12 on Saturdays. Notice to this effect was served on the Corporation a few days only before the date fixed for the strike, and against this I must protest, as discourteous and uncalled for. Even a Corporation is entitled to fair notice of what it is asked to do, and the Public Works Committee would have been justified in asking for time. '.L- But the Mayor took the bit between his teeth, an refused the demand, taking C.1re to accompany his refusal by the most uncomplimentary language about the employees of the Corporation, whom ke stigmatised as unworthy of 6d. an hour. Sixpence an hour I Did. you every try working for 6d. an hour, Mr. Mayor But the references to age and infirmity have created a perfect furore among the ratepayers, so I understand. It is felt that the right note has been struck at last. We shall set to work with enthusiasm to weed out these enfeebled patriarchs from the public service. We shall begin at the top, too all the infirm aldermen will get notice to quit, and a dead set will be made against elderly mayors. An attempt will be made to launch the pro- gramme of the London Progressives in Cardiff. This is likely to flutter the dovecotes. Some of our fine old crusted leaders will have to wake up. What will they say to a list of things like these :— Municipalisation of tramways, hospitals, gas and docks provision of baths and wash-houses, and artisans' dwellings; clearing away insanitary houses revision of rating and. finally, nationali- sation of land, including the disgorging of its plunder by the bloated House of Bute ? The action of the Cardiff. Women's Suffrage League (mis-named the Woman's Liberal Associa- tion) in calling upon the borough member to vote for their fad, is not a very pleasant exhibition, especially in view of certain facts which I am about to state. When Mrs. Wynford Phillips was on her campaign a month or two back, she carried up at Aberdare a resolution pledging the meeting to enthusiastic support" of the suffrages. There- upon an active Cardiff politician who had been invited to the meeting in Cardiff on the following night, sent a strongly worded letter, declining to attend a demonstration in favour of Women's Suf- rage, and in which he pointed out that this demand had never been included in the Liberal programme, and objected to its being insinuated under cover of the formation of an auxiliary association." This letter was not read to the meeting, but the enthusiastic-support-of-Women's-Suffrage resolu- tion was significantly absent. The fact is that the whole movement is now seen to be an artful scheme for foisting upon the Liberal party a cry which is absolutely without substantial support in the country. The way the branch of the Association was formed in Cardiff is probably a type of what went on elsewhere. A distinguished lady, identified with Liberal politics, came down, called together the wives of the most prominent Liberals (as if it followed that they would be the most able women !), and formed them into a committee. A public meeting was called, the local leaders attended it, and there was our rival of the Primrose League set on its feet. From that moment to this, I think I am warranted in saying, the only single thing in politics done by the so-called Cardiff Women's Liberal Association has been to practically censure the Liberal member for Cardiff The Cardiff Footpaths Preservation Society have just held their annual meeting, and drawn up their annual report, from which it appears that the year's work has chiefly consisted in writing a letter to the Llandaff Highway Board. Their pro- gramme for the forthcoming year is to write another letter, this time to the Dinas Powis Board. When I see this society abating a few nuisances, by the rough but practical method of breaking fences, or hauling up the obstructors in court, then I shall begin to believe in it. In the course of a day's walk round Porthkerry not long ago. I did more solid good than the Footpaths Society has done in the last decade. I broke through three hedges At the last meeting of the Public Rights Com- mittee, it wa.s decided to give the footpaths people another chance, though some of the horny- handed expressed themselves in anything but respectful terms about the society. I once knew a place where there was a similar organisation, and one of its most prominent members was a bailiff, or something ot the kind, in the employ of the champion footpath-grabber of the district. The reader may imagine how they made things hum. The Fabians are distinctly going it. Another lecture, making the third within about two months. Perhaps they are overdoing the lecture business a little. Cardiff folks are not good at lecture-going, and even I could not stand three socialist lectures in so short a time. though I am a bit of a Socialist myself. What is a Socialist ? Why, as Mr. W. T. Stead remarked to me once, we are all Socialists. Every one who takes an interest in the welfare of his fellow-creatures, and desires to see it furthered by political means, is a Socialist. He may have been one all his life without knowing it as W. Jourdan spoke prose. Of course the word itself has got an alarming sound, thanks to the fact that some ardent disciples prefer the use of bombs to arguments for advancing the cause. Hence the wisdom of the Fabians in choosing an academical name, which indicates that their policy is discussion rather than immediate bloodshed. The London Fabian Society has existed many years. Mr. Bradlaugh was. if I mistake not, once a power in its debates. It did not then partake so much of the character of a distinctly Socialistic organisation. The Cardiff branch is young, but rigorous. Its members are not mere debaters, they play an active part in local politics, they are inde- fatigable letter writers, and have done good service in more than one stiff fight. I wish them more recruits. It was early in the afternoon, and yet the chamber in which I stood was pervaded by a deep gloom. Ill-lighted by a few narrow windows, the depressing effect was heightened by the dark walls and gratiugs which surrounded me. The furniture consisted of hard wooden chairs and tables, and the bare floor added to the general discomfort and misery. But where was I, then ? Was it in the casual ward of the Union, or—stay perchance the cells under the Town Hall. wherein the daring law-breaker is cn.ged! (Those fences at Porth- kerrv ) Xot so. These surmises are baseless. They do me an injustice. I had merely stepped into the Reference Reading-room of the Cardiff Free Library to taste the sweets of study. Oh, if I could but capture some Town Councillor, and imbue him with a mad desire for knowledge, and then set him down for a day in thi-i dismal cavern Methinks leather chairs would not be long in coming. ■ ■■■■■■ | COUNCILLOR J. THOMAS, GARW VALLEY. .ft.

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such a course would not only be unwise but disastrous. The Labour party in the House is as yet comparatively insignificant in numbers and it remains to be seen how many seats the Labour candidates could secure without the eo-operation of either of the two political parties. From an opportunist point of view, it would be a grave and a suicidal blunder on the part of the Labour party to break off its connec- tion with the party which has given it the franchise and the right of combination. Another reason why the Labour party should not break with the Liberals lies in the fact that as yet the Labour representatives have produced no great leader. They have given the House of Commons some of its best members, Mr. THOMAS BURT, Mr. HENRY BROADHCRST, Mr. FENWICK, and our own MAHOX." But not one of these, excellent and able men though they be, can be styled a leader of his party. As yet it is a party without a leader, an army, vast indeed and irresistible in power, but without a general to direct it. Since the leader cannot be found from within ii« own ranks, one must be found from outside. Mr. GLADSTONE, whose sympathy with the struggling, the weak, and the oppressed has been the most conspicuous and lasting trait in his character, is now too advanced in age to think of organising and directing a party which will in time be the most ppwerful in the kingdom. There is no states- man on the Conservative side who has the slightest real sympathy with the New Unionism," as it is called, and there are very few on the Liberal side. Mr. JOJIX MopLEY has gone wrong on the Eight Hours' question, and there are but few official Liberals who are in close sympathy with the Labour movement. Where, then, is the Labour leader of the future to be found ? He must be a good speaker, a ready debater, a man of strong character, reso- lute will, and indomitable courage. He must be in close touch with the people he must be intimately acquainted with their demands and their aspirations; and, withal, he must be .superior to the charms of office. We believe that such a leader will be found in Sir CHARLES DILKE. We have nothing to say here of the STEAD and DILKE controversy we have no in- tention at present of defending or accusing Sir CHARLES DILKE. But it seems to us pretty certain that, guilty or innocent, Sir CHARLES 'will be returned by an overwhelming majority by the electors of the Forest of Dean. That is -easy work. The real fight and the bitterest struggle will take place after DiLICE'S re-entrance into Parliament. He will have no place in the next Liberal Government probably he will stand no chance of office for many years to come. All this seems to point him out as the man, above all others, who is destined to be the leader of the Labour and Radical party. The curse of the Radical party hitherto has been that once their leader makes himself formidable to the official Liberals, he is offered a sop in the way of office, which he accepts, and which effectually gags him. The redemption of the Radical party will be worked out by a leader who can- not, or will not, accept office. Such was the history of the Irish party. It was only when they found an incorruptible leader, who would neither be bought by the emoluments of office, nor be diizzled and tempted by the highest honours, that the party became a power in the politics of the nation. There seems little doubt that, for some years at least, Sir CHARLES will not be offered any office in a Liberal ad- ministration during these years of liberty he will be an invaluable Labour leader. That he is qualifying for the post is evident to all who have followed his recent movements. Not only will he represent the mining district of the Forest of Dean, but he has made himself intimately and clearly acquainted with the labour problems of the day. To Wales his leadership will be of the utmost value. Welsh members are from the very nature of things labour members, for they represent thoroughly Working-class constituencies. The assistance and guidance of a statesman of Sir CHARLES DILKK'S ability and experience will be invalu- able to them. The Welsh members, like the labour members, are in want of a leader, who will not be bought by the offer of an under— lecretaryship or a County-court judgeship. The tendency seems to be for the Welsh party to cast in their lots with the Labour party for the demands of both have not been acknow- ledged by official Liberalism. In Sir CHARLES, therefore, the Welsh members will find a valu- able ally; and his declaration on Monday night at Cardiff in favour of Welsh Home Hule was most opportune. The only logical out- come of Home Rule for Ireland, we have often insisted, is Home Rule all round, or a Federal system by which Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales can regulate their own local affairs. We were glad to see that Sir CHARLES laid Kuch emphasis on this point, and we hope that it will tend to do away with the absurd idea that Welsh Nationalists are aiming at Wales for the Welsh, or that they are asking for something foolish and impracticable. Welsh Nationalists will not, of course, try to further complicate the Irish Home Rule Bill by press- lug their own grievances but they will take an early opportunity, we hope, of extracting from English Liberals a recognition of the principle. The Disestablishment of the Welsh Church must carry with it, to some extent, such a recognition of the principle. The income which is now enjoyed by the Church of England in Wales will be appropriated for national purposes. In order to administer this money, a national council will have to be es- tablished, which will, we trust, form the Nucleus of a Welsh Parliament. .+ THE SALARIES OF SCHOOL TEACHERS. THE time has now come when the question of the salaries of assistant teachers in our elemen- tary schools should be thoroughly considered. Since the passing of the Education Act in 1870, up to within a couple of years ago, the scholastic Profession has been overcrowded, and, conse- quently, the salaries of teachers have been grad- ually lowered. The tide has, however, turned, and our School Boards are as anxious to obtain competent servants as they were previously to look after the interests of the ratepayers. This change has been brought about by the rapid "Cxodns of good teachers from the scholastic pro- fession to the more lucrative ones of law, Medicine, and journalism. At their last meet- lrig, the Llantwit Vardre School Board received Several applications from their assistants for increase of salaries. In some cases the appli- Cants only received the miserable stipend of £32 10s. per annum—twelve shillings and six- Pence per week—and some of the members un- blUshingly retorted that the salaries paid by this Articular Board were equal, and in many cases higher, than those paid by neighbouring boards. If this be true, and we have no :teason for doubting the veracity of such gentle- men as Messrs. JAS. RICHARDS and JAS. ROBERTS, the condition of our teachers must be pitiable indeed. It must be borne in mind that in order to obtain this position under the Boards, the teachers hata first of all to serve an appren- ticeship of four years, at the end of which they are expected to pass the scholarship examina- tion, which we know to be a most trying one for those who have only a few hours each even- ing to prepare themselves, and are even then tired and weary after the annoyances and worry of a day spent in teaching children in a stuffy schoolroom. When this examination is success- fully passed the teachers have again to prepare for another and the harder one of obtaining certificates, which may take place any time after a two years' study. At the end of this long period of training, if successful, they receive just twelve shillings and sixpence per week, on which they are expected to live and dress respectably, and sometimes to support a needy relation or aged parents. It is a matter of small wonder therefore that our most talented and competent teachers leave the profession, or that our Boards find a difficulty in filling their vacancies. A radical change must soon come over our educational system, for we cannot afford to allow our representatives to employ incompetent men and women to train the com- ing freneration and it stands to reason that no able and reasonable man will become the slave of a School Board for twelve shillings and six- pence a week, when from six to ten shillings a day can be earned by manual labour. Even our unskilled labouring classes are better off, better fed, better clothed, and much freer from anxiety and worry than our poor teachers for they, by union and combination, can demand a fair day's wage for a fair day's work, whereas the poor slaves of the scholastic profession are ground down by men who, although professing Liberalism, are really the most tyrannical masters who have ever trodden the earth. If our schools in future are bally taught, or if our youths were to refuse to become school teachers and this is what the state off affairs will eventually become—we shall have to thank no one but our own School Boards,who have so merci- lessly ground down the poor teachers. There- fore, in the interest of the rising generation, we would advise our School Boards, and the Llantwit Vardre Board in particular, to con- sider well the results of what they will decide when the scale of salaries is remodelled- We hope that workingmen, whose claims have received valuable support from the educated classes of this country, will in their turn do their utmost to bring pressure to bear on the members of stingy Boards. The teaching pro- y fession is not only one of the noblest, but it is also one of the most important, of all the pro- fessions. No one, outside the family circle, can exercise so much influence in moulding the character and developing the powers of the coming generation as the schoolmaster. Surely it would be an till-advised economy which pro- vided incompetent men for such an important work. The interests of the ratepayers and of the teachers are at one on this matter. Efficient teachers must be obtained and to secure such, good salaries must be given. The Barry School Board has already found that the truest economy in this matter is liberality. We trust other School Boards will show the same wise foresight. ;— An occurrence, almost more rare than Angel's visits, is that magistrates are required at the Bridg- end police-court. Saturday last, however, saw the exception to a very general rule. The Chairman was the only person who attended, and for an hour the court was kept in suspense. The members of the sought, but not found equal to a few hours on the great unpaid" living in and near the town were Bench administering justice to offenders to be brought before them. One of these justices—living not a hundred yards from the court-was sent for by the Chairman, but as is usual with this gentle- man, he absolutely declined to attend." This is not the first occasion upon which he has refused to fulfil the duties of his office as justice of the peace. It is to be hoped that he will resign his position, and allow the Lord Lieutenant to appoint a sound Nonconformist in his place. There are plenty of such in our midst, but not one has been appointed while the squarson is about! By the way, Mr. Blandy Jenkins, although usually sitting at another court, acceded to the request of the Chairman to sit, and they are duly responsible for all the business that was done that day. The Pontypridd Local Board have once more decided to bring pressure to bear upon the Barry Railway Company to run passenger trains between the two towns. The obstinacy of the Company will, we feel certain, before long become a source of great annoyance and inconvenience to the in- habitants of both towns. Business communica- tions between the two towns are increasing week by week, and commercial men have to waste time and money by travelling along the Taff Vale Rail- way via Cardiff and Cogan, whereas were a system of passenger traffic established on the main line their transactions would be more speedily and cheaply concluded. We hope that the concerted action of the Pontypridd Local Board, the Ponty- pridd Chamber of Trade, the Rural Sanitary Authority, and all other interested parties will be a successful one, and that we shall before long see the rural districts opened up, and really connected with the towns that must eventually become great centres of commerce. r