The London Welshman

Notes of the Week. Lord Justice Vaughan Williams.—Lord Justice Vaughan Williams was one of the numerous company that assembled together in the Hotel Cecil to celebrate St. David's Day. Strange to say, he was the only speaker who ventured to touch upon questions that may be called political. His eulogy of the speech of the Lord Chancellor-the guest of the evening-in the House of Lords a few nights previous on the Chinese Labour question was a bit daring, and quite unexpected too, as all those present knew that Justice Williams had always been a strong Tory. But when he went on to declare that though every vote he had ever given had been given to the Conservatives, he had always felt that Wales had an educational and an eccle- siastical grievance, he fairly took away the breath of those who listened to him. He evidently does not regard the Church in Wales as an integral part of the Church in England which cannot be dealt with by itself. The importance of such a declaration, coming from such a source, cannot easily be under- estimated. It shows that a number, at least, of Churchmen and Conservatives are recognising that the Establishment in Wales is indefensible. Mr. Lloyd-George in Cardiff.—The visit of the President of the Board of Trade to Cardiff on Saturday last was a grand success. It is to be hoped that those who frustrated the proposal to confer upon him the freedom of the city are now ashamed of themselves, though Mr. Lloyd-George stands in no need of such ornamental honours. He possesses the freedom of the hearts of the people of Wales. At the St. David's banquet, to which he had been invited, he made a speech which ought to be epoch-making in the history of the Principality. A summary of that speech will be found in another column. It contained passages as eloquent as any that ever fell from the lips of this master of fervent and poetical oratory. His appeal for unity, not for political, but for national purposes, is finding an echo in every corner of the land. Whether Wales will get a National Council' or not depends upon herself. But in order to have unity there must be give and take. The large towns and populous districts of Glamorgan and Monmouth must deal generously with the sparsely-populated counties- those counties from which Wales has sprung, those counties which for hundreds of years fostered Welsh liberty, Welsh ideas, Welsh tongue. The rural parishes had been severely hit during the last 50 years. That was the side of Welsh life they had to build up. They. could not build up a nation in towns. Empires began to fall with the decay of their peasant population." No truer words than these were ever uttered. But neither must the rural counties be too unreasonable. We hope all concerned will take a commonsense view of things, and that as a consequence there will be a united demand for complete self-government in educational matters. Socialistic Legislation.-Socialism is evidently coming in with a rush, whether to make us better or worse is a question we decline at present to discuss. But that the House of Commons should give a second reading without division, and with only few words of criticism, to a Bill to feed poor school children at the expense of the State is enough almost to take away one's breath. That hungry children cannot be taught is quite clear, and as the State has made education compulsory upon all, it follows that it ought to see that the little ones are in a fit condition to receive education. At the same time, we cannot help feeling that this is a step towards doing away with parental responsibility. It is true that there is a provision in the Bill for reclaiming from parents able to pay the amount spent in feeding their children. We can see in that provision the possibility of a breaking up of the homes of many. The plain truth of the matter is this—nine-tenths of the children sent to school with empty stomachs are in that state because of the drinking habits of the parents. And the vast majority of those parents would be thankful if the opportunity to drink was taken away from them. They are not callous, they are not dead to their responsibility; they are simply unable to resist the fascination of the gin palace at the corner. If the House of Commons had the courage to tackle the cursed liquor traffic regardless of vested interest, there would be very little need of State provision for underfed children. A Boon to Wales.-The Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced that he intends to make provision in the next Budget for a Treasury grant of £ 20,COO to the building fund of the North Wales University College. The money will not be paid until the building is practically erected, so that the money will not fall within next year's estimates. Aberystwyth and Cardiff had received a similar building grant, and it was only fair that Bangor should be treated in the same way. Mr. Austen Chamberlain, however, has utterred a jarring note already. He wants to know if the Chan- cellor would give grants on the same liberal scale to universities in England and Scotland, and has given notice that he will call attention to the matter later on. We never knew until now that Mr. Austen Chamberlain or any mem- ber of his family took any particular interest in any part of the Kingdom outside Birmingham. And we cannot help thinking that his present attitude is a similar attempt to make the other parts of Great Britain jealous of little Wales. But the good sense of England and Scotland will see that Wales has not had anything like her due share in the past. And no other people within the Empire have made such sacrifices in the cause of Education as the Welsh have made during the last thirty years, and are making still. Perhaps, if Wales had sent to the House of Commons one or two members in support of the Highbury policy, we should not have made ourselves the' objects of the watchful-not to say spiteful—eye of the ex-Chancellor. Lack of generosity seems to be the besetting sin of all within the Highbury circle.