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MR. HERBERT ROBERTS, M.P.,…

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MR. HERBERT ROBERTS, M.P., AND THE CYMRU FYDD SOCIETY. A meeting, under the auspices of the Cymru Fydd Society, was held on Tuesday night at Llan- rwst, and was addressed by J. Herbert Roberts, M.P., who defended the society from the charge that it was destined to supplant the old Liberal associations. Its primary aim, so far as he under- stood it, was the organisation and concentration of Welsh Liberalism, not its disruption its object was to gather together from all sources every possible force making for the elevation of their national life, whether it came from the long experience and steadfastness to duty of the old soldiers on the battlefield or from the glowing enthusiasm and honourable aspirations of their young contingents. He was glad to think that so far as his own con- stituency was concerned there was no danger of any friction upon this point. Taking the case of Llanrwst as an illustration, there had been estab- lished there a Liberal association for many years which had done its work faithfully and well, but this body, being possessed of the good sense which distinguished the Liberalism of those parts, so far from looking askance at the new league, welcomed it with open arms, upon the understanding that the two associations should be affiliated and should co- operate with each other in the political work of the district. It was, therefore, the first aim of members of this league to advance the interests of Wales as a nation, and they ccstsndea that under the present conditions <jf parliamentary life adequate attention to the claims of their country could only be secured by concerted action at Westminster on the part of Welsh members. He was glad of that opportunity of stating that no one was more con- vinced of the necessity of a strong policy by the Welsh party in Parliament than himself. It was true that a few months ago he did not take the same view as four of his colleagues upon a question of parliamentary tactics, but that did not alter one whit his determination to join in any course, when necessary, to secure attention to the just demands of Wales. It would serve no useful purpose at that time of day to endeavour to convince the country that the present satisfactory situation with regard to the one measure upon which their minds were set was due either to the action of one section or the other it was sufficient for them to know the Government had conceded to them the first place of the next session for their Disestablishment Bill. He would only emphasise the urgent necessity at this crisis in their history, and in the? face of previous foes, of minimising rather than aggravating petty political distinctions, and of uniting in one compact and enthusiastic party to win for Wales the boon of religious equality and other pressing reforms. Referring to the objects of the Cymru Fydd League, he felt that at the present moment there was none more important, in view of the introduction of the Welsh Disestablishment Bill, than the suggested arrangements for sending Welsh speakers through- out the length and breadth of England to place their case before the English electorate. A gigantic effort was being made by the Church party to con- vince England that the Welsh demand should not be conceded. They had to contend with all the great powers in high places, both spiritual and temporal. England was to be lectured into believing in the Welsh Church; in every town, village, and hamlet the wiles of dissent were to be exposed whilst the English press was continually being supplied with letters and articles from the pens of bishops, deans, and canons of more or less import- ance. It was natural, under these circumstances, that Eaglish people should ask for some information on the other side, and the fact that work in England was given an important place in the objects of the new movement, showed that its advocates were alive to a very pressing need. A great opportunity for making early use of the Cymru Fydd organisa- tion was supplied by the rapidly approaching parish council elections. Whatever this meant to England, it meant more to Wales, because the grievances redressed by this Act were more keenly felt there, and because, further, he believed that his country had a special fitness for the management of their own affairs. They must also remember that the powers given to parish councils were capable of far- reaching development, and the responsible work to be given to these bodies in Wales in connection with the property now held by the Church gave to the coming election a special interest and import- ance. He trusted that the party would recognise its responsibility in every parish, and that men would be elected as councillors, with a full know- ledge and experience of their wants, and with a deter- mination to brighten and to better their condition. Here was an opportunity, at all events, of doing something to improve the present unfair and unsatisfactory state of the magistracy in Wales. Let them realise that a most powerful weapon was held out to them by this measure, and having grasped it, let them use it with courage, with firmness, and with justice for the good of their homes and for the progress of their village life. This great statute would, he believed, make it possible to arrest that fatal decadence of country life, and could restore., it to its old position of resource and attractiveness, and enable it to win back the labourers to the soil. Wales owed a deep debt to the life of her remote hamlets it was there that their poets were born, it was there that their great pulpit orators learnt how to sway the multitude with their eloquence, and were enabled to infuse into the life of the country a religious spirit which was its most precious heritage to-day. It was the seed sown in days gone by in the hearts and minds of the villagers of Wales which was bearing fruit in the bright aims and aspirations of the movement they were inaugurating that night, and it rested with the rising generation, with Cymru Fydd, to complete the work, and not only to raise the life of the village, but to ennoble the character of the nation.

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