The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard

PASSIVE RESISTANCE THERE can be no question that Noncon- formists who do not like the new Education Act, and who object to pay rates for the improvement of voluntary schools, are quite within their right in allowing their goods to be sold and in going to prison if needs be. Men have 1 Z5 no right to steal, whether there is law against stealing or not, and no person n would have a right to he cruel because he was willing to pay the penalty im- posed by law for cruelty. The payment or non-payment of the rate imposed by, the Education Act is not a question of right or wrong, but of expediency or inexpediency, and if those who object to voluntary payment of the rate prefer compulsion with costs, there is nothing to prevent their having their own way But is it not wrong to break law 1 Certainly not. Law may be unjust, cruel, immoral, destructive of individual and national life. It may be the highest morality and the most unselfish patriotism to break law. We fail to see the prin- ciple for which the Passive Resisters are fighting in this case. Every voluntary school in the country is maintained almost entirely out of national taxes. We see no difference between the paying of national taxes and municipal rates, and if the man who ever s'nce 1870 paid his taxes in aid of voluntary schools now refuses to pay local rates for the same object he seems to make a distinction where there is no difference. We do not, of course, expect political agitators at street corners to be logical or reason- able, but we may fairly expect ministers of religion and members of churches to act with some sort of regard both for reason and logic. The clergy of the Chur:h of England have been most unwise in forcing upon N onconforrnists ob- n jectionable conditions in reference to religious teaching. But, then in our ,ac opinion Nonconformists have been unwise ever since 1870 in repudiating definite religious teaching in elementary schools. TLe immediate question, however, is not the wisdom or unwisdom of the Church of England or of Nonconformity, but the payment or non-payment of an education rate which will be devoted to the same purpose as the education taxes are devoted to. Suppose the Government, before the close of the present session of Parlia- ment, passed a short Act to abolish the education rate and to obtain the money by a tax of a penny in the pound on tea. Would the Passive Resisters b? satisfied, and if they were satisfied, would they have secured a victory? We knew how the crowd runs and shouts together, and we also know that it is net good policy to withstand the crowd even when it does not know why it is running or what it is shouting nbout. But the day will come in this case as in all the past cases, when tc-e crowd will give over running and will cease to shout, and then reason will resume its sway. What seems to us the very obvious folly of the Passive Resisters is only an indication of a much deeper folly on the part of the Government and of the Church of England. The children of the country must "be educated. It is desirable that thev should be trained in some religion. Nothing is more reasonable than that they should be trained in the religion of their parents. It is ridiculous to say that this religious teaching should be paid for separately. The bulk of the people do not care enough for religion to ask whether their children are religiously instructed or not, and consequently religion comes to be the battle ground of the priests. We see as plainly as ary cf our friends the in- justice of the Education Act, but what we do not see is the difftrence between the money paid under this unjust Act in rates and the money paid in taxes, nor do we see how the Nonconformist suffers greater injustice in having to pay for the Church child's religious instruction, than in the Conformist having to pay for the Chapel child's non-religious in- struction We are willing to pay rates for children to be taught the Wesleyan faith, or the Calvinistic Methodist's faith, or the Unitarian faith, or the Baptist's faith, or the Roman Catholic's faith, or the Church of England's faith. To us the important thing is that children should be taught a religion-a theory of life and existence-and we are no more anxious that the religion taught should be identical with our own religion than that their political opinions should be identical with ours. Religion is vastly important, but varieties of religion are of almost indescribable insignificance. Z, When we think of human life and all it means of sorrow and hardship, of joy and hope, of loss and despair, and then think of the strife of the priests over infinitesimal religious differences, we are only saved from despair by the assurance that GOD knows how to keep his worlds.

A NEWSPAPER QUARRY SCHEME. WE are very anxious not to belittle in any way the North Wales quarry scheme for working Moel Faban, Tanybwich, and Pantdreiniog. At the same time, it is absolutely necessary from our point of view, and for future use and reference, that the scheme should not be made too much of without protest, and that the unsuspecting public should know the facts pertaining to this final development of the Fenrhyn Quarry dispute. We do not believe, and nobody else will believe, what the Daily News says, namely, that Lord PENRHYN has been making great efforts to capture Moel Faban. His lord- ship or anybody else could easily have captured that or the other property any time since 1897. It is an old dodg3 to try and enhance the value of the pro- perty by pretending that Lord PENRHYN j wants it. Even yet the men's leaders talk of the new quarry scheme as a means of enabling them to defeat Lord PEN- RHYN. rather than as a means of en- abling the men to find work otherwhere than at his lordship's quarries This is an odd way of treating what is sup- posed to be a great commercial venture which the public are told is to break down the imaginary monopoly of Lord PENRHYN in Welsh slates. The amount of capital, £ 30,000, is very small for so large and difficult a task, but the pro- moters of the North Wales Quarries Com- pany probably hope to do more by means of enthusiasm than other people can do with hard cash. Of the capital, LIO,000 i3 loa:i stock, which is to be lent in sums of not, less than 110. This is all oppor- tunity for all the people in different parts of the country to show their sympathy with the Penrhyn Quarry strikers. We are disposed to think that if this X10,000 loan capital is speedily forthcoming, very little more will be heard of the scheme, but we shall see. Moel Faban, it was stated some time ago in the Daily News, "had been left to a journalist to discover." Most people in the district know the journalist and so does the Daily News. Mcel Faban and the rest of the trio, like some of the Merionethshire gold mines and Cardiganshire lead mines, has been discovered many times before, and will- most likely be discovered many times again before its chequered history finally closes. It is a great pity that the journalist has only just now dis- covered this quarry when it might so eai-ily have been discovered as far back as 1897 by the very same people who are now willing to become directors. There was in 1897 a certain Bangor Slate and Slab Quarry Company in existence which owned the Pantdreiniog Quarry. In the early part of the year 1900 that property was offered for sale. Who were the would- be vendors, for it was not sold ? It bad not been discovered then by the all- seeing journalist who is now so very much on the spot. There was in those days shareholders' capital amounting to £ 9,000 and debentures amounting to £ 5,000. What is the business history of that venture ? It would be most instructive to all those who think of investing in the North Wales Quarries. Why did not that business venture succeed in 1897 ? We have lying before us the report and balance sheet. of the Bangor Slate and Slab Quarry Company for the year ending 31st of May, 1897. Among the directors are Mr WALTER R. SHIRLEY, Cardiff, chair- man; Mr WILLIAM J NO. PARRY, managing I director, and the solicitors are Messrs SHIRLEY and SONS, Cardiff. This was in 1897. In March, 1900, the property was offered for sale, but no purchaser was forthcoming. Now in 1903 this wonderful property, having oddly enough been suddenly and surprisingly discovered by a London journalist, who lived most of his time in the neighbour- hood, it is also discovered that Mr C. SHERIDAN JONES is the secretary of the new company, and the public are informed in the preliminary prospectus that "Mr "W. J. PARRY, of Bethesda, and Mr W. RAYNER SHIRLEY, of Cardiff, are pre- pared to become directors at the first meeting of the shareholders after the n registration of the Society." What reasons have the investors in this new venture for thinking that their X30,000 will not follow the X14,000 of the Bangor Slate and Slab Quarry Company of 1897 ? The amount of money that a slate quarry can swallow quite in the ordinary way of business is almost incredible. We have nothing to say against the new venture, or against those who are in any way identified with it, but the property has a business history and not a brilliant one either, unless there is something greatly to its credit that we do not know, and that the promoters of the new venture are modestly keeping in the background. Many innocent and sympathetic individuals may vainly imagine that the Moel Faban and Pantdreiniog quarries have never been exploited before for private benefit, and that they are now brought forward as a sort of providential solution of the Pen- rhyn difficulty, having been discovered by the Daily News special correspondent, or some of his Bangor relations or connec- tion?. Everybody in the district understands the situation perfectly, and nobody better than the late Pen- rhyn quarrymen. We think it is neces- sary to put the case before our readers so that they may not unintentionally expect too much from this revival of an old venture on property that was offered for sale in 1900 and then failed to find a pur- chaser. The late Penrhyn quarrymen do not hope to find work at Moel Faban but it secures the men's leaders a way out, and the sooner they announce to the public that the dispute has been finally settled by the North Wales Quarries Com- pany the more glory they will gather to themselves for the time being. b There is no harm in trying to work Moel Faban and the other property under a new com- pany and with fresh capital. The time is favourable. Sympathy is awake and it is now possible to sell what nobody wanted to buy in 1900 before the great news- paper discovery. What is shrewdly said is that it will certainly do no harm to spend X30,000 in the district, but that the renewed venture is any sort of rival to the Penrhyn Quarries, or can have any y I effect, however remote, on Lord PENRHYN'S poiicy is not seriously considered. We intend to give our readers information from timH to time about this new com- pany. We will try to be quite fair, although we confess that the facts before us tend to bias and prejudice. What we do not understand is that the men's leaders still persist in the notion that they can win the battle which they have so hopelessly and completely lost. One thing may be certainly taken for granted, that when the property was for sale three years ago Lord PENRHYN did not try to buy it, and when it is next for sale he will most likely not want to buy it. Why not have made the quarry- discovering journalist an official of the new company 1 Perhaps he is.

CHAMBERLAINS STARVATION POLICY. IN a letter which Mr CHAMBERLUN has published this week, he says that it will be impossible to secure preferential treat- tuenfc with the Colonies without some duty on corn as well as on other articles ot colonial produce." This settles finally the question whether Mr CHAMBERLAIN'S new madness includes the taxation of food. We have frequently pointed out in these columns that the masses of the people are not interested in national policy for the simple reason that they pay scarcely any but voluntary taxation. If this scheme comes into operation it will make food dear, and the result will be that every year hundreds of thousands of people will be murdered in order that trade may be improved. Everybody knows that the masses of the people at the bottom of the social system do not count a great deal with their "superiors," but they are a dangerous element, and when food is made artificially dear they may turn into the streets of the large towns of this country and make the existing stale of things impossible. But the working population may apk if it is possible for a Government in this country to deliberately make food artificially dear by the abandonment of free trade ? We believe it is possible. The artisans of large manufacturing towns are promised higher wages that will more than make up for dear food. The landowners and farmers of this country will at one-, approve of a policy that will give them higher rents and increased prices for tht'ir produce. The only people who will suffer iminediately are the very poor whose poverty is due partly to unthrift and partly to large families. The child- ren of many of these families will be starved to death and a national asset will be lost that costs the Government nothing! The proposal is that a war of starvation and extermination shall be vvaped against the poorest people in tht land. The suggestion is so hideous—so utterly brutal—that it is difficult to believe it. is seriously made. It semis as if not only the horrors of war but the horrors of dear food have to be learnt once in every generation. If anybody had said six months ago that a responsible Minister of the Crown would seriously I propose to tax the food of the people tbe statement would have been laughed at as impossible, and yet we have the proposal made, and apparently nobody is seriously concerned We confess that we find it difficult to believe the proposal is seriously meant. It seems to us to be a mere dedge for distracting the at- tention of the people from the war blunders of the Government, but we are forced to admit that the subject is brought forward in a way that conveys an im- pression ot earnestness. It is absolutely necessary to the industrial success of the Colonies that manufactured goods should be heavily taxed. That is the only way in which the Colonies can establish new industries. Our export tax of a shilling a ton on coal is a gift of a shilling a ton to the inferior coal of the Colonies, and will enable many a colliery to be developed that could not be developed under a system of fr exports. The Colonies will not cease to tax our manu- factured goods when we begin to tax zn Z5 Russian corn, and Dutch butter, United States' cheese and bacon and grain. All that will happen will be that our Colonies will increase the taxation of German and French manufacturers who will, of course, retaliate upon us, and instead of a crimson war in South Africa we shall have a pallid tariff war all over the world Most of our readers are too young to remember the old fight for cheap bread. It that tight has to be renewed it will be a sorry day for these islands. With y untaxed food the people bear patitntly the inevitable fluctuations of trade, but when bread is taxed and work is scarce the people will not be patient. They would be fools and cowards to b< patient. In these days when work is scarce luxuries may be unattainable, but when Mr CHAMBERLAIN'S starvation policy has been put in force, if it ever is put in force, even dry bread will become a luxury, and it will be once more a common sight to see the people starving in the streets because bread is taxed. It is not the rich who will suffer. It is not the landlords and farmers who will suffer. It is not the highest class of artisan who will suffer. The sufferers will be the millions who cannot earn more than fifteen shillings or a pound a week, and they will die as they died every winter by tens of thousands in the old days of protection. With free trade our industries are on a sound basis. Once protection is introduced unsound businesses will grow up, and all sorts of commercial rottenness will spread and we shall lose in a variety of ways. But will the country accept Mr CHAMBER- LAIN'S scheme We do not know. There is no organised Liberalism in the country at the present time. The Liberal leaders have no policy and no cohesion. The proposal to tax food which is, so to speak, the raw material for the production and growth of population, is so impudent » proposal that it cannot easily be realised. One reason why the population of the large towns and the country have been sasily kept in order has been because food )f all sorts has been cheap and plentiful ?ven when work was scarce and badly paid. Mr. CHAMBERLAIN, with an insanity more astounding than that which drove him nto the South African war, is going to liter all that. He is going to make food scarce and dear in the vain hope )f improving trade This scheme will not only revive Liberalism, but will play into the hands of Anarchists and other revolutionaries. We never believed in Mr CHAMBERLAIN, as our readers know, but our conception of his incapacity never included this degree of blindness ind stupidity. We knew he was vain and had no imagination or spiritual insight, but we credited him with some sore of commercial sagacity which he evidently does not possess. Now is the opportunity of Liberals all over the country, an opportunity that some of them, at any rate, will not fail to use. Wales will not be long in letting the Government know that starvation of the poor is not the policy of Welsh Lib- sralism. Would it not be well to send Mr CHAMBERLAIN to the House of Lords 1 He has now purged himself from every taint of Liberalism.

EDITORIAL NOTES. At Dolgelley on Monday, a motor-car driver was fined £ 5 and costs for furious driving. If there are heavier penalties they should be imposed. « A Welshpool butcher has been fined a shilling and costs for using an unjust scales. They were three ounces and a half against the buyer. The man in this instance made three ounces and a half on half a pound A shilling fine sounds like a sort of joke The ratepayers of Aberystwyth will not be short of subject matter for consideration when they come to choose candidates for the four Council vacancies on the 1st of next November. The Ratepayers' Association is still going on with the borough accounts, the market ques- tion, and other work. • The papers are asking whether Mr CHAMBER- LAIX should resign ? Certainly not. He has abandoned every political principle he formerly professed, and has proved that not a single opinion he once held was rightly held, hut instead of resigning he should be sent to the House of Lords, so that he may become the despised object of his own ridicule One of those sharp silly people, who turn up from time to time and predict what sort of weather there is going to be, has foretold that there is to be dry weather in June. To show how little is known on the subject it rained heavily on Tuesday and Wednesday Nobody can say for forty-eight hours what the weather will be, but it is pretty safe to say that it will not snow in July and that it may freeze in December. Once more Barmouth has for the time being got over its financial difficulties. The course to be pursued is quite simple. First, a rate sufficient to meet all the liabilities should be imposed; second, no expenditure that has not been provided for should be incurred third, the rates should be collected promptly without fear or favour. Unless care is taken Barmouth will find itself in a corner one of these days from which it cannot possibly be extricated. In the House of Commons on Tuesday, Mr RITCHIE, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said that if there was any increase at all in the price of bread, it was upon the "poorest of the community that it fell most heavily, because they consumed in propor- "tion to their means a larger amount of "bread than any other part of the com-j "munity." This is true, and what the state-J ment means is that Mr CHAMBERLAIN'S proposal means the starvation of the poor. Wales will not support a policy that means the slaughter of the poor by starvation. The Dolgelley Council is ing a good deal of attention to the wise management of the town. It is strongly determined not to spend money on improvements that have not, been financially provided for. This necessarily entails the scheduling of intended improve- ments so that their cost can be placed in the next estimates. The present loose system is not to the advantage of the officials nor to the credit of the Council, nor yet to the profit of the ratepayers. What is wanted in every centre of local government is a policy. One of the most needed reforms is some way of enforcing the carrying out of the resolutions passed by local governing bodies. There is great need of an executive. At a recent meeting Viscount MOUNTGARRET said that if under Mr CHAMBERLAIN'S fiscal scheme some working men got higher wages, there were thousands of others who would be driven to starvation by it. This is the fact that will sooner or later come home to the people. The only fat thing in the country will be the cemetery! ♦ » I The Dailu Chronicle says that "The height "of ineptitude is the brush on dry streets on a windy day." No matter whether the day is windy or not dry sweeping goes on at Aberystwyth. and then when disease breaks out the newspapers are expected not to publish the fact for fear of doing the town harm, and some of them comply! It is said that in consequence of the inability of about 600 of the ex-strikers at Denaby Mine to obtain work, there is great distress in the district. Why not compel the colliery pro- prietors to take these men on whether they are wanted or not? That is the sort of policy that is thought should prevail at Penrhyn. «- The newspapers state that the Canadian Government is considering an increase of duty on plates and other steel manufactures to protect the Canadian industry. The Opposi- tion is favourable to the proposal. This is the sort of policy that suits Canada and that will have to be pursued there and in all the colonies until they have established their own industries. At the Aberystwyth Town Council meeting last week one of the members made a point, we do not know whether it was justified or not, that the local rates of Aberystwyth are as low as the local rates of other watering places or lower. He did not point out that the town of Aberystwyth has an estate which brings in £ 3.000 a year, in addition to the local rates, which we assert are as high as in other towns or higher. This is what is called fairness! Rates are higher at Bar- mouth than at Aberystwyth, but Barmouth is peculiarly unfortunate. What the Liberals of the Montgomery Bor- oughs are asking is not whether Mr J. D. REES, the new Liberal candidate, will defeat Colonel PRYCE-JoxES, but who he is and where he comes from? We know nothing whatever about him, but we know that Colonel PRYCE- JONES is deservedly popular and will take a very great deal of beating. For real down- right hopeless Toryism give us Mr HFM- PHREYS-OWEX, the Liberal member for the county. Montgomeryshire is going rapidly backwards. It is the last resort of the per- manent chairman! Colonel PRYCE-JONES will fight. Who is Mr J. D. REES? What a place Montgomeryshire is for carpet-baggers. The dirty, sickly record of Llanbadarn was continued at the Aberystwyth Rural Sanitary Authority's meeting last Monday. We refuse absolutely, no matter what the cost, to be a party to what seems to us to be criminal secrecy. We have urged over and over again the cleansing of the open sewer in the village, and we scarcely remember a time when the village was free from infectious or contagious diseases. In our opinion, the two recent deaths from diphtheria were practically two adminis- trative murders. The bereaved parents are helpless. Nothing will bring the condi- tion of things home but actual loss of money-trade. Nobody seems to care about the loss of life That religious meetings should be held in the disease-infected houses, and that children should pass in procession before the dead, is almost incredible. The whole thing is inconceivably horrible. We are not going to add secrecy to the shame. If we are filthy, let us admit it. 0, yes we do the children to death all over the district and then make a show of them! ♦ Lampeter has been aroused. At the last meeting of the Council, the MAYOR made a long speech, which was not remarkable for point, about railway facilities. If Lampeter wants to do anything, let it take up the single question of railway communication with Llan- dilo. Lampeter has been fooling about with the markets for thirty years, and has got nowhere. What seems to suit Lampeter best is some sort of one-eyed case against Mr HARFORD or the County Council. There is too much parson and too little pluck at Lampeter for any good to be done. It is no use trying to run in the tracks of Aberystwyth or Aber- ayron. Lampeter has a good case, but the present MAYOR is not the man to put it, and as for the people generally, they have been spoon-fed for so many generations that inde- pendent life is impossible to them. We believe Mr HARFORD would help Lampeter if Lampeter had stuff enough in it to help itself, but Lam- peter not only wants to be helped, but wants to be paid for being helped A great deal appears in the newspapers about the housing problem in the rural districts, but we hear very little about the subject from the districts themselves. Landowners are not disturbed. Farmers are not disturbed. The people quietly drift away into towns and nobody misses them and nobody cares what becomes of them: it is nobody's business. The great change that is going on in the rural districts is that single cottages annexed to farms are not being built and villages are being developed. Sewerage, water supply, school attendance—all demand village life. The lonely, unattached cottage is a thing of the past. It is condemned on sanitary and other grounds. It is not at all unlikely that in future farm houses will be erected more together, so that power, watei supplies, and other conveniences can be secured. At present landowners are not interested in the population question. They can let their land easily and why should they trouble them- selves ? ■* The little girl who boasted to her companion that they had a verandah on their house was met and silenced by the retort that they had a mortgage on theirs. Then there was the shipwrecked sailor who knew that he had reached a civilized and Christian country by discovering a gibbet on which a male- factor was hanging in chains. There are towns which have ceased to have any criminal business, but they still insist upon having assizes held. There are eight towns where no actions were tried during Hunting- don, Bedford, Monmouth, Dolgelley, Beau- maris, Mold, Welshpool, and Presteign. At three of these towns-Huntingdon, Dolgelley. and Presteign-no actions have been tried since 1899. And yet these towns insist on maintaining all the external signs of lawless- ness We are queer creatures. DolgeHey would probably be up in arms at once if it were proposed to abolish its "privileges" as an assize town Mr D. A. THOMAS, M.P., has published a business classic. The title of it is, Coal Ex- -1 ports, 1830-1900." A more uninteresting title could not be conceived, while a more fascinat- ing work was surely never written. Our readers know that we have always held Mr D. A. THOMAS in high esteem, but we did not realize his profound knowledge of the subject he has dealt with in this business classic. All that can be known is here set forth in fas- cinating styl. He says 1 think that men who have had practical experience in busi- ness. and who at the same time have a general knowledge of economic science and of the principles and methods of statistics, possess peculiar qualifications for handling the figures relating to the special branch of commerce in which they have been engaged. They may indeed be regarded as experts in applied economics, who should be able to vivify the dry bones of statistics, make the figures of particular trades speak more familiarly, and "yield up their secrets more readily than even those who possessing a stronger grasp of statistical treatment, yet lack intimate know- "ledge of the particular branch of commerce, a knowledge which should enable the former to avoid errors to which the latter are naturally liable." The book is printed for private circulation, but if any of the business men want a fascinating work, they should try to get a copy. Mr iJ. A. THOMAS is no crank. He has no axe to grind. He is an alert busi- ness man with his eyes wide open and he deals with a subject which he understands as per- haps no other man in the world understands it. We have never seen more knowledge, or learning, or judgment, or skill crammed into one book of a hundred pages. The work is of value to the whole world, and we believe wil be translated into the language of every 1 country where coal is produced. The police are acquiring skill in ascertaining the speed of motor cars and the magistrates are sending reckless drivers to prison. Heavy fines are not intolerable, but a month or t, in gaol cools the heat of the most ardent. The cyclist did not give the pedestrian much chance, but the racing motor car gives him none at all. Do the Aberystwyth magistrates intend to put an end to the touting of boatmen, donkey drivers, and others on the Marine-parade ? If so, it is no use inflicting paltry fines of 2s 6d and costs. Law-abiding boatmen are put at a disadvantage by these miserable fines and the whole town is injured. The only course is to impose such penalties as will put an end to the practice. The police must persevere. The Marine-parade pandemonium is terrible. » <• We do not understand the tactics of the opponents of the Education rate. For more than thirty years Nonconformists have will- ingly paid taxes in aid of voluntary schools, but they refuse to pay local rates for the same purpose. We have put this point week after week and we see no answer to it. The other day the Standard said In spite of the grandilo- quent phraseology which Dr CLIFFORD and his fellow-thinkers affect, they must see the absurdity of calling persons of that kidney iiiartvrs for conscience sake.' But, even if a genuine disciple of their doctrines should "be forthcoming later on, he ought, if he "thinks the matter over in his sensible moments, to perceive that he is takinir nn an utterly ridiculous position. He is willing to "pay taxes, but he utterly refuses to pay "rates. Where is the distinction? It can only be said to exist in the circumstance that the second form of legal dues touches him a little more than the first." Why every religious person should not pay rates for the teaching of other religions than his own, we do not comprehend. The Church of England has been stupid, but then the Church of England has always been stupid. Nonconformists have a grievance, but they have had a grievance for hundreds of years. The Archbishop of CAN- TERBURY, the bishops in the House of Lords, the privileges of vicars and other ecclesiastics are all Nonconformist grievances, but can they be got rid of by protesting against an educa- tion rate ♦ That self-begotten abortion, the Welsh National Liberal Council, has held its meeting at Cardiff, and nobody is a penny the worse— or better We do not believe in these Welsh Tooley-street tailors, who speak of themselves as "We, the people of the Principality." Forty years ago it was the common custom of a few individuals to meet together and to make declarations in the name of Wales We pro- tested against that custom, and we protest against this bastard Welsh National Liberal Council, first, on the ground that it is not Welsh second, on the ground that it is not national third, on the ground that it is not Liberal. Everybody has heard of the definition of a crab as a red fish that walks backward. The definition was objected to on the ground first, that a crab is not a fish second, that it is not red and third, that it does not walk backward. The Welsh members are not going to quarrel with the SPICER abortion which is neither fish, flesh, fowl, nor good red her- ring, for it may have some sort of power. We refuse absolutely to accept any sort of body as representing Wales that is neither elected by Wales, nor managed by Wales, nor supported by Wales. It is true that Welsh members may go and make speeches at the meetings of the so-called Welsh National Liberal Council, but it is nothing, and represents nobody, and has no power of any sort. There have been scores of these shams since the political awakening of 1868. The political curse of Wales has been the practice of all sorts of busybodies to meet at Llandrindod, and to speak without authority in the name of Wales.

TOWYN. PERSONAL.—Mrs S. C. Maer, proprietress of the Columbus Dispatch, and Miss Brinkley Vinson of the Scoria herald, two prominent journalists from Mississippi, are guests of Mrs Maer's sister, Mrs Kirkby, at Llanfendigaid. HOLIDAY.—On Wednesday, June 3rd. the in- habitants were so much 'engaged with the volunteers that they could not get the usual half- holiday, so the whole of Wednesday, the 10th of this month, was taken altogether as a holiday for the loss sustained a week ago. It was very much enjoyed as the week previous had been one of real and earnest toil. INFCRIATED BEAST —A fat ox confined to a yard attuehfcd to a slaughter-house previous to its being slaughtered became infuriated probably by the snitli of the blood of its brother oxen which had been slaughtered in close proximity to the place of its confinement. The animal seemed to have realisf-d the fate that was Fawaiting it and suddenly made up i.s mind to break loose from its prison. This it did and made a mighty charge at the door, which flew open. It then found itself in a kind of courtyard at the fencing of which it made a terr lis lunge and got clean through. With all these efforts, it only found itself in a bigger and saf, r enclosure. For a while it stood dazed, but :I)ees hummirg "and swarming around their hives and ducks floating in a pond roused it from its reverie, and without a moment's hesita- tion it charged the beehives and hrew them into the air like so many cricket balls. Alas, it was rather surprised to find that it had attacked the habitations rf beings quite prepared to defend themselves. The bees charged in return and added to the madness of the already infuriated animal. Stung in filty parts of its body at the same move- iii ent, it round it hep: less to attack its assailants, so it rushed to wrelk vengeance upon a flock of peaceful ducks which were gored, trodden, and scattered 1 ke chaff before the wind. But the bees lolh wfcd. Ju iigony :t rushed into a stable and in a very few moments demolished all the fixtures in it By this time, a large crowd had assembled in the streets outside the yard in which this terrible drama was being performed. Men in white, black, blue, and red pt. ped over the high walls to lock "t the animal strivirg with its madness, but no sooner was a helmet or a head shown above the wail than the beast rushed at it with the ferocity and agility of a t'ger. Several times it was thought it would get over a wall which was quite seven feft h'gh. Ultimately, one of the slaugh tc-rtre for the volunteers made his appear- ance, rifle in hand, and ccuragf ously entered the arena wucre the ex was playing his strange antics. He shot, but did not kill him. The second shot, however, put an end to the tuffering cf the poor beast, which had already lasted more than the allotted cumber of hours. OLTNTFERS. — The week's training, in splendid weather, which the volunteers to the number of 4,0C0 hn<i experienced, came to an end on Sunday last. Hard work had been done every day during the week, mostly on the mountains to the east cf the camp. Many well-c( ntested fights were gone thronch aDd the firing in .some cases burst upon the inhabitants of the valleys so suddenly as tD alarm them. Men creeping under h edges and thrcugh plantations in a. stealthy way approached very cIcEtly to farmhouses before they were per- ceived and not unfrequently met the opposing forces unexpectedly, when quick and he a, v y firing would resuit. Some of the mountains which they had to climb at a sharp pace were quite a thousand feet high. a temperature often exceeding eighty- four and eighty-i f,-e df grees. The men went through all cheerful y and manfully, but cften returned to camp fearfully scorched. On Saturday after- noon, the volunteers did not appear to be particu- larly busy, and a large number c.f them tr:ok a final bathe in sea and in the evening came up to the town to buy souvenirs of the place and bid good- bye to the lapses. They made the place generally rnerry, but had to reluctantly quit the town for ciu.p when a sort <f knell was tolled a' eleven. Many of them sadly thought cf the morrow when the reveille would sound at four o'clock in the morning Sunday morning came gusty and dusty. hen the otn Cheanires were marching to the -Sta- tion witn the band playing, they met opposite the RecreaiOn Ground a team of horses which at the pound of h-na became unmanageable, reared a.nd p.unged, kicked and foamed, and made a uesperatc attempt to run away. They knocked down a lamp post as if it had been a skittle pin, but the men marched on to the Station. Clouds of dusr fell rpna them and, to a certain extent, smothered ti e tears of ths girls they left behind th'm. It We S the general cpinion of the eye- witnesses that the watering-cart should not do its trainig iu camp during the summer manoeuvres. Howevtr, the first cf the nice special trains was despatfr.ed punctually at 710. All the other trains foliowc-d regularly at the appointed time The cfEcers were loud in their praises of the L fff tual and punctual way business was despatched at the Station not only at the departure of the men, but on thtir arrival.

OLD FALSE TEETH BOUGHT Many ladies and gentlemen have by them old or disused falpe teeth, which might as well be turned into money. Messrs R D and J B Fraser Ltd., Prinews-Btreet, Ipswich (estab. 1833) buy old falte teeth. If you send your teeth to them tney "1 remit you ny return r,[ post the utmcst vahie, or, f preferred, they will make yon the I. st. off-T an a hold the teeth over for your reply If reference necessary, apply to Messrs Bacon and Co., Barkers, Ipswich. c33g I

^totings, (Entertainments, &c. ABERYSTWYTH. PIER PAVILION, ABERYSTWYTH. SUMMER SEASON, 1903. THE CELEBRATED Royal Strolling Players Beg to announce that their popular high-class Humorous and Musical Entertainments commenced in the Pier Pavilion. On THURSDA Y, May 28th. ■^o Performances Daily will Le i ven until further notice, viz., at 3 and 7-30. following artistes will appear;- Miss SEYMOUR JAMES, MR CHARLES PENROSE, MR G. W. DESMOND, MR RICHARDSON TAYLOR, MR CRAWSHAVV CRABTREE. Programme consists of Sentimental and Humorous T^es.and Duetts, Trios and Concerted Numbers, y ufihing Songs, Dancing, Mimicry, Whistling, entnloquism. and brilliant Pianoforte Playing. AWo Collections will be made at each performance from the unreserved set holders. 1903-Eleventh Season in Aberystwyth-J 903. ELYSIAN GHOVE. HARRY COLLINS' Mil MASCOT MINSTRELS .give three Grand Concerts daily in the above p dutiful Grore at 11 a.m., 3 p.m., and 7 p.m. °wvrnencing Saturday afternoon, Old May 30th, 1903 favourites, Fresh Faces, New Choruses, New ngs, New Sketches in fact, an up-to-date Programme teeming with novelties. Hilarity without Vulgarity. C°NSTANT CHANGE OF PROGRAMME. ADMISSION TO THE GROVk, 2a. ALL SEATS FREE. read the top line again. do7 THE GRAND ANNUAL Agricultural Show WILL BE HELD AT ABERYSTWYTH, ON AUGUST 5th, 1903. b esident YAUGHAN DAVIES, Esq., M.P. Prizes f-.£10, open to All Comers. Open Jumping, First Prize .£20, Open Turn-outs, First Prize £10 10s Se For Particulars and Schedules, apply to the cretary, MR. R. K. JENKINS, 9, Baker-street, Aberystwyth. JUm°trieS positively close for all Classes, except eiPln2_ aud Turn-outs, on Monday, July 20th, ^hich no Entries will be takeD. dl04 ^Lleyn AND EIFiONYDD AGRI- CULTURAL SOCIETY. rp PRESIDENT he Most Noble the Marquis of Anglesey. VICE PRESIDENTS H. Davies, Esq., Bodfean J. Pierce, Esq. Pencaenewydd. THE ANNUAL SHOW Will be held at PWLLHELI, On Thursday, September Srd, 1908. ^e^day°^ ^>rizes ready iQ the course of a JNO. WILLIAMS, SECRETARY. Pwllheli. cil23 THE tALYBONT and NORTH CARDIGANSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SHOW (PRESIDEn-Sm PRYSE PRYSE, BART.) will be h'-ld on Wednesday, September 2nd, 1903. PRIZES FOR OPEN JUMPING, TURN-OUTS, TROTTING, Ac. •p ^nzes will also be offered to Cottagers pay lllg £8 rent and under for the Best Culti- \-a.td Garden. Particulars from the Secretary, JOHN DAVIES, Lerry View, c928 Talybont. .ØI.S:J'81U5v LLNBEDROG, PWLLHELI. GJLYNYWEDDW HALL AND GROUNDS. j^HlS Stately Mansion, with its famous 0u6 llctllre Galleries and delightful Grounds, is e of the prettiest places in Carnarvonshire. OPEN DAILY FROM 10 A.M. Admission—SIXPENCE. TiS^b.ined tickets for the interesting Marine and to and from Llanbedroec and Pwllheli Snj^j^ftisskm to Grounds and Galleries—ONE :-CQtrlùe JllUjcrixeements. OLDEST ESTABLISHED FIRM IN THE COUNTY R. JONES~~& SONS, COACHBUILDERS, ORTII PARADE AND CAMBRIAN STREET, ABERYSTWYT IT States given. All orders to *>AVIDPHILLIPS, x OARMAOE PROPRIETOR. NORTH PARADE POSTING STABLES, 1> SS/VS Te of :e T"hf assortment of convpi °Un an(* '*iS 'ar&" ^uveyaticea. ssor men 0 conveYlltwc! I-1 UNF^ C4TH'toAGK* A SPECIALITY. LNhKAL ct ^OURNUfa COACHK3 KEPT I^KAIS REASON"A PT F Private Address— 1 31, MARINE TERRA.GF ABERYSTWYTH. b. J. LEVENSOK The HIGH-CLASS TOBACCONIST AD CIGARETTE MANUFACTURE^ TERRACE ROAD (Late Old Post Office) AND PlETt STREET (Opposite the Royal Pier Pavilion). lias always a largre Stock of IIA V AM A, CABANA, MEXICAN, and MANILA CIGARS of the finest brands. LOEWE ic Co. BRn and other well-known makers' Pipes. SOLE AGENT FOR THE HIGH CLASS CALROSS MIXTURE, LONDON MANUFACTURER and AGENT TOT*a^FOR OTHER HIGH-CLASS BRANDS OF "ACCOS and QUO VADIS TURKISH CIGARETTES. A. SPECIALITY OF HIS OWN SPECIAL HAND MADE VIRGINIA CIGARETTES, 3/6 er 100, Post Free an over the United Kingdom. FINEST CANE SUGAR ONLY USED. K ■ "W- T"fN9fN "The Most delicious Ei-jLilo o Journal. TlPV non IJ JTLL -L ALCOHOLIC. GINGER ALE By Royal Warrant to His Majesty the King. R. Ellis & Son,.Ruthin, N. Wales. Established 1825 LONDON AGENTS- D. WHEATLEY AND SONS, 24, SOUTH AUDLEY STREET, W C/O

ABERYSTWYTH INTER- MEDIATE SCHOOL. THE Managers of this School held an- other meeting on Tuesday night, when a matter of vital importance to the institution was again discussed in private. Again no decision was reached, nor war, the discussion postponed, but the subject was left, and will, we suppose, come up once more at the next ordinary meeting. Whatever may be said about the numer- ous personal aspects of the subject under discussion, there can be no doubt as to the ill effects of the policy of secrecy, and still more of the inability of the Managers to come to a decision on the matter at issue, not as it affects indivi- duals, but as it affects a public institution that may survive incapacity in manage- ment, but cannot possibly survive the sort of doubt and suspicion which now rest upon it. What the Managers have primarily to consider is the welfare of the School, and in the long run the public may rest assured that no other consideration will weigh. The personal issues are no doubt Rerious and important, but they must be fought out as the in- dividuals themselves are advised. What the public have to do with is the stand- ing, efficiency, and reputation of the School. We have never believed, and have never pretended to believe, in the efficiency of the management. A point has now been reached when mere muddle and indecision will not avail. There must be clear, decisive action. A policy of drift in the face of existing circum- stances is impossible from many points of view. As we have said before, the responsibility still rests upon the Managers, and it would be unwise in the last degree to take away from them by prema- ture public discussion any measure of that responsibility. With the individual issues we have nothing to do at present, and the School can wait, but the delay is injurious if not fatal, for the public are losing confidence not only in the wis- dom but in the courage of the Managers to deal with a situation that demands thoroughness, and that ought not to hive been left as this matter has been let'o from week to week. If ever a case shuuld have been discussed from day to day until a final decision had been reached this was that case. What the Managers have to remember is that not one individual is at stake but several, and in addition the School hangs in the balance. We cannot publish communica- tions until the Managers have reached a decision. We understand that two of the Managers have resigned. This, we think, is a step to be regretted, but nothing that is done can eventually inter- fere with the policy that wisdom dictates in the interest of the School. It is not for us at this juncture to suggest courses of action. All we have to look to is the Managers, and until they have come to a decision, we are unable to advise any course except patience and reticence and an open mind. The thing to keep steadily in view is the future of the School. Some of the Managers have not been present at the recent important meetings. Perhaps, as on other recent occasions, the sympathies of these absentees were on one side and their promises had been given to the other The Managers have been brought hce to face with a situa- tion that demands the qualities of manage- ment. Will they meet the requirements ? The public will judge. There is no possibility of evading or shirking the issue which is the future of the School.