The Cambrian

FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 1903 NOTES ON MEN & THINGS. Th, young Welshman, whose opera is being produced in London this week, is the brother of Mr. Wilfred Thomas. Swansea.. An tip-line contcniporan- reports a rase cf small-pox at Merthvr. "fr<nn Cardiff via Swansea." Dr. Ebenez r Davie.s thinks this lovely. The Gowcr roads are now daily patrolled by pojicemen on bicycler on the look-out for motors exceeding the speed limit. Wlmt a glorious time the "Roberts" are having t One of the competitors in the Swansea waiters' Wa lk ui Sunday was named, Victor Hugo. One of those who saw the belated ones struggling in suggest;- that he was well placed among "Les III The local unemployed bureau has died a painless death unostentiously during the last few weeks: no fresh twines have been placed on the list, and tilings are consequently nor_ uial again, though it ha;< to be seen whether the depression in the tinplate trade will not. in the near future, be responsible for much distress. A Swansea man writes :—You know there are platform entertainments 011 the -sands. Fri- day evening I w.(h d" n there ïul w<ls >urpris ed to see seVv/al clc-'ons and Xunciju}(n>|(j,k^ ministers being very much entertained, eb- pecially by the lady performers. It is gratl. tying to observe that deacons and ministers are broad nmded in some part* <of t!le towp yes, the streets ought to be paved with maible," sharply retorted the chairman of the Swansea Streets Committee when a critic. fresh from the blinding du>t, ventured to re- mark that- every thoroughfare in a twe:itiet.'i century town ought- to to made of some other stuff than macadam and things. Cricket has at least one fascinating merit; its uncertainty is even more glorious and noteable than that of football, and' the up-s and downs of the game were well exeniplitied in the match with Llanelly lasi Saturday, when each side at two different periods appar- ently had splendid oppoitmuties of winning. Elsewhere the comprint is that the bat makers the ball; but. in all local games played so far, the bowlers have had no cause to grumbie at their luck. The famous New Zealand Band, which met with such a poor reception in Swansea, will take part in a great concert given by the I Union Jack Club at the Royal Albert Hall, London, 011 the 25th inst. The King and Queen have promised to be present, and the artistes include Miss Marie Hall—"the female Kubelik"—.Madame Alhani, Madame Clara Butt, our townsman (Mr. Ben Davies, Mr. Andrew Black, and M. Planson. The Mumbles railway authorities are to be commended upon titeir resolution to put down the singing and rowdiness which too fre- quently prevail,, on the return trains on Sun- day nights, by prosecution, if n&cetfcary. Sometimes the singing is pleasant and orderly hac it usually degenerates iruo the babel of discordant sounds in which it Îi; quite too evi- dent that some z- least of the vocalists' have been ffagrantaly defeating the spirit as well as the ietter of the Welsh Sunday Closing Act. The police activity in suppressing street betting at- Swansea h>s led to the retirement from the field of one of the principal betting bookmakers in the di.strict.and thus they may claim to havi scored one distinct success. It is rather pecalmr, by the way, that the fra- ternity does not hover anywhere in the neigh- bourhood of the various manufactories where one would expect the bulk of their clientele to Ikiii from. A diiierent situation p/evsils in the big Yorkshire and Laa' ash'.c towns, where they are must assiduous in "frequent- ing and' using" the big cotton factories. A Consul-General's report is soothing read- ing for Wei-sh tinplate manufacturers. He lports that the rebate in the tariff 011 goods intended to for the canning industry is suffi- I cient to prevent American firms from obtain- ing orders either from California fruit pac- kers, or the Standard Oil Company, the two chief consumers, or at least orders are with- held until the American reduces the price of his manufactures by a sum proportionate with, the rebate, The latter, indeed, affords a very convenient gap in the tariff wall, inac- cessible elsewhere, and it is hardly that it will be abolished if the Standard Oil Company can help it. inasmuch as the latter profits by it to such an extent. .x- IF A reproach too frequently levelled against ijiunic.palities is their extreme slowness In dcealing with public questions. In the c'lse of the Victoria Park bandstand, however, this does not- apply, as the Swansea Corpora- tion has certainly, in this respect, kept well ahead of the Local Government Board. The formal inquiry into the loan for the erection of the utand was only held last week, whereas the bandstand has been in being for months past Perhaps the inspector might have a word to say with regard to this some- what excessive smartness; but the Corpora- tion were fully justitied in their expedition. Had they delayed .construction until all for- malities have been complied with, tile stand would not ha ve been erected until well on into the autumn at best. Mr. Birch-am. the Local Government Boaid inspector, has been going up ard' down the land distributing praise and reproaches be- tweeen Boards of Guardians. Swansea's share K of the disagreeable kind. It is pointed out that, without any exceptional cause of dey':r''tu;oii, there lias been, in. re- cent year- an increase of 20 per cent. in the rdief given. The cause is not far to seek. It is the highly sympathetic, but somewhat ir.discriniira/.ing manner in which applicants are treated. An indulgent spirit prevails by which the undeserving chiefly benefit. It used to he <nid of Guardians that in dealing with doubtful cases they gave the benefit of the doabt to the ratepayer, who found the money. Nowadays it is the pauper who gets j the benefit of the doubt, and the alteiation is reflected in the returns of expenditure. Duchess of Beaufort was present at the League of Mercy concert at Grosvenor House. Miss Talbot and party drove from Margam Castle on to the rifle range on Friday in a lovely pale blue motor carriage. Sir James Hills-Johnes, V C., attended the Royal Artillery dinner, over which the Duke of Cambridge presided. The mooted renewed anthracite strike in tht. States is causing keen interest in Llan- elly and Swansea. Another rush for coal will this time be of permanent value.—"Shipping World." Mr. Ben Tillett's meeting at Swansea to discuss the principle of preferential tariffs promises to be Interesting and educative. The Mayor has promised to take the chair, and the idea is to have the matter debated from all possible standpoints. A marriage will shortly take place between Capt. W. A. Harrison, R.E., son of the late Sir Henry Harrison, B.C.S., and Rose Elizabeth Parnall, of Queen Anne's-mansions, St. James's Park, only daughter of the late Bobert Parnall, J.P.. of Llanstephan, Car- marthenshire. "I would impose a tax of ten shillings on each of those nuisances," said one of our 1ll telligeiut councillors to a Swansea mouor- maker, at the same time pointing to a. pass- ing motor car. The manufacturer replied that the tax was already fifteen shillings on each, a fact the I.C. was unaware of. The proposal of the Corporation Sub-Pro- perty Committee to acquire the Duke of Beaufort's land at the rear of Swansea Castle will, if adopted, add to the public estate a valuable site—perhaps too valuable to be easily let ait a remunerative price. A rental of JB400 a year is being asked for the build- ing previously occupied by the postal authori- ses, and adding this sum to the £ 500 a year for the DukeJ of Beaufort's land at the rear we have a site which must yield J6900 a year to justify the suggested outlay. In the Swansea Parks and: on the Sands may now be observed a somewhat remark- able cluiracter-Williim Medtvay Davies, who, in the seventies, practised at Cardiff as a solicitor. Since then Mr. Davies has tra- velled ex.tens.vedy—in Australia and America. Now, he is in the, habit of making speeches and delivering recitations, after a. fashion that i £ and h," long been, common in Hyde Park. Mi. Davies is the eldest son of the late Dr. Davies, a Principal of Haverfordwest Bap- tist College, and has a sister, engaged as a school mistress, still living. ° When the Swansea Watch Committee have been surfeited with the dubious attractions of fining sweet-vendors for Sabbath trading, they might profitably consider whether a vigorous policy of retaliation on the part of some heretically-mindect individuals, who ob- ject to being made the butts of a one-sided persecution, would not have embarrassing results. For example, the, Corporation elec- tric lighting men recently "wired" a Swansea club on a Sunday. Is there any intelligible legal distinction between an electrician and a 11 tobacconist plying their vocations on the Sab- bath? Questions like this are best treated by being evaded! A prisoner's lot in the S\va.n>i\x Guildhall cells is not a, happy one. Dr. Ebsnezer Davies' experience, not as a prisoner, but as the Borough Medical Officer, was placed be- fore the Works and Sanitary Gommitt^ on Tuesday, when the doctor reported that the gratings near the roof of the cells have ap- parently no openings on the ouhs'-de. A grating at the end of the com. i dor opens underneath the windo v of the Deputy Chief Constables office. Further, there is a general complain j by the officers in charge that the ci/i-^i-dors and cells are frequently offensive. The cells are often pretty fully occupied) by prisoners, sometimes from Saturday to Monday, and in the doctor's opinion the detention of pvioone s for any such period is likely to be injurious to their health. The police .station is aot the ideai place to spend a week end. It would be difficult to conceive of a pret- tier spot than that kindly placed by IMfes Tal- bot at the dispsal of the Glamorganshire HItIe association for the' annual competitions. But for shooting purposes the range fails to satisfy the crack shots, who say that the difficulty in guagmg the wind increases the element of luck, and betters the chances of those who bang at the "bulls-eye" without paying any nvce regard to the air-currents. Set in a natural basin with a rim of woods the low f-ra- jectory of the Lee-Metford rifle keeps the bullet for the greater part of the longer dis- tances just below the tops of the trees, with curious results occasionally in the hits marked on the target. But for the pleasant -is, associations with Margam., and the Talbot aim y, iere would be a strong feeling in favour of the adoption of the Gorseinon range-an ideal one for competitive purposes -where ranges of BOO) 900, 1,000, and even 1,500 yards would be available. jS difficult to judge of the precise ec- w 11c 1 the new jias jiacj on venness in Swansea, as the decrease in sum- monses ia.s, as a set off, an increase in con- victions. cuisfaccory causes are adduced to account for both; in the former instance, the C,i UIS c"u*erred powers of summary dealing Wj 1 cas^s which are tried off-hand without ie pre iminary formalities of the lititle blue paper, a.n the authorities are convinced things are much as they were at the corres- ponding period a year ago. Inebriety is much more prevalent of course in times of piospent-y, but it is a curious sign that on public holidays; it is the almost i 11 vaitable rule for compliments to be passed on the ex-, treme orderliness of the crowds. So com- monplace has this become that it has ceased to attract remark. Evidently the joys of a lunkeu orgie as part and parcel of the re- joicing on Bank Holiday have diminished in popularity, and people are learning to take their pleasures rationally rather than madly, as in the days of yore. A suggestion has been made by a prominent Labour member that the proposed Isolation Hospital and town lunatic asylum should be amalgamated into one scheme for purposes ot economy. These institution are bound to come eventually, and although the latter is a contingency, the urgency of which the pub- Iic have not yet fully appreciated. The que-tio.n will brook little delay, as, however d.latory local authorities may be in regard to the liKiuer, as they have been so notoriously in regard to an Isolation Hospital, another nuthority-the County Council—is playing a hand in the game, and its orders are peremp- tory. There should, therefore, be no undue postponement of the consideration: of the merits of the above suggestion, if it possesses any. A lunatic asylum will prove a costly undertaking, in view of the inevitably elabor- ateness of the building, and difficulty of ad- justing it w as to be sufficiently elastic to deal with an increase of inmates for any fixed period without permanent enlargement. Mr. Bert Thomas, the progressing young Swansea artist, has two humourous drawiugs in the current "Gleam." Mr. F. Mouillot, lessee of the Grand Theatre, Swansea-, has purchased the provin- cial rights of the new farce, "Just Like Calla- gban." Lady Dillwyn Llewelyn's dance at Hyde P^rk Hotel, will be held on June 25, and not J tOne 23, af previously announced. Some fifteen hundred doet.or., attended the Manchester meetings of the British Medical Association last year; about. half the number only are expected at Swansea, because the Kilter is le-s ppnfral t On the 27-th June, the Harbour Trustees proceed on their annual pilgrimage—this time wi 1 g' Ul€ greatm Port »» Europe. Whilst m Germany, it. is expected that flio party will gf> U{M>n tjle gpre€_ It is an unfortunate circumstance for the Municipal Telephone Exchange at Swansea that the start has been delayed so long after the time anticipated that many prospective subscribers have been compelled to -enew their contracts with the Provincial Telephone Company. There is a fixed belief in the minds of most members of the Swansea Council that much more .s being paid out for haulage than the work done warrants. But how to stop the excess is a problem that has so far baffled everyone. Councillor Corker, who possesses a sound practical knowledge of the matter is the ia.est to give it serious attention. Progress at, the Cray continues to v-ield satisfaction. With a larger number of'men employed and a greater amount of work done the wages are actually less than before Air. Mackenzie toak charge. A fissure in the rocks abutting the dam is causing consider- able anxiety. It represents the unknown quantity in the prospective expenditure. The special committee struck by the Swan- sea. Council to deal with the pile of annual applications for increased salaries, cannot be said to have given public money away in a lavish fashion. Between JE50 and JB60 a year represents the aggregate addition to the standing charges, the (ktth of the late Mi. Gorvin, and the consequent, vacancy, allowing of an off-set to the many claims for advances. Mumbles tradesmen are not satisfied with their share of the harvest due to the-large number of visitors carried thither. When the pier was constructed, expectation ran high. But they have not been realised, chiefly because the majority of the casual visitors are content to devote their time wholly to Bracelet and the pier, where ample provision is made for their material wants- solid and liquid. Hence the "boom" has fallen flat. Tolfree, the new professional of the Swan- sea Cricket Club, takes his benefit upon the occasion of the -Newport, match for Creber's, the second visit of the Cardiff team is set apart.. By the way, the latter is rapidly be- coming quite a formidable combination, as new talent of unquestionable class is being secuied almost weekly. At Swansea, if we may judge by the scores, the fossils have still to bear the chief heat and burden of the day. Swaasda. Intermediate School governona came to an agreement to puichase Llwyn v bryn now occupied by the girls. But at the eleventh hour an unexpected difficulty disclosed itself. The signature of every gov- ernor was necessary to the deed. and one of the Governor's refused Ins because he did nolt. approve of t.he document. Now the owner, who is claiming B150 for dilapida- tions. is being asked to defer the matter until the new education authority comes into power when the purchase is likelv to be completed The Swansea v. Llanelly match was splen- didly contested, and excitement was kept at boiling point up to within half .an hour of the end. The only marring feature was the unsportsmanlike conduct of a section of the spectators who so far forgot themselves' as to jeer vociferously at certain of the Llanelly batsmen. This was inexcusable, and tends to detract from the merits of a victory. It is no justification to say that at Llanelly the same bad taste is exhibited-two blacks do not make a white, and people do themselves no good by descending to the level of un- mannerly neighbours. -» The new electric accumulation cars were put into service on the Mumbles line on Sun- day. They appear to be a- distinct improve- ment upon the electric cat* tried last sum- mer, a.nd if generally available, would doubt- less become, very popular. Extensive clianges for the better are contemplated in the service between Swansea and the Mum bles- By the way, last week was one of the most remunerative in the history of the line —a fact, indicative of the importance to it of fine weather. Underlying the opposition to the prooos<- i improvement ifi Calvert-street is the f. ar lest the church should reap some benefit from it. And this, despite the fact that the Church authorities are offering to give ti e public the freehold sites of eight shops and houses merely to remove an eyes,ole M beautify a locality now given up to spualor. The fresh attempt about to be made to in- duce the G.W.R. directors to place Swansea on their main line would be far more likely to succeed if the Corporation representative's were able to go to .the directorate with the otier of substantial aid in carrying out the improvement. Mr. Trevor Owen. the Principal of the Swansea Grammar School and Technical Col- lege, is convinced that the existing scholar- ship scheme for enabling boys from the Ele- mentary Schools to obtain free secondary edu- cation, !M.s failed. Candidates are few and they do not, as a rule, represent the pick of the Elementary Schools. The difficulty is how to provide an easy and popular access from the primary schools to the secondary— especially as the head teach el's at the former lend but lukewarm aid to the working of a scheme which deprives them of scholars and consequent! reduces their emoluments. An effort is to be made to effect a clras.ic change in this respect. So far as South Wales is concerned, New- port has chiefly profited so far as regards the reopening and devOopment of the Sort It African market. An important shipping line is presently to be established between C1,pP ports and the Uskside town. T11 another di- rection, a new firm of Midland manufacturers is negotiating, and it is to be feared Newport will be the "Promised Land" for these and other prospective emigrants from the Mid- lands, and that Swansea will be "ou.t of it." Cardiff, on the other hand. has to face the more or le«s pleasant fact that exhaustion of South Wales coal supplier i", placed by no less an authority than "D.A.T. at (I period not beyond the life of the younger genera- tion! Well, Cardiff's life will have bc&a a merry one, if short. Sir J. T. D. Llewelyn was unable to pre- side at Mr. E. T. Reed's lecture on "Carica- ture" before the London Glamorgan Society on Tuesday. Mr. D. Brynmor Jones, M.P., will, by in- vitation, discuss the National Museum of Wales question at the Cymmrodorion session meetings at Llanelly Eisteddfod. A Bristolian is complaining that there is no pubiic "time-standard" provided in that city, and suggests that a gun f-rci at one o'clock would be a great public boon. That gentle- man has evidently been to Swansea. Mr. Alfred Davies, M.P., who is expected back from his flying visit to the United States in the course of the next few days, has accepted an invitation from the Rhondda C\ mmrodorion Society to deliver an address before them on "Welsh Characteristics." How the unexpected does happen to be sure! There was a breakdown with a load of hay on the Margam road, and a brakeful of Volunteers in hot haste to catch the Swan- sea train waited patiently while the obstacle was being removed—and the train speeding along to Swansea. Over a. thousand circulars were. delivered, 50 personal letters written to patrons, an enormous variety of posters exhibited, and yet the New Zealand Band concert in Swan- sea was a failure. It is evident some now zeal and enthusiasm will have to be infused into local concert-goers and music lovers. One of the visitors at the Margam ride meeting caught a lovely young thrush, irai carefully brought it all the way to Swansea. Then he could make no success at feeding the young bird, and compassionately carried it beyond Cwmdonkin Park and let it have its freedom once more—which he ought to have done first of all. Mr. J. Sanders, Postal superintendent :>t Swansea, is, quite a sport ;n his way. In dis- tributing some prizes, the other evening, he said he was quite piepared to run any man in the Swansea office 90 yards, nrovided he received one yard for each year he was cider than his opponent. The event would draw thousands to the Vetch Field. There is an old font on the roadside opposite the entrance to the Court Farm, Pembrey Village, which is at present placed under the waterspout for storing water for cattle. It is evidently an old font used at one time in St. lltvd's Church, and on it is cut the initials letters "T. E. meant for Thos. Evans, the name of the vicar from 1817 to 1838. After his death it was disposed of at a sale of his effects to Mr. Thomas, the grandfather of the present tenant of the "Court. Amateur opera is fresh enough at IJanelly for the following incident to be of interosi. there. The admirable performance of e "Mikado" by the Carmarthen Operatic Soc- iety will still be remembered by LlanViv people. On that occasion the leading charac- ter was being taken by a journalist who wtts then a reporter on a local paper. Two ladies in the front seats were much impre sed by his impersonation of the "Lord High Execu t.ioner" and one of them expressed her warm approval of it. "Yes," said her compann-i, "and just fancy, would you believe it? He is only a common porter!" Princess Victoria, of Wales reached her sixth birthday recently, and among her pre- sents was a tiny Rudge-Whitworth bicycle, given by the King to his grand-daughter. About three years ago his Majesty presented Prince "Eddy" with a similar machine, and since then the Princess has essayed riding her brother's bicycle. Princess Victoria if, per- haps, the youngest Hoyal cyclist in Europe. The dimensions of the bicycle are lilliputian. Only sixteen inches of tube separate the brac- ket and the seat pillar. The rims of the wheels, which are twenty inches in diameter, are made of aluminium. The diameter of the tyres is an inch and a quarter, and the mach- ine is geared to forty-four. On the front of the plaiu black enamelled frame appears a small M in gold. The whole weighs only 151b. Prince "Eddy" and his sister have uot yet been allowed the delights of a free-wheel. The War Office has no monopoly of cir- cumlocutory methods. It k nearly three yeais ago that the trustees of the Alexandra- road -Iletliodist Cnapel came to an agreement with Mr. H. E. Jones, of the Mackworth Hotel, whereby the latter was to lease a piece of ground at the rear of the Automatic Cafe, and abutting upon Tower Lane, for the purposes of a bakehouse. The Corporation is the ground landlord the lease of the chapel trustees has 80 years to run and no difficulty was anticipated in obtaining a licence to as- sign, because the lessees believed the rental of L30 a year represented the full commercial value of their holding when the lease was obtained. The valuation of the borough sur- veyor was J352 10s., and the reduction of 50s. was and is regarded by them as due to the usual process of bargaining, and not to any pieferential treatment of a religious body. Fuiuhermoie, it is illegal to demand payment for a licence to assign. But upon the neces- sary application being made to the Corpora- tion, the trustees were met with a demand for at least half of the benefit of any ar- rangement made with Mr. Jones, and after a. long and wearisome negotiation, first one difficulty and then another was raised with the ultimate result that the whole arrange- ment collapsed, depriving both the Corpora- tion and the Methodist. Church of the pros- pective advantages. This was the outcome of two years palavering and writing. -¥. -VC. v n # if' Recently the matter has been re-opened 111 another form. The church has a debt of £ 2 000 and is, financially, weak. Mr. Jones offered to buy the buildings at £ 5,000. With sued a sum the trustees could limiiuate the debt and have a balance of £ 3,000 with which to erect a mission room on the other side of Aleqandra-road. The price was based upon the assumption that the ground rent for the unexpire period of 80 years would remain at the figure fixed in the lease, namely. £ 30 a veai. If the arrangement went through, the baihhngs, which now yield nothing to the 1 ates. would' become rateable to the extent of £ 250 or £ 300 a year, and the Corporation estate would raise £ 73 a year for the new site taken in Alexandra-road. In addition. it was understood that Mr. Jones was pre- paredtosuppiement.theJBSOrentaltoan amount that would bring the lei'ting on a level with the rentals yielded' by adjoining properties. But the Sub-Property Com- mittee. however, brought the whole structure to the ground by demanding that .he rent should be J3100 a year. or about twice as- much as is charged for Corporation land hav- ing a frontage in Alexandra-road, whereas the chapel is in a rece.-s in a back street. And this regardless of the fact that the exist- ing lease has 80 years to run. The effect o-f this decs ion is that the chapel will lemam where it is. and tlie town will be a loser ot between £ 70 and JBSO in rentals, and about £ 120 a year in rates. Transactions of tins description give point to the widely respected contention that, managed on the' lines or a. private estate, the Corporation property would yieid double it" present income. A member of the Council is credited with the indignant and sarcastic outburst, "You want the streets paved with marble?" when. reproached on their condition. Yes; we "do" want them paved with marble. Or with gold, lead, silver, tin, copper, diamonds, pat- ent fuel, or anything but mud in winter and dust. in summer. Sir Michael Hicks-Beach's speech in the historical Commons' tariff debate on Monday night must have recalled to many Swansea, readers his famous phrase in his oration on his visit here some years ago, when he de- clared for an "open door even at the cost of war. Liberals are suggesting lie holds the same view now, with unabated tenacity, "even at the cost of war" with the most famous of his colleagues. Swansea rate collectors are inclined to use wrathful language regarding the gentlemen who advise cheap martyrdom in the local Wormwood Scrubbs as an alternative to pay. ing Education Rates. In addition to the extra work and worry they foresee, with a pre- science undoubtedly correct, that "passive re- sistance will be made a cloak to cover a multitude of sins of omission in the same direction. They treat the matter as a prosaic and matter of fact manner that is highly re- freshing after all the. hysterical fireworks loosed off by others but after all, have they not met the "conscientious objector" and "passive resister" long ere the Education Bill was talked about? Thev know the breed of old Swansea's "white elephant"—the Cliff Rail- way—is to be finally torn up and carted away. One more triumph of the invincible petty stinginess of mankind, who prefer to swelter and pant all the weary way up Constitution Hill, or, better still, to "go round" by a more circuitous but less steep route to paying a. humble penny. Public opinion is generally agreed that the concern would have stood a better chance had it run up Mount Pleasant Hill, past the Intermediate School; though the slope there is not nearly so distressing. And perhaps it would have had a better chance. yet had it been converted into switchback or toboggan People who would not pay to ascend in security might have done so to descend in peril of continuing the journey, in a flying leap, into the middle of Walters-road. Mr. Chamberlain appealed for his tariff pro- posals to be considered from the economical and not the political partisan's standpoint, and Swansea Labour-men are. wisely accepting the request and deliberating on the matter with circumspection and coolness. Labour leaders elsewhere are condemning it outright, but the locals, more in touch with the rank and file, are realising fully that there are sub- stantial beuefits possible under the new re- gime and were' it not for the food problem there is ^ood reason to believe opinion would be speedily brought to a favourable decision. One cannot blame them, for the workingman can afford to risk nothing with his food supply. W7hat is to others a detail is to him vital and paramount. Perhaps no objections whatever could be found for a scheme of partial protection imposing prohibitive duties on the surplus products of German and Ameri- can manufactories dumped down in England, at cost price or less.

"PASSIVE RESISTANCE" AT SWANSEA. It would' be a mistake to hold lightly the contentious objection whether in the do- main of religious politics, w preventative science for the conscientious objector, how- ever unreasonable his attitude may appear to the rest of the world, is apt to be stubborn and unyielding. Indeed, a philosopher with the necessary intimate, knowledge of history, might conceivably establish the proposition that conscience has been one of the most powerful factors in determining the direction. and rate of human progress—and likewise the chief incentive to some of the worst, actions that disfigure the story of civilised peoples, it is the fashion with historians to represent conscience as the inspirer of the oppressed. and the minority only. Whereas the sligh- test leliection shows that conscience — the. religious conscience—has been, not only a pinal' of strength to the persecuted, but also the chief source of inspiration to the persecu- tor. It was the conscience of an ardent Roman Catholic that induced Philip of Spain to undertake his punitive invasion of England by means of the famous Annada; it was con- science that prompted and sustained the ter. rible crusade agiainst the heretical but inno- cent natives of South America and kept the torch of war fiercely burning for decades ill the lowlands of Europe. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and the hideous mas- sacre of St. Bartholomew, were the direct. consequence of the workings of the conscience of Louis; just as the most revolting episodes of the irench revolutionary period might be traced to the strange developments of the conscience of Robespierre—"seagreen incor- ruptible Robespierre," who, in his day, made the head rock on every shoulder in France; made blood flow like water, filled the land with terror, and remained throughout suave, senous, at peace with that iconoclastic conscience of his. Our own "Bloody Mary" might have passed muster as an amiable and serious-minded monarch, but for her trouble- some conscience. To-day, when the latter has lest; wide a scope for its devastating moods, the conscientious objector is known chiefly as the product of an act. of weakness debited to the last administration of Lord Salisbury. A bye-election took place In a constituency where the opposition to com- pulsory vaccination was strong, just at the time when a measure designed to make the latter more effective was under consideration in Parliament. Opportunist considerations were permitted to prevail with the Ministry, with the result that a legal status was con- ceded to the conscientious objector to vaccin- ation—a concession attended by considerable mischief to the people generally. In the nineties, the conscientious objector bulked largely in some of the agricultural districts of Wales. His conscience revolted against the payment of tithes, and considerable loss and suffering attended its manifestations. The ultimate remedy applied by Parliament—a remedy which proved instantaneously effec- tive—denoted the singular properties' of this conscience. Tithe was made payable by the owner of the land, and not by the tenant, from whom it was collected as part of the vent, and the agitation promptly subsided and disapj^ared, leaving matters, for all practical purposes, exactly as before. Xow the con- scientious objector is to "passively resist 1110 payment of rates, when in part devoted to the maintenance of Voluntary Schools. Tuxes have been so appiied for decades without pro- tect, but a nice distinction is drawn between taxes and rates. Appa1e11t.lv the "passive resister" is to be encouraged to appear even in Swansea, where there is every indication that, the Voluntary School< are to be starved iino compliance with the wisb.es of a local majority, and where in the name of "no tax- ation. no representation." the Conservatives and Roman Catholics, for educational pur" poses, are to be utterly and completely d-S- franchised. There would appear to be c, degree of sanction for the suggestion tJF:.ii the passive resistance to the payment "of education rate should logically proceed rather from the large class who are called upon ,I pay their lull share without having any say in the management of the schools.