The South Wales Daily Post

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1894. "RESISTING TO THE END." To the Liberals of England the Government look to support them in resisting these encroachments upon popular self-government now and in resisting to the end." It was with this cheery and militant phrase that Mr. Acland brought his speech at Portsmouth yesterday to a close. There isa fine ring about the words which takes our fancy. They are not mere empty phrases, nor are the Liberal leaders buffoting the air. The sound of the inevitable struggle with the Lords has come near, and we shall soon be in the thick of the fray. We have waited long for the time to ripen. Cobbett in the early years of the century raised his voice in strenuous, though solitary, protest against the anomaly of an irresponsible Chamber. Cobden and Bright dealt hard blows to the House of Landlords, who were willing to pro- tect their own interests at the expense of their country's prosperity and their nation.'s happi- ness. John Stuart Mill and Bradiaugh, Sir Henry James and Chamberlain, have, from time to time, led the attack. In 1884 it seemed as if the long-wished-for day had at last dawned, when almost the last great barrier against popular reform would be swept away. But at the very moment when the two armies were drawn up in battle array, a temp vary truce was struck, and the Lords wom allowed-to retreat with all the honours of war. But it was well known that the truce was only temporary, and that the inevitable had only been staved off for a time. The Lords, however, have taken themselves too seriously of late, and have thought that, with Mr. Cham- berlain as a buffer between them and an out- raged public opinion, they can do what they like with Liberal measures. Sir WilfridLawson's happy mot has the additional merit of being true; the Lords should adopt as their motto "Mangling done here," or the sentence which Dante said was written over the portals of the Inferno should be inscribed in flaming letters over the entrance to the Gilded Chamber Abandon hope all ye who enter here." It is not only the Homo Rule Bill that has caught its death-chill in the :comdars of the House of Lords. During the last session every Liberal measure which has been passed by the Commous has .either been rejected or mutilated by the Lords. The Employers' Liability Bill has been wan- tonly mutilated and defaced barefacedly in the interests of selfish employers. For, be it remembered, the Lords were not satisfied with ,Mr. McLaren's amendment which satisfied Mr. .Plunket in the Commons, but they must needs adopt Lord Dudley's amendment, and the Parish Councils Bill has been improved out of existence in tho same assembly. Truly the slaughter of.many inno- cent little Bills must be placed to the credit of the Lords! The pretentions which they have lately -,developed are truly alarming. They claim the right both to revise and to reject any measure that has been passed by the House of Com- mons. This is utterly absurd. A revising Chamber cannot rejset; a rejecting Chamber .cannot revise. Let the friends nt the Lords.. choose which leg they wish to stand on. But, as a matter of fact, do they either revise or reject with sufficient judgment and impartiality as to justify their existence ? Who ever heard of them "revising any measure as the Parish Councils Bill has been revised," which has passed through the House of Commons when a Tory Government is in power? Can a single Government measure be indicated which was either amended in principle, or rejected, during the long term during which the Tories were in ofhce ? We venture to say that no such instance can be quoted. As a matter of fact, with all its fine talk and Loud pretensions, the House of Lords is simply "an additional wing of the Carlton Club," as Sir Henry James said; "A permanent Conservative or High Tory committee," as Mr. Goschen said while its recent action justifies Mr. Chamberlain's description of it as "arbitrary without judg- ment, and arrogant without knowledge. We have borne too long with it. Modern Radicals have rightly paid so much attention to social and industrial questions that they have been inclined to forget that there is stiii much to be done in reforming our legislative machinery. This century will be known as the century of the reform of the mechanism of Government. It is the forerunner of a greater century, which will bring in its train the real reforms which are needed. The 20th century will witness vast and revolutionary changes in the social condition of the masses, and in the position which labour will occupy in the btaie. We are now only preparing the way, and our care should be to clear the decks of all the mere political reforms before this century closes. The Imperial Parliament should be eased of its too heavy burdens by the devo- lution of the work of local administration and legislation to National Assemblies in England, Scotland, Ireland, and V< ale. The anomaly of a$t?.to Church should be re- moved in Great Britain as it has in Ireland. A thoroughgoing Registration Bill should make it as easy and cheap for a man to get on the voters' list as it is to get on the rate-book. Local government should be perfected, and the franchise should be reduced to some uniformity* When these and some other minor matters have been done, our machinery will be in passable working order, and the greater reforms of the future will be easier and safer of accomplish- ment. But the first step in the reform of our mechanism of government must be the removal of the House of Lords, which has always been and always will be a stumbling-block in the path of ali reforms. Let us, then, no longer mince words, or resort to make-shift compro- mises. Down with the House of Lords

NOTES ON NEWS. There is a nice question THE BALLOT. being raised upon the method of voting which ought to be used at St. Stephen's and in the Liberty Reviciv appears an opportune article favouring the ballot. The notion of a Liberal being opposed to the ballot seems hardly to com- mend itself in quarters where some value is placed on consistency; but to every one s i rang reasona will at once suggest themselves why tie people's representative should not be allowed the luxury of voting in secret. The British House of Commons exists on the assumption that every elector of the country has a voice in its decisions; and while we are far from claiming that a member of Parliament is a mere delegate sent to register automatically the opinion of his constituency, yet we do hold tenaciously that on all the vital propositions which come before the House the views of the electorate, and not the opinions of the members, should be recerded; and the electors should also know, by irreproach- able proof, that corrupt dealing has had no influence on the votes of the people's House. The ballot is to protect the people from the possible consequences of a free unfettered ex- pression of their convictions; it is not for the protection of representatives who might desire to play the people false it is for the protection of Liberty, and not to enable Liberty to be batered away. » To-day, the 14th of Feb- ST. VALENTINE'S ruary, we are reminded by DAY. the Calendar, is St. Valen- tine's Day. The origin of sending valentines" on this day is somewhat uncertain. It would seem thnt the day is the lineal descendant of tho Roman Lupercalia. Said Mark Antony on a certain occasion You all did see how, on the Lupereal I thtice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse. Whence the commentator may infer that the first valentine on record was a "useful valentine," and that Julius Ctesar might have been theiirstreci- pient of such a valentine if he had liked. It seems, then, that the institution of St. Valen- tine's Day is older than the name. The name itself is taken from the name of a bishop, remarkable, the chroniclers say, for his "affectionate disposition." Little else is known of him except that he came to a bad enf, being first beaten with clubs and then beheaded. Started with the episcopal benediction St. Valentino's Day because a great feature of Christian life, more particularly in the times of the most religious and gracious King Charles II. Ladies in those days were privileged to choose gentlemen to bo their valen- times, a.nd these gentlemen in their turn were required to give the ladies presents. The Duchess of Richmond in this way acquired a ring of the value of £800, a fact that 1 shfe selected her valentine with much discretion* On the other hand, Mrs. Pepys, chose less wisely. Her choice fell upon her husband, who thus reported the matter in his diary: "I aru, this year, my wife's valentine, and it will cost me £5; but that I must have laid out if we had not been valentines." Evidently, adds a contem- porary, he bestowed on-her soma" useful valentine'' on the same principle on which a certain married friend of mine makes it a rule always to hand his wife a box of cigars on her birthday. .A --=.

SWANSEA POLICE COURT. THIS DAY. Before Mr. W. Roseer and Mr. W. Walters. ALLKGKD BURGT.AUY. A labourer named Thomas Davies, residing d Ruarry-street, was charged with breaking and entering a storeroom in the Strand, and stealing therefrom a quantity of joiners and fitters' tools, and a stove lamp, value £5, the property of Mr, H. Swdt, and also with stealing a truss of hay from a cart in Orchard-street, the property o? W. H. Jonea. According to the evidence of the latter gentleman, the cart, with a truss of hay upon ii-, was left in Orchard-street, and during the absence of the carter, was purloined. The matter was placed in the hands of the police, who after investigation, apprehended the defendant, who was remanded until Monday. DRUNK. Samuel John, of Gorseinon. was fined 10s. inclusive for being drunk on the 10th inst. In 24 hours the members of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade were called out by nine false alarms. Temparance reformers in the Metropolis are taking steps to celebrate the 90th birthday of General Neal Dow, the Father of prohibition. which takes place on March 20: h. Probably the largest and most powerful loco- motive in the world b owned by the Are depart- ment of Hartford, Connecticut. The machine is over ten feet high and 17 feet long, waigb* eight and one-half tons, and can throw 1,3E0 gallons of J.«* £ j»rDer minota

THE POST BAG. To-day ili St. Valentine's Day, Sir Charles Dilke is a capital fencer, and r hard hitter with the gloves. It is stated that the word booze" is derived from the Arabic name for beer. An irreverent political prophet says "The Lords will be doue," when the man and the moment come. The Rev. T. R. Walters, chaplain of the prison at Carmarthen, is ft son of the late Canon Walters, j-of Llansamlet. Studt, the name of the famous public entertainer, is a corruption of the well-known Welsh word, Eisteddfod. Thus Eisteddfod, Siedvod, Studt. Professor P.irry, the bead ci the agricultural de- partmciit of Aberystwith College, is giving a series of lectures dJ connection with tiio liie^onskirfl Couu:y ^Jouncil. Cranogw^n, the Cardiganshire authoress and lecturer, has a now lecture on k* unr Young i.:Ien," whicn Sue will aeiiverai rrlutty Cunpei. Swansea, to-moriow (Thursday). Maud I don't know v. hether Albert realij .j?ea me or not. I gave him for a birthday present the other day a box of cigars.—Her Brother Did be siiio-.e them ?—Maud: Yes.—Her B-o-her You may be sure he lovi s yuu. A S" ansea girl wa-i niuch embarasssd, as the rivals had bot-i called the same night: but at last a. bright thought enters her nan: "'Ob, Mr. Jones, she said to one ■> £ them, who was music* ally indiucd, d) piay liat lovely waltz o¡ ysu-sj and Air. livown and 1 M danca. Butcher u Wluit can I sail you to-day Ser- vant Girl: "I Ye come to >rucr some beef for to* morrow, but loc there bj phnty of bones,' Butcher? "lie plenty of bone: iitw's that i- Servant: <! Yo., see, the money i guts ior ifce hones is my pariusit." Her Majesty the C¿uecll has jast sent from Osborne an ohieiai intimaiien tJ jiada.c»c Clara Novello Davies to the eileei liiac she bestows her Royal patronage upon the choir, which, in future, will be known as the "Royai Vt eish Ladies' Choir." There are a ba.d lot at Oswestry. At tbe close of Divine service at ihe Cnurch there on huuday evening, the vicar, the Rev. Cecil Hook, purely remonstrated with some persons in the conyregl-. t:on who had put into the offertory bags g*s> burners and twisted pieces of paper instead 0' coins. In 1829 one David Evans was hanged at Carmarthen for the murder of his sweetheart at Pencareg. A very shocking incident occurred at the execution the rope not being properly fastened gave way, and tho wretched man had to be brought a second time to the gallows, vainly protesting that the law had been satisfied. It was stated of the late Dr. Thomas Rees, of Swansea, that he knew the whole of the Bible by heart. Probably the statement was an exaggera- tion. A veritable "bibliophile," however, has ti riled up in France. His name is Julius Tostet, of Rochelle. He is an aged Protestant, a pensioner in the Hospice at that place. This old man astonishes all by h:s prodigious memory. He can repeat any verse of the Bible from any given chapter. It is said that Bismarck-once sent a challenge aul Virchow because of some frank speaking on tfes! part of the great pathologist. The latter instancy remarked that, as the challenged party, he had tie choice of weapons, and held up two sausages apparently exactly alike, saying One of these is filled with deadly trichinae and the other is per- fectly healthy. Let Bismarck choose which of these he will eat, and eat it, and I will eat the other." The duel was not fought. Lord Roberts is a sensible man, and knows the value of individual and national distinctions. .< As an Irishman," be said in a speech before leaving India, i; I think I may venture to express my personal admiration for the kilted warriors of the North. Never shall I forget the 93rd High- lacders at Sekunder Bagh, or the 72nd High- landers at Peiwar Kotal, or the 92nd Highlanders at Candahar. Nor shall I forget the advance in line of the 42nd, 79th, and 93rd Highlanders going straight for the enemy's battery at Cawnpore. It was a splendid sight-—one of the most heart- stirring military spectacles 1 have ever beheld." In 1742 a very extraordinary tragedy occurred. í, At the Carmarthen Aasizes a girl only eighty years or age was tried for the murder of her brother and sister, six and four respectively. It was proved that the children had been frightened > with stories about the cruelty of the Spaniards, and the danger of their landing on our coasts. A violent thunderstorm happening, tho children thought the Spaniards were-come, and the prisonet1 killed the y nnger children at their own request with aheugingbill, and then attempted to kill her- self with the same instrument. Greatlv to the credit of the jury, the cbild was acquitted. The other evening, much behind Burns's natao day, the Scotsmen of Scarborough met together tr celebrate the anniversary of the poet's b h. T*, gathering was at a temperance hotel, 1 proprietor flatly refused to send out for any ¡i1é> cants. It was made as plain to him as parrifc<j0 that a Burns anniversary without ed £ a barley bree" would make those who shTy- j in it the laughing-stock of their courts, men, not to speak of other national\f a i But all in yarn. The hoat. although himsrof.tf Scot, irould not rise to the occasion be.1f1 the water-mark. And so there was actually nessed the melancholy spectacle of these b1,)* braw lads drinking a richt gudewillie-wau, e ( to the memory of the national poet, and to.1d another, in anything but that which was br I when" Rob an' Allan cam' to pree." J It is to be hope] that some benevolent 1" g 1 will send to the benighted magistrates of gate a copy of the First Offenders Act. the other day the Highgate Bench hiflj to apologise to a local clergyman. whBI had been subjected to much annoyancH because the Bench had imputed to hn«l undue severity. But the Ilighgate magi strategy who made such a fuss about the mote in tbfCj ps.rv D'S ove have got a beam in their own. Trail bUn&;ij Iads-16 and 14 yea.rs of age—werJlP charged with stealing a loaf. value ?,- £ d.. and th4ni elder sent to prison for a month. No doub Mr. Asquith will interfere, but the Highg,v4*! Bench sadly needs a little more legal knowledgwiij or a little more of the milk of human kitidnessm A Wiltshire correspondent writes :—Few of th]j| many visitors who journey through Wiltshire arm] acquainted with the resting-place of Moore, the Irish poet, that he lies buried in En list sol1. In the sequestered and pretty Bram: a some three miles from Devizes, is tS tomb oi the melodious lyr e writer; whose are engrafted in the nation i life of Ireland. T e u \-h of St. Nicholas, L'rovnbam, is reniaiM able for its decorated chapel, situated on tB south-east of the building; wh ch contains varion noaanKiiis of the Baynton family nnd of armour of past can: uri-s. It dates from till time of vhe Prelate Earl Beauchamp, in the reisM 0[ Edward IV. The old Curfew Bell of St. NiehoM* still rings the knell of parting day over the j spreading plains of Bromhara, ana" the low^T. h rds wind .filowly o'er the lea," bnt the voices "m the forefathers of the hamlet are still, whilst iW chant of the sweet of a nation's hopes ■jovsia hsina heard and will be for axe*. m