The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard

8HABBVT MISREPRESENTA- TION. DURING the past three years we have made it our business to track down the lies, many of them deliberate and malicious, published in order to misrepresent and injure Lord PENRHYN. On Saturday evening last Mr W. ABRAHAM (Mabon), M.P., addressed a crowded meeting at the Market Hall, Bethesda. Mr HENRY JONES, chairman of the men's committee, presided. In the course of his speech, Mr ABRAHAM said u he understood that the average standard wage of the slate quarries was X,4 10s., or possibly Y,5 "per month—and this was a pound a week below the average wage of the South Wales collier." Are we to un- derstand that Mr W. ABRAHAM knows no better than to say that quarrymen's wages are only about Xi 10s a month ? Does he not know that quarrymen's wages average much nearer Y,8 a month. I If he does not know this fact, did not Mr HENRY JONES, the chairman of the meeting, know that the statement was a gross mis-representation of the fact 1 If "MAllON" is as ignorant of the remunera- tion paid to the quarryraen as his speech indicates, then he had no qualification for being present, and his speech from first to last was a piece of gross impertinence for which, as a preacher of the Gospel, if not as a labour leader, he ought to make prompt and full apology. No wonder the men who formerly worked in ihe Pen- rhyn Quarries are still deceived when men who are trusted by them can make state- ments of this kind which are notoriously Ill" untrue. IYIAEON S statement was in- tended for public consumption in order to keep alive opposition to Lord PEN- RHYN. Whatever may have led to the strike at Penrhyn Quarries, wages were not one of the causes of disturbance, and it is pitiful that a labour leader, a member of Parliament, and a preacher of the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST should have made a statement at a public meeting about quarrymen's wages which is not true and ought never to have been made. Week after week lies of one sort or another have to be contradicted, but they are endlessly repeated in the hope that by the aid of religion or some other pretence they will stick and will help the men's leaders to get out of a strife they should never have entered. It is very much to the discredit of Mr W. ABRAHAM that the only important statement he made about the Penrhyn strike was neither true nor relevant. The time has passed when the mere throwing of irud at Lord PENRHYN was effective. Thus we nail up another lie on the quarry door.

PROPOSED WELSH NATIONAL MUSEUM. To read the Cardiff daily papers anyone might imagine that a Welsh National Museum was a thing that bad yet to be established. This is not the case. There has been a Welsh National Museum at Aberystwyth ever since the College was opened, and whatever is done at Cardiff or elsewhere, the Museum at Aberystwyth, which is ade- quately housed, will he continued. Many years ago Professor RUDLER gave great attention to this museum, and it is a far larger and much more important collection than is realised by the people, who treat the subject as if it were a new discovery and had not yet been brought within practical limits. There are three University Colleges in Wales. The College at Aberystwyth is the only one that is adequately housed, and if a National Museum, with Government aid, should be established anywhere it should be established at Aberystwyth. The Aberystwyth College is the University t, y College of Wales, and notwithstanding all zn sorts of opposition it has held its own in every sort of way, and is to-day far ahead of either Bangor or Cardiff as a national institution. We do not think that Aberystwyth, or Bangor, or Cardiff, ought to have a monopoly of any Government assistance that may be given 6 to Wales in order to establish a National Museum. For reasons which we need not now discuss it was decided to establish three University Colleges. It 6 follows that whatever is done by Wales or by the Government in the way of developing higher education in the Prin- cipality must be done equally for Aber: ystwyth, Cardiff, and Bangor, but if there is to be preference then Aberyst- wyth has the first claim, not only be- cause of its age, but by reason of its achievements from year to year. We have never courted good opinion by flattering the Aberystwyth College, but the buildings, the number of students, the general management, and the suc- cessess at examinations, speak in un- equivocal terms of the general excellence and thoroughness of the work done. Whatever can be done for the Aber- ystwyth College, of which Lord HENDEL is President, either by Government or by the wealthy men of the Principality, ought to be done. The Aberystwyth College is in possession of an extensive and valuable museum. Whatever is done nationally in the way of a museum can- not ignore either Aberystwyth or Bangor. There are many senses in which Cardiff is no more a Welsh town than Bristol, or Shrewsbury, or Chester. Indeed if there were to be only one national museum for Wales, it would be far more con- venient for the Principality that it should be established at Shrewsbury than at' Cardiff. But there is no reason why the National Museum should not be in three parts, as national education is in three parts. There are no College buildings at Cardiff, unless tin sheds are reckone d to be College buildings. The only place that can reasonably ask to be the site for a National Museum is Aberystwyth, but Aberystwyth recognises that sooner or later both Bangor and Cardiff will obtain buildings, and it is onlv reasonable that Cardiff and Bangor Colleges should be helped and encouraged to establish a museum, and that the museum at Aberystwyth should be im- proved and enlarged. We have faith in the Welsh Members of Parliament. They are not to be dominated by Cardiff, which no more represents Wales, or is typical of Wales, than Wolverhampton j represents Wales, or is typical of Wales. Cardiff is perfectly willing to ruin Wales in order to glorify itself, but Wales is not willing to be ruined, and it is absurd to presume that Cardiff, an English town on the extreme Welsh border, can ever represent the Principality either in politics, education, religion, or literature.

FARMERS AND MARKETS. ANOTHER most successful meeting has Z3 been held, this time at Llanfibangel-y- Croyddin, in support of the movement for improving the Aberystwyth markets. Mr I. F. R. ROBERTS, Penywern, near Aber- ystwyth, presided, and in his speech not only put the general case for improved markets, but put the case of the farmers and also of the Ratepayers' Association. It is quite true, as Mr ROBERTS pointed out, that the object sought by the Ratepayers' Association is not to protest against the practice of farmers selling their stock at borne. Farmers must manage their own business in any way they please. It is most important that this practice, whether advantageous or disadvantageous, should not take too prominent a place in the scheme for improving the markets at Aberyst- wyth. The fact that farmers sell their stock at home rather than bring it to the Aberystwyth markets condemns the markets as at present conducted, and is ample justification, if justifica- tion were needed, for the action of the Ratepayers' Association. The sale of stock is important, but as Mr EVAN RICHARDS, Penuwch, pointed out, markets are not only wanted for the sale of stock, but also for the sale of various kinds of produce from the district. We believe that the success of Aberystwyth depends very largely upon the prosperity of the farmers and landowners in the district. There is no doubt, as Mr F. R. ROBERTS pointed out, that if the markets are improved every tradesman in the town will be benefited, but it is impossible for the town to receive any benefit from markets unless farmers first reap advan- tage. The profit and advantage must be mutual, just as the work to improve the markets must be mutual. Mr JOSEPH JONES, Abermagwr, said that the market question ought to have been dealt with years ago. This is true. but the Town Council have not only taken no action, but the action that is now being taken will most likely be opposed at every stage on one pre-, text or another. These meetings, that are being held in different parts of the district, are a preliminary step to justify the Ratepayers' Association in the further action that will be taken to bring the scheme into practical shape. What has always been said by the mem- bers of the Town Council is that farmers care nothing about improved markets and that they will not pay reasonable tolls. At almost every meeting that has been held farmers have expressed their wil- lingness to pay tolls for reasonable accom- modation, and there has been no ambiguity whatever as to the nature of the accommo- dation required. Farmers and landowners in the district may rest assured that the scheme will be carried through. The first stage is to hold meetings, and several places have yet to be visited, so that committees may be elected to co- operate with the townspeople. As one of the speakers forcibly pointed out on Friday night, there is no desire or intention to dictate to the farmers. All that is desired is to get to know from the farmers what it is that they require, and to share with them any advantages that may be secured. Mr. RUFUS WILLIAMS made another of his popular Welsh speeches, and was corroborated in his statement that a farmer got fourteen pence a head more for sheep that he took to market than he would have obtained by selling them at home. Mr. F. R. ROBERTS said that one of the faults of the Corporation was that nothing had been done by it to improve the markets and fairs. We have never understood the attitude of the Corporation, which seems to be one of mule-like resistance to every sort of progress. The Rate-' payers' Association has nothing whatever! to gain by opposition to the Council, but the representatives of the ratepayers may rest assured that the markets of the town are going to be improved, and if the present members will not do the work that is deemed to be necessary other members with more enlightened views will be elected as opportunity affords. We are not going to anticipate the policy of the Ratepayers' Association, and of the farmers of the district acting together, but there is no reason why the Council should not put aside their some- what foolish air of superiority and ask themselves what can be done to meet the obvious requirements of the case. We are fully aware, and the members of the Ratepayers' Association are aware, that the accommodation required will cost a large sum of money, but the law gives ample power to raise whatever capital is needed, and we. believe that any sum expended will be more fruitful than is at present conceived. The Ratepayers Association has had to live down some measure of opposition and misrepresenta- tion, but these meetings in the rural districts, which cost something in time and labour and money, are convincing the ratepayers that there is work to do, not only in promoting improved markets but in husbanding the resources of the municipality. There has been too much talk about fairness and too much financial laxity in all sorts of directions. The Llanfihangel-y-Croyddin meeting was a very good one and ought to teach the Town Council a lesson. If the lesson is not learnt the day will come when it will be enforced in ways that cannot be avoided or be controverted at street corners. What farmers have to do at these meetings is to speak out, and they may rest assured that the subject will not be allowed to drop until the necessary improvements have been obtained. m—W—^—a

EDITORIAL NOTES. In the passive resistance movement it is most essential not to lose sight of the fact that the essential thing is to secure the efficient educa- tion of all the children of the country. Cardinal VAUGHAN diei on Friday, aged seventy-one. Very few people in Wales know how great and general have been the efforts of the Roman Catholic Church during the past twenty years to influence Wales These efforts have been made in many directions and have not been altogether fruitless. Tobacconists all over the district will be interested in a case arising out of the recent tobacco war tried before the Lord CHIEF JUSTICE in the King's Bench on Monday. It was a claim of Ogden's Limited, against two of their customers, carrying on business at Cardiff, for goods sold and delivered. The i defence was that the plaintiffs had broken their agreement with the defendants regard- ing the bonus which was to be paid. His lordship decided in favour of the defendants' contention. This is a very serious matter for the plaintiffs. A "scientific palmist" has been fined at Llandudno for having unlawfully pretended to tell fortunes. It seems to be getting more difficult every day to make a living illegally. » In another part of the paper we publish details of the earthquake which was felt in the northern part of our district on Friday morn- ing last. No life was lost, and no serious damage was done, but a good deal of alarm was felt. A case of watering milk was heard at Bar- mouth on Friday. The offence was denied, but a fine of a pound and costs was imposed and the magistrates, who did not seem to believe the defence, hoped the case would be a warn- ing to others. I The retirement of Mr S. SMITH from the re- presentation of Flintshire was announced. Then it was stated that there was no truth in the announcement. The probabilities are that if Mr S. SMITH retired nobody would be par- ticularly sorry. These rumours do not arise from the outside. At the Aberystwyth Petty Sessions on Wed- nesday, a young man was fined five shillings and costs for having taken an edible crab measuring less than five inches across the broadest part of the back. The magistrates said that in future cases, the full penalty of £2 and costs would be imposed. The destruc- tion of immature crabs is a great mistake and must be prevented if possible. On Monday, the Feast of the Martyrdom or Decollation of St. Winefride by Prince CARADOC was solemnized at the Roman Catholic Church at Holywell. There was not a single miracle throughout the day! This is all very dis- appointing, especially as there is no lack of water at the well just now. The amount of miraculous water that is being allowed to run to waste is very serious. •* Mr CHAMBERLAIN and his friends under- took to finish the African war for X10,000,000 and then spent e250,000,000, in addition to 25,000 lives. The outlay greatly exceeded the estimate. In the fiscal dodge which he is now trying to work this sort of looseness will not do. Starving people at home will not be accepted as quietly as killing people in Africa, as he will discover. There are, at last, signs of political activity in the country. # Slowly the railway companies are beginning to realize that they might do a profitable business in parcel carrying. Nothing in the world is so conservative as a railway, as is seen by their rat-hole ticket-selling arrange- ments. A parcel van might easily be attached to every passenger train, and a large business might be done, but the railway company will do nothing until somebody has proved to it that a suggested scheme will pay! Railway companies, in spite of all the experience of the Post Office, insist on charging according to distance. Distance is of no consequence, as railway companies ought to have learnt by this time. Dear food is bitter in the mouth even in Germany. There has been a general election in Germany, and Protection has been hard hit. The correspondent of the Times, writing from Berlin, says The tariff question has played a great part in the elections, and it is doubtless true that nearly four millions of Socialist and Radical electors are determined that their daily bread shall not be subjected to inordinate taxation in order to maintain a landed class which is largely bankrupt, and which claims a prescriptive right to civil office and military rank." We are not afraid that the people of this country will be in favour of dear food, but nothing must be left to chance. -■> » # The London Daily News is finding it neces- sary to get itself advertised. We are not surprised. There is a lack of intelligence in the paper pitiful to see. It is in the hands, apparently, of the Independent Labour Party, and is playing down in the most stupid way to the silliest sort of wild-cat Socialism. What the Daily Neios requires is more journalistic skill and judgment. When the British Weekly has to bolster up the Daily News another change is not far off. London is in sore need of a Liberal newspaper. The Daily News is paying for the insertion, as an advertisement in the provincial papers, of the British Weekly's puff of itself. President ROOSEVELT says that an extended experience in politias has taught him that "the one man whom it is perfectly safe to tell an important secret to is a newspaper "man, because he not only shares with other "honourable men the desire to keep the secret but he knows how." We always prefer not to be told any secrets, because when we are not supposed to know anything we can publish all we are supposed not to know, whereas when we are told secrets we have to observe the bond, to the great injury of the paper. Besides, secrets are only premature knowledge, and, as a rule, are not worth much. One of the pleasures of news- paper editing is knowing what the clever people think are secrets. A Leeds alderman says that the Angel Gabriel himself could not keep a public-house straight. All that is required of the publican is to keep his house according to law. This is done by thousands of publicans all over the country. Another speaker said that the trade" was equally bad whether carried on by a bishop in lawn sleeves or a publican with a carbuncled nose. Sleeves and noses have no- thing whatever to do with morals. These are the sort of utterances which bring about all kinds of difficulties. A man has quite as much right to go to a public house as to a teetotal meeting, and it is no more wicked to' drink a glass of beer or wine or spirits, than to drink a cup of tea. Temperance in the country is increasing, and would increase still more rapidly if it were not for unwise intemperate fanatics. » Un Friday, at the quarterly meeting ot the Y, Montgomeryshire County Council, Mr C. J. NEWELL drew attention to the high death rate in the county, which, he said, was something like twenty per thousand of the population, or 1*6 higher than the average of England and Wales, including the large towns. The CHAIRMAN said that there was a greater population probably in the county above the age of sixty-five than in other places, because the young people left the country and went to the towns, and that would cause the death-rate to go up abnor- mally. This would probably account for their high death rate and not the unhealthiness of I the county generally. The explanation will not meet the case. First, Montgomery- shire is not in worse plight than Cardigan- shire, Merionethshire, and other counties in the Principality, so Montgomeryshire may take any consolation that is to be got out of that fact. Instead of the migration of the young being a reason for a high death rate it is somewhat to the contrary, as where there is a low birth rate there are fewer children, and the highest death rate is among children. There is more to be said in view of the fact that where the people go away into large towns, as from the rural districts of Wales, many of them come back to die. After every possible allow- ance is made, the fact remains that the small towns and rural districts of Wales are not in a satisfactory state. Filth diseases are almost always present. Water supplies are inadequate and contaminated, drainage practically does not, exist, ventilation is neglected, house refuse is not removed, and the people just die, poisoned by their own filth. In large towns, the neglect that prevails in the country would breed epidemics and there would be panic. In Wales, children die of diphtheria or scarlet fever and older people die of consumption-one here and one there—and nobody is alarmed I We have been protesting for many years against the insanitary conditions of the rural districts and small towns of Wales and, at this late period, the CIIAIRMAX of the Montgomeryshire County Council accounts for a scandalously high death-rate by the emigration of the young to towns! In the House of Commons on Monday, the first clause of the Finance Bill, repealing the corn tax, was agreed to by a majority of 384. Mr RITCHIE was roundly abused. The question of gambling with the food of the people is still before the country, and it is for the people to say whether they will have food taxed in order to please Mr CHAMBERLAIN. Hay harvest has begun in the neighbourhood of Aberystwyth. The crop is heavy, but some of the cut grass does not appear to be quite ripe. Old stocks are not depleted, for although the season has been inclement, there has been nothing to prevent animals being out. There has been very little rain during the week, but there has not been much sunshine, and the temperature has been low for the time of the year. Professor JEBB, at a Bangor meeting, sug- gested that the time might come when Cardiff would require a university for itself, with the result that the present federal University of Wales would be broken up, with serious con- sequences to Aberystwyth. Ah, yes, so it might about the time when the coal supplies of the Cardiff district are becoming exhausted. Aberystwyth is not alarmed. The only thing that really frightens Aberystwyth is the dread that somebody will build an embankment and convert Cardigan Bay into dry land again. Has Professor JEBB heard of that scheme The great obstacle to the scheme for taxing food in order to please the colonies is that the colonies will not be pleased. The colonies tax our manufactures in order to establish manu- factories of their own, and it is not likely that they will consent to any scheme that will re- tard the growth of their own trade. Then there is the question whether the millions of the large towns in this country will consent to buy dear food in order that the colonies may be pleased. This scheme may be best described as a scheme for undermining the throne of England by driving the poor into riot and re- volution. There has been a case of hard swearing at Ruthin. After the evidence had been given on the claim and counterclaim, the JUDGE said he had listened for two hours to the case and had never been more shocked. Every single thing said about the other side was said to be a lie, and, worse than that, the lies were supported by concocted books-inventions. He had never heard a worse case. He was, how- ever, going to rely on the books, which he preferred to the stories tald, and would give judgment for plaintiff on the amount claimed, and judgment for defendant on the counter- 'O. claim, but would allow no costs on either side. This was the right sort of decision. The pity is that he did not send both parties to prison for a lengthened period. There is great extravagance among the poor of this country in funerals. Even the relatives of paupers insist on respectable" funerals—no matter who has to pay. Last week the Rev C. FOTHERGILL, curate of Stanwix. was asked to subscribe towards the cost of a hearse to take the child of some very poor people to the cemetery. Mr! FOTHERGILL volunteered to carry the coffin himself, and he did so, handing it over to a friend at the cemetery gates, nearly a mile away, and then himself conducted the service. The poor are afraid of their poverty being seen, and some sort of loyalty to the dead makes them regardless who pays the funeral expenses. There is far too much ostentation and parade at funerals. The poor are not alto- gether to blame. Here is a case for the Independent Labour I Party. At Lanchester, on Thursday, the Consett Iron Company summoned 250 of their workmen at the Langley Park Colliery for absenting themselves from work on May 20tli, the owners claiming 5s damages from each miner. The abstention arose out of a dispute as to a change in the hours of work. The contention on behalf of the de- fendants was that the owners could not change the hours of work whenever they liked in the face of established custom, but he acknowledged that the defendants had not given fourteen days' notice to terminate their employment, and the Bench gave ^judgment for the plaintiffs, with 5s damage against each man. Notice of appeal was given. The notion is exploded that employers are to do as the workmen please and the workmen are to remain uncontrolled. Is breaking stones in workhouses a cure for vagrancy ? Certainly not. The stone-breaking may drive vagrants to other resorts than work- houses, but it is no cure for vagrancy. Vagrancy is an outcome of social and labour conditions, and is no more to be cured by stone-breaking than a bad drain can be cured by a sprinkling of rosewater. The vagrant should be labelled and 'ultimately be forced to work. Liberty to go through the country in search of work should not be limited, but the vagrant should nnd his passage hindered and ultimately made impossible. Every person who wanders through the country should be forced to carry with him a certificate which should give his record, and the confirmed vagrant would soon be forced into some labour colony provided for him. It is disastrous that child- ren should be dragged through the country and learn nothing but vagrancy. The subject has never been grappled with. At the meeting of the General Purposes Com- mittee of the Bradford Liberal Association held the other day, a very :comprehensive re- solution was passed on the protection move- ment:—"That this Committee affirms its un- alterable faith in the principles of free trade. It holds that the prosperity of the country and generally of all classes of the people is owing to those principles having prevailed during the past fifty years. It believes that any interference with free trade will lead with certainty to disaster and to a return to the miseries and privations which the people "suffered under protection and which have been forgotten by the present generation. It holds that any attempt to enforce a scheme of preferential duties with the colonies will not only be disastrous to the general trade of the country and will raise the price of food, but will also destroy the excellent and cordial relations which now exist between the colonies and Great Britain." The forego- ing embodies the common sense of the people. ♦ Miss EMBLETON read a paper at the last meeting of the Linnean Society at Burlington House, London, on one of the pests that attack palms and ferns. The particular pest dealt with is a small fly, and it is not unlikely that Miss EMBLETON will take the place of Miss ORMEROD, who did so much to assist those engaged in agriculture and horticulture in I checking insect pests. Miss EMBLETON has been most successful in her career and has al- ready done some notable work. We are sure that Miss EMBLETON could give the horticul- turists and agriculturists of the country a great deal of most valuable information, and it is to be hoped that by means of the newspapers she will put her knowledge into forms that will be available by the ordinary farmer and gar- dener. Every season has its lessons. Any widely-circulated newspaper might make a reputation by publishing the sort of in- formation that Miss EMBLETON has at her fingers' ends. # A correspondent in another column asks if Mr J. D. REES, the new Liberal candidate for the Montgomery Boroughs, is the gentleman who championed the Conservative and Unionist cause in the Peckham division of Camberwell at the last County Council election. This is a plain question that ought to receive a plain answer. Montgomery Boroughs have had quite enough of the carpet-bagger. It seems from what a local newspaper has published, that Mr J. D. REES has travelled in almost all the un- civilized parts of the world, but that is not the sort of qualification that will go down with the Liberal electors of the Montgomery Bor- oughs, who would be much more interested in his Peckham experiences if he has had any. Colonel PRYOE-JONES is a Conservative and must give way to a Liberal if a Liberal can beat him, but nobody wants to see him opposed by a Peckham Conservative, if Mr P. iw j is a Peckham Conservative, or even a sort, of I political twicer. If there must be a contest, in the Montgomery Boroughs ai the next general election, the candidate adopted by the, Liberals ought not be to a stranger and of doubt fn 1 colour. There are surely plenty of lot a) nwn rondy to stand if they thought there was any tln.Lce of winning.

JMAGHViVLLETrl DR MATHEWS.—Dr Mathews is making progress towards recovery from his recent illness. He returned home on Monday after a few weeks holiday. OEITPARY.—The funeral of Miss Annie Roberts, only daughter of Mr J H Roberts, quarry manager, Fanrallt House, took place at the Penegoes Church Yard on Monday and was largely attended. Mies Rober's was a zealous member of the Maen- gwyn Chapel and of most kindly disposition. Much sympathy is felt with Mr an 1 Mrs Roberts and son in their breavement. The Rev \V S Jones (B.A.) officiated at the house. BICYCLE ACCIDENT.-On Monday morning Mr DaNid Thomas, station master, Corris Railway, ran his machine into the Penrhyn milk cart near the clock tower. He was thrown heavily. Luckily he managed to escape with a few slight hruises. The front wheel of his machine was much damaged. NEW STREET.—It is hoped that before the summer is over the Old Cross Pipes will be pulled down and a new street opened from Maen gwyn-street to Penrallt-road. Negotiations with different authorities and adjoining owners of property are almost completed.

ABERDOVlY Al ETEOROLOG ICA L. -Report for week ending Saturday, June 20 h :—Bright sunshine. 38 hours rainfall, 0-23ins temperature, highest maximum, 59 (Tuesday) lowest maximum, 53 (Thursday); highest minimum, 55; lowest, 49. -The schooner" Re becca. Mary and the ketch Maggie Annie sailed on Sunday with slates for Gloucester. The steamer Turquoise" came in with a cargo of ot-menc and left on Tues- day for cardiff. Tne steamer ',Dora, also came in on Sunday from Liverpool and left on Monday for Barmouth. YACHTINc.The sailing yacht Valerie under the command of Captain J Thomas, returned here on Monday from Ireland atter a fortnight's absence Osving to the continuous cold weather Mr Brampton the owner, gave up the idea of cruising along the Irish coast and ordered the captain to proceed homeward from Malahide, after waiting in vain for more favourable weather. TEMPERANCE.—At the weekly temperance meet- ing on Sunday evening there was a crowded attend ance. Addresses were given by the Chairman (Mr J Lumley) and by the Revs J Williams, DyfJryn D Jenkins, DenbigD, and Samuel Owen, Tany- grisian. A trio also rendered by Messrs J Lewis, E Jones and Miss Bell. A committee meet- ing was held at the close. LIFEBOAT EXERCISE.—Od Wednesday afternoon the lifeboat crew went through their quarterly exercise under the superintendence of Lieutenant Rowley, R.N., the district inspector with credit. Dr Jackson was also present and gave the men some useful lessons in life-restoration. Tne boat was launched opposite the Dovey Hotel pro- bably for the last time, as the new slip is nearly completed. BOARD SCHOOL.-The annual report of the Aberdovey Boa-ed School has come to hand and from the following extract it will be seen tha: the report is most satisfactory and highly creditable to Mr Ffestin Williams and his staff This School fully maintained its good character. The order and discipline deserve high praise and the {instruc- tion is intelligently given. The infants continue to be efficiently taught and trained."

CORRIS. THE CYCLING ACCIDENT.— Mr D. T. Roberts, who met with an accident while cycling at Ys'rad- wyn some time ago, left for his home at Cynwyd on Saturday last. ACCIDENT. — Mr Thomas Griffiths, Bethania-ter- race, Upper Corn's, met with a somewhat serious accident at Braichgoch Quarry on Tuesday evening, a piece of rojk falling on his shoulders. He is pro. gressing favourably so far. PRESENTATION.— On Friday evening hst the nvmbers of Rehoboth Chapel and Esgairgeiliog C.M. Chapel, presented the Rev J. Roberts, on his departure for Rhyl, with a purse containing gold and Dr Haeting's Dictionary, Grimm's and Creme's L,xicons of the New Tetampnt. The presentation was made on behalf of the churches by Mr H. Davic-s, Abercorr;s. The meeting was presided over by Mr M. Thomas, C.C. Th6 following addressed the meeting :—Revs Afonwy Williams, Berwyn Roberts, Rhys Davies, H. W. Parry, the Chairman, Messrs H. Davies, D. Ifor Jones, E. Owen, J. Evans, and W. Jones, Ceinws. Bardic addresses were also given by Messrs D. Wynne, E. M. Jones, and Llefenni. A song was rendered by Miss J. A. Davies and party. A Bible was also presented to Mrs Roberts by her Sunday school class. Mr and Mrs Roberts thanked the churches for the presents and kind words expressed.

ABERAYRON PETTY SESSIONS, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24TH.— Before Major Pryse Lewes,jRev J. M. Griffiths, and Morgan Evans, Esq. The Guardians and James Griffiths,—This case, in which the Guardians charged James Griffiths of IS, Mount Pleasant-street, Dowlais, with disobey- ing a magistrates' order by refusing to pay £ 30 6s towards the maintenance of his wife and family, was adjourned by consent till next Petty Sessions. Separation Order.—Mary Williams, 10, Rcck- terrace, charged John Williams, her husband, of Tower-lane, with assaulting and beating her on the 27th May,—Fined 10s including costs.—Separation order granted and maintenance order tor five shillings a week, Drunkenness.— P.C. Daniel Thomas, Llannon, charged David Morgans, farm servant, MaesygwyD, Llansantffread, with having been drunk and dis- orderly on t!h, highway at Llannon on the 1st June. Fined 10s and costs, in default fourteen days' im- prisonment.—Supt. Williams charged J. Jones, Coedgleision, with having been rirnnk and dis- orderly on the highway at Llanarth on the 17th June.—Fined 5s and costs. Furious Driviiiq.-P.S. D. Jones, New Quav, charged Thomas Davies, farmer, Neuadd, LIan- ilwchaiarn, with driving a horse and trap furiously at New Quay on the 16th June.—Dismissed. St-rn¡s.P. C. D. Davies, Ystrad, charged D.. Edwi.tds, hawker, Swansea, with allowing two horses to stray on the highway in the parish of Dihewid on the 31st May.—Fined 2s for each horse including costs. Alleged- Trespass and Carrying Gun Without a Licence. Herbert Mitchell, Wstrws, Llansilio, charged John Jones, Llawrcwrt, with trespassing in the day time in search of game on land in the occupation of Rowland Marshland on the 11th May. Dismis2ed. -Edward Gundy, excise officer, Aber- ayron, charged the said John Jones with carrying and using a gun without a licence in fores to do so on the 11th May.—Fined 10s and costs. INCURSION.—The English Baptist Sunday School of Aberystwyth had their outing to Aberayron on Wednesday, the 24th June. They drove down in:a number of charabancs. The weather was fine and the party quite enjoyed their day's pleasure. Mr L. J. Lewis catered for them.

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF WALES, ABERYSTWYTH. SUCCESSES OF FORMER STUDENTS. In the rucently-issued tripos lists of the University af Cambridge, the names of several former students ,f this College are honourably mentioned. Messrs O. r. Jones and J. P. Millington are t,laced in the first la8, and Mr T. Picton in the second claws of part II af the Natural Science Tripos. Mr Jones entered the University College of Wales irom Pencader School and graduated B.Sc. with 1st class honours in physics'in the University of Wales, lie gained last year the Wiltshire (University) pr;za and specialized for the second part of the tripos in geology. Mr Millington entered the University College of Wales with a Staffordshire County Council scholarship and graduated B.Sc. (agriculture) in the University of Wales. For the second part of the tripos he specialized in chemistry. Mr Picton entered this College from the Gelligaer School and graduated in the University of Wales with Isn class honours in physics. Messrs Howel T. Evans and R. T. Jenkins are placed in the 2nd class of part I of the historical tripos. Mr H. T. Evans entered this College as a Queen's scholar and graduated in the University of Wales and in the University, of London with 2nd class honours in history. Mr Jenkins entered from the Bala County School with the Rendel scholarship from the county and gained the David Davies en- trance scholarship. He graduated B.A. in the Oni- versity of Wales with 1st class honours in English and gained a sizarship at Trinity College.

PROPOSED WELSH MUSEUH. At their meeting to consider the report of the committee appointed to consider the question of the National Museum for ales, the Welsh mem- bers of Parliament on Tuesday decided that it was not [expedient at present to make any definite final ncommendation on the quest: I U,3 raised, but that steps should be taken to convene a meeting between the Welsh members of Parliament, the representatives of the University Court of the national colleges, the Central Board, and the Welsh county councils.

All letters muM be written on. one side of the paper and accompanied by the name. address of the writer, not necywa rily (ar publication but as a guarantee of good fait.h.

THE MONTGOMERY P.OBOUGHS. S'h Can :1i'V of your mailers infc-in me .vhcihT Mr .J: D. Rees, the adopted Libera' for Montgomery Boroughs, is the same gentleman who championed the Con- <crv,i, i -rid Unionist e, i i." (t in the Peckham D:v!si of Camberwell at tIle last. London Connfv (\>nm i! dec:ion ?—Yours, etc V ,iMberal Club, > O. M»»nuiS, London, June 20th.

HOW WALES MAKES PKOGKESS. FROM time to time we have protested against the pretentions of the so-called Welsh National Liberal Council, and against all sorts of gatherings at Llan- drindod and elsewhere of individuals who, with what seems to us to be gross effron- tery, undertake to speak in the name and on behalf of the Welsh nation. We have been accused of being opposed to Welsh movements because we have asked those who have presumed to speak in the name of Wales for their man- date. We know the braz-n, impertinent busybody who pushes himself to the front and undertakes to make all sorts of sweeping declarations in the name of his countrymen." Forty years ago there was far more of the sort of thing we mean than there is now, but we have in the Welsh National Liberal Council an almost perfect sample of quite unjustifiable and utterly impertinent pretence to speak in the name of Wales. We think Wales has a right to hold any opinions she pleases, and to express them in any way she deems to be advisable, but we re- pudiate the right of any individual or set of individuals to elect themselves to be the mouthpiece of Wales, and to pre- tend to speak in her name and on her be- half, no matter how respectable or in- fluential those individuals may be in their own narrow individual spheres. In the old days when nobody in Wales was supposed to be fit to manage anything, we protested with all the force we could command against the management of 6 Welsh affairs from London and elsewhere. We contended that it would be better for the people of Wales to manage their own affairs badly than for outsiders to manage them well, just as we have contended that it is better in the long run for local governing bodies to have a series of inferior chairmen than to have one good chairman who holds the position year after year until his death. We know quite well that a wise auto- cracy is perhaps the best form of Government, if you can secure a sue-1 cession of wise autocrats. The evil is that you not only cannot secure a suc- cession of wise autocrats, but you can- not be sure that you will get a wise autocrat in the first instance. During the past forty years there has been a very remarkable development of public life in the Principality. Parliamentary life has been revolutionised, Notwith- standing many defects, there has been steady progress in the administration of the Poor Laws, the Sanitary Laws, the Education Laws, and the laws for the administration of county affairs. There have been mistakes. There have been bitter prejudice and gross injustice. There have been apathy and in- I difference, but the Wales of 1903 is not the Wales of 1863. There is a tolerance, a breadth of view, a willing-I ness to hear both sides that did not exist then. It is our chief business to deal with what is still lacking rather than to glory over what has been achieved, but there are times when it is well to look back on old battle fields, and to count the gains of the many conflicts which have been waged. It would be unreasonable to expect Wales, whose public life is barely forty years old,, to have outstripped places with a history hundreds of years old. For instance, the first of the three University Colleges was only opened at Aberystwyth in 1870, or thereabouts. That there have been mistakes and failures is frankly ad- mitted, but good work has been done for Wales by these colleges in more than educational directions. It has been a good thing for Wales to have had in her own hands the management of those institutions, and we are not sorry when we are told that more would have been accomplished educationally if the management had remained in London, for we remember how much Wales has gained in consciousness of capacity and in self reliance that could not have been gained if the people who have muddled and blundered had never been allowed to learn what they have learnt and are still learning. There is not among the whole hundred Iniermediate Schools established under the Welsh In- termediate Education Act a single school that pretends to rank with Shrewsbury or Harrow but Wales has benefited by their establishment, and out of the mediocre ruck there will in the end sur- vive a few schools that will do all that is necessary for the youth of the Princi- pality. The old trade of places like Cardi- gan, Aberystwyth, Portmadoc, Pwllheli, and many other little seaports, has passed away owing to the advent of railways and the development of steamers. There is no shipbuilding, or sail making, ZD) or rope making, or block making at Aber- ystwyth, but that town is not decaying. In spite of all sorts of short-sightedness and neglect the town has more or lesg successfully adapted itself to the new conditions, and is known-not as well as it) might be-in the centres of large population as a popular health and pleasure resort. What is true of Aber- ystwyth is true of all the other places in the district. We admit that if the people were more alive to their own profit and to public requirements pro- gress might be much more rapid, but much has been done as may be seen by the most casual observer wherever he goes. There are signs everywhere of a disposition to make better use of the great natural advantages of Wales, but there is an Old Gang everywhere—there is a busybody everywhere—there is the timid lover of delay everywhere, and progress is necessarily slow. We are tearfully told that the ancient eisteddfod is losing its traditional features. We think far too little credit has been given to those who have thrown the Eisteddfod open to all comers. Prizes have been taken away into England, but far more has been gained than has been lost. Only a little money has been lost, but a new spirit of confidence and self-reliance has been gained, and Wales has taught ?" 9 England something well worth learning. Every goal is a starting place. All fruit is seed. Every finished work is a foundation. Wales has learnt during the last forty years not to live entirely on laudation, but to believe that good work, like virtue, is its own reward. There are possibilities in Wales far greater than are realized by the more timid sort. What is still wanted is more courage, greater determination, increased doggedness. It is still 11 dogged that nz3 nn does it." We have fought and lost many a time, but we have also fought and won. The bare fight itself is often the best sort of victory, if it is undertaken in the right spirit, and the result, how- ever adverse, is taken without too much sdf-pity. The people cf Wales are not afraid now as they were afraid forty years ago of speaking out what they think. What we want is not one- ness of opinion, but common action for recognized advantages. We cannot live to ourselves or for ourselves in these days any more than in times past. Wales has moved and is moving upwards and onwards in many directions, notwith- standing all that timid croakers may say to the contrary.