The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard

NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN. THERE is nothing new in the year nineteen hundred and fourteen to distinguish it from the year that has just become part of the measureless past. This is a time made use of for reviews, for re- solves, for reckonings, and for com- parisons. To those who can look back over fifty or sixty years the changes y r, have been great. The whole of the nations of the world have been drawn much nearer together than was possible in the middle of the last century by steamships, tcains, telegraphy, and other means of communication and transit. Wales may nurse its lan- guage, for instance, but all over the world languages are dying, races are blending, old conceptions of human Z, origins and destinies are being aban- doned, and national antipathies and hatreds are passing away or becoming ridiculous. There are altered world- wide conditions of life and action. In many directions the inhabitants of the world are becoming one people, not- withstanding racial and other differ- ences, which are losing their past significance. Changes are less prom- inent now than formerly owing to their being more or less spread all over the world. In these days what one nation or tribe does other nations and tribes do, with differences to suit their own desires and requirements. As regards human needs and relationships, food, housing, industries, marriage, State duties and obligations, armaments, education, and scores of other things, the tribes and nations are watching each othtr as it was not possible for them to watch each other even half a century ago. In these days the dis- coveries made, or the lessons learnt, in India, China, Japan, Africa. are used by all the other peoples of the. world. There is, in a sense, no monopoly now, as there was monopoly when mere lack ¡' of means of transit completely isolated the nations. Restricting our observations to this country, the movements that have come more prominently to the front during the past year are the growth of the cost of armarpents the dreadful consequences, physical, moral, and spiritual, of imperfect housing land I reform, with all its interwoven compli- cations industrial unrest, brought about by education, and stimulated by I those who think, or pretend to think, that there are ways out which really do not exist municipal apathy and neglect and the incapacity 01 religious organisations. We do not want, on this occasion to discuss in detail any of these great issues,but we feel that they are there—aggressively there. Take the burden of armaments. To the rich,. and even to the fairlv well- to-do, armaments are not of conse- quence. What does it matter, we may be asked, to the person with an income of ten or twenty thousand pounds a year whether he has to pay an-extra few pounds a year on armaments? We may also be told that the extra cost of armaments does not in any degree whatever fall upon the poor. Here is our point. The poor are damned by being forced to live in insanitary hovels. They ask for healthier houses and are told that housing reformation would cost scores of millions. Then they ask threatenly why the millions a year wasted on armaments are not spent on housing reform? There is no adequate answer to the question. The children of the masses of the people for nearly half a century have been forced to attend schools. During that time there have been great news- paper and other developments. The churches—all of them—are very much now what they were then. There is religious unrest. We do not think the word unrest is strong enough. There has been a serious falling off in the attendance of the people at relig- ious services, and the difficulty of the churches in meeting their financial requirements is growing year by year. The people are obviously losing faith in organised religion. ib Wales there is a demand for the disestablishment of the Church of England in Wales. We need not discuss the question whether Establish- ment or Disestablishment is the better of the two. The bulk of the Welsh people are in favour of Disestablish- ment, and they resent with anger and passionate regret the shameful accusa- tion made against Mr. LLOYD GEORGE, who is a conscientious and upright Nonconformist—their friend defender, and representative. We do not want to retaliate in any degree whatever upon those who are prepared-if they are prepared-to resort to rebellion in Ulster. All we want to point out is that Mr. LLOYD GEORGE is one of the common people—he has never claimed to be anything else—and everv insult aimed at him hits the rank and file of the people and is resented bv them in wavs that he certainly does not encourage., We think there is great danger in these insults heaped upon one of the most upright and honest representatives of the people. We dp not blame bishops and peers of the realm for their sneers at him. All we i wish to point out is the fact that they are provoking a dangerous hostility which, perhaps, can be made more clear by referring to Home Rule in Ireland. Leading Conservatives, apparently with the approval of Bishops and other leading members of the Church of England, are threatening to resort to' civil war if Home Rule is granted to Ireland. We will not argue the point whether or not there should be Home Rule in Ireland. Our case is that if the Parliament of the country passes Home Rule then it must become the lawT of the land, and the opponents of Home Rule who become rebels are the foes of their country, and must take the most direful consequences of their own action. There are millions of people in this realm of England who are gloating over this threat of pious Con- servatives to resort to rebellion if Home Rule is granted to Ireland. We are not going to argue for or against Irish Home Rule, or for or against Welsh Disestablishment. Our case is that if the Government of the day passes Home Rule, or Disestablishment, or any other measure that measure must be acted upon, and if there are rebels they must be shot down without scruple. Either the KING and his Parliament must rule, or there must be political chaos. Our case is that the Govern- ment must rule, Liberal or Conserva- tive, and that every threat of rebellion is gross disloyalty. Quite apart from the question whether there will or will not be rebel- lion in reference to Irish Home Rule, it is, in our opmion, most disastrous that Conservatives—even peers of the realm—should teach the discontented restless masses of the people that it is not only right to resort to rebellion, but even to pray for the countenance of it to GOD ALMIGHTY. There is a great deal more that could be said, but our space is exhausted. In the old days the few ruled. In nine- teen hundred and fourteen the whole people rule. When the few rule the masses will not accept responsibility, and where rule is equal the responsi- bility must also be equal. What we see at the beginning of the New Year is that the greatest changes are manifesting themselves in education, religion, marriage, industry, and armaments. National progress can only be an equivalent of individual progress and it should be remembered by those who count themselves as political, religious, social, industrial, or intellectual leaders that there is still much of the brute in the individual. The year nineteen hundred and four- teen is with us, and we think it may be said without question that the masses of the people were never more alive than thev are now, whether what are called the "classes" realise the fact or not.

SMALL TOWNS AND THEIR STATUS. AT the last meeting of the Criccieth Urban District Council, Mr. ROWLAND HUGHES moved, and the motion was agreed to unanimously, that steps should" be taken with a 41 view of restoring to Criccieth its charter of incorporation and creating a municipal corporation under the Municipal Corporations Act. Cric- cieth now enjoyed a world-wide repu- 44 tation and it was high time for its lost charter to be restored.. In the old days Criccieth was not only a "municipal borough, but a royal "borough. He believed it to be well within the range of possibility to get the lost charter restored." Whether the old charter can be restored or not, there can be no doubt that it is quite possible to get the town incorporated, and we hope that this will be done for the sake of the inhabitants. In ancient times ST. PAUL said, with evident and justifiable pride, that he was a citizen of no mean city. It is a great aid to self-respect to be able to claim to belong to a royal borough which now enjoys world-wide reputation. There are many ways in which the incorporation of Criccieth would be an advantage to the inhabitants. Many years ago we struggled hard and successfully to get the statue of HENRY RICHARD, a celebrated native of Tregaron, placed in that town, and not in London or elsewhere. At the time there was great objection to what was looked upon as the obscuration of the fame of a great man, but we think there can be no doubt whatever that the HENRY RICHARD statue taught many a hopeful lesson to the inhabitants df that town, which unquestionably holds a far higher position than it held forty or fifty years ago. It is impossible to say when there may issue 'from some small and obscure town or village one who will do great things for the people through many ages. Think, for in- stance, of what the sacrosanct word Bethlehem suggests all over the world and has suggested for many cen- turies, and will continue to suggest age after age. We make no excuse for pleading time after time that each of the small towns of Wales should do all that is possible to improve, its own status, 88 the municipal status of Lampeter has been improved by incorporation, as Aberystwyth has been improved by be- coming the home of the University College of Wales, the Calvinistic Methodist Theological College, and the Welsh National Library, and as Cric- cieth would improve its status by be- coming incorporated. We have for years pleaded with Car- narvon, which is steeped in history, to make the best and the most of its ancient castle and of its ancient history and royal associations. The KING has shown his regard for Car-. narvon, and we believe that it is pos- sible for much more to be done for Carnarvon. Something has been done already in reference to the castle, and any day greater opportunities may arise. That the offices of the Welsh National Memorial should have been removed from Newtown was, in our estimation, a mistake, and we hope they will be taken back again. Mr-. DAVID DAVIES, M.P., has done much for that scheme, and it would have been wise if Montgomeryshire had been allowed to retain the offices instead of burying- them at Cardiff. We ask the members of Parliament for Wales and the lead- ing men and women of the Principality to stimulate her nationality by placing" in each town where possible national institutions. The demand for Home Rule all round is a reasonable demand which will doubtless be conceded be- fore long. There is no reason why the distinct nationality df Ireland, Wales, and Scotland should be buried in the- nationality of England. What Home-