The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard

CARDIGAN BAY MUSSEL INDUSTRY. LAST week, at Barmouth, an important enquiry \fas- held by Mr. Fryer, Super- intending Inspector of Fisheries, re- speciing an application for an order for the improvement, regulation, and main- tenance of the Cardigan Bay mussel fishery. That industry has gone down to a very low point, as was made quite clear by those who gave evidence and also by the shrewd questions and observations of Mr. Fryer himself. The enquiry was adjourned to enable Mr. Fryer to visit the mussel beds. The fishermen, it is to be hoped, will be helped in any wise ways, that are possible. Whatever may be ultimately done in reference to the order applied for, there can be no doubt that the deplor- able condition of the mussel industry is mainly due to three causes, namely, the' washing into the Bay of lead mine refuse, the deposit of sewage, and the neglect of local governing bodies. To expect the fishermen to take a leading, part in trying- to keep the Bay free from contamination would be unreasonable. Aberystwyth, for instance, empties its sewage into the Bav. The fact is well known. The conditions of the outfall have been shameful for years. What is true of Aberystwyth is true of other towns, and not only are the fishermen helpless, but the local governing bodies do nothing, and the Local Government' Board itself is as powerless as the poor wretches who eat infested mussels and are themselves musseled. No doubt the pollution of the Bay is compara- tively modern. Half a century ago the people in towns wallowed among their own filth, as the inhabitants in many rural districts still wallow in it, but towns have resorted to sewerage schemes and the filth of towns is emptied into rivers, some of which, as ;n the case of the Rheidol, flow into the Bay. Aberystwyth carts all the stuff gathered by the town scavengers and deposits it on the Flats. The rain, of course, washes the filth into the river which finds its outlet in the Bay. Machynlleth, Corns, Borth, Aberayron, Aberdovey, Towyn, Dolgeiley, Bar- mouth. Criccicth, Porrmadoc, Pwllheli, and other-plnces do likewise, more or less, and apparently nothing on earth can be done to secure reform. The notion of taking the infested mussels out of their polluted beds and putting I hem into clean-tanks is inter- esting, but most people would most likely prefer not even to feast on cleansed mussels which had fattened on sewage and other disease-promoting stuff. We will leave this side of the subject to experts. As far as we can gather from the report of the proceedings at the enquiry, it seems to be taken for granted that it is not clean mussel beds that are to be provided, but purifying tanks. Would not clean mussel beds be I)ctter ? We have no doubt that the fishermen would do whatever they thought was necessary, but the danger is that the fishermen could not easily be placed under control, as control would be necessary if the painful disease is to be prevented which contaminated mussels can convey to the human partaker. Dr. Johnstone said that he could not expect to find even purl. fied mussels absolutely free from in- testinal bacteria. A mussel that is to be regarded as pure mav contain from ten to twenty sewage bacteria. The reasonable conclusion seems to be not to eat mussels, cooked or un- cooked,, from polluted beds. The evidence given at the enquiry was very interesting- throughout, and is of great consequence to a large number of people who are not mussel gatherers or mussel eaters. It would be well to know whether mussel gatherers eat the fish in their polluted state and what happens to those who partake of this sort of food. We believe that if the Local Fisheries Committee for the Lancashire and Western Sea Fisheries District can get an end put to Cardigan Bay being used as a place where the crude sewage of many towns is deposited great benefits would be conferred not only upon a few dozen fishermen, but upon hundreds of them, and upon the people generally all along the coast of Cardigan Bay. If the Bay was free from sewage, as it ought to be free, there would be far more fish in the Bav than there are now, and the ,fishing- industry would be I a direct benefit to the fishermen and an indirect advantage to the people generally. What impresses us is that a far greater scheme is really needed than will be rendered possible by the order applied for, but that does not mean that the order, if granted, would be useless. \Ve have no doubt that the Superintending Inspector of Fisheries will do whatever is possible for the purification of the Bay. the improve- ment of the mussel trade, and the I general development of the fishing I industry. When the report to ¡ the Board of Fisheries is issued further valuable information mav be forthcoming, and Mr. Fryer in;iN,, perhaps, make known what is needed and also what is possible in the way of further developments. What we want to impress upon oflr ream rs is that the existing evils are largely due to the apathy and negli- gence of local governing bodies and to the inability of the Local Government Board to grapple with its ever-increas- ing plethora of work. I

ABERYSTWYTH MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS. THE next ordmary meeting of the Town Council is to be held on the loth of November, the day after the new Mayor and the new aldermen have been appointed at the statutory meeting for the enlarged borough. There is a prospcct of a Birmingham battalion being trained at Aberystwyth, but as the matter was discussed in committee it is presumed that nobody knows what is going on. Mr. J. H. Edwards, was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for the help he had given to the Z, Mayor and Town Clerk in London when dealing with the subject. The Local Government Board has sent a letter stating that the drainage scheme is generally satisfactory," whatever that means. The Board of Trade has also written to say that the leasing of the foreshore to the Council is being- dealt with as expeditiously as possible. The announcement was received with laughter. It is now quite possible that the foreshore will, be under the control of the Council before the end of the present century. 1 ne Public Works Committee re- ported in reference to several matters. Mr. Barclay Jenkins made a reference to the contemplated playground for children and ;Iked if a certain resolu- tion which the Council passed had been rescinded. Then Mr. Samuel said that the resolution had not been rescinded, and it turned out that the project has been shelved, not by the Council, it appears, but by the Public Works Com- mittee. Whether the delay is wise or unwise we will not discuss, but surely it is not right when action has been decided upon that it should be in the power of committees to postpone the action for a year or two. Mr Llewellin said that the Smithfield Gardens could not be made fit for a playground until the ground was filled in with debris from the excavation of the new sewer- age tanks. There is, we think, a probability that the next generation of I Aberystwyth children will have a play- ground. Alderman C. M. Williams made a long statement about the arrears of Corporation rents and rates, and re- ferred more than once to statements made by Captain Doughton at the pre- vious meeting. Wrhei Alderman Will iams had concluded his statement Alderman Doughton said it was not worth his while to reply to Alderman William* remarks. What has been I made clear is the fact that there are arrears of rents and rates which ought not to exist, arrears on which those who meet their municipal liabilities promptly have to pay interest. If there is any- thing- that the prompt payers of rents and rates ought not to have to do it is pay interest on money which is owing to the Council and ought to be promptly collected or ° otherwise obtained. Wre know, of course, that there are people who, are not likely to pay heed to the Collector. The next matter was in reference to what was said by Captain Doughton at the previous meeting in regard to an alleged non-payment of £4 os. iod. by Mr. Gomcr Morgan. The money was paid in. We need not go into the matter, which certainly does not reflect adversely on Mr. Gomer Morgan. Captain Doughton was asked on Tues- day to apologise. This he declined to do. A suggestion was made by Pro- fessor Edwards that the matter should not be pressed to a vote. Ciiptain Doughton emphatically as- serted that he never had any in- tention to attack the honour of Mr. Gomer Morgan, or his good name. Alderman C. M. Williams wiselv accepted the suggestion of Professor: Edwards and the Council then went into committee.. It Would be wise for the inhabitants of Aberystwyth to consider their own interests, but as far as we can judge they are not disposed to do anything. There is evidently no keen desire for positions on the Town Council. Per- haps two or three ratepayers could be induced to offer themselves for election. Alderm.m Williams, at the meeting on Tuesday, said that some of the present members might not be in the new Council. There is no knowing what will happen, but as far as we can see there is not likely to be any great competition for the extra places or for the existing ones. It would be a good thing if the members of the new Council could be taken to see some of the things which have been neglected for years. We think as an administrative body the breaking up of the town into wards will have good effects in many ways. It will not then be as easy as it is now to ban or uphold this or that member, and when elections are coming on it will not be necessary to canvass the whole of the ratepayers. A further advantage will be that if there is an evil in one of the wards it can be dealt with sectionallv and without an appeal to the whole community. The addition of even a few hundreds to the population of the town will be a great advantage. The population will still be far short of ten thousand, a number that would give the town addi- tional privileges and rights and add to its status. We have no appeal to make to the retiring- members. It is now too late to plead even for the repair of the Cemetery fence, or the removal of that lamp at the North-parade crossing of Terrace-road, or the planting of trees where there are now dead ones, or the prevention of sweeping shop dirt into the gutters of the streets. The way Aberystwyth has been managed may not have been perfect, but there have been improvements from time to time, and we believe there will be more and greater improvements in the future. It is not impossible for instance, that the markets of the town will be devel- oped, that palmistry will be got rid of, and that new industries will be estab- lished. Our experience is that it takes a long time to effect municipal improve- ments, but in the end they come. At the present time North-road is being put in order and the children who attend the elementary school in that neigh- bourhood will not have to climb a rugged hill. There is one thing that the Council might vet do before it comes to an end, namely, get that ladder re- moved from the slip leading to the beach near the Queen's Hotel. We ment;on this wrong- use of the slip as so small an evil that it would not even be necessary to refer the matter to a com. mittee. Why no official attends to these things is a question that will most likely be discussed at an early date bv the new Council.

WELSH CHURCH BISESTAKXJSHSEENT. (Concluded from last week). WHATEVER changes may be brought about in the relative positions and alii, tudes of Conformists and Noncon- formists in Wales by disestablishment there can be no doubt that the Welsh. Church will receive pecuniary help and hearty sympathy from Conformists in the other three nations. Before dis- establishment the four dioceses in Wales were simply part of the State Church system and had no claim for special consideration. Now, there having been what are called dismember, ment, robbery, meanness, injustice, and other wrongs, it would be foolish not to see that there will be sympathy and help given to what in future will be the Welsh Conformist Church. The alleged disendowment injustice will be repaired, perhaps by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York handing over a few thousand pounds a year and also by the occupants of fat livings being content with smaller incomes. Even the four bishops of Wales may be wil- ling to live oil less than thousands of pounds a year. It is not only finan- cially that we believe the Welsh Con- formist Church will be helped, but in many other ways. The whole system of organised re- ligion in Wales will, in our opinion, have to be overhauled. A great cank- ering evil has been removed from Non- conformity. We do not ask Con- formists to agree with this description of the Church Establishment influence, but that was what it was felt to be, and one of its effects was to drive Noncon- l formists into close and exclusive re- • latioosh;ps for self-preservation, as only those can know who have had long and varied experience of religious life in W ales. The power of the Dis-• established Church will not be decreased but increased, for in future when reforms are needed it will not be necessary to go to Parliament which is made up of all sorts of religious and non-religious individuals. The Welsh Conformist Church will itself have power to do whatever is deemed to be advisable in the social, moral, and spiritual welfare of the people. We may be asked whether there will not be ruptures which will brino- about a sort of Conformist sectarianism ? That is a possibility we need not now discuss. There are already widely-differing sections in the Established Church, as our readers know. Disestablishment may bring about some manifestations of Conformist division, but the final result will be greater unity, especially among Non- conformists. The Nonconformist denominations will in future have to- deal with competition that cannot wiselv be ignored. Greater Noncon- formist unity may mean the amalgama- tion of denominations whose theG- logical differences are of very little consequence. At present there Is over- lapping which is not only costly but detrimental to usefulness. We could easily give numerous instances of this overlapping in small and not by any means well-to-do communi- ties. One of the results is that many Nonconformist ministers are so underpaid that their lives are a torture to them. The power of the adherents of the Conformists of Wales to govern in future their own church affairs will bring about great and startling results of many kinds. Those results will not be reached quickly, but there are already indications of some of them. We may be told that the Disestablish- ment Act will be repealed. We do not think it will be repealed, but if it is repealed then there will be no rest until there is Disestablishment for both England and Wales. Already Welsh Nonconformists feel the changes brought about by the Disestablishment Act. Mere abuse of the Liberal Gov- ernment is of no account, and leading Nonconformists have nothing whatever to say that is not, perhaps, better left- unsaid in reference to the failure of the opponents of the measure to take advantage of the war to prevent the passing of the Bill. The position that women will occupv in future in the churches, Conformist and Nonconformist, will do much to put an end to the humiliating position that is enforced upon women by all re- ligious denominations. One of the greatest revolutions the world has ever known is now going on, and in a few years there will be no more reason why women should not be bishops than whv they should not be queens of England. If a woman is fit to be the queen of this country, surely a woman is fit to be a curate, or a deacon, or an archbishop. The Church of England will not long be able to treat women as the religious In. ferors of men. Women are taking a prominent place in the war which is now going on. They are also teachers in <hools and colleges. They are engaged in many industries. They are now organised as it was impossible for them to be organised a hundred years ago "Hdj as the Salvation Army shown in this nd other countries, women arc as effective ministers of re- iigion as men can be. Disestablishment will force Noncon- formists to seek and bring about that unity which hitherto they have only discussed,1 as a possibility. On the other hand the Conformist Church in Wales will get rid of that sham unity which was forced upon it bty State con- trol, a control that to a large extent brought about existing Nonconformist denominations. Religion in future is not going- to be a system of varying creeds and embodied conceptions in reference to life, existence, and destinies, based on absolute and irre- movable ignorance, but will have to be what the Redeemer intended it to be, namely, leaven. The Salvation Army has wisely adopted the principle that it is the teachers and not the taught that have to be organised. This would mean, if generally adopted, something approaching to the amalgamation of denominations whose central beliefs are mainly the same. There will probably always be differ- ent religions, but surely there is no reason why each religion should be broken up into numerous sects, more or less in irreligious opposition to each other. The present war is a terrible reproach to the religions of Europe. The Pope of Rome is as powerless as a Nonconformist deacon to put an end to the war, and the Archbishop of Canterbury is as helpless in the same direction as a Methodist local preacher. What is being made clear to hundreds of millions of people is that God Almighty no more takes the part of Controller of war than of Supervisor of sanitary negligence. There are great possibilities on all sides brought about by the Disestab- lishment Act. The Conformists of Wales may more than make good, whatever is financially needed for re- ligious work. There may be also established a Common Nonconformist Endowment Fund to enable work to be done which is now not done, and never can be done while all the financial re- sources of the denominations is ex- pended in erecting chapels and in pay- ing ministers to teach what is already known, or is supposed to be known. It is not religion that is in danger, but denominationalism, and whatever may be the effects of the Welsh Disestab- lishment Act we do not think that re- ligion will be weakened in the slightest' degree. On the other hand we believe that the Act will tend to reduce- sectarian bitterness, and also help to bring about a religious unity that is now only an unrealizable aspiration.

EDITORIAL NOTES. The King has signed a proclamation postponing the ie-assombling of Parliament from October 27th to November 11th. Some Conservatives say that this is a dodge to- avoid discussions in the Housed of Parlia- ment at the present time. Norfolk is the county where sugar beet growing has been put to a practical test. -According to the Agricultural Returns more than four thousand acres of land in this country are under sugar beet. Experts contend that there are large tracts of land eminently suitable for this crop which are at present used for loss advantageous pur- poses. There are, of course, all sorts of difficulties in the way of establishing this sugar industry and many of them certainly cannot be tackled by farmers.