The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard

THE MONTGOMERY BOROUGHS. Now that the elections are over, and the excite- ment they caused has begun to pass away, the Liberal party in the Montgomery Boroughs are realising the magnitude of the loss which the return of a Conservative for that constitu- ency has inflicted upon the Liberal party in Wales. It is keenly felt that something must be done to retrieve the position, and that no time should be lost before the preliminary steps are taken which, it is hoped, will end in the return by a large majority of a sound Liberal. We have referred once or twice to the fact that Mr HUMPIIREYS-OWEX would probably make an excellent candidate, but there are also other gentlemen well qualified to [fight the battle, apart from Mr HANBURY- TRACY, who, we fear, does not care enough about the position to undertake the hard, rough work which must be gone through in order to reverse the verdict recently recorded. Mr EDWARD DAVIES, Llwynderw, son of Mr DAVID DA VIES, M.P. for Cardiganshire, would make an excellent member, and is certainly destined at no distant date to go to Parliament. During the recent election he took prominent part in the Cardiganshire contest, and notwithstanding Mr DAVID DAYIES'S statement at Cardigan that he looks upon Mr BRIGSTOCKE as his successor, we think a considerable number of the electors look at his son in that capaci dy, if he should still be without a seat at that, we trust, far off day when Cardigan- shire has again to look for a member. We have no doubt that Mr EDWARD DAVIES, who is a practical man of business, and who wins upon those whom he comes in contact with, would make an excel- lent member and would certainly fight a strong battle against Mr PRYCE JONKS the present Conservative member for the Montgomery Boroughs. The leaders of the Liberal party in Montgomery must not allow the rank and file of the electors to feel that they are willing the seat should be permanently held by the Conser- vatives, especially as they already feel that the Conservative victory was due more to Liberal bad management and apathy than to Conserva- tive strength and fitness. We know quite well I that there is a great deal of policy in questions of this kind, and that the two or three people who ought to be held responsible for defeat will resist to the utmost of their power any attempt to meet the popular desire. It cannot be too distinctly asserted that in these days party wire pullers will not be allowed to lose an election more than once, and unless some speedy party action is taken which finds favour with the bulk of the Liberals, individual action will result which will certainly not find favour with what are called, more or less erroneously, the leading Liberals of the boroughs. Time of course ought to be given to those who lost the election to make clear how and by what means they intend to regain the seat, but under existing circumstances a long time cannot be allowed to elapse before something is done. It is not im- possible that another appeal to the country may be made next March, and under any circumstances a general election can scarcely be postponed beyond the autumn of next year. There is, therefore, no time to lose, and whatever is done will have to be done in a broad, comprehensive spirit, so that the; electors generally may be inspired with an enthusiasm and confidence, which were strangely lacking during the recent contest. I

JiNGLAISD AND iiO.MK RULE FOR IRELAND. THE publication of several statements pur- porting to have been made by Mr GLAD- STONE in reference to Home Rule in Ireland has, during the week, given rise to considerable discussion amongst all political parties. Mr GLADSTONE has more than once disavowed all the schemes put forward, and has assured the public that when he has any statement to make in reference to Ireland he will make it in a public way. Notwithstanding Mr GLADSTONES disclaimers the Tory papers persist in father- ing upon him the schemes for which there seems to be no authority beyond the newspapers where they appeared. One thing has been made abundantly clear by the result of the elections, namely, that Parliament will of necessity be compelled to give its time almost exclusively to Irish questions, and however great may be the difficulty or dagger of conceding a large measure of Home Rule to Ireland, it is now loudly asserted that that will have to be done. In a short time the excitement now prevailing will give place to quieter moods, when it will be possible to examine some of the more obvious difficulties in the way of granting that separation between the two countries which is compatible with the maintenance of the integrity of the empire. For instance, would a Parliament sitting in Dublin be empowered to repeal existing laws, such for instance as those against theft and murder, and others in relation to marriage, ownership of z5 property, contracts, debts, &c. Or does Home Rule only mean that Ireland is to be given quickly a system of Local Government which might with advantage be conferred also on Wales, Scotland, and England. There seems to be in the minds of a considerable number of people a perfectly unreasonable fear that Mr GLADSTONE, with all his age and expeiience, will formulate some wild scheme of separation, and that however wild, it will be accepted and passed without discussion or amendment, and before here has been oppor tur.ity for remonstrance or opposition. This is not the way in which great changes are made in these days and in this country. Already, before a plan of any kind is in existence, passionate protests have been delivered, and it has been made abundantly clear that for the present, at any rate, it would be impossible to pass such a measure as the timid would dread, the wise would repudiate, and the strong would resist with all the force they could command. Mr GLADSTONE has not yet spoken, and Mr PARNELL observes a profound silence. In fact, the whole discussion is at present just the discussion which might be expected in a free country with a free press, and in the face of a grave crisis. That the crisis is grave, we presume nobody will deny. Not a single Liberal has been returned by Ireland, and the Conservative candidates, who were sent to oppose the Nationalists, have been defeated by tremendous majorities. A declaration that cannot be ignored has been made by at least two-thirds of the Irish people against existing political arrange- ments, and unless Parliamentary representa- tion is a farce, and the expression of the people's will at the polling booths is an idle matter of form, something must be done, and the question that will be discussed, perhaps for many years to come, will be as to the nature and extent of that something. We are only at the beginning of the controversy, whereas some writers would have us to believe that already the future of Ireland is decided, and only waits to be regis- tered in the Houge of Commons. It behoves the electors in every constitu- ency to make up their minds on this great question, for there can be little doubt that before long they will have to express an opinion, probably on more schemes than one, forgiving Ire- land that measure of self government which different political leaders may think necessary for the pacification and prosperity of the country. At present they have no material before them for judgement, but soon after I parliament meets, that material will probably be provided in abundance, and much will depend on the wisdom and self restraint of the electors of the United Kingdom, who, after all, and not the Irish members, will finally settle the ques- tion.

COILNTY GOVERNMENT. THE question of county government is one that cannot be made popular owing to the number and intricacy of the details involved in it. Still the whole subject is so important, and comes so directly home to every inhabitant of the country, that no pains ought to be spared in spreading information ai.d in enabling those in terested, to understand the schemes which are likely to be brought before Parliament. At present county Government is represented by councils and local boards in towns, and by boards of guardians, school boards, sanitary committees, highway boards, and quarter session in rural districts. It is scarcely necessary to describe the duties of these bodies, but it may not be out of place to point out that courts of quarter sessions are composd of men who represent no- body, and whc are not responsible in any sense to the people whose money they spend. Their powers are limited and their duties are per- formed in a most perfunctory manner, the chief object of county magistrates being, as far as can( be judged from their aots, to keep the common people at a distance, and to maintain and strengthen the power and privileges of a class. Most people when they think of a new system of county government fix their minds too ex- clusively upon that shifting of power from county magistrates, which will certainly be one feature of any measure brought forward, but which, after all, is not of first importance. It is desirable, of course, that there should be an end, once for all, of that impertinent assumption of superiority which is so distinguishing a characteristic of the county justice of the peace, í but. it is far more important that a strong, re- presentative, and efficient form of government, with wide powers and adequate resources, should be provided for counties. The task of providing such a government has hitherto been too great for those who have attempted it, and it is very doubtful indeed whether, after all the discussion on the subject, the ground is yet sufficiently clear for legislative action. We propose in this article to place before our readers what seem to us to be the chief sug- gestions, requirements, and difficulties in refer- ence to this important topic. It is understood that the bodies in whose hands county manage- ment would be placed by the contemplated Act of Parliament, would be distriet boards and county councils. For the distriet boards unions would be taken as the unit, and for county purposes town councils, local boards, and sanitary districts would be deemed to be unions. Neither on the district boards nor on the county councils would there be any ex-officio members, j Experience has proved that the ex-officio i members of boards arc a weakness, if not an actual evil. The members on both district boards and county councils should be elected by ballot for three years, but there is a suggestion that the members of the 119 district boards only should be elected by! ballot, and that the members of the county' should be chosen by the members of the district, boards out of their own bodies. There can be little doubt however, that direct election would be the n>os^ satisfactory arrangement that could be made ill both cases. The relief of the po, or would be carried out by joint committees of the various bodies with- in the present unions. For instance, the town of Aberystwyth, for all other pur- poses than the relief of the poor, would be a union under the Act, but for relief its position would return tiie as at present. As to the duties of the district boards, all the duties now discharged by burial boards, school boards, highway boards, sanitary committees, vestries, and all other boards, committees and authorities, would be merged in them, and new powers not I now possessed by any of these bodies would be given. The county council would have powjr to erect new bridges; to provide arterial drainage and water works: to arrange for county lighting; to reclaim waste land, to purchase lands for allotments to make tram- ways and railways to construct new roads; to embank and straighten rivers; to provide against the inroads of the sea to arrange fairs to afforest waste lands to manage charities to manage the police to license public-houses to close unnecessary public-houses, and t to do any other work necessary for I the development and utilisation of the I resources of the county, such as making I provision for village government by appointing I committees of its own members or the members of the district boards. For all expenditure, including that by the district boards as well as that of the county council, there should be only one rate. The county council would issue precepts on the district boards for any sums required, and the district boards would levy one rate for all purposes, which should be paid half by the owner and half by the occupier. In addition to the amount raised by precepts issued against the district boards, the county council should collect and hold for the benefit of the county the carriage tax, the dog tax, the man- servants' tax, the inhabited house duty, and I perhaps some other taxes now absorbed by the national revenue. This concession of national taxes would entail the abolition of grants I now made out of the consolidated fund towards the police and pauper lunatics; the part payment of sanitary inspectors' and medical oirieers' salaries, and other subsidies. The number of members of the county council and the district boards would be in pro- portion to the inhabitants, the principle of one man one vote would be adopted, and men and women would be eligible for election on both bodies. As a necessary preliminary to a com- prehensive measure for county govern- ment there must be a national and equal assessment by Government officials of all property liable to be rated throughout the United Kingdom, and it must not be in the power of owners of I property to reduce their own assessments and, to increase their neighbour's as at present. The county council should meet at some fixed times, and should have power to delegate the execution of its resolutions either to committees of its own, body or to committees made up out of the district boards. The question of payment for attendances is a difficult one, and the probabilities are that some allowance will be made for railway fares, but none for services rendered. It is a great hardship at present that members of boards of guardians have to pay their own travelling expenses. There is one provision without which no measure of county government will be satisfactory, namely, a provision by which the county court shall be made in reality as well as name a court for the county, the judge having power to try all issues now tried at petty and quarter sessions. We do not mean that all the present sessions should be abolished, but that every defendant or plaintiff should have power to try his case before a county court judge in preference to com- ing before county or borough magistrates. It is no use mincing the matter. The public have no confidence in the justice administered in the courts of rural districts and small towns. There is an- other point of very considerable importanc i. It will be observed by our readers that a town council, with its mayor and aldermen, is more imposing than a Local Board with its chair- man, or a Board of Guardians with its chair- man. Even the chairman of quarter sessions does not seem to occupy as honourable a place as the mayor of a town. There is an honour and a dignity about the mayor of a town that; do not accrue to chairmen of other bodies, however important the duties may be which are discharged by those boards. It is to b;1 hoped that in constituting the new district j boards and county councils attention will be | paid to honours, dignities, and powers, apart j paid to honours, dignities, and powers, apart j from the mere discharge of public duties. The whole question of county government is very | involved, and it will be more difficult to give birth to vigorous bodies, than to lind work for the bodies, whether vigorous or not.

THE TRADE OF THE DIS- TRICT. i DURING the past year, as our readers can see by the traffic return published in another part of j & the paper, there has been a fall- I ing off in the receipts of the Cam- j brian Railways, amounting to something I like a thousand pounds. This falling off is all the more serious as the previous year was not a I good one. It would be manifestly absurd to attribute all this loss to defective management, j but we are quite certain that bad trade has been i aggravated in no slight degree by bad managr.2- ment, and high-handed action which has con- verted customers into enemies and turned sources of profit into occasions of 'loss. Not- withstanding the way in which business men; and others residing in the district have been i stimulated by official stupidity to use the line as little as possible, there can be no doubt that, j part of the decline in the company's receipts is due to decreased trade for which the company are neither directly nor indirectly responsible, The signs of decreasing trade are visible in every ( direction. The slate quarries are not in full work, and the lead mines are almost j at a standstill. Farmers, of course, are thoroughly disheartened, and are no longer making those efforts which sanguine men delight in when the prospect is one of hope instead of despair. Owners of house property, who a few years ago scarcely knew when rents were high enough, and who went about picking and choosing i the most desirable tenants, now have empty shops and houses on their hands and cannot let I them at any price. They are empty because there are more, shops than business men, and more houses than fam- ilies. There are shops to let in every business street of Aberystwyth, and if anybody wants lodging-houses they can easily get some of the best on the Terrace. There will have to be very great reductions of rents on the Ter.ace before lodging-house keepers can make both ends meet. Indeed, it is doubtful whether any re- ductions in rent can make up the required differ- j ence. Most of the local gentry buy whatever j they can at London stores, and as the mineral districts have been denuded of the mining and industrial population the out-look is not by any "V"?- ::ierais encouraging. What is true of Aber- ystwyth is equally true of other places, and nowhere is there any sign of im- provement. Local industries have been strangled by the idiotic policy of railway companies, and local tr8,de has been taken to London for the sake of an imaginary five per cent. profit which the gentry think they make by dealing at stores. There is no hope of im- provement until landowners and other capital- Ists join together to develop every possible re- source, and until all bring pressure to bear upon railway companies which at present prevent the establishment and successful working of any industry. The only ray of light we see is that there is a growing concensus of opinion that the concentration of industries in a few great cen- tres is not a good thing, and that something must be done to place railways under State management so as to secure cheap transit for goods and passengers.

LOCAL AND GENERAL NOTES. Anyone who wants to be well posted in all sorts of r><,ri<nal statistics and information, from the Liberal stand point, should possess the Financial Inform Almanack, a work of wonderful variety.. It is im- I^ssiMe to give any idea of the contents of this Kiullmg volume in a pnvagra;)!) of this kind. rext year we propose to publish occasional artier btwed on information provided in this useful work. -;¡..1(. Aoout six months ago,, by calling special attention to :n this column, we succeeded in getting a large heap t: kitchen refuse removed frl-im a yard near one of tht- trances to the town where visitors and others could f ee it all through the summer months. Since then Mother large heap has accumulated, and the question -,Ae wish to ask is how long the ratepayers of Aber- ytwyth are going to put up with the present utterly in-iifieient scavenging and sanitary arrangements of e the town. This question involves the comfort, health, T jVeS °f the P°°r' an(l lt is> high time something Kheaid be done to secure that efficiency winch Q rJriady paid for. he Ayrshire Courier, a Scotch Conservative pnper i* read. The editor in announcing the paper's death bitter, and sii(I It might still have survived, haaihe promised support been forthcoming but unless is in possession of indisputable documentary evidence, the word of a gentleman is no longer as good as hi bond." He says he has scarcely a pang of l't. gret,seeing that from the first number until now it has beenfor him a continual round of mental and physical wearmd tear, with none of the hearty and sponta- neoui support to which the enterprise was entitled.. The pblic are very ignorant as to en-erytiliiig that per- tains o newspapers. They buy them for a penny or tbree-ialf-peiice and naturally think they must cost still les. To be the editor of a Conservative paper in Scotlad must be a specially dismal business. We often onder what Conservatives want with news- papers. Even the most stupid of Conservative papers must led to some sort of discussion and inquiry, and discussin and inquiry are fatal to Conservatism. -X «- Mr S.PEI, SMITH, who was defeated at Liverpool the othe day, addressed a meeting last week and said that onl those who had sat as members for a eon- etituencjrepresenting half a million of people could form an dea of what that position implied. Besides sitting u till three or four in the morning for the good of tt, country, there were piles of letters from people wo even expected their debts to be paid, and from otlirs seeking situations and promotion, to whom so,, kind of reply must be given. Therefore, he did notonsidcr that in his defeat he was nmeh to be pitted. We should think it must always astonish a newly-ebted member of Parliament to discover to what a vasnumber of people he owes his success, an,I now very Itle he has had to do with it himself. We trust the tie is not far distant when constituencies will pay t expenses of members, and when the :o nity willenuinerate them for their serviees. Dr. VWK l says that it is the unhealthiness of the MIUIIIS of larj towns that runs up high rates of mortal ity. She shys that the death-rate for Hampste;,tl ill the second (jirter of the present year W< i per thousand,, bi 23 in Bethnal-green. Miss VICKKRV, dealing with Ie mean age at death, says that the riultei- esses in England and Wales it appears tn -beat prese-, exceedingly high, namely, lifty-live J years; amoi the general population it was forty- "'one last yetititioitg the artisan classes of Lambeth "two or thrcee-ars ago it was only and !1 half years,hieli gave twenty-five years more of "life to the rier classes than the poorer." Th"se •tatements ha great significance for the inhabitant*, d watenng-plies like Aberystwyth, where it is im- possible to get e authorities to recognize the epm- mercial import^ of careful attention to sanitary work. YVatern places must be kept as clean and as healthy, if they-e to be prosperous, as the healthiest parts of large to)s, This is the fact that tow;) < oiui I oils and local boais ought to recognize. I I At tne Crossv, 4 rent audit on Tuesday last the I Right Hon. the:;u-l of LISIU KN-E returned" the I tenants twenty pejeut. on their rents, in eon.se,, lU n,-e I of the dcpressioJlill agriculture. This Ù, i: "t]" I stantial present, 1) Lord Lisj;r:;xE knows that these I allowances leave V,s ttji(I taxes as high &.< ever. ,,i<l I also lack permanCe. Landowners proi.ai.lv do I not believe thatteiiant.s are so pressed that I a reduction of cuty per cent, is insufficient I to redeem them. Men, for a little vrhil- Hlay I borrow money t< pay vent, but that is a I course of action tl must soon come to an end. I During the past fiver six years every farmer iu the I country has lost at Ut half his capital by reduction, I in prices, and in add:m to that loss he has now only I half the power to ma a living, his yearly turn<)V(.r I b ing greatly reduced The average price of wheat is I now only SOs. 3d. peijuarter, and the tendency is I still downwards. \\t tenants require is a. con- I -iderable permanent ductioll in rents, say the I removal of all increastinade during the past forty I years, and security of mre, so that they might have I the heart to work, li present condition of things I is more serious for .downers than for tenants, I as is gradually being d0vered, and no time should I re lost in making the ciivators of the soil content. I The tenant fanners oftjnt, it is said, have h^ui. I an agitation for a Land t, based on lines similar t<» I the Irish Land Act. At1Ueeting at Holywell, the I tenantry 011 the estates ahe Duke of WKSTU iI ,who has just gianted 'abatement of twenty-five I per cent.), the Earl of Lot,(I ,ti!, other noblemen, resollltio were passed in favour "f a I Land Act for Wales, ring the discussion several I farmers spoke warmly unst the excessive rents I charged, and there was consensus of opinion that I where a farm became vaca on a high-rented estate I 110 one should make appltion for it, in ord-r to I boycott the HJIlO compel him to >. i( Id t" I their terms. It was furtluesolv«d that drastic laud I legislation, similar to that Ireland, was imperativeiy required for the protection Welsh tenant fanners. I Welsh tenant fanners are a had cae, ]i;, they I cannot expect a Land Act the lines or the Irish H Act, for the simple reason t in Ireland whate^r H improvements were attec.t« we) e made jtv the H occupier, whilst in W ale almost all imi'.ove- ments arc made by dlords. Nail. t'1(' I condition of YV elsh tenant fa;rs is so had that H thing will have to be done, d that something wiH have to be done quickly or ^owners in Wales may find themselves worse off tharer they thought be possible. Men are no lon, content to work 11 k horses for the remuneration o^ves. We have '1! seen the approach of this agit>n, and have done we could to urge landow ners Yuake it harmless by concessions. We suppose force.some shape or oth«M'» is the only logic that will he kncll to. i,Ll in Wales, but they seem d'ned to be worse, I