The Cambrian

BIRTH. CLARK.—On May 3rd, 1909, at Gainshoro-ugh, Mayals. Blackpill, the wife of W. S. Clark, of a son. 76k5-7 DEATH. DAVID.—On- Tuesday, April 27th, 1909, at 193, Bryrt Morfa, Landore, Miss Caroline David Interred fjt Lla:"Samle<t Saturday, May 1st. The Rev. J Gw rfa Jcr-es, curate Uanaam- lEY". f)"d Walte Dav^es, Tabernacle Chapel, j Landore, offi iated. 0, Lord, I wai Toy pleofrore. Thy time and way are best; But I'm wa-s.'ieri, wom, and wetvry, lzj father- b'4 me resè. 2C0k5-7

< £ he Q:; JC allt tlan FRIDAY, MAY 7, 1909. NOTES ON MEN & THINGS! The "Daily Telegraph" has been interfer- mg with the W elsh coast-lino. It lilted Porth-cawl into Cornwall on Thursday. Mr. A. C. Michael, the "Black and White" artist, is a brother of Mrs. Brad- rord. Lilieshali, Swansea, and was present at the Swansea wc-ddirig. t The new VK-ar of Sketty, Rev. Ackrill Jones, is a rapid, fluent, extempore preacher, and is credited with being a High Church- man. He preached at Christ Church, Swan- sea, last year. Casile-?treet, Swansea, had quite a time of it on Tuesday shortly after noon. General French waoS at one end and the Mayor was at the other, starting the widening of the famous "thoroughfare." The esteem in which the late Mr. harry Williams' men held him was evidenced by the sight of a number of those in Thursday's cortege without umbiella or overcoat trampmg through the pouring rain tram Rutland-street to Llansctmlet. There is a bell from the cnurch r! the sand-buried town of Kenfig 'n ;he north tower of Exeter Cathedral. Cast in its me- tal are the worus LJandaif and Ke.1fig" In the tower of MaudJam Church 'K^tifig) there is a bt-.1 datd 1664, and beaiing the names of V. ticp^iu Edward and Jenk n Howelil, churchwardens. WTien the National List&dd?od last virited Carmarthen, the financial loss was so great that it cost the vicar of the parish £1,000 because the guarantors would not pay up. The vicar was too much of a gentleman to seek redress in the Jaw courts and settled the accounts. One of the eisteddfodic chairs was prv-nted to torn in recognition ct his generosity, and the chair occupied an honoured pi ace in the vicarage for yærs. There is an old burial ground near Fark- mili v*iacii is one of the oldest in the Prin- cipality. The space the gruund occup es is not iarger than a good sized drawing-room, and, as evidence of its g'eat age, thecrumo ling ston?i Love to be propped up aiKl se- cured. According to cne tradition, a tr bal bactle was fought hy the spot, when ueariy all taking part were killed. ý\¡,k3, more than ever before, will be the playground of England. New facilities of every kind, new means of finding hea-ith, new guides to new beauty are being o.iered every day, and I have returned from a joiu-ney there convinced that a rotable re- vival in the popularity of tie Principality io imminent."—{Mr. F. S. MaeKenzie in the "Daily Mail.") Mr. MaeKenzie pro- ceeds to describe the charms of North Waies. It is a singular coincidence that there is a 1tC. atwciueu at a Swansea tneatre this week descriptive in detail of an execution, and that at the tad of the week a man will crc to hi. death at Swansea Gaol in reality and without any theatrical display. A few weeks a.go a play was performed at Swansea, a scene in which depicted horrors of the "whipping" of pj soners, and the same week a prisoner received, in accordance with the sentence of the Assise judge, fifteen lashes at the local prison. Mr. Alfred Mond, M.P., the adopted LiberaJ candidate for Swiui^a, is 'the son of the scientist. Dr. Ludwig Mond, F.R S., and v,-as horn at Farnworth, in Lancashire, in 1308, being therefore 41 years of age. He was educated at Cheltenham College and St. John's College, Cambridge, afterwards going to Edinburgh University. He is a barrister, and joined the Wales and Chester Circuit, but does not practice. He is managing director of the firm of Messrs. Brunner, Mond and Co., and chairman of other companies. Defeated at South Salford in 1900, he was returned for Chester six years later. He is the hon treasurer of the Free Trade Union. It would have been a great blessing to the public of Swansea if some of the members of the Council joined debating societies in pre- ference to getting elected en the Council. The latter wastes hours every week which cotikl be devoted to its legitimate sphere- administrative work—in the discussion of things which have not at bottom the remot- est connection with its functions. Since they will debate these questions, we might sug- gest, however, that the Watch Committee should start a discussion on the New The- ology; the Finance Committee on B'meta.- lism; the Parks Committee on Afforesta- no punog fGiang pUVJ jo uorq. j tion; the Property Committee on the Taxa- Cremation; the Harbour Trust on Tariff [Boaaef) eqi puu i apuaj, aeaj pa-e uuoj^y; Purposes Committee on, let us ,say, Home Rule. The burdens imposed upon the licensed trade by the new Budget threatens in many cases to be crushing in their severity. Mr. Balfour quoted in the House of Commons a i case of a well-known London firm who would have to pay in increased dutiee aTone J37.. more than the sum divided last year amongst their ordinary shareholders. In the case of the Swansea United Breweries it j duty will amount to £2,500 a year, and the is computed that the increase in licence Swansea United and the Swansea Old Brew- eries will have to pay nearly J3600 in barrel duties. Very many of the smaller houses seem foredoomed to extinction, and owners of free houses are in soiae cases faced with a position ot the gravest possible character; it is no exaggeration to say that some are within mea«uraJole distance of ruin. The Licensing Bill, which was wrecked last year, is preferable to the harshnebs of the Budget, propoeals, which, however, too flagrant- ly excessive to be tolerated in the long ran by tl-ie public. The chief hotels suffer ia proportion as heavily as their humble breth- ren and in view of the doubtful capacity of the local demand for hotel accommodation of first rate quality to meet the supply which has been provided, under normal conditions, a wide circle oi people will be deait a heavy blow and wiil have cause to rue the rejection of the -ea,rlier and milder bill, stringent though that was. f The bishop of St. David's is stated to be a. descendant of "Die Aberda-ron." "The self-made man is usually unfinish- ed." (Chairman Meredith, of the Swansea Guardians.) > Afijetr Llaneily Choir has sung at the June "National" in London, the party to tour the States in the fall of the year will be chosen. Llaneily Liberalism is not particularly sociable. With a population of 28,000. the Liberal club has cnJy 25J members.— ("Mail. !) Field-Marshal Lord Grenfell and Lady GrenfeL hd.ve let their house m London and have moved to Butler's Court, Beaconsfiekl, foi- the summer. Mr. W. Bevnon. of Middleton, Gower, who recently died at the age of 89 years, had been a tenant of the late rector of Rhossdi for about 40 years. The model coal-tip with which the late Mr. Harry Williams once won a law case fig- ured in the Labour demonstration at Swan- sea on Saturday, draped in black. The marriage d Mr. Phiiipps, of Picton Castie, an-1 Miss Gwynne-Hughes, of Tre- g yb, will take place at the Parish Cnurch, Llandilo, on Thursday, the 3rd June. "He isn't worth two pennyworth of cold gin. I could cut a better man out of a piece of brown peper."—(Mr. Muir Wilson on his political opponent at Sheffield.) Mr. 0. M. Edwards declares that the Weish life of Swansea is strengthening daily, and in Swansea is to be found the be-t Welsh books-hop in the P,ineipality. Swars-aa .fetches far. Tho very first prize winner whose name was called ot the Sun-day School Uiuor gathering is now m Mct ::o. It ams concluded not to wait for him. '7ow I come to the laud!" said Mr. Licfyd-George in the course of the Budget speech. The Opposition were glad to get this conlirmation from his own mouth of their own opinluti that he haa previou. ly been all at .v«a. --4- Cajmarthenshire Council has issued a re- turn of the people i > the en mty, excluding Lianeliv. m receipt of o d age pensions. The number is 1,687, ox whom 1,54J receive 5s., 58 4s., 47 3* 30 2. and 12 1.5. (CIMIG-Y-NOS IS 'SOW 0;. THE TELEPHONE.) Now the press has made it known, Madam-c's on the telephone. St:2 \1 be sure of metiy a ling Did she condescend to sing! The Rev. Gwynne Owen, the new pastor of Greenfield Baptist Church, Liaaclly, is the dcecendant- of one of the clergy ejected by the Act of Uniformity. He is the ninth :n lineal descent from that ejected pastor, and each member of the "one has been a mins ter! Lord "Glentawe," as the "Pall Mall Ga- zette" puts it, looked down from the galler- ies of the House of Commons upon the Chan- cellor of the Exchequer on Budget ught "with a sort of patnot.c pride," and the Bishop of St. Asnph also brought a whiff of the Principality into the atmosphere "And he produced the items of the hi'i^e bill with the reluctant a:r of a spendthrift owning up to his debts, fidgeting uneasily with his watch-chain, and oIing..11g desper- ately to his slieaf of manuscripts."—("Daily Telegraph" Parliamentary writer on the Budget speech.) Examiners in their reports of Swansea Sunday S. hool scholars' efforts, though on the who:-e eulogistic, had criticism to offer. T.ie junior paper- snowed 'd'scursiveness and a tendency to preaching," and of the "■i-TiK ys it was said that they "lackeo in- dividuality and original.ty In thJr corn- meats." Tenitorialist in the W-ttem Mail" says :— It would be gratifying to be able to compliment the 6th Welsh (Swansea) on quicker recruiting, but, unfortunately, we are not yet able to do so. Something must certainly be done to get this once crack corps up-to-date, or good grounds will be given for the suggested re-division of areas." Mr. David Hughes, the well-known Swan- sea basso, is the holder of a record quite unique in its way. He has been engaged to sing at the next National Eisteddfod for the twentieth successive time, so that his fine voice will in August next at London ring out quite as powerfully as it did when he made his first bow, for Mr. Hughes is singing to-day as well, if not better, than he ever did. Merry May came upon us this year in a most contrary and changeful mood. Early in the morning snow fell, succeeded some- what later by a hailstorm, and at intervals heavy showers of rain took plaoe, these al- ternating with spells of beautiful sunshine, The temperature, however, was very low for this time of the year, and some of the London papers headed their reference to the matter with the suggestive deccription "Sh0wery May." "At the general election of 1906 only 163,000 votes were polled by the Govern- ment candidates, and more than haJf of that number (86,000) against it. These latter axe not represented, or, rather, are misrepresented. It is at the bidding of this miserable minority (Jess than- per oent.) of the people of Wales that the Church is to be plundered of its fund, while those of the Dissenters are (as pointed out in the debate) unaissailable after twenty-five years. ("A Welsh Catholic" in the "Standard.") May Day, now set apart for Labour de- moiistrations, was suitably celebrated at1 Swansea. A procession of some thousands of men paraded the town in the afternoon, arocompaniea by bands. The turn-out was in every sense creditable, and the general'1 appearance of the men in ths ranks de- noted a coifcaderable degree of prosperity amongst the toilers of the borough. It was remarked tbiat while the Socialist party appeajs to be more or less controlling the programme of the Labour party, the num- ber of followers of the red flag who marched as such in the procession was a mere hand-1 ful. Doubtless many other adherents of the i Socialist cause took their place behind the banners of their organisation, so that. the numerical strength of the party was not accurately denoted by its direct represesta- ions. However that may be, it is at least a littJe suggestive to have the bulk of the workpeople preferring to be recognized as tiade unionists rather than Socialists. i The most distinctive feature of the Budget 1 is cmplexity; its controversial scope is simply enormous, and even if the whole re- ma-inder of the Government's programme were- to bo jettisoned forthwith, it would be Jifficult to keep oiscussaon within the bounds of a single session.—("Pall Mali Gazette.") j Swansea Docks people had a, very lYusy: time of it last week. There was a steady ■ supply of tonnage, and although imports 1 showed a decrease of 8,000 tons, an in- crease of 33,000 in the exports left a nett balance on the right side of 25,000 tons. Shipments of coal and patent fuel reached 106,506 tons. The exports in the aggregate amounted to 114.895 tons, and imports to 12,78u tons, or a grand total of 127,680 tons, as compared with 102,655 tons for the corresponding penid of last year. The quantity of tinplatas placed on board was comparatively sin all, being only 55-456 hoses, whereas the receipts from the works aggregated 94,368 boxes. The stocks are now abnoiiiiaiiy high, being 313,089 boxes, or nearly 140,000 boxes more than at the end of April, 1903 At Port Talbot, a dim- inution in imports, amounting to 2,472 tons, was more than made up by the increase of 5,3j5 in the exports., The total shipments amounting to 40,011 tons, made up of 36,043 tons of exports and 3,968 tons of imports. The Watch Committee on Tueeday by six votes to three decided to"> instruct the Chief Constable to go on with the Sunday trading prosecutions after a debate in which a Free Chuich Council deputation and a small traders deputation put the cases for the re- spetti*e sides fairly coiiiprenensivety. No reason was, however, adduced to chow why Swansea should stand ?.loae in the country, save for turee or four oiuer boroughs where the vast majority of muni-c-ipaTties, when the sense oi the sanctity of uue baoo-ath is evrv whit as strong, and wnich poscess mem- bers as earnest and sincere as the Chairman of tne 1. atch Committee think it unneces- sary to institute like proceedings. In re- spect to the case of the Sunday papers, the icgal poslwon, asciiraug the matter is per scared with d defiance of the ambiguous 0 decision in the prosecution a couple of I weeks ago, seems of such a chartaciei as to yield absolutely negative results beyond the covering of the institutoTs with ridicule. No fine can be inflicted, and the town can o-dy pay the costs of the summonses. It a n;.e comedy altogether, albeit the sense úi nurnour locai.y is not strongly devel- oped. One of the legends attached to Swansea! Buv, poetical but of course ao.oiuneiy in- cietaoie, is tiiat under certain staLes of wind and tidt. church Delis can be h&a.rd tailing under the wac..u- at a point a lit-cie east- vtaid to Pore, Talbot. This had its origin, j no doubt, in the historical fact tnat about tne period of El.za.beth, the sea and sand whicii had been steadily encroaching upon the corporate city of iveniig un-uc-r the driving forces of storm and 11 o-h tide, com- p.ei/eiy submerged it. At the present time, 'j the only indication of wha^ had for ceil- tunes ccen a busy human hive are a few .stray ruins projecting through the sand dunes, -uajor 'inomas Grey has just .pub- lished a booK dealing with this fascinating suoject. The author has evidently demoted I many years of parent re-ieaiol; to the pro- duction which is in every way ered.tabi.e to him a-s a scholar anu a-rchaeiogist. It wouia appear Lhat Ke-nag emuraced a castle, ottcn Durnod and oitc-n rebaJit, two chaivhes, a nospital and other puùlæ buil-u- lii-gs that ha dnad a ccrporaLe ex.stem.e con- icired originally by tving Jonn, and sub- s<2quent.iy reafiirmed by subsequent occu- piers oi the English tiirone. The popuia- | tion at one time, riiade up almost equally of E.igvish, 1'rench and \v eLai, must have numbered over 1,OCO, so that it was no in- consideraDle city, havlug regard to the limited po-pula-iion of most rural centres 400 or 5-0 years ago. A variety of Norman Lords held pco^ession of Jvenhg and much oi the surrounding neighbouriiood- But up to the time of spoliation of the mon- asteries and convenL; under Henry V HI., the ¡;lO:.t persistent and dominating lrniue^oo in the district were the Cilercian monks, w.th their aobeys at Margam and Neath. Much ct tiie soil beloiiged to tiios.- conventual organisaUons, which appear to have played a great part in catering for the mateiial as well as the spiritual interests of the m- haocoants. The book, which is entitled "The Buried City of Ke!1f1g," has a pre- face written by Mr. Walter de Gray B.rch, and is dedicated to Miss Taibot, "whose generous assistance," 111 the words of the author, "to the cause of aichology, by pub- iiaiuug her exujiisa.e collection of private records ,has so much advanced the know- ledge of Glamorgan, and has in a great de- gree enabled tlus work to be prepared." I The arrangements for contesting Swansea Borough seat at the General Election may now be considered complete—subject to the reservation that Aid. D. Williams, the .Labour-Socialist o-andiviate, receives the necessary financial baAmg from the central committee of the I.L.P. and from the local Unions, who are expected to contribute their part Mr Alfred Mond, who was really selected by the Executive Committee of the Liberal live Hundred months ago, i although an official announcement of the fact was withheld, secured the necessary en- dorsement from the Five Hundred on Fri day evening. Consequently we have now a Conservative and Tariff Reform candidate, a Liberal and Free Trader, and a Labour- Socialist candidate in the field. Assuming tiie three went to the poll, there oan be no serious doubt as to the result. Liberalism when combined with Labour can only ob- tain a :"ajority of 1,400 when the tide was at its highest, point. Some of the Labour j leaders profess to be confident that their party single-handed can win the seat, but without subscribing to any view so extra- | vagant as this, it is reasonable to expect ] Labour and Socialism to radly about 2,000 votes. Such a figure would be absolutely fatal to Mr. Mond's chances, since at least 90 per cent, of these votes would be ob- tained from the joint party vote which re- elected Sir George Newnes. The Conserva- tives, who axe not proceeding in mere conr jecture, are confident that even if the fight were left between Mr. Frank Thomas and Mr. Mond, thai the former would be suc- cessful if only by reason of the great body of moderate Liberals who are practically < certain to vote for Tariff Reform. Another element of weakness in the position now taken by official Liberals in the selection of a candidate is the nationality of the latter. It is an open secret that among the more patriotic Welsh Liberals, the failure to put forward one of their own race, has aroused a strong feeling of resentment which is bound to find expression when the time comes for polling. It is not so much that they yield to prejudice aainst the Jewish race, many members of which command great respect in the town—but because of the not unnatural feeling that the most Welsh of the South Wales borough3 should have as mouthpiece in Parliament someone in touch with national feeling and sympathy with the distinctive aime of Welsh Nationalism. Foy, the Merbhyr murderer, is to be hang- ed to-morrow (Saturday) morning. The ap- peal having failed, and the movement to se- cure a reprieve not having been persevesred with, other result could be expected. It seems harsh to say so when a man is lying in prison in the very shadow of the gallows, but the revelations made respecting the con- demned prisoner suggest that whitle capital punishment is retained in this country it would be a travesty of justice to waive it in the case of criminals of too type of Fey. The rapidity with which the game of bowls has won its way into public' favour is quite one of the most remarkabtie events in tho history of local athletics. Nine clubs belong to the Central Board of Swan- sea Bowling Clubs, and their membership is no less than six hundred, which wouau bear comparison with the total of football players, juvenile and adult. The Cwindon km Bowling Club alone can show a member .-illip roll of nearly a hundred and twenty. Inexpensive and affording a mild type ot exercise suited to the elderly and the sedutary, it has proved itself an ideal game for men of mature age. When a proposal came before Swansea Council a few weeks ago to erect sheds foi the bicycles of students attending the Tech- nical College at the preposterous cost of JM-JO, so much indignation was generated that the plans were promptly referred back. It appears, however, from Monday's meeting of the Sub-Committee of the Education Committee that, unfortunately, the work of preparing the accommodation is so far ad- vanced that it is impossible to avoid sue no ing the whole sum, scandalous though it be in its dimensions and in the relative trivial- ity of its object, unless a considerable sum of money is wasted. Nothing apparently can be done in the matter, but this is one of the worst and most culpable examples of extravagance standing to the discredit oi the Corporation in recent years, and it is strange that some effective protest was not offered against this huge outlay at an early stage. An interesting description wa.s given by Mr- Arthur Henderson, 4LP., during hit visit to Swansea, of the Labour Exchanger, in Germany. He described how h. found at Stra-sisburg in Lorraine a large and well-equipped hail, with shops where the out-of-works could ha, e clothes and bcoLs kept in repair and respectable at nominal cost, besides the ordinary facilities for the supply of information as to work available I Various exchanges in different parts of the country coordinated wfth each other, ano special cheap fares were conceded by the State railways to men travelling to new employment- Altogether we have a most admirable institution, which, however, when all is said and done. cannot create work. Labour exchanges are' of immense valu" and should be erected in every considerable town in the Kingdom, but they are power- less to cope with extensive distress. Never thekss the work they accomplish under or dinary circumstances is po admirable that we have been given a lesson which we :ihouiid be ready to copy from Germany at I the earliest possible opportunity. The hint which Dr. Rawlings gave in his letter to the local press to churches and others in favour of Sabbatarianism to send dcrpctatkms to the Watch Committee and otherwise strengthen his aims in this pro- paganda against Sunday trading, has been acted upon, but probably not to nearly the extent anticipated by the chairman of the Watch Committee. It is noteworthy that in practically all the addresses and references made to the subject at gatherings of these bodies no reference whatever has been made to the misuse of authority which was re- sponsible for the illegal seizure of Sunday newspapers, nor to the undemocratic nature of proceedings which had ignored alike the Watch Committee and the Council. Eciually noteworthy is the CTrramsiance that all the speakers based their arguments upon purely Sabbatarian grounds, and were obviously prepared to fresi!^ condone the v'olat'on of the spirit of justice represented by onlv the pcirtiail enforcement of a law which is gener- ally out at elbow witlh the altered conditions of to-day. Mr. Lloyd-George, as orator, completely fai'ed in the speech introducing has first Budget. The occasion was rightly regarded as the most critical in his political career, and mo^t Welshmen, regardless of politics, will regret that a serious error of judgment brought about thi. result. Practically all those who heard the Ohancedlor are agreed in the judgment that lw lost all chances of producing a good impression and mailing use of his oratorical gifts by attempting to say at least twice as much as the circum- stances warranted. After speaking for three hours he was so palpably about to that after a consultation between Mr. Bal- four and Mr. Asquith the former took the unprecedented step of moving the adjourn- ment of the House for half an hour. Upon resuming, Mr. Lloyd-George, refusing to be warned by his painful experience, continued to dealt laboriously in details instead of con- fining himself to indicate the broad outline of the Budget. Soon his only partly recu- perated strength again passed away, and he finished by reading hurriedly in a low voice his type-written manuscript with such ra- pidity that very few could gather th-e pur- port of his statements. As one critic de- scribed jjhe scene, he suggested a schoolboy racing at top speed through a distasteful task. Collapse at the time was attributed to a failure of voice, but since then the ex- planation has been given that what really troubled him was the inability of his legs to hold up after the long strain imposed upon them. At any rate, whatever the cause, the Chancellor will never forget how he permit- ted a golden opportunity to evade him. The circular recently issued by the Board of Education laying down a new scale for the staffing of schools which would involve in the case of Swansea an additional ex- penditure on education bordering upon £5,000 a year, was the subject of a question in the House. of Lords on Monday, put with the object of ascertaining the amount of the increase in the rates which would be need- ful to meet the charges. The Government spokesman replied that the circular had been received everywhere with practically universal approval, and that practically all the first-class schools were already conducted with the scale of certificated teachers which is prescribed by the circular, and it was declared that the increased financial bur- den had been gwraily exaggerated. "A panic scare" had been created, said Lord Wolverhampton, who seems in common with other members of the Government to havt> "panic scares" on the brain. No statement was made, however, on the all important point—the extent to which the Board of Education is prepared to meet the increased charges; and that thoee charges are far more serious than Lord Wolverhampton im- agines is evident in the case of Swansea at least from an estimate prepared by the Superintendent of Education, who should be in a position to speak with absolute authority if any man is. A workingman, in a thoughtful letter pub- lished in the "South Wales Daily Poet,' ruthlessly exposes the falsity of the catcth-crv that it is naoessary for Swansea to mour heavy financial obligations in providing a new training college. The writer convinc- ingly shows that so far from such a college being intended for the children of the work- ing men, that the latter, with rare excep- tions, cannot undertake the prolonged ex- penditure necessary before a cbiM can qualify ae certificated teacher. The strain .s enormous under present conditions, and it is likely to become greater as the require- ments of the Board of Education become more exacting. 8' Major-General French, the one outstand- ing sucoesst amongst the younger officers in the South African War, visited Swansea OIl Tuesday to consult with the commanding officers of the various local units of the Ter- ritorial Army. The brilliant cavalry leader whose da=-h to Kimberiey was one of the brightest incidents of the war, d'd not stay in town more than a few hours; but the visit of such officers of this class, now be- coming frequent, is an encouraging indica- tion of the increased vigilance exerccised by the War Office and the importance attached to bringing into touch alll the units of the Territorial Forces with the men destined in case of need to command it. MT. Aibel) Thomas, who, after years of si- lence, is now touring his constituency of Bast Carmarthenshire, must be beginning to realiase by this time that the movement to unsisat him for a Labour member is earnest- ly meant. At a meeting of the Ammanford Liberals held on Saturday evening a great part of the proceedings was devoted to the ventiilaiion of grievances which are not usually discus&ad in public. There were complaints regarding the diversion of money given by the hon. member for registration work, and quite an angry scene occurred be- cause "workers in the Liberal cause" had not been made magistrates. AI- together the political development in this di- vision between this and the day of the Gen- eral Election promises ot be interesting. Naturally the Guardians of the Poor are not as a class favourable to the recommenda- tion of the Poor Law Commission that the office be abolished and the work transferred to the County and District Councils. No class likes to be extinguished, and if the matter were left to the exist:ng members no doubt they would prefer to continue the work upon which they are engaged. The transfer oi the admini tration of the Poor Law to the Councils wou'd be in ke-.png with the tendency to concentrate an the power in a single rating authority but bar ing regard to the multiplicity of dutces aJl- ready entrusted to the Councils, it is a moot point whether the change proposed would ipake for more effective work—that is unless Some drasfec change either by increased j members or otherwise were made in the ccn- stitution of the Councils. ■*» Major-General French, who paid a visit to Swansea on Tuesday, did not stay long in the town. There was an idea prevalent that he would inspect the units of the Ter- ritorial Force in Swansea, but in point of fact all he did was to cast an eye over the various headquarters and to hold a short consultation with the commanding officers. Notwithstanding this apparently perfunc- tory inspection, his visit taken in conjunc- tion with those of other distinguished offi- ers may be accepted as an indication of the more earnest spirit that now enters into the military organisations of the country. l'he officers from top to bottom are now genuine worikem, whereas only a few years ago the army, for most of those who lie d commissions, was attractive chiefly because of the wide acope it afforded for .port and pleasure. Mr. Haldane's scheme, •vhiitever defects may be -charged to it, has unquestionably wrought* a revolution, aill to the good, in the military arrangements cf country. On Monday evening the General Commit- tee of the Swansea National Eisteddfod met to deal with the account.6 of an undertaking carried out twenty months ago. The docu- ment was most sharply criticised, out ulti- mately adopted, but in a spirit of resigna- tion, because practically no other course was open. Irregularities and delects in the administrative part of the work were freely animadverted upon, notably the failure to arrange terms with the constructor of the public pavilion safeguarding the eisteddfod committee from the conaequenoes of an acci- dent, and to obtain guarantors in respect of the printing oi the programme, connected with which a bad debt of JB42 had been incurred. Miss Diliwyn, as chairman of the Finance Committee, brought forward liLr grievance that in bpt-te of a specific under- standing prohibiting it, the members of the Lterary Committee had been paid fees for acting itS adjudicators. In the end the ao c-omi'ts v-ore adopted showing a deficit of j.,61, and the eisteddfodwyr dispersed with tne feeling that the best had been done with a sorry business. When such out and out liberals at Swan- sea as those who repose over the Budget have had time to properly digest the in- gredients of the latter, they may begin to ask themselves how Swansea as a commun- itv is to be affected by the proposals of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The penal- ising of the brewers and publicans to a ruinous extent may seem to them a fmaJl matter, which concerns no one except the victims themselves, and the addition of 8d. per lb. to the duty on tobacco a mere baga- telle. But a pertmerut consideration is that the Swansea Corporation, as the richest landdord in the borough, will be made to smart to a pretty tune should the various taxes upon land come into operation. The borough estate includes hundreds of acres of undeveloped land upon whicn a cTiirge of ^cL per £ of the capital value is to be levied. In addition, old leases of Corpora- tion land are steadily falling in, the re- \ervsionarv value of which is considerable. The Government proposes to appropriate 10 per cent, to 00 per cent- of the value of such property. Then tne Corporation by an expenditure of £130,000 is to improve the market value of the private properties ad- joining in Castle-street, a proportion of the I unearned increment of the latter produced at the expense of the ratepayers to be handed over to the Imperial Exchequer. Whether the St. Helen's Cricket Ground is left in the hands of the present club or taken over by the municipality, when the tease expires a few years bence, it wild have to contribute a substAntial amount annually to the same re- ceptacle, so that the nett effect in the town is that the income derived from the public estate for the relief of the rates will be materially diminished without conferring any corresponding benefit whatever upon the ratepayers who will have to make good j the deficiency. His Worship the Mayor on Tuesday began o demolition of Castle-street as. the pre- uninary step to a public improvement, talked and written about for many decades past. The Mayor was announced to re- move the first stone of the buildings about to be removed. In point of fact it was not a stone, but a brick; that is, however, a mere detail. The thing that counts is that a start has at last been made with the widening of the bottleneck in the main thoroughfare, which has been a reproach to Swansea for many years. The coal trade of South Wales is in a most abnormal condition. It is enjoying the effects of an artificial boom, and every- one directly concerned, know. it to be noth- ng more. In the belief that a general strike is imminent in July, consumers are accumuiat- -tig reserve supplies, with a result that tem- porarily there is an inflated demand. Pre- sently, should the fears of a strike prove un- justified, these very refaerves will retard any genuine recovery in the coal trade, so that colliery proprietors and colliers have riike the discomforting icnowiedge that the temporary improvement, in the absence cf a .strike, mil be a dra.g upon the industry later in the year. The President of the National Free Church Council, Rev. Evan Jones, has just been concluding a tour of the rural districts of South West Wales with the object of working up an apology for a Disestablish- ment campaign. So little has been done in propaganda work that it is somewhat sur- prising that the Free Churches should be so apathetic in the big centres of population. The purport of the Rev. Mr. Jones' mission seems, however, have really been to pave the way for the reception of the inevioaolc news that the Bill has no serious chance uf passing into Saw. Quite apart from the Lords, against whom such indignation as nay exist upon this disappointment is to be directed, there is such a congestion of legislative business that in the norvtnl course of affairs the Bill would have reniote prospects or struggling through the L1,ver Chamber. A duel proceeded between Mr. Jones and the Bishop Of St. David s dut.u.g the campaign touching on the point wi:ethoi the Church is dwindling as the form r -on tended, and Mr. Jones at his concluding meeting quot&d as confirmation of his argu- ment that the Church wa.s dwindling the fact of Parliamentary representation, ".vliich showed unquestionably the dwindling minority of the Church since it had gone down from five to three Church representa- tives to nothing." Presumably the refer- ence is to the Conservative members in Par- liament, who were expelled everywhere from the representation of Welsh con^rtu- jneies at the last General Election. That is a fact which does not prove Mr. Jones argument at all; it is simply a further in- dictment of a electoral system under which thirty to forty per cent. of the voters in a given area are completely disenfranchised tor all practical purposes.

MR. LLOYD GEORGE'S BUDGET The Budget introduced by Mr. Lloyd George last week, ill a speech which a Par- liamentary contributor to "Truth de- scribes as the worst o fits kind heard for over twenty years, has created a political sensation of the first magnitude. Mr. Asquith had intimated that by the Budget the Gov. ernment would stand or fall; that it would be the pivot of their policy. They had launched out upon a path of social reform, and it might be pleaded in extenuation for the old age pensions and the doubtful fin- ancial ripeness of the country for this scheme that a reform had been effected which would otherwise have remained in the cloudland of political controversy for an indefinite period. A deficit of sixteen million pounds is to be recouped by an ex- pansion of the income tax in the direction o fthe super-taxing of the wealtliy—a step which raises at once the issue whether a man's weight in the counsels of the country should not be in proportion to the burden he beara-the taxation of land values in various forms and an increase in the duties of spirits, licenses and tobacco, which have had the effect of rending up the price oi these commodities with a bound throughout the kingdom. The severity of these latter proposals justifies the criticism that besides revenue the objective was also in viow of retaliation for the rejection of the Licensing Bill. Licenses, no doubt, could bear much I f ;er taxation in certain cases than they nave actually to undergo-it is absurd that London hotels of the character of the Ritz and Carlton should pay but £20 in tins rasoect—but it has to be recollected that in other countries whe-re licenses yield far larger sums to the n^'ional income the duties on "the trade" in other directions are much less onerous. In the cases of two well-known breweries, Meux and Whio- breads, the increase in taxation alone is equal or considerably in excess of the money divided last, year amongst the preference and the ordinary shareholders respectively. Even at this stage there are signs that modification may be conceded even by the Government before the Peers proceed to dis- cur.s the Budget; the more especially as there seems to have been a strange miscal- culation as to the yield of the 3s. 9d. tax per gallon on spirits, which, the Chancellor estimates, will bring in £1,600,000 a year. Mr Balfour has pointed out that a tax ol but 6d. a gallon imposed in the Chancellor- ship of Sir Michael Hicks-Beach brought in J5900 000. The taxation of land values is the most original and revolutionary feature of the Budget. The municipalities lose a very valuable potential source of revenue, it may be noted. The assessment will be conducted under conditions of the greatest doubt and difficulty, and over a million landowners of one kind or another, per- sonal or friendly, or building societies and municipalities, are struck a heavy blow. One projected effect of the measure is to drive land into the market and cheapen it for building purposes, thereby lowering ren- tals. Whatever may be thought of the right of the State to tax this commodity, there can be no two opinions upon the gross in- justice and inequity of inflicting heavy fin- ancial loss in addition to that represented by the taxation. And there are very many eases conceivable in which these compulsory sales of land by owners who cannot afford to pay the tax a.nd have to take what bid- ding offers—very likely the bidding of speculators that will inflict severe hard- ship. Certain of the proposals as they affect the very wealthy arouse lees contro- versy amongst the great bulk of the elector- j ate, and they receive far less pppular op 1 position than the papers would lead one to imagine. A poor and struggling class is in- evitably jealous and envious of plutocracy, and very little inclined to reflect upon the probable retaliation which the latter will exact, as the provider of capital for enter- prises and of employment, for this taxation and super-taxation upon every pottsib'e security and pretext. Whatever may be deemed of the proposals, the first Budget of a Welsh Chancellor has unquestionably stirred a ferment to which political circles nave been strangers for decades.

NEATH NOTES. The Poor Man's Budget. Neath made an auspicious start last Saturday wnen they accorded a warm wel- come to Mr. Giibertson's XI., and won with plenty to spare. The pitch played weld, and, considering the lack of practice, the men gave a very creditable perform- ance. What a hub-hub there is over the Bud- get. I don't suppose there has ever been so much talk about any other. But what amuses me most of all about it is the oft-rqpeated Radical boast that it is a poor man's Budget. I paty the po^-r man, for it is he who will have to pay the piper for the new Uovd- George tune. Quickly up went the price of whisky and ibacoo, and we shall surely see the price of the working man's beer go up as an in- direct is not a direct result. You know this ruinous rise in the license duty will have to be met somehow. experience shows that the brewer and the distiler are not going to 'lose in the end. They have already put up the price of whisky and they were mighty quick about it too. The middleman cried dtitto and the re- tailer had naturally to cry m similar strain. So, after all it is the consumer who has to stump up or—go without. And he wont go without. Neither is he likely to do with less. And th-3 greatest consumer is the work- ing man, of oourae, because of his numerical superiority. And yet we have big guns and little guns of Parliamentary and other fame indulg- ing mpæus of prauje of the poor man's Bud- get. It is, forsooth, a poor man's Budget, in that it will make him poorer. What does it matter to the rich man if he pays a little for his whisky or his to- bacco ? One knows that the rich man is hit m other ways, but I think that the general deduction to draw, as matters are, at the tune oi writing, is that the middle and wording classes are the hardest bit of all. The jump in license duties is one of the most startling features of the Budget. I made some inquiries locally, and as far I aiii to grasp the rather complex financial statement the license of the beer- house will be in"rea.sfd from £4 to £30, be- cause the .after figure is the minimnm Then take the leading local hotai—the Castle—that license will rise from J320 to £ 150—an increase of JB150 That must be very comforting to the esteemed propriet- ress. The Mackworth Hotel license is more than doubled, the increase in connection therewith being £35. The man owing the free house, and just getting a decent living, will be a big suf- ferer, far, in addition to the heavy annual compensation which he has to pay he will I be burdened with the increased duty. Let us take an illustration: A free house, the annual value of which is .£150, and the I license of which was formerly £ 25, will have to pay £ /5—;an increase of £ 60'. The new duty wil. certainly have two ef- fects. It will make the consumer pay through the nose for his pleasure, and it will augment the number of tied houses in the country. And the tied house system has been consistently condemned for years by he Radical party. It would be funny if it were not so seri- ous. This Budget will give rise to lively times in the House of Commons—more lively times than we have had for many a long day. The Opposition are not gomg to take it lying down, and I do not envy the lot of the Chancellor during the next few months. One very amusing local incident came to my notice a few days ago. A collier on Saturday night went into a. public house and was charged Sj-d for a glass of whisky. He didn't like it—the extra half-penny, I mean; he liked the Scotch all right—and went home to Fforchdwm. There he called into a shop and asked. for an ounce of Franklyns, tendering 6d. for it. He re- ceived a penny change. He nearly fainted, and exclaimed, "Duw, Duw, how quick the news do travel." Those who are acquainted with the lo- cality will appreciate the point of the joke. The Brass Band has passed out of ex- istence, and the instruments, which were the property of the Council, have been re- turned. Well, it was never a. great success, musicallv, and I have no doubt that the arrangements which the Council is making for Thursday night concerts in the Gar- I dsns by one of the district bands will prove I more acceptable to the public taste. The borough bandsmen were lusty blowers, but well, 'nuit'f said! "OBSERVER.

ONE PHASE OF LONDON. WESLEY AN MISSION "MARCH PAST" AT SWANSEA. "FORCIBLE AND INTELLIGENT" PRESENTATION OF TILE GOSPEL. Mr. A. Henderson, M.P., at Swansea last Sunday said that, in his judgment, the London Wesley an Mission "had saved Methodism." More to the point would it be to say tha.t the London Mission is help- ing to save London. A few entirely appalling facts about the great city were given on sheets handed to every visitor to Wesley Chapel, Swansea, on Tuesday evening; buL unless the eloquence of Rev, W. D. Walters (secretary), and Rev. J. E. Rattenbury (president) deoeives, the London Wesleyan Mission is a greater, and withal, profoundly hopeful fact. They say the men and women of the Mission have "seen God" in the tramp, the thief, the un- employable, the gay woman, the gutter child! So up-to-date is the Mission, too, reviewed in the flash of ministerial eloquence. Mr. Walters explained that the principle of the mission is to adapt methods to circum- stajioes; he believes it is wicked for any church to continue doing what does not succeed: They help girls, try to understand the thief, raise men who are down, feed and clothe children; 300,000 breakfasts have been eaten. All on spiritual lines, the Mission's idea being to "forcibly and in- telligently present the gospel" by "lifting u.p Jesus Christ as the Saviour from sin." Dealing with the censorious manner in I which some treat their faJlen sisters, and others who may chance to be trampled on, and who siy, "Sin must be at the bottom of it," Mr. Rattenbury asked, "Yes, but in I God's name, whose sin?" holding that there are,"vioums." "I ask myself, what should I be in their place?" he said, and demanded that the highly respectable denizens of I chapels shall put themselves in the plaoe of the unemployed man—of the unemployable man! The chapel was full, and Mr. Howei Wat- kins, J.P., presided.

SWANSEA PUBLICANS AND THE BUDGET. MEETING OF THE "TRADE" AT THE CAMERON HOTEL. In accordance with the decision of the Swansea Licensed ictuallers' Association Executive last week, a meeting of the "Trade" was called for Monday afternoon, at the Cameron Hotel, to approve of the Executive s action and to consider the posi- tion generally. Mr. Owen Harris (president ot the Association) presided. The attendance vvc.s a representative one of the trade locailyf licensed holders being present from MumbLes, Neath, the Swansea Valley and the distMct generally. Support- ing the president at the cross-table were: Captain F. Bradford, Messrs. H. J. Israel, F. Dowman, G. Moore, and Harry Rogers^ whilst others in the hall included Messrs. W. Tarr, G. Mayow, W. Coutts, T. Cheat- ham, D. Bassett, Hopkin James, E. Evans, F. Richardson, D. W. Evans, Ben James, Fulton, Rogers (Mmssrs. Hancock), Edwards (Royal Hotel), W. Evans, J. McAlhim, D. Richards, J Cepus, D. Thomas (Bush Hotel), and Frank Jones (secretary). Chttf 250 were present altogether. The President said it wae hardly a plea- sure to call the members that afternoon un- der the curcunistances. The Chancellor of the Exchequer had dealt very harshly, and the blow was more severe than if the Liceø- sing Bill had been passed. The Executive that had met by wire a few days ago wish- ed a general meeting of the trade caIed. and with that object in view the present meeting had been convened. Certain al- terations in prices were recommended, as with the former prices it would be impos- sible for the license-holders to live and pay their licensing duties. In reply to a question, the President said brandies, Martells and Three Star, aDd simi- lar brands were recommended to be ad- vanced 6d. per bottle. Other questions were asked, and the Pre- sident replied that the l £ d. measure (used in some houses) would be increased to 2;d, Captain Bradford said it was proposed there should be no sale leas than 2d. worth of spirits. Mr. J. Jenkins said that measure warn too small to be used at all. The President said the advances had been worked out by those who knew their busi- ness Traders were not bound to sell at 2d.. All bulk spirits were recommended to be in- creased 6d. per pint, and all case goods at 6d. per bottle. Mr. F. Serine said it was all very wen for Mr. D. Jenkins to charge 3d., but what about other houses that could not charge it? At this there was some applause from the lower end of the bail. Mr. H. J. Israel said they sboold not have any recriminations, as they wanted to cogne to an amicable arrangement. It was proposed to raise the 3d. glass of whisky to 4d. Mr. J. Jenkins proposed nothing should be sold under 3d., and asked what wae the good of working for nothing? (Applause.) The President pulled up Mr. Jenkins, and asked if the latter wished to move his sug- gestion as a resolution? Mr. Jenkins moved that no spua-ite be scU under 3d. Mr. Love (Mansel Anns) seconded, and saad they must be unanimous. In nine cases out of ten the lAd. measure was retailed for 2d. Mr. H. Rogers said there were different kinds of houses where it would be impossible to get 6d. for what had been sold for lid. before. Other houses it would be easy. He favoured nothing being sold under 2 £ d. in spirits. So long as a good many had to look upon the 2d. trade they had to endeavour too keep it. He moved no spirits of any kind should be sold under 2 £ d., and that mcaeof be the quarter gill. It had been suggested there would be no difficulty in getting 3d., but he thought rather his suggestion ths wioar. If any tried to carry on under tins price they would all go to the wail. Asked by Mr. Love whether the 2 £ d. would cover the new taxes, Mr. Rogers said he was of opinion that it wonJd as they might think it desirable to rise beer JleXt September. lWr, Love %>id that wae feifetcng the work- ing inen hanl Mr. II. Rogers said the working men drank nearly 105 much bulk whisky as beer. Mr. W. Ilvans seconded Mr. Rogen' amendment, und said if they were not un- animous to-day they would never be. Those who oould charge 3d. could do so2 but there were tome parts where they omdd not do eo, af Mr. Serine had said. Mr F Scffce said he hoped they would be unanimous* and not iike they were when they rose tha stout. (Applause.) If the ae- sociation west) unanimous he hoped to be- come a mendber of the association. (Ap- plause ) Mr. W. Twr, while in sympathy with what had bctffi said, hoped "The Trade' would move tthowly and carefully. He urged the increase tj price should be of a uniform character, and said it would be disastrous to increase say Id. at Swansea, and maybe jd. at Cardiff. He suggested the meeting should be adjourned for a week; in tue meantime he had every confidence that the two great wings of the trade would adopt a oourat from which united action would follow. The prices recommended oould remain in force until the next meeting. The situation was a grave one. He asked did they all realise what an increased price meant? The President caid many smaller people had to buy at the increased prices to-day, and he hardly understood Mr. Tair's sug- gestion. Mr. Tarr said the prices oould remain in farce as suggested until the meeting, say in a week's time. The President wanted the' matter decided that day. and said if the Lords pulled the Budget down, he would call another meet- ing to pull the prices (as recommended) down. Mr. Hopkins (Marquis Arms) advocated one price and one price alone. (Hear, bear). Mr. Rogers (Messrs. Hancock) thought they should wait until the meeting of the two sections of the trade in London m the meantime they could go on with the pricee as recommended. The amendment that nothing should be sold under 2i,d. was lost. In course of further discussion, Mr. H. J. Israel said he understood brewers were going to raise the price of beers. Mr. Hopkin James moved the meeting be adjourned for a. week in the meantime the prices recommended be adopted with the addition of a minimum of 2d. peT quarter gill for bulk spirits sold over the counter in glasses. Mr. Enoch Richards seconded. This was carried unanimously. Mr. H. J. Israel moved: "Ttat thi1 meeting of licensed holders, while recognis- ing the necessity of increased taxation, and being prepared to bear their due proportion, consider the present proposals regarding in- crease of customs, excise, and license duties of the Chancellor of the Exchequer ex- tremely vindictive and revengeful, and this meeting pledges itself to do all in its power to bring about a modification of such drastic [iroposals." Mr. Israel said in his case the icense would go up from £ 25 to £ 80. He said the increased cost would run up to 8s. a gallon, and he mentioned that some houses would find it extremely difficult to carry on. Mr. S. Dark seconded, and Mr. D. Bas- sett having supported, This was carried unanimously. Mr. H. Rogers moved a resolution calling upon all members to join the association, charging a uniform price, and all supplying under it he recommended that wine and spirit merchants and distillers be urged to stop supplies. Mr. Serine seconded, and said it was the licensed victuallers themselves a.nd members of the committee who cut the price, first. He maintained the last advance for six months, but found other members of the trade "cutting," This was carried, and the meeting was adjourned until next Monday at 4 o'clock.

Llaneily Harbour Trust in 1904 secured a loan from the Bank of England in connection with the dock undertaking for five years. A few days ago a deputation waited upon the bank with a view of getting the loan renew- ed at a lower rate of interest. «