The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard

AGRICULTURE AND AN ANGRY GOD. THE Bishop of ST. ALBAKS has written a letter to the archdeacons of his diocese of the kind that it is always said no intelligent person ever does write in these days. We may be told that the Bishop of ST. ALBANs is not an intelligent person, and that any argument based on his letter will, on that ground, carry no weight. It is fair to presume, however, that the Bishop of ST. ALBANS is an intelligent person, and that his views of GOD and religion are held by a considerable number of other intelligent persons in different parts of the United Kingdom. The BISHOP'S letter contains the following pro- positions, namely:—That GOD is angry with the people of this country; that the sins of the people have brought down a plague of rain of waters; that men a few years ago vainly imagined that they could, by skill and con- trivance, double the productions of the earth; that GOD has withdrawn from us fertilising warmth and sunshine as a punishment for sin; that the anger of GOD and the punishment he has inflicted may be diverted by prayer and humiliation. The BISHOP points out that the distress is not now heaviest upon poor people, but if it should continue, "they will be the sorest sufferers." The BISHOP does not say whether he thinks the poor are the greatest sinners, nor does he attempt to xplain how it happens that what he calls a scourge does not now fall most heavily upon the poor. The reason is that food supplies are drawn from so wide an area owing to the skill and contrivance of men" that the suffering, which the BISHOP attributes to the anger of GOD, is averted. Bad seasons in England, instead of meaning famine and pestilence amongst the poor, only mean loss of profit to farmers, and loss of rent to landlords. The Bishop of ST. ALBAXS may believe in a GOD who "rows angry over the ignorance of the people, and who, in his anger, sacrifices innocent and o-uilty in one great slaughter, but the bulk of o n religious men and women in this country do not now look upon GOD as a being who uses the elements to express either pleasure or anger— approval or disapproval. He would, indeed, be a presumptuous being who ventured to say that the drenching and apparently disastrous rains of the past few months are not better for everybody than the fair" weather which some people in their ignorance would instruct the ALMIGHTY to give them. The heavy rains may have been good, and not evil. The religion of the Bishop of St. ALBAN'S may have no room in it for faith. He may think that he can change the courses of the clouds by prayer, and may believe that the ALMIGHTY has angrily set himself in array against the ignorant inhabitants of this country. The God of the -Bishop of St. ALBAN'S is a vindictive devil, who is represented as glutting himself in the sorrows and distresses of his creatures. Men by their skill and contrivance have doubled and quad- rupled the produce of the earth, and will double and quadruple it again. It is a lie of the priests that GOD has withdrawn from us fertilising warmth and sunshine," or that he has sent upon us a plague of immoderate rain and waters." The Bishop of St. ALBAN'S has fixed the 4th day of March for his prayer, but already on the 25th of February the weather is favourable to the tillers of the soil. Floods are rapidly abating hedges are bursting into life birds are singing in the woods; primroses are blooming in the copse side; newly-yeaned lambs are bleating in the meadows; and spring, by its! million voices, is proclaiming the oneness of the Power that rules over nature. The want of faith manifested by the Bishop of St. ALBAN'S is a distressing sign for the religious world. That a bishop should write to the newspapers as if GOD had ceased to bless the world, and as if nothing could restore peace and plenty to the people but the organized prayer of the church, is a sign of the times that is not without its sad 6 significance. The Bishop of St. ALBAN'S knows that in past ages this country was covered with ice. The rocks on the mountains are scored by the slowly travelling glaciers. The Bishop of St. ALBAN'S also knows that this country was once subjected to tropical heat. If, in the order of nature, either of these conditions returned- tropical heat or arctic cold-would the Bishop of St. ALBAN'S dare to tell the ALMIGHTY that such a change would be an evidence of His anger, and a scourge sent to punish the sin of the people Does the Bishop of St. ALBAN'S know what is best for the fertility of the land? Can he say when the rain has been sufficient, or when the floods should be abated ? Who is he that he should in any measure implore the ALMIGHTY to alter the course of nature, for what, in his stupendous ignorance, he imagines may be for the good of the people We have hitherto, like reasonable creatures in the presence of great and constant laws, adapted ourselves to the seasons. Our vessels are made to meet storms; our houses are built to resist rain and heat and wind; our crops are suited to the varied climate and the clothing of our bodies is adapted to the changing seasons. If our judgment has been at fault we must re-adapt ourselves, or adapt ourselves more closely, and not implore GOD to alter the climate of the country to save us from loss of rent or profit. It behoves all men, including bishops and arch- bishops, to walk the earth reverently and trust- fully, and not arrogantly, as if they knew all things and could safely accuse GOD of dealing in anger with His creatures. If it should so hap- pen in future that continuous rains prevent the successful cultivation of wheat, it would be wiser to fall back on some other crop, and so turn the rain to advantage, than, like the Bishop of St. ALBAN'S, treat the rain as a curse, and implore GOD, as an offended being, to remove His anger from the people that they might be again enabled to grow wheat. Whether the Bishop of St. ALBAN'S prays or not, we believe the seasons will continue to follow each other in due order; but if the present system of agriculture is not adapted to the climate and to the existing high rents, tithes, and other charges, the best thing to do would be to alter the system, and to reduce rents and taxes. The church seems to believe a good deal in prayer as a means of obtaining relief for farmers but in its own case puts its trust in tithes and three per cents!

THE IJSTERCHANGEABLENESS OF WEALTH. (No. 3). IN our correspondence columns we publish a letter which deals with an article published last week. We are glad to publish the letter, and may say that the importance of the subject does away with any need for apology in again revert- ing to it. In reference to our correspondent's letter we venture to deny that the production of any form of wealth is necessarily equivalent to the production of the means of subsistence. What we said about the Great Eastern was that it was of no value until completed, not "created." We contend that it is not true, as Mr GEORGE says, that every stroke of work adds to the value of the material worked upon. One of the great conditions of value in all manufactured things depends on their final completion, and often on their completion within a specified time. Unfinished work, work finished too late, or work not wanted, is only so much raw material spoiled. The stones, wood, iron, and other material used in building a house are worth nothing during the process of building, and the half built house is worth nothing either. Whether it will be worth anything when it is completed depends on whether the builder has been right in his judgment as to the need for a house. If the completed house does not fetch as much as it cost, including wages, interest, and material, the loss will have to be made up out of capital. In almost all work, wages have to be fixed on the expected, and not upon the actual, produce of labour, and the labourer gets his wages, whatever the manufacturer gains or loses. To the maker of any forms of wealth they are not wealth to him except so far as he can exchange them for the necessaries of life; but they are wealth, whether they can be exchanged or not, in the sense Mr. GEORGE gives. A piece of woodwork might occupy a skilled man a month in making it, and when made he might only be able to exchange it for as much food as would maintain him a day. Part of the social difficulty arises from the fact that a week's labour in creating certain forms of wealth will only exchange for one day's ample food, just because labour in all modes is not equal to producing the necessaries of life. There is an unearned increment in the value of land which neither the nominal owner of the land nor the cultivator should take, but Mr. GEORGE advo- cates the confiscation of all rent, and says nothing about compensation. He attributes all poverty to the unequal distribution of wealth, instead of allowing that there is unequal power amongst the people to retain the wealth if it were re-distributed to-morrow. How are equal proportions to be maintained if they were once secured, as long as men vary in power ZD Mr. GEORGE contends that every worker is entitled to all the fruits of his labour. It is clear, however, that the originating and con- trolling mind will always make bargains with the men who can only work with their hands or brains as directed, or after a plan has been perfected and revealed. The man who believes that a bog, if drained, will grow good crops, and who engages men and pays them wages while the work is going on, is looked upon as a fool by the men he employs, and also by his peers. He goes on advancing capital—Mr. GEORGE says to store up land made valuable by labour—we say to pay wages. Whether the work will ever be remunerative depends on whether he can finish the work, and whether he has made a right calculation as to the results of the work. The men are satisfied with their wages, and the work goes forward for ten years, until at length it is completed. Suppose the work is successful, surely the man who advanced the capital, r although he never touched a spade, is entitled to all the profit of that undertaking, and to charge rent for the land, and to own the land as much as if it were a watch or a horse. The nature of Mr. GEORGE'S proposals, and not his intentions, must be looked at; and the evils he sets out to cure, and not some others, must be dealt with. Mr. GEORGE'S proposition to confiscate all rent- for that is his proposal-would create a large number of paupers. There are hundreds of thousands of people who have no other means of living than the rents they receive from land. We do not deny the right of the State to take the land, and to take it without compensation, but we deny that the result of taking it will be to extirpate poverty and crime. The principle of confiscation must of course be applicable to other forms of inherited wealth than land. Mr. GEORGE'S book deals with a very large and vital question, and it is important to see, not whether his intentions are good not whether he sug- gests some desirable changes not whether he :1 n has made a few trivial mistakes but whether he has dealt with the question of Progress and Poverty thoroughly and wisely. The question is not whether the labourer should have a larger share of the results of his labour, but whether he should have them all; not whether private ownership in land and in its unearned increment should be limited, but whether all rent should be confiscated not only for land but for all improvements made in land except those made within a reasonable period the question is not whether all wealth is ex- changeable in some degree for the necessaries of life, but whether they are exchangeable in the sense that "the power of producing wealth in any form is the power of producing sub- sistence the question is not whether existing laws and customs respecting the ownership and inheritance of wealth have aggravated z,9 crime and increased poverty, but whether all poverty and crime are due to those laws and customs. These are the questions Mr. GEORGE sets himself to answer, and he fails altogether if he does not answer them. There may be a system of land nationalisation which would keep the land in cultivation, and benefit the nation; but we oppose Mr. GEORGE'S destruction of the right to private property for the simple reason that an added value to land is as much the result of private labour as the making of a watch or any other article of value. The labouring population are too weary of their position, and are looking too eagerly for some hopeful outlook, for anyone to trifle with a book like Mr GEORGE'S, which professes to have found a panacea which will cure all the ills of poverty and crime. The book is loosely written, and is full of rhetorical flourishes and impassioned appeals in inflated language. We know something of the life of the poor and of the difficulties they have to contend with, and it is because Mr GEORGE writes about those difficulties in a way that is likely to have influence that we have already devoted so much space to the discussion of his book, and are willing to devote more. We believe the leaders of working men will be enabled, by their own practical knowledge of labour, to see through the fallacies which seem to crowd Mr GEORGE'S book. His undoubted sympathy with the poor goes without saying, but that sympathy must not blind us to his loose reasoning and illogical conclusions. J 0

LOCAL AND GENERAL NOTES. Owing to the spread of cattle disease the Local Authority of the County of Merioneth, under the Contagious Diseases Acts, have prohibited the removal of animals into the district. The notice will be found in our advertising columns. Mr COLERIDGE KEXXARD, the Conservative member for Salisbury, has not been unseated on the petition presented against his return. Three persons are to be reported to the SPEAKER for bribery. Mr Justice MANISTY said that the practice of employing voters at elections and paying them was most per- nicious, and ought to be avoided. The simple cure for paying voters for working would be to disqualify every person from voting who received pay for working at an election. ♦ The Liverpool Mercury says—" There is an unwill- ingness on the part of the public to believe that indigence is a professional avocation deliberately chosen by the idle, and scarcely ever an accidental condition of life." There are not a few people who imagine that if all the professional vagrants, criminals, and wastrels in the country were presented with a considerable share of other people's property they would at once become, industrious, virtuous, and provident. Speaking on Tuesday at a Liberal demonstration held at Coventry, Lord CARLINGFORD, in replying to a vote of confidence in the Government, said the pro- gramme put forward in the QUEEN'S Speech was one which was justly regarded by the country as right and necessary, but he feared, owing to the action of the Opposition, no effectual beginning could be made before Easter. The London correspondents of the daily papers are beginning to mourn over the loss of time in the House of Commons and to predict an utterly barren session. At the last meeting of the Machynlleth Board of Guardians, Mr MURRAY BROWNE suggested that the guardians might send some of their paupers to Forden instead of going to the expense of enlarging their own workhouse. The Board will discuss the subject at the next meeting. It is of little consequence which course is adopted. As a matter of economy, it would be better to send some of the paupers to For- den, but as a matter of sentiment it might be desir- able to enlarge the workhouse. One of the complaints made at the Lampeter Local Board is that resolutions are passed but are not carried into effect. This defect, we regret to say, is not con- fined to Lampeter Local Board, but destroys the useful- ness of more pretentious bodies. Lampeter Local Board is not perfect, but that body has done a good deal of .useful work during the past five years. The spirit of reform is strong in the members, and further improvements may be expected. The time may even come when the newspapers which report the Board's proceeding will have the privilege of publishing its advertisements, but that will not be just yet. The movement for the triennial election of members of Boards of Guardians and for vote by ballot is be- coming general. The following resolution was passed last week by the West Derby Ratepayers' Association: "That the association memorialise the Right Hon. the President of the Local Government Board, Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, M.P., to take into Consideration the present mode of election of members of local boards and poor law guardians, and pray that the Ballot Act now intended to be perpetuated be extended to all such elections and that before acceding to the petition of the West Derby Board of Guardians for a sub-division of the West Derby Union and triennial election of its members, to cause the abolition of proxy and faggot voting, together with plurality of votes and qualifica- tions that at present obtain, by the adoption of the ballot, as conducted at parliamentary, municipal, and school board elections, the latter from choice, and thereby purge the present corrupt and demoralising system of voting that is carried on to the detriment of the ratepayers morally and financially." It is highly desirable that in all unions and local board dis- tricts the question of triennial elections and improved methods of voting should be discussed in order that action may be united in sending the memorials to the President of the Local Government Board. During the past ten days agricultural prospects in | this district have greatly improved. Farm work of all kinds is going briskly forward and spring sowing is in progress. Farmers are short of food for store cattle, but the winter, notwithstanding the heavy rains, has not made such inroads on hay and other provender as would have been the case if frost and snow had prevailed. On Monday next, the 5th of March, at two o'clock in the afternoon, an adjourned meeting of the North Cardiganshire Agricultural Society will be held at the Town Hall, Aberystwyth. Farmers and others interested in the prosperity of the Society should contrive to be present next Monday in order to make arrangements for carrying on the Society with vigour during the ensuing year. ■jfr A "new explosive substance his been discovered, called" Panclastite." This compound which has excited some apprehension among the Parisian autho- rities is not unknown in this country. It is at the present time said to be occupying the serious attention of the Home Office, under whose direction very stringent rules have been drawn up for regulating its transmission by road, rail, or ship. The material is in the form of a harmless-looking jelly; but in its explosive powers puts dynamite altogether in the shade. Its usefulness in removing rocks, and in quarry operations, will be great. The London Cymmrodorion Society, instead of trotting out Prince LGCIAX BoxAPARTE, and talking nonsense about a medal, are showing signs of intelligent action. Mr B. T. WILLIAMS last week delivered an address before the society. He has little sympathy with the howling patriot, and will be no party to that attempt to centralise every Welsh movement in London which at one time threatened to be a danger to the independent life of the Principality. The ambitious youths who thought they might reach notoriety by means of the Cymmrodorion Society must be taught that the Welshman's chief sphere of labour for IVtles is Wales. •* Three magistrates at Bootle have passed a sentence which will strike consternation just where consterna- tion may do good. A child only four years of age being taken into custody for begging, the magistrates sent the mother of the child to prison for three months with hard labour, on proof being given that she had sent it into the streets to beg. Both sue and her equally worthless husband had previously suffered imprisonment for the same offence. There are several little children, shamefully neglected, who are sent out daily to beg at Aberystwyth. Three months in goal would do the parents of these children no harm, and might save the children from courses that are almost sure to end in crime. -1- A meeting of the Council of the University College of Wales was held in London on Wednesday. An application was received from Brecon Independent College for the admission of their students for the arts course, preparatory to their entering for the theological course at Brecon. Higher testimony than this, to the undenominational character of the college, it would be impossible to receive. It is astonishing that more proposals of this kind have not been made, but there can be no doubt that ultimately all the theological colleges in Wales will send their students to one or other of the university colleges for their arts course. The position of the college continues to improve, and very few people now believe that the Aberystwyth College will be interfered with whatever is done in South and North Wales. The MarkJLane Express has obtained reports from I a large number of farmers in different parts of the United Kingdom as to the working of the Ground Game Act. The reports vary greatly respecting the value of the Act. In some places the Act is said to be worse than useless, while in others it is said to have checked over-preservation of game. There are land- lords who care far more for rabbits than for tenants, and there are tenants who dare not exercise any right that the landlord wishes should not be exercised. In this district the Act has made very little difference. Landlords who breed and preserve rabbits know how to enforce their wishes with tenants disposed to act in opposition to their expressed desires. Farmers, it may be said, are masters of the situation, but they do not think so, and although landlords are beginning to discover that there are fewer tenants than farms, it is difficult to persuade a landowner who worships rabbits, that tenants are driven away by them. The Ground Game Act is doing something in the way of forming public opinion. The farmers' position is so bad that rabbits are now only a troublesome incident in it. Bad seasons do not increase prices now as formerly, and the land in many cases is too poor to feed stock even if absurd agreements did not stand in the way of changes calculated to meet altered circumstances.

Jocal anb gistrict. THE WELSH EDUCATION BILL-It is stated that this Bill will probably not be introduced before Easter. LEAD.—There is a slight improvement in lead. After being fl3 7s. 6d. English pig has risen to £ 13 12s. 6d. FATAL ACCIDENT IN VAYXOR PARK.—An inquest was held by Mr J. H. Roberts at Pontdinorwic on Tuesday upon the body of Mr George William Humphreys, Bulkeley Arms Hotel. Menai Bridge. The deceased was stag hunting in Vaynol Park on Monday afternoon, when his head came in contact with the bough of a tree. He was stunned and fell from his horse. Dr Richards and Dr Grey Edwards were on the field, but the deceased never recovered consciousness, and died in about four hours. A verdict of "Accidental death" was returned. The deceased was the youngest son of the late Mr Henry Humphreys, who last year met with his death in a somewhat similar manner. CAMBRIAN RAILWAYS. Approximate return of traffic receipts, for the week ending 25th Feb., 1883:— Miles open, ISOf. Passengers, parcels, &c., 91,095 merchandise, minerals, and live stock, 91,759; total for the week, £ 2,S54. Aggregate from commence- ment of half-year to this date, £ 20,594. Actual traffic receipts for the corresponding week last year :-Miles open, 180. Passengers, parcels, &c., f 1,076; merchandise, minerals, and live stock, 91,S22; total for the week, £ 2,898. Aggregate from commence- ment of half-year to this date, £ 22,102. Increase: Passengers, parcels, &c., £19; merchandise, I minerals, &c., EWO; decrease passengers, parcels, &c., EOO; merchandise, minerals, and live stock, £ 63 total for the week, £ 44; aggregate from commencement of half-year to this date, £ 1,508. CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.—The Bills to amend the Acts against cruelty to animals has just been pub- lished. It was prepared and introduced to Parliament by Mr Anderson, Sir Frederick Milbank, Mr Samuel Morley. Mr Jacob Bright, Mr Passmore Edwards, and Mr Buchanan. It enacts that the word animal' in the Cruelty to Animals Prevention Act, 1849. and in the Cruelty to Animals Prevention (Scotland) Act, 1850, shall, notwithstanding anything in eitheir of those Acts, mean and include any vertebrate animal, whether of domestic or wild nature, kept in confine- ment or captivity. Section three of Cruelty to Animals Prevention Act, 1849, and section two of the Cruelty to Animals Prevention (Scotland) Act, 1850, shall be read and have effect as if in each of those sections there were inserted after the word nature' the words or for the purpose of shooting at birds liberated from traps or any other contrivance, or from the hand and after the words 'or other animal," the words 'or the shoot- ing at any bird liberated from any trap or other con- trivance, or from the hand.' THE NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD, 1S83—ADJUDICATION ON THE LIBRETTOS.—The Committee of the National Eisteddfod offered a prize of ten guineas for the best libretto for a dramatic cantata, and submitted the various compositions received to, among other gentle- men, Mr J. Ceiriog Hughes, whose adjudication has been published. "Ceiriog" writes:—Five librettos were duly received. The names attached to the com- positions are, "Silure," "Arthur of the Round Table," "Gwydion ap Don," "Arthur," and "No Name." The themes selected are respectively:—1. Caradog, a Romantic Libretto, »en Libretto Ramantus. 2. Caradawc (Caractacus), a Dramatic Cantata, mu Libretto Caradawc. 3. Gwylliaid Cochion Mawddwy, the Red-haired Banditti of Mawddwy, a Dramatic Cantata. 4. The Maid of Cevn Ydva, y Ferch o Gefn Ydfa, a Dramatic Libretto. 5. Y Crocsgadwr (The Crusader) and Ceiriog concludes his adjudication as follows:—I have respectfully to submit that of the five competitors there is not one who understands the laws of English rhymes—that is matchlny and not repeating sounds according to Welsh versification—and | that there is not a line of humour, wit, or pleasantry in thewhole five. Gwir yn trbyn Byd% "CAMBRIAH NEWS" PRINTING WORKS.—All kinds of machine ruling, and every description of bookbindiifg done at the Cambrian News Printing Works. THE BLAEN CAELAN UNITED LEAD MINES.—The )' petition for winding up was also withdrawn by the petitioner. MERIONETH MINING AGENCY COMPANY.—The peti- tion for winding up the company has been withdrawn upon the payment of the petitioner's debt. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF WALES SPORTS.—These popular sports will be held on Saturday, the 17th of March at Aberystwyth. Seventeen events will come off. We .understand that arrangements will be made for cheap tickets from different parts of the district to Aberystwyth on the day of the sports. THE SOCTH WALES UNIVERSITY COLLEGE.—Respect- ing the University College for South Wales and Mon- mouthshire, the Mayor of Cardiff has written to the Privy Council Office stating that March 7 will be a suitable day for the holding of the arbitration between that town and Swansea as to the site, before Lord Carlingford, Lord Bramwell, and Mr. Mundella. He adds that it is clearly understood and agreed to that Cardiff will consent to be bound by the decision of the arbitrators. UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.—Dr R. D. Roberts, M.A., D.Sc., Clare College, Cambridge, has been appointed a member of the Board of Electors to the Woodwardian Professorship of Geology in that Uni- 1-1 y versity, held by Professor McKenny Hughes. The other members of the Board are Professor "Prestwich, Oxford, Professor Ageikei. F.R.S., director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Dr Phear, master of Emmanuel College, Professor Newton, Mr Hill, M.A., St. John's College, Mr Ewbank, M.A., Clare College, and Mr Rudleston, M.A., St. John's College. Under the new university statutes, a Board of Electors to each professorship has to be appointed. A COLLEGE FOR NORTH WALE.S.-Tlie following gentlemen are the officers that were appointed in con- nection with the above college at the very influential meeting held on Friday last at the Westminster Palace Hotel, London :—President, Earl Powis vice- president, the Hon. George Osborne Morgan, Judge Advocate-General; treasurers, Captain Verney and Mr R. Hudson, jun., Chester; hon. secretaries. Sir R. A Cunliffe, M.P., Mr W. Rathbone, M. P., Mr Mar- chant Williams, and Mr J. R. Davies. The whole of North Wales will be at once canvassed for subscrip- tions unrestricted as to site, &c., public meetings will be arranged in the chief centres of population for the purpose of advocating the interests of the college and of higher and intermediate education, and a special meeting will be held at Chester, probably at Whitsuntide, to receive the report of the sub-committee and to appoint arbitrators to decide upon the site of the college. The following gentlemen, among many others, were present at last Friday's meeting :—Earl Powis. Lord Penrhyn, Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Lord Richard Grosvenor, M.P., Mr Osborne Morgan, M.P., Sir R. A. Cunliffe, M.P.. The Bishops of Bangor and St. Asaph, Major Cornwallis West, Mr Hanbury Tracy. M.P., Mr Richard Davies, M.P., Mr John Roberts, M.P., Mr S. Holland, M.P., Mr Robertson, M.P., Mr Gee, Dr Edwards, Captain Verney, Mr H. Evans, Principal I Rowlands.—Daily News. MONTGOMERYSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. — An adjourned meeting of this Society was held at Newtown on Tuesday. Mr H. C. Humphreys-Owen presided, and the following were present—Messrs. R. Gillart, Machynlleth, Edward Davies, Llanidloes, J. B. Owen, Llanidloes, W. N. Swettenham, Newtown, W. Withy, secretary, Welshpool, and W. Mickleburgh, Mont- gomery. It appeared that a large number of subscribers had not paid their subscriptions for 1882, and opinions were expressed that this was to be accounted for by the uncertainty as to any show being held in the future, and that this reason did not absolve those who had promised subscriptions from the obligation of paying them. Subsequently it was determined to leave in abeyance the question of holding a show until there was a prospect of the Society having a successful ex- hibition. At the same meeting the Chairman intro- duced the subject of the formation of a society for the purpose of obtaining for its members the analysis of artificial manures. In speaking of the necessity of such an organization, he mentioned a case in which artificial manure was sold, and which, on analysis, proved not to be worth more than half the money paid for it. He expressed an opinion that faimers suffered very much from the want of the facilities for analysis that such a society would place at their disposal. He contented himself with the introduction of the sid ject, without moving a resolution. The Chairman's remarks were favourably discussed, and the meeting shortly afterwards terminated. MUTILATION OF A FARMER.—Messrs. Jenkin Morgan Harris and Thomas Harris, of Trefrig and Bondringaed, gentlemen, again surrendered to their bail of £4,000, at Cefn police-court, on Friday, to answer the charge of committing an outrage upon Jenkin Morgan, farmer, Penderyn, on the 31st of December last.—Mr Jenkin Morgan, the person said to have been maimed, was examined. He said that he had gone to the residence of the prisoners with a sparerib of pork. He was asked to see the defendants in a room of the house, and was then given several glasses of whiskey and water, which he drank. He got unconscious, and awoke next morning upstairs in a room without a bed. He was in great pain. He went down stairs and dozed there without any food all day. At night the prisoners came to him and gave him some more whiskey. He by this time found he had no hair on his head and no whiskers, though before he came to the house he had a large crop of both. Thos. Harris told him he had fallen into the fire and burnt himself. Witness replied that this could not be the case, or he would have burnt his clothes. He had more whiskey, and went again to the same chamber to pass the night. Tom Harris came to him and offered him more whiskey. Witness was very bad, but declined the whiskey. He was left lying all the night on the plank, and the next morning went down into the kitchen groaning with pain, as he had been on the Sunday. He could not eat anything on the Sunday night. It took him several hours to crawl home on Monday morning, and he found on further ex- amination that he had suffered acute injury. He went to bed on arriving at his residence, and told his wife how poorly he was. He called in a medical man ten days afterwards, and he had been under that gentle- man's care ever since. He was still in occasional pain. —After hearing some other evidence the magistrates decided to send the defendants for trial on a charge of misdemeanour, but admitted them to bail as before. WALES AND THE LIBERATION MOVEMENT.—A numerously attended and enthusiastic meeting of Welsh residents of Manchester and Salford was held on Tuesday night in the Chorlton Town Hall, in support of the movement for the disestablishment of the Church of England in Wales. All the speeches were, with one exception, in Welsh. The chair was occupied by the Rev J. H. E vans (Cynfaen), of Man- chester. Tlt Rev Dr John Thomas, of Liverpool, moved the firlt resolution as follows:—"That this meeting of Welshmen, resident in Manchester and Salford, have heard with intense pleasure the declar- ation of Lord Richard Grosvenor, M.P., on the dis- establishment of the Established Church in Wales, made to his constituents at Rhyl, December 19th. 1882. They accept it as a distinct assurance- that Liberal statesmen are prepared to accede to the urgently-repeated demand of the Welsh for religious equality, and they call upon the Welsh members to take immediate action in Parliament to give effect to the deep-seated conviction of the Welsh people in this matter." He said some persons thought that Welsh- men ought to wait. He had been of the same opinion, but that was at a time when the separate existence of Wales were not recognised by the State. Since then a change had taken place there had been separate legislation for Wales and they were justified in ask- ing for disestablishment, independently of England. The Rev Owen Jones, of Gelli, seconded the resolution. Mr C. R. Jones, of Llanfyllin, supported the resolution. He claimed disestablishment in Wales on account of the supremacy of Nonconformity there. He urged the Welsh people to prepare for the battle at the next election, and to print on their banners in large capitals, "Disestablishment in Wales." (Cheers). The Rev E. Lloyd Jones, of Rhyl, also supported the resolution, which was unanimously passed. On the motion of Mr W. R. Frimston, seconded by the Rev B. Humphreys, it was resolved to send copies of the fore- going resolutions to the Premier, Lord Richard Grosvenor, and the borough and county members for Wales.

ABERYSTWYTH COLLEGE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL. A meeting of the council of Aberystwyth College was held on W, .,dnesday morning, at half-past eleven, at the Westminst er Palace Hotel, London. The chair was taken by Lord Aberdare, the following members of the council being present, viz.: Mr D. Davies, M.P., Mr Henry Richax 'd, M.P., Judge B. T. Williams* Q.C., Capta-n Verney, R.. N., the Rev Mark Pattison, and Professor Rhys, M.A., of Oxford Messrs Stephen Evans, John Hughes, C.C., J. Thomas, C.C., Lewis Angell, and the Rev Richard Roberts, of London Mr Hugh Pugh, Carnarvon Mesh TS Pell, James, and W. Williams, of Aberystwyth; Ieb, 3rs J. F. Roberts and W. Rowland, of Manchester tilt* Rev T. C. Ed- wards, M.A., Principal of Aberyst- -vth College the honorary secretaries, Dr. Evans, and Air. Lewis Morris, M.A.. and Mr. J. B. Rogers, secretary. Letters expressing regret at inability to atieJfl were received from Mr. Humphreys Owen, Dr. Edwards, Bala, Archdeacon Griffiths, Neath, and others.— minutes of the previous meeting having been confirmed, arrangements were made for the appointment of exa- miners for the close of the present session.—An appli- cation which had been made on behalf of the Brecon Congregational College for the admission of about fifteen of the junior students to go through their course of instruction in arts at Aberystwyth was then consid- ered. — After some conversation, a sub-committee was appointed to communicate with the head of Brecon College as to the terms of admission.—- A long discussion then took place upon the present state of affairs as to the establishment of Higher Colleges in Wales, and attention was called to the steps which had been taken both in North and South Wales to meet the Government grants. On the motion of Mr Lewis Morris, M.A.. seconded by Mr B. T. Williams, Q.C., the following resolution was adopted, viz., That a committee of this council be appointed to confer with the Site Committee of the North Wales College to consider the general question of higher education in Northern and Central Wales with a view to avoid any conflict of interests and to discuss the subject, with them generally. The com- mittee appointed under this resolution consisted of the principal, the honorary secretaries, the treasurers (Mr D. Davies, M.P., and Mr Stephen Evans, J.P.), Mr Henry Richard, M.P., and Mr B. T. Williams, Q.C., with liberty for any member of the council who wishes to attend to do so. In the discussion upon the resolu- tion the opinion was expressed that Aberystwyth had strong claims for the retention of the College, and some speakers considered that its claims had hitherto received but scant acknowledgment. Reference was also made to the very satisfactory nature of the last report of the examiners, and it was stated that the College is now in a much better condition than it ha& ever been before.

WHITLAND AND CARDIGAN RAIL- WAY COMPANY. The half-yearly general meeting of the shareholders of this company was held at the Yelverton Arms Hotel, Whitland, on Wednesday, Mr. John Owen pre- siding, and there being a good attendance. The report of the directors was laid on the table, which stated:— The gross receipts compare favourably with the cor- responding period of last year. Although your direc- tors have cause to feel pleased with the increase, they feel sure that if the weather had been more favourable a much larger increase in the receipts would have been shown, as the line traffic did not reach to the extent that was anticipated it would have done if the- weather had been finer. The expenditure shows an excess of what it was for the corresponding period of last year, and this is accounted for principally in the permanent way materials for maintaining the line. The balance, JE953 12s. Sd., we are able to carry to the net revenue account is very satisfactory. It reduces the adverse balance under that head to f254 lis. 5d. Your directors beg to state that the long pending ne- gotiations between this company are at last about being brought to a close. The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report, said the traffic during the last half-year was very satis- factory, having been a little in excess of any previous half-year. The total was £ 2,896, as against £ 2,738. He had hoped that they should have reached S3,000, but the wet weather had caused a decline in the mineral traffic. The most satisfactory part of the ac- counts was that the debt of £1,300, which they owed a year and a half ago, had been reduced to £ 254, lis 5d and during the current half-year it would be wiped away altogether. They would then be able to pay, he would not say five per cent. on the preference stock, but certainly three or four per cent. The agreement with the Great Western Railway Company was almost complete. Mr J. W. Bo WEN, Q.C., seconded the adoption of the report. Rev. R. B. JONES asked how much per mile per week the receipts had been for the last half. The SECRETAfty-X7. Rev. R. B. JO-I-ES-Then the Great Western Railway Company only requires jE3 more to give us forty per cent. on the traffic ? The SECRETARY—Yes. Rev. R. B. JOXES said that was not generally known among the shareholders. It was a satisfactory item, and he mentioned it so that all might know it. Captain GOWER asked if the directors were prepared unanimously to recommend the agreements with the Great Western Railway. The report stated that there were subsidiary agreements not yet completed. Mr J. W. BOWEN, Q.C., said that, as far as the Great Western Railway was concerned, all was settled, and the only question now was one or two points of difference between the two sections of the Whitland and Cardigan Company, which he hoped would be settled that day. After some further discussion, Mr J. W. BOWES said there was no mystery about the matter, and was about to state the points of difference, when The CHAIRMAN interposed to say that, as a matter of policy, it would be better not to speak of the matter in public. Mr JONES, solicitor, of Malmesbury. said that sub- ject to the arrangement of these points between the two sections, the directors were prepared to unanimously recommend the adoption of the agreement with the Great Western Railway Company. The retiring directors, Messrs John Owen, T. Colby, and T. Davies, and the auditor, Mr J. R. Atcherley having been re-elected, Mr T. DAVIES, as representing the Cardigan section, said that the Company had passed through very stormy waters, but they had reached a safe harbour at last, and they would soon have the satisfaction of seeing the line extended to Cardigan. Mr T. COLBY returned thanks for his re-election. When the line passed over to the Great Western Rail- way Company, some of the present directors would have to retire. The selection of those who should remain would be a serious matter. In acknowledging a vote of thanks, the CHAIRMAN said he had never met the shareholders under more happy circumstances. Everything had been settled to what he believed would prove the satisfaction of all the shareholders. He hoped there would be a large meeting at Cardigan to approve of the agreements. The Rev R. B. JOSES said it would be desirable that the shareholders should have some account of the agreements before the meeting. He thought a summary of the agreements should, be printed and circulated. Mr JONES, of Malmesbury, said the agreements con- tained thirtyarticles, and covered a great many sheets of closely-printed foolscap, so that it woald be extremely difficult to summarise them. If the agreements could be discussed: or altered, it would be very proper to circulate them beforehand, but they bad been approved of by the directors and the Great Western Railway, and they must be accepted by the shareholders of the Whitland and Cardigan without alteration, not at all. The proceedings here terminated.

On Tuesday evening, ai a meeting of the-Altrincham Reform Club, Mr George William Latham, of Brad- well Hall, was chosen as-the Liberal candidate for the division, and agreed to stand. In his address, Mr Latham says he will give a general and independent support to the present Governmont. He approved of the principle of compensation for unexhausted improve- ments, but no bill for that purpose would be adequate unless it contained provisions that a eenant farmer on. leaving his farm sk ill receive full payment for what he has expended in raising its letting value; that there shall be no increase of reat on a tenant's own improve- ments, and full freedom of sale ajid culture. He cou demns agricultural distraint as indefensible. The hearing of the petition presented against tho return of Mr Coleridge Kennard (Conservative) ior Salisbury was concluded on Monday, when the judges, Baron Pollock and Justice Manisty,. gave their decision. There was much excitement and the hall was crowded. Their lordships gave judgment for the respondents without costs. Mr Kennard therefore retains his seat. Baron Pollock, in giving judgment, said it would be the duty of the judges to report the names of t-'iiee persons guilty of bribery. It was, he sard, their duty to report to the Speaker of the House of Commons that no corrupt practice had prevailed in the borough with the knowledge cf the candidate. Mr Justice Manisty thoroughly endorsed the views taken by his learned brother, and said that the practice of employing voters at elections and paying them was most per- inicious, and ought to 1;.Q avoided. There is great excitement in the city, I

.ystwyth, Portmadoc, or Dolgelley does not think of the distance he is carried for the money, but looks at the sum he has to pay, and adopts all sorts of devices to avoid the expenditure. A penny a mile does not seem a high rate for travelling, but if the place is sixty miles away, the charge for going is 5s. Now, in winter, a tradesman might desire to go from Aberystwyth to Portmadoc on business, but in order to save the fare there and back he would put up with the disadvantages of correspondence. Then, again, as we have often pointed out before, the ports on the line, instead of feeding it, drain it and compete with it. This ought not to be so, and need not be so, if the directors grappled manfully with the situation. In summer, of course, a great deal more could be .done than is done to increase the traffic. We will give one direction in which much more could be done than is done at present, namely the running of excursions. As a rule the 'excursions announced by the company, unless they are fixed for a popular holiday, are com- parative failures. To organize a successful excursion from towns as small as those on the Cambrian line is a difficult work and requires local knowledge and great tact. In a large centre of population it is only necessary to make sufficiently public the fact that the fares to some place of interest will be greatly reduced, and there is at once a rush for tickets. In a thinly populated district far more than this is necessary to ensure success under even favourable conditions. It fre- quently happens that the conditions are not favourable, and failure is reached. Scores of times we have met with something like the fol- lowing experience. Somebody at Aberystwyth thinks it would be an excellent thing to get up an excursion, say, to Dolgelley. The Cambrian Company is written to and asked for the terms on which an excursion can be arranged. A letter is received stating that an excursion can- not be run unless a guarantee is given for 300 passengers at, say, 2s. 6d. each there and back. If that number or more is secured, ten per cent. will be allowed on the amount, but any defici- ency below 300 will have to be made up. If the excursion was successful, the promoters of the excursion might obtain six hundred passen- gers, and receive Y,7 10s. from the company, I being ten per cent. on 600 half-crowns. Out of that sum the promoters would have to pay for some printing and advertising, perhaps, and would have a balance of £5 or X5 10s. If, however, the morning was unfavourable, and rain fell steadily-a not by any means unusual circumstance in this part of the country-the promoters of the excursion might find that only one hundred tickets were sold, instead of three hundred. The result would be that the pro- moters would stand to lose £25 in addition to any expense they incurred for printing and advertising. The company will not allow the person who promotes an excursion to charge sixpence or a shilling more for each ticket than he is charged nor will they hire him a train for a fixed sum. The consequence is that the people who could successfully promote excur- sions, owing to local knowledge, are afraid to have anything to do with them. There is at Aberystwyth a successful Literary Society. The committee could easily organize an excursion, and, with favourable weather, might achieve great success. If there were as good a prospect of securing Y,15 or Y,20 as of losing X15 or L20 the committee, for the sake of the society, might make an effort, and the railway company would be benefited. There is a Free Library at Aberystwyth, and that committee might also arrange an excursion or two; the Town Im- provement Committee might easily work excur- sions to places of interest, but everybody is deterred by the inelastic conditions of the rail- way company, who practically say that nobody must make anything out of an excursion but themselves, and that they prefer everybody except themselves to make a loss. What is true of Aberystwyth is true of almost every town on the line. The success of the excursions depends on local effort, and if the railway company is secure the amount fixed by a guarantee, we cannot see why the guarantors should not reap some of the fruits of their labour and enterprise. After all, the railway is only a business, and if the directors do not cater for their customers and adapt themselves to the requirements of the district, they will not succeed as rapidly as is possible, or to the extent they might reasonably expect.