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CONWAY.

Llandudno National Eisteddfod…

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£ omeponbence+ [In no case are we responsible for the opinions expressed in this column.] To the Editor of The Weekly News." THE COLWYN BAY DISTRICT COUNCIL. SIR,-At the District Council Election in November 1894, I was a candidate, but I didn't get elected. After the uproar was over, at your suggestion, I thanked the ratepayers who had voted for me. I have since seen one of that small number who peruse in your columns the reports of the meetings of the Council, and I feel another duty pressing on me with ever increasing force,—it is to thank those ratepayers who were so kind as not to vote for me in November 1894. —Yours obediently, WELL OUT OF IT. Colwyn Bay, March 2nd, 1896. THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE. Dear Sir, There is letter in you last week paper that I not quite understand it. It say that the Primrose League entirely independent of Party Politics." Well indeed This seem very funny to me. I was always think it was thorough Tory to the back. If this not right, why Mr Paterson so jubilee over the General Election ? Seems Mr Paterson want throw dust in our eyes. No, no, we not quite so silly as swallow such non- sense. Mr Paterson say the Primrose League want Maintenance of Religion." Yes they want Maintenance of Bishops and Rectors by Noncon- formist Tithepayers. And they want Maintenance of Anglican (which not much different to Romish) teaching in Schools out of pockets the poor. But they got Joe Chamberlain with to reckon and I believe he say"Not for Joe." Mr Paterson's party not show much anxiousness about the Mainten- ance of the Christian Religion in Armenia any way. Then he want Maintenance of the Imperial ascendancy of the British Empire. Well we Liberals not want "ascendancy." We want live and let live," and we not see no reason why Russia not have part in the Pacific Ocean or Black Sea which not be frozen all winter. Rus- sian bad enough but Chinee and Turk much very worse. What Mr Paterson say about Siam ? And he want Maintenance of Estates of the Realm." If this take in Bishops in House of Lords we not agree with him. No. What for Esgob Llanelwy there any more than Thomas Parry, Llys Aled ? This here Primrose League want Maintenance, Maintenance all the time. Why they not keep themselves like the Free Churches do ? No, No, Mr Paterson, we Welsh too hard in the head for you, you see. We know quite well why you like the General Election, you think it mean more maintenance of the Rich by the Poor more main- tenance of the Navy by them that it's the least use to. More maintenance of Sasserdottle (I do not know if spell the word right) Teaching out of Evangelical money, and more Maintenance if Wrong against Right, of Vested Interests against Merit, of Rich against Poor, of the Ascendancy of the Few against The People," but look out and take to heart Montrose, Lichfield, South- ampton.—I remain, yours truly, North Wales, JOHN JONES. Feb. 29th. DEAR MR EDITOR,Mr C. Paterson's letter, in your last issue, has attracted my attention an I I think calls for recognition from one holding different views and opinions ot the things upon which he touches. I consider his remark "that the principles of the Primrose League are entirely separate from Party Politics" to be quite misleading, if not absolutely incorrect. The Primrose League, to- day, is, and, as a matter of fact, always has been, a Tory Subsidised Organization, and Tory throughout "de ca *> en pied." In view of this fact, his gracious invitation, to all true Liberals, to join the Glorious Company of the Apostles of Light and Liberty, bears a serio-comic aspect and is simply unadulterated bluff. If Mr P. would cite a solitary instance in which the assist- ance of the Knights, Dames, and Squires, not to speak of even the Rag, Tag, and Bobtail, of the Primrose League, was rendered to a Liberal, I should be obliged. Anyhow, any Liberals who may be tempted to join his Band on the strength of his persuasive eloquence, the Primrose League are welcome to. Mr P., in quite a little burst of Patriotic Fer- vour, sings the praises of our Beloved Lands (which is pretty expensive in Colwyn Bay) and some thirty-nine odd millions or so of us, don't own a sou's worth. One mighty Empire (and one person out of every five in London finds a pau- per's grave). Our national character as a guar- antee of Civilisation (and in Colwyn Bay, — where people are supposed, at least, to be civili- sed,—a woman, last week,almost drank herselfto death with drink purchased in the town). These panegyrics are the old Tory Battlecries, and, indeed, boil down all the speeches of the Tory Party and the Primrose Leaguers, and the residuum is simply bigotry and despotism. The Fear and Reverences we have invested our Contemporaries with is a delusion and a snare. Fear does not always inspire Reverence, but some- times Hatred. Apart from that, I object to the spirit of the statement, and I should like to ask Mr P. when the present Political "Barnums" intend to animate Abdul Hamid with some of the Awe which they evidently keep" on tab.To my mind, England has been guilty of a gross viola- tion of a most solemn covenant entered into by her own express wish and desire and, by shirk- ing her responsibilities and obligations, has par- ticipated in a series of most appalling crimes in Asia Minor, which rather drags the Mighty Em- pire through the mud, and somewhat tarnishes the fair fame of the beloved land's character as a guarantee of civilisation. Mr P. has administered a side slap at Social- ism, but it may interest him to hear that Lord Salisbury is a Socialist and, in order not to leave him in doubt on the subject, I should ask him to peruse the noble lord's Land Purchase Act for Ireland (a rotten measure enough, and which, although law, slumbers very peacefully), which is, in its essential bearing, a flat and un- mistakable piece of Social is ni, -goi tig, indeed, much further than many modern avowed Socialists would care to go. The most potent element of national life is home life and, without doubt, to my mind, unless the latter be healthy, good, pure, and,' noble, the former, as an inevitable consequence, suffers, and I assert that our English home life of to-day is slowly but none the less surely being shorn of all its beauty, under-mined and des- troyed by the baneful influence of the Liquor Traffic, and I don't mind adopting the Balfourean Theory,-on this point,—and referring it to authority. Now I do know what the Tories and their myrmidons and faithful henchmen, the Primrose League, have done to ameliorate this dreadful curse, they simply worked for all they were woi-Lti, at the late Election, for the brewers and publicans, and, thanks to their efforts, one of the most beneficial and useful measures ever put before the Commons, for reforming the Licensing Laws, has been shelved for an indefinite period. Perhaps, however, the Members of the Prim- rose League have never personally investigated the mattei, were they to do so, they might come to the conclusion that there was a good deal less in the result of the late Election to thank God (which same were an excellent phrase until it became ill-sorted) about qu'à n'en maudire le Diable.- Yours faithfully, FIDUS ACHATES.

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