The Weekly News and Visitors' Chronicle for Colwyn Bay Colwyn Llandrillo Conway Deganwy and Neighbourhood

Carnarvonshire County Council, PENMAENMAWR RATEPAYERS' MEETING. COLONEL DARBISHIRE ON THE EDUCATION QUESTION. WHY THE LIBERAL MAJORITY SHOULD BE MAINTAINED. In the unavoidable absence of Mr W. D. Jones (Chairman of the Council), Mr P. H. McClememt presided over a well- attended public meeting, held at the Oxford Hall, on Thursday evening, when Colonel C. H. Darbishire placed before the electors several matters; of great interest 111 respect to county administration. The Chair- man was also .supported by Mr W. H. RhodJes, the Rev Dewi Williams, M.A., and Mr William McClement. Colonel Derbyshire has been the town's repre- sentative on the County Council since its forma- tion, having only been opposed, once, the first year of all. According tOo some remarks made cliuTiilllig the evening, it would appear that the Conservative party made a. great attempt to get someone to oppose; the Colonel's return, this year, but no one was foond who was willing to try conclusions with the popular quarry magnate. The Chairman was very much to the point in his opening remarks. He appealed for co- operation; in progressive ranks on the ground that they were now in this country faced with tirie same difficulties asi tlhey ha,dexpemeruced during the last three years. Even now, he said, there were in Wales 1,000 head. masterships, in the elementary ,schools that were only open. to one denomination, and, all this despite the fact that the pay in connection with these tap-point ments. all came out of the public funds. (Ap- plause.) On the Colonel\sl ability the Chairman dwelt in the mosit eulogistic terms, each compli- ment that was paid to Colonel Darbishire being received' with deafening applause. COLONEL DARBISHIRE'S ROUSING ADDRESS. Colonel Darbishire, who on rising was greet- ed with hearty applause, said Once more I have the pleasure of appearing before you to discuss the present position of affairs, and to consider what we have got to strive for in the future. You have no doubt from time to time read in the papers what has occurred at our County Council meetings, and I am quite sure- from what transpires in those meetings that the electors are taking a more and more intelligent interest in the wrok of their representatives,, and, are,reialisin,g the true mean- ing of local self-government. (Hear, hear.) This intelligent .interest is just what is required to en- courage your representatives to continually work for more than has already been accomplished in the direction of securing the greatest good for the greatest number. (Applause.) Although. County Councils have only been in existence for IS years, they have accomplished much, not only in carrying on the government of the country and .administering the laws connected1 therewith in accordance with the wishes of the people, but in awakening the people to the fact that the responsibility of local self-government rests with themselves, a responsibility which cannot be got rid of. You can, of, course, if you choose, be traitors to your own interests .and refuse to. respond to your responsibilities., but if you do you may depend upon it you will become but another example of the unfaithful servant in the parable, and have the talent which you have made no use of taken from you and given to him who grasps the situation honestly and truly. There is no fear, however. of Wales failing. (Hear, hear.) She has shown: on so many occa- sions since the mecroor)a'ble election of 1868 what she is capable of, and how determined she is that the opinion of all sections of society and all denominations shall be represented in ac- cordance with the wishes of her inhabitants in the government of the country. (Applause.) I dol not think it is necessary to drag you over all the ordinary rou- tine work the County Council has done during the last three years. We have not had anything very startling to occupy our delibera- tions, but if there is any particular subject that anyone would like to have more light upon, I shall be happy to make it as clear as it is pos- sible to do. SCRUTINISING EXPENDITURE. The greatest ec,onomy has been- exercised. Every expenditure is carefully scrutinised, and the business of the county financially is carried on with the least possible expense consistent with thorough efficiency. The General County Rate in 1890 was 4d. in the pound on the as- sessment, and for the current year it is still 4d. in the pound. This, however, does not mean that we are only spending the sam,e ,amount of money this year as we did in 1890. A good! deal more money has to be spent for the public welfare now than previously. For instance, now that the County Council pays for the maintenance of the roads, improvements are demanded which would never have been contem- plated if the whole cost had to be provided by the district in which the. improvements is situa- ted. Thus several places where a ford across a river answered all the purposes hithertofore, bridges have been built, so that whatever the weather was the river could be crossed easily and with safety at all times. Dangerous places have been properly fenced, ugly corners have been cut off, and perhaps more than anything else, the surface of the roads themselves have to be brought up to a high standard of excel- lence that is required for the new traffic that is increasing every day-that is to say, the light and heavy motor traffic. HOW THE COUNTY HAS PROSPERED. Then there is cost of county buildlings, which never decreases, and the cost of the police them- selves, so that extra money has to be found somehow to meet the extra expenditure, and it is gratifying to realise, not by increasing the rate in the pound, but happily through the fact that the assessment has increased'. Thus, the money required for county purposes in 1890 was 4d. in the pound on the county assessment of five hundred thousand pounds. Now it is 4d. in the pound on a county assessment of six hundred and! twienty-nine thousand po,uin,dis-- showing that the state of affairs1 in the county while the County Coucil has had control has been prosperous. (Applause.) THE EDUCATION QUESTION. But during the last three years very important rdUltÏies have been thrust upon the County Coun- cil in connection with the control of the public elementary education, and it will probably be more interesting to discuss what been going on in this respect than anything else, so that there may be no misunderstanding as to what your wishes are with regard to the future. II (Hear, hear.) What the 1902 Act did was to practically place the elementary schools, under popular con- trol while reserving sip-ecial privileges to certain voluntary schools, which belong to certain sec- tions of religious thought. I am one of those who believe that this, Act was intended to te an earnest and honest attempt to solve the national educational question. But the Bill was drafted by those holding Conservative and Church of England views, and naturally it did not satisfy the wishes and aspirations of the great majority of the people. Moreover, the Government had received no ;mandate to bring forward, the Bill. (Hear, hear.) The country had not been given the opportunity of expressing its opinion on she subject, or how it wished this great education question should be solved. (Hear, hear.) Natur- i ally, therefore, the attempts to carry out the ] provisions of the Act caused ceaseless irritation all over the land to such an extent that on the very first opportunity when the. electorate was appealed to (at the commencement of the year) it spoke with no uncertain voice, sending to Parliament such a Liberal and Radical majority as ha,d never been heard of before, with a defi- nite mandate to settle among other important Liberal measures this great question of ele- mentary education. (Loud applause.) It has been good for the country to have experienced these three years of tri- bulation. (Laughter.) Probably in no other way would the importance of the sub- ject have forced itself on the minds of the people in so short a time. (Hear, hear.) The Liberal party has put great restraint upon itself, and restraint is always good for panties as well as .individuals. It has endeavoured over and over again to, arrive at some common ground on which the two schools of thought could work together harmoniously. (Cheers.) THE APPLE OF DISCORD. But unfortunately the religious question con- tinued to be tn "apple of discord," and the Es- tablished Church stood proudly aloof and would neither give up anything of what it considered its rights and privileges or listen to any sug- gestion for arriving at the desired end. The effect of all this was very apparent in Wales. The last County Councilelectioilts were fought on this question, and fought successfully— (hear, h,-ciar),-the, last General Election so suc- cessfully that not a single Tory Member was returned to Parliament, and the Right Hon. David Lloyd-George—(cheers)—who probably did more to denounce the impossibilities of the 1902 Act than anybody else within the four seas, entered the Cabinet as, President of the Board of Trade, there to champion the cause he loves and we love so well with all the increased power his position and experience gives him. (Loud and prolonged applause.) The last County Council assembled on the distinct under- standing that no money derived) from nates should be paid to any school that was not abso- lutely under popular control. This is one of the pillars of the British constitution that .those who find the money have the right .to spend it, and this undertaking has been faithfully carried out. (Applause.) But for all that we have had our stormy times, and iit is only the .steadfast determination to do what is. right and to carry out the electors' wishes that we find ourselves in ,su01h satisfactory circumstances as we are in at present. (Hear, hear.) An immense amount of work has been done, and done with an enthusiasm, which is beyond all praise. (Hear, hear.), THE COST OF EDUCATION. The Education Committee meets frequently, as does its sub-committees, and there are many enquiries all over the county. 'Much time is taken, tip overlooking, not only the schools al- ready in operation, but those which are being repaired and improved. and the new ones, which are being built to serve .increasing populations as well as entirely new centres of population. Naturally this cannot be done without money, and perhaps it may astonish you when you learn that to carry on the educational work in the county it cost for the year ,ending M arch 1906, £82043°, exclusive of loans. This is not all derived out of rates. Only Z36,454 comes out of the rates. The balance was found by Government grants and other re- ceipts. This is a large sum for the county to find, however, and there are many grumbles throughout the length and breadth of the land,, the echoes of which arte heard in the Council chamber, especially just now, before election time. (Laughter and hear, hear.) THE HANDICAP OF IGNORANCE. But you may rest assured that not one penny of the rates is taken from you than is absolutely necessary .(Hear, hear.) The county is deter- mined that the children shall have all the bene- fits that the best elementary education can, con- fer. The county dema,n,dis that the .school shall be efficient, sanitary, and convenient, so that the youth -of the county shall have the oppor- tunity of starting on the journey of life healthy, fairly and! evenly, not handicapped by ignorance and want of careful elementary teaching, las was the case only too frequently in the past. (Hear, hear.) To carry out this in the way it is being carried out at present must cost money, but it is money well invested, and the profit in the future will be great. (Applause.) Wales has too long proved herself ready to make sacrifices to obtain her ideals, to hesitate now, so. long as ,shle is satisfied that the sacrifices she makes are not filtered away foolishly your representatives did recognise to the full the re- sponsibilities towards you in the past, and it only remains with you now to select the right men to insure that the same care and economy and efficiency will be maintained in the future. THE RISE IN THE RATE. To put this in figures, the first elementary rate wa,s levied in the year ending 1904 for half a year-it was 3/4-d. in the year 1905 it was 8%/d. in the year 1906 it was II Yzd.; in the year 1907 it was ii%d. and for the coming year ending 1908 it will be nd. in the pound. This sudden rise in rate from 8 d. to II Yz d. was due to the fact that it was impossible to carry on without a balance to credit at the com- mencement of the year. The teachers of the elementary schools took Z43,956 in the year end- ing 31st March, 1903. They cannot wait until the rates come in, and there are other ex. penSJes that have to be paid promptly as well, so that it was necessary to have a balance at disposal of 615,0o0 at the beginning of each year. This was borrowed from the bank, and has to be paid by five annual instalments. As soon as it is paid the amount of rate levied will drop to that extent, unless, of course, the country insists upon demands that necessitate further expenditure. (Hear, hear.) HOW THE WORK IS DONE. Perhaps a good way to. explain the work of the Council is to call attention to the Commit- tees: that deal with the county [business. The County Council met seven times, the speaker added, and then he gave a list of nearly fifty committees, sub-committees and inquiries on which he had served. In addition to these, he said, there are the meetimlgs in connection with the District Educa- tion Committees every six weeks. In conclusion, let me thank you moistt heartily for having done me the honour to as;k me to re- present you for another three years. I have served you so long that my private opinion was that it might almost be .time for you to select someone else younger than I am. ("No, no.") But after carefully considering the matter with those who approached me, possibly there may be a good reason to keep as many of the old crew as can be goti to serve to work the Count}r Council ship through the next three years, when I think we may .all hope she will be brought into harbour safely with flying colours. (Laughter and applause.) THE LIBERAL MAJORITY. It is especially necessary this year that the Liberal majority is maintained to- the full extent oh the County Council, for a determined attack will be certainly made by the other party to re- duce if not to overwhelm that majority. Mr. Birrell's Bill was to a certain extent a compro- mise with the view of endeavouring to. meet as far as possible the wishes of everybody by giving here and taking there. But there is no doubt that it strained the loyalty of a good part of the Liberal parity to swallow some of the details. ("Yes" and applause.) The prejudices and)what are supposed to be the privileges of certain sec- tions of the country were given too much im- portance too. With Mr. McKenna at the head of affairs we may hope that the next Bill will pro- vide for the education of the country without bowing unduly to the prejudices and so-called privileges of any section of society. (Applause.) In .order to encourage the Government we must show that our confidence in them is un- shaken during the year that they have held office, and! there is no better way of showing that confidence than by sending tOo our County Council men' whom the Government can have confidencel in to administer the laws they may enact in the way that they intend they should be administered. (Hear, hear.) Ladies., and gentlemen, if you dOSJend me to Carnarvon to look after your interes-ts I assure you it shall be my pleasure and my object to serve you in the future as I know I have done according to my lights in the past. (Loud and continued applause.) When an opportunity w.as given to those who had questions, it was asked whether Penimaen- mawr was eintfitled to another County Council representative, since the time Conway and Llan- diudno had been 'allowed increased representa- tion, but owing to. want of time the matter was not gone into. At this juncture Mir W. H. Rhodes, proposed the following resolution — "That this meeting of the. electors of the Pen- jnaenmawr division of the county of Carnarvon expresses its grateful -appreciation OIf the con- stant and valuable .services, of Colonel Darbi- shire as their member for the last 18 years gives him their hearty thanks and aliso requests him to allow them once more to return him as their representative. The Rev Dewi Williams seconded, and this was carried amidst applauiae. Colonel Darbishire responded1 in happy terms, explaining that he would be pJealsedt to do what he could for them in future. (Loud applause.) The usual votes of thanks were. proposed at the close.

Oldest Ship Afloat. CONWAY'S PROUD BOAST. FORMER CAPTAIN'S THRILLING NARRATIVE. The "oldest ship afloat" gets older almost every day. The discovery has now been made (says the "Daily Telegraph") that in point .of age the palm rests with the Jenny, of Beaumaris', which was built in the year 1787. and is still engaged in the coasting trade of South Wales. This makes out the vessel to be 120 yelars: old." The above paragraph appeared in the "Liver- pool Echo" towards the close of last week. Whatever may be said of the "gets older almost every day" this piece of information, though generally known amongst the sea-faring portion of the community, makes in;teresting 'news for the bulk of the inhabitants of Conway at large. Registered "of Beaumaris," the "Jenny," was much better known as a Conway ves- sel, having for many years been en- gaged in the Conway to Liverpool sulphur one and goods trade, being cap- tained the whole of that time by Conway men- Mr Robert Gardner, of Valley, Anglesey, has juist sent us the following official description; taken from the "List of British Registered Sail- ing Vessels :-Offic,al No. 16495; Name of ship and port of registry, Jenny Beaumaris rig, ship; where built, Nevin; when built, 1787; registered tonnage, 19 owner and part owner, Thomas Roberts, Berry Street, Conway, Car- narvonshire. A CAPTAIN AT SEVENTEEN. Captain Robert Roberts, better known as Captain Roberts "Pilgrim,' son of the late owner, and who now resides, in Conway, tells some thrilling tales in connection with the ves- sel in question. The Jemmy, he told a "Weekly News" representative, was a very handy little vessel, smack rig, and being just under 20 tons was exempt from light dues. His father Cap- tain Thomas Roberts, in those days did most tain Thomas Roberts, in those days did most of the over sea sailing trade between the bor- ough and, Liverpool. At fourteen years of age, young Roberts had had more than enough of school, and nothing would prevent him going to Isea. After the short period of three years, he obtained his first captaincy, being employed to sail the Jenny for his father. He was thus only 17 years of age, when he joined the smack ait Chester, and for the next five years or more he journeyed backwards and forwards, 111 full charge, between, Conway and what is some- times known as the Capital of Wales. GIVEN UP FOlt LOST. Needless to say, such voyages, in a vesel of the Jenny's build, were not without their adventures, and of two of these our represents- tive was informed. Being in a hurry to get back to. Conway front Chester, on one occasion, the little smack put out when much larger vessels had refused to face the weather. Tack after tack was taken, an.di after a great -deal of hard work the navigators thought they would rest at anchor for a while in Llandudno Bay. A gale from the west svvep, everything before it at the Orme point, but It was imperative that they should get round. Up came the anchor once more, and all on deck prepared themselves for a "dirty" time. TheY had only got just opposite; the OllmJe Chuirchj however, when a squall caught the the craft in ,its destructive embrace, and the water rushing over the gunwale oni the lee istide, all on board thought they were lost. For quite half a min- ute the vessel lay flat, but just as Captain Roberts was fearing the worst, the vessel began to right herself, and in the space of a few more seconds danger was passed. The mainsail was instantly lowered, and with only .sufficdant can- vas to stear a courSle back to Chester River, the Jenny put back whence she had started, with all possible haste. When the crew got back to Chester, three days after they had started, they found that the Chester people had given them up as lost. While, telegrams from Oonway had been sent to all points along the coast as to their whereabouts. ANOTHER ADVENTURE. "The other time" proceeded Captain Roberts, "we were just entering the Mersey with some sulphur ore on a misty day) when we saw a large -steamer erneirg" ing from the darkness imimediiately in front of us. The whole thing was so sud- den that we only just had time to lower our boat and get ready to save our skins. The skipper of the steamer fortunately managed to steer clear, and what seemed almost like aJ!1 inevitable catastrophe was in this way avoided- Others- who captained the Jenny from time to time, our representative was informed, were William Edwards1, Llewelyn Street; Captain Stephen Williams, Berry Street; and Captain Roberts' uncle, -Mr David Roberts. Captain Wil- liams ounJd .a watery grave, whilst bringing the vessel in round Orme's Head. He had just got the sails down when, in taking in the slack of a rope, a point broke and the captain fell back- wards into the sea. Having heavy clothes on at the time, and being well advanced in years-, h10 at once disappeared with the current. The Jenny being too small for his business the late Captain Thomas Roberts bought the "Pilgrim," which Captain Roberts has skippered until quite recently. e The "Pilgrim" now trades between- Liverpo0 and Cemaes, Aniglesea. The "Jenny" found bOl way to South Wales, as ithe paragraph quoted announces, still being employe,d in the coasting trade there. The age of the vessel is now placed at a little over 120 yeaiis. ■ -JJ