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--106—Normal Span of Life,j

------PENSARN.

Carmarthen Board of Gnarriiaiis.

Carmarthen Kural Disiriet…

i Interesting Address on Sectarianism…

CARMARTHEN : UNDER THE '-';.,L..a.'.JIi..'z>,…

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CARMARTHEN UNDER THE L ..a. '.J Ii. z> SEARCH LIGHT Crme corvp, nd sit yon down yen sbali not budge Y, a shall not po, tl-ll I set you up a gl<i»s, Where you may seefthe ii.'ir.ost part cf yon —————— S M AK ESPE 4E K. 1 [f the plantation opposite the bridge is nor Utsed as a playground .since the fixing of tho barbed wire, it seems in a fair way of tinned into a rubbish heap. A fine collection of broken buckets and such like rarities may ■now be inspected there. A matter of general comment oil Friday was that it was the, quietest election day which ih-ad ever been seen in the town. And still the people went to the poll all the same. Yet they were as (iiiiet peaceable as if a grand united prayer meeting were being held in the town instead of an election. .11;' The community seems to be getting soberer year by year. I am using the word in its broader sense, although it might be equally as true to use it in the other sense in which it is n-ed to express the opposite of drunken, It is beginning to dawn on the voters that they do not help the cause in the least by working themselves up into a state of fury and dancing about like wild Indians on the war path. There i.,i, no law to prevent any- body shrieking "Robinson for ever" but if he shont.s himself hoarse lie does not add one vote to Robinson s poll. W e are becoming practical. Still it must not be taken that quiet elec- tioneering is yet a general rule. There were several county people in town on Saturdafr who were observed to be so hoarse that they could hiardly speak. One of them could not be heaid on the other >ude of a railway ticket The explanation was that they had shrieked so much at the County Council elections in their parish the previous day that their vocal organs, had .gone on. strike. Nature never forgives.. It is not ten years since the same kind of I thing was common enough in the to The .tow n is simply a few years ahead of the country in this as in many other matters. In London it was noticed that the populace had cultivated an attitude of complete in- difference, for an immense portion of the electorate did not go to the poll at all. If ca mness is a proof of superiority, rank in- difference might be regarded as the topmost achievement. There is a kind of cvnieal elector wiho believes that it is a matter of no interest to 'him; he thinks that whichever party is in power things are sure to be mis- manage:1 This is not snell a fooEsh attitude as it seems. Things always are iiiisiiianage(I to some extent, not only in public but in private business. "i. It is very easy to point to any concern— public or private—and to show certain faults which exist in it. It is very easy to point olpt the objections (for instance) to a mon- arch ial form of government. When the Republicans have done that they think that they have proved their case. This is a common delusion. Having proved that Royalty is objectionable from some aspects, the Republican has proved nothing. There are many objections to a Republican form of Government; and the case is not proved until it is ,hown that the objections to Re- publicanism are not nearly so great as the objections to Royalty. This, of course, is only an example of a common fallacy. It prevails very largely in religious matters. A\ hen an enthusiast for a particular creed points out the weak points of his neighbours faith lie thinks he has proved that the neighbour ought to adopt his creed. But the neighbour, while admitting all the objections, may see other objections equally as grave to the religion of the enthusiast, and. is consequently in pretty much the same position as before. An old bachelor on being consulted by a young man whether he thought it better to re-main single or to marry replied "Whichever you do, you'll be sorry for iL." That dictum applies to nearly every human choice from that of a system of government to the pattern of a suit of clothes. The calmness with which public questions are debated is largely due to a perception of this principle. People have come to recog- nise the fact that the Millenium is a long way off. There is an election for the County Council or the Guardians and along comes an enthusiast primed up with a terrible tale of the delinquencies of the late body. When the franchise was a new thing, the voter be- lieved that he had only to put in .^he man who made 'beautiful speeches, and then everything would .go swimmingly. But lie has lost that simple child-like faith now. He closes one eye and addresses the seeker for honours and says: "Perhaps something of wihat you say may be true but what is your little game?" The child-like f aiitli in the possi- bility of all good coming by legislation is doomed to disappointment. However, the cynical indifference regarding public affairs is if posible a more dangerous error. It leads in theory to the .idea that the world as hopelessly bod, and that reform is impassi- ble, and in practice to public life being dominated by a set of place hunters like a certain type of American politicians who find politics a better trade than honest labour. Things are not quite so bad here as they are hi America. During their term of office, a certain party in an American city had fleeced the public night and left, and put money in their own pockets. Certain muni- cipal reformers came out. They knew it was useless to pretend that they intended to deal honestly with the public finances and to carry on everyhing above board. So they iall-)pealed to the section of the public which was, outside the ruling party and said, "Come and oust these fellows, and we'll have a share of the plunder ourselves!" j In Great Britain we are not used to such a view of public affiairs; but many of us have a suspicion that bridges will cost more tha.n they Ave L miniated to cost, amd that the .roads, will be muddy in wet weather whether we retain the services of the old firn* or ap- point the new lot to manage our affairs. A case was held at the Sheriff's Court on Friday at the Guildhall in which it was alleged that a house had not been built according to contract. One of the allega- tions was that the roof was so badly made that the birds flew in and out of the house. If this were true, it only proves that the house was quite up to date. According to the latest- theory houses should be built so as to allow plenty of fresh air to the inmatets. To keep doors and windows open day and night is the sign of a superior intellect. In- deed the highest pinnacle is reached by those who can dispense with a house altogether, so that our friends who are brought up and charged with "sleeping out" are merely those bold spirits who are in advance of their day and like all pioneers of great truths are persecuted by the ignorant authorities of the age. There is a let of fuss about dogi ihe-se days You cannot .turn into a petty sessional court at the present time, but the chances are tlu't yo:; find the 'magistrates cross-examin- ing some fanner regarding the lumber of sheep and cattle which ho keeps. The far- mer is entitled to kC2pa, dog or dogu free of duty if they are used solely for tending cattle and sheep. Hitherto the duty of granting these exemptions has been disoha ;;0=1 by the Inland Revenue officers; and the result i: believed to be that the Revenue was grossly defrauded in many oases. .'¡:.i:- Now tho duty has been transferred to the ju-stices. Objections are served by the police --or by anybody (lse-aftor the lists of ap- plications for exemptions have been pub- lished. Then the objections heard in it was when exemptions were granted by refused. The result under this system is more likely to 1)0 just to ail concerned than they were when exemptions were granted by the Inland Revenue officers who never re- ceived, objections and who had to grant all applications except such as they knew of their own personal knowledge should be refused. "7: This again, means an increase in the rates —which is just what I was coming to. The 1 new <?ysto«m entails ai-i amount of additional labour on magistrates' clerks. It is no mere temporary addition it has come to stay—like the motor car. Magistrates' ai-e like ether people. When their work increases they .say nothing for a. time but by and bye they ask that- their salaries should be increased as well. And how is the demand to be resisted? They are fairly en- titled to more remuneration. And the sal.ariev of the magistrates' clerks come out. ,,f the local crates. Therefore, the new Dogs' Act irneans eventually an addition to our local rates—which was to lie proved as our delightful old fiiend Euclid used to say. It might be contended that the Act means a reduction in the duties of the Inland Revenue official's, and that it ought also to mean a reduction in their salaries. But Government departments have a care for vested n ights, and if the salaries of the offi- cials were reduced it would not affect the county rates. So the local rates are bled to fatten the Imperial Exchequer—a case of robbing the parochial Peter in order to pay the Imperial Paul. «** It is to be observed that all this legislation is in the interests of the farmer. He is en- titled to keep dogs free if they are used .sole- ly in his business. The drover and the butcher may have dogs which they use solely in their business; but they (have to pay duty. The lain- protects the farmers' interests; and it takes a lot of trouble to ensure nobody but farmers getting the benefit of it. Why on earth does the Government not j tax cats? There is far less excuse for keep- ing cats than; (logs. The cat is of no use whatever. There is a theory that they catcli mice; but the up-to-date cat knows better. These wild ones that go about loose, singing diabolical anthems in the backyards at two j; o'clock in the morning—they certainly don't caitch mice. They kill birds and ii-itli a zeal worthy of a botanist they scratch up every plant in the garden. **•* The mouse is not in their line. The squeak of the mouse is the note of domesticity as the song of rthe lark is the note, of the wild wood- land. And your backyard serenader does not favour home life. He never enters a house exept lie darts down to snarteh at a meal which has. been put down for a tame domestic pussy andheforeo the civilised cat has realised that it is being called to dinner, the food has put by the' wild hooligan. A tax on cats would make an end of these savage outlaws. A cat which cannot show its license would be chloroformed straight- way. And many domestic pets would go the same way. It would not be a great loss, if many houses did not have two or three of these anmals prowling all over the place ,a.nd putting their paws and their whiskers into everything eatable that they see. Those who keep such pets do not mind this kind of thing; but it would pay them better if they could realise that there are folks faddy enough to object to eating food which bass been first sampled by anirmals who may five minutes befo e have been rolling in the ash bucket. There does not seem to be any trace of the spotted fever in Carmarthen or neighbour- hood, although the Local Government Board arc enquiring after it very anxiously. The correct name of the complaint is cerebro- spinal meningitis. It must be very bad, if it is half as had ap its name. It is nearly as bad as epizootic- lympHiamgit-is. or ankylosto- miasis. The wonder is that any of us are a/lave thcSe days. There are no dragons or giants or ogres now, such as afflicted our fore- fathers; but "what an advantage after all our predecessors had tlxa t they knew nothing of such complaints as we 'have to face. When an Ancient Briton had to risk meeting a perodactyl or an ichthyosaurus was he worse off than we are who may catch cerebro- spinal meningitis? An applicant for an exemption told the Borough magistrates on Monday that his dog was a "corgi." The exact translation of the Welsh term "corgi" (Is it Welsh by the way) led to a warm discussion amongst the magistrates. One said that it was the same as the English "cur." Another held that it Was a mixture of a sheep dog and something else, whilst a third maintained that a "corgi" is a distinct breed. How- ever, the exemption was granted, so that the applicant got the benefit of the doilbf-, **• Carmarthen is becoming so sober and so I virtuous as to be positively dull. It is almost a fortnight since the police ran in a single o,ffender for being drunk. If the Militia, do not come up soon-and the date of their assembly appears to be doubtful—we shall have the tamest spring on record. Perhaps when the recruits come up, it will be found that they too have become converted. That would just be on, a pair with the wave of calm ness and sobriety which is creeping over Car- marthen. -¥-s It is sand that there is a very great diffi- i culty in getting recruits for the Militia this year. There is a decided aversion to military service amongst the strictly religious people I in Wales; and it would not be surprising if the difficulty of obtaining recruits. were due to some extent to the recent revival. To join the iarmy is regarded tas an evidence of backsliding in the opinion of many pious people. It is said that the Welsh Regiment marched though a certain county, and only obtained one recruit, and that during the service in a place of worship the following Sunday this notice was gi en out "A collec- tion Aviti be taken up to purchase the dis- charge of our unfortunate young friend who I y has joined the Army. j Then we are threatened with a falling off s in the Aeomianry. Patriotism does not seem to enter largely into the question at all. We are assured locally that there are many young men Avh.9 can muster sufficient patriot- I ism to join the Yeomanry if they get us a day, but whose sense of duty to their country would reach vanishing point if the country so far lost its sense of duty to them as to offer them Is a day. They are quite pre- pared to serve their country so long as it serves them. This is not patriotism this is business. :t.'IL" '7'W It seemed to be taken for granted by the Guardians that because a certain lunatic's relatives refunded the 8s 9d a Aveek, which the Asylum Committee charged his main- tenance he was no burden whatever on the rates. If the Guardians examine the matter closely, they will fine] that tliig assiiiiiyptioil is not at all accurate. There are two funds at the Asylum—the Building Fund and the Maintenance. Fund. The Building Fund represents tho capital cost of the Asylum. It is subscribed hy the three County Councils, and is represented mainly by the interest on loans, and the calls Avhich are made on the counties for repairs and extensions. For every stone which .is placed in the Asylum, each of the three co-unties has to pay its all arc. Machi- nery and otherfit,ting.s. of a permanent char- actor are charged to the Building Fund. For instance, it is necessary to go to the County Councils for power to have a steam laundry. ":f;f* The other Fund is the Maintenance ac- count. Out. of it is paid the cost of the food and clothing of the patients, the salaries of the officials, and such like current expenses. When the Carmarthen Union sends in a lunatic they are charged for his mainten- ance only-for they arc paying through the county rate towards the Building Fund. In plain English, the 8s 9d a head IJaicl by the Union is merely for board the rent is paid hy the County Council. A pauper patient, the cost of whose maintenance is refunded to the Guardians, is like a lodger whose food and attendance is paid for, but who pays nothing for his lodgings. The lowest charge which the Committee make for private patients is 10s .a Aveck, and that is charged only in those cases in which the patient has been a resi- dent in the district, and in which the rela- tives are rtaher poor, but anxious to keep him off the rates. 12s. a week is the figure paid as a rule for pauper patients re- ceived from unions outside the three counties —when there is room for them. • Anything relating to electric light is inte- resting to Carmarthen people at the present time. The light failed at the huge Parts 1 artway station known as tho Gare du Nord on Friday evening, and passengers had to strike matches—in order to hunt for their luggage. A writer .in the "Dai'ly Mail" on Tuesday gravely suggests that railway com- panics, ought not to depend on electricity alone, but should have gas to faU hack upon i,ii, cases of emergency! A\ e iare often told that it is the early bird which catches the Avorm. But there are cer- tain disadvantages connected with being too early. Those who wished to withdraw their candidature for the Guardians had to hand MI their AV it lid raw a 1 to the Clerk before noon on Tuesday. In la, certain parish there were two eandrdatcs. One AAiaited until half-past eleven and then handed in his Avithdrawal. The other arrived at five minutes to twelve with his withdrawal ready, but learned that his opponent had backed out, and that conse- quently lie was returned unopposed. Thus by being too early, the first man lost a place. Something ought to be done with regard to' these Pensarn people. Many of them come over openly .and take water from the public taps iin Carmarthen. If they do this now, whatwll they do in the height of summer? It is a fine state of affairs when the Carmar- then people are rated to prbvide water for those who are up in arms AAdien it is proposed to provide tli,iii with a water supply of their own! An explanation is at length forthcoming of the extraordinary decrease in criminality in the Borough. A member of the Borough Police Force has become the possessor' of a motor Mcycle on which lie practices regularly The criminals lwwo not even a sporting chance of escape now—except they take to flying machines. ALETHEIA.

Carmarthen County Police Court.

BE LIBERAL,