The North Wales Weekly News

The Manchester & Liverpool District Banking Company Limited. A meeting, of the shareholders of the Com- pany was held a.t the ?ILead OSice, Spring Gar- dens, Manchester, on Monday, the i?th day of January, 1910. Sir Edward Donner, Bart., Chairman of the Biank, presided. The other Directors present were Messrs. George Barbour, Andirew Benjiie, Sir Edward Donner, Bart., Chairman of the Biank, presided. The other Directors present were Messrs. George Barbour, Andirew Benjiie, Edward Tootal Broadhurst, John F. Cheetham, Edward B. Dawson, Myles Kennedy, J. F. Kncxtft, John Parks, William Smith, and Messrs. P. J. Ramsay and A. A. G. Tulloch, the Manag- ing Directors. The Chairman said You will observe that the gross profit for the half-yeajr, viz., £29.3,216, is less than that for the previous hali-year, which was ?290,00? but as the expenses are also less-I I IO,5QO against -C114,320--4he- actual net profit for the half-yaar is 6 182,626 as against J-.184,6,S,r, so that there is not really very much difference. We are placing £10,000 to the Reserve Fund and 65,0o0 to the Pension Fund, and are carry- ing forward to the next account £Sï,993-this is something more than the balance which we brought forward. The Reserve Fund is now £1,725,000, which, with the amount carried for. ward to the next .account, is equal to 94 per cent off the paid up capital. Current and deposit accounts, f -,321,489. ,.22 These ngnre-s show aji increase ei X304,cl-So on June. Whe<n refferrimg to this item at our July meetings in 1908 and 1909, I drew yo.ur attention to the fact that in both cases the figures were less in the June half than in the previous De- cctmber half. It is therefore extremely gratify- ing to be able to state that this reduction has been more than recovered, and that as a matter of fact the figure-s of our deposits are now the largeat ever recorded. The increased confidence shown in the bank as evidenced by the increas- ing d-eposits Ls highly satisfactory. Acceptances, £1,361,000, are very little more than (a.t June. All these acceptances are d!rawn in connection with international trade, and in n<o aense whatever are they speculative. They are covered .by good realisable securities. If we go to the other side of the balance-sheat we have cash in hand and in the Bank of Eng- La.nd, in roil-id figures two and a half millions money at call and abort notice, three millions b-ills discoutited, three milliorLs makin.g a total of .eight and a half millionja—or ';8 per cent. of our Liability on current and deposit accounts--in the most liquid form. If o'ur inve'sttHten't.s of four millions be in- eluded we have a readUy rea.lisable sum of £56/ for every £100 of our LabiUt-v to customers on Current and Deposit Accounts. Advancea in Current Accounts. £I3,I84,OCO, are substantially less than at June, though slightly more than they were twelve months ago. Ba.nk Property remains as before, but we are constantly adding to and improving it. Its valu<' is very much hLgh?j than the amount at which it stands in our bco?s. The average bank rah?, works out at £3 93. ';d. as against £2 14s. 3d. for June. The high aver- age for the latter half of the year was due to the rapid increase of the Bank Rate in October. For three weeks in succession the bank rate was raised, an unusual occurrence, first from 2% per cent. to 3 vr cent. thcn 3 per cen't. to 4 par cent. and nnally on zist October to 5 per cent., at which it remained till December oth, when it was reduced to 4% per cent. (It is now 4 per cent.) Our foreign trade has shown a remarkably steady improvement during the last six montihs ot 1000, and the Board of Trade figures of our foreign trade for t9oo, combined with the in- creasing power of other countries to purchase British goods in consequence of the mere ab- undant harvests throughout the 'V'orld, are most encouraging for thë. coming year. The cxtraordinarlv high price of cotton has undoubtedly checked, for the time be.in?. the revi-al in the cotton trade. Merchants in'manv case's cannd execute orders on account of this high price, aad spinnea-s ami manufacturers are at present passing through an anxious time, though the future i.! full of promise. It is of the utmost impo-rtance that imp-orteTs and exporters alike should consistently support the Manchester Ship Canal, to which they al- ready owe so much in the reduction of the charge for getting merchandise from and to sea-going ve<;spls. As a Bank we are always ready to lend a helping hand in the finance re- q nired by both importeTS and exporterR. The prospects off business for lqlo arc good if we keep clear of foreign compHcations. AI. ready an improyemient is shown bv the figur,es returned by the Board of Trade and the Bankers' Clearing House respecting trades in which La.nca'&hire is int(>rett'<l: The Chairman the-n put the usual resolution for the adoption of the report, which was X'O()t!1r:1oo by Mr. Baurbour and carried unani- mously.

ME BOX OF CLARKFIS B4! P:LLS ?v/,n'ta)UMitocure,inci':?rs-x.:t'inc<?,!tcdu) co:t3'i:mioua' Discharges ftom the Unn?rv uri'n5 Crav?, and Patus in the ba.ck. Ftce from' ?(.cur? E;¡'b.ishd t; ¡)wards of 50 vcars. In b,)Xcs 4s. .ü:h. of a.U and Paten). !I t'dicin \nuor.s z 1;e \Vut;d, or Mnt for sixty s;.an)ps bv the ¡::t'{:I.j, TS.e Li);coin. nr.d L'IlLtild 'CoLt D; 1.d')dJ _,11.i,t.I,U.

H. M. Stanleys Early Hardships. Explorer's Childhood in St. Assph Workhouse. Friday's Manchester Guardia.n in a. leading article s.ays :-Sinœ L<).dy Stanley's edition of her huaba.nd's a.uto'biogTaphy was published an in.tei-esdng letter by Stanley bias been discovered, and Messrs. Sampson, Low, Marston, and Co., h.a.v.e sent us a facsimile of it in .anticipation of its in the next editianL It was written to his uncle at the a.ge of nfteen, when Stanley bore the name of John Rowlands and had hardly emerged from the shadow oif the v-orkhouse. There is some question) of a situation and of the a.nxie.tv with which he lias waited for a reply, and it" is hardly possible to read this fifty year old letter without a sharp sense of pain from its terrible humility. He feiars that he may have displeased his uncle, he hopes that you have not taken it unkind, of me in plaguing "lU theat. he says: Dearest uncle, I sue to -ou for kiindness. I have nowhere to go. unless I can procure a pLace." Then follows a queer refer- ence to his failure to obtain, a situation at Mold r.aih\'&y station, as the master was a very bad scholar and his health was very imperfect and he v.-as very u-nJikely to. stay there long and, .a..s to character, there is a. reference to the curate. The nearest approach to the note of revolt is it's a hard ca.&e on me," a.nd it would be inter- esting to consider how far the last &fty years have changed the attitude of the typical youth in srtch a Stanley, however, can hardly be racked as typical, a.nd beneath the humility that would disarm the severity of the world there was. an immense capacity for endurance, persistence, and acc<Mn-pli&hm'pn.t. We may believe that the world is growing kinder to the young, and thaJt the fashion of kindne-ss is to endure undoubted- ly it is greatly advanced by the growth of puibLic oninion. Tho-se who cLing to rijgour as a virtue may suggest that had things been made soft for the'young Stanley the personality and character that'were to. do such great things would never have developed. It is a ha-ppier a.nd proba.bly a that Stanley's acco-mplishments we're in spite of his early hardships and not be- cause of them. TKRRII!LK DISCIPLINE. An important literary event was the publica- tion, by Sampson Low, Marston, a.nd Co., of The Autobiography of Sir Henry MorhMi Stanley, G.C.D. (2is. net), edited by his wiie, Dorothy Stanley. Sotme peoplte point to a. house near Abergde as that ifn which Stanley born. The boo-k, judging from the reviews we have read, throws no light upon that point; but it confirms the general belief that the intrepid explorer gained his earliest experience ot life's hardships in St. Aaaph Workhouse—an institution, it is needless to add, conducted in those tar-on days on lines very different from these of the pre-sent time. In view o<f the great local interest of the earlier sections of the book, we take the libea-ty of mak- ing the following quotation from the Liverpoo-1 Courier review:- There is, as we have indicated; a purpose be- hin<d this autobiography He had d. hope that the story of his early privations and struggles might help poor boys who may be simil- aj!y situated. Perhaps it will do more to stimu- late others to mitigate the lot of poor children. Stanley's father died shortly after Henry's birth, a.nd when he was only a. few weeks oM he was spurned and disowned by his mother, and left in the care of his gra,ndfather, who lived within the precincts of Denbigh Castle. In his &fth year his grandfather died, and his uncles transferred him to the care of an old couple, keep.srs oÆ the Bowline Green a.t Denbigh CastLe, h.3.1:f-a-<:rown a. weeJc being allowed for his main. tenance. It 10n. beiore eve.n this stnall Rum was withdrawn, and the old couple with whcm he lived re5chcd to send him to the workhouse. Dick Price, the son, tool: me by the hand oe day, Saturday, February xoth, 1847, and, under the protence tha't we were going to Aunt Mary at FfynncjTi Bcuno, induced me to ac- cornpa.ny 'h)U'n o.ii. a. long journey. T.he WH.y sremcd interminable a.nd tedious, but iK* did his best to r&Lisve my fatigue with false call- ings a.cd treacbei-ous ende'armeo.ts. At laot Dick aet me down front his shoulders before a.n immense stc<Me buildins; and, passing through tall iron gates, he pulled at a bell, 'which I cctuld h&ar cLanging noisily in the distant irutea-ior. A sombre-faced stnanger ap- peared the door, who, despite my remon- strances, seized me by the hand, and drew me witlun, while Dnk tried to sfjoth .my fears with gÙ1.b proamses ili,a¡t he was only .going to. bring Aunt Mary to me. The door closed on him, and, wjjth the echoing sound, I experienced lor the nrs.t time th<e awful feeling of utter dc"olatr.mess. Theci tin's nj-at phase of the terrible dis- cipline 'which Stanley a.s a child had to endure. The teacher of the boys in St. Workhouse w<is James Francis, who had p a collier &t Mold, and wh<o died at last in a madhouse. The man had the temper cxf a nend, and treated the poor children with a reckless .ferocity. N)o Greek helot or dark slave ever under- went such discipjjne as the boys of St. Asaph, under thte hea.vy, nuasberful h&nd of James Francla. The icady ba.ck.slap in the face, the stunning clout over the ear, the strong blow with the open palm on alteoTntate cheeks, which knocked our senses into c-o'nfusion, were 50 frequemt that it is a marrvol we ever recovered them again. Whatever might be the nature oi the offence, o'r merely because his irritable .mood required vent, our pootr heads were cmKed, a.nd sLapped, and pounded, until we l&y 8poedM'ss and atreaming with blood. But though a trejnendous-ly rough and reckless striker with his nst or hand, such blows were prefera'ble to .Ielibera.t puni'-hment with the birch, ruler, or cane, which, with cool malice, he inHicted. Wiere alwa.vs kept ready a.t hand. It simply depended upon how far the vdctirn was from him, or how grLt WiM hia fury, a)9 to which he would choo?<; to CAStigai" us with. If we happened to be called up to him to recite o'ur lessons. then the bony hand new mercilessly about our faces and heads; or rammed' us in the stomachs u11t:i1 our convulsion's became a!Arming. If, while at the desk, he was reading to us, be addressed a question to e boy. the slightest cruxr in reply would etu&er bo followed by & stinging blow froci the ruler o<r a thwack with h:s MaclcthomL If a aeriee oÆ errors were dis- covered in our !casons, then a vindictive scourging of the offender followed, until he was exhausted, OT our lacerated bodies could bear mo more. The description of life in the workhouse is grim and moving. That children e-ver emerged from such a place with spirit unbroken is sur. prising. B'ut for two things Stanley was grateful. "My fellow man," he says, -ad denied to me the charm of affection and the bliss of a home, but through his charity I had learned to know God by faith, as the'Father of the fatherless, and I had been taught to lead." Hard though he seemed, his spirt had a. curious vein of mysticism. He gives two instances of telephathic vtsnon which are unquestionably remarkable. Lady Stanley quotes fiojr his notebook a pass- age on the emcajcy of prayer, which vividly il- luminates the spiritual natmre of the explorer:— On alt 'my expeditions, prayer made me stronger, morally and mentally, tihan any of my non-praying companions. It did not blind my eyes, or dull my Tnind, or close my ears; but, on the contrary, it gave me confidence. It did'more: it gave. me joy, and pride, in my work, and lifted me hopefully over the one thousand five hundred miles of Forest tracks, eager to face the day's perils and fatigues. You may know wher., prayer is answered, by that glow of content which nils one who has nung his cause before God, as he rises to his feet. It is the first reward oif the righteous act, the act that ought to have been don<e. When my afnticipatioofs were not restlised to their ful- ness, what remained was better than nought; and what is man that he should quarrel with the Inevitable? Civilised society rejoices in the protection afforded to it by strong aimed law. Those in whom faith in God is strong feel the same sense of security in the deepest wilds. An iT.wsibIe, Good Innu<'nce surrounds them, to Whom they may appeal in distress, an Innu- ertce which inspires noble thoughts, comfort in grief, and resolution wIlel weakened by mis- lortune. I imperfectly understand this myself, but I have faith and believe. I know that, when I ha-ve called, I have been answered, Sltrengthenf'd, and assisted. I am prone to for- getfulness, and to much pride; but I cannot forget that, when an accusing thought entered my "-O'1 like a word, I became pen'tent and re-ionded. Subduing my unbelief, I prayed, and obtained a soothing grace which restored to me a oonndence and cheerfulness which waa ol benefit to myself and others. Rut to turn to his life in the workhouse. At last the young Stanley rebelled against the in- htU!m.a!ruties of Francis. He was being thrashed almost lifeless one day when he turned upon his assailant. He kicked the master's eyeglasses unto his eyes, so that the man was blinded fo* the time that gave the youngster his chance and he thrashed Francis into unconsciousness. He really thought that Francis was dead. That v,ar, the end of his workhorse life. He and a companion ned, and after various curious ex- periences, which were all more or less calculated to harden his spirit, Stanley arrived in Liver- pool to seek a li'ving. While here he stayed with his Aunt Maria at 22, Roscommon-street. But his nr'?t expectations were disappointed, and b at Last found employment at a haberdasher's in London-mad at five shillings a week, hi< I-II)r,!Ts 7 a.r'i. to 9 p.m his duties 5bopswe-eping, la.mp-t; immnng, wi-,dowpo!ishiog, &c. To reach London-road in time he had to be up at six in the mOTning. At half-past six I would leave the house, with a tin bucket containing bread and butter, e.nd a little coTd mea,1 to support me until nine at njgh)! Thousands in similar condition weM then trudging through the streets to their vanous tasks, bright, happy, and regular as clock-work. To all appearance they tocJc pride in their daily toils, and I felt something of it, too, though the heavy shutters, which I took down and put up, made me wince when I remembered them I think most of us would .have preferred the work with the wagea to the wages without the work. The mo<r)!i- irLgs were generally sunless, the buildings very grijny, the atmosphere was laden with soot, and everything was dingy; but few of us thought of them as w.: moved in long and lively procession, of men and boys, women and girls, with complexions bloomin" like peaches, Rnd lips and ears reddened with rich blood. As it drew near half-past nme at night, 1 would' return home with djnerent views. My back ached, I was hungry and tired, and a supper of cockles and shrimps, or bloater, was not at aH atimu.latLng. At half-past ten I would be abed, weary with excessive wean- ness. His next wo;k wa., at a butcher's in a by-street close to tihe BramJey Moor Dock. But the poverty of his Uncle Tom," and Aunt Maria who had pawned all his best clothes, was be. coming serious, and the brutalities of the butcher's foreman—"a hard; sinister-faced Scots. man, a twin brother of Spleen. "made him rest. less, and at last one day he engaged to sail on the American packet Windermere as cabin boy. Before pas,%ng fiom his Liverpool life, let us say thai t:his part of the book is of excepUona.1 interest, and the spirit of the port is strikingly I'tprodtuced. Fate seemed to be rolentltcss in young Stanley's case. He engaged as cabin boy, but he was promptly sent before the mast, and his picture of his life on the Windermere is as dreadful as that of his sunerings in St. Asa.ph Workhouse.

SEND FOR A FREE BOX of the Famous Remedy for NERVES, STOMACH and KIDNRYS. Are you suffering from loss of Sesh, nervous prohtration, anaemia, indigestion, wrecked s:omach and kidney troubles, or a-ny foi*rn. of nerve or bodilv weakness? If RCt, a tria! of Dr. Cas&pH's Tablets, tJie speediest and most effective cure, is your<t for the asMng. Re. comme-n'ded by distirLguished people all over the country. Dr. Ra-Tnlay Colks, J.P., LL.D., 48, Princes Square, Bays-water, writes:—"A .afe a.nd r'E liable r'&mc-dy for and 'bodily weakness." Major-Ge.n. Sir John CampbeII, C.B., 4, I'ark PLace, London, says RemarkaMv effective." Lady Brir-zs. 5, Charles-street, Lon- don, says mos.t efficacious." Madame Clara Xovello Davies, 143, Sutherland-s-venue, Lon- don, write safe, pleasant, and effective for nerve and digestive troubles. Dr. Fo-rshaw, Ph.D., D.Sc., Baltimore House, Bradford, writes a remarkably potential remedy." Send -zd. in stamps for pacldng, &-c., to Dr. CasseU's Co., Ltd., King-street. West, Man- chester, and a sample box will be aeiit. Large sizes at all cliemis-ts at iot I!I,f, and 2/9.

The Franchise for Women. BY LADY COOK, nee TENNESSEE CLAFLIN. The question of the franchise for women 4s one which must be decided in their favour sooner or Later, and the sooner the better. For it is no longer a matter of sentiment, but of justice. The fact that more than one half of the inhabitants of this country are disfranchised a.nd politically ranked with lunatics, idiots, criminals, and infants, solely because of their sex, is an anomaly so glarin- and inequitabLe that it must not, and cannot continue. Among the onerous duties which will fall upon the next Parliament, the rectification of this wrong should take an important place. Since 1867, when an Act was pastsed by which, as Lord Beaconsfield—'then Mr. Disra-eli-said, it was intended by the House to give the fran- chise to every householder rated for the relief cxf the poor, the question has undergone many new ph&ses which strengthen the demand for duly qualified women to have the right of voting at Parliamentary Elections. No one now would agree with Mr. Justice Probyn when he said a few years ago, Infants cannot vote, and women are perpetual iniants." The most obstinate and most prejudiced opponent of women's claims to the franchise would disavow such Legal logic as that. Yet, it was by .dicta such as this from the Bench, and by worse from Revising Barristers, that the Act of '67 was not permitted to include women householders as well as men. One Re- vising Barrister impudently stated to a woman who pleaded her claim in his court, the he de- clined to recognize suckling as a qualification for the suffrage. And in the Court of Queen's Bench, on a question of appeal by 1,600 women ratepayers, Mr. Justice Byles denied humanity to the sex I will not," he said, allow that woman can be man, unless in a zoological treatise, or until she is reduced to fqss'! remains." If we go back a little, we find that the same sort of arguments that were levelled against woman's franchise, did duty for many other DEGRADING DISABILITIES. It was considered ridiculous for her to acquire learnin.g to know was a man's business, next a woman's. When Franco ise de Saintonges tried to establish girls' schools in France, she was hooted in the streets, and her own father doubt- ed her sanity. Nieibuhr thought that a girl, if well educated, would know too much. Dr. Channing spoke of Women forgetting the tenderness of their sex when they argued on theology; and Lessing said. The woman who thinks is, like the man who -uts on rouge, ridiculous." The late Dr. Maginn pleasantly said, We like to hear a few words of sense from a woman, as we do from a parrot, because they are so unexpected." Voltaire stated that Ide'a.s are like beards; women and young men have none." And the greatest praise the Abbe Chojsi could give a great lady, the Ducheas de Fontanges, was. that she was beautiful as an angel and silly as a goose." The !basis of these and similar scoffing witti- cisms, from Aristotle's definition of woman as animal occasio'naitum down to those of our own day, is the underlying male contempt for the supposed intellectual inferiority of women. Men starved her mind and then asserted that she was not to be taught because she was not worth teaching. Just as in Masschussetts she was not to have the franchise because, as Theophilus Parsons gravely asserted, Women, what age soever they are of, are not consid-ered as having a sumcient acquired discretion." All these erroneous ideas as to woman's natur. al inferiority which have so long retarded her mental and social emancipation, are, however, things of the past. If there are a few still so antiquated as to entertain them, they do an secretly and dare not avow them. Women hawe abundantly proved that their capacity to acquire sound knowledge, to reason clearly and judge accurately, is equal to that of men, or, if this sthould be denied, that it is at least equal to a right use of the franchise. In every branch of learning and in every occupation and duty thrown open to them, they have acquitted them- selves with credit, and f aisled the predictions of their opponents. In 'their public functions, AS POOR LAW GUARDIANS, Factory and School Inspectors, and other civil o&ces, they have exercised an intelligenoe, discretion, and ability not surpassed by their male coadjutors. On'what grounds, then, are qualified women—even those of rank, property and education—denied the exeTcise of that priv. iLege which has been freely bestowed up&n- multitudes of impecunious and illiterate men? There can be only one answer, 'though it be in itaelf as absurd as the old story of the Goodwin Sands and Tenterden Steeple, it is tx-cause they arc women. In the ages off governmient by physical force, when every man. was a warrior, there .might have b&en good reason for excluding women from poiitical functions. Now, however, the citizens of this country hire others to fight for them, and soldiers and sailors are paid through! the taxes which are imposed upon women equally with men. The. tyranny of taxation without repre- sentation, against which every Englishman feels justified in taking up arms the world over, is laid upon wom<en still. How long is this grave injustice to continue? Must women also arm for constitutional privileges before they will be conceded? John Stuart Mill once said It is my belief that, in all those parts of the business' of life which depend on the viligan.t superintendence and accurate estimation of details, women, when they have the necessary special knowledge, are bet-t-er administrators fthan men. And I am now speaking-, not of women as they might be—not as some improved mode of education would make thorn—but of women a.s they now are, and of the capacities which they have already displayed." Having instanced the Sanitary Commission in the great American War, he added. From the beginning and throughout, it was women's work. It was planned, orangised, and worked by women. The Government was jealous of them at first, but the hopeless inferiority of its own arrangements made it soon glad to make over the nrst place to them. Not only had s.uch work never been 00 well done, but nobody had ever supposed it possible that it coutd be sowpl! done." It would be ]M€j-es.tinjg to know what are the real arguments now advanced bv those who op- pose Woman Suffrage. The old objections have been exploded. On what new circumstances do they rely? Instead of anything solid and speci- fic we hear a few muttered platitudes about woman's sphere and domestic duties." We have n.ever learnt that the possession of the franchise interferes with the ordinary duties or occupation of men, so that there can be no reason to suppose it would have an injurious effect upon those of women. Before and after being a mother," says Jean Paul Richter, a woman is a human being, and neither maternal nor conjugal relation can supersede the human but must become its means and instrument." For men to desire that the active sympathies and aspirations of an intelligent woman should be circumscribed soilelv within the. domestic area, is to wish .her to be'a domes- tic serf, a SLAVE OF THE HEARTH. How could such anyone in these times possibly become the mother of men of broad views and generous impulse's? How many noble women have been mentally and morally asphyxiated by the narrowness of their daily lives and the cruel denial of an outlet for their abilities! We cordially agree with John Quincy Adams when he said that Women are not only jusii&ed. but exhibit the most exalted virtue, 'when they do depart from the domestic circle and enter on the concerns of their country, of huma.nity, and of their God." A large proprtion of women have indeoendent means and no occupation others have no domestic circle to engage their aneciions while many possess talents which, if freely exercised, would go far to enrich our national life. The existing law compels a monstrous waste of wholesome energy. Therefore, as a matter of right, as a means of imbuing politics with higher purposes and a purear morality, and for the gen- eral protection of the unrepresented millions who groan under the oppression Oif "'rtial laws, we urgently invite all who love justice and desire the future welfare of their country to combine for the oxtensdon of the Franchj&e to Women.