Llandudno Advertiser and List of Visitors

THE COUNTY COUNCIL ELECTION. Polling in the triennial County Council election takes place throughout, the County to-day. In Llandudno there are contests in the fcur wards, the candidates being I NORTH WARD. Dr. T. Kenrick Davies (C). William Thomas (L). SOUTH WARD. Ralph Fisher (L). *Col. the Hon. H. Lloyd Mostyn (C). EAST WARD. William Ellis Jones (C). James J. Marks, M.A. (L). WEST WARD. Louis Conway (C). *T. W. Griffith (L). ^Retiring members. Mr Ralph Fisher formerly represented the. East Ward.

CONSERVATIVE MEETING AT LLANDUDNO. j-1- A meeting in support of the Conserva- tive candidates was held in the Town Hall on Wlednesday evenings Mr R. S. Cham- berlain presiding. There was a good at- tendance. Dr. T. L. Kenriek Davies, the candidate for the North Ward, was un- able to be present owing to indisposition, but addresses were given iby Col. the Hon. 'Hi. Lloyd Mostyn, Mr W. Eillis Jones and Mr Louis Conway. The Chairman, in the- course of his opening, remarks, severely criticised the extravagant, policy of the County Council during the past few years, and pointed out that the main policy of the County Eldu- cation Committee seemed to be the sup- pressing of voluntary schools even at the cost, of the ratepayers. Col. the Hon. H. Lloyd Mostyn, dur- ing his speech, dealt with the importance of gteait, attention fc-eihg paid to the up- keep of the roads, which subject he also dealt with the following! night at Craigy- don, a detailed report of which is given in our columns. Mr W. Ellis Jones, who is opposing Mr J. J. Marks in the E:a,st Ward, dealt with the great increase of expenditure by the County Council for county purposes as distinct from educational purposes, and said that so far as Llandudno wa,s con- cerned it, would, be a good thing if the County was divided into two administra- tive areas, i.e., north and south. Llan- dudno would then have a greater share in the management. It would be better still if Llandudno could he cut off entirely from the county and allowed to administer their own contributions. That, however, could never happen, inasmuch as the rate- payers of Llandudno were the main con- triihutors to the County funds. Mr Jones then gave the position of Llandudno with reg.ard to the County rate basis, showing that Llandudno was rated in the highest basis possible, i.e., the County bfsis, whereas it would only be justice to be expected to pay on the poor rate, basis, which would make a difference in the assessable value for County Coun- cil purposes of about £ 9,000. He would also like to point out that whereas the County rate was Is. Btd. in the £ the de- i mand note issued to Llandudno- rate- payers called for the payment of 2s. O-Ld., 4 the additional fourpence beings accounted for by the difference in the basis of assessable value, together with empty pro- perty. Further than that, Llandudno con- tributed 13s. 9d. out of every £ 1 collect- ed by the Conway Union for County pur- poses. The increase in County expendi- ture had .been enormous, and it, was still going up. Last year the sum of P,14,673 was collected on behalf of the Conway Union, of Which £ 10,448 went to Carnar- von. In the year 1897 the amount con-J tributed by Llandudno to the County was:, only £ 451. It was high ti!me such ex- travagance ceased. Llandudino was very heavily handi- capped Iby the reckless expenditure of the County Council. The total rates in such towns as Southport, Bournemouth, Black- pool and Eastbourne were lower than the rate in Llandudno, which prevented any improvement schemes bein,g initiated in the town. After paying the high County demands the ratepayers had nothing left for improving their own town. If Llan-j dudno ratepayers could only be saved a, shilling in the 2 from the County demand, the Council could borrow money for im- provements, repayable in thirty years, and they need not be afraid of embarking upon local improvements costing any- thing up to a £ 100,000.— Hear, hear.) The only thing the County did for Llan- dudno was the dumping down of a few tons of stone on the Conway Road every two years or so to be crushed by the. Urban Council's steam roller. Mr Jones then referred to the triennial report of the Finance Committee of the County Council. In that report it was admitted that the rate had increased from 4d. to 8d. in the C, and that there was great dissatisfaction iin the County at the heavy burdien, but the only hope the Com- mittee held out of relief was that of an increased grant from the Imperial ex- chequer, which after all would have to come out of the pockets of the ratepayers. With regard to education Mr Jones said that the 861 scholars in Council Schools earned grants amounting to £.2036 12s. IJrd., and the 263 scholars in non-pro- j vided schools earned £ 791 16s. 10^d. The 2 total grants earned by Council schoolswere 226,996 17s. 5d., and by non-providied: schools C13,220 2s. 8d., which with a grant of special subjects made a total of £ 40,769 4s. 7d. According to those re- turns the hulk of the salaries of the teach- ers ( £ 53,000' was earned by the children, so that the only reason for such a, heavy education rate was the 'building of expen- sive and unnecessary schools.—(Ap- plause.) The proposed higher standard schools would add another burden on the rates. He was as desirous as anyone that the children of the County should be given the advantages of the best possible educa- tion, but did think less expensive pro- posals could be brought forward. In Bangici, the building of such a school was opposed by the City Council; in Carnar- von a school, was to b81 built as soon as a suitable site oould be obtained; in Llan- dudno the School Managers were asking for a school to be completed in 1911. An existing school at Portmadoc was to be converted into a higher standard school, but at Nantlle Vale the parents had made a protest, and he believed the proposal had been withdrawn. As far as Llan- dudno was concerned he contended that rather than saddle the ratepayers with a costly new school—half the cost of which would have to ibe paid directly by Llan- dudno ratepayers—some portion of the present intermediate school should be allotted to the higher standards of ele- mentary schools in order to save the rate- payers a burden unnecesary for a number of years.—(Applause.) The mortgages on provided schools amounted to £ 134,508, upon whi,ch ratepayers had to pay in- terest, whereas they were provided with 49 voluntary schools which cost them nothing either for rent or interest. Yet those were the s'chools which were, attack- ed and which the Education Committee wished to abolish. Was that fair or in any way just.—("No.") As a matter of fact the non-provided schools saved hun- dreds of pounds annually to the rate- pa yers. -« Applaurse .) Mr Jones concluded by declaring that the policy of the elected representatives of Llandudno should be to fight for the right thing to be done and the prevention of the wrong.—(Applause.) Mr Louis Conway, who was warmly wel,comed on making his first appearance as a candidate for County or municipal honours, said that being the first occasion he had appeared before an audience of the found he would, not attempt to make a speech, but if elected he would honour the privilege of representing the West Ward on the County Council, and do his utmost to make himself acquainted with the powers and, duties of the County Council. —(Hear, hear.) He would support any measures which with justice it could be claimed would benefit the community generally, he would oppose as far as lay in his power all reckless expenditure of County funds.—(Applause.) A great deal of work had passed into the hands of the County Council, including: the making and levying of County police and educa- J tion rates. They had also to deal with shire and County halls, court houses, police stations, County buildings, roads, licensing matters, provision and manage- merit, of asylums, reformatory and in- j clusttial schools, etc. If elected it would be his duty to watch over the interests of 'I Llandudno and endeavour to secure for the town fairer treatment.—(Applause.) The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to the Chairman, proposed by the Rev. LI. R. Hughes, M.A., rector of Llandudno. CONSERVATIVE MEETING AT CRAIGYDON. A meeting in support of the candida- ture of Colonel the Hon. H, Lloyd Mos- tyn was held in the Church House, Craiigydon, on Thursday evening, Mr E, E. Bone presiding. The Chapman, in his opening address, said the present, election had been forced into political channels by the Liberal party. He felt very sorry that such was the case, because there was nothing in the duties of a county counctllor of a political nature. It used to be an axiom of the Liberal party that even when they objected to any particular measure, they would carry out the law loyally. The pre- dominant party in the Carnarvonshire County Council had departed from that policy and now administered the Educa- tion Act in a, partisan spirit. The Radical party had induced Mr Ralph Fisher to oppose Colonel Mostyn. He had not a word to say against Mr Fisher, who was a man of good personal) character and ability. In fact he would have voted for him had he resided in his old ward and stood for that. Mr Fisher had, however, allowed himself to be made a tool in the hands of the Liberal party and came out to oppose their representative with whom they were very well satisfied. Colonel Mostyn was one of those gentlemen whom the Liberal, party used to reproach with not taking a fair share in municipal work, and the only 'charge their opponents could make against, him was that he had not at- tended so many meetings of the County Council and its Committees as Mr Fisher had. It would have been impossible for Colonel Mostyn to do so, for Mr Fisher was a member of the Education Com- mittee,, from which he was shut by the policy of the Liberal party. During 1907 Colonel Mostyn had attended five out of seven meetings of the Council, in 1908 fiye out of eight and the same number the following year. (Appiause.) On the Sur- veyor's Committee he had attended all iji 1908 and two out of four in 1109. It was true he had only attended one out of seven meetings of the' committee appoint- ed to administer the Diseases of Animals Act to which he had been elected againsi his will. Out of 16 meetings of the Joint Police Committee he had attended thir- teen out of sixteen.—(Applause.) In addition to that he had his duties to per- form as an officer in the Territorial s, and was generally engaged in that duty when absent from Council or Committee meet- ings.-—(Applause.) The Chairman then dealt with the treat- ment of Church schools by the Education Committee, contending that such schools were a great saving to the ratepayers and were entitled to fair treatment. He also condemned as unnecessary at present the spending of large sums of money on higher standard schools, and urged the O residents in the South Ward to express their disapproval of the extravagance of the Liberal party by returning Colonel Mostyn to represent them for another three years.-(Applause.) Colonel Mostyn, who was very warmly I THE LIBERAL CANDIDATES. --===-==-====- MR. J. J. MARKS (East Ward). MR. RALPH FISHER (South Ward). MR. WILLIAM THOMAS (North Ward). -= MR. T. W. GRIFFITH (West Ward). welcomed, first' thanked the ladies of the Committee for the very active work they were doing in the constituency.—(Ap- plause.) Had it not been for their work at the last election he did not think he would have won, and he hoped the results would be even better this year .-{Ap- plause.) It was going to be a stiff fight, for they had not been able to come to terms over this year's election, and the Liberal party had made the ward a point- of attack and delegated their strongest candidate to oppose his (Colonel Mos- tyn's) return. For Mr Fisher he had nothing but respect, and come what would the County Council would not lose his services, for if he was beaten he was quite sure Mr Fisher would be made an alder- iiia,n.-(Applause.) The Chairman had gone all round the field of local politics and left but few things for him to deal with..—(Laughter.) He would, however, like to say a few things about the roads. It was important that. there should be good roads in the County, and the Surveyor worked inces- santly to se,cure that very desirable state of things.—(Applause.) If the roads were allowed to fall into a poor state they in Llandudno would suffer, because motor- ists, who contributed so much to the local revenue, would take it that they were not wanted and go elsewhere. He would like to see more main roads in the district, for at present there was only one, starting from the station and going towards Con- way. The length in the Llandudno Ur- ban District was a little, over a mile, and the road was kept in an excellent state of repair.—(Applause.) The County Coun- cil had put a great many men to work on the roads who otherwise—owing to the hide-bound fiscal policy of the country— would have been out of employment, These men were strong, able-bodied work- men who earned theitr wages honestly.—. (Applause.) He would ike to see the other road maiine,d. The proposal was onlv de- feated by one vote the last time it came before the Council, and would not be re- legated into obscurity. He hoped Den- bighshire Council would soon wake up and main the road in their district which would lead to Carnarvonshire becoming responsible for that part leading into LI an du dno. —( Appi aus e.) With regard to the rates, the moderate or Conservative party maintained that the County Council were -going ahead too fast and spending money too rapidly. In 1891 a rate of 2 in th £ was sufficient for 2 County purposes. It. had now gone up to eightpence. Some of it was well spent, but. a great deal was frittered away. The pre-dominant party had since 1891 in- creased the mortgage debt of the County from £ ,9000' to £ 56,000, and that shewed how recklessly they borrowed monev and put it on the rates. He was opposed to that policy.—(Applause.) He was also opposed to the building at present of new higher standard schools. He did not be- ieve the people wanted them, and char- acterlisedthe proposals as a continuance of the policy of starving the old national schools. It would be quite possible to provide for everything necessary in the direction of higher standard schools by en- larging the existing schools or making use of the secondary schools of the County,- (Applause.) The Rev. J. F. R,eece, B.A., vicar of Llanrhos, appealing to those present to support Colonel. Mostyn, characterised the contest as an unnecessary one and a little bit spiteful. Mr Fisher gave up a safe seat to come to Craigydon and try to turn out Colonel Mostyn, a man with whom they were very well satisfied. He hoped the electors would condemn such tactics by returning Colonel Mostyn at the head of the poLl on Saturday.—(Ap- plause.) A vote of confidence in Colonel Mostyn and pledging the meeting to support his candidature was proposed by Councillor Henry Wilson, seconded by Miss Back- house. and carried unanimously. LLANGWSTENIN AND PEXRHYX- SIDE. Polling in this division takes place to- morrow (Saturday). Mr O. Williams. Llandudno, is the Liberal candidate, and he is being oposed by Mr T. J. Jones Dnarth HaIl, as an independent candi- date. Mr Jones' father at one time re- presented the constituency. The retiring member is Mr Hugh Owen, who does not seek re-election. A well-attended meet- ing in support of the candidature of Mr T. J. Jones was held at the Schoolroom, Llandudno Junction, on Thursday even- ing, when Mr John Hulse presided, and addresses were delivered by Messrs. Wil- liams, R. Greenfield, John Littler, W. MacKinley Davies, J. H. Irlam. and the candidate.

LOCAL WEDDING. MELSOM—M OIR. A quiet, wedding took place at the Eng- lish Prestyterian Church on Thursday last, when Miss Charlotte Marion, third daughter of Mr Henry Melsom, St. David's Road, was married to Mr Sydney Wallace Moir, of East, London, South Africa. The Rev. W. Phillips officiated, and the bride, who was attended by her sister, Miss Laura Melsom, was given away by her father, Mr Hedley Bevan carrying out the duties of best man. Mr and Mrs Moir Left by the 2 o'clock train for Chester en route for Shrewsbury, Lon- don, etc. Practically the whole of their remaining time in England, will be taken up in say.ing good-bye to their numerous friends and relatives, as they sail for South Africa in a fortnight's time. GEOLOGY CLASSElS.—The course of twelve lectures on Geoiogy, given by Mr Bezant Lowe, at Lansdowne House School, will be. concluded on Tuesday next with a. lecture, iiustrated ¡hy lantern slides of I unique interest. The lecture is timed to commenc,e at eight o'clock, and is open to those who have, not attached themselves to the geology class.