The Carmarthen Journal and South Wales Weekly Advertiser

THE WELSH CHURCH COMMISSION AND A RELIGIOUS CENSUS THE very cogent and practical letter of the BISHOP OF ST. DAVID'S in the "Times" of July 19th is a timely protest against the delay in issuing the Report of the Royal Commission on the Church and Other Religious Bodies in Wales, and furnishes an additional reason for a religious census. The BISHOP points out that in order to ascertain the extent" included in the Commission's terms of reference statistics of the adherents of Churches of various denominations were necessary. Hence a f Nonconformist Central Evidence Committee was formed to collect for the Commission statistics of Nonconformist adherents by means of an elaborate machinery of Nonconformist Committees in every county in Wales. Incidentally this action shows that Nonconformists were not averse from the col- lection of statistics as to the alleged increase in the numbers and influence of Nonconformity as compared with the Church of England. Indeed, it is a matter of common knowledge that political Nonconformists invariably base their arguments for Disestablishment upon statistics, provided these are of their own compiling—and yet, as the BISHOP OF ST. DAVID'S letter shows, there is much reason to doubt the entire reliability of these figures. For instance, the BISHOP observes that it soon became apparent from the reports of the evidence before the Royal Commission which appeared in the Press that the figures presented by the Nonconformist county witnesses were in hopeless confusion and statistically worthless." Again, the BISHOP OF ST. ASAPH, speaking in the House of Lords on July 7, expressed with reference to the Royal Commission his belief that it had been unable to make a satis- factory enumeration from the various statistics sup- plied. -+- BUT if these statistics are open to question it is the more necessary that 'they should be published at an early date, in order that they may be promptly examined and tested, and still more than the ensuing decennial census should include an official and impartial census of religious belief. It is really difficult to speak with patience of those who, from the PRIME MINISTER downwards, base their pro- posals for dismembering and despoiling the Church in Wales upon statistics provided by the despoilers while at the same time persistently opposing an official inquiry. It was this unworthy and incongru- ous attitude which induced the House of Lords to assent to LORD NEWTON'S amendment of the Census Bill by providing for a non-compulsory religious census. The argument that such an inquiry is too inquisitorial was met by the remark from LORD NEWTO-" that; "Any objection relating to an in- quisitorial inquiry came with singularjy bad grace from the present Government, who had appointed hordes of officials for the purpose of prying into person's private affairs." And he added that: "As a matter of fact, a census in itself was an extremely inquisitorial proceeding, and could not very well be otherwise, and it became increasingly so every time that one was taken. Was it not, for instance, an invidious thing to ask a man whether he was deaf or an imbecile, and how many bedrooms his family occupied? Was it not an invidious and delicate thing to ask a woman her age? The majority of persons who have reached a certain period of life would far prefer to be asked what their religion was than their age." LORD NEWTOA* further pointed out that in every country of Europe with the exception of France, in well-nigh every British colony, and last, but not least, in Ireland, a religious census is taken and in no quarter is any opposition raised to it. In short, the Government and the Nonconformists can- not have it both ways. Either they should drop the statistical argaments on which they base their de- mand for the Disestablishment and Disendowment of the Church, or they should consent to an official religious census. For it should be remembered that it is not simply a question of determining the number of Churchmen and Nonconformists respec- tively, but. of showing the proportion of the latter to the total population in Great Britain. To de- pose the Church from her national position and to confiscate her revenues is a matter to be decided, not by the majority of Nonconformist votes alone. 'It is one upon which the great body of the people aro entitled to be consulted, and there are many who might not be closely attached to the Church of England who yet would, oh political and social grounds, desire that she should remain as the Estab- lished Church of the realm. In the meantime, as the BrSHoP OF ST. DAVID'S points out, when the Government come to give their reasons to Parlia- ment for refusing to accept the amendment in favour of a religious census, carried in the House of Lords, it will be interesting to learn how they can reconcile with their primary principle of trust- ing the people a. refusal to allow the people in Great Britain, as in Ireland, an opportunity of giving for themselves, for what it may be worth, in the census schedules, the information which the Government in 1906 deemed necessary for Wales.

NOTES OF THE WEEK. A tradesman at Carmarthen the other day re- ceived a letter from a Welsh customer which began: "Please excuso my esgeulisity (Welsh—esgeuluso, i.e., inattention) to your letter.'T Another cus- tomer wrote to the same source as follows :Pa:- don me of taking liberity of drop you a line. hoping this note will be convenient." When the Carmarthen Amateur Onera Co. were giving a performance of "Patience" to the inmates of the Asylum at Carmarthen recently, one of the principals, who shall be nameless, was the victim of a laughable mishap. He had to enter upon an empty stage and sing, with fierce dramatic em- phasis, a recitation which begins as follows:- Am I alone, and unobserved? I am! He had just got to the words "I am," when, straight from the direction in which he was looking, out skipped the Asylum cat into the middle of the stage with back arched and tail erect. No laughter could be saner than the roars of merriment which followed. Is Mr. ——— at home," enquired a caller of the servant maid, who was standing at the door.. Tha maid had previously heard her mispress say that she was going to see the "Message from Mars," but understood very imperfectly what she had .sai so she now told the caller that she believed her master and R;I istrohad received a message from the Mayor." The Carmarthen Bay Fishery Board were in & gcneious mood at their meeting on Wednesday last. Hearing that- they had a. surplus balance of nearly £1,000 in the bank, they decided to supply tha water-bailiffs with new uniforms, which, according1 to the Superintendent, were, indeed, sadly needed., Out of the seven men two or three had whole suits, which had grown so thin in the service as to be described as "too highly ventilated." Several others had jackets or trousers only, while one man possessed a cap which was too big for him. After this no one will say that the Towy Fishery Board is a spendthrift body. Some years ago, when they were in the hey-da# of youthful vigour, some of the old veterans of Carmarthen had a particularly jolly picnic at Pen- dine. While making the inevitable stay at Laugharne, Mrs. Brown, the hostess of one of the hotels there, asked the company to compose and sing a verse on the spot. No sooner the request; been made than the chief bard of the party recited, and presently the whole party were lustily singing- the following:- Good night, Mrs. Brown, good night! For we 11 take a glass of sherry And weTf aU be very merry—. Good night, Mrs. Brown, good night' "Justice"—a Labour-SociaLst organ—of July 16th, referring to Mr. Lioyd George's new Budget, says: "The pretence that it was a great democratic mea- sure, designed to lighten the burdens of the poor at the expense of the rich—or to pave the way to social reorganisation—was as arrant a piece of humbug as .was ever foisted upon a long-suffering;, nation. Pills will not cure earthquakes, nor will the social problem be solved by halfpenny—or even I twopenny-halfpenny—taxes on undeveloped land, imposed for the relief of bourgeois taxpayers. The great Budget of 1909-10 has been passed, and nobody is a penny the better or the worse for it. except the working class, whose 'food costs them more.' It is to be hoped that the action taken by tha Welsh National Liberal Council and its kindred organisations, the Welsh Free Churches Federation and the Liberation Society, with regard to the ques- tion of Disestablishment will at once disabuse the minds of Churchpeople of the idea that there is no need for continued and determined action in the cause of Church Defence. Meetings of the above political bodies were held at Shrewsbury last week, at which it was resolved to prosecute a vigorous campaign on behalf of Welsh Disestablishment throughout England and Wales during the coming autumn and winter by means of meetings and the wide circulation of pamphlets. This can only be met by persistent and continuous work in defence of the Church throughout the length and breadth of the country, and for this purpose the various branches of the Church Committee's organisation are preparing. A considerable increase of funds, however, is promptly needed to deal adequately with the situation, and contributions should be forwarded to the Central Office at the Church House, West- minster, forthwith. The Sunderland Fishery Board are taking steps towards getting put into practice, a suggestion which has been advocated by Mr. H. O. Long Price (the superintendent of the Towy Board of Conservators) for several years. They want all fishery boards in tho kingdom to join in the promotion of a Bill in Parliament to make it illegal to take trout under a. certain size-say six or seven inches. Over and over again "lms Mr. Long Price pointed out the destruction caused by the taking of small trout, absolutely of no use as food, but which simply swell the total catch, and this year, through his per- sistency. the local board authorised the bailiffs to report to riparian owners all persons who abused their privileges by taking under-sized trout. R.t1. sides, at the request of the Superintendent, the fish- dealers in Carmarthen have refused to purchase anS trout under six inches in length. The movement is worthy of the greatest support among anglers, and it is to be hoped other fishery boards will follow, Carmarthen's example and agree to the promotion of the proposed Bill. "The Watchman" in last week's "Middlesex Index pendent" writes"An event which is almost unique took place on Saturday last at the consecration of St. Michael's Church, Cricklewood. Four brothers, all priests of the Church of England, took part in the service, which was conducted by the Right Reverend Lord Bishop of London. The four brothers referred to were the Rev. T. D. Lloyd (vicar designate of the new church); the Rev. B. Saundera Lloyd, vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Haverstock Hill, London; the Rev. D. Alec. Lloyd* of St. Peter's, Great Windmill's, Piccadilly Circus, and tho Rev. Arthur E. Lloyd, of St. George's, Brentford. But the coincidence goes a great deal further. All the brothers held the same degree (Bachelor of Arts), and all graduated from St. David's College, Lampeter. All are priests of the Church of England, and all are within the diocese of London. Thus we have this record. Four brothers all the sons of one family; four graduates of the same college, holding the same degree; priests of the same Church; all in the same diocese and under the same Bishop. No other family has euch a record in the diocese of London, and I am left wondering whether there is another family in the whole of England that could equal this. If there is I should be pleased to hear of it." There is prob- ably no need to remind our readers that the brothers Lloyd are Lampeter boys. ( A publication called the "tree Trade Engineer, which, it is believed, is still in embryo, is endeavour. ing to obtain "copy" for No. 1 by sending out a number of questions to engineering firms throughouC the country in the hope of obtaining the replies it desires. Will it print all the replies it receives? We give herewith the questions, with the answoi* already returned by one large firm of manufacturers- of engineering patents:— Question Xo. 1.—I wish to know whether it i3 not the practice, as far as your personal knowledge and experience enable you to judge, in filling an order for shipment to a country protected by a duty, to add such duty .with the other usual charged to your list prices? Answer No. 1.—W7e never add duty to sur !ú1í prices on orders from a country protected by « duty, nor have we ever heard of it being done. Question No. 2. Is this duty invariably paid without question by the purchaser? Answer No. 2.—The duty certainly would not bet paid without question. In fact, we are continually being told. You must keep your price low on count of the duty," and in every instance wherO there is a heavy duty our net prices are lower thaH at home. Question No. 3. In case of the increase or reduÓf tion of a foreign import duty, would you maintain your ordinary list prices, varying the charges accord* ing to the change? Answer No. 3.—Our experience is that where 8 country is protected by a duty we have to a larger discount off our list in proportion to the duty to enable us to get orders, even t' oa £ & oat goods are principally patented articles. It is quite clear, then, that it is the expoitec attl not too consumer who pays the duty.