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>AEEY'S PROGRESS. --

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>AEEY'S PROGRESS. IT STRIKES AN OLD RESIDENT. A REMARKABLE ADVANCE. TRAST WITH TEN YEARS AGO. Some Drawbacks. earing that Mr Llewelyn Williams, L., Barrister-at-law, who once spent a )le of years in Barry, was staying on the id for a short holiday, a representative ie BARRY HERALD decided to wait upon and ascertain how the new Barry messed the visitor. You find Barry changed since you knew line or ten years ago ?" inquired the tALD man. Changed, and yet the same," replied Williams. Barry is still a lusy infant I A-ing vigorously, and liable at times to ;row its strength. That, I remember, its state when I left in 1892, and that, lieve, is its condition to-day. But these ods of weakness pass away without ing a permanent mark on the character he town." We have grown rather since your < Yes; nearly doubled in population and ize. Why, the Island has been changed ost beyond recognition. In my time there e only two buildings here,—the Marine el, which is now a private residence the old farmhouse, which has entirely .ppeared. Whitmore Bay was then de- ed, the Island was unenclosed, and you to struggle, as best you could, to the through a wilderness of ferns and furze. Jay the Island has become the happy tting-ground of the Rhondda tripper. and Cardiff visitor. The resident population umerous enough to demand a fine Board ool, which, I am told, is one of the most anced in the kingdom." And what of Barry on the mainland ?" Everywhere one is startled at the idity of the progress made and the rprise shown both by private people and ilic authorities. The new roads are mag- cent, and will help to make Barry one of finest towns in the kingdom. I have ted many of the mush-room towns of the West, both in the States and Canada. in think of none where such enterprise intelligence have been shown on all s. The public buildings are models of ir kind, and the town has been laid out a wen-conceived plan. I feel proud to e been in any way associated with the innings of a town which has developed so grand a scale." Then you think our local boards have le their duty ?" Few towns, I think, could have pro- ed public men who could do such work has been done in Barry. I have read tut the scenes which have lately occurred the Council. They are no new things. 3y occnrred years ago, and they will ur years hence. No live public body r existed where there were no occasional nes. You cannot get progress without :tion. But whatever may be said of ividuals, Barry has every right to be ud of the record of work done by the iool Board and the District Council." And what do you think of our new set buildings ?" I have been greatly impressed by them. e Board Schools seem to be all models of iir kind the Intermediate School is an oosing building on a splendid site the upels and churches are an immense im- IveTuent on the huts in which worshippers igregated in my time; and as for the ;els, they seem to have improved in style j taste as the years go on. The Temper- e Party may not have been very success in preventing the grant of new licences, t they have certainly done the town good vice by compelling applicants, by their oosition, to offer the very best accommoda- n to the public." Have you visited much of the district I" No my stay has been too short to do ich sight-seeing. What with your daily ps on the Channel and seeing so many I friends, I have had little time to go out- le. But I have travelled by the Vale of amorgan Railway, and visited Rhoose and antwit Major in a way that was impossible tie years ago. Barry is exceptionally -tunate in its situation. It is the most xlern and up-todate town in these and? and yet it is within easy distance Lantwit and Lancarvan, two of the 3st interesting towns in the kingdom to e antiquarian, and certainly the most scinating to Welshmen. There is no ex- rience so marvellous in its startling con- tsts as to exchange the hum, the bustle, id the ceaseless go' of Barry for the ace and old-world charm of Aberthaw or intwit. In Germany school children are ken, I believe, at the State's expense to sit historic localities. I can conceive )thing so educative and stimulating as to ach the children of Barry the history of rales by object lessons in the Vale of lamorgan. The cromlech of Dyffryn, te Roman road of Boverton, the Celtic 'osses of Llantwit, the ancient Norman lurches and fonts, the castles late and trly, the quaint old chapels, and now the 3w town and docks-every period and lery phase of Welsh history are repre- mted, and could be made to live before the /es of the children." Do you think the character of the )pulation has at all changed ?" I could not be sure of that. There is [ways, of course, a large floating popula on in a place like Barry, but what has ruck me-I need not say pleasantly—is 1at there is a great deal more Welsh spoken ere now than there was nine years ago. It not only that the Welsh places of worship re larger and more numerous—that was nly to be expected,—or that there are more Velsh-speaking visitors but I see more Velsh names over the shops and I hear lore Welsh spoken in the streets. Barry is ir more 01 a Welsh town than Cardiff. I hink it is almost at Welsh as Swansea. It s, in my view, a thousand pities that the School Board, therefore, should have dropped I Welsh teaching out of Its curriculum. Nine years ago we secured pledges from the can- dates at the School Hoard election with reference to Welsh teaching. In those days Welsh could only be taught as a specific subject,—which predestined the attempt to failure. Now, however, it can be taught as a class subject, and every true educationist should combine to bring pressure to bear on the candidates at the coming election to effect this." "You still believe in Welsh teaching More, if possible, than ever. Nine years ago we were only a few voices crying in the wilderness. We were looked upon simply as cranks and faddists and senti- mentalists. By this time, educationists everywhere recognise the value of the iin- quistic training which the possession of a second language gives. In Ireland the movement for Irish teaching has made great strides during the last few years, and I shall be surprised if Ireland will not, in a short time, be showing the way to Wales in this matter. On the Continent, of course, where education is scientifically studied, the value of the linguistic training has long been recognised. In Belgium, the vernacular Flemish has been rescued from a seemingly certain extinction, and what was a genera- tion ago a mere patois of chance and trick has now been elevated into the dignity of a literary language. I could multiply in- stances, but let one more suffice. Twenty- seven different languages are spoken in Austria. All of them—in their different districts, of course—are being taught by the State. With such examples to inspire them, this is not the time for the advocates of Welsh teaching to slacken their efforts,- and certainly not in Barry." Then, our politics have changed since 1892 ?" Yes, for the time, but I hope not per- manently. The Liberals have lost an ex- cellent candidate in Mr Walter Morgan, but they should have no difficulty in finding a worthy successor in the constituency. The old member, Mr Arthur J. Williams, may still be available, and a better Liberal never sat in the House. And then, there are plenty of younger Liberals, who have done the party gllod service in the past, such as Mr T. J. Hughes, Bridgend a Aan who would be a credit to any constituency. Or, if these are unavailable, and it is thought necessary to go outside the constituency, why not ask some man like Colonel Ivor Herbert? He is a thorough Welshman, a descendant of of the most ancient and Nationalist families in Wales, speaks Welsh, is sound on Disestablishment and all other Welsh questions, and is a distinguished soldier. This terrible war, which gave the Government an undeserved majority last year, will be the Government's undoing 1 fure long. The I picnic to Pretoria' has grown to be a two years' war, and the end is still far off. When it is finished, it will either be the result of a compromise wi.th the Boers—which will bring the Government into contempt with the Jingoes—or of 4 unconditional surrender,' which will be the beginning of long troubles in South Africa. Whatever happens, it will be bad for Cliamberlainism, and though Major Wynd- ham Quin is a good man, bar politics, it is time that progressive Barry should once more support the party of national pro- gress."

BARRY CUliATE AND THE GOVERNMENT.

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