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i CAltM AltTHEN j UKDEil THE…

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CAltM AltTHEN j UKDEil THE SEAKOHLIGHT. CLmp. come, and ait you down you shall n t bu 19, You snail ní¡t go, tili I gYdU an a. glass, Where you may me inmost pm of you.' -———— SIIAKESPKAits. "Is she the owner of this house?" asked the Revising Barrister on Saturday. "She was, when sua was alive" was the answer. Ihere is nothing like being careful. «** There is a good deal to be said against motor-cars; but there are a few minor points in their favour. One of the points in their favour is that as a rule they carry splendid lights. Nobody really knows what light is until they have seen the acetylene lamps carried by some of the more up-to-date motor cars. Even the incandescent lamps in the streets pale before them. One of the indirect results of such lamps is that they will tend to raise the standard of lighting. People always think one thing very good until something better is found out. A generation which had been used to the half- penny dip thought that the paraffine lamp was quite dazzling. The latter, however, grew pale before the common gas burner, and the process has gone on until it is hopeless to expect any finality in the matter of lighting. Once our prehistoric ancestor grew dissatis- fied with the glimmer which his kitchen fire cast over the family cave, we entered on a struggle which never will and never can have any end. So one result of the blinding glare of the acetylene motor-lamps will eventually be that people will require the street lamps to come up to the same standard. The incandescent lights of which we used to be so proud now look pale and mean before the bright twin meteors which whirl along the road as the satellites of the motor-cars. So the world wags. People who forty years ago were looked up to as perfect prodigies of learning would have now in an open competition to take second place to a Standard VI. school- boy. *•* It is a well known fact that men of genius have often done queer things. There is the case of Newton, who boiled his watch and put the egg in his waistcoat pocket. There are many other cases of the same kind. It is a recognition of this fact which explains many of the queer things which we see done by people around us. Eccentricity is frequently an accompaniment of genius, so people act in as accentric a manner as possible in order to be mistaken for geniuses. But it is no go. Any fool won't make himself a sage like Diogenes by merely living in a tub; neither will any humbug acquire a reputation for sanctity by cultivating manners as dirty as those of the old hermits. Eccentricity does not in itself constitute greatness; it is more often the preliminary canter for the lunatic asylum. Some ruffians at Merthyr last week v.-ere fined £ 10 each for an assault on a constable. The Merthyr blackguards had better come to Carmarthen; the charge here for that amuse- ment is only 10s. Perhaps it would not be well to count too much on the low penalties which prevail in Carmarthen for assaults on the police. Ten shillings is not very much of a penalty, but until recent events woke up the authorities, there was no penalty at all in Carmarthen for that amusement. We are getting civilised here. Perhaps seeing that we have progressed so far, it may happen that the magistrates will send the next lot to gaol. 00* Of course, one cannot expect too much from the local authorities in Carmarthen. Many even amongst the educated classes here regard street blackguardism as a part of the usual order of things—just like street lamps and hydrants and steam rollers. The idea that it coivtf be dispensed with is one which 1- never lads until lately. ■ople who have never been outside r Carmarthen-at any rate further than Llan- stephan-talk in awesome tones of the wicked ness of large cities. They might save them- selves all the shivers, if they only knew. There is quite as much wickedness in Carmarthen size for size, and there is a very important difference. In large cities, the police have large powers, and, as a rule, blackguardism has to dodge the law in Carmarthen black- guardism has hitherto stalked abroad naked and unashamed, and now feels that those who have been prosecuted are martyrs in it? cause. The fact is that in this matter the public conscience wants educating. Lots of people think that it is a new law which has been lately passed which interferes with them and prevents them following their old pastimes of obscene language, street obstruction, and general blackguardism. There was a time when the Caramrthen public were prepared to lie down and let the beastly scum of the town ride roughshod over them. But the worm has at length turned. It is to be hoped that the police will go ahead. They have public opinion behind them and Carmarthen gaol has plenty of spare rooms. At the meeting of the Town Council last week it was stated that things had gone on quite harmoniously until the Rev J. Harry became a member; since then it was sorrow- fully remarked that some very nasty things had been said against the officials. This is hardly accurate some of the members have rather short memories. There was a time when its was quite a feature of Corporation meetings to have attacks on the police and the Supt. of Police. Oh dear yes the Town Council was not quite the happy family which some would have us believe even then. But as these matters were not brought forward at the instigation of any of the Radical mem- bers, it is to be supposed of course that they were quite O.K. # According to some people, the Carmarthen Town Council was quite a little Eden until the Radical snake got in and spoiled every- thing. But this won't wash. People who are now fast friends were then in the habit of having rare old stand-up fights with one anuthei. But the assaults of the common enemy has driven these erstwhile foes to rush into one another's arms, and to weep on the necks of thair "long lost brothers." If the Radicals have done nothing else, they have done well in patching up these old feuds. It is astonishing how the past becomes idealised when it is the past. In tyhe good old days the Clerical press was quite unanimous in painting the Carmarthen Town Council as about the biggest pack of no odles outside a lunatic asylum. This is a notorious fact. Now of course that it has become a party question, the old Town Council was quite a delightful body, and the town is going to the dogs my friends, with the changes that these blessed Radicals are bringing about. History is full of such phenomena. In the Middle Ages, you will find cardinals and bishops testi- fying to the notorious profligacy of the monk- ish orders. But because the Reformers sup- pressed the monasteries, it has became a Dartv question, and it is the duty of the orthodox to slur over undoubted facts. One of the saddest results of the party spirit is to see people engaged in a hopeless attempt to prove things which they themselves know to be untrue. If you want to study the elementary bran- ches of manipulating the truth, you had better begin with the County Court. But if you want to study the noble art in its higher CoS ST/°U- oug}lt.t0, attend the Revision Court. Therj; you will learn some very start- le seems to be quite a common thing tor boys who are earning Is 6d a week to pay their parents (out of that Is 6d) a sum of 6s a week for their rooms under the paternal roof. Such thrift on the part of the rising generation is highly commendable. Another very startling circumstance is the fact that it is quite a common thing for people who live in two rooms to be able to let those two rooms for the exclusive use of a lodger. The explanation probably is that the householder is a believer in the fresh-air cure and sleeps out on the roof. 11"1.* Considering the number of lodgers who Ippeirn°that °fh°r ""d-er age> wouId appeal that the modern juvenile has a desperate longing after a vote. It seems that that day is not far off when the moment a boy gets out of short frocks and into knicker- bockers, he will be recognised as a lodger in his father's house, and as such entitled to all the privileges of the franchise. It would be well under such circumstances for canvassers to carry a few packets of almond toffee with them when going round visiting the electorate One cf the party agents enquired regarding a claimant for a vote "Is he right in the head?" Surely this question is beside the mark. Insanity—even if proved-is no dis- qualification. The results of elections fre- quently suggest that a very large proportion of the electorate are sometimes not ri^ht in the head. So far from being a disqualification in the electorate, insanity is not even a dis- qualification in the elected. The House of Commons would be a very tame assembly, if all the lunatics were excluded. *11* There was a report circulated all over Car- marthen last Thursday week that a certain professional gentleman was dead. The fullest details were given of his suddenly dropping dead in the street in a neighbouring town, whither he had gone on business. Reporters were rushing about in a frantic state of ex- citement, gleaning as many particulars as possible for a flattering biographical notice, when a message arrived from the gentleman principally concerned to say that the report of his death was grossly exaggerated. The pity is that this information was not with- held for a few hours. The obituary notices would have been a singular—though not a unique—contribution to literature. The works of the old Llangunnor lead mines are as deserted as the remains of the Roman gold mines at Pumpsaint. It might be possible in these days to put even those old galleries to some use. They are just the kind of a place which a market gardener would like to have for the cultivation of mushrooms out of season, though no doubt their-distaiiec from a large market would detract from their value for that purpose. *#* A prominent townsman accosted me the other day, and in the most friendly manner assured me that I was making a great mistake in writing on one particular subject. "Of course," he said "I don't mind it a bit. Not at all. Go ahead. You can say what you like as far as I am concerned. I don't bear the least ill-feeling. I'll send you a bottle at Christmas just to show that I have no ill- feeling." It looks well enough of course; but if he does, I shall as a preliminary pre- caution, send the bottle in the first place to the Borough Analyst. The discussion regarding the Surveyor's remuneration at the last meeting of the Town Council was a most amusing affair. Whether one agrees with all the proposals to curtail the Surveyor's emoluments and allowances is one thing; whether anybody has a right to discuss these matters at all is another. The most petty attacks on other officials have in the past been listened to with patience but a proposal-not an attack-to reduce the Sur- veyor's allowance drives certain members of the Council almost frantic with indignation. They regard it apparently in the same light as if it were an attack on the British Constitu- tion—not a matter for calm discussion at all, but a subject which should draw forth the lightning of heaven to smite the impious blasphemen to the earth. The members who take the thing so much to heart are of course those who were the first to propose that these little extras should be granted when application was first made I for them. These extras may be justifiable, or they may be a bit overdone compared to the priveleges granted to other officials but at any rate they are a matter for calm discussion It ought to be a bit beneath the dignity of the senior members of the Council to get up almost speechless with holy horror and let out more or less incoherent remarks suggest- ing malice as the basis of the whole thing. ° There were personalities it is true; and there was a personal attack. But the per- sona lattack was made by the Tory members j of the Council on Mr Harry. The Carmar- "hen clericals are great authorities on per- i -1— There was a time when others < "nought that they would bully us i.ito not writing anything which did not meet with their approval. The recollection of the power which they were in the town at one time must be very galling to the members of this par" There is" V. other aspect of the question which has not struck Mr Harry apparently or any of his opponents. The principle is laid down that an officer of the Council who gets £ 180 a year should not be expected to buy literature valued at lid a week; it ought to be paid for by the Council, because the Coun- cil gets the benefit of it. Very good. On the other hand, these same members expect a man getting £1 a week to pay the Council tl6 a year for a house which the Council did not provide. The Council gets the benefit of the literature, because the Surveyor reads it and improves his mind thereby. The Council would also get the benefit of the house, because the park-keeper would live there, and the public would have the benefit of his ser- vices night and day, and at meal times. Remember-the Town Council had this house as a free gift as a "park-keeper's house." To let it to the highest bidder, and to have it turned into a refreshment house or a confectioner's shop is a direct breach of the trust—which might perhaps be enforced if the j representatives of the late Sports Committee I went to law about it. Law or no law, how- ever, the facts are undeniable. Mr Spurrell at the time did not attempt to deny the facts, but said that when the Committee handed over the building as a "park-keeper's house" that "that was only a convenient way of re- ferring to it; it did not mean that it was necessarily to be used as a house for the park- keeper." Whatever may be thought of this interpretation, it is useful as an admission that when the building was handed over, it was expressly given as a park-keeper's house. And yet the same members who collect- ively were guilty of this piece of smart dealing with a poor workman who works about 100 hours a week for £ 1, grow virtuously indig- nant at the suggestion that another employee of the Corporation should have to pay lid a week for his own periodicals. In order to understand exactly the position with regard to the Education Committee, it is necessary to review the management of the Carmarthen Schools. We have three non- provided schools and three provided schools equally supported out of the "rates. Each of the non-provided schools is managed by a committee consisting of (a) Four managers appointed by the ecclesi- astical authorities of the church—not the congregation—to which the school belongs. (b) Two managers appointed by the Carmar then Town Council. The provided schools are managed by the Education Committee, consisting of (c) Seven members of the Town Council. (d) Two ladies elected by the Town Council. (e) Two persons, who must not be members of the Town Council. (f) Two persons who may or may not be members of the Town Council? **# It will thus be seen that at the most the Education Committee can only contain nine members of the Council, and at the least it may only contain seven. This is how the public schools are managed. It will also be seen that the clerics have a permanent un- assailable majority of two to one on the management of their own schools. The election last week was for the purpose of selecting a member to fill a vacancy in the section F. above. Mr Soppitt in proposing a gentleman who had only been a few weeks in the town suggested that the supporters of the Roman Catholic school ought to have re- presentation. He quite forgot that they have I four out of the six on the managing body, and that there was another class of people who ought to have representation—the Carmar- then ratepayers. The Town Council elected one of themselves to the vacancy, so that the Corporation now has eight representatives out of the thirteen on the Education Committee. Surely there is "Something very laughable in the plea which the representatives of the Established Church put up for representation for the Roman Catholic school. They get all the safe seats for themselves, and then when it comes to this very rocky one, they develop an extraordinary desire to see the Roman Catholics represented. The Irish regiments do say that they are usually put forward to assault desperate positions. If they win, it is a .ritish victory. If they are killed, it is not much loss. I'm inclined to think that there must be something in the story after all. *.x-* The Education Committee now consists of eight Nonconformists and five Churchmen. The voluntary schools are managed by six Nonconformists and 12 Churchmen. The total elcrnent a ry school managers of the town con- sist of 14 Nonconformists and 17 Churchmen. • It would be well to keep this analysis of the position for reference between today and the 1st November. These are unassailable facts; ask anybody if lie can deny one iota of the statements here made. Oh dear no; he'll prattle about something else and try to lead you off the point. Even shining lights among the Clericals are not always aware of these elementary facts. But it is no loss to them. Hard facts do not favour them. The Carmarthen magistrates have a fine I task before them next Monday. A case has been adjourned in order to get further evid- ence to decide whether a woman was drunk or was merely in a bad temper. A lot of trouble in this town is caused by the fact that too many people suffer from vacuity of the brain and congestion of the stomach. *»« There seems a likelihood of the population of Carmarthen gaol being well filled yet. On Saturday Mr James John, the Tory agent, applied to the Revising Barrister to "im- pound" certain claims—no doubt as a prelim- inary to impounding those who had drawn them up. We live in troublous times, when none of us when we get up in the morning know whether we may not sleep that night on a plank bed. On Monday a swarm of bees were seen in Carmarthen market, and they seemed to be making a dead set at a locker in one of the stalls. The locker appeared from its position to form part of the stock-in-trade of a con- fectioner. On Saturday a motorist was fined for reck- lessly driving over the bridge at Pensarn. It is satisfactory to know that the police are keeping an eye on this class of offenders. Mr D. E. Stephens was briefed for the prosecu- tion on the principle of "Set a motorist to catch a motorist." *#* Some of the prominent Clericals are saying that they are sick of the Town Council, and that they will "chuck it up." They never got tired of it as long as they had a walk over. Let us have a few more good fights. Munici- pal elections have been the only thing worth living for in Carmarthen of late years. ALETHEIA.

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