The Merthyr Express

CORRESPONDENCE, The Editor wishes it to be distinctly understood that he will not hold himself responsible for the opinions or statements of correspondents, nor under- take to return rejected manuscript. Correspondents MUST write on one side of the paper only. Correspondents are requested to condense their re- marks as much as possible as owing to the very great demands upon our space, we cannot undertake to publish letters of great length. Letters of a personal character will not be inserted. TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Mis3 E. Jones, No. 17, Castle-square, Brecon- road, Mert-hyr.-NVe are afraid we cannot. help you in the matter. Write to a paper in North Wales. Perhaps they will be able to asaLst you.

DANGER SPOTS. Sir,-Paroon me, but I live near the Mer- thyr Power Station and the old road that runs between their yard and the river. At the top of the old road, I notice the iron fencing of the Power Station is in great need of repair, to prevent children risking their lives. Thre is a'so a dang-erous slanti.ng path that crosses the river near the houses, like the edge of a cliff. It is a source of anxintv to parents and a. grave danger to little chi'dran. Trusting these mat- ters will receive attention,-f am, Sir, your; respectfully, F, P. GRIFFITHS.

VAYNOR EASTER. VESTRY., Sir,—Kindly allow me to correct and amplify the report of the above vestry, which appeared •vo^r issue. It is quite incorr-ect to state i a^or a time no one consented to act. as clerk of the vestry." Mr. T. Williams, a-- clerk for 1908-9, naturally retained office until the minutes had been read by him, and immediate- ly this had been done, the writer was nomin- at-?d for the position. Your reporter also re-ms to be labouring- under a m s^pprehension as to what actually took place with regard to the 1907 minutes, for he- !Ota.tps that these minutes were left unsigned! This, however, WA, not the case. It is tru-e that Mr. T. Greatcrex proposed, and Mr. T. Williams seconded, a motion that the minutes be. left tinsian-d. but Mr. E. Berry- man moved an amendment, which was duJv seconded, that the minutes be siened. <5n bein put to the meetincr, the amendment was car- r-ed by a large majority, and the Chairman ae- cordip.^Iy ai^ned mvnutos. It was only wh.->n this had been done that I accepted the position of vestrv e'erk. The name of Mr. T. n. Greatorex. who W;1 Tinanimo'i^ly re-appoint- ed auditor, wag omitted from the list of ap- pointments as given in your report.—Yours, etc., 3ILAS M. HARRIS. Me.»fFa r Gam, Vnyncr, May 10th, 190P,

THE "GROUP" AND COUNCILLOR GRIFFITHS. Sir,—I quite agree with "J. H." that my letter was amusing, but I am alio under the impression (rightly or wrongly) that it was more mortifying than amusing tc those persons more directly concerned than either "J. H." or "A Sociaiist." For that reason, those particu- lar persons have deemed it prudent to abstain from entering the lists, oonidring that in this particular instance, discretion is the better part of valour, thus leaving the field open to the above to champion their cause. If I am van- quished in this encounter, I shall be a gainer, for I shall have learnt something, and that is, I presume, the main object of debate In the first place, I have to deal with the letter of "J. H. in which he askod me a question which he deemed to be very pertinent and of paramount importance to the point at issue; also that it would be more to the point if I was able to deny that Councillor Griffiths had put his pnnoiples into the Catholic melting-pot. Councillor Griffiths has not done this, for his action on the Voluntary School question is purely one of equity; considering that inasmuch as religious instruction is "iven in our schools, it is but fair to allow others to give the relig- ious instruction in their own particular way. Putting principles in the melting-pot applies to those persons who refuse to do that which they were sent into the Council Chamber to do. Again, I am perfectly aware that the Merthyr I.L.P. discussed Coun. Griffiths's action, and that they invited him to attend, and being aware alro of what passed there, allow me to aek '\T H." by what power could the Merthyr I.L.P. form themselves into an Executive Com- mittee to discuss the action of Coun. Griffiths when there were other organizations in the Boronc;h who had don" more to return Coun. Griffiths to tlie Council chamber than the I.L.P.? Can anyone wonder that Couo. Grif- fiths did not attend? The Merthyr I.L.P. did not move in the proper mannetr; when they do move in t way that they sh<-»ild, I hn.ve not a particle of doubt but that Coun. Griffith* will he tbiTo to --xp' ,1 iP h,< ^TV.n "J.

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COUNCILLOR C. GRIFFTTTTS AND THE MERTHYR IX. P. BRANCH.. Sir,—Now, as the Merthyr branch of the Independent Labour Party have taken upon themselves to become th custodians of the actions of tho individual members of the Lab- our "group" on our Borough Council, may I draw their attention to a report which appear- ed in your issue of December 26th last. of the School Management Committee when dealing with the salary of a Catholic teacher? The Mayor (Alderman Wilon) then declared that he was returned to the Council as a Noncon- formist. Coun. D. J. Lewis said he was return- ed on the same ticket, and Ald. Rowland Evans told Coun. Isaac Edwards that he was betraying the viital principles of Nonconform- ity. This is the declaration of three leading Labour members who are, I may say, to-day till members of the Labour "group," and I take it that the Merthyr branch, by their silence, approve of it. Do I understand that the Merthyr LL-Peers are prepared to ailow the Labour "group" to become a Nonconform- ist group and go back to the old School Board days without any protest? I want to be fair, s<o I will wait awhile.—Yours truly, CAESAR,

WELSH DISESTABLISHMENT. Sir,-I have nothing to do with the manrj eirs or smart sayings of "Anthropos." I desire solely to deal with his statements. In an interim contribution to the debate, he places before your readers his views on the Church as "estab- lished by law." He takes up the following position: "Strictly speaking, the Church of England, as distinct from the Church of Rome, can trace its pedigree no further back than the time of Henry VIII." He further avers that "the establishment" was brought about by the Act of Uniformity, and that as a result the King is the head of the Church in contra- distinction to the Roman Catholic and the dis- senting bodies." Let Dr. Creighton, an the first place, answer this strajige conception of his- tory "Some people talk sometimes as if the Church came into being as a branch of the Roman Church; or as if, at some period of its history, it was merged in the Roman Church. It had varying relations with the Roman Church, which were regulated, not by the claims of Rome, but by the advantage to be gained by England. I cannot put what seems to me to be the historical truth more clearly than in this form; tho Church in England, while retaining its-own continuity in all essen- tials, admitted the papal jurisdiction on grounds of utility, and thus passed through a long per- iod in which it discovered that that jurisdic- tion was dangerous to Church and nation alike" ("The Church and the Nation," p. 186). Mr. Justice Phillimoro said, in giving judgment in the eases "Bell v. Marsham" and ''Marshall v. Graham": "The accepted legal doctrine, as to wjygki^.co^roverey, iiie j Church of England was a continuous body from its earliest establishment ia Saxon times" ("Times" report) The fallacy enunciated by your Liberationisf is refuted by the testimony of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under the year 995. These are the words: "And soon he"— Alfric, Archbishop of Canterbury—"sent for all the wisest men he anywhere knew of. and also the old men who were able to say the i-oothast how each thing had been in this land in the days of their elders, in addi tion to what he himself had learned from book: and from wise men. Him told the very old men. as well as clergy and laity. that their eid-ers had told them how it had been establishNl by iaw soon after St. Augustine came to this land." "An thropos" will thus see that as far back as 995 A.D. the Church was "established by law." Clever and unscrupulous though Henry VIII. 'vas, he would hardly have managed to direct the affairs of the kingdom six hundred years before he was born "Anthropos" evidently trusts the German- made history of Makower. Will he please listen to his view: "The constitution of the Church was o:1lv changed at the Reformation in England so far as seemed absolutely necessary to the attainment of the ends which the Re formation proposed. Accordingly, the ecclesi- astical offices in the country. remained nearly unaltered. The real changes which en- sued relate almost exclusively to the connexion of National Church with the Pope they con- sist in the complete abolition of all papal auth- ority in England, and in the transference of al- most all rights of government previously exer- cised by the Pope to tho English sovereign." If "Anthropos" knows anything at all, he must kno v that the last sentence succinctly describe, the limits of "royal supremacy," and he knows also that as far back as the days of tho Con- fessor this supremacy was exercised. The laws of that sovereign state that the king is ap- pointed "to this end, that he should rule and defend the kingdom and the Lord's people; and above all Holy Crch." The papist Queen Mary described herself ".Mary, by the Grace of God. Supreme Head of the Church of Eng- land. It will thus be seen that the allegations of "Anthropos" are home-made history construc- ted to prop up a theory that no respectable his- torian would advance. The Kinc is supreme over all persons and societies in this realm, and it is he that decides disputes respecting property, doctrine, and disa pline amongst Dis- senters as well as Churchpeople. Henry VIII. himself declared (1533) in a letter to the clergy: "Christ is indeed the only and supreme Lord as we confess Him in the Church daily As to spiritual things, they—the clergy—have no worldly nor temporal head, but only Christ" (Wiikins, iii., 762). Finally, Mr. Aubrey Moore, in his "History of the Reformation." writes as follows: "The continuity of the Eng"- lish Church was the first principle of the Eng- lish Reformation." I assert without fear of con- traduction, that the Church was not crea-ted- made, nor called into being by Henry VIII., and that in law her pos-essions. all voluntarily acquired, and her doctrines, are her own by every Tight. Let "Anthropos" produce one single scrap of evidence to the contrary—if he can. Until he is able to do so, let him wipe his and leave the Church alone.—Yours, etc.. CHURCHMAN.

THE ORIGIN OF TITHE. air,—As Mr. Asquith, in his Welsh Disestab- lishment Bill, generousiy concedes to the Church of Engiand ill Wales all cathedrals. churches, vicarages, and other buildings, and as he confines drsendowrnent to the period previous to 1662, it would be irrelevant to argue about any endowments to the Church other than the endowments of tithes, first fruits, and glebe lands given to the Church when it was the national church, at first volun- tarily, but the zeal of the donors slackening, it was afterwards made compulsory by law. When we examine the origin of tithes, and the methods by which they were enforced in early times, we find that the custom was a foreign importation, brought from Rome. practised there in imitation of the Jewish or Mosaic sys- tem, and transplanted on British soil by Aug- ustine, the emissary of Pope Gregory the great and the first Archbishop of Canterbury. Putting aside the question of whether the quad- ripartite and tripartite division of tithes pre valent on the continent at that time, was adopted in this country or not, it is indisput- able that tithes is a Roman institution, made in imitation of the Jewish law or custom. So the law of tithes is a Papal law, and a relic of the Church in its connections with Rome. "Churchman" deliberately shirks the question at issue. The evidence is overwhelming that tithes would not be paid if left to voluntary methods. Referring to the Legatine injunctions of Chal- chyth, Bishop Stubbs eays (as to the article re- latin gto tithes) that "thero can bo no doubt that the legatine canon, as approved by the kings and Witan, had the force of law." At the time of the Danish insurrection, in a treaty between Edward and Guthrurn, we find the fol- lowing stipulation relating to tithBS and other church dues: "If anyone withhold tithes, let him pay lah-slit among the Danes, wite among the English." Lah-slit and wite were tho Dan- ish and Saxon penalties (the one. according to Selden, euqivalent to twenty and tho other to thirty shillings) for ordinary misdemeanours. Selboume, referring to King Athelstan's tithe ordinance, eays reluctantly: "A royal injuno tion for the payment of tithes, although not made or oonfirmed in tho manner necessary to give It the force of a national law, was a step of much importance in that direction." He says that it was "a command, an authoritative command, over his own reeves." Next we come to King Ethelwulf's charter with regard to tithes, passed in a witenagemot., or parlia- ment of his kingdom, in A.D. 84i, about the meaning of which there is some difference of opinion among the authorities. Selden, in his standard work on th9 "History of Tithas," m. tnrpTets the charter as r a grant of praedial tithes of the fruits of all lands, as to which that king could legislate, to the church for ever. This interpretation was adopted by Dean Comber, Dean Prideaux (who, according to Set- boume, insisted much upon it as the true legal foundation of the right of the clergy to tithes throughout England), Hume. Rapin, Echard, and Milman, no mean authoritios. Selbourne, for whom I have great respect, though an emin- ent supporter of Church Establishment, inter- preted the charter as referring to the enfranch- isement of a certain proportion of folcland in ecclesiastical hands. To understand this, it is necessary to call attention to the difference in Anglo-Saxon law, between the two kinds of landed property, called folcland and bocland. "Folcland was the property of the commumty. It might be occupied in common, or possessed in severality. But while it continued to be folcland, it could not be alienated in per- petuity; and, therefore, on the expiration of the term for wihch it had peen granted, it re- verted to the community." "Bocland (or land held by book or charter) had been severed by an act of government from the folcland, and converted into an estate of perpetual inherit- ance." This, according to Selbourno, is what is meant by the charter. Selbourne, in order to explain away the charter as referring to tithes, jumped from the frying pa.n into the fire, for by interpreting the charter to mean the converting of folcland into bocland, he as- serted that the King and Parliament endowed the Church with land in perpetuity. This is what we understand to-day by some of the glebe lands of the church, or freehold pro- perty. of which there are 43,000 acres in Wales. It is recorded that the Bishop of Sherborne and the Bishop of Winchester had agreed that all their "brethren and sisters" should in each church assemble and sing fifty Psalms to cele- brate the charter. It may now be clear to Mr. Godfrey and "Churchman" what I meant by distinguishing between ancient public endowments and private benefactions. The only right that the Church had to tithes was what was called "divine right." But as Blackstone truly says, "the title of the clerrrv to tithes upon any divine riqht certainly ceased with the Jewish theocracy." So this supposed right of the Church to tithes proviow: to legislative enactments, and of which accord- ing to Churchmen, legislative enactments were only the recognition, rests on spurious grounds. There is no comparison between the endow- ments of Disinters and the endowments of the Church of England by the State. The mean- ing of tidies clearly proves this. By tithes is meant a tenth part of everything which grows .out of or is produced by the land. The tenth pig, lamb. colt, calf. fowl; the tenth turnip, bean, pea, sheaf of corn, cock of hay, and fleece of wool; the tenth of the eggs. milk, cheese, and butter. Tithe was paid in kind in early times, and up to 1836, when the Com- mutation Act was brought in, which substitut- ed for the payment in kind a tithe rent-charge, based on the sum which the parson received after all expenses of collecting it were deducted out. As everybody partakes of eggs, milk, cheese, and butter, so everybody pays tithes. Tithe rent-charge may bo "redeemed" under the Tithe Redemption Act, passed in 1878; but it is enacted that the minimum price must be twenty-ifve years' purchase. "When lands have been divided into small plots for building, or when lands have been taken by public bodies, the tithe rent-charge may be redeemed on the above terms. Every town tenant is paying his quota of religious taxation in his house rent, and in the taxes levied for the acquisition of parks, open spaces, cemeteries, market places, and labourers' allotments." Can Mr. Godfrey or "Churchman" refer to any law compelling the members of the Church of England to con- tribute perpetually against their own conscience towards the propagation of doctrines and church government which they do not believe in? This is the crux of the whole question of tithe endowments. My argument from the difference between the Church of England previous to the Reform- ation and after it, by which I took Churchmen on their own ground. "Churchman" has thought fit to meet by a quotation from one of Mr. Asquith'a speeches regarding the continu- ity of the Church. In answer to that, I quote from a speech of the Bishop of Birmingham uttered lately in the Upper House of Convoca- tion at Canterbury, in which he reprimanded the Bishop of London for using the argument of the pious founder, "because it was totally impossible to "ay what the wishes of the pious founder would be after the great changes that had taken place." Lot Mr. Godfrey and "Churchman," instead of fighting with imagin- ary opponents and demolhing imaginary argu- mentis, which the figments of their own j brain, answer my questions, and confine them- selves tft th.e 1, ,9.F..°J

THE REV. D. ELLIS JONES AND THE FREE CHURCH COUNCIL OF ABERCYNON. Sir,—I am grateful to the Rev. D. Ellis Jones for the opportunity he has given me to repeat the statement I made at the annual meeting of the Abercynon Free Church Council. First of all, I would respectfully correct the rev gentleman in reference to the resolution that was passed at the above meetings. I did not second a resolution in favour of a "Spoliation Bill," but in favour of the "DIsesta-blishment and Disendowment Bill" laid before Parlia- ment by the Prime Minister, and which is being championed by such eminent and staunch Churchmen as Bishop Gore of Birminhgam and the Bi-hop of Hereford. Further, the purpose of this Bill is not the "spoliation" of the Church, but the prevention of further "spoliation" of national property for the benefit of a Church which has not the slightest claim to call itself the "National Church of Wales." Through an Act of Parliament in the reign of King Henry VIH.. the Church of Rome in En.^land, was divorced from the Papal See, and was established by law as the Church of Eng- land; and thus in name, because of its State connections, it became the National Church, but in name only. It has never appealed to the heart and spirit of the Welsh people. On the whole, it ha; been an "alien" influence, antagonistic to the temporal welfare and the highest interests of the nation. Until within recent times, the story of the Church has been that of groat neglect and disregard of the com- mon good of the Welsh people. Let Church- men speak for themselves—"Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee" "During sevedal centuries Bishop3 in \yales were essentially a hostile garrison bound to the English Crown by common hatred towards the native Welsh" (Archdeacon Pryco on "The Anor'ent British Church"). "From 1700 to 1850, the head of every diocese in Wales was an imported ecclesiastic, ignorant of the -language, out of sympathy with the people. He came iu- to Wales strong in his narrow national creed that all things un-English were unpardonable. To root out the sin of Welsh, he transplanted into all sunny places English brothers, cousins, connections, friends. Welshmen filled the hum- bler posts. The favourites were feeble, pliant, unpatriotic men. Aping their masters, they ■iffectrd contempt for the popular language. Ceasing to be Welsh, failing to be English, they became nobodies" (Dean Edwards, brother of "the Bishop of St. Asaph, at the Swansea Church Congress). "Tho Welsh people are not lookrd after as they should be. A large number of them have drifted away from the Mother Church because their wants have not been ministered to in their own language" (the Vicar of Clydach Vale, in his Parish Magazine, May, 1909). The above statements, delivered gratuitously by Churchmen, are hard and true facts which are amp!y verified in the history of the Church And confirmed by its present position in the Principality. Mr. Jones has. a very generous list of questions as to "who are the founders of Presbyterians, Independents. Baptists, WeSI. leyans," eto. I am afraid, Mr. Editor, that you would need to print a special supplement to find room for the answers to all the questions. The founders of the great Free Churches of our land were men who found the ecclesiastical boundaries of the State Church too narrow for their large and generous views and their many activities. They came out of the Church into the midst of the nation, and founded churches which have flourished BO well that any one of these churches might with greater show of reason be termed "National Church of Wales" than the Church of England can show for being ?o called. Undoubtedly, the whole history of the State Church proves it to bo an alien plant in Wales, and foreign to the soil of the liberty- loving people of Wales.—Yours truly. T } MORGAN JENKINS.

p THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ANr. SOCIALISM. Sir,—"Huw Menai" seems to juggle a good deal with his pet phrases in trying to substan- tiate his assertion that the Catholic Church must go before Socialism can be realised. It ia very kind of him to say that Socialism to me is merely a question of bread and butter. I am quite as enthusiastic and sincere in my Social- ism as its reckless exponents who quibble about it doing away with the Church. When one remembers the many fallacies and delusions tlar. exist about Socialism one is inclined to think that it suits certain people to defame Socialism. Strange as it may seem, Socialists themselves are responsible for a lot of those fallacies. Well educated people and sometimes our village lihil- osophers are heard to say that under Socahsin one would not be allowed to worship acc<i~>*oing to one's conscience; tho churches will dia fiom financial hunger, etc. "A Merthyr Catholic" tells me I "cannot den)" the fact that Social- ists are hostile to religion." Well, like every "ism" Socialism has its mob orators, and its wild exponents who preach what they conceive to be Socialism, and against what they conc3'7e to be its enemies, namely—members of the churches. Hence the misconception. But let it be ever remembered that Socialism as a sci- ence does not touch or interfere in any way with any creed or church or sect. It is a purely secular science as is Toryism or Liberalism. It only touches and deals with affaire of this world, such as land, railways and property. Under Socialism- all churches would be free. such as land, railways and property. Under Socialism- all churches would be free. The individual could worship in whatever church or chapel he pleased; there would be no State church. Socialism says, "If you want a church and clergy, you must pay for them yourself, and not tax othera who do not believe in them." "A Merthyr Catholic" brings me to book for referring to Father Hegearty, of Glasgow. He advised me to investigate, and said, I should find that Father Hegearty "spoke on his own authority, and not on the authority of the Catholic Church." A little later he draws my attention to Catholic papers of a few weeks ago, where a Catholic Bishop would not re- cognise another society because there were in their midst some of these Socialists. If a "Mer- thyr Catholic" applied that advice to himself he would find that the said Bishop did not act on the authority of the Church, bu on his own. Officers, as well as members, of the Catho- lio Church, differ in politics. For example, we have Bishops and Priests who oppose the demands of Ireland for justice; so also we have Bishops and Priests who fight hard to emancipa;te the Irish people. "A Merthyr Catholic" reminds us of the Tenth Command- ment that says, "Thou shalt not covet thy; neighbours' goods," but it should be clearly un- derstood that the Socialists are not against pri- vate property in the great means of production. Socialism says give to each approximately the product of his toil as his private property, and prevent somo from securing for their private property that for which they have not labour- ed. Then he went on to tell the workman his duty to an employer of labour, to carry out his task honestly, etc.; ho also told the em- ployer his obligations, and concluded by say- ing that social inequalities are a law of Provi- dence. Your correspondent pins his faith to the old rotten method of preaching mercy to the rich and patience to the poor. As a Catho- lie, I say those social inequalities are the nee- essary result of the present industrial system- Yours, etc.,

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QUOITS.) f PENYDARREN V TRECYNON. s The return match between these teams was played at Penydarren on Saturday. Scores:— Penydarren. Trecynon. M. Jones 21 W. Davies 20 Phil Giles 7 Fred Parry 21 T. Davies 21 D. Davies ———. 7 E. Davies 21 H. Mosley 19 W. Theopholus 21 W. Peak — 13 T. Bowen 20 J. Thomas :21 W. Jones 21 T. Reynolds .„ 6 D. Phillips.—— 21 J. de la Haye 19 j 153 126

Oxo at the Imperial Exhibition, London Visitors to the great exhibition at Shepherds Bush in London this summer should not for- get to call at the Oxo stand, where they will see many things of great interest. Readers who I follow current events will take pleasure in see- ing the historic cable sent by Lieutenant Shackleton to the Oxo Company, from New Zealand, on his return from the South Pole. The cable reads:—"Found Oxo excellent on sledge journeys and throughout the winter.— Shackleton." Another historical object is the original letter signed by the Prince of Forino on behalf of the Town Council and Munici- pality of Naples, thanking the Oxo Company for feeding the stricken refugees and sufferers from the great Messina earthquake. The ex- hibit is full of objects of interest. Besides the enormous pedigree bull which in real life weighed over a ton, there are all kinds of lassos, etc., used and worn by the cowboys on the Oxo Company's enormous cattle farms. The Oxo Company's cattle farms, by the way., are the largest British farms in the world actually owned by a firm of fluid beef manufacturers. The whole exhibit is attractive and pleasing, and visitors are invited to rest in the easy chairs ami sample the clwnty cups g| Oxo pro- 1

THE CHRONICLES OF I CARTOONIA. BY JOHN BamD. (Author of "Household Sketches," "Marmon Hall," "Short History of Bedwellty Church," etc., etc.) CHRONICLE THE FOURTH (continued). The entrance of the Representative of the Fourth Estate was received by the Ministers with chilly looks and frowning features. The King, however, gave him a royal cheery wel- come, which made the Minister of the Public Purse mutter soto voce to his companion, "Hang that fellow, Scribbleton! He gets the ear of the King on every matter of the State!" "Glad to see you, Scribbleton," and the King waved him to a seat between the Ministers and himself. "Country in an awful tight corner. Money scarce, and the Minister of the Public Purse at his wits' end to find a remedy. Our cousin of Teutonia has had another attack of ciphalotus, and expects us to pav his medical expenses, eh what, what?" ana tfie King lean- ed back in nis chair, and laughed at his own royal joke. The Ministers dutifully subscribed their quota of appreciation with the usual perfunctory smiles. Scribbleton's approval of the joke was characteristic. He slowly rubbed his chin with his hand, looked quietly at the King, and bowed. "Well, well, Scribbleton, you must help us in some way. My chief Minister suggests calling a meeting of the representatives to discuss the matter--but I prefer a meeting of ourselves over this dilemma. What do you think, eh, what, what?" "A meeting of the Representatives would end in an appeal to the country-and under the present circumstances such a course would not be advisable as it might tend to disorganise the machinery of Government. Your Majesty's wisdom is to bo commended in postponing a general meeting, and if your Majesty would kindly deign to listen, I have a proposal to malce," and here the Representative of the Fourth Estate slowly rose and took from his pocket a long. bluer envelope. "Ha, that's better," and the King's eyes twinkled as he threw a glance at his ministers. "Nothing like having something tangible to discuss, instead of indefinite suppositions, eh, what, what?" "The people, your Majesty, have lately given themselves over to an extraordinary sightseeing craze. A match of any kind-cricket, football, or prize-fighting --will bring thousands from one end of the kingdom to the other. Joe Hacker matched against Dick Slogger in any part of Cartoonia \yell-nigh drains the rest of the coun- try of its population in its eagerness to wit- ness the match, and so with the other sporting items that seem to have taken such hold on the people, and it struck me we might with advantage divert that stream of paying human- ity towards a little show of our own." "What absolute nonsense, your Majesty," broke in the Minister of the Public Purse. "Why, such a course" He stopped as he caught a p-lance from the King. "The Minister of the Fourth Estate has my royal permission to proceed," said the King The Minister sat abashed, and although not a big man, evidently deplored the impossibility of reducing himself to nothing. "It is a singular circumstance, your Majesty," continued Scribbleton, "that while the smallest tax is begrudgingly paid, the people never hesi- tate on every occasion of public matches to pay well and freely, and even spend lavishly, and I, therefore, propose to take a leaf from the sport- ing life of the country, and adopt as a constitu- tional measure a grand national display of mili- tary and naval manoeuvres twelve times a year, and that sightseers be charged so much per head at every review held in properly appointed centres. I have, therefore, drafted a short Act embodying my scheme, which I sincerely hope will meet with your Majesty's approval. With your royal permission I will read it," and Scrib- bleton drew from the blue envelope a sheet of foolscap, and looked inquiringly at the King. His Majesty's eyes twinkled lavishly, not so much at the speech of Scribbleton as at the countenances of the War Minister and the Chief Ocean Lord, the former's being absolutely beet- root in colour with rage, while the latter had evident difficulty in staving off an apoplectio fit. "This is the Act I propose for the State's consideration, your Majesty:— Short Act for Furthering the National Revenue. J.-That the Military and Naval Forces of the Kingdom of Cartoonia carry out reviews and military and naval displays at certain centres of the Kingdom and around the coast, at least twelve times a year, the said centres to be here- inafter fixed by the Grand Council of Represen- tatives. 2.-That provision be made at each centre for at least 100,000 aightseers to witness the review, display or manoeuvres of the troops or warships. 3.—That a stated sum be charged for en- trance, and tickets to the value of these charges to be obtained from all Public Government Offices in the Kingdom. 4.-That on the occasion of his Majesty the King being present at any review, at that par- ticular centre double fees of entrance to be charged." "This, I think your Majesty, will prove an effective, original and remunerative measure to replenish our already depleted exchequer, and I beg most respectfully to submit it for your Majesty's most gracious consideration," and Scribbleton, with his usual inscrutable look, calmly handed the proposed Act to the King- Up jumped the Chief Ocean Lord. "Your Majesty, I protest—I protest! The grand tra- ditions of the Navy with its past record of glory would vanish into ridicule at our warships being converted into an ocean circus!" and the speak- er mopped his heated, anger-marked brow with vehemence. "The warships will have an opportunity of showing what they are worth as a power, and the people will pay gladly to know it, by seeing its worth," replied Scribbleton grimly. The War Minister also rose, his face almost purple with suppressed indignation, but he evi- dently had sufficient command over his mind to indulge in an elephantine attempt at sar- casm. "I move, your Majesty, that a Royal Commission be instantly appointed to inquire into the Representative of the Fourth Estate's state of mind." A twinkling eye from the King gave Scrib- bleton his chance of reply. "My mind to a kingdom is," quoted Scribbleton, "and as Car- toonia's Kingdom is very much on my mind at present, your Majesty, I should like to ask where the War Minister or the Public Purse minister will find the means to procure his in- quiry—after this Act of mine has been passed?" Here the King burst into a right royal roar of laughter. "By my royal wig. Scribbleton, you have the quaintest—and I won't say the least effective—method of bringing in an Act that tickles as well as impresses us. There's something in it-there's something in it, and I will consider it seriously by my royal wig. I will!" and the King rose from his chair and began to relight his royal meerschaum. "My lords and gentlemen, I will dismiss myself in- stead of you, in consideration of your lengthy debate. You will find all your require in the way of liquid refreshments at your hand, and Scribbleton, this way with me a few moments." The King left the room followed by Scribble- ton, amid the regulation bows of the Ministers, slaughtering rising smiles behind his meers- chaum that threatened eventually to culminate into a huge holocaust of laughter. (To be continued.) J

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'õ. H." states that the "Group" also failed to get his. attendance, he is labouring under a delu- sion, for Coun. Griffiths did attend the 'Group" meeting, and explained his attitude, then leaving the "Group" to decido whether he was still to be recognised as a member. The result we know to bo excommunication. I and more of your readers would like to know when the "Group" are going to excom- municate themselves, or when are they going to be called to account by the Merthyr I.L.P., considering that they have demolished the main plank in the Labour party's educational policy in secular education. So much for "J. H." Now to deal with the letter of "A Socialist." Before dealing with his statements, I should like him to realise that the question at issue is the attitute of the "Group" and Councillor Griffiths on the education question, and not my opinions. The greater portion of "A Social- ist's" letter has been treated in my reply to "J. H. except my opinions, which I will gladly give to "A Socialist" at some future date, but I will give him a little information with recard to the so-called Romanists' meet- ing. and the "second promisa" that was given there. I happened to be present att that meeting, and know what pa..od there, and there was no "second promise" made. "A Socalist" W3' not th-^ro; consequently he has to take his evidence second or third hand. And as regards the pledcro-bound narty tolerating hrm in their ranks, I refer "A Socialist" to the latter portion of my reply to his confrere. But tber-3 is one point, in his letter which k in har- mony with my opinion on the education ques- tion, i.e.. "popularr control," but until "popu- lIar" control resolves itself into something bet- ter than is manifested at prep?nt, I say leave the voluntary schools alone, for it is apparent to any tyro on th's nn^-tion that if the volun- titry tchools were handed over to our Council, they would cimply utilise them in the same manner as their own, and thus have more sub- jects to use their proselytising influence upon. No Catholic or Ana-lican could tolerate such an idea, with any decree of complacency for a single moment, Therefore, until the State says you "must" or shall," instead of "may," I say—bf» just. Whether the Catholics are amfons for the education of their children is outside the question—though they are quite as anxious as any other body—for it is a duty de- volving upon the community and not an altruistic principle — to educate every child in its area. for the purpose of self-preservation, which "A Socialist" should be well aware of; therefore, I hope that. b, will be more rele- vant in hi,5 Dr-xt letter, and oblige — Vours etc J. EVANS