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The Merthyr Express

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.-OSll FOOTBALL.

LOCAL INTELLIGENCE

] RELIGION AND SOCIALISM.…

Theatre Royal, Merthyr. !

ABERCANAID.

TROEDYRHIW.

MERTHYR VALE.

DOWLAIS.

[No title]

j ^ ~ j ! Merthyr's New Court,…

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j Merthyr's New Court, j First Quarter Sessions for the d j Borough. The Recorder Cordially Welcomed Th'a first Quarter Sessions for the County Borough of Merthyr were held at the Towr i Hall, Merthyr, on Wednesday, before the learned Recorder, Sir D. Brynmor Jones, K.C., M.P. The greatest interest was evinced in the proceedings, every part of the Court Room being crowded with ladies and gentlemen The Police Court had been transformed into a suitable Sessions Court by Mr N. Moss, con- tractor. under tho supervision of Mr. Bert Marshall, assistant surveyor. The first to ar- rive were the grand jury, composed of Aid. D. W. Jones (foreman). Aid. E. Morrell, Andrew Wilson, Rowland Evans, J Harpur, J. M. 1 Berry, Ivor Abraham, Couns. H. M. Lloyd, T. Williams, Isaac Edwards, Dd. Phillips, N. F. Hankey, F. S. Simons, J. W. Lewis, Ed. Edwards, R. P. Rees, Mr. H. W. Southey, Mr. T. Rich, Mr. John Evans, Mr. W. L. Daniel, and Mr. D. Davies (Pant),. While the grand jury were taking their seats, a large number of learned counsel, wigged and gowned, filed into the court, and took their r;eats. They were Messrs. T. Walter Williams, Ivor Bowen, Pepyat Evans, W. HUJh Jones, J. A. Lovat Fraser, Douglas Lewis, the Hon. Herbert C. Bailey, J. Bowen Davies, St. John Francis Williams, A. C. Thomas, J. Plews, Wil- •Ted Lewis, Harold Stowe, T. C. Gaskell, Elidyr B Herbert, Harry Jones, Stanley Griffith • )ones, and D. Rowland Thomas. The next to arrive was 1-11-. XI. W. Darling, h:, j^ecorder's clerk and iwicz of the court. ) who recognised as cnc of tby expert coin i officials in the country. i Clerk of the :1' T. Aneuryr, >163) fearing his robo and v. if, iook his seat, accompanied by Mr. D. Twigg, solicitor ftvthe.i^Town Clerk's office; Mr. J. E. I IMCCI.C, Deputy Town Clerk, TIÍ10 assisted the C erk of the Peace in the preparation of the vuious court documents. The Msyor of Mer- thvr (Coun. F. T. James), who wore his scarlet robe and gold chain, entered the court, and occupied a seat on the right of the Recorder's chair. He was accompanied by the Mayoress, Mrs. James, and the Misses James, Miss M. Jones (Bryntirion), and Mrs. W. W. Jones. The members of the local branches of the Incorpor- ated Law Society were present in large num- bers. The petty jurors were also early in at tendance, and until they were called upon to take their seats they assembled near the jury box. » THE RECORDER WELCOMED. Just after half-past ten the order, "Silence," rang out, and all those in court rose to their feet as the Recorder -entered and took up a I position near his chair. Sir Brynmor-Jones ¡ took the usual oaths of allegiance, and before taking his seat, the Mayor accorded him a warm welcome. The Mayo- said: Sir David Brynmor-Jones, as Mayor it !ives me great I pleasure to offer you, on bel-sif of the Mer- j thyr Borough, the heartiest f.<igratukt?.Cjrs upon your appointment by KL* Majesty the ,11 King as Recorder of this itor- borough. This is. an historic occasion.r'nyr, after a long and strenuous fight, obtained its Char- ter of Incorporation,' then its cr.uiHy powers, control of its police, and finally its separate Court of Quarter Sessions, all within a period I of five and a half years, a record. I \e.-xture to., think, the annals of local ^ov:=nui>ant. The Borough, with large population and unport- ant industries, looks forward with absolute confidence to the impartial administration of Justice at your hands. Merthyr is proud of hav- iag as their first Recorder an eminent Welsh- and an experienced I and learned judge. As president of the Merthyr and Aberdare Law i Society. have also to congratulate you on behalf of the members of Society upon your appointment. I can assure you that I am ex- pressing the universal feeling of the members when I say that in your hands the law of the land will be both justly and honestly admin- istered (applause) Sir D. Brynmor-Jones, in responding, thank- ed the Mayor for his kind words, and also for the cordial welcome whioh, on behalf of him- self and the Aldermen and burgesses of the County Borough of Merthyr, he had given him upon the occasion of his coming to take his seat for the firpt time as Recorder. He feared that the Mayor, in his charity, had spoken a little too complimentary of his qualifications. But this much he (the Recorder) might hon- estly say, that he had had considerable judi- cial experience in other capacities, and in other parts of the country, and he had been a mem- ber of the South Wales Circuit for a longer period of years than he cared to emphasise. It would be his earnest endeavour to admin- ister justice according to law in that court to the satisfaction of all reasonable and law-abid- ing persons. He considered it a very great honour indeed to be the Recorder of Merthyr Tydfil. As the Mayor had pointed out, the rise of the borough in the scale of municipal dignity had been unique. He thought he ought to remind those who took part in the affairs of Merthyr that that dignity implied corres- ponding obligations and great personal sacri- fice. That those sacrifices would be met he did not doubt, and he hoped that Merthvr would continue to prosper in its material wealth, in the growth of its population, in regard to its public buildings, and its conveniences for the comfort Of its inhabitants, and also in the cul- tivation of the mind, which would lead people to look upon Merthyr as a model town. and that the citizens would be celebrated for their high moral character, for their zeal in public mat- ters, and for their intellectual culture (ap- plause). He thanked the Mayor for his wel- come on behalf of the Law Society. The so- licitors of the town must play a very large part in the administration of justice in that court. and he hoped that the arrangements which had been made, and would be made, would be such as to induce them to throw themselves into the work which fell to their lot (applause). CONGRATULATIONS FROM THE BAR. Mr. J Plews then rose, and said he was re- quested by the members of the South Wales Circuit to offer Sir Brynmor-Jones their sin- cere congratulations upon his appointment as Recorder for the Borough of Merthyr. He en- dorsed all that the Mayor had said. The Bor- ough had great reason to be congratulated that the powers that be had made the selection of Sir Brynmor-Jones. The Recorder had for many years acted alii a member of the South Wales bar to the satisfaction of those who had to come in contact with him, whether associat- ed with him or opposed to him in matters which came before the courts. Soon after be- ing called to the bar, he was appointed County Court judge for the Stroud district. There, they all knew from the reports in their journals from time to time, that Sir Brynmor-Jones gave everyone entire satisfaction. But that was not to end his work for the pood of the country — he was made a member of the House of Commons (applause). Whilst there he exhibited a degree of aptitude and energy in carrying out the various matters which came before the House for the good of the country at large. He was chairman and a member of many important special committees appointed for the purpose of making deligent inquiry as to the measures which came before the House, and made reports for the purpose of further- ing the good of the country (applause). All these things had so impressed the higher powers with Sir Brynmor-Jones's ability and aptitude for business of all kinds, that they had selected him to be the first Recorder of that Borough, and the fraternity had naturally come to the clear conclusion that a better se- lection could not have been made. They, there- fore, felt deeply sensible that the best selection had been made—(applause)—and they earnestly hoped that he would live long to enjoy the dis- tinction (applause). The Recorder, in responding, said he was dooplv touched, and very grateful, for Mr. Plews' kind words. He assured Mr. Plews that no congratulations were more welcome than those which eamef from him and his learned friends, who had been so long, and were still, his brothers-in-armS, beoause in the days to which Mr. Plews referred, he (Mr. Plews) was oneoftbebest of his opponents as he would per- haps recollect (laughter). He was grateful to the learned counsel for being present in such numbers, and he trusted that the arrangements which had been made. and would be made, would be such As tc facilitate the attendance of a large number of members of the circuit. He again thanked Mr. Plews for his land words of congratulation. I' t the request of the Mayor, the Clerk of the Peace then read extracts from the warrant appointing Sir Brynmor-Jones the Recorder. CHARGE TO THE JURY. The Grand Jury were then sworn in, and the Recorder then delivered his charge to the ju- rors. He congratulated them upon being mem- bers of the first Grand Jury of the new court. As the Mayor had said, it was an historic occa- sion, arjd he doubted not that many of the grand jurors would look back with pride to the fact. that whatever sacrifice of their time it might have involved, they took part in these proceedings. The business, said the Recorder. was light. Having regard to the population of the Borough, and to the lapse of time since the last Quarter Sessions of the county, the cal- calendar was not large. All the cases appeared to him, after having had an opportunity of reading the depositions, to be of a particularly simple character. Under ordinary orcumstanc-es it might perhaps be advisable for the Recor- der, sitting for the, first time, to enlarge some- what upon the,duties of the Grand Jury. But he did not think it necessary to do so on this occasion, because he observed As the names were called, that some of them were solicitors, and the rest were Justices of the Peace. They were, therefore, quite aware of the several func- tions which a Grand Jury had to perform. They had to inquire simply whether a prima facie case was, made out. They had simply to listen to the witnew in each case. and unless there were cireumstances which led them to believe therewM no ground whatever for the evidence, it WouM be their return 1: true byi. WHot the ca/ifts wc'ii' i be iiiod before himself j and the petty urv. Ail the defendants had jeen.bttfoeci I'-IK Seswof;4, and he hardly { say i-hat thv-> I in Merthyr ti.e great ;jdvau- j '4 teN&ed »a<3 Stipendiary j and the very fact that Petty Sessions had deem- I ed it right and proper to commit a person fot I trial was a matter which the jury might take I into account in any case. The learned Recorder then dealt with each case and then asked the grand jury to retire. Later ou. Aid. D. W. Jones, the foreman of the grand jury, returned to court, and said the jury had found a true hill in each case, but "1 the case of Thomas Brown, who was charged with breaking and entering the Treharris Con- tjtitutional Club, and stealing therefrom, the charge was reduced to one of theft, the Re- corder having pointed out that the club was j not used as a dwelling house. The petty jury were then sworn in as fol- lows—Messrs. James Gilleland (foreman), Lewis M. Jones, Dl. George, John Jenkins j (Brickworks), J. B. Evans, Dan Davies, Mer- vin King Gay, Duncan Macdonald, Samuel Hawkins, Wm. Thomas Flooks, Oliver Bovm and Edward Humphreys. I

Trial of Prisoners. !

Gellygaer .Sensation.

. TERRITORIAL FORCE.

REVIEWS. -

[No title]

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