The Welsh Coast Pioneer and Review for North Cambria

Rhyl Debaters and Fiscalitis." [" Protection Defeated. ON Monday night at the Presbyterian Literary and Debating- Society, hehi in the Prince's- screet Schoolroom, the adjourned, debate on the proposition merged by Mr Parker D,avie S., that the Society was of the opinion the. commercial su,premacy of this country could only he retained) 'by protection, took place. There was only a srna;11 attendance, probably due to counter attractions. The Rev J. Verrier Jones pre- sded. Flintshire and "Dumping." Mr 'kLe[lan, 'as the mover of the adjourn- ment, conVinued the debate and supp-oiited, Mr Chamberlain's policy and the arguments whiter were adduced at the previous meeting by Mr Parker Da vies. He contended that by the speech Mr Chamberlain, -made, .ale Glasgow he had opened the' eyes of t'he "commercial world. of this country to fresh thoughts and ideas for the commercial prosperity of the counitry. It was for the welfare of his fellow creatures, and the prosperity and happiness of the whole of the working class, as well as for fainplay ito the manufacturers. In referring to the- arguments which had special allusion to the depressing effeot: of trade and the c.losin'g' -of mills in Flint- shire., he said 'he remiembered several large works which were now sliopped owing to. the foreign compeitiltion and the '"dumping," of which they heard so much. Be mentioned the names of chefmical works, as well as iron works, which, by the placin.g df German' and other ■countries' goods upon our markets, had been clos'edi; and he expressed Jtihe belief the day was not far distant when parties would unite to remove the great drawback from the country. National Wealth. Mr Edgar Davies was opp,osed:;to the idea of Protection, and said there was the! undisputed fact that the national wealth was increasing, and -that theTreasury -could not be beaten. Much liad been said! of the agricultural industry having suffered, but that was owin]g" to the fadt thale the tax had been taken off corn and) other kindred commcdèiÜes. In tlher Vale -of Clwyd persons were leaving the land1 because; the owners would not repair the houses. If thou- sands of workmen were leaving the country, and Englandl, for America, ilt was not on account of the system, of Free Trade, ;and it must be remembered many of the 'thousands who left Great Britain for other shores were diaconitentedi Irishmen. No one, could deny that Free Trade had been the means of main- taining the prosperous condition of the trade of the United Kingdom. (Cries of "Question," and "Order.") Mr Lewis Evans- championed the cause of Mr Chamberlain and Mr Davies, for if Free Trade was such a glorious policy, why should it nob be felt ,andl deallt with hty the individual citizen? Charity began at heme, iand if Free Trade was such a grand policy how was it thajc the coun- try was in such a deplorable condition? It was all nonsense to state that this was a grand and wealihy natron, 'and that there was no suffering at oiur doors, and that the workmen about fifty or forty years, ,ao were. nothing but serfs work- ing for ,a small pittance'per week. Wbajt had to be faced was the present condition of trade and the affairs of the country. (Hear, hear.) He wished the Free Trader's could! do something -besides snear at Mr Chambenlalin-tha:t would not improve the state of affai rs of the country. (Hear, hear.) Great .Britain was differently situated) than other nations. There wiere large Colonial possessions -w-hi,ch produced raw materials for this country, therefore Mr Cham- beiOain s chief idea was to unite the Colonies more closely and tlhen obtain the preferential tariffs with (1.11" own kith- and kin. Mr Cham- berlain ought to be admired for his great apti- tude and his practicability in delalinf_- with the whole question. Mr Chamberlain, in. order to study the -Soulth African condition of affairs, proceediedi to that country, and by that the peo'ple of khalt country saw he was" a man of 'business. Mr Evans pointed, out that the Americans had improved their country bv pro- tective tariffs, land were moving' with the t lines. As to the workmen of the United Kingdom, he was of the opinion they would' be hefter off when, the industrial centres were protected, for there would certainly be more work, and as we became a greater consuming naluon the men wou'ld always be kepitin full employment. (Hear, hear, and applause). Intemperance and Education. It was sometimes said (that the dark cloud of intemperance, and the proper facilities for edu- cation were in a measure resfponsible for the present state of affairs amongst the working classes. He had no doubt if they could probe ,the hisltioliY of each, man addicted to drink mey would learn that much of the intemperance was due to desperakion and sheer want of work and home comforts. (Laughter and applause.) Was trade bet'ter owing to the improvements of the educational facilities? No; the trade was be- coming worse every year. Every business man miust acknowledge that trade was declining- at a very rapid pace. Mr Llewellyn Jones here took exception to Mr 'Evans making such a statement if it were not supported1 by figures. Mr Evans said 'he had not brought the figures with him. (Daughter.) The Chairman, intervening, said the meeting must take the statement upon ilts own value. It cOiuld be reviewed in -the replies. Mr Evans, concluding, contended that there should he more substantial arguments from the Free Traders if tfhey wanted to prove the efficacy of Free Trade. For an improvedl state of trade the country and Government should adopt fair trade. Nationalisation of Waterways, &c. Mr Chas. Hubbard favoured ithe nationalisa- tion of the waiterways and railways, and said ttbaiti that being accomplished, it would assist in partly solvinfg the difficulty as to the carriage of goods and foreign produce.. Mining royal- ties should also be dealt with and nationalised as they were on iche Continent. If these mat- ter? and The whole economic problem were thoroughly studiied at home instead of the ques- tion of preferential tariffs, he 'believed the whole of the difficulty would ibe solved. Left them look 'to India with its vast resources, and where .'there had' been famines, to the grealt shame of England. The Chairman said lie thought India had been shamefully negleicted as an important fac- tor in connection wilth the whole question. Mr Jolly, who suffered the "closure" at the previous meeting, rose LO speak, buit Mr McLellan objected to asedond speech. Mr Jolly asserted he was not treaited properly at 'the last meeting, for he did not feel he had 'been on his legs three minutes. (Loud laugh- tei- He was, however, permitted to proceed!, and he characterised Mr Cbaniberlain's scheme of providing old1 age pensions, in connection with a tariff, as most ridiculous. Welsh Land Commissioners and Protection. Mr Llewelyn Jones, replying to the whole of the criticisms, complained ithat Mr Davies in quoting from the Land Commission Report at the lasil meeting had deliberately omittedl cer- tain- passages of importance to the whore dis- cussion. It would., he remembered that Mr Davies had: used! the Welsh Land! 'Repeal to at- tempt to< prove that nothing but protection could be an effectual remedy for the depression in the agricultural portion of North Wales, or, nothing short of measures striking at foreign competi- tion in the interest of the classes directly cc,n- cerned with, agriculture, could sensibly raise the profihs of the agricultural industry. Now, he (Mr Jones) wished to mention that for his case the report favoured his arguments, for it stated that nothing could' ibe clearer than tbalc the adopticn of such .a fiscal policy would in effect amount to the levying of a tax upon all those classes who were not directly or indirectly con- cerned in that particular industry, for ldhe bene- fit of the classes who were. From the rigid point of view of the economist it would be a' wasteful process. That report said, "The con- troversy upon 'this matter in the thirties and forties must, in our judgment, be taken to have setkled the matter until, at any rate, the situ- ation of the whole country has become very different from what it is. The difficulties of reversing, even if it were expedient, the fiscal policy of the country, are enormous. The treaties with foreign states, the whole business arrangements of the civilised world, and the actual pecuniary interests of the majority of the British people stand in the way Tihe greater number üf these industries pay, some do not, and amongst the latter is the agri- cultural industry. We are, therefore, as we have said, in a condition of general prosperity and particular depression. The report also stated, that "we, therefore, set aside protection 'by the imposition of duties on imported pro- duce as being not within the range of practical politics. (Applause.) Hiis, friends had out- politics. (Applause.) Hiis, friends had out- done Herod'. (Laughter.) If they wanted, for instance, cement in 'Rhyl in large quantities, such as was being used at Cblwyn Bay at 'the present time, and would not allow foreign cement to be used', they would have to pay about 10s per ton more. That would only bene- fit a few of the manufacturers, and he did not believe it would 'benefit the employees c,f the manurfacturers one iota. Mr Cohden did not make the somersaults that Mr Chamberlain was ■making at the present time. (Laughter and applause and a voice: "Oh! he couldn't.") After referring to the Alkali industry, and', as ifc Was affected 'by the present condition of affairs, Mr Jones said he thought there was a great deal tcc much talk about our Colonies and too little of the United Kingdom. (Hear, hear.) Mr Chamberlain hardly knew whale to do, for he was repeatedly changing his opinions. (Laughter.) Mr Jones cited the payments of money for income tax, and figures as to the r'e- duction of paupers as showing irhat the country was holding its own, and going ahead just as well as the United States. (Hear, hear.) Mr Chamberlain's Promises. ,He went to Denbigh, in 1885 to hear Mr Chamberlain speak, and when he pledged his word that he wo,uld_ support the disestablish- ment of the Welsh Church, and when he also said that he had got an account to settle witih the Hc.use of Lords. (.Hear, hear.) Well, how had he settled it? Mr Chamberlain had sold tihem on both questions—(laughter)—and that be,itig so, were they going to trust him again? If the scheme for fiscal reform as propoundedi by Mr Chamberlain were' carried, it would' be ruinous to this country; it would lead to riot, and to commercial disaster. (Applause.) Mr Parker Davies, in reply, argued that he had! put before the meeting khat portion of the Land! Commission Report which had special reference to' his case for Protection, and said thalt his facts and figures regarding the trade of the country and that of other protec-ed countries were unanswerable. It was -an indis- putable fact tlhat other countries were getting wealthier with ithe trade increasing, and yet England, it s'eemed to him, was remaining dry in the midst of the fertilising dew. (Laughter.) The Result. Upon a vote being taken, only four voted' for the motion, whidh was lest by a large majority, amid amusing cries of "Shame." +

—— lit is expected that the wound caused by the recent operation on the Kaiser's threat will be completely healed, in a few days. France, said M. Deschannel in the French Chamiber, ought to assist to bring about a rap- prochement between Great Britain and Russia, in their interests and her own.

Rhyl's Popular Concerts. Music and Natural History. THE praiseworthy public-spiritedness of a com- paratively few gientlemen of Rhyl ito provide, and assist in, entertainments for the delectation, of t'he 'working classes on S'aturdiay evenings is being accorded that measure of success which it thoroughly deserves. When the "Pleasant Saturday Evenings" were held in the' Boys' Brigade Hall, it was apparent the attendances were growing as to necessitate, an occasional retention of 1Jllie more, pretentious and capacious Assembly Room, of the Town Hall. Music and Natural History are subjects of interest, plea- sure, and pastime to many and as the recently- convened meeting of the Naturalists' Club was adjourned, for a larger audience, where the dis- semination of the objects of such a club might take place, advantage was taken of Saturday eveniing's entertainment, which was (held in the Town Hall. An excellent programme of music and recita- tions 'having' been made known, the hall was crowded; and Mr W. J. P. Storey, J.P., pre- sided. He was supported by Mr Lewis Jones (soJiciitbr), Dr. Wycliffe Goodwin (president of the Naturalists' Field Club), and otchers. The proceediings opened with a pianoforte solo, 'given by Miss Mabel Hughes, and the following item was a song, "A May Morning," nicely given by Miss Lucas; a .recitation by Miss Lois Jones, the contribution being "Marwnad Efa." Miss May Hughes gave an Ite accurate rendering of "The iBroken Melody," on 'the violin, and to those who have been privileged to hear the pathetic strains on the 'cello, and played! :by Van Riene, were in a posi- tion to appreciate' .Miss Hughes' reading and execution, of the score. Mr Vernon Jones sang "The Mighty Deep," after which The- Chairman's Address. The Chairman congratulated! Mr Lewis Jones upon Che fact that the pleasant Saturday even- ings were "still going strong' The difficulty which overtook a chairman of those gatherings was in regard to what should be said by him. He understood from' Mr Jones there had been about fifty of .sudh gatherings; therefore, he (th-ef chairman) had had, fifty prediecessors. But, ,that even ng- Dr. Goodwin was to deliver an 'address on "Nature Study," and that being so he, (Mr Storey) had decided to reverse the tiitl.e to "Study Nature." He asked those pre- sent whether they 'had ever noticed how much we depended upon nature in ordinary day-life, and actions, and talk. There were heaps of similes. If they w,an,ted to make certain things and thoughts clear they frequently^ employed a simile -in nature. Even the GreaJa Teacher of all used nature's simile, for it was said "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed. I am tfhe vine; ye are the brancues." They fcund these appeals to nature, if he might so. term ,'them, all through the Bible. Job said "Speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee." To deal with later zimes, how often the poets took similes from nature? They found that Shakespeare .exclaimed: "And this in our life "Finds tongues in' trees." "Books in the running brooks." "Sermons in stones;" and "Good in everything." Again, Shakespeare wishing to emphasise the baseness of ingrati- tude, said: "Blow! 'Blow! thou winter wind, thou art not so unkind as man's in'gTatitude." "Freeze Freeze! thou hitter sky tlhou dost not bite: so nigh as benefits forgot." Longfellow, in his famous poem, of the. "Wreck of the Hes- perus," said "'The cruel rocks, they gored', her s:die, like the horns of an angry bull." Then, take our own every-day talk. It would 'be noticed t'hat we used 'similes like, "He ran like a hare," "She trembled' like a leaf," or "Chat- tered like .a magpie;" "Stupid as a mule," and "Like a bear 'with a sor,e head." Even if our singers wished us tc, banish trouble., they bad us sing, "Wait till the clouds roll by." (Laughter.) Concluding, the chairman re- marked there were numerous similes he could cite, but he urged those present to study nature in all its aspects, or, as the Great Teacher put ilt, "Consider the lilies." Dr. Goodwin and Nature Study. Dir. GO'odlwin, in his address on "Nature v Study," said there were many methods -of adver- tising at the present time. For instance, Mr Chamberlain wa's going about the country ad- vertising and making known his scheme of "Protection." He (the speaker) was also in favour cf the protection of everything which was :beautiful in flowers, and thaic was interest- ing in natural history. Last summer, he ex- plained, owing to the strenuous exertions of several townsmen, a Field Club was formed, and the members went out intto the country dis- tricts to study nature and the protection of in- teresting objects. He desired to advertise the club by means of that meeting, and proceeded z, to expiaitiate, upon the excursions indulged in during the summer to Dyserth, Abergele, and other p'laces of absorbing interest. Dr Good- win, in a somewhat lengthy address, dwelt upon the great necessity of everyone studying the in- numerable objects in the category of natural history, ,and pointed out there was no greater opportuniJty of doing that than in joining the club of which he was president, and Ithe admis- sion fee to which was small. The remainder of the programme was as fol- lows -Piancyfor,,e duet, the Misses Winnie and Madge Jones; son{g, "Tatters," Miss M. Jones (encore, "Playfellows"); song, "Somebody loves me," Mrs Lambert; recitation, "Christ- mias Day in a Workhouse," Mrs Samuels (en- core, "Consolation"); song, "Astibore," Miss Lucas; selections on 'the zither harp, Miss BUodwen 'Morris; and a song by Mr Edwin Jones. Miss Ma'bel Hughes officiated1, with her accustomed ability, as accompanist. The en- tertainment was greatly appreciated, and it was hi(ypedi it woulat be a forerunner of several others to 'be held in the Town Hall. On the rrtotion of Mr Lewis Jones, a cordial vdte of thanks was accorded' the chairman, Dr Goodwin, and otherswlhü had contributed to the prooeedingsi.

—— Struck down by paralysis just as he had concluded! 'a speech ait an art exhibition at Aln- wick, Mr George Skelley, ex-chairman of the Urban District Council, died almost immedi- ately. -BEYOND d.üubt.iHORNIDIAN',s PURE TEA. is of wonderful value, refined flavour, delicious to the palate and invigorating to the system. Each packeT bears the signature of he im- r porters. Sold by: Edwards, Chemist, Llan- dudno Junction; 'Hughes, Central Stores, Colwyn Bay; Roberts, Chemist, Llandudno; Hughes, Grocer, Prestatyn; New York Co- operative Society, Penmaenmawr; Roberts, I Grocer, Panmaenimawr; Griffiths, Grocer, Llan- fainfechan; Price and 'Sons, Grocers, Old Colwyn; Evans, Grocers, etc., Tanyfynwent; ] Roberts, Confectioners, Llanrwst; Co-opera- tive Society, Llandudno Colwyn Bay and Dis- trict Co-operative Society. 5975 I

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Mr. Ellis Jones Griffith M.P., on the Political Situation. A PUBLIC meeting in connection with Bootle and District Young Wales Society was held on Saturday evening in the Sun Hall, Bootle, for the purpose of hearing an address by Mr Ellis Jones Griffith, M.P. for Anglesey, on the present political situation. Alderman W. Jones (president of the society) occu- pied the chair. Mr Griffith, M.P., who was enthusiastically re- ceived, said that in the South end of Liverpool there was a society of 150 members, and a ladies' branch, which was not only a centre of Welsh life, but a centre of the very best political activity in that part of the city (applause). In that society they had a precedent which they could follow in Bootle, and he trusted they were present at the beginning of a movement which would be productive of great results in the borough. They had made up their minds upon the disestablishment, land and temperance questions, but to all these matters Par" liament had turned a deaf ear. As to the tem- perance question, he said there was talk now about taking the power away from the magistrates, and in a sense endowing the public-house interest in England and Wales. That was a very dangerous thing for any Government to do. With regard to the education question, he said their great com- plaint was that the management of the schools was entrusted to a majority of representatives of the Church of England, and the first duty of the party would be to eliminate the objectionable proposals in the present Education Act. Alluding to Mr Chamberlain's new scheme of fiscal reform, he said it was not so much the unity of Empire as the difficulties of party that was responsible for this great new question. Mr Chamberlain was like a quack doctor. He said the country was suffering from an industrial disease, and he had got to find the remedy for that disease. The Liberals had now a great opportunity before them, and he hoped the Bootle Young Wales Society would discuss the matter. A vote of thanks to Mr Griffith for his address concluded the meeting.