Welsh Gazette and West Wales Advertiser

MR. D. D. WILLIAMS AND HIS CHEAP, CRITICS. TRUE to his traditions, our contemporary in his last week's issue fell foul of Mr. D. D. WILLIAMS, of the Agricultural Department of the University College, Aberystwyth, because he (Mr. WILLIAMS) had taken an active part in urging the farmers of Tre- garon to join the co-operative movement. 11 It is most important," charitably remarked our contemporary, that the lecturers sent out by the University College of Wales should not make statements that will not bear strict investigation." Quite so. And we submit that newspapers also, especially those which plausibly claim to know more than they can prove, "should not make statements that will not bear strict investi- gations." There is, we believe, one thing more important than not to make state- ments that will not bear strict investiga- tions," and that is to correct statements which are found upon investigation to be wrong and without foundation in fact. Our contemporary may recollect that he once told the public with great glee that the carriage of eggs from Aberystwyth to Bir- mingham was 8s 6d per hundred, when as a matter of fact it was 8s 6d per cwt! Now, we need not sit under any lecturer sent out by the University College of Wales or any other college to learn that there is a vast difference between a hundred eggs and a hundredweight of eggs! Every schoolboy, it is to be hoped, knows that a very wide gulf is fixed between his table of weights and his table of numbers, and if he is such a dunder- head as to confound the two in his ignorance, let us hope that he will, unlike some public mentors, be honourable enough to make amends for his blunder upon being better informed. Mr. D. D. WILLIAMS is called to task for having said that foreign countries are not favoured by railway com- panies. Mr. WILLIAMS said that it was a mistake to think that foreign countries were favoured by the railway companies." Now, our contemporary says that this statement is contrary to fact." But it- is not contrary to fact, and we will show our readers that Mr. D. D. WILLIAMS could pro- duce incontrovertible evidence to prove that it is not contrary to fact. To begin with, the railway companies are bound more or less by the Railway Rates and Charges Confirma- tion Acts of 1891 and 1892. The general effect of these Acts is that the railway com- panies are not allowed to grant preferential rates either to foreign countries or to indi- viduals. Where there is a competitive route or a competitive sea route they are allowed to quote for the cheaper rate. But they are not allowed, under the Act above cited, to give a lower or preferential rate to one or more consigners unless they give the same rate to all; for if they did so they would be not only liable to an action at law for damages, but also liable to a heavy fine to the Railway Clearing House. Again, the evidence given before the Welsh Land Com- mission bears out what Mr. D. D. WILLIAMS said, namely, that it is a question of quantity and not of preferential ratas. Mr. GROVB, one of the Commissioners, pointed out to a witness who gave evidence on the subject of railway rates, that if he (the witness) gave the railway company the same quantity as they xeceived from Ireland, and under pre- cisely the same conditions, they would be obliged by law to carry at the same rate; but by sending a less quantity the conditions were altered and the witness had to admit the truth of the matter when Mr. GROVIS illustrated it by the simple proposition that the railway company could carry a trainload of meat much more reasonably than they could a single carcase. If," Mr. GROVE continued, you were to offer them a train- load of meat, the railway company would be obliged to carry it on the same terms and conditions as they do the foreign produce that comes in." Now, this is exactly what Mr. D. D. WILLIAMS said and he advocated as a remedy the adoption of such measures as Mr. PLUNKETT has so successfully ad- vocated in Ireland, viz., co-operation. Foreigners and Irishmen by means of their co-operative system sned in sufficient quan- tity to get advantage of the clieap rate our a t;1 0 Welsh farmers do their business each 99 on his own hook and they have to sufler. Ir. D. D. WILLTAMS did not conceal the fact that the Welsh farmers have a grievance but he was not such a blockhead as to blame the railway companies for conducting their business on business lines.

THE S.P.C.C. LORD HARLECH on Thursday presided over the annual meeting of the Oswestry, Mont- gomery and Aberystwyth Branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and the report submitted showed not only that there was, unfortunately, much need for such an institution, but that it was also doing excellent work. It is a deplorable fact that since the Society was started no less than 214,000 cases have been dealt with and it is a significant fact that it has had to exert its beneficial influence in behalf of the children of the rich as well as those of the poor. On Friday Mr. H. C. FRYER presided over the annual meeting of the Aberystwyth Sub-Branch, concerning which we shall have a good deal to say by-and-by. Much dissatisfaction is felt in many quarters in the town with the hole-and-corner fashion in which the meeting was convened, and we believe it to be a distinct loss to the Society that some persons are allowed to have any official connection with it. Although the establishment of the Aberystwyth Branch was the direct outcome of the publicity given to certain matters by this journal, Mrs. ELIZABETH JAMES has all along deemed it to be her duty-either to the Society or to Mr. GIBSON-to ignore it entirely. Knowing that Mrs. JAMES and Mr. GIBSON reside in the same house, it is probably but natural that she should send all the printing and adver- tising in connection with this and other societies to his paper but we respectfully submit that she should, out of common courtesy, if not in consideration cf the wel- fare of this and other societies, for which she acts send us the usual press notices.

ROYAL VISIT TO ABERYSTWYTH. RUMOURS have been persistent during the past few days that the installation of the PRINCE or WALES as Chancellor of the Welsh University will take place at Aber- ystwyth early in the coming summer. The report, however, lacks confirmation, and the probability is that the time and place of the ceremony have not yet been fixed. These matters are entirely in the hands of the University Court, and the choice of place for the holding of the ceremony will depend upon the voting, the result of which no one can foretell. Much might be said in favour of a repetition of the ceremony at Aberystwyth, but it is clear that Cardiff and Swansea are making a determined effort to secure the honour this time; and it would be folly to ignore the fact that a division of honours among the three affiliated colleges will not find weight with the Court when making its decision. Prudence would, therefore, seem to dictate that in order to secure a Royal visit Aberystwyth should adopt an alternative course, in case that town should not be selected for the honour in the first instance. The alternative course would be to bring influence to bear on the Royal Party to extend their visit to Aber- ystwyth after the installation ceremony at whatever town it may take place. This, it will be recollected, was done in the case of Cardiff when his Majesty the King was installed at Aberystwyth. Much as we should like to see the ceremony repeated at the home of the premier University College in Wales, it would be well, in case of the voting of the Court being against Aber- ystwyth, to make up for that disappoint- ment by making a strenuous effort in ad- vance to secure an extension of the Royal visit to that town. The Mayor is already taking the matter up, and, with the co-opera- tion of others interested in the welfare of Aberystwyth, we have reasons for believing that the movement which has this object in view will culminate in succes.

NOTES -AND COMMENTS. ♦ Our young readers will find a welcome contribution from Dr. Salter, of the Univer- sity College of Wales, in our Nature Notes for this week. t The Anglesey County Council at their meeting on Thursday unanimously decided that all public notices issued should be printed in Welsh. One speaker declared that Wales was the only part of the empire where the natives were not allowed to use their own language. Surely," he argued, the local Parliament of the Welshiest of Welsh counties should see that its by-laws were published ifi the Welsh Language." Town Councillors; please note. A new patent streefcsweepef which has been sub- mitted to the Bradford Corporation is operated automatically by being drawn for- ward. Besides sweeping the ground, it transfers all sweepings to a van which is attached. This is effected by an apparatus similar in principle to that of the dredger, or the grain elevator. It is claimed that this vehicle can do as much work in a given time as two horses and ten or eleven men by the method now in vogue. Speaking in Manchester Reform Club on Thursday night, Lord Crewe said he observed there were as marked differences among the supporters of the Government as among their opponents in regard to the war. The Government appeared to hold that the only position which a patriotic person could take 1 Seliool, Dolgelley, has ha a windfall, the sum of X3,500 having been bequeathed to the Governors under the will of the late Miss Roberts, of Rhyl. Particu- lars of the bequest will be found in our news columns. Should cattle be wintered out or wintered in ? Those who have had experience (says The Farmer and Stock-breeder') claim that the system of wintering in is unhealthy, and to it is due much of the tuberculosis which is I commonly ascribed to the bovine racr. By wintering out, cattle are hardier, and when grass comes they grow at an astonishing rate. Elsewhere we print a short review of a new novel entitled Henry Vaughan," which has just been published. The book will doubtless attract considerable interest in Cardiganshire and Pembrokeshire. The writer, who is said to be well known to the county families and public men of both j shires, prefers for the present to remain in- cognito. t) towards them was one of adoring silence, while their supporters adopted a lecturing and blustering tone, and made shameless attacks on Sir H. Campell-Bannerman. If a durable peace was to be secured, all notions of humiliating the Boers must be dismissed, and we must surrender the idea that British ascendency, and not equal rights for all in South Africa, was the proper policy. A point of interest to prize-winners at eisteddfodau is about to come before a court of law for decision. As is well-known, one of the conditions under which these competi- tions are conducted provides that if the prize essay is not published within twelve months of the holding of the eisteddfod, the right of publishing reverts to the author. In the case under notice the Committee insist upon their right to publish after the expiration of the twelve months, whilst the author, on the other hand, contends that as the essay was not placed on the market within the twelve months, the right to publish has passed from the Committee to himself. The result will be awaited with much interest. Some time back the Yarmouth Guardians decided to introduce fried fish into the diet of the workhouse inmates. The Govern- ment auditor has now surcharged for the amount expended in the erection of a cook- ing kitchen, and the guardians have been informed by the Local Government Board that, although the payment will be passed on this occasion, in the case of any future innovation of the kind, plans and estimates must be first submitted for departmental approval. When this letter was read to the local authority a member was anxious to know of what use 23 guardians could pos- sibly be if they were not to be allowed to spend X30 without first consulting the Local Government Board. About 20,000 signatures were attached to a petition to the Home Secretary against the new by-law of the Leeds Corporation against street betting. It was announced on Friday, however, by the Town Clerk that he had received a letter from the Home Office stating that the by-law has not been dis- allowed, and that the statutory period of forty days having expired, the new regulation is already in operation. It runs thus Any person who shall frequent and use any street or other public place on behalf either of him- self or of any other person for the purpose of bookmaking or betting, or wagering, or agreeing to bet or wager with any person, or paying or receiving or settling bets, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding X5." The Home Secretary has pointed out that this by-law is on the lines of a similar ref- lation enforced in other towns. The movement in the direction of co- operation in agriculture is spreading. We learn that at a largely attended farmers' meeting held at Hereford last week, it was decided to form a farmers' co-operative society. Sir J. Rankin, M.P., presided, and said that the farmers ought to help them- selves. They had secured a good deal from the Government of late years, but they could not always look to the Government as the source of their supplies. The Bishop of Hereford also spoke in favour of co-operation, saying that it should take the place of a great deal of the competition from which they suffered. Co-operation was a friendly union for the good of all who co-operated, but competition was warfare. He did not see why farmers should not profit by co- operation. His hope was that the movement which they were setting on foot would spread and produce untold benefit to all classes of society. We note with pleasure that the Court of Assistants of the Fruiterers' Company pro- poses to vote a sum of money towards the improvement of the collection, packing, and distribution of fruit in this country. Britain, it is asserted, pays a great deal of money to foreign folk for work in these departments, which might be done by herself if she would, in American parlance, look alive." Con- tinental bottled fruit and vegetables are largely bought by Britons, while the British rural population is brought away from the fruit and vegetable districts to the congested towns. Teach the people the fine art of fruit-preparing for the markets, and that trend will be checked, and Britain made somewhat healthier for this new and trying century. In 1901 the value of imported fruit (not including dried currants and raisins) amounted to over X7,500,000, of which more than a million sterling was the value of the apples brought from abroad. The London Daily Express is respon- sible for the statement that inasmuch as the latest reports from recruiting centres are discouraging, and as it is intended to increase the cavalry by larger squadrons and new regiments, it is considered necessary for the Army to enter into active competition in the labour market. It is proposed to catch the soldier young," or in other words to under- take the training of boys for the Army from the day they leave school, feeding and cloth- ing them and passing them into the ranks, ready trained, ab 18, for home service. Every class of unnecessary and irksome parade is to be swept away, and soldiers are to have the privilege of sleeping out of barracks, coming in to parade and dut,~ \6 workmen in a factory. The roiuntary system i« to be tested thoroughly, aEd if new plans fail, the question of limited compulsory service may be seriously considered. The name Militia is to be abolished in order to popularise that branch of the service, the new name being the Tl'e Imperial Defence Infantry," and as Militia and Volunteers are to be bracketed in work to some extent, the Volunteer battallions will become The imperial Defence (Volunteer) Infantry." I It is stated on creditable authority that the Prince of Wales will visit the Princi- pality during the month of May, but it has not yet been decided where the ceremony of installation will take place. There is no foundation for the report that it has bian fixed to take place at Aberystwyth. In 1896 the King left the place of his installa- tion as Chancellor to be fixed by the Univ- ersity Court, and the precedent will pro- bably be followed in this instance. < A grand Eisteddfod will be held at Newcastle Emlyn in August next when X100will be offered for the Chief Choral Competition. Welshmen, all the world o'er, will learn with pleasure that the Calvinistic Methodists of Montgomery have decided to build a chapel at Dolanog in memory of Ann Griffiths, of Dolwarfechan, the writer of some of the sweetest and best known hymns in the vernacular. The devotees of the ancient game of golf at Cardigan have started a new club, and it is anticipated they will be able before long to arrange fixtures with the clubs in the northern part of the county. The latest news respecting the proposed extension of the Vale of Rheidol Railway to Aberayron is discouraging. It is now stated that the Treasury cannot see its way clear to make any grant, as the gauge of the proposed railway is not in accordance with the requirements of the Light Railways Act. In order to comply with the Act the line would have to be a broad instead of a narrow gauge one. Last week an inquest was held at Wrex- ham touching the death of a boy of fourteen, whose end, at any rate, had been accelerated by smoking. The Coroner declared that smoking by boys, so common now, was scandalous. There seems to be a smoking epidemic all over the country, according to the complaints which we see in the newpap- ers, and the evil is not confined to boys, but extends to girls also. Amongst othet things which enter into modern education are the laws of health. They could not be better applied than by teaching children the evil results of early smoking. The Llangollen justices were engaged for some time on Tuesday in hearing charges of Sunday drinking brought against a number of persons who had come into the town on a Sunday and claimed the right to be served with drink, and were so served, as bona-fide travellers. The distance the defendants had travelled exceeded what is called the three- mile limit in each case, but the justices re- quired them in addition to show that they had travelled to Llangollen for somo other purpose than that merely of getting drink. Those of them who were able to satisfy the Bench on that point were dismissed. Those who failed to do so were fined. Much interest was taken in the cases, on account of the growing practice on the part of out- siders of proceeding to Llangollen on Sun- day and claiming, on the ground of having travelled more than three miles, to be treated as bona-fide travellers. With the object of ascertaining the view of the County Councils of Wales as to the desired extension of the powers of self- government, Mr. Frank Edwards, who has charge of the Parliamentary bill for that purpose, is communicating with the clerk of each County Council in Wales and Mon- mouthshire. Later on it is proposed to submit proposals to the county authorities with a view to securing a consensus of opinion as to the provisions to be embodied in the bill which is set down for second reading on the 16th of April. At a meeting of the Carmarthenshire County Council last week, Sir James Hills- Johnes moved that immediate steps be taken in conjunction with the County Councils of Cardigan and Pembroke, to establish a joint inebriates' home for the three counties. Sir James said that, as chairman of the visiting committee of his Majesty's prison at Car- marthen, he was constantly brought into contact with cases suitable for an inebriatee home. The Rev Fuller Mills, emtnlartbon, secor^ed, and the motion was strongly sup- ported by several members. Mr. W. Wilkins said he was sorry to say so, but there were a sufficient number of suitable cases in Llanelly alone to justify the erec- tion of a large institution of the kind. A committee was appointed to arrange a con- ference, as suggested. The Bishop of Hereford, in the House of Lords on Monday, earnestly appealed to the Prime Minister and the Government to have no regard to Lord Wemyss' resolution in favour of a vigorous prosecution of the war, but to show a readiness to receive any reasonable proposals of peace from the Boers. He was, he said, aware that in op- posing the resolution he would not be on the winning side, but he was profoundly convinced that he was on the right side. He had an insuperable objection to what he had hoped was a discarded policy-the policy of unconditional surrender-if we were ever to have any hope at all of peace in South Africa. In regard to the concentration camps, there was a disastrous slowness.in introducing the necessary reform to stop the dismal tale of death. He desired to pay a high tribute of respect and admiration to Miss Hobhouse for her self-denying devotion to these poor, suffering people. Political and spectacular executions he condemned most strongly, and said that history showed they had always before proved to have been stupendous blunders. He feared that our present policy of no surrender "-if this resolution was to represent the policy of the Government and the country—would result in the making of another Ireland far greater and more dangerous in South Africa, and he desired to see the day when Lord Salis- bury might claim, as one of the chief dis- tinctions in his distinguished life, that he had made there not an Ireland but a Canada. The London Cymru Fydd Society, of which Mr. William Jones, M.P., is presi- dent, has prepared another Land Act for Wales. The Act drafted by Mr. W. Llew- elyn Williams, who represented the farmers of Carmarthenshire before the Welsh Land Commission, mainly follows the lines of the Scotch Crofters Act. It affords the tenant absolute security of tenure, subject only to the observance of ordinary statutory condi- tions, but it withholds all power of assigning the tenancy. Provision, however, is made for resumption by the landlord, subject to the authority of the Land Commissioner for the district. If one year's rent is in arrear the its liable to be removed by the landlord with the consent of the Commis- sioner if it be two years in arrear the ten- ancy shall be forfeit. The present rent can be settled or altered by common consent, or a fair rent" can be fhud for seven years by the Land Commissioner on the applica- tion of either landlord or tenant, but tild latter is entitled to renounce at any time upon one year's notice. The provisions for I compensation ror improvements are fair and moderate. For the purposes of the Act thirteen land commissioners are proposed, each of whom must speak, read, and write both the English and the Welsh languages, and be personally acquainted with agricul- ture. The commissioners' reports must be presented to Parliament. The bill was dis- cussed at a meeting of the Society last week. Considerable difference of opinion was mani- fested with regard to the principle, as well as the details, of the measure. The sug- gested appointment of so many county com- missioners particularly provoked adverse criticism.