The Montgomeryshire Express and Radnor Times

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ONE TAKEN: TWO LEFT. Schoolboy Drowned in the Severn. A Playmate's Attempt to Rescue. Is Mrs Burgess in? No. What do you want ? "Nothing very particular." What do you want ? J ck is drowned Where? In the liver." Why didn't you help him out: I couldn't." This conversation took place last Monday evening between a Montgomeryshire schoolboy, 13 years of age, and an infirm grandfather. And taus it was that the latter learnt of the death of his hlfle grandson, also 13 years of age. The bereaved father lives thousands of miles away-in Boston, U S.A. It was a sad bathing accident in the river Severn, which took place at Llandrinio last Monday evening. The unfortunate lad. Jack Burgess, went out of his depth, and another boy named Robert Moorhouse, had a narrow escape from drowning while making a gallant attempt to rescue his playmate. It is a curious coincidence that the three lads who were bathing together when the accident took place, were EACH 13 YEARS OF AGE. Further details of the tragedy were brought to light on Tuesday, when the District Coroner (Dr R. D. Thomas, Welshpool) conducted the inquest. Giving evidence under much emotion, the grandfather of the drowned boy- John Burgess, a retired publican and butcher, living at Gate House, Llandrinio—said that the deceased boy had lived with him since he was 2å years of age. On the previous day, after the boy had returned from school and had tea, he went to the river to bathe. Witness last saw him alive when he went out after tea at a quarter past seven. About eight o'clock one of his playmates, John Bethel, came to his house, and the conversation which is reproduced above took place. The boy was going away when witness told him to go with a neigh- bour, Frederick Edwards, to look for the body. He could not go himself as he could not walk. The body wag not recovered until about five o'clock on Tuesday morning. Robert Moorhouse, the 13-year-old son of Thomas Moorhouse, Olga Cottage, said he left home about seven o'clock on Monday evening to bathe in the Severn. He had not been to bathe there before this year, but he had in previous years. He met John Bethel on the road and asked him to go with him and he did so. They saw Mr Burgess and Jack in the house, and Jack came out and asked them where they were going. They told him they were going to bathe, and Jack said, "I CANNOT COME." They went to look into a shop window and then went over a stile to the river. Looking around they saw Jack following them, and when they asked him if he was coming with them, he said, Yes." They undressed on the river bank, and walked through the river to the other side. They had been bathing for some time, and he was on the opposite side when Jack shouted to him to come and help him, saying, Come here, I am going." He went across and caught hold of his hand, but he pulled so hard that the current carried them both under water. After that Jack plucked his hand out of his, and when he turned round he saw him being taken down the river with the current. Bethel and he got on the bank, and saw the current carry him down the river on the opposite side, where they saw him catch hold of the grass. They called to him to hold on, but before witness had started to go tc the other side to help him, Jack had disappeared, l'hat was the last they saw of him. They dressed, and Bethel told Mr Burgess. He was the only one who could swim, and he could only swim a little. JACK SAID HE COULD SWIM. The boys did not go to the river to bathe very often. He had never been warned not to go. John Bethel, of Breidden View, who is also 13 years of age, corroborated his playmate's painful details of the tragedy. The Coroner Have you and the other children been warned by the schoolmaster not to go to the river ?-Yes. The Coroner: Why?—Because the boys went. Moorhouse, re-called, said Burgess was trying to swim on his back when he was carried out of his depth. Thomas Evans, labourer, Hain Wood, said William Williams and he got up at 4 o'clock that morning to search for the body, and after an hour and a half they found it in eight or nine feet of water, about 15 yards from the spot where the ether boys last saw the deceased. He had seen schoolboys bithe at the fatal spot twice this summer. As far as he knew they were bathing on private ground. The boys had been warned by the schoolmaster and their parents. He did not know if they t'ad been warned by the owner of the land, Mr Lloyd. The Coroner remarked that this was another of the many lives lost during the bathing season, and he supposed some lives would always be lost during bathing time. Evidently the children had been in the habit of going to this spot to bathe. The ground seemed to be private, and, therefore, they had nothing to say in the matter, but if it had been public ground they might have drawn -the attention of some authority to it. He did not think he could advise them to do anything except bring in a verdict that the boy was found drowned, death being due to misadventure. The jury returned a verdict accordingly. i

44 MOST MEAN THEFT." The Nickel Watch of a Working Man. Welshpool's Mayor on the Tramp Problem. A Constable Complimented. The adventures of a farm servant's nickel watch—valued at 17s 6d-were related at the Welshpool Police Court last Wednesday before I the Mayor (Dr R. D. Thomas) and Mr Maurice Jehu. Frank Chinnock," a provision man," of Taunton," 39 years of age," were the auto- biographical details that had been tupplied about himself by the prisoner-a roadster, who gave the impression of having seen better days. He was a ready speaker, when he wished, sharp to pick up any little point, and accustomed to the pen. Having been remanded since the previous day, he was now charged with stealing the watch, belonging to Thomas Price Bowen-a young labourer working at Mr Jones', the Bank Farm, Pool Quay, a thift, according to legal formula, against the peacti of our Sovereign Lord the King. his Crown, and dignity Tne owner of the watch said that the previous Saturday morning, July 17tb, about half-past eleven o'clock, he left his waistcoat on a cart in thu waiuhouse in the Bank Farm yard. The watch and a steel chain were in one pocket. Witness went to a field, close by, where they were lugging the hay. Going to dinner about one o'clock, he went to FETCH HIS WAISTCOAT, and found it with the chain hanging down, but the watch was missing. He told P.C. Morgans, Guilsfield, about it the same afternoon. Sergt. Lewis, L'anidloes, now produced the watch in Court. Witness picked it up from the table, and identified it as his own. "It's very hard to open," he explained. "I can't open it with my nails." The Clerk What is it worth How long have you had it?—It's about two years. What, did you give for it .J—i don't know, sir. About 17s 6d. The Clerk v ou value it at Ii" 6i. Alfred James Giles, watchmaker and jeweller, Severn-street, Welshpool, said that on Saturday afternoon, between two and four o'clock, prisoner c-iilfd at his shop and auked him to look at a watch. Witness looked at it. (Mr Giles picked the watch up from the Court room table, opened it without difficulty, and after inspecting it with an eye-glass, identified it). He didn't ask me to buy it," added witness, but I understood him to say that he had had the pawnticket of it from someone, and chat altogether it had cost him 13s 6d. He asked me to value it. At any rate I told him what I would sell a similar watch for. The Clerk: For how much ?—12s Gd. What did he want with you?—Well, I suppose he wanted to know the value. That was all really. He went out of the shop and looked in the window to compare, I suppose, the watches there with the one he had. Witness had no doubt that prisoner was the man who came into the shop. Cross-examined by prisoner, witness said that prisoner was wearing a hat in the shop. When be saw him in the police cell on Tuesday he wore a cap and looked much shorter. Prisoner had his back turned to him and the light was not good. Witness said first of all that prisoner was not the man, but afterwards changed his opinion and THOROUGHLY IDENTIFIED HIM. Prisoner declared that he had a cap on his head when he called at the shop, and he could tell what Mr Giles was doing—cleaning the windows.- [Witness No.]—At any rate he was doing some- thing on a chair. Adolphus Clayton, a miner living at Severn Port, Llanidloes, said that on Sunday night about nine o'clock he was on the seat by the Long Bridge, Llanidloes, with his brother. Prisoner, who wore a cap, came and asked him if he would give him the loan of his watch key. The Clerk: Did he say anything more ?—To wind his watch. He said he had lost his own key at Newtown. Prisoner, added witness, wound his watch, very like the watch now in Court, and said he had wound it Newtown the night before, and it was was two hours fast. Serge. Hughes Did he say anything about the watch ?- Yes, he said he would gualantee the watch against any watch. The Clerk Asa timekeeper?—Yes. Prisoner: I wound my watch. (To witness) Can you swear that's the watch I would with your key ?—It's exactly the same mhke. Sergt. Lewis, Llanidloes, said he was in the company of P C. Morgans, Guilsfied, when the latter arrested the prisoner, on suspicion, in a hayfield at Cynwch Farm, near the Elan Yalley, about half-past six o'clock on Monday evening. The next day the watch produced Iwas handed to witness by Dr Davies, of Llanidlo3s. Witness had received the number of the watch from Sergt. Hughes. Sergt. Hughes I got the number from the man who sold it to Bowen. Bowen: From David Lloyd, sir. P.C. John Morgans said prisoner denied to him that he knew anything about a watch. Cautioned before being brought before the magistrates on Tuesday, and charged with stealing the watch, he replied: I will say nothing. I will tell the magistrates." Mr Maurice Jehu Was he WORKING IN THE HAY-FIELD Cynwch farm ?—Yes. P.C Morgan added that he searched prisoner in the field and found on him 8d, but no watch. To the charge, which the Clerk read, prisoner shouted that he was not guilty, but declined to make any further statement. The Court room was cleared for five minutes, during which time prisoner joked and laughed with the police in the passage, and then the Mayor described it a most mean theft to steal a watch in that manner from a working man's pocket. Prisoner would be sent down to Shrews- bury for one month with hard labour. We also wish," said the Mayor, to compli- ment P.C. Morgans on the way that he has traced this man. He has shewn himself very discreet, and it is very complimentary to him." At this point prisoner spoke: Just to say I had got work, when this gentlemen (P.C. Morgans) came. This was the first day that I had work for-" But the Bench did not want to hear any more, and prisoner's final comment was I think you are very hard, gentlemen I do! When prisoner had been escorted away, the Mayor addressed Sergeant Hughe3, and said that these tramps were a regular nuisance on the Pool Quay-road. He had had complaints from people living about there that they were really afraid. These tramps begged and became very insolent if refused. You will also find them lying in one, two and three batches on the road side, and were dangerous for motorists passing. Could not the police take some action P Sergt. Ilao-hes: In regard to begging, we can. The Mayor: It is very, very unsafe on the road!

Gipsy Camp Flooded. IDLOESIAN FAMILY IN PERIL. During a heavy flood in the Rheidol on* Satur- day week, exciting scenes, were witnessed near Aberystwyth. There are gipsy camps on the right bank of the river, near the Cambrian line, a short di3tance out of the town, and here the family of a Llanidloes hawker named Jones, were imperilled. Workmen came to the their aid, and the wife and three children had barely crossed the planks laid by the rescuers, when the flood carried the timbers away. A boat was brought from the town on a railway lurry, and the rest of the family were also got off. The flopd swept away a wooden bridge leading to the Aberystwyth brickworks, and considerable other damage was done in the district.

The Dumfries Bye-Election. The result of the bye-election in Dumfries Boroughs was declared as follows on Tuesday :— Mr Gulland (L) 1,877 Mr Duncan (C) 1,285 Liberal majority 292 1 The Liberals won at the General Election by 633. On this occasion the Liberal vote haa been considerably affected by a large transference of the Catholic vote. I

OLD MILES." The Difference Between Lord and Labourer. What a Welshpool Tradesman Said. The Ladder of Society. CHAPTER XIX. We will sav to our opponents, If you say that the I world is too old to be cured, that the broach between lord and labourer must remain as bad as it is, we will argue with you upon that. If you say that labourer and lord are both really happier as they are than they would be by any possible scheme of equality, we will arsrue with you on that. But if you say that the lord is lord because he is better than the labourer, because he has a master mind or a master morality, or an organizing capacity or a Viking strain, or any of those things-if you say that, we will not argue with you, we will not listen to you, we will not believe you, for you do not believe yourselves. The great false doctrine of the modern Tories, then, is this They believe in the deserving rich and the undeserving poor. Men are rich because they have laboured and sacrificed, and men are poor because they have sinned and laid waste. That is the new Tory doctrine, and it is a self-evident lie.—Mr G. K. CHESTERTON in The Daily NewB,' July 3rd and 17th, 1909. Walking out about nine o'clock last Monday morning from Welshpool, over the Red Bank, towards the cottage where Willillm Miles, the aged rural labourer and gardener dwells on Groespluan Jommon," you would meet many a herd of cattle and flock of sheep. Cottagers and their pigs, farmers and their men, were travelling towards the town to the Smithfielrl. It was tho second fair in July-generally known in the locality, though not so marked on the almanack, as Lord Powis's fair," because the Rent Day or Shearing Day" would be on the morrow. It was as yet early for anyone to be playing on the golf links which adjoin the road. But, basking in the warm morning sunshine, Powysland looked at its very best. And yet (writes an 'Express') man) I could hardly take my eyes away from the printed words of a 20th century British prophet, who sends forth his message to the country every Saturday on page 6 of' The Daily News.' "Old Miles" would like to have a chat with Mr Chesterton. Both of them know the Bible, and naitber mince words, I thought, as I read the following lines: But, if a man says that in his experience the thrifty thrive and only the unthrifty perish, then (as St. John the Evangelist says) he is a liar. This is the ultimate lie, and all who utter it are liars." By reason of his strength the veteran Powys- land peasant has passed his four score years, yet is his strength labour and sorrow-he is racked by sciatica, and he is lcnely in his poor (although picturesque) cottage. But through his mind in the Paradise of Wales there had been passing some such thoughts as were penned by the Great Man of Fleet-street. Old Miles," too, in the course of our chat, was ready for an argument upon the relative merits of lord and labourer. There's a young fellow up here from below Manchester," said be," over 100 miles from here —I asked him how trade is—he come to see me Saturday night. He said, 'TRADE SEEMS TO THRIVE A BIT.' But this is down there. Trade canna thrive; trade is never going to thrive so long as the working man is out of employment; it's the workingman as gets trade up. If the stuff's not consumed, how is it going to thrive ? Poor old X, tradesman in the town here, said he would rather see workingmen come into his snop any day than the rich men. My wife, her always dealt with him-he had always the best things in the town—and he gi'ed her a nice great big table- cloth. Mrs Miles,' he said, Here I'm going to nuke you a present of a good table-cloth. You've never given me no bother when you come to the shop like some—I've to turn half the shop out for 'em, and perhaps they take nothing of account at last. I'd rather see the working-class come into my shop. The big uns come here; they want three or six months' credit, and perhaps not pay- ing it at all.' He cat them up sharp. But there it is to-day. I should like to have an argument with some i of these big uns, I would. There's not an inch difference in us. All the difference is what they have made by robbery, and accumulating, the dressing in fine clothes. They came into the world naked, nothing but flesh and blood, same as you and I. The lord's not so good as the labourer! He's not so good He's not so good! He's not so good, sir! Fine feathers make fine clothing. It's the feathers they have got. Well, take them feathers off them, and put the workman by the side of one of them, and put them to get their own bread, which is the best man ? And the Lord told Adam, By the sweat of thy brow, go out, and work now.' Go and put a lord against one of the poorest men he's got in his gardens, to eat the tame food, and to sweat at the same work. If you had to employ one of them—they're dressed alike-you want a man-which of them are you going to employ to do the work ? You say, 'THIS ONE IS GOOD FOR NOTHING.' Oh! That's the one that had his fine feathers plucked. There's no difficulty in putting them men down, if you use Scripture. Fine feathers make fine birds. There was a peacock at .Trelydan, when I was waggoner at Burnt House-that's many years ago. They had one at the top of the barn, and many used to have them. The peacocks were no use, only bawling about the place-but as sure as ever you heard a peacock bawling it was sure to be rain. The big uns aren't that use to us. They canna tell you when it's coming rain or whether it is coming sunshine. The old peacock there used to bawl above a Mt afore rain. The peacock had fine feathers and fine tail, like the big uns. They have fine tails dragging down. Old Needle, when preaching in the Wesleyan Chapel in town here many years ago, said they had enough stuff to clothe the poor children in the town. He said- plainer than what I am saying, with more of it- If you'd cut that stuff off the end of your skirts, that's dragging in the dirt, you'd have enough stuff to clothe these poor children in the town Them is the soit of fellows we want, thousands of 'em; they'd sweep the country, take it by violence, and the violent would take it by force. The poor man is poor to a certain extent because he canna help himself. Even when he is born he is put in a bad position and poverty, till he canna get enough off those that are in power. When he commences his career in life, he canna get enough of wage to support him with sufficient clothing and shoes. Well, of course, he is poor all the timo, and, instead of having what is necessary for the daily wear, he very likely canna have a penny to put by anywhere, when the other has been accumulating out of the poor fellow, out of his labour; instead of giving him Is for what he was doing, he would perhaps give him 6d. Thesé is the chaps that has been accumulating out of the poor, and then begin to ridicule the poor at last. PEOPLE IS TOO 'MILLENIUM.' People say, Miles, you're too rough.' I'm not too rough,' I say. I say what I mean, else I wouldn't speak.' No. There's too much of this soft soap used. If the Saviour had used soft soap amongst the Scribes and Pharisees, He would would have been accepted. But He was reiected. He told 'em soon what they were—hypocrites! You have taken the key of the Kingdom, and you won't enter in yourselves, nor you won't let them, that would, enter. You have got the authority and power, and you would just control men on this earth as you please, and they must submit to you.' The Saviour soon told 'em. Oh they said, He's mad. He hath a devil. Why do you hear him ?' And Paul said to Festus,' I'm not mad, most noble Festus. But I I speak the words of soberness and truth.' If the poor was as the rich, this world wouldn't stand to-day. You want an explanation of that? You shall have it. If these poor could have seen the same light as what these rich has, and they had been for accumulating as fast as what they could, there would have been war, they would have been destroying one another quickly. If the poor har* the same eye and energy as the rich, they would be one robbing another, and we should come to something directly. As old Needle said, when he was preaching, The master says, Lock from their servants," and the servant says, Well, we'll work him when we get a chance." All the poor would be working, and, if their poor heads was put together, they would soon draw the rich down. The big uns would call the army out. Bnt what would they do, if all the poor was united together? But there's many in the army as would turn with them. There's many in the army, I daresay, doesn't like it. A lot would fly out, arm and all, and the big uns would have to come down, or their heads would be all off, and they would seize their land and their inheritage and properties. You know what my Book says, t Woe to the man that is adding house to house and land to land.' The Owner of the universe, THE OWNER OF THIS EARTH, has said that, not man. I should have been a sore fellow, if I'd been capable and qualified for something. But my head would have been off long ago. I should have done with this world (my wife used to tell me that), and yet-I mightn't. That's where it is. The working class, I've always said, has been the biggest tools in the world. Give 'em half-a-pint or pint of beer at elections, and get 'em to meetings. 'Oh I That's the fellow! The Captain for ever! And Rees for ever I' The big uns have been climbing up step-by- step the ladder for many years. But HOW there's some of the t'others as has got awore' of it as has started at the foot to climb after them. They will go up step-by-step after them till they touch the beggar over at the top and break his neck the other side. That's what it will come to just now, only the ladder will be very long. It has taken either the big un or his fo-efather before him a long time to get up It might be a short ladder when he started. And then he got another ladder and another step in it, and another and another, till he got a long way up it. It's the men as they have got under foot as is their ladder. And then they are stepping all the while on everyone they can—everyone is a step in the ladder. They take 20 acres here or 10) acres of land there—there's another step in the ladder. He goes on looking out again. Here's another, an acre perhaps. I wish I'd been educated—I'd ha' gi'ed them ladder But, however, perhaps it's all the better for me as it is. No doubt it is, i ONLY IT ANNOYS ME. I know what I should like to do if I had the power to do it. To think of three frogs coming out o' the dragon's mouth, and three out of the beast they had been worshipping, and three out of the false prophet. Nine evil spirits to go out into the world to tempt people. I read that yesterday. My big Bible is all to pieces-I canna do what I would with it-it's all droDned off to niAAflS Scripture's not looked up for this world's study, For this world's reform. We ought to ask ourselves—and a good many ministers as professes to believe the truth—' How has the truth been so backward for so many years ? Because, I suppose, it didn't get a majority, and the majority as bad authority didn't feel they were molested much, and it didn't matter about their brother; they left it go on till the shoe is now pinching heavier. Not all the ministers is travailing for the reform of this world. Easy life. The door opens and shuts pretty well. And the floors has carpets. They don't like to argue with the big uns. If they're getting a crust peaceably, it dinna matter about the poor fellow as anna got a crust in the house. I see it all, and I know it all—never going to be no better till there is no respecter of persons. The lamb is to feed with the lion. We have the lions to-day, and the poor sheep touching their heads to them. and obeying them. The question is this, What has brought us poor?' Wastrels and paupers do they call us ? And what has made the big uns better than the poor ? I would argue with those fellows. I would make them confess their argument to me out, and what they mean, and explain it to me satisfactory. I knew my Book better perhaps than they do. If my blood was drawn, a drop in a cup, and a lord's blood in another cup, and take them to a man, and ask him can he tell any difference in these two bloods, could he see? No! But he might say, 'Yes, there is A DIFFERENCE IN THESE TWO BLOODS. This is a deal healthier blood than the other.' There would be a hidden thing come out again, you know. Them as had been eating all that good meat and drinking those wines, their blood would not be half so go,)d as mine. If you take a pin and scratch one of these fellows, most gener- ally the blood is festerel; it won't grow up with- out anything on it. Ob, no! Ob, no! What's the state of the country to-day ? That's a question that \fants to be asked. What does this generation kitfw about my generation ? And yet, if you talk to them they know more than I've ever seen or heard, because they've had I education.' You take education from many of them to-day, sir, and what they see of other people's workings, and they're as dull as posts. They haven't got a bit cf brain about them. Us fellows have been taught by brains and not by books, and then put to do it, and then increase in knowledge. In former years seed catalogues used to come here from Lokdon-plant so-and-so at such and such a time. But you mustn't think this place is like London, One is earlier than the other. A man's no use in the country unless he understands the nature of the land; he must have had it in his brain,not by books; he must understand the culture, Then a man grows as long as he takes an interest in his work. As my Book says,' Grow in grate and knowledge of Jesus Christ.' There's growinj in that, and growing in vegetables and in working. Where did the man get the first engine or joiler to be made ? He didn't get it from a bOk. It was in his brain first. He saw the kettle. He worked and worked, and improved and improved. The engines was great clumsy things at tie first-improved after. The poor are poor not )nly in food and clothing. They're poor in mind. Ve have a lot of these people; they have had nobrain-trainiug. Oh, no, sir! I've seen a good many ups and downs, country and town, and A MAN WOULD Bt VERY DULL, IF he couldn't learn something. I've always been a fellow, it dinna matter were I'd go, I'd say noth- ing I would see a man at work and notice how he would do it. I wanted tobe a man, when I was only a boy. I see'd the pen reaping; I wanted to reap. They were mowVig; I wanted to mow. A good old workman learrfc me to mow. I caught hold of my scythe, and hin at my back. Loose thee hands dead. I'll teaah thee to mow.' I've been at everything—reaping, mowing, ploughing, sowing, thatching, drailing, gardening and always had an eye to watQx what another man did, and if I see'd he was doinj his work better than me, I'd aim at doing it the same. But a lot of people know more than ycu do, and-know noth- ing at all. They're too p-oud; they wunna be learnt. Oh If you beginto talk to them, especi- ally if it crosses their (pinion, they kick you. They know more than me Alright. Like poor old Weir said—he was t Llanerchydol many years, gardener old Sq\ire Pugh brought him from London, and he was &; good a fellow as went to the grave; I've been waking with him a good deal. There was never a ban went to the grave j mora like myself. He go, into a pitch with the old Squire, and very likay cursed him—but I never used that language_and he gi'ed Squire Pugh notice to leave. Old Weir was talking to a man, and all this man c%ld say was, I know more than you do, Weir,' le says. Very likely you do,' he &aid. I can Ze\n from the cradle to the grave.' That's the waythat came out, and the other old chap was as dul he didn't know a B from a bull's foot." (To be coitinued).

CAERSWS. Powis CHAIR EISTEDDF(D OF 1910.-A further general meeting was held n the Village Hall on Friday evening week, whan there wa3 again an excellent attendance. Mf Edward Jones. J. P., was unanimously and heaftly elected permanent chairman. Mr Jones, 11: a very neat speech, remarked that he would give the Eisteddfod his best possible support, which assurance was received with ringing cheers. Mr Richard Jones, J.P., Pendinas, was also unanimously elected to the vice-chair—a most hippy choice, which was well received by all present. The Rev D. Basil Jones, Penstrowed Rect>ry, and Mr J. Meirion Evan?, Hy fry die, joint honorary secretaries, with Mr Matthew. D Wilson, kvvynfynydd, treasurer- the right men in the rlfbt places. The selected sub-committees were submitted to the general meeting, and after some iterations and additions were approved as being avery fair representation of the district. The following parishes are repre- sented on the different (ommittees: Aberhafesp, Carno, Llanwnog (includiig Caersws), Llandinam. Penstrowed, Tregynon, aid Trefeglwys. It is to be hoped that by electing representative ladies and gentlemen to work ol there committees that great interest will be tak)n in the success of the Eisteddfod. We are losing forward (says our correspondent) with eajerness to the list of subjects, and predict it t, be the most educative programme of recent tisteddfodau, with the result that next year's powis Chair Eisteddfod will commence a new era in its history as a power for good. t

GLEANINGS FROM A GREAT SPEECH. Knotty Points Unravelled. Mr Winston Churchill addressed a large and enthusiastic meeting in the Edinburgh Theatre on Saturday weak, the chiaf subjdct of his speech being the new land tax proposals. The following are the most notable of his statements: AMUSING. Nothing is more amusing than to watch the efforts of our monopolist opponents to prove that other forms of property and increment are exactly the same and are similar in all respects to the unearned increment in land. They talk to us of the increased profits of a doctor or a lawyer from the growth of population in the towns in which they live (Laughter). They tell us that the pro- fits which are derived from the rising stocks and shares, and which are sometimes derived from the sale of picture.; and works of art—(laughter)— "Ought not all those other forms to be taxed too?" But see how misleading and false all those analogies are. ^The windfalls which people with artistic gifts are able from time to time to derive from the sale of a picture, from a Van Dyck or a Holbein, may here and there, be very considerable; but pictures do not get in anybody's way (laughter and cheers). They do not lay a till on anybody's labour, they do not touch enter- prise and production at any point, they do not affect any of those creative processes upon which the material well-being of millions depends (cheers). SOME IMPORTANT "IF'S." If a rise in stocks and shares confers profits on the fortunate holders far beyond what they expected or indeed deserved—(laughter)—never- theless that profit has not been reaped by with- holding from the community the land which it needs; but on the other hand, apart from mere gambling, it has been reaped by supplying indus- try with the capital without which it could not be carried on. If the railway makes greater profits it is usually because it carries more goods and more passengers as well. If a doctor or a lawyer eniovs a better orap,tice it is hsnansB fl,- attends more patients, and more exacting patients, and because the lawyer pleads more suits in the courts, and more important suits. At every stage the doctor or the lawyer is giving service in I return for his fees, and if the service is too poor or the fees are too high other doctors and other lawyers can come freely into competition (cheers). There is constant service. There is constant com- petition. There is no monopoly. There is no injury to the public interest. There is no impedi- ment to the general progress in these. WHILE THE LANDLORD SITS STILL. Fancy comparing these healthy processes with the enrichment which comes to the landlord who happens to own a plot on the outskirts of, or at the centre of one of our great cities, who watches the busy population around him making the city larger, richer, more convenient, more famous every day,—and all the while the landlord sits still and does nothing. Roads are made, streets are made, railway services are improved, electric light turns night into day, electric trams fly swiftly to and fro, water is brought from reser- voirs a hundred miles off in the mountains-and all the while the landlord sits still (a laugh). Everyone of these improvements is effected by the labour and at the cost of the municipality and of the ratepayers. To not one of those improve- ments does the land monopolist contribute (hear, hear). And yet by every one of them the value of his land is sensibly enhanced. He renders no service to the community, he contributes nothing to the general welfare, he contributes nothing even to the process from which his own enrich- ment is derived. AND THIS IS JUSTICE. If the land were occupied by shops or by dwel- lings the municipality at least would secure the rates upon them in aid of the general fund but the land may be unoccupied, undeveloped-it may be what is called ripening—(laughter)—ripening at the expense of the whole city, of the whole country, for the unearned increment of its owner. Roads perhaps have to be diverted to avoid this forbidden area. The merchant going to his office, the artisan going to his work has to make a detour or pay a tram fare to avoid it (laughter). The citizens of the town are losing their chance of developing the land, the city is losing its rates, the State is losing its taxes, the taxes which would have accrued if the natural develop- ment had taken place, and its share has to be replaced at the expense of the other ratepayers and taxpayers. The nation as a whole is losing in the competition of the world, the hard and growing competition of the world. all the time both in time and money; and all the while the land monopolist has only to sit still and watch complacently his property multiplying in value, sometimes manifold, without any other contribu- tion on his part. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is justice (laughter and cheers). 11 HOW ENTERPRISE IS HAMPERED. The manufacturer purposing to start a new industry, to erect a great factory offering employ- ment to thousands of hands, is made to pay such a price for his land that the purchase price hangs round the neck of his whole business, hampering his competitive power in every market, clogging him far more than any foreign tariff in his com- petition—(cheers)—and the land values strike down through the profits of the manufacturer on the wages of the workmen. The railway com- pany which wishes to build a new line finds that the price of land, which yesterday was only rated at agricultural value, has risen to a prohibitive figure the moment it was known that the new line was projected; and either the railway is not built or, if it is built, it is built only on terms which transfer to the landowner the profits which are due to the shareholders and the advantages which should Aave accrued to the travelling public (cheers). THE ROBBERY. We do not go back on the past. We accept as our basis the value of the land as it stands to-dav. The tax on the increment of land begius by recog- nising and franking the past increment. We look only to the future, and for the future we say only this-that the community shall be the partner in any further increment above the present value after all the owner's improvements have been deducted. We say that the State and munici- pality should jointly levy a toll upon the future unearned increment of the land. The toll of what? Of the whole? No. Of a half? No. Of a quarter ? No. Of a fifth; that is the pro- posal of the Budget -(cheers)—and that is robbery—(laughter)—that is plunder, that is communism and spoliation, that is the social revolution at last—(laughter)—that is the over- turn of civilised society, that is the end of the world foretold in the Apocalpse (loud laughter). Such is the increment tax about which so much chatter and outcry is raised at the present time. and upon which I will say that no more fair, con- siderate, or salutary proposal for taxation has ever been made in the House of Commons (cheers). REMINISCENCES. And if there is nothing new in the principle of valuation still less is there anything new or unexpected in the general principles underlying the land proposals of the Budget. Why Lord Rosebery declared himself in favour of taxation of land values fifteen years ago. Lord Balfour of Burleigh has said a very great many shrewd and sensible things on this subject, which he is no doubt very anxious to have overlooked at the present time (laughter). The House of Commons has repeatedly affirmed the principle, not only under Liberal Governments, but, which is much more remarkable, under Conservative Govern- ments. Four times during the last Parliament Mr Trevelyan's Bill for the Taxation of Land Values was brought before the House of Commons and fully discussed, and twice it passed during the last Parliament, with its great majority of Conservative members, the second time by a majority of not less than 90 votes. The House of Lords in adopting Lord Camperdown's amendment to the Scottish Valuation Bill have absolutely conceded the principle of rating undeveloped land upon its selling value, although they took very good care not to apply the principle (laughter). WHAr THE TAXPAYER OWES TO LIBERALISM. Under the later Conservative Goverment about 1,100,000 income taxpayers paid income tax at the statutory rate of a shilling in the pound. Mr Asquith, the present Prime Minister—(cheers)— when Chancellor of the Exchequer, reduced the income tax in respect of earned incomes under -22,000 a year from a shilling to ninepence, and it is calculated that 750,000 income tax payers-that is to say, very nearly three-quarters of the whole. number of income tax payers-who formerly paid at the shilling rate, have obtained an actual relief from taxation to the extent of nearly twelve hundred thousand pounds a year in the aggregate. The present Chancellor of the Exchequer in the present Budget has added to this abatement a further relief, a very sensible relief, I venture to think you will consider it, on account of each child—(laughter and cheers)—to parents who possess under .-£500 a year, and that concession involves a further abatament and relief equal to £ 600,000 a year. It is founded on the highest principle and authority, for it figures in one of the Budget proposals of Mr Pitt, and it is to-day lecognised by the law of Prussia. Taking to- gether the income tax reform of Mr Asquith and Mr Lloyd George—taking the two together, because they are all part of same policy and they are all part of our treatment as a Government of this great subject—it is true to say that very nearly three out of every four persons who pay income tax will be taxed after this Budget—this penal Budget, this wicked, monstrous, despolia- tory Budget—(laughter)—three out of every four persons wil) be taxed for income tax at a lower rate than they were by the late Conservative Government (cheers). THE CALL TO ARMS. When the Finance Bill leaves the House of Commons, I think you will agree with me that it ought to leave thb House of Commons in its final form (loud and prolonged cheers). No amend- ments, excision, modifying, or mutilating will be agreed to by us (cheers). We will stand no mincing—(renewed clicors)-and unless Lord Lansdowne and his landlordy friends choose to eat their own mince up again—(laughter)—Parlia- ment will be dissolved— (great cheering)—and we shall come to you in a moment of high conse- quence for every cause for which Liberalism has ever fought. See that you do not fail us at that hour.

Cambrian Company as a Camel- THE WELSH PARTY A HUNTING PACK COUNTY MEMBER'S SPEECHES. Mr David Davies, M.P., as chairman of the Cambrian Railways Company, made two speeches last Monday at Pwllheli, where Mr Herbert Lewis, M.P., Parliamentary Secretary to the L G.B., fer- mally opened the new harbour and railway exten- sion woris. By this development scheme the railway station, hitherto three-quarters of a mile outside, has been removed to the centre of the town. The Treasury has made grants of nearly X30,000, and the Cambrian Railways Company have contributed X20,000, and in addition spent thousands of pounds upon the extension and upon a picturesque new station. Mr David Davies, on behalf of the directors of the Cambrian Railways Company, congratulated the gathering on the success of the undertaking. He remembered that, when the scheme was first inaugurated, the late Mr Humphreys-Owen was chairman of the Company, and he thought it was to him more than to anyone else that this exten- sion of the Cambrian Railways was due (hear, hear). At that time the finances of the Company were somewhat more flourishing than they were at the present day (laughter). That extension, he was sorry to say, had very NEARLY PROVED THE: LAST STRAW, which the poor camel could bear (laughter). But he was glad to think that all the difficulties which they had bad to face during the last two or three years had now been overcome, and that at last that very important extension had been completed (applause). He hoped it was going to bring more traffic and trade to the town, and that the towns- people would send more traffic by the Cambrian Railway (applause). At the public luncheon, Mr David Davies re- sponded to the toast of Prosperity to the new undertaking," which Mr Herbert Lewis proposed. Mr Davies congratulated Mr Lewis upon his pro- motion to be Parliamentary Secretary to the L.G.B., and said that Mr Lewis's services had been invaluable in the office whieh he had just vacated. The endeavour to keep the Wolsh Party from running off on all sorts of wrong tacks, and to keep the members of that Party in a state of cohesion, to prevent each from hunting on his own a different kind of animal from that which he was EXPECTED TO RUN DOWN, proved a very arduous and difficult undertaking, but Mr Lewis might be congratulated upon suc- ceeding admirably with his particular pack (laughter). Mr Davies went on to say that a far as the Cambrian Railways Company's resources would permit them, they would provide facilities for travellers on their system. He would like to see some endeavour to organise the fishing industry at Pwllheli. The Railway Company had a certain amount of traffic to handle, and, if they were cer- tain a large supply of fish would be forthcoming at different intervals, it would be in a batter posi- tion to deal with it than if they had only to deal with spasmodic supplies. In regard to agricul- tural and general produce, he said that by getting larger quantities to handle cheaper rates cjuld ba offered. He also urged that there should be co- operation between the various towns on the coast in the matter of advertising.

Tegid" on The Trade." 1-- HOW THE DRINK TRAFIC AFFECTS THE WORKINGMAN. There is a time for all things. At the recent Powys Provincial Eisteddfod in Llanfyllin, Llew Tegid, the conductor, overflowed with eisteddfodic wit. Last Monday night, at a temperance demon- stration in connection with the Welsh Congrega- tional Union's Assembly at Pontarddulais, Llew Tegid—or rather Mr L. D. Jones, of Bangor,— delivered a striking address, teaming with statis- tical information on the diink traffic in its relation to citizenship. The manufacture and distribution of alcoholic drinks, he said, involved a vast amount of unpro- ductive labour. Even if these drinks were a harmless luxury, the labour expended upon the production would be a loss to the community. The threat of the brewers that the labour market would be flooded, prison and workhouses filled with criminals and unemployed, and the country be threatened with a dangerous revolution if a stop were put to the Trade, was, he said, based upon an absolute fallacy. The RATE OF MORTALITY AMONGST INNKEEPERS and tavern and brewery servants was four times as high as among colliers and railway servants. From the workman's point of view it was the worst employment in the Kingdom. The collier received in wazes 55 per cent of the value of the commodity produced; the agricultural labourer got 28 per cent, the cotton spinner 27 o- per cent; the ironworker 23 per cent., the linen and woollen worker 22 per cent.; but the drink worker received only n per cent. of the market value of the com- modity he produced. If a stop were put to the Trade a million labourers would lose their employ- ment, and lose also the 50 or 60 million pounds they now received in wages. But such a stoppage would release the £ 160,000,000 spent directly on drink every year. This money would still be spent and would find BETTER EMPLOYMENT FOR THE DRINK- SERVANTS, in providing better houses, better furniture, better clothes, better food, and more home comforts for the half-starved wretches who now spend their money on drink. It would also release at least another .2160,000,000 now spent on workhouses, prisons, asylums, police, and judges on account of drink. The individual and the country would greatly benefit by the temporary loss of employ- ment of the million drink workers. Then there was the further consideration that the commodity produced by these million drink- workers was a positive evil and a serious injury to the community. A drunken man was not allowed to be in charge of a horse, but a drunken mother was permitted to ruin body and soul half a dozen unprotected children. And these evils would continue until the awakened and the essential bearing of the drink traffic upon the true interests of citizenship were properly understood.

The Poetry of Politics. The following lines appeared on a leaflet which was recently distributed in a Montgomeryshire village from the Conservative Van Dear brandy, whiskey and gin, Turn them out, and put us in.,

WELSH NATIONAL LIBRARY. An Appeal for Funds and Books. Interesting Information. Sir John Williams, president of the National Library of Wales, has issued the following appeal,, and any communications that Express readers may desire to make thereon may be addressed to him at the National Library, Aberystwyth: 'Speaking from the presidential chair of the National Eisteddfod at the Albert Hall, London, on June 16th, the Prime Minister, referring to the National Library of Wales, said: "That the National Library of Wales, will, I trust, become' the centre, the home, the gathering, and the training ground of Celtic scholarship in this- country in the years that are bsfo-e us. It already possesses, either actually, or in promise, some of the most valuable manuscripts and books which it is possible to accumulate tor those who desire to explore the antiquities of Celtic literature and Celtic history." The Prime Minister went on to point out that it was A PATRIOTIC DUTY to assist the National Library and the National Museum by adding to the treasures, of which these great national institutions are to be the storehouse." The National Library of Wales was founded by Royal Charter granted by H.M. the King in 1907.. and entered upon the first stage of its existence on January 1st of the present year in a temporary building at Aberystwyth, a building admirably adapted for the storing and cataloguing of the collections pending the removal of the permanent building, which will be erected on a magnificent site of four acres, close to the town of Aberyst- wyth, generously given for the purpose by Lord Rendel. A large number of valuable gifts of books,. manuscripts, prints, and drawings has already been made to form the nucleus of the library, which, at this moment, contains the finest col- lection of Welsh MSS. in existence, including the famous Ilengrwrt and Peniarth MSS.: the, collection of MSS. and early Welsh books made Moses Williams, afterwards the property of the Earls of Macclesfield; and a number of MSS. derived from olhor collections. The Hengwrt Library includes not only the oldest texts of romance literature, but also one of the most valuablee MSS. of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and other MSS. of great importance. The num- ber of printed books already in the library is NEARLY 50,000. We need, however, very many books in Celtic literature, and, even more, works of general refer- ence, standard books in English and other languages, sets cf transactions of literary, his- torical. and scientific societies, sets of the great periodicals, dictionaries, encyclopaedias, and many other books of various kinds which we have no funds to acquire. The charter provides for the circulation of duplicate books for educational and research pur- poses, and this will be an important feature of the work of the library. The case of Wales is exceptional. Its University consists of three national colleges, situated at Aberystwyth, Bangor, and Cardiff, while there are other im- portant centres of educational activity, all urgently in need of the aid which it is hoped the National Library will be able to give to the higher branches of study. I wish particularly to state that while the Celtic side of the library must be its strongest feature, yet the object for which it was founded is much wider. It is to be a NATIONAL LIBRARY IN THE BEST SENSE, designed to afford in Wales that encouragement for study and research hitherto wanting, and the lack of which has placed Wales at a disadvantage as compared with the other divisions of the United Kingdom, and with other countries. England, Scotland, and Ireland enjoy great privileges under the Copyright Act, which Wales has not received, and can hardly now expect to receive. Three libraries in England, and one each in Scotland and Ireland are entitled to one free copy of every book published in the British Islands, while five or, six other libraries which, formerly had the same privilege now receive an annual grant from the public funds in lieu of it. It is contemplated to proceed as soon as circum- stances will permit with the erection of perman- ent buibdings, and plans have be-n provisionally adopted. A sum of X21,000 has been subscribed towards the building fund. To erect a suitable and worthy building will cost a far larger sum. The contributors to the fund include residents in all parts of Wales and Monmouthshire, and many residing in London and elsewhere, including Welshmen abroad. The fund is a truly nat onal one, and is made up of sums ranging FROM £ 5,000 TO THREEPENCE. The quarrymen of Festiniog and neighbourhood, for instance, made up a list of 744 names for a contribution of X70 ISs, while the teachers of Cardiganshire agreed to make up J2100. In Car- marthen, Swansea, Cardigan, Aberayron, and, other centres, large and small committees were formed to collect subscriptions. The contributors to the fund fully represent the Welsh people, and their enthusiasm for the National Library is clearly shown. The library has also received gifts from kindred institutions. The British Museum, the Library of Congress at Washington, the Smithsonian lia- stitution, the Corporation of London, the John Rylands Library, Manchester, the National Library of Ireland, and the principal public libraries have each sent sets of their publicationp, while the University of Oxford has made a grant of publications of the Clarendon Press. Several eminent scholars at home and abroad have also sent gifts of books, in many cases spontaneously, and with a graciousness which greatly enhances THE VALUE OF THEIR GIFTS. The library is managed by a Court of Gov- ernors and a Council, to which bodies members are nominated by H.M. Privy Council, by the County and Borough Councils of Wales and Mon- I mouthshire, the University of Wales, and the three University Colleges. The maintenance is provided by a grant in aid from H.M. Treasury, which at present only provides for bare working expenses. No sum for purchasing the large num- ber of necessary books is at present available. I venture to ask those of your readers who feel an interest in this effort to bring within the reach of the residant3 in Wales the advantages which a National Library offers, to make gifts of books or money for the book fund, and donations to the Building Fund.

Sought for years in Newtown. Many Newtown men and women have for years been seeking a thorough cure for piles. For their silke a well-known and respectable resident of Shrewsbury gives us his experience, which he courteously authorises us to publish. Several years after his cure of external piles by Doan's ointment, Mr Thomas Stockdale, whose address is 22', Hill's-lane, Shrewsbury, said: "The ointment cured me years ago, and there has not Veen the slightest sign of the trouble since. My cure has proved to be a permanent one, and I shall always recommend Doan's ointment. (Signed) Thomas Stockdale." If you suffer from piles-itching, bleeding, or protruding—or eczema, the earlier you begin with Doan's ointment the easier your cure will be, and you will save yourself untold misery and suffering. Doan's ointment is a certain cure; it has triumphed in hundreds of cases where every other treatment has failed. Doan's ointment is two shillings and ninepence- per pot, or six pots for thirteen shillings and ninepence. Of all chemists and stores, or post free direct from the Foster-McClellan Co., 8, Wells-street, Oxford-street, London. W. Besure you get the same kind of ointment aa Mr Stock- dale had.