South Wales Weekly Post

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The now denied intentio n of the War Office I, to break up the Welsh Yeomanry regiments to provide drafts for depleted elsh all- lt antrv units at the- front, puzzled the public, which cannot reconcile the shortage of men thus admitted with the millions d recruits obtained by the voluntary ostein inœ the war broke out. Three million men have been accepted in the United Kingdom, cr v.'?m over half a mi]L?on are casualties Apparently there should be an abundance of men at the disposal of the authorities, without resort to the expedient of hrelkig- up brigades which were in .existonce long before the war broke out. to replenish other bodies. The Under Secre- tary for War repeated on Wednesday that the wastage amongst the British infantry iva.41 no less than 15 per cent. per month. It is curious that Colonel Maude—who has an encyclopaedias knowledge of military matters, whatever we may think of him as a. prophet—has expressed Jus strong dis- belief that the figures can be anything like the total g iven. Hn considers it unpre- cedented, even in the case of the German Army; nor can it be reconciled with the clean medical sheet of the Army, and the excellence of its physical composition, whilst in clothing and feeding money is spent without stint to secure the best of everything. The whole problem of numbers ia one of I baffling perplexity. Thn public oaimot understand why units should waste away to skeletons when millions have enlisted, any more than it can understand why fine brigades which have been mobilised and training since August, 1914, have not been s.nt to the front, and are to be broken up and dispersed, when a great new army has been improvised from the raw material and placed on the battlefield aince then. Nor can it reconcile the extraordinary wastage reported officially amongst our troops with the known physical conditions and the absence of epidemics (except in Gallipoli) huch as wrought -such havoc in the South African War, whilst, as for losses in action there lia, been no important fighting for more than three months in the West. -k few facts may be given which will afford some guidance. Assuming we have in the field a force of axty divisions, or 1.201,000 men, another 1,200,000 would be required as a reserve to meet, a year's wast- age of 100 per cent. Add 110 that casual- ties, niftt in the Navy, men enlisted and discharged as medically unfit, and we have more than three million men accounted for: the fourth British million, and over half the Colonial contingent of some 860,000 have only been, authorised am! there are not "'T nir?MV thrm ilv •> million meu r .L.IJ. Ln. Ulg. ,& The actual lighting if done, by the infantry and tho gUild of the artil- j lery. The German system-the simplest aDd m'?t luminous- is to reckon an Army Coro,< i? terras of bayonets and guns—24,000 III lerrii-? of I)avjnet, gun,24,0(Y3 on a n?nn? fc?un?. Of the 20.000 men in a [ .i?.-i.? <?))y 12.0'j'J are infantry, and ]xt.y I divisi'j'i- would gin a net fi,,Iitilig force i )' i s i ')'t.? v.?u l  force cf? only 720,COO men, assuming that the divi- j siong are maintained at full strength, which j is rarely the case. Sir Edward Carson in- stanced three Territorial divisions, which i (,ndd mereh' muster 12,000. Assuming that w" have «ixty divisions in tlie field (a nuru1v! hypothetical aggregate, selected for the sake of exposition) we would probably have in the actual fighting line only 360,000; infantry at a time. the remaining 360.000 being the relief shift r<>L>ug in the. i-ear., A.ssu ning a division under war conditions musters 10,000 bayonet?;, which is probably nearer the a .:Ii I)H; total of three million men uMder arms find itself down in practice tn rifles in the actual firing. line-at. one time. | hen a .general attack nr-cle. a, large portion 1;) thr lilte has to be held defelj siviy. vuth Jocai reserves, and this detracts from the number of men available for the assault upon the selected length of t-he enemy's line. Part or the assaulting troops, again, are kept in reserve, and it may very- well happen that the actual proportion of the gross total of men enrolled who deliver .the decisive blow against the enemy at the chosen spot is less than 10 pvr (cut. Hf then- aggregate. Millions of men with the col- ours. ;,n the actual assault upon the enemy's iines, may very well resolve themselves In-tol a few score of thousands. There arc other a-inves than ours which mystify people as to where the millions to. The Russians have been the most conspicuous case in point. The popular id-ea at the commencement of the. war was that it. would take the Russians a couple of months to develop their full strength; nine months a fter the commencement of the war. we found their retreat being explained par- tially by a numerical inferiority in men, which was hardly credible when contrasted with early notions of the millions upon mil- lions that Russia. had ready to throw into the fi Id. It may be rioted that there is a, revival of these report# and the six or seven millions of Russna who were to have snowed the enemy under in the autumn of 1914 are now being promised for this spring. Jn these forecasts the elements of capacity to a.rm and equip is usuall y overlooked. If the Russian authorities have acted on the principle that it is better to have a moderate and manageable number of troops kept constantly at full strength, than huge nut uncontrollable masses. raw or ill-trained, Indifferently officered (the oflictr class is an abnormally small one in Russia), they will cmly be acting on sound principles justified by the experience of the Japanese War, where J-eserve Russian divisions, thrown suddenly into the shock of battle [like our pwn inexperienced men at, Suvit Hay), proved unequal to the strain. The e.t-reurn- Irtances of the war have thrown upon all the combatants the necessity of meeting a,gigan- tic expansion HI, numbers; but there is nrobably not a ar ( ffice, at London, Her- fn, or Pqtrogrid. which does not agree that here has been a consequent sacrifice of Quality to quantity ,dlJc.h it would 'have' Avoided if it possibly could have done so.

-W The German pirates, m sinking the falaba. Lusitania. Arabic. Hesperian, I \ncona, Persia, and other liners and mer- rhant vessel: have destroyed more than 2.000 innocent human lives. In almost every case the "icLms included neutrals, j and women and children. All these crimes yrerc deliberate and committed in defiance of jnternationa'I iaw, which prohibits the destruction of an unarmed merchant vessel tt sea. unless ;iU on board can be and arc put in place of ^ufetv. In nifliiv instances, fbe and Persia, there has been no pretence of giving the defenceless people on board an opportunity to save themselves. The sliips wpto torpedoed without warning,- and in fit her cases, when a. warning was given, the pirate,9 shelled their victims as they were struggling into the boats. Even when there h?sbeen  no shelling, the placing of pa?eu- CT--? and crew in open boats does ii,1,1-t, ensure their safety, and in no sense fulfils the condition imposed by international law. Unfortunately, none of the neutral mari- time nations, whoso citizens have been imir doered on the high seas, has come forward with sufficient strength of purpose to vin- dicate its own rights and the common rights of humanity. Tho United States has made a pretence of cluing this, but from the first President Wilson was "'too proud to fight," and Germany ha treated his successive Notes and protests with the greatest con- tempt and defiance. Nearly eight months! ago be declared that the United States would not. tolerate a, repetition of the destruction of American lives as they were destroyed in the Lusitania, and Germany, after promising not to do so, has repeated these crimes and murdered Americans again and again. This farce of protest and defiance still continues, and Germany, •anticipating another Note on tho sinking j of the Persia, is reported to have given ] fresh assurances at Washington that no more liners will be torpedoed in the Mediterranean without warning, but adds that there can be no modification of sub- marine warfare in the .orth t'a., So long as the American Government will t-ake these worthless assurances in one hand and German gold in the other, as compensation for its murdered citizens, this farce wid. eontinue, but it is a disastrous betrayal of the cause of humanity, becaifse it gives a quasi-international sanction to odious and .inhuman practices never before sanctioned by the law of nations. We in this country have long ago ceased to be surprised at anything the Huns say or do. The German name is the scorn of civilisa- tion her flag is the badge of infamy, but it io we in Britain who will have to see that the Boches are taught the full lesson and made to suffer for all the barbarous crimes they have perpetuated against inno- cent ci vilians, women, and children.

— —. Swansea Conservatives, acting on the lead given by the Executive Committee of their Association, kept, away from the mock non-party meeting on Friday evening; the members of the Labour Party, with or with- out direction, did likewise, and the Albert Hall was left to be occupied by what an American would can the "hard-siiell" Radi- cals and the members of t.he Violet League, who appear to have rallied strongly, judging by the exceedingly la.rge proportion of women present. It is to be hoped that a tolerably com- plete list has been compiled by our local con- temporary of the notabilities present, for lliis in years to come will have some histori .;¡ I va llli, ft. will not include the men of J' :v> bo appreciate tha.t we v;l war ? 11th' t?c Germans;-—the m?st puthte?, h??- ,? dious and persevering beIlierent that hM; fver afflicted tho human race—-not only on the battle fields but also at home. In the opinion of competent judges, if the war lords of Potsdam had been able to ret train their impatience for world-mastery until twenty years hence, the Germans would have so honeycombed and undermined this country financially, commercially and politically, that tho -conquest of the British Empire by them would have been an easy task. We are in the ha.bit of talking of this meaiace of German "penetration" a <.In ab- ?tiaction hwing no direct or practical mean- ÍLb for us, whereas it is encountered at a dozen different points locally. It would amaze the people of Swansea and neighbourhood if tiiey Knew how many of our local Mdu?tr?s coombuted to German control of metals en- riching the Teutonic Empire and weakening our own corrcKponding)y for the war and L;,unornic competition allke. The sacrifice of our manhood in France, Flanders, and elsewhere, on an appalling scale, will go for naught if, through easy- going. complaisant and time-serving poli- ticians, we continue to tolerate the Internal cancer eating into the national vitality. German influence of a.11 kinds mttst be fought down and eliminated. It is of no use talk- ing of killing Prussianism in the costliest of fashions whilst any considerahlc proportion of the electors, in deference to old shib- boleths, or from ulterior considerations even Ie-sf; entitled to respect, can be induced to foster the German element in any form what- ever. The popular instinct is sound, and it is irankly anti-Germa-n, and the blandish- ments of the wealthy and the artifices of the skilful organiser will not avail to neutralise or defeat it. Sir Alfred Mond is too shrewd to entertain the delusion that Friday even- ing's meeting, which did not contain a fifteenth part of the electorate, represented the feeling in the borough. The voters who determine elections stayed away, many of them Liberals who now recognise that there arc higher obligations than those of party. The war has obliterated for these, as for Conservatives, the dif\tindivc partv foi, Ccn?5er\,atives, the di-tlii(.tlvc party In hundreds of Swansea homes there is grief over the 1-oss of men who were deprived of a fair chance to live because by reason of national unpreparednes.s for war they had to face foe in overwhelming numbers had neither the guns nor the necessary am- munition to make- a fair fight of it. Sir: Alfred Mond was of those who assured the country that nothing was to be feared from Germany, so that .we could ,afe?y disband batteries of artillery, reduce the Army, and save money by neglecting to create a H.¡;,erve I of munitions. Also to support the abandon- ment of the Cawdor naval programme, by which a certain number of units were to be added annually to the fleet. Some of our readers may recall the ridicule poured by the local organ of the borough member-upon the late Lord Cawdor and Lord Charles Oeresford for emphasisint; the imperative | need of safeguarding the command of the M'a upon whic? we to-day depend, not only tor immunitiy from invasion, b?t also for for ininiujiitiy fr(?m iti,a ?s.ifp, I>tit ai,,o for It may be suggested that the British Navy despite the curtailments of a Govern- ment- not unhoedful of the protests of Sir •Toll n Brunner—the Britisher of Swiss origin who wanted us to trust, not to arma- ments but to interiiational laws, which the Germans treat as scraps of proved ample. Yes, because Mr. McKenna,, in the most creditable episode of his. political career, threatened to resign if the naval estimates were cut down below the safety line, but more especially because instead of having to confront alone the joint navies of Austro-Germany we have on our side tho Frerieb. Ittliaii, and Russian sea forces, which tact, not provided for in the ni e. The Agdidir incident, which led to I v, h.olesa'e withdrawal French money from 1 i Germany. nearly Involving a financial ('01-1 lapse, df?clo?sed to the Kaiser and Ms en- tourage the mo.t vulnerable part of the elaborately armoured Germaat Empire. This war, sprung upon the wotld at the selected moment, was preceded by cunning financial arrangements designed not only to strengthen Germany financially, but also to embarrass the prospective enemies. London was Hooded with German bills to such an extent as to drain it of gold. At the time the general belief was that French financiers, who had made advances to the Balkan Powers, wcro compelled to liquida.te their liabilities by disposing of their German and other securities. Now we know that the German baH ks having had the official foro- word, and with the aid of the cosmopolitan circle in London ready to make money un- restricted by patriotic or any other worthy consideration, deliberately planned a.n a.t- tack meant to completely upset and de- moralise London as the ciearing-house of the world. The Government, }>ajtlv by extend- ing the August Bank Hobday for a week, defeated the purpose of the scheme. But it was a close shave anyhow. Thi. was; but one of many instances of el-nia ii thoroughness in craft. Belgium was so completely organise d for a German i-n- vasion that the sites for heavy guns were concreted in advance, aid the invading troops had as officers men, who, as old re- sidents, knew every rood of land and every street of the city or town occupied. And it was known to every intelligent member of the -invading foroe that the captu.ro of Antwerp, Dunivirk, and Calais—concurrent ly with the irreparable smashing up of the French Army—was (mly the prelinwwry measure to the attack upon Great Britain, the objective frankly foreshadowed in the I literature of Germany for more than a de. cade. Professors, publicists, and politicians, have for years been engaged in persuading the German people that they are a. Goti chosen people whose mission in the world had as principal impediment a decadent, slothful, and utterly impotent people—the British, who held nearly all the desirable places on the sjlobe. Sir .Alfred Mond, who must have known the direction of German thought, made light of the German peril until it materialised in war. and then, when the knowledge had become useless, declared that he knew that fGermany had for years been preparing for the event. Why did he not in time, give the. country of his adoption the benefit of the knowledge thai the country of his fore- fathers was on the war-.path waiting for the favourable moment to make the springe To so well-informed a man, it cannot base been unknown that Germany was deferring the Armageddon until the Kiel Canal had been so widened and deepened as to permit of Dreadnoughts passing from the North Sea to the Baltic, and vice versa. But Sir Alfred Mond kept this knowledge to himself, and the Westminster (iazetie —he was then chairman of the small syndi- cate owning it was permitted to openlv j pose as the medium for German official. aiKnoumwrnents in this country. This paper fraiiKly ;<dYoe;.r,ed a pro German policy, 11 Vh tc. France ajid Biissia. With this iivovitable resuIt-that when one was prostrated and the other paralysed hv the Austro-Germans, we should be" faced by Germany holding Antwerp, Dunkirk, and Calais—with the iuidesUx>yod remnants of th-o I"?Tnrh fleet—and invited to turn out the Germans at l:ast in a position to dial- j Jenge our command of the sea. Tin's was the logical outcome o.f tlie policy of the "Westminster Gazette" if the Ministry had been coerced or coaxed to adopt it. Ha ppiiy, the Ministry decided otherwise. But and this is the main consideAition for Swansea electors — the Westminster Gazette, in August, 1914, Htrenuougly urged the British to follow & path that urged ?ti,e Briti,n tofo,110,, to rij?n alid

The contention that Friday evening' s meet-' evcriln s ineet- Inp at the Albert Ran was a non-pa.??t" gath- ering flies in the face of every demonstrable fact, connected with it. Sir Alfred Mond, who is a member of Parliament bv the votes of Radicals — many of whom now acutely re- gret, that, they contributed to the result,— caused the meeting to be convened Mr. W. ,1, Crocker, the Swansea agent for the party, organised it on Radical lines every I speaker was a Radical, and one searches in vain among t.he long list of names of per- sow; on the platform for that of a single re- preventative of either the Conservative, the Labour, or Irish parties of the borough. i To suggest, therefore, that this was not a j Radical meeting is a manifest absurdity. The circumstance that the Conservatives are almost solid in their support of the prin- ciple of compulsory service for able-bodied young men during the continuance of the war was doubtless relied upon to overcome their repugnance for the present unsatisiac- tory representation of Swansea and make them appeal- as if accepting it. Tha.t. ob- ject was frustrated by the action of the Conservative Executive Committee, who, in its protest, had the support of all recognised local leaders of the party. Sir Alfred Mond docs not think any one of the leaders in the House of Commons would endorse the protest offered. That is a mere statement of belief which he is ItS free to make as others are t-o contradict. Il Swansea we are not con (.muted with a que/stion of party politics, but with ,a. per- sonality NA-itli- whom are associations peculiar to himself. We are being asked to fight the Germans in war, and German commercial, industrial influence and methuds iu pence, under the leadership of a. gentle man born to German parents. Ta that regard Sir Alfred Mond is unfortunate as a politician eager to be active when Great Britain is at war with the countrv of his immediate forefathers. But even if that incident stcod alone it. should disable liiin like Mr. Stianss. the f onservativ^ member for the Paddingtou Division, from hDxing a voice in determining the policv of this country during, and more, parti- cularly after the war. And for the same reason thul Germans would not tolerate Reichstag mcinbe?? of British origin, and have, indeed, interned men born of British fnb?cts in Germany, many of them witJionti even a know]ed? of the Engbh language. Sir Ab'red Mond is not entitled any more than those to be relieved at war time of the disabiHtie? a.tta.chin? t" the incident of 1 origin. 1]'Jt thÜ does not stand alone. Sir Alfred Mond, by his upeaki.)? and writing and bv the action of the journals and or?a.nisations ? which he could influence, was persistently associated with two distinct but closelv related influences. One operated to persuade the people of this country that they had nothing to fear from their good friends the Germans, and therefore had no occasion to make preparations for war— those who believed the latter was ooming were mere scaremongers. It is somewhat j curious to find him on Friday evening solemnly inviting the public, to imagine what would i>e their feelings if 50.000 Cerma.n troops landed at SkeHy— presumably the tramway terminus—when in 1910 he employed substantially the same idea of a local invasion to illustrate the utter absur- dity of an Anglo-German war. Tlie other rnovetvero.—in which his part- ner, Sir John Bruu.at-r, was the principal agency—aimed at tiijr her reducing the ar- maments of this eo i«try actually a few months before the outbreak, and there were men on the platform t Friday evening who co-operated with bin., the extent of adopt- ing a resolution in supf ft. Sir Alfred Mond repudiated the idea he ever belonged to the Small Navy Pe/fy—ard. technically, we believe he i. yast fi. d in the repudiation —but what positively o il he do to resist the departure from the G'» vd-ir scheme of war- ship construction wh; in tho opinion of the most competent 1 idges, p.i,i,y1 only the necessary mar.in safety? Il does not require a long memory to recall the recep- tion accorded Lord Cawdor by the local organ of Sir AiS.ed Mond when, in 1910, the former caiwe to Swansea to urge the imperative need of keeping up the strength of the Navy. The fact that the latter has risen superbly to the demands of this war should Dot permit us to forget that it has received the aid of the French. Rus- sian, Japanese and Italian, fleets. Whereas, the plan formulated .it PotscLam provided a naval trial of strength after France and Russia had been broken, and the Austro- German lfeets, with possibly that of Italy as well., would be raassed togother against o urs. Mr. T. P. Cook referred to our losses in France and Flanders because of an insuffi- ciency of men and munitions, and Mr. R. L. Sails urged the eommau-seiis'ible view that in military matters we should trust to great soldiers like Lord Kitchener—"and Lord Roberts also," he added at the sug- gestion of "a voice." But the British force which, but for its high efficiency and indo- mitable courage, Lad been entirely wiped out at MOnf;, would have been stronger, better gutined and munitioned if the electors had "trusted to great soldiers inr stead of listening to. civilians and allowing themselves to be swthed by assurances that tho German menace was a, mirage, a deiu- sion. The Army va-s reduced, batteries were disbanded, and money saved by depiet- ing the stores of ammunition. Sir Alfred Mond was a party t'i this fnny-fvr eYery penny then gained Wt: ace ladling ont thou- sands of pounds to-day-and did not offer a word of protest. How could consistently with the view that the Germans were a I peaceful people who' e main desire was to do business with us? I From many RadicAJ an d Labour members I. rrieli?1)eir, a.nd others who M?k part in the ?ecru]tiJ?g campaign since At.?uet, 1914, th? -h'.?nk admission in effect h.?-? come, We did not be.! Jieve Germany mean;, war, for we luiev no better." But Sir Alfred Mond stands in a, different pc?itio.n. He knew the German  pearle il)ti?-natp-lv 've 'alrly frequent visitor to the Teutonic Fatherland, fi-equplit V;"?itGr t,, and ?'utd hardly ha.n iVilod to detect the poi- iF(?on,ver,tjtt -,ri.th ],,ter-l.tiil.(?, ¡ ,,il,,) liai,(Jly ba%-t t,?) t],?! ,Olloii. atniQ-p b ere hatre,-l ,)f 1,rit is)i r ublici8tf:, and soldi54-* for ymn-s  producing. After the horse ha.d gone he announced the stable doer was open all the time. He said at Aberavon, when practically everybody realised it, that he knew that tho Germans had for years been, preparing for the world war. Why did he not in the same patriotic, spirit that fires him now diffuse Miat knowledge when it might have been helpful to us, instead of using his facilities iADr publicity to foil the efforts of those wh" clearly foresaw tho dan- ger and strove in vain to get adequate pre- parations made in time? He now says: "r caire not what, views a man expressed befoe the war broke out, or what views he wili express when the war e,(,,ase.r,but, foi, sake, let us all join to win the war: l,hH>]$ a convenient and evasive plausibilify—with a patriotic in- vocation tacked ■ n. In this way he would brush aside onsiderations of momen- tous importance. he, views before the war of a politician situ :ted as Sir Alfred Mond is. with the power of great wealth at his back, and with means, in-visible as well as visible, for influencing national policy, are not to be so light]/ disregarded. For they j have a close bear'ug on the present silua- tion, and are, unless kept in check, capable of having an effec. < n the terms of peace. In more than or' war the subterranean activities of politicians have stultified the sacrifices and victories of the soldiers in the fieid. The conviv Jon of those who refuse, | to admit—and th .y comprehend the over- I whelming majority of the electors—i" th&t the candidate w ho was elected lat-e in 1910! on issues that ha\c ceased to be relevant no j on lSi'Ue. that ha\ cea..sed to be reJevant no longer iepresents Swansea on the only ?ssue that now counts. j It the warning of Lord Roberts—the I great-est soldier produced by Britain since Wellington—had oeen heeded, there would have been no war, uecause the knowledge of the existence in tVs country of millions of partly trained mm would have restrained the Kaiser and bis entourage until they could make Mire that the British—capable in such circumstances of developing great military strength, ^qjplemcntiiur that of the I .N a yy--wouJd intx iteTvaae. If in cWpite of the )mowle(lge t :'e war had been decided upon at Potsdam it would have been over months ago. If in the spring of 1915 Great Britain had been a a position to place a couple of million r„ ri in the field there woul d have been no d<-i\e out of Galicia, so shattering to our Russian ally. But the warning and tho advice failed, of effect, because nit u like Lord Haldane and Alfred Mond. with, their special knowledge of Germany, assisted to lull the British into a false seuse of security. And this va-s not all. In London and in I the provinces a party was working openlv but witli greater power insidiously—for a pro-German policy. This aimed at the lye trayal of France a-nd Russia, and, if success- fully imposed oil the Government, would have meant a free hand for A-ustro-Geornianv to smash beyond repair France and disable R?i?ia for a tre?'a?ifm. L?.vi))? s.s the Riis-,I,i for Germany in o?,, the Channel porta in Blginn and France to confront Great llltaah without an effective friend in the wrld, and its Navy called upon to fight not only the massed forces of the Triple Alliance, but probably the bulk of the Rusian and French tleots,. secured as part payment of indemnities. It is almost incredible, but, nevertheless, an historical fact, that the British Cabinet came very near a decision which \j?ould have entailed this red ruin for Great Britain and the breaking up of tlie Empire. The issue in the balance fo" days. But the peril was tlie gravest experienced in this country for a hundred yea,re and more. What part did the Westminster Gazette" play during the crucial days a.nd h!)IIl ? It was frd with official news a.nd views from Belliu that the German Foreign Office designed to influence- the Birtish Gov- ernment a-rid i)tli) ic in the pro-German sense. The effort- failed, "If] Of tll,t we are engaged in a great war. not alone, but in at Foot of Next Column.)

] Swansea slacker? were told. ou evening of their duty to fight t-hf Gerr nng in langauge with a most lyi-ono-once:1 man accent. After this, o' mi i not hold back. Apropos of tlio Swansea Grocers' A.ssocia-. tion discussion on the present price of gas at Swansea, a facetious correspondent askp j what have been the grocers' profits during j the- past 12 months. 81 Swansea, (according to a correspondent) is j particularly well served with its gas supply; not the least of which is the comparatively j reasonable price cliarged. Cardiff is the; only town in Wales or Monmouthshire which charges less. There are now throe third lines of the Welsh Field Ambulance training in Cardiff, j The 3/lst and the 5/ord, from Ebbw Yale and Swansea, recently came to the city and are billeted in Canton and Roath, whilst, of course, the 3/2nd are in the city. Some people went to the Albert Hall meeting at Swansea on Friday evening j expecting to hear the anti-compulsionist« making their presence felt, and they were disappointed. The atmosphere was too | somnolent for a Tbomasite. I A Swansea. Canadian soldier says that when he was in Quebec he saw a notice hung on a. hotel door No German, Aus- 1 trian. or Turk is employed in this estab- lishment, and never iv-ill be as long as ( Murphy bosses the show. |» |C> Ifr t! CE 1 The story was told at the Swansea, Guild- j hall meeting on Friday of a.n old lady in an almshouse who had sent a well-worm hlanket. for the Welsh troops—a gift whicli admir- ably shows the spirit of self sacrifice. The j old lady, it is known, could ill afford to spare it. j •» «p Thus tb? London Kelt :—" If we a.r? driven to a Gonera-l .Election the waste of wealth and energy during' a trying period like the present will be sinful- but the price will be well s pent, inasmuch as it will Titl the Commons of most, of its cranks and faddists. Clvwch! COvwch He is a wonderful example of the power of will, and his coolness and self-possession j in emergencies a-re proverbial, and in the 1 management of a. great assembly or organ is?, tion he has never failed to rise t-o the oc- j 'cswioit.— {• !R/ichn.bito M igafcine" <un. Pro. W. ( David, the HajneHv new Hib Ch'cf Rut?t.) j -?>-?x><?-?-<s> "If 50,000 (?rm&ns ?uded ? Skottx- said Sir Alfred Mond on Friday evening, Apart from the fa-çt that there is no beach or landing-stage anywhere near Green, was not the invjision possibility! quoted by his organ as the height of fan- tastie improbability only a few months before war broke out. Mr. Llewelyn Williams ;s not the first member for Carmarthen Boroughs to hE out with his supporters. In the time of the first Home Rule Bill Sir John J. Jenkins was solemnly appealed to not to vote a-gaiiist the Bill, even though he could not con- scientiouslv support it. Sir John, however, ) politely, but firmly, declined. I .&iJ" The captain of the, 8,000 tonner. referred to in Thursday's "Post Jhg," states that his steamer is chartered by a powerful French company, who own their own wharves in the U.S. A. They only employ Frenchmen and pure American citizens to looki their ships. No naturalised or half-bred Germans are allowed near their vessels. Hence no mishaps. A Swansea man boarded a iramcar the j other day. and when be saw a. fellow pas- senger pick up two sixpences and give one to his mate he spoke, in high terms of his generosity. But when he entered an hotel and found that lie had no money to pay for Ins drink. and t,hat the shilling picked up in. the car was the money his wife had knit- him. he used very strong language indeed j !><!>♦# IT The voice of Wales whs very undecided on the innodul Lion of the recent compul- i sion measure. Seventeen members voted for the measure, and the othev seventeen were either against the principle or were absent. We used torhcar a lot about the Welsh Party, but we may well ask in the tearful language of their friend, Hans Breitmann, Vere vos dot baity now!—('" London; Kelt.") < )- < How suddenly comedy becomes tragedy in the trenches may be seen from the incident that follows. Writing to his brother at Brvnamman. Private Evan W. Rees, of the 9th Welsh, says Willie Thomas I*, neigh- hour newly arrived at the trenches) was on sentry go in the traverse when his mate, who was looking over the parapet, suddenly fell back without a word. Beth sv arnot ti, y! tnwnci dwl? exclaimed Willie, 'paid a i meddwl hali di ofan ;ii-ii(i 3. But, alas! his mate was not playing any tricks for he was dead—shot through the ear v Poor old Will." continues the soldier, "he will see many more such incidents before he has do;:e I with the battlefield

(Continued from -)rec-e,-iing column.* the company of powerful Allies, with whom faith has been kept in the full and certain j a/ssurance that, sooner or later, a griaatoer human scourge than Attila and his Hums i will be subdued and brought under con-; trol. Because of gross misguidance before the war in a matter that imperilled the ex- istence of the British Empire and the lives and liberty of the people of these islands, and because of association with activities which contributed to our unpreparedness for a great war that was clearly impending, and? with the poli?'y prised up to the ]K"t. moment with eveiv possible means on the 1 Cabinet by the "Westminster Gazette," Sirj Alfred Mond's claim to be acquitted of tlwl consequences of his activities and speeches bp- fore the war, and to influence the conditions of its ending on the plea that it is immaterial what viewF a pojiti?iHn expressed before the war. or may express after it c.sf'. is un- t?nab!? and unconvincing, and wiD. be de-I csively ;'???t.d v.hfnr?or the cpportnTt?ty cmves fOT the p)ectorpt? to pronounce judg- ment. Complaints are going around that night sticks are being made on fowl-houses in the neighbourhcDd of the Kafod. The Brighten Queen lost in the operations crf the Belgian co;v-t was not th:1 Brighton formerly of Swansea, and lat'.Iy "doing her bit" off Gallipoli. <!>-t?< t  < *-?-? One of tho Swansea V.T.C. ph.toon ser- geants. who is the possessor of a particularly I raucous voice, was drilling a section the other evening, when a laTge dog rail past the back of thf-. men backed "?'ow-wow. The section immediately formed fours 1 Stn?era manne)'i"m at tJw c?ueert b."t 9 h '?T r. Ben Davies ?.u? with eyes ?ut and head throve back; Mi. Dilys J one"" and iicad bijcjl,- 1)ilv?i J4)r?ei?.' v "ih bend ti'r •1 to • in skle. dicky h- hanas folded bet ore hei. .,0) Co foj¡ Extract from Swansea .irih.i s letter have a Bristol ckap_ in our bu- lot, and we make him as lInG as—(excised n- censor; —by comparing the "Post" with the papers he has sent hiru, especially as regards the war work y?u .?'c Jr?ig." Hence these blushes m & ? perusal of the donat ions to local pat- r.otic fund? d.?'!o.??s a -vivid contrast in the viiw taken by Docks magnates of their responsibilities in connection with the | various national and local funds, for whSe some are giving generously there are others who are doing—well, nothing, or next. to it. Swansea ex-seaman Gunner'' writes:— Continuous tiring out of heavy guns reduces th-eir value and .increases the sÜ-e of tho bore. To overcome the difficulty additional copper bands have to be~placed on the pro- joetlies. No other metal will do. If Ger- many is short of copper it will consi derably handicap her artillery. t A woman recently informed a clergyman J who inquired after her family that one of her s?is c?uldjy t iine the Army 'cos be j was not iUegibl(', but he's doin' 'is bit making musicians. The parson did not at once grasp the fact that the good woman meant "nwking munitions," says the Church j Family Newspaper." 4:.II." The attention of the military authorities hfcs been called to the comparative scarcity of M elsh chaplains nf the Congregational and Bajitist connexions in North Wales. There is not a single recognised Welsh Con- I gregational chaplain attached to the troops on the North Wales coast in spite of the fact that Congregationalists predominated Among the troops. -4 Th female labour question ¡ \-Ul Tti -2 fema,(, I i gi%-iiig couple of ltdy cier?s had been taJwn on at 15s. per week. This "set the back up" of one of the males—a junior—who was getting only lis. He had been at the job for a | couple of years and did not think it quite fair. Tlie Finance Committee and the Bor- ough Treasurer at Thursday meeting thought the same and tlie junior is to get 4s. increase. I think that I'W,1IIS j useu som" sjx-c :•! apphan-ve to protec t tb?r ("iI' during ?ho dsaf'?'n? ni'ing goni? on fat. the front. Sergeant Dohei-ty. of the R.F.A., home at Swansea on a bri^f fur- 1oogh. avs that on the contrary many take no pia] precaution. Thev speedily i get us?d f?) it. and though t?mp<?rarlh' i deafened, the effect wears off. With the tioaf(N'flcd the eff(-ct off. A?'it-b tiie !th? teeth to lesson th? concussion. Some gunners stand on the tins of their toes for the same purpose. Tli-Te still one thatched hou-e in the ancient borough of Carmarthen. Within living memory—when Paremaen was a country lane — there was a row | of thatched cottages in St. Catherine s- street. Now they have all disappeared except this one, whioch stands in the middle of a row of modern slated dwellings. It is occupied by the owner a.nd looks as pic- turesque in the midst of the modern houses (says a down-line contemporary) as an old- world soldier in his gay regimentals would amongst a regiment in khaki. At Brynammaij there is at least one man who has gloomy' forebodings that the war wili end some day or other. He is night watchman at a local colliery since the war broke out, and has recently speculated in a &Pt of oilskins, so that he may not get wet whilst on the watch for prowling Huns. Them Germans are now talking about peace,, aren't they, George' he asked a friend the other night. Yes, I think so." was the reply. Ah!. it's like their blessed way" exclaimed the night watchman wrathful!y, no sooner does a man begin to get a few clothes together than them old Germans tiegin to talk about stopping the The decision that. Swansea should look to its own men at the front first and con- tribute only whatever surplus remains to the national fund, has itis justification ill the fact that though about ;680 was col- lected locally for the latter, Swansea units did not in the slightest d-egree benefit from the distribution. Swansea people, the most i generous <>( gin>rg, ,a.n be- re1ied upon to do the ueedful for Swansea boys, and a bit over for the hoy from the unorganised areas. But the primary duty is U> make every hid or man from the town saving with the Colours, whether on sea or land, feel that the old town keeps him in re- mem brance. ifrl <H The splendid silence maintained by all tank s of our mine-sweeping fleet- has become a tradition, and. better still, it has haffled i the German High Steir and all their insidious appendage. So that on Swansea Dock s it is considered ?ad form to put any maimcr of qu?tio!i to the?o gallant mn hen they arrive in port from Somewhere off the Sea." However, it happened that a.! ( :and lubber somewhat daringly enquired of a certain skipper what had become, of his moustache. (It is aJl or none in the service.) He was gravely informed that during verv dirty weather one half of his moustache was blown away, so ho was compelled to shave off the other half t-o keep his craft on an even keel. He took the hht. I I A gallant Welsh officer, noted for his 10- i tundity. was going round the trenches somewhere in France" during the delude period. He was Hearly up to his waist in mud and water, and was using a stick with which he prodded the mud in front of him to judge the depth of his next step. Sud- denly his stick went in over the head, and before him lay a deep. long stretch of waterv mud. After a moment's he"itation he j climbed on the trench parapet and sprinted about ten yards, and then dropped into the trench again. A superior officer who Aw the incident said that it was a danger- ous procedure, as he might be "sniped." "Well," responded the muddy officer. "I cannot swim. and there was death on two si It was certain death for me t-0 go further in that, trench mud -ina -'vatcr pit, I but the sniper might nvj?. *.o I riekf.d it." '[ 1, b Many more men could be employed in th* anthracite collieries. The matinee at the Grand, Swansea, on 1 Saturday afternoon was a record in tlie his- 1 tory of the theatre. j During the f/asi month there have been •only thr.'j rail Jess day- in this district. And these eanv* consecutively in the middle of December. The most popular plaice 01 worship with the troops is located at on. It is the headquarters of the "Forward Move- ment" (alias the "Big Push"). A defeudaiu ei Carmarthen Police Court- Saturday ha-j a pleasant surprise when he heard he was < jined  lk h?d wjm ?: Court >• "e p"»r--1 t y. V t. Mi. ■). Ji, Thomas vivi litij. ccxt- i scripted." Anthracite nuner, on Saturday passed a re: olmion of protest against the ti; x a tion of the v ages of the men. 4 $ By raising the price of spirits. Swansea come? into line with Cardiff and most, other towns. Swansea, ?Itho'tgh?dea! town to ine in. h?s been H cheap cne to drink in. "Very prei-tycommented the man U1 the street a little '"flag-day" girl offered him an array of post caids to choose frocL | j '"And have you any post cards of Wel&b j miners ou strike, my dear'. nie f?muu- b;?'kv'?)d fall of Charhe |Cha.plin was put in the chade by an old Go,r gp?it?man. on Saturday, v-bo at- tempted to leave a bus with a, basket of eggs whilst, tlie vehicle was in motion. Wireless from Neath Swansea is complaining about the price of gas. 117hat about Neath, with no gas and having to pay ?hp.rp. S\an?a grocers can we!: a{ford to pay for gas, the piofits they made last year. pty foi, Uie tli?,% !n. -ide. last vear. The late Mrs. Caihei in ■ Winter, of the Sailors' Home, was one of tlie kindest hearted of women, and the sailors who came in contact with her—many hundreds in the course of a- yfar—wiU sadly uug% her geniality and goodness. 00 After all '« said. the lancimg of 50,000 Germans ill SketiN- i-vould provide the local chairman of the Fellowship of Reconcilia- tion with a glorious opportunity of a d dress- ing the gentle Huns and of delivering hia de;?CTre?i Ject?.)? ?r. W ¡1:l the World Owes^io C, ermny (<']onf1 He?s. (? Sv.ar.sea. in command ct a 81 Uie 2nd (Labonr) B,'tta)ion R:'yal Engin?rs is home <?i lee ve. ri< looks exceedingly well 'aj]d is in the he>t- of spirits. The gallant c?!?uu! i., the ?tb-cej- ol? ti,?. lai>our Battalions n?w doing ,-mh valuable service B. ?'L,)Il, ii,,w a(?i- .-Iz ti(?li-, a iblc "Ex-E.N." wrius Nearly evay man who has joined the N*\y from Swansea dur- ing the hist 30 years, has gained di.itinction in the s"rW<x, in some v.y or another. I have met in the Navy three captains of the 'foreca«tle. three captains of the main two captains of i,he mizzen-top, severa-i <(v.artemia!it ers. ;-api..lin-cox^-wai.-s, gojuicr- boatewain, captain 6; cc-a«tguard cafuiser, now at Swansea, and last but. not Jea-st "Iron Griff," tha champion weight-lifter cf the Navy, "st-ijl atloat." QuartpriuH.-tp?-Sej.gtant ?iiv?itun. ?!um- b l e-,?, bi)zr?e  li, "-iai, iiiiereit- hJe", home ON furlough, lias ?fvera' inf erest- ing tales to tell of th" spirit displayed by the French ppopk, In a house where they had their meals a small shell enit-red and exploded on a table heaped ivilh crockery. The result was a most fantastic pattern or* the Avails of pieces of broken china, etc. Tha woman who lived there was unhurt, and, instead of returning thanks for her safety t¡,¡rkd abusiug the Allernands at the top j af her voice for smashing her crockery. "I bough a shilling's worth of whiskey on Saturday and drank it on Sunday be- cause I had a, little touch of a cold," said a man at Swansea Police Court on Monday, [who was found lying helpless at the foot of the monument, in Wind-street, on Sunday afternoon. "Don't buy any more ■ whiskey on Saturday and drink it -on Sun- I day, advised the chairman, and defendant 'I promised to take the kind advice. Do it rt once," iu other words. 11 \rj" 1 The Welsh inspector was paying hts annual | vLiii to the school, but-was far from satis- fkd with £ he progress the children were mak- Iing in the figure lessons. '"Now, will some- lone call out a number and I will write it ion the board he asked. "36, sir," one ?boy caJ!ed out. The inspector put down 63 I instead but the lad couldn't, tell the differ- ence. "76," called <t a?oth?r, but the m- ?sp,ek!tor wrote 67, with the same result, and !<-ft?r a few moment?' silence one bright little lad at the lop ,I the clas.? caHed out "77, sir; mess about with that if you c?tn T l i(,i-?, will )lit. family the less Thp!? will be one Belgian family the less in Swansea this week. Men". Victor Te?ch' mann, the hrother of Mrs. Mervvn Howell, has secured a remunerative appointment in France, and ha,< already left. His family, w ho have boen the guests of the town at J Do la Beche-street, leave on Wednesday. I Before going Mons. Teichmann wrote a nice letter of thanks to the Belgian Refugees" Committee for all that had been done for I thun during their stay in Swansea. M. ( Teh hmann and his family were amongst the first arrivals from Belgium, where the family before the war were timber merchants in of business. What is the position of checkweighers ['under the Compulsory Bill? Mr. J. D. Mar. [ g'an. anthracite miners* agent, states:- "Senile feeling has resulted from the alleged exclusion of checkweighers employed by the workmen and inclusion of weighers employed by the coalowners as starred men. But the explanation, no doubt, will be found in the proper interpretation of weighmen, for checkweighers are weigh men: and simi- larly. I should say. mechanics include blacksmiths and carpenters. Instructions have been given by the authorities to the Colliery Recruiting Court to have regard to the condition of the anthracite coal trade. The following, which appeared in the "Sunday Pictorial." will interest Swansea Empire patrons, to whom the artists rouriod and their work will be pleasantly recalled "George Lash wood, who is shortly retiring from the halls, is older than he look. He tells me that be was once one of a party of four that worked the Midlands for an inclusive weekly s.ilary of J38 per weak. The other three were Little Tich, Minnie Cunningham, and Dan Leno Dan Leno has long since passed hence. George Lash- wood's pending retirement was. of cour-e, announced in the "Post some time ago, and is it that. dainty Minnie Cuimingha/n has retired from the stage that she does not now delight us ^ith her quaint songa such as "You can t tel] eigrus by the pic. ture on the box. and "Orce us o wag of :our ta,jl, gooo d',g'" L;H)" Tiel., happily, j- still an abiding joy.— t"Mus:c.is.")