The Cambria Daily Leader

NOTES AND COMMENTS It is eighteen weeks to-day since 'ueTPl iownshend was besieged at Kmt- el-Amara, and, although it was stated in March that lie was well supplied, the. country i$ getting more than anxious, The brief War Office dispatch issued on Wednesday night, stating that the Relief; j Force has attacked and carried th-s enemy's entrorched positions on tho river bank, and that the operations are pro- eeedmg satisfactorily," comes like a breath of now hope. The Turkish lines were very formidable, and until they had been stormed progress towards Townchend was impossible, either Útall the naval flotilla or from the land column. Twenty) miles of bare country are betwo-pn the relieving army and gallant Town-shend. Thirteen miles on from the point of Wed- nesday's feuccess arc the lines of Es Sinu, where the great battle of September—te- ported in Sir John Nixon's dispatch— i took place. Let us hope that .still better J news, is on the way from Mesopotamia. The arrangement cf the campaign, as it i now appears, was terribly dpfective. i Allegations have bool1 made, ami are still being made, almost of an incredible nature. But for the moment the nation is in no mood to look for 5Capegc.at3. It has its eyes fixed upon the army cf relief 1" wLose last word to us i45 that opera-1) tions are proceeding satisfactorily." I Mr. MoKonna s latest Sudget orught tnl hive one- g-rc-at fiect. i.e., to empba^i--o the n5.sity of economy upon everyone in the community and every phase of life, in puhHc and in priratp. The neoeesiiy fej great. Tales to hand chow that in sea, as in most other places thTongho;zt! the country, there is etill coBeiderablc waste. Economy does not find its raidllf-j and two ends merely in .saving. Ther* isj an economy in ezpeaditurc just aa much j as in Hint-skinning, hut the expenditure' should be upon something necessary and productive. Some departments of the Government seem deficient in their power j to realise that. for on the one hand l'e find extravagant expenditure and on ih&i other hand there are rules and regulations that tend to cripple industries, the success oi which is necessary if money is to l e found to pay for the war. When we come, to home life, some peculiar tales are foU. I One reaching us is of an artisan family of six whose meat bill for one week fre- qyenily reaches 3&S. and 40s. Another is of a family who consume over 2lbs. oi' sugar per head every week. As for matches, there are places where Ü stems arc swept up by the dustpan-full every now and then. This is a matter in wli-i.h aven might well take a lesson from! Russia, where no one wastes a match it ho can light his cigarette from another This is rocogniserl so fully that to lie stopped by a stranger with a courteous "By your leave, sir," is as common passing nods are in English towns. One feature of the Budget is. that Mr. McKenna has pleased the publicans at last! The taxation of such teetotal drinks as soda water and lemonade was comething they did not expect. The scheme by which bonds purchasable for 15s. 6d. at the. Post Office will return the investor a sovereign at the-end cf five an, is. so far, a. comparative failure. The amount of money subscribed h,-tr, beTO le«s than a million* That means that the, working-classes as a whole are not taking advantage of a-plan that was devised i.n their in tere:;ts, r nkss thae i6 a. m..¡)r [ adequate response from those who are I earning large wages, it is contended that j some other mæll will hare to be deviled of tappiD; the c?tra monay which has Como to the wc-rkin? CkÚse:î. If t:æt cm be done if will be in the interests ot the working men themselves. As the Wost- minster Gazette says, it would be. a very j bad thing, indeed, if the end cf the war found the nation involved in hu?c debts, in which th? industrial people had no -D cern bo vend the paying of interest. Care- i f'ul saving now would ensure that tie bur- den of payment for the war would -all with more equality, and that the workers would have money io help them through the hard times that we are bound to face sooner or later. | Statements mace in Petrograd respect- ing the German artillery may be. another j sir/n that the Germans are declining sn mn-power and industrial power, but the Morning Pose correspondent suggests j that. as once or twice alieedy periods of comparative inefficiency of German j machinery have been followed by disas-1 trous and sudden recovery, it is possible that Germany is re-arming her artillery wiih an improved weapon. The fact, however, remains that, at the present | moment, the German artillery is deficient, j J,u.- L A year ago their supply of guns seemed to be ineshaustriblo. For months, during the most furious fighting, it was an estab- lished fact that, no matter what losses | were incurred in machinery, the German troops invariably appeared the next day with a f111.1 complement of guns, however reduced tie personnel might be. Now, | upon the Russian front, the enemy i& unable to claim anything approaching j superiority. Upon the French front what has hap- peued at Verdun is convincing enough as to the superiority of the Allies over the enemy. Three weeks ago, says Mr. von Wiegand, who has been at the Crown Prince's Headquarters, the German artillery scorned to be greatly the superior. H To-day the French are answering shell for shell." That uuderstates the position. When the history cf the Battle of Verdun comes to be wnttAn it mU be seen that the mastery of the French gunners played the ,reltest P?? in ?? French victory. Swansea tradesmen will await with confidence the decision of the Local Government Board after the inquiry held at the Guildhall on Wednesday. They have suffered long, but not uncoinplain- ingly, the heavy locomotive traffic I through the principal streets, traffic which causes buildings to vibrate until the foundaition3 must be endangered. And whatever may be said to justify the use of certain thoroughfare?, nothing can be held to warrant the practice of allow- ing heavy traction engines, with one or two trailers, to travel through the narrower street, aucli as W a tor loo-street for instance. That, is not only inoon- venient to adjoining businesses, but i highly dangerous to street traffic. It is to be hoped that the Local Government, Board will now ratify the Borough bye- laws under which certain streets will be closed to locomotive engines. Aid. Evan Evans has ln such an ad.mira,ble chancellor of the exchequer M to 4/he Swansea Hospital, in his capacity as chairman of the Finance Commits, that his election tp the chairmansliip of j the Board of M-anagefment is a particu- larly gratifying step. The Board has been fortunate in its chairmen. It has always commanded the service of able and courteous gentlemen, and we feel sure that Aid. Efajis will not be least in the suocMsion. He is a man of business and of heart, and his public spirit will find many opportunities for demonstration; during his year of ofblce. We may also be permitted to congratulate the House Com- rcitteo npon the return of Colonel Morgan, who had already- been sorely missed. ITe has been too faithful a servant of tha Hospital, too hard working a. mambor of the Board, for his absence not to be felt, We regard the figures provided for the Swansea. Provision of Mea.ls Committee as j one of the most reliabla indications of the industrial condition of the town. That it! is highly satisfactory just now is proved by the fact that for five weeks ended March 31st only X3 18a. was spent upon school meals. There is., indeed, no tineni- ploy meat in Swansea to-day; or there need be none if men hare the necessary facility to ohange over "mm or?o employment to I another more. in demand. The crtesat pro-perity ought to be having its effect j also npon the out-relief of the Board of C,u.-irdians; and we trust that pleasant J news will soon hé provided us from Ales- andra-road. Several letters have reached us regard- 1 ing the comment we offered on Wednes- day upon the epidemic of measles at I Swansea, their tenour Wing to support a rigorous policy at the schools as the most j effeotivo way of fighting the disease. Ouo calls our attention to th<? I Inures published in the Lancet," sliow- ing that tho rates of infantile mortality for 1915 were higher than in the corre- | I spending estimates for 191L In If)15 110 I children under one year died for every 1,000 births in England and Wales. In 19H 103 children per 1,000 births died. Another notes the fact that in the mor- tality statistics for tho past week, Swansea came high in the list in tho deaths from measles, tho figures being 2.!i per 1,000 e 0 -\RfI living. We are burning the candle at both ends. Day by day news comes to Swan- eea of the death in action of the brightest! r of its eons. (And there are no ,vords capable cf expressing the &eri £ e of loss to the community by the death of brilliant yo-ung men like Captain John Morris, one of the finest scholars the old town has evp-r turned out). The birth rate is going st,?a(3ily; for the hst nuartar of i31o it was the lowest rate recorded in any quarter sinc? the establishment of civil, I re:rístratiOn. And the inhDtile natality rafe is going up. Lrpon thi6 quiol1, the Medical Correspondent of the Times makes soma observations which are pro- foundly disconcerting. He points it. out as a significant fact that the German J population, which was 41,05.3.792 in 1871—j the year aftpr the Franco-Prussian V,or- rose to 42,727.360 in 18751, or four years later, while the French, population re- mained stationary. The German increase was the begbilin of an upward tendency which in 190? gave tho great fi;ure of I 6?,641 ?7S. The French nglue wu the be- I ginning of the decline which has Ir vcd so Gore a national burden. But the Ger- man total was not swelled only by births. It was swelled also by the prevention of infant death, which is one of the greatest ) work ? standing to the credit of a sc ientific people. A nation which had eet out to I I conquer the world could not afford to have city slums. If our plums endure much longer (says the correspondent) we ehall pay the- price in our national strength. As Dr. Robertson, of Birming- j ham, said, If the Empire is to be kept together, infant life must be preserved." Mr. T. Matthews, M.A., of Llandebie, has published, under the auspices of the I Union of Welsh Societies, a little volume -(U F'e.rt.hy'zias y Cain a' Ysgol ")—quite unique in Welsh literature. Mr Matthews, whose articles in Cymru have brought the artistic movements of our times into the homes of the peasantry, and whOôelifé of Gibson, the sculptor, is one of the most beautiful of books dealing with the Welsh- man's art, is out to transform traditional ideas of art in Wales. Ho is at war with the ugliness of our Schools, which are utterly unworthy the educa- tional ideals of the land; ancTlio crusades with the fervour of a missionary against tha modern utilitarian spirit which has made the towns and villages of Wales unlovely and drab. And recognising that he must start at the source, he has filled his new book with suggestions how the walls of our day and Sunday schools thould be decorated. He would have the walls hung with great and appealing pic- tures which would stir the imagination of the pupils and fill them with a new ?&eM? of the beaitiNI. The volume is intensely practical, and not the least I interesting of its features are the repro- j ductions of famous works. Hifi choice is catholic, but he gives pride of place to Mr. Christopher Williams' fine concep- tion Deffroad Cymru." Wo cordially reoomme-nd 'Terthynas y Cain a'r Ysgol" to all who would care to foster the love of the beautiful in Wales. In other direc- tions, in music and in poetry, Wales has developed wonderfully. In art wo still lag behind, notwithstanding the fact that Welshmen have left nei-r native land and I won eminence in painting and sculpture in the wider world. The career of a Llangyfolach boy, Evan Walters, shows that the instinct of the race is as much ¡\ towards the art of the canvas as that of the poet and the musician.

I THEFT BY GOODS GUARD I —————— Heavy Fine Imposed at J Llanelly. Thomas Pric? ?7. Wem-road; Ll?nelly, A goods guard in the employ of the G. W.K. Companr. wae charged on remand at the ktsal Police Court on Wednesday with stealing a box containing 2M cigarettes, the property of the G.W.R. Companv. Mr. T. R. Ludford a,ppeared for the prosecu- I fcion- ear t proved the t arrest, Detective Morris said the box hd. be-en consigned from Llanelly to Llano. debie. The Hnch r?gar'M t'h? case as art eA-1 I ding?r serious one, swing that the d? fendant had been placed in a position of I trust. A fine <1)£ .5.:5 was imposed.

I HEW BRITISH MEDAL I I Wednesday night's ff London Gazette I contains the intimation from the War Office, that the King, b<nng ^eAirous of signifying appreciation for acts of gal- lan.try and devotion to duty performed by non-commissioned officers and men cf the Army in the field, has by Royal warrant instituted -3 new silver medal designated the Military Medal. Th. medal will bear on the obverse the Royal effigy, and on the reverse the words For bravery in the- Field," encircled by a wreath surmounted by the Royal Cipher and a. Crow n. It is further stated that the medal will be worn immediately before all way medals, and shall be worn on the left breast pendent from a ribbon of one inch And one quarter in width( in cplour dirk blue, having in the centre threo white and two crimson stripes alternating-. In eases officers j and men who h&vo been awarded the Military Medal shsll be recommended, by a Commander-in-Chief in the Field for further acts of bravery a bar may be added to the medal aire a dy conferred, i

rHE THE INEFFECTIVENESS OF IMPORT E," 6. E  S O'? I ffi P 0 R T DilliES S!8 ALFSED MONO'S SPEECH 8m AlFED M!D'S SPEECH I I ELASTICITY OF THE COUNTRY'S! RESJ«G £ S SpGa&ing in the course of the debate on I the Budget resolutions in the House of Commons on Wednesday evening, Sir Alfred Mond said: I do not propose to follow any hon. members into the somewhat anim:?d Tnria' d?c-uesion j which has taken up a good deal of time. A& one whc. when in th? iakt Budget we were discussing the question of the intro- duction ox import duties, advised the Chancellor of the Exchequer to adopt. the simple principles of prohibition rather than the cumbersome and unsatisfactory machinery of high tariff's, I have every reason, to congratulate myself that in such a short space of time the Govern- ment have evidently become oonverted to my views. < The Strength of Our Position.. j In considering the extremely im- ports lib and phenomenally- large figures which the Chancellor of the Exchequer presented to us, I think it might be of a little intrrest for us for a moment to jc- flect upon the strength of our position financially compared with that of our chief opponent, Germany. We have beoome very much used to hearing the German Chancellor) delivering great panegyrics on German methods of finance, but I think we can congratulate oar&eives, and th Chartoellor of the Exchequer has every reason to bo proud of it, that w-oerea-s we J are raj sing vast sums of revenue from our people, ius- German Chancellor of tha Exchequer has not £ roin the beginning of the war succeeded in raismq one wt-nny piece of new taxation, ycfe he constantly assures us that he, is economically so strong that we have no chance of com- peting with them. I think that i6 a phe- nomenon on which we have evary reason to congratulate ourselves. (Cheers.) I thiulc it is a point we can well bE-ar in mind because its importance will luecome i groator add greater at5 Cho war goes on. |j (Hear, hear.) A Profligate Past, The right hon- gentleman pointed out on Tuosday the fact that vcry j large burdens in taxation would be im- posed, and necessairly imposed, for the payment oi interest on debn and sinking fund. We at any rate are covering that burden out of taxation. Our Germaill rivals have not covered one penny piece of interest in that way, much less sinking fund, since they began the war. In fact they arc engaged in the process of borrow- ic? n?v m?rey in order to pay the in- terest on old lan". (H?r. hcar.? A pi?ai- S<? œ.st in finance i? bound to s-eno?sly impede them, and will leave them in a state of financial chaos when the war is over. I think that is an important point to remember. Germany's lmrort Duties, A further interesting fact to re- member is that no weapon has proved more ineffective in financing this war than import duties. (lImH, hear.) The Ger- man Empire's revenue was largely derived from import duties before the war—nearly = £ 3i,0C0:(>0{) of revenue out of £ 82,000,000 was derived from import duties, v,hich have all stopped. What has been the re- sult of this method of finance in a war like this ? Xot only haH) they been unable to expand their revenue as we have, but their revenue has great.lv diminished, and the taxes which they raise now have not enahlpdthem to meet interest and other contingencies, and they are Dot able to bala-nce even their own Budget. I think these points are worth remembering at a hme when very great burdens are being placed upon our shoulders by the Chan- e-elloll of the Exchequer. (Hear, hear.) Railway Tax a Blemish. I think the Chancellor of the Exchequer is to be congratulated on the very favour- able way in which his Budget has bom received. With the exception of the rail- way i-ax whic.h, I think, is rather a blemish on his otherwise rather excellent proposals, there ought to be no difficulty in obtaining his Finance Bill. Several ob- jections have been raised to the railway tax. I do not. suopose the right, hon. gentleman would ever have proposed snch j a tTs: in ordinary peace times. May I make a suggestion which I think would t over one of the most serious points tha.t has been raised, and tba.t is the increase of charges for travelling to people who a.re daily going up and down to their work. Extension of Free Mileage. May I point out in passing that the erection of now munition works and the labour concentrated on these munition works has caused a great deal more rail- j way travelling even from further dis- lances at the present tilin by working men than is usual!y tho case in peace ,(', ea,e IrL Pea co times. What I world, suggest is that the right hon. gentleman should extend the area of froo travel. I think the mileage which he mentioned on Tuesday iy too small to cover our suburban traffic, t'lHi I j think it is too smalltl) cover a. good deal of the traffic of the working men going to their work and back from their work every day. (Hear, hear.) I think if the right, lion, gentleman would extend the free mileage to, ray, twenty miles, be would get. over a great deal of the just criticism to which this Lax has been ex- posed. I do not -thi.nk he ne-edtrou He very much about the gentleman from the north of tb p Tweed. The hon. member for East Edinburgh (Mr. Hoggo) com- plained. that his railway fare would be much increased, but if you begin on that line therA -nFil be no revenue left at all when revenue if, sorely needed. The Income Tax. I In regard to Income Tax there seem?, to ba one or two rather important practical points to be Musidere-d. The right hon. gentleman in proposing hi5 new 5s. Income pen+ le,.ilan inc:)mœmid this M a Ta-t iinea?n+,(l inc?-)nlos -,ii(i tLi,- ii. al source, and that of course, in accordance with the usual practice, abatements would be claimed by those who are entitled to cl,-tini I would point cut is this. that if he taxes a person having an unearned income of a five shilling Income Tax deduested at the source would ia:t of (ii actunlly recovered by the Treasury finally would be 10 sniinea-s. The. result would be that a vary large sum proportionately to the nerson's income would be rotainpd by freasurv. for a vory long pericd, in- deed. because it 13 kef; a very long time to an abatement back frcm the Trea- sury, ;;¡nc1 fhe Chancellor w<r<nld have n ,,y disproportionate part of ,-h:,t Pêr-I ?01 ? ircM?p in Tu« po?sessi?-a for n brn'" without payincr interest. I do rot w I quite how the dilTi'-ulty is be overcome, biil T do -Msink that if the right hon. j' •rerrtleman Trill look into it he will seo in regard to claims for abatement that the system cf treatment requires speeding up very much. If y,1 make a. claim for abatement in one .financial year, practi- cally it is never paid until the next financial year. That means a very lai-ge, delay in time. Ths Super Tax. Formerly when the Income Tax was relatively small the amount was email, but now that you are taking away the very large amount of 5s. in the £ from people who have really small incomes Ht.:0 £ 200 or £ 300 these questions become of much, more vital importance than thev were before. Turning to another point, the Chancellor said on Tuesday that he vould not increas-3 8ilper tax. For that many of us are duly grateful. But in Lln indireol: way he has increased super tax. As the super tax is levied on the totil income, including income tax, every in- crease in the income tax means that you are clearly paying a higher suiter t.x. The rate of super tax on tile income which you actually receive worked out on a percentage ie automatically increased by the amount of ÙICI)lO-e tax which you take r D m it. away from it. I have pleaded before, and I ask again whether -.ke caiuiot have supei- tax put on a more reasonable and fair basis. (Hear, hear). It is one of the most monstrous propositions that you have tù pay a 'ax ui iss. Gd. in the R now OIl the 5s. in the £ ineomc tax which you never see. (Hear, hear.) It is quite unfair and quite, un- reasonable, and j* has a double disadvan- tage, that the super tax. payer never <,et& the credit in the public mind for the taxation to which he is subject, and the does not realise that by increasing the income he is also increasing the super tax. Exocss Profits Tax, There is another point in the right hon. gentleman's speech which requires further explanation. How is Ile going to deal with the question of controlled works d the excess profits tax ? I understood from the right hon. gentleman that ha is going to make the best of both worlds. 11 you are interested in controlled works, which- ever comes out. worse for the proprietor is what the Treasury are going to take. May I point out to the right hon. gen:le- man ohe difficulty; that is that the period of amounting for excess proiite tax and the period of accounting for controlled works arc entirely different and distinct, and -do not: run contemporaneously? How a.lh those intervening months to be iustod ? A Patriotic Gamble." May I also point out that a number of works have bean put up in this country which aro making a very large profit by agreement with the Minister of Munitions on the baeis that these profits shall as a sinking fund, ati the works probably •ouki not be required after LLu wai Obviously if those wnrks are. to be treated for excess profits tax on the same basis as works which ate going to continue m the ordinary way after the war. a grave injustice will bo done, and more than injustice, grave financial ruin will be caused. (Hear, hear.) I have in tny mind explosive works which, "were started recently for the supply of a certain type of explosives to tho Mini&ter of Muni- tions. The whole financial calculation was based on tho fa.;t that if the war lasted for a certain time the capital would be returned and a relatively small profit would be made. It w<M mere or lt? a patriotic gamble rather than ? good 001ll"¡ mercval trans-action, but if the profit is to> be subject to px(.-t?? prohts tax, c? Murse the whole finaneid ?ra?m-o on which this and thousands of similar easos have been based naturally falls; to the ground I do not imagine that the .right hon. gentleman wL&hcs to c!o anything of the kind. I draw his attention to this point because it is one that will require very serious consideration. Double Set of Accounts, Peaonally I think it an enormous pity tliat wo have these. two systems of taxa- tion in existence. (Cheers.) The amount of worry which is looing caused to indus- trial concerns by the double set of ay counts which are required by the different forms of taxation, and the uncertainty which exists us to the manner -in they are going to be levied, are really a very grave cavse of trouble and anxioty for those who are engaged in trying to turn out munitions and other war materials for the country. (Hear, hear.) I dare say that the right hon. gentleman's | solution is the best that can be axrived at, but why cannot we leave the con- trolled establshments alone under the existing arrangements? At the present time 1 believe that even those arrange- ments are not at all definitely settled, while they are struggling on the one h^nd with the Minister of Munitions to try to arrive at soma basis on which controlled profits are to be worked t ut a thing which I believe has not yet been done-. surely they might be spared the addi. tional trouble of endeavouring to arrive with tha right hon. gentleman's depart- ment at a settlement of the question how ths excess profits are to be ascertained. (Hear, hear.) An Element of Certainty. There are. of course, other points in the very complicated and large schemes of the right hon. gentleman which undoubt- edly will oome. up ibr diecussion when tl") Finance Bill is introduced and I dare z-ty that he will elucidate what he meant when he spoke about the sale of profit-producing assets ooming under Excess Profits Tax ana how the machinery of tba.t is going to be arranged. But it is better to reserve any remarks on this subject until we have the Finance Bill before us. The right hon. gentleman's task has been no easy one. He has litd thrust on bim a burden greater than any Chancellor has ever had to bear. The elasticity of the country's resources Las como to him as a welcome surprise, and it bhs come as a great disappointment to those who considered that this country was in a decadent condition. (Cheers.) It baas given an element of certainty to or Allies. Question of Economic Alliance. Some horn members seem to object that the right hon. gentleman has not seized this opportunity of inserting into a War Budget previsions which might serve as the basis of an economic alliance with our Allies. The right hon. getitleman would have been guilty of extraordinary folly if he had tried to mingle such difficult, and such varied topics in the sam^ document. Tho question of a.n economic alliance with our Allies is one that, requires solution not in a Finance Bill for the war, but re- quires most careful consideration of all the interests involved in the highly com- plicated questions that must arise. What the right hon. gentleman has shown our Allies is, that the financial stability on which they havo depended so much, to assist them during this wax is unim- paired, and that this country is capably ready and willing to make great ifnancial sacrifices unparalleled in the history of any country, including our own, and that these sacrifkxss will continue until th* victory for which we have etarieel out is achieved successfully and finally. (Cheers.) Read a First Time. BudS,t new duties i agreed to and the Chancellor of the Es. chequer, amid cheers, brought, in the Finance (New .Duties^ Bill, which was formally read a first time. Consideration of the remaining Budget resolutions was adjourned.

Mr. Rnnciman, in reply to a deputation from the West Kitting section ciHic Asso- dated Chambers of' Commerce, promised On Wednesday to give attention to the question of facilitating conI supplies for indu&vrial concerns 4

A WELS?M FR8M  POLYNESIA. AN MZAC ROMANCE (BY W. B. S.) SOME w?ks ago I paid a visit to aa ?? English couYa!?:tent hospital, where ??? a wmmded relative hml been fnr some time recuperating. Passing out through the dror of the ward, I repeated a warm farewell in Welsh, and hardly had I do no so when a soft voice, in tho room through which I had to pass greeted me; "Say, sir, what language was that you spoke.? I told him. and a ploa.s-.uiL ,smile indicated the stranger's interest- Seating my-stlf beside hjm, I inquired about his welfare and whero he from. Ho was an Anzac man from Galli- poli: would I esse to listen to his story ? 1 locked at. the, dark-skinned, virile youth of twenty«even, a-ad, like the wedding in the hands of -the Ancient Mariner," felt that I could not but hear. His Is!and Home. His home was a little island under sway of Britain in the far Pacific tteeen. The first lien's of the ivar had c,7)ln, ot them early in September, when the Ger- man colony of Samoa bad been seiatd by a military foreo from Now Zealand. Tho news passed from island to island, and later there came tidings'that contingents from Australia and Now Zealand wer^ being recruited for operations in Europe. He was engaged at the. time in the "copra" industry, but, impelled by t].>••» call, and entertaining a vague hope th-t it might land him ultimately among of his father s people, he sltippod ahoaid a boat that had been chartered for Syaiw. Arnvod in Australia, he began to that his dark skin and .Polynesian origin, would prej udice his chances for inclusUm a.m.ong the first contingent. Off to the War. By chance, however, ho crossed tho path, of a man who had just oome down from the bush country with the same object in view. Finding that the newcomer was tho son of a Glamorgan farmer who had emigrated to Australia in tho eighties, ho corufided his own Welsh errtraction to him. and from that moment all diihculti'.o vanished. A kindly Scottish cAfir, named Sees, included them at one in Iris battalion, and together they ultimately sailed for, Europe with the first force of Australians. They took part in the perilous landiig which has deeply graven the name of Gallipoli on the records of hundreds of Antipodean honias. Ho was badly wounded during an attack on the Turkish position* some weeks later, and, losing sight of his gallant comrade, was at length brought via Egypt to this country. Ho would soon bo well enough to go to the front again, and it would bo a pleasant msmory to Lim, in flays to come, that he ha<i to-day met a friend from his father'* nativo land. Epic of a Father. ';0 But you have told nus nothing about your fathr," I remarked. ha n-is been dead nearly seventeen years," wa^ the reply, He was killed on an island come leagues from our home, where 11'3 happened to be trading at that period. A band of natives-—thev were little better than cannibals at that timi--lod by a half-bred German pirate, raided and burnt the email missionary settlement to -hira y my father resorted whenever he was in that region. He was at the ee.tfde- ment when the raid took place, and ho fell fighting valiantly in its defence: that is all we know. You have already gathered from my colour that my mother is  nath-p of the PaciRc: hut' ?hf j a good woman, and trp?s?r?? all my Hit'?r'? possessions, particularly the little NV,,15!), Testament upon which he had inscribed his name." The Wandering Welshman. How came your fathex to wander to far from home-" He had served before the mast lor some years before he t-vf J "I down for a short time at Buenos A was the reply. "Ther¡> he met a fellow- countryman, who introduced him to a young lady from the Welsh settlement of Chubut. Though she did not return hi-j attentions, he followed her down south to her home. The journey proved fruitless and in despair my father shipped aboard a Pacific trader. Being of an adventurous nt' an 11 li n t;-i i-c ii disposition, the lifo ot a. sea-rover suited him, and he stuck to it. Wtpn I was lv- tween nine and ten, and old enough to understand, he need to recite to me ihe tale of his adventures. lIe had been lHorp. than once in the clutches of Bullv Hayes, thp terror of the Pacific, as he was called, but had been fortunate enough to escape each time with his life. Ila," was a pirate who thought little of svrur;. ing up a restive captive at the yard-orm. Some of the vorages my father made were very perilous, and others adventur- ous in the extreme. Of one • particular journey he had pleasant reminifccrcr«s. He was mate of a ship which, by chancy, carried the celebrated missionary. Mr. Chalmers, home to Earotonga, after visit to a neighbouring island. An Echo of Tarrmte. My father's admiration for Tamat. a? the natives called him, was boucdi?fs. The mi?ioQary'g devotion to Rarntonga seemed to have greatly helped my fa<htr to come to a final decision and to fit In down for g-cod I i the Pacific., And, if 1 live to see the end of this war, 1 shall return there mvself after a -kort stav i with new comrades in Australia. Who knows, I might eee you there, too. sums day," Thus ended my chat with tin's-/well- educated young fellow, upon whom influence of the missionary school was apparent. Despite his dark skin, he hf- j frayed the goofi manners and quiet re- serve which one would expect to find iv the well-bred descendant of a British sailer. "j" "■'»

GERMAN LIGHT ON THE WAft. Why did von Klud asfide whAfi Paris was almost witnin his g!f,-õp? In anonymous pamphlet, having the plain, though invisible imprimatur of Gernoas a acd published in 7. ti purports tn give the trnefad", of matter. The explanation offered is thai th? a-nui?s of the right and f?ntr? h-^ be como exhausted, that rf?p]"-?. f?d. ?'?' munitions were short, that Liege, Nanuv.- Xa'?'?' and Maubeu? did not fall at the righi time, that Antwerp necessitated a div sion. and that Russia attacked too t-ot If tho explanation is !'Tthing Hk? c,- r^t, th? III-L"-Clll Ch-,irc i: uAy havo to re?'se th?n' opinions..

The Units Concert Party provid<,dl t celient musical fare ior the soldier?'-t the Swansea YAI.C.A. Hospital on ,r..d. nosday evening. Thp artiste? wore )1is'¡' Flossis Beynon, Alice MainwarinCi Oladsi Griffiths, Lily Harris, Beatrice. Prate. and Eva Beynon, A.C.V. Miss Emmie Jones presided at the piano. C'igarettes were provided by Mrs. Llewellvu GirfTitl:s. h Born in Con ^fan-tinepic. thç. *=on r.i Turk. I a-In registered enemy alien, but my brother, born in Malta, is a- British subject and soldier," said a man ia a Lon- don court. Am -terdem. Wednesday.According j, i fhe Yossische Zeitung," Lieu.t.-<Tenpr ■. von Dunne:- has died of wounds recfl&vot [ on the battlefield.—Reuter.