Barry Dock News

A LETTER FROM LONDON., I BY "TIIOUGHX-READER." I WESTMINSTER. I TOO IMPORTANT TO BE IGNORED. I met a queer man on Tuesday. All London was talking of the amazing things reported from Russia, and when I mentioned them to this queer man he said something about the weather. Presently, by way of accounting for his evasion of my topic, he told me that ever since the beginning of the war he had left Russia out of his survey. The field of mili- tary operations was so vast," he said, I de- liberately ignored the existence of the for- tunes of war on the Russian front, and I have saved myself a lot of unnecessary elation and avoided a lot of depression. Just now you are ail depressed and worried by the Russian per- plexities; I am absorbed chiefly in what is happening on the Western front. When Russia has settled down a bit it will be time enough for me to correct my perspective. For the moment I'm going to stick to my three years old rule and leave Russia out of the picture. I thought immediately of the ostrich and its way of seeming to avoid danger by burying its head in the sand. But the man I was talking with is by no means a fool, and later I won dered whether he was not representative of r. type-a type that really finds the World War too big a subject to envisage as a whole, and so, with more wisdom than at first appears, adopts the expedient of eliminating some chunks of it. I think that type realty exists. The parish pump is the centre of their in t-erest, in domestic as well as in inlernationaL affairs, and an appeal to them to enlargc- their outlook is pretty lifeless. But the appeal needs to be made—one cannot expcct a sane judgment on some happenings of to day if one ignores otlJer r-elated happening 1 which have a vital influence on that which j will be history, world history, to-morrow. I LIBERTY'S ROUGH PATHWAY. The days in which we are living arc ciaiii full of tense moments. Civilisation is in the melting-pot; there is a war on, and a war thai, is not merely a clash of armaments, but a fearsome clash of ideas and ideals. Liberty i" struggling for a fuller expression of all that Liberty stands for, and the forces of re action are active to keep Liberty bound in chains. Only last week we in Britain were gladdened by the passing of an Act of Parlia- ment which will bring millions more of our people—16,000,000 in all—into active partici- pation in the privilege of representative Gov- ernment this week discloses Liberty in another part of the world placed in jeopardy of her greatest foe. It is it,? aefoer us to rejoice greatly on the advance of democracy here at a mo- ment when democracy is heavily imperilled as democracy is to-day in Russia; it is sloth- ful and wicked to ignore the danger of the set- back merely because it is geographically a long way off. Russia may be out of the war. That fact. may advantage the enemy greatly in the later stages of the conflict. It means that the Allies who remain will have a far heavier task to tackle before they achieve the purpose they have in view. But that is not all. It may mean—and this is the greatest danger—that before ihe war is ended the great democracy of Russia, which less than a year ago shook itself free from the tyranny ct Czardom, will be enmeshed and intrigued in the worse tyranny of Prussian militarism. This is no moment for finding individual com- fort or ease of mind by ignoring what is tak- ing .place on the other side of Europe. That attitude savours of the Bolshevism that seems wickedly to have left Liberty in Russia to the "mercies" of her ruthless foe. I TWO VIEWS OF THE BOLSHEVIKS. Here in London I fiud there are a;aoi;;i:j people who actively debute {ho I? ursKi:: puzzle two distinct schools of thought iL There are many who believe that Russia has been basely betrayed by men with itching palm; there are others who attribute the- present unhappy state of things to the help- lessness of fanatical idealists brought faro to face with stern and practical "realities. Time will show whether Lenin or Trotsky, ov both, have been playing t!u>-part of knave or of fool. If the former-but we I)Icd not i!i>- cuss that. If the latt-er, what a lesfon it teaches us as to the folly of entrusting power to mere dreamers. For the Bolsheviks arc dreamers of the most unpractical type thnr ever existed. Leaving out of account alto- gether the possibility of the iiidiiciire of German gold, they have proceeded on hope- lessly futile lines ever since they began to undermine Kerensky's ail-too shor: leader snip ot Kussian nationalism. They sapped the fighting spirit of the Russian soldiers by telling them that if they slopped fighting thc war would come to an c-il BECAUSE THE workers of Ger'n..oJ and of other belligerent nations would immediately take the necessary steps to stop it. Here was the idea of the "sympathetic strike" in an entirely new form. They imagined that all that was neces- sary was to pass resolutions embodying idea] istic views and a brotherhood. of nations would spring into existence forthwith. They failed entirely to realise what they were up against in the German railitnry machine. They forgot the great practical truth which has ever been the watchword of fr.-bts for Liberty: "Who would be free himself must strike the blow." And now they have landed themselves into an impossible position, and at the moment it seems that Giant Russia will be left like a rudderless leviathan in the ocean, the prey of the German waves licking hungrily at her sides. PEACE WITHOUT VICTORY MEANS SURRENDER. The lesson of it all for us is that the great Bolshevik fiasco is a prince example to deter. The Bolsheviks decline to sign a pepee agree- ment, and have ordered the demobilisation of the Russian armies. Peace without victory— as they will find unless the Russian people should shake themselves together for a final effort to save themselves from the threatening danger—means absolute snrlender, and sur- render to forces that will swiftly crush 0:1i the life of?the young Liberty to i? hIch Hussia gave j birth last year. Liberty everywhere r.ee<!« gentle nurture, j You cannot establish it, as the Russian revolu- tionaries have wrongly endeavoured to estab- lish it, by a stroke of the pen. The free in- stitutions which are the most priceless possessions of the English-speaking race, have been built up little by little on foundations laid with such care that we are very jealous what we place upon them. How slowly we I have extended our franchise And even that is not yet complete. Russia's new men failed to note the lesson they might have learnt from us there. They thought to create the whole magic of a free democracy by a magic stroke —and they have landed their country into a hideous tangle of anarchy, with a pitiless enemy clawing at Russian territory and preparing to take full advantage of a great nation in her hour of domestic travail. It must- be our part to do everything possible to limit and avert the danger that is here threatened to civilisation. We must put on one side all idea of any peace without victory, for such a peace would mean all the triumph that Germany needs just now; and it would mean, worst of all, that the world never again would be safe for democracy. Do not make the mistake of thinking that democracy has failed in Russia-democracy can never fail if rightly expressed. Wriat has happened is that Russia is -suffering from one of the inevitable setbacks of revolution—evil forces are always liberated in the upheavals of revolution which ibecome intensely active and highly mischiev- ous before the slower-moving, less-volatile ¡ spirit of the real democracy asserts itself. We must help Russia to recover, for qijr own sake ) MweUasforhers. 1 t

BARRY PUBLIC LIBRARY COMMITTEE. The monthly meeting of Barry- Public Library Committee was held on Thursday evening last, the Chair- man (Mr. D. W. Roberts, J.P.), pre- siding. The members in attendance were Mr. J. Lowdon, J.P., J. O. Davies, W. R. Lee, J.P., J. E. Levers, J.P., D. Lloyd, J. R. Llewel- lyn, J. Felix Williams, Rev. Ben Evans, John Jones, G. Coles, and John Evans. The Librarian's report showed thaf the lending library had been opened on 24 occasions during the month, and 5,670 publications were issued.— Classification of religion and philo- sophy 30, history 59, economics, 25, poetry and drama 28, fiction 4,497, biography 69, travel 102, science and arts 150, miscellaneous 164, magazines 281, and reference 239; weekly average 1,417, compared with 1,489 last year. Donations included three copies of star maps for 1918, presented by Mr. W. Smith, Holton- road; A.B.C. and X.Y.Z. of Bee Culture (Root), presented by Mr. J. Lowdon, J.P., and two volumes of the History of Wales (Woodward) and Rivington's Story of Luther's Life, given by Mr. John Evans, Barry. The use of the ladies' magazine room was granted for three weeks to the District Council for audit pur- poses. The remainder of the business was of a routine nature. • +.

-r A LONG WAY TO TIPPERARY," BUT THE WONDERFUL MERITS OF BAKER'S BACK- ACHE PELLETS ARE KNOWN THERE. All over the United Kingdom, Baker's Backache Pellets are becom- ing widely known as a remedy to be relied upon. An Irishman at Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary, suf- fered continual agonies from excru- ciating pains in the back, due to kid- ney trouble. He tried various reme- dies, but obtained no relief, and i almost despaired of recovering his former health. At last he bought a 1/3 box of Baker's Backache Pellets. I The effect was astonishing. After the first dose the pain began to shift, and he now writes Baker's Back- ache Pellets are the very best medi- i cine I have ever had." There is no doubt that Baker's Backache Pellets are a positive cure for Backache, Rheumatism, Lumbago, Sciatica, Gravel, Dizziness, and all Kidney- troubles. Mr. H. B. Horsfall, of 155, Locking-road, Weston-super-Mare, writes "I had muscular rheuma- tism in my back for five months, but Baker's Backache Pellets moved it when everything else failed." Get a box to-day. Price 1/3, of all chemists, or post free in plain wrap- per direct from Baker's Medicine Co., 1, Southampton-row, London, W.C. 1.

I BARRY WOMEN'S AID TO 1 PRISONERS OF WAR. I A whist drive and dance, held at St. Mary's Hall, Barry Docks, on Monday week last, under the auspices of the Barry Dock Women Unionists' Association, realised a substantial amount for the Evening Express Starving Prisoners' Fund. There was a numerous attendance, and the M.C. Mr. W. Hopkins, performed his duties to the satisfaction of all. Re- freshments were provided, and the dancing continued till about one o'clock. The successful organisation of the enjoyable affair was undertaken by Alrs. Bevin. to whom thanks are due. The prize-winners in the whist drive were Miss Marjorie Angrove and Mr. J. Maddison.

BARRY HOSPITALS COMMIT- TEE. The monthly meeting of Barry Hospitals Committee was held on Thursday afternoon last, Mr. F. C. Milner presiding. Mr. J. E. Levers' J.P., was also present. Dr. Lawrence Pick, deputy super- intendent of the Accident Hospital reported that during the month there had been 30 admissions, and 31 dis- charged, leaving 16 under treatment. Mrs. Augustus, matron of the In- fectious Diseases Hospital, reported that since the previous meeting there had been six admissions, three dis- charged, and two deaths, four remain- ing under treatment. The passing of the accounts consti- tuted the remainder of the business.

PRICE OF DENTISTRY. Having had a large Stock of DEN- TAL MAIERIALS on hand, I have not yet increased my cost of ARTIFI- CIAL TEETH through the War, and can supply a few more sets at the old fees.-M. SAINSBURY, 46, New- land-street, Barry Docks. 2'Â: :.1T_+ .? "7'