The Pembroke County Guardian and Cardigan Reporter

THE COUNTY EDUCATION AUTHORITY. We must confess we have no sympathy with the St. Davids Parish Council in the view the members of that body take of the appointment of a clerk of works to the County Education Authority. It is possible the councillors of the ancient city possess some exclusive, information not open to us; and in the absence of that we can only base our views upon what we know of the present, and can surmise of the pros- pective, work to be done in this county in the matter of the building and repairing of schools. No business man would embark upon, say, half-a-dozen different building schemes, at places widely apart, without making some pro- vision for seeing that he had value for his money. Yet that is exactly what the mistaken cheese-paring, of the good people of St. Davids apparently wish to be done. The architect to the authority is admittedly too full-handed to give his personal supervision of the work, as is shown by the fact that plans have been too long delayed, as in the case of Fishguard, for example. It would be an act of sheer folly to place economy before efficiency as, apparently, the St. Davids people desire. The county appears to have got an excellent servant who, if we mistake not, will be a terror to the slip- shod contractor, and of real service to the rate- payers, by seeing that they get value for their money. The action of the authority in the matter of the Puncheston non-provided school is much less satisfactory. We are not the apologists for the Puncheston managers, but they seem, though somewhat tardily, to have at last resyocteu the wishes of the education authority. Tnat being so the authority would have been doing no more than justice in with- drawing tne ban placed on the school, it would, at any rate, have been better than the undignified and heated personal feeling shown by the chairman in "forbidding" the dis- cussion of the subject. In another matter, we can congratulate the county upon the prospect that the injustice hitherto done to intermediate education in the Principality is about to be redressed. Thanks to th i. much- abused body, the Central Welsh Board, interme- diate education in Wales has been brought \o such a high state of efficiency that it is the envy of our Saxon neighbours; but hitherto the "pre- dominant partner" has had a much larger share of the money given from the National Exche- quer than we have had. We are now promised that that inequality shall be remedied, and in that case the increased grant will mean a great deal to some of the county schools which at present barely make ends met. Apparently the County Education Authority has at last realised, what we have been trying for some weeks to make clear, that the enforcing of the provisions of the Act to provide for the medical examination of all children in the elementary schools of the icounty will be, if a necessary, most assuredly a very expensive matter. We have shown why this must necessarily be the case. To medically examine some 13,000 or 14,000 children at the outset, and of a third of that number annually must, under any cir- cumstances, entail a heavy burden upon the ratepayers, who have long been crying out against heavy and increasing rates. It is too heavy a financial drag upon a relatively poor and struggling community such as ours, and if it is borne by Imperial taxation some share of the burden may be divided between sturdier shoulders than our own. In asking that this should be an Imperial tax the county authority have decided wisely. «.

"Imperia" Suits are for professional and business men who insist upon everything they have being good. Will you see them? Made to measure or ready to wear.—David Davies, Outfitter, etc., 18, High Street, Haverfordwest.

In Belfast the medical officer on Tuesday re- currence of cerebro-spinal meningitis, six pa- tients being in the Workhouse Infirmary under treatment. It is exactly a year ago since spot- ted fever made its appearance in Belfast.

COUNTY NOTES. Speaking at Milford Haven on Friday night, Mr. Owen Philipps made a very smart hit at the visionary people who are proposing to abolish poverty by nationalising all our indus- tries. He drew their attention to the fact that we have nationalised the means of producing big war-ships at Pembroke, and invited Social- ists to assist him in getting our warships built in the national rather than private yards. If they would give an undertaking of that kind, or, rather, if they would put their shoulder to' the wheel, it would savour more of practical politics than idle talk of confiscating property, so that it should "become the propery of the nation afrer a certain number of years, in the same way as patents become public property after the prescribed time." In another part of the same speech the Member for the boroughs referred to our exports of fish into Spain and Portugal, and our imports of wines from those countries. Our Tariff Reform friends will pro- bably seize upon Mr. Philipps' admissions upon this matter on some future occasion. On the Dockyard question the member held out hopes of brighter days in the immediate future. f » The proceedings at the Haverfordwest Petty Sessions on Monday amply justified the stric- tures we passed upon the harsh conduct of the police in asking, and of the magistrates in granting, that the man William Byron Crouch should be sent to gaol for ten days while they tried to prove him guilty of a criminal offence. At the end of ten days the police appeared to have learned as much as they might have found out in as many hours, or even less, if they had not been so eager to secure a con- viction. It is certainly unusual for a stranger to go to bed, even in a house "licensed to accommodate man and beast," without the permission of his landlord, but surely if he is able to pay for his accommodation it is not such a heinous and criminal offence that he should be sent to gaol without trial for ten days. It savours too much of the Texan jury plan of hanging a man and trying him after- wards, to suit English notions of fairness. If William Byron Crouch had powerful friends instead of being a mere wanderer on the face of the earth, he might make matters a bit awkward. 4t An inquest held at Milford Haven last Satur- day does not make pleasant reading. A young man, the support of a widowed mother, was allowed to die under circumstances of almost revolting and callous indifference on the part of those who might have saved him. One witness found him groaning on the cabin floor, but thought the man was "merely drunk," and passed on; whereas if he had stooped down he would have seen that the poor fellow was simply being smothered. It is a brutal story, and it is not lightened by a juror's flippant remark that if he had touched the man he might have got "a punch on the nose." ir It Whatever else the session may bring forth, it is not likely to give us any remission of taxation. There will be no reduction in the cost of the army and navy, and with the ever- increasing demands of the other great spending departments, and the provision required for Old Age Pensions, it is certain that Mr. Asquith will have all his work cut out to make both ends meet without turning to fresh or increased taxes. Our Pembrokeshire farmers, therefore, need not hope for any relief from this quarter; and they must content them- selves with keeping a keen eye on county and local expenditure, and see that no unnecessary expenditure is incurred either by county, bor- ough, urban or rural council. lir It t Col. Ivor Philipps, M.P., and Mr. Palmer Morgan have each drafted their schemes for dealing with the main reads question. Copies are now in the hands of the county councillors, and it is probable that the matter will be dealt with at next week's meeting of the County Council. The Pembroke Town Council appears to be of opinion that the new scheme will confer benefits upon rural areas at the expense of urban districts, and the Town Clerk has placed himself in communication with the Haverfordwest Town Council in order that united action may be taken to safeguard urban interests, » t » The meeting of the Joint Committee at Pem- broke Dock to further the scheme for making Milford Haven a naval base was very satis- factory, inasmuch as the reports Mr. Merriman was able to make of the reception given to the proposal by various public bodies showed how wide and general is the support we can count upon. Practically South Wales is unanimous in support of the proposal, and in North Wales it is also well supported. In England, natur- ally the opinions are divided. Elsewhere we give a detailed list of the supporters of the scheme. What remains to be done is to put this support into a concrete shape and lay the matter before the Admiralty, and a powerful and influential deputation was appointed for this purpose. i ? 3r The three members of the Haverfordwest Borough Committee-the Mayor, Councillors J. Reynolds, and G. M. Phillips—who made the extraordinary recommendation that the Town Improvements Committee should be charged a prohibitive rent for the use of the Council Chamber, ought to be asked to give a further explanation than the very insufficient one they gave at the meeting on Tuesday. It is surely not enough to say that they accepted the ipso dixit of a mere caretaker, a person who regards every user of the Council Chamber as a sort of natural enemy, as sufficient data upon which to base such an outrageous charge. They may be sure that the Town Improvements Commit- tee will want a further explanation, and that the caretaker who so wantonly and ignorantly flouted the leading residents of the town will be called to account. v v IP It was found necessary to publish in the London "Gazette" the names of the Earl of Cawdor as president, Col. Walker as chairman, and Col. Lloyd as vice-chairman of the Pem- brokeshire County Association, in order to sig- nify the approval of the Army Council to these appointments. No fewer than 90 county as- sociations have already been incorporated, and ten Welsh counties, including Pembrokeshire, are forming associations for the raising and subsequent administration of the units of the proposed Welsh Territorial division. In a few weeks all the associations in Wales will be getting to work in real earnest, and it is recog- nised that there is no time be lost if the Welsh Territorial division is to be organised with reasonable dispatch. The Secretary of State for War asserts that the Territorial force will be from the first more than a mere nominal existence, and that. it will be quickly formed, though he admits that in some respects theie will be some slow moving during the present year. It will not, as already indicated, be a difficult task to form the Territorial units in Pembrokeshire, because, so far as one can as- certain, the majority of those now serving in the local Imperial Yeomanry Regt. and the Pembrokeshire Volunteer Battalion will be transferred to the new force; but generally speaking, in different parts of Wales it will be a difficult task to organise the Territorial force, because many officers and men will be called upon to abandon the role which they have, perhaps, for many years played as Volunteers. t t 1t There is a rumour, which appears well found- ed, that the shipbuilding programme to be carried out during the ensuing financial year will be much more extensive than that origin- ally proposed, and that after all more work will be given to Pembroke Dockyard, as well as the other more important establishments at Portsmouth, Devonport, etc., than a few weeks ago appeared likely to be the case. The Ad- miralty not only recognise that it is impera- tive to build more ships than was originally contemplated, but appear inclined to give more work to the Royal 'yards instead of to private firms-at any rate, to such extent as to obviate the necessity of large reductions in the estab- lishments, which a month or two ago it was feared would have to take place. We are bound to keep pace with our rivals as regards the construction of new vessels for the I Navy, and it is no economy whatever to make great re- ductions at establishments like Pembroke Dock- yard, to say nothing of the more important establishments at Portsmouth, etc. As already indicated in these notes, it is generally antici- pated that the 2nd Battalion Wiltshire Regi- ment will be transferred Itom Pembroke Dock to another station some time this year, and will be replaced by another battalion, which will mean that the original proposal that Pem- broke Dock should cease to be the centre for an infantry battalion has been abandoned. The removal of the infantry from Pembroke Dock would mean not only that there would be no infantry available for the Welsh coast defences, but there would not then be a single regular infantry battalion in the whole of the Western command.

ON THE SQUARE. From a letter in another column it will be seen that we have laid the sins of "T. M." somewhat unjustly upon the shoulders of the author of the "Baptist Historical Sketches," who has, like all good historians, made little disgressive footnotes indicating the source of his information in each case. We have only to say that Mr. Roberts confuses the term, "Eng- lish name," with "English meaning." For instance, the English "name" of the town in which this paper is printed is Haverfordwest, but the English "meaning" of its Welsh name (Hwlffordd) is quite different. Now we hold that no one would recognise "Treffgarne" in the form of "Cairnton," although the word "Cairnton" may correctly convey the meaning of the Welsh word "Trefgarn." It is also geographically inaccurate to put "Pebyddiog" in the "lower" part of the county, for as a matter of fact it is in the "upper," or north part of the county. The real culprit, however, is "T. M. the author whom Mr. Roberts quotes. Even the central luminary has its "spots," and the volume to which we referred is illuminating apart from such minor inac- curacies. ? t ? The following extract from the "Bristol Times and Mirror," which was taken from the "Bristol Mirror," published January 23rd, 1808, will, we feel sure, be of much interest to our readers:—"Last week Lord Kensington enter- tained a gay and numerous party of fashion- ables at his delightful residence, Westmead, Pembrokeshire, when the proverbial" hospitality of his family was most happily exemplified. His Lordship is a great patron of old British customs and athletic exercises, and among the many feats of strength and agility exhibited by his sportive friends, the one performed by Mr. Phelps deserves to be recorded. Mr. P. carried Lord Kensington, who weighs 17 stone, and ran 50 yards against Mr. W. H. Scourfield, who was to run 100 yards, for a considerable wager, which Mr. P. won with wonderful ease, to the astonishment of the spectators. Mr. P. is above five feet six inches high, and remark- ably slender." t t t Our lady readers will be surprised to hear that Madame Patti is not afraid of mice, as the following story of her adventure in a Phila- delphia hotel will show. Her maid was just arranging the bed for her when out from the sheets jumped half-a-dozen mice. The diva was not frightened. Indeed, she was rather amused, and threw some sweets on the floor so that her visitors might have supper. Then she went to bed and to sleep. In the early morning she was awakened by pain in her left ear, and putting up her hand she disturbed a mouse which had started biting her. For the next few days Patti's mishap, which happily had no serious results, was the talk oi America, and she was bombarded by presents of all kinds of mouse-traps and vermin-killers. 4t "Ap Lino" had just put himself snug in bed one night when he saw that his wife being unusually wakeful, made herself comfortable in a chair under the gas-light to read the "County Guardian." "Ap Lino," being very tired and wishing that the light should be turned out, suddenly raised his head off the pillow and stared at that part of the floor on which his wife's feet rested. She immediately became concerned, and looking intently on the same spot anxiously inquired, "What is the matter?" "Ap Lino," affecting much indif- ference, answered, "Oh, nothing, I merely thought I saw something move." His wife said nothing, but in less than two minutes the light was out and she was tucked in bed. That was "Ap Lino's" dodge of the mouse that wasn't there, which reminds us of a song's refrain, viz.— When a woman is uproarious And her tongue a bit censorious, Try the "wrinkle" of the mouse And have silence in the house. It It *v We read that the Attorney-General's salary is "only" P,7,000 a year. Mr. S. T. Evans, M.P., who has just been appointed the successor of the late Sir J. Lawson Walton, K.C., has our sincerest sympathy. ? f It" The late Attorney-General was examin- ing a dealer in condensed milk, who seemed determined to tell as little as he could about the real facts of the case. "I believe you sell milk," said Sir John quietly. "I do," was the the reply. "Then, of course, you know some- thing about agriculture?" "No," replied the witness. "Oh," chimed in the barrister, "I see; you are one of those dealers who do not get their milk from agricultural sources." The court was convulsed and the unfortunate wit- ness reduced to despair. ? ? Mr. Roch, the young Cardigan solicitor, delivered an excellent speech at the Temper- ance Hall last week on the occasion of the holding of a conference to consider the Gov- ernment's prospective Licensing Bill. He is cultured in manner, his phrases are polished, and he is conciliatory in dealing with his opponents. Indeed, he might with advantage, perhaps, cultivate a little more firmness. On the occasion referred to we thought that in the afternoon's discussion he rather too readily compromised on matters which he himself ad- mitted involved important principles. With his "suaviter in modo," he ought to blend a little more "fortiter in re." But he is a charming speaker, and his style is more typical of the pulpit than of the political platform. Is lw it Mrs. Herbert Lewis, the wife of the well- known M.P., is expected to speak at a meeting of the Girls' Guild to be held in Haverfordwest on February 28th next. Although an English lady she speaks Welsh fluently, and with her husband is a regular attendant at a Welsh Methodist chapel in Charing Cross. Mrs. Lewis, by the way, is a daughter of the late Mr. W. S. (jaine, M.P. At a time of financial panic a minister once ventured to preach thereon. In a powerful discourse he urged economy and retrenchment on his congregation. In view of the hard times there should be no extravagance, no useless expenditure, he said, but every outgo ought to be pared down. His strong sermon had a swift and unexpected effect. The con- gregation held a church meeting, and unani- mously reduced the man's salary from L400 to i2300. ? ? ? A clergyman in the Midlands, well known for his kindness to the genus tramp, had a wooden building placed at the entrance to his grounds for their benefit, with a small loaf and a jug of water on the table inside. Re- cently, on visiting the hut after one of these travellers had left, he found a portion of the loaf had been consumed and a penny left. A scrap of dirty paper placed under the latter set forth that the copper was "for a penn'orth of cheese for the next bloke." A gentleman possesing much knowledge of human nature instructed his large family of daughters in the theory and practice of music. They were all observed to be exceedingly amia- able and happy. Inquiring if there was any secret in his mode of education, he replied, "When anything disturbs their temper I say to them, 'Singl' and if I hear them speak against any person, I call them to sing to me; and so they have sung away all causes of discontent and every disposition to scandal." I v ? 1t There is one lady, at any rate, who has solved the servant problem. She has three of them, and knows how to keep them. The se- cret of her success is to be found in the fact that she plays "bridge" with them every Mon- day, and they owe her money. » ? ? "Will you have an American or an English set?" queried a dentist the other day of a lady who was having her mouth newly furnished. Her reply was, "I'll have an English set, please, as I so detest the American accent." 1t 1t 1t The German Emperor when in England sent Miss Florence Nightingale some flowers as a token of esteem for the lady who "rendered such invaluable services to the cause of hu- manity during the Crimean war, and subse- quently founded a house for the training of nurses in England, which is justly considered to be a model institution of European fame." In thanking the Emperor Miss Nightingale said she recalled with deep gratitude the friendship and sympathy with which his Majesty's august mother, the late Empress, was pleased to honour her.

"¡:- THE RURAL EXODUS. The Natural Cause of It. Sir,—The following seems to have a direcfr bearing on the Rural Exodus:— "A London solicitor who had often to exam- ine the registers of London parishes told me the following significant fact. He said that families permanently occupied and resident in London die out in the second, or at the latest in the third, generation. ;,Li "L,.u third generation permanent city dwellers do not perpetuate the race—they die out, and their places are taken by fresh and ever-fresh incomers from the country. "Dr. H. Campbell, of Wimpoie Street, goes- so far as to say that in the luwer classes the family never passes beyond the third genera- tion of the slum born and bred. If you get a third generation at all, you will find that the individual is puny and wizen, on the- high road to racial extinction. It ss difficult to find children wllO:e and grand- parents were slum born and b/ed People are continually coming in from the country* drifting to the slums, and carrying a fresh. lease of life to this part of the population of great crities. I attribute the physical degeneracy of Londoners to tiic-. of the children in close, ill-lighted rooms, and to their subsequently following employ- ments which entail prolonged confinement indoors. The individual who is London-Bora and strictly London-bred is placed in an environment totally different from that in which the human race was evolved; and it therefore follows that the vast majority of true Londoners have the seal of fate stamped upon them. The typical full-grown Cockney, is, in truth, a painfully deteriorated type of humanity." The above is an extract from an article w, iCDI appeared In "The Crisis" (a quarterly review)* a few years ago, and demonstrates a fact which! few of your contributors appear to realise- namely, that there is a town side as well as a country side to the important discussions started by Mr. Isaiah Reynolds. As a. town-bred man who has lived in the provinces for many years, I may claim to know a little of both aspects of the question, which the greatest minds of our great nation have wrestled with for "years and donkey's 'ears, without having attained any satisfactory result.. Each year the towns get more crowded, the- misery more acute. For where there is a crowded town there will always be misery; and to my mind the number of slums in large cities would be reduced by deporting to less populated areas some of the industries of stifling London, crowded Manchester, etc. Take the soap factories and some of those other factories from East End of London: transport them to some convenient waterside place, and see what a difference it would make to the atmosphere and overcrowd ing. Some Londoners assert that the fog nuis- ance is mainly due to the multitude of factory and other chimneys in the East End. How utterly useless it is to attempt to stop people going to the big towns is shown by the quotation at the beginning of this letter. It is quite essential that the towns should have infusions of new blood, to compensate for the loss of material which the conditions of living in those towns entails. The country-bred man* though a little slow to town ways at first, iN often preferred by the town employer because he is stronger and healthier than the town- bred man. It is the survival of the fittest. This is a very important factor in the question, and I contend that it is useless for county authorities to offer special inducements to the country-bred man to stay in the country, be- cause the town employer will assuredly offer him further inducements to leave it. The said authorities would only ba trying to upset one of Nature's economic laws. To establish industrial farms would, per- haps, be a solution to the whole question. To me it is astonishing that the Government can allow many thousands of acres of Crown lands to go untilled, uncared for, and yet allow local authorities to maintain workhouses for the unemployed and destitute. For all that able-bodied paupers are put to stone-breaking (which could be done by machinery at half the cost), the ratepayers still have to contribute the major portion towards the upkeep of work- houses. Why not, then. establish industrial farms for the unemployed, with competent farmers to overseer them and skilled farm hands as instructors ? "What!" I can hear some pious farmer ex- claim, "do you want to dump your town re- fuse on to our fair countryside?" I answer in the affirmative. It would only be the evolution of Nature, as God intended when he first set man upon this planet. Was it foresight, or was it intuition, that in- duced our former statesmen to send desperate criminals to Botany Bay? Anyway, events have more than justified their action, and great good has come out of evil. The original convicts became squatters and cultivated the land, and! among their progeny to-day arc to be found some of the largest 3heep farmers in Austra- lasia. If such excellent results can be obtained by placing criminals on the land, what could we not do with people whose only crime is that they have been left behind in the race for life. I maintain that the estab- lishment of industrial farms would mean the regeneration of our race, and that in two gener- ations a sturdy, well-set-up lot of countrymen- men well able to fight for King and country- would evolve from grandparents who were once numbered among the unemployed. And before those two generations had passed away thousands of acres would be under cultivation which are now nothing but a barren waste. A. J. K. Sir,—Now that the interesting discussion on the above subject has taken a more sensible turn again this week, I hope we will have some more contributions from the pens of "E. J. J." and E. Perkins. I think that these gentlemen have exploded Mr. Isaiah Reynolds' idea of "small holdings under the County Council" being a remedy for rural depopulation. From more County Council mal-administration heaven defend us. Under their reign (in spite of the Agricultural Rating Act) the rates have risen 100 per cent. If that worthy body of men go on experimenting with the ratepayers' money again on small holdings I think there will be, not a Rural Exodus but a general stampede out of the country altogether. I suppose that owing to the senseless and personal abusive letters that we have had on this subject the last three weeks, "E. J. J." and "E. P." have thought it beneatn their dignity to reply. I should like to hear their remedy for the Rural Exodus. I think that owing to the increase in wages, and better food, and easier time altogether of the farm labour, that they are not leaving the land to the same extent that they were a few years ago. I think that until we get fair trading terms so that we can compete with the foreigner in our own markets, and thereby afford to employ more labour, and give still higher wages and shorter hours, viz., the same wage and average weekly hours that they the labourers) get in town and public works, they will still continue to leave the land. But this is impossible as long as the foreigner has the monopoly in our markets' and preferential rates over our own railways. At present agricultural produce of all kind& can be sent to the London and other large markets from America, Canada, and other coun- tries (where they have hardly any rent, rates, or taxes to pay) for less than it costs us to send it from Pembrokeshires. As examples, I will give two instances in my own case. Two years ago I saw seed potatoes advertised in my agri- cultural journal at £2 2s. per ton (forward on rail) from one of the Midland counties Think- ing these very cheap, I ordered half-a-ton to be sent to my nearest station, and grand potatoes they were. 1 tnougir I had had a bargain until I found that I had i pay 30s. carriage on the 21s: worth of potatoes. Lately I had negotiated the sale of a small boar pig with a gentleman in Devonshire, price k4 (carriage forward on rail); but when that gentleman inquired and found that the carriage would cost him £3 he refused to take the pig. I could give numer- ous other instances of the exorbitant rates- charged by our railway companies, thereby being able (at our expense) to carry foreign produce at a reduced rate. I think it is a sad. thing that the Government is so blind to the interests of the country as to allow the for- eigner preferential rates over our lines and also use our markets free of toll at the BritisN, producers' expense. One word in concluding- In reply to Mr. H. A. Williams' letter I think that if he could see the balance sheets of the large estates of Pembrokeshire for the last 20 years, giving the gross and nett rental, also reductions, abatements, and arrears of rent, and money spent in repairing dilapidations of bad tenants, etc., that he would not be so hard on the men who have to accept less interest f Or' their capital than any other investment J know of.—Yours truly, TENANT FARMER-