Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

8 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

REVISING HASTY MEASURES.

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

ment to purchase the property of the Gas and Water Company. The feeling of the dis- trict is very strongly in favour of the acquisi- tion of the gas and water by the Local Board. Undoubtedly, it is a somewhat bold thing for a small town like ours to buy the gas and water undertakings, but it is a wise thing to do, and will be justified over and over again in the future. We understand that the Bill which the Board are promoting is of a simple character, the chief feature being the clauses giving the Board powers to purchase the gas and water undertakings by agreement, or, in default of agreement, by arbitration. At the Board meeting a letter was read from the Cardiff Town-clerk refusing the consent of the Cardiff Corporation to the Board to erect a hospital on the Flat Holmes. We very much regret that the Cardiff Town Council have taken up this position, The Flat Holmes is -an excellent position for the erection of a cholera hospital, and in a matter of national mportance, such as taking precautions against the invasion of cholera., we do not consider that it is a dignified or wise course for a public -authority to adopt a selfish policy like that adopted by the Cardiff Town Council. There s no doubt that the erection of a joint hospital on the Flat Holmes would meet the require- ments, not only of the port of Cardiff, but also of Barry. It would mean a great saving of expense, and would probably be more efficient than two separate hospitals. We are glad, how- ever, to see that this refusal on the part of Cardiff to agree with the Barry Board for a joint hospital, or to permit them to erect a hospital of their own on the Flat Holmes, will not prevent the Board from carrying out the duties imposed upon them. Steps have already been taken to acquire elsewhere land to erect a cholera hospital, and the clerk has been in- structed to apply to the Local Government Board for the appointment of the Local Board as Port Sanitary Authority between Lavernock and Nash Point that is to say, if appointed, the authority of the Board would touch the Cardiff Port Sanitary Authority on the one end, and the Swansea Port Sanitary Authority on the other. There were considerable diseussioDs at the Board meeting as to the naming .of the road between Holton Farm and the Barry Hotel. The Health and Lighting Committee recom- mended that the road should be called Barry Dock-road, from the Barry Hotel to the old farmhouse at Holton, and that from this point until the Barry Dock Police-station the road should be called Hoi ton-road, and the road 'between the Barry Dock Police-station and Weston Bridge should be called Weston Bridge. Mr. J. J. Williams advocated the name of the road by one title, and suggested Commercial- road. All the members were, however, of opinion that it was undesirable to have a road two miles long. Mr. B. Lewis pointed out the difficulty which would be felt on delivering a letter addressed to any person not well known in the district if the address consisted simply of the words" Holton-road," Barry, such an -address might be near the Barry Hotel or near Weston Bridge. We think on the whole the decision arrived at by the Board is wiser of the two, and it is better to divide the road into three sections. The Local Board did a wise thing in again taking up the matter which was brought for- ward sometime ago by Mr. Robinson, the chair- man—namely, the application to the Lord Chancellor for the establishment of a county court at Barry. The advantages of the establishment of a county court in this district are so evident that it is unnecessary for us to detail them again. It should be the great object of eyery civilised country to make justice as cheap and as easily accessible as possible-to the inhabitants. At present the trial of a case in the Cardiff County- court entails so much labour and the loss of so much time whilst waiting in the court for the case to be called, that practically it is almost a deijial of justice. We are sure that all the in- habitants of this district will heartily support the movement, and we hope soon to have the honour of chronicling, the opening of the first County-court at Barry. REVISING HASTY MEASURES. When a law in Switzerland has been hastily or crudely passed, a referendum will provide for its reconsideration, and perhaps revision. In this country, the House of Lords is vainly sup- posed to do the same with hasty Bills that may be sent up from the Lower House. The School Board, in the absence of a Second Chamber, wisely determined, ou Monday last to constitute itself into a chamber for revising several measures that had been passed without con- sideration during the incidents of the last meeting of the Board. It is easy enough to say that the Board was thereby stultifying itself. Indeed, Mr. Benjamin Lewis, in his wish to magnify his own personality, said that the reason why an agitation had been set on foot to alter the constitution of the committees was that he had been made a member of the School Management Committee. SCHOOL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE. There is no doubt that the School Manage- ment Committee is the most important of all the committees. It will even have the power to suspend any assistant teacher in the employ of the Board, and it will be, as far as the whole management of the schools is concerned, almost absolute. Of course, its decisions would have to be ratified by the whole Board; but every- one who has had experience of the way public business is transacted, will know that Boards, as a rule, delegate most of the real power to committees. The Board, of course, retains the power of supervision, and now and then exer- cises it. But, in small matters of detail, the committee is practically absolute, and the Board has no time to enter minutely into these when they come before it. There is no doubt that the School Management Committee will be as powerful as the Board in some things, and it is only right, therefore, that the Board should re-consider its action in appointing only five members of the Boari on the committee. ANOMALIES. It was rightly felt to be an anomaly that Mr. B. Lewis should have a seat on the committee, when ¡Dr. Edwards and Dr. Livingstone were left out. Dr. Edwards also rightly pointed out at the meeting that it was not consistent that the ratepayers should send certain men to manage the schools, and that those who had been elected should delegate their power to others. Taking everything into consideration, we think that the only way out of the difficulty was to make the committee consist of the whole Board. At the same time we are glad that a way was found to retain the services of General Lee and Mr. Harry Inch. It would have been rather hard if, after being appointed on the committee, they should now find that their services were dispensed with. THE LABOUR MEMBER. Mr. John Rees, the Labour member, has made an excellent start, and has-justified the choice of the Trades Unionists who elected him. Mr. Rees is one of the most sensible and level- headed men in the district, and though a ster ling Trades Unionist, does not believe in revolutionary methods or violent language. He bids fair to be one of the strongest members of the School Board, and on Monday last he suc- ceeded in carrying two important motions. The first provided that in future all specifications for new work should be left at the Clerk's office for the inspection of members of the members of the Board. This will ensure the work being properly done. The School Board has found itself unable to follow the example of some public Boards, and appoint a Clerk of the Works during the erection of new buildings. The mem- bers of the Board will now act as so many Clerks of the Work. The other motion had to do with the way in which the work of the Board is given out to local tradesmen. Dissatisfaction has been rightly or wrongly felt at the way in which several small contracts have been given toe or- tain tradesmen. The Board, like Cajsar's wife, should be above suspicion, and it is to its own advantage that the public should be taken into its confidence. THEATRICAL LICENSES. The Local Board was placed face to face once more on Tuesday with the question of the granting of theatrical licenses. It will become imperative for the Board to adopt Mr. Wake's suggestion, and appoint certain fixed dates in the year on which applications for such licenses may be made. As it is at present, at nearly every meeting the Board is called upon to con- sider some application or other for the grant of a theatrical licence. The other day it was for the Cadoxton Market-dall; then it was for the Public-hall, in Thompson-street on Tues- day it was for Mrs. Orton and we believe that before long the Board will be asked for a licence to the Barry Market-hall. We do not believe it would be wise in the Board to be chary in its grant of licences but when there are so many applicants, the Board should have the opportunity to pick and choose and that could only be done when all the applicants came before the Board on the same day. Then the Board could grant licences to those appli- cants who bad the best claim. THE LOCAL BOARD RATE. Like Bill Adams on a historic occasion, the Local Board on Tuesday was in a bit of an 'ole." In order to understand the question, our readers should call to mind what steps have already been taken in the matter of fixing the ne w rate. The Finance Committee, in the first instance, recommended a Is. 9d. rate the Board, at a special meeting, reduced the esti- mates by cutting down the expenses, and made it possible to jog along with a Is. 6d. rate. Now, however, it has been discovered that several mistakes had been made in the estimates, and that the original estimate of expenditure was practically correct and a Is. 9d. rate almost inevitable. The Board has, however, buried its head in the sand, and like the ostrich, that thinks that it a voids all danger by resolutely declining to see it. But it is well to remember that the rate is now fixed at a lower figure only to be greatly increased at a future time. The Board cannot get rid of its liabilities in this way. Sometime or other, it will have to face the difficulty. It is painfully true that things are a low ebb just at present, and it may be a prudent policy to mortgage the future for our present needs. At the same time it should be remembered that the Board's liabilities must be met sooner or later but for the sake of the retiring members of the Board, let us hope that it will not be in the winter months.

THE LLANHARRAN-YSTRAD HOUNDS…

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