The Aberystwith Observer

SOAPMAKIRS TO TIlle: SULTAN. Mel!srs Lever Brothers. Limited, of Po<t Sunlight, hare been »t>poiii'ert bv special WKirai t, soapmakera to His Impeiial Mnje-ty, the Snltnn of Turkey. This important testimony to the excellence of runlight Soap and rf the materials naed in its manufacture 'eta thereon thw Roynl aeal of absolute purity, the Saltan of 'I'n. k..y being the recognisod bead of the Mohammedan faith, the tenets of which in respect 10 the quality of the material and purity of manu- faoture are particularly rigorptlll. H.I.M. The Sultan haa never given to anv soapniakera, aatira or foreign,-this title, eotisequently Keaer. Lever Brothers, Limited, are the aole toapmakera by appointment to Hit- Imperial Majesty. ICessra Lever Brothers, Limited, are to be congratulated .pUB thia anique reoofiiitioa of t;8 parity of Sitalight and th..ir other aoaps.

THE MONTGOMERYSHIRE MILITIA. In writing a short compendium of the records of this grand old regiment-now doomed to ex- tinction—at the outset it will be convenient to state a few particulars anent the regimental headquarters. Welshpool is a borough town situate in the Welsh county of Montgomery. It received its first charter from the Welsh Princes of Powvs, 13th century, together with the burgess lands still possessed by the town. The borough of Welshpool as now defined dates L-ack to the year 1406, that is to say, 150 years before the county of Montgomery was created. The borough bounds have not been altered during the past 500 years. It was owing to the town of Pool being a gar- rison town in 1406 which brought about the ex- tension of the borough to its present great area, 20,426 acres. The ancient royal borough of Montgomery was made the shire town when the county was formed in 1535, but within a few years of that date the whole of the civil and military business of the new shire had gravitated to Welshpool. Following upon the abolition of the old Welsh judicature, some 70 years ago, Newtown began regularly sharing with Welshpool the civil busi- ness of the county, but the military headquar- ters have ever remained in our town. The first muster (so far as records show) of the county Militia occurred in 1574 (15th, Elizabeth). Throughout the Commonwealth period the military government of Montgomeryshire was conducted from the town and castle of Pool. In the official account of the "progress" of the Lord President of Wales and the Marches, in 1684, interesting details are given of the Militia of the county, then under training in Welshpool. The first mention of the Militia in the Record Office documents is dated 25th March, 1763, when S. Hadley. gent., is commissioned" Adjutant to the Militia for the county of Montgomery." The 18th century Pool Middle rate books have frequent entries of the King's stores (Militia armoury), and the names of commissioned a.nd warrant officers then resident in the town. The returns of 1763 show a force of 240 men, not including officers and N.C.().'». In 1764, Edward, Viscount Hereford, succeed- ed Sir John Powell Pryce, Bart., as C.O., with the rank of Lieut-Colonel. Lord Hereford was succeeded by George, Earl of Powis, in 1778. In 1778 a fifth company was added to the regi- ment, and regimental colours were presented. The same year the regiment was marched from Welshpool to Worcester, thence to Cock's Heath in hent, thence to ..ie South Coast, and did not return to headquarters until two years later. In 1782-3 our Militia was away on garrison duty in the south of England, returning to Pool in February, 1783, when it was disembodied. In 1792 came the order for the constant resi- dence of one-third of the N.C.O.'s at headquar- ters. It was at this time that the houses now known as Sergeants' row were erected. In 1793 the Militia was ordered out to Birm- ingham to suppress civil commotions. Thence the regiment was marched to Taunton. Somer- set. In 1794 it was quartered at Mainstone. In 1795 a new company left Pool and joined the main body at Mainstone. In April. 1796, a party of the Montgomery- shire Militia left Ashford barracks for Welsh- pool in order to train the supplementary Militia then being raised in the county. In 1797 a mounted company was formed. In 1798 the Militia returned to Pool, and were disembodied. Records of its service during the Irish rebellion of 1798 are wanting. ° In 1799-1800 the regiment was garrisoning Liverpool. Its strength at that time was eight companies. In 1801-2 the" Montgomerys" were at Ips- wich and other East Anglian centres. On April 12th, 1802, they were disembedied at Welshpool. T- 10/10 iu- — ,i J 1 in fOllr companies (279 privates), but further increased to 418 privates before the end of that year On April 23, 1804, our Militia. became a 1\ú-, ".1 regiment, and that year it was sent to Plymouth cl u on garrison duty. The regiment remained in the south (at several stations) until 1811—seven long anxious years—actively engaged in watch- ing for Napoleon's long-expected onslaught. During the years 1811-1813 the Militia was stationed in Ireland. In 1813-1814 it did garri- son dutv at several places in England. On June 10th, 1814, it arrived at Welshpool, and was dis. embodied on June 24th. The House of Lords passed two resolutions of thanks to the Militia, July 5th, 1814. December 26th, 1814, an order that the sur- geon and paymaster must invariably reside in the town of Pool. Every year following the Peace of 1815 the regiment did its 28 days' training in Welshpool. In 1803 the Montgomeryshire Yeomanry Cav- alry was formed, with headquarters in Welsh- pool. The headquarters have remained in our town since that date—now 105 years. The first commanding officer of the Yeomanry was Col C. W. Williams-Wynn, M.P. (1803-1844). Col Wynn was at one time Minister of War—there- fore Mr Haldane's remote predecessor. In February, 1804, the regular Militia was 475 strong, the local Militia. 350, the Volunteers (cavalry and foot) 1,867. Adding the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th classes of "effectives" (reserves). the total military strength of Montgomeryshire at that date was 11,066 men In 1822 the present depot below Bron y Buck- ley Wood was erected on a 99 years' lease. R.O., Welshpool. October 27th. 1852. The Commanding Officer has the satisfaction to announce to the regiment that they were the first raised in the Principality and the second in England.* This order to be read to the men in billets." Under the new Militia Act, 1852. November 10th, 1852.-The regiment was en. tertained to a sumptuous dinner by the town of Welshpool. During the Crimean war the regiment was permanently embodied. Disembodied June 19th 1856. In 1853 a change was made from Light In- fantry to Rifles." In 1852 the Militia ceased to be a conscript force. In August, 1856, a special detachment of the regiment was assembled when General Sir Percy Herbert (the Quartermaster General) returned home from the Crimea. In 1860 two Volunteer Rifle Companies were formed in Pool—disbanded in 1877. Welshpool now supports one company of Volunteers. In 1861 the regiment became the Montgom- ery and Merioneth Militia," with headquarters at Welshpool. Eventually Merioneth became merged with Carnarvon. August, 1868.—Another's hero's home-coming, this time to Trelydan in this borough. It was Lord Napier of Magdala, who had jusfc arrived from the Abyssinian campaign. A detachment of the Militia received him at Pool station. 1871—Snider (breech-loading) rifles served out to the Militia. The Golfa raDge opened. May 7th, 1872. The old colours of the regi- ment were deposited, with all ceremony and re- spect, in St Mary's Church, Walshpool. 1874.-This year the Montgomeryshire Militia was detached from the 23rd (Welsh Fusiliers) district, and affiliated with the Shropshire (43rd and 53rd) regiments. 1877.—The establishment wae raised to six companies—680 of all ranks. When the Militia. Reservists Act came into operation one-fifth of the regiment became re- servists. Mr D. P. Owen, our present senior magistrate, swore in the first batch, 150 men, in one day. April 28th, 187B.-The Militia reservists left Welshpool for Jersey, returning on July 29th. July let, 1881.—Oat of deferenea to Welsh amourr propre our Militia ceased to he affiliated to an Bagliah c«amaa4, and they keo*aa« the 4th Battalion of the South Wales Borderers. At the same time they ceased to be Rifles, and be- came Light Infantry. Scarlet took the place of the old Rifle green. In 1882 the Martini-Henry rifle was served out to the BQejh oJ May Day, 1883.-The new colours of the Bat- talion were presented by the Lord Lieutenant (the late Earl of Powis), and consecrated. The ceremony took place on Maes Gwastad parade ground. About this time the Golfa range was closed, and a new one opened at Sylfacn. ( In 1886 the Militia began its first regimental camp in Powis Castle Park. These camps con- tinued year by year in the park for 14 years. The last Welshpool camp was in 1899. Then came the South African war, and shoe 1900 the Bat- talion has trained away from headquarters. In 1896 Sylfaen range was closed, and the Militia had to go to Brecon for its class firing. The same year Welshpool Town Council took up the matter of a local rifle range, but every effort in this direction on the part of the town during the past dozen yearfl lias proved futile. Protracted negotiations between the Corpora- tion and War Office (extending over a number of years) have, in the end, all come to naught. Hundreds of pounds have been spent by the- Town Council in surveying and planning differ- ent sites for a rifle range to mtet War (fffice re- quirements. On June 26th. 1896, the Militia formed a guard of honour to his present Majesty (then Prince of Wales) at WTelslipooI station, upon the occasion of the Royal visit to Powvsland and Aberystwyth. June 9th, 1899.-The battalion paraded on Maes Gwastad, and there and then volunteered for foreign service whenever the occasion should arise. This magnificent offer was rejected by i the War Office only some three months before < war broke out in South Africa. The battalion was permanently embodied at Aldershot during the South African war. The Montgomeryshire Yeomanry sent four companies out to the front during the course of the war. The Militia reservists also went out; likewise a section of the Montgomeryshire Vol- unteers. September 6th, 1902.-Lorrl Kitchener dis- tributed war medals in Powis Ca-stle park to the men from South Africa. J Incidentally we may mention that among the I present burgesses of Welshpool are two former Militia Adjutants, to wit, Lieut-Colonel W J Twyferd (Mayor, 1897-8), and Captain G G. Ottley. So long as the Montgomeryshire Militia did its battalion training at Welshpool it kept, up its strength to the full complement. Tt. was oiuv during the past seven or eight years that the strength has gone down. r) By destroying the famous old "Royal Mont- gomerys and other threatened Wolsh units, the fond hope of Wales- to possess a division of her own will be dashed to the ground. By abolishing the Militia depot at Welshpool the whole of Mid-Wales—from the waters of the Dee to the waters of the Wye-somo 2.000 square miles of territory, will be without a sincdo In- fantry depot. 0 The little town of Welshpool is very proud o^%J its military traditions. So strong is the militar^ sentiment of the town that there is scarcelv aii able bodied man among its natives who has not served in one or other arms of the service. A thousand pities it would be to rob a very noble and extensive country-side of its ancient and far-famed military virtues. We have, in effect been advised by an unsympathetic War Office to divest ourselves of these particular virtues. But we cannot, and must not, do this; and we now approach the Minister of War with the view of Ins kind sympathy and encouragement and help.. W elshpool. R.O. January 18th. 1908. Note —In collecting the-e materials together the writer is greatly indebted to the late Colonel R. J. Harrison's industrious researches among the Militia records, 1763-188^ published in Vol XVII. of the Montgomeryshire Collections.

MILITARY INFORMATION. Extracts from the "London Gazette" South Wales Borderers: Captain Charles W ¥ a, Briiacl^ Major ir^A^ 1^ manry: W. N .Stable to be aeconed lieutenant. Montgomeryshire Territorial Force Association President. Sir Herbert Lloyd Watkin Williams- Wynn, Bart., C.B.; chairman, Colonel Arthur Edmund Sandbach, D.S.O.; vice-chairman. John Lomax, Esq. Much has been written on the conversion of the Militia into special reserve battalions, but few have discussed the extremely favourable terms offered to the Militia, non-commissioned officers and men, to add service abroad in emer gencies to their present obligations, which, after all, is but an unwritten law always honoured by them in past campaign periods. A gratuity or bonus of C2 is given to each man to alter his present engagement if he has over a year to serve. If less than a year he must extend for a further perioci of four years. Proficiency pav at 6d. per diem is to be given to first class shof< of two years' service. Messing allowance at 3d. per diem can be drawn on attaining the age of 18 years, while the much-prized winter non-train ing bounty of £3 is given after one training in- stead of two as formerly, while a further boon is the issue of separation allowance (at the high- 1 er rate of Is. Id. for wife and 2d. for each child) to married men for the whole period of training. Clothing conditions, under which each man R™ given articles worth 19s. 5d. as a useful present each training to take away with him, remain the same, while 48 years is now the age limit for re-engaging into the special reserve instead of 45 years, as formerly. It is anticipated that very large number!; will avail themselves of the improved conditions of service. There were fewer retirements than usual in the Volunteer force at the close of the year t which makes it appear as though the Volunteer offioers are evidently determined to give the new Army scheme a trial. This, too, despite the fact that many officers of considerable service will lose their honorary rank on transfer to the Territorial Force. It is clear that the Countv Associations are to have very important powers in connection with the new force; indeed it is more than likely that they will be in some'cases 5 rather disinclined for the difficult and delicate duties that will fall to them. The publication of the regulations for the Special Army Reserve indicate the general lines on which the plans fo? the Territorial Army will be based, and no doubt there will be important concesaioaa to popular sentiment. On March 31st. Volunteers will have the chance of deciding definitely whether they will accept service in the Territorial Army or not. Before that date they will be in a position to know exactly what enlistment in the ne\*v force will mean. V Lord Roberts on Wednesday stated that as nearly as possible 1,000 Crimean and Indian Mutiny veterans are in the Workhoasee dailv compelled to eat the bread of humiliation be- side the riff-raff of the indolent and criminal classes. Mainly through his lordship'* initia- tive a national fund has been started in aid of these old soldiers, and a sum of £15.000 has been promised in a short time, 80 there is now fair as surance that even at the eleventh hour our vet- V erane will be rescued from the ignominy of the Workhouse, re8tored to oomfori and reepectibili- K""°™d f,°"ih* The present strength of the Montgomeryshire 1 ^eriTV, 2v*ilrIcompared with 4«9 in iwo. ine bhropshire Yeomanry numbers 40fi compared with 460 the previous year. Tile atretl-lth of the Yeomanry has an important beer uig on the constitution and orjanisation of » Territorial Army, and it is quit« certain thai under the new conditions many important dutfcs and responsibilities will devolve npon this jWvJT p

Mr Bal/oar and Sir Fr«.<ieri<flc Rvrbaiy, M mam> r« for-tka <Hty, rnro ta n to lurehecai 1)J Urn O.fejr ot Lea<i<m Con err A»«x»*ati wi cm Thara^y. Mr u.ada u wluok U, to th Hi.) r satt m avidanua* of TfnitM a» • h, ee,*i<i*|ly nn Tariff fetora, and afe<> idiftat** of bf a i

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MR ALi RLD LYTTL ETOIN) M.F. AT OSYVliSTJlY. EX-COLONIAL SEC BETA UY ON CUKRfcNT POLITICS. A crowded and enthusiastic demonstration, -under the auspices of the West Shropshire Con- servative and Unionist Association, wa.?i held at the Victoria Rooms,Oswestry, on Friday evening. Lord Harlech presided, and was supported by Mr W. Clive Bridgeman, M.P., the member for the division, and Mrs Bridgeman, Mr Alfred Lyttelton, M.P., ex-Colonial Secretary, and the Hon W. Ormsby-Gore, Unionist candidate for the Denbigh boroughs. Mr Lyttelton was very warmly received on rising to address the gathering. It was, he re- marked at the outset, a long way through the fog from London, but at the same time, and notwithstanding that, he was glad to be there to meet some of those stalwarts who returned Mr Bridgeman at the last election—(applause)— -and who upheld the Unionist cause so gallantly at a time of dark disaster. Very soon there would be elections both in South Herefordshire and in the City of Worcester. He did not know much about betting" except that it was illegal in « public place, but at the same time if anybody in that room belonging to the other side liked to stake 50s. or so payable to the local hospital if the Unionist candidate won in either of those places—(A Voice: "I will take 20 to 10" and laughter)—then he hoped others would do the same, and so make contributions to local chari- ties (laughter, and hear, hear). Proceeding, he said the chairman had referred—and he was glad he had done so—to Ireland. Lord Har- 4ech had recently been over there, and he (the speaker) thought anyone who had been in Ire- land lately should have the state of that coun- try very seriously upon his mind. He read, curiously enough only two days ago, a speech made by the Chief Secretary of Ireland. Mr Birrell, and on the same day a charge was made y 11 by one of the Judges in Ireland to a grand jury. Dealing in that charge with the state of the county of Longford—a county which was typical Ot Irish counties—he referred to the persistent and long-continued conspiracy against certain individuals in the hope that the authorities would put an end to thia >>rsecution and afford these unfortunate people some protection. No finger, he said, had been raised, and no move- ment made by the authorities for the protection of these people. He then went on to say how there had been boycottings in 26 eases, involv- ing 51 people, injuries inflicted upon individuals, C, markets denied to those who wanted to buy and sell, and actually even the wood refused for the coffins of those who died. That state of things was not over-described by the chairman when he said that it was scandalous (hear, hear). But on the same day Mr Birrell referred to the case of British Indians in the Transvaal, who were, as they were aware, being imprisoned and de- ported from that country though they were the subjects of the King. He supposed Mr Birrell thought it relevant to refer to these disturban- ces in the Transvaal by way of showing that the disturbances of boycotting and cattle driv- ing and the like in Ireland were unconnected with the Government of the country until th"y Occurred. If Mr Birrell had projected his imagination—and he undoubtedly had one—and if he had considered the matter for a little while b" might have thought-he might have arrived at the conclusion—that in South Africa, as well as in Ireland, the grievances that existed might ■not be altogether unconnected with the incom- .petenee of his Majesty's Ministers (cheers). But he tried to obliterate the picture which had been indelibly engraven in their minds with regard to Ireland. The Government had shown a reck- less lack of strength and courage in dealing with targe and difficult matters in South Africa and Ireland—(hear, hear)—and they had also shown what happily was most uncharacteristic of Eng- land. what Was essentially the right policy in dealing with the weak and humble, but which did not succeed with men who were strong and popular—a cringing and servile humiliation (cheers). Mr Ginnell, the Irish M.P., had not only flouted the Government, but had incited men to commit outrages and to drive cattle. What did the Government do? Nothing. But unfortunately for Mr Ginnell one of the places where hit; exhortations prevailed wa.s in the hands of the Court of Chancery, and the receiv- er of the estate, unlike the Government, did not sit down and allow Mr Ginnell's exhortations to violence and crime to go on. He appealed to the Courts, and the result was that Mr Ginnell had been lost to sight for a period of six months Haughter. and hear, hear). But was it not a iittle humiliating that law and order in Ireland should be maintained, not by the Ministers re- presenting the King. but by a humble receiver in Chancery who represented the mortgagees of the estate? (laughter). He supposed that in a yory short time his Majesty's Ministers would take credit for the action of their humble and unconscious ally (renewed laughter). Goin* on to refer again to the British Indians in the Transvaal. Mr Lyttelton said they were the sub. jecta of the King and were at present petition- ing the Crown against the imprisonment and de. portation they were subjected to. So far back rs 1885 they went to settle there. The laws of. ihe Boer Republic subjected them to severe dis- abilities, and these were the subject of consid- eration by the British Government from 1885 to idOB. Just when the war began. Lord Lans- 4owne himself spoke of the war, and justified it, fcecauae. among other reasons, of the treatment tthioh the British Indiana received. He (the speaker) himself, when at the Colonial Office, -44nt a despatch to the Transvaal in which he stated that the Government held that it was dis. creditable to the national honour that these dis- abilities—against which they had demonstrated, and to which even the law of the South African Republic, rightly interpreted, did not subject them—should continue (applause). He did not believe there was a man in this country who dissented from that proposition. Yet, lately, a law had been passed by the colony of the Trans, vaal—which was made a self-governing colony by his Majesty's Ministers—which placed these British Indians in a worse position than they were in under the rule of President Kruger (cries of shame). He did not make any accusa- tions in that matter against the Boers, but the result of it was a delemma of a peculiarly pain, ful and dangerous character. If we acquiesed in this treatment of British Indians, we would be arousing an opinion in India which at the present moment was in a most sensitive and in- flammatory state, and would be breaking the pledges which had been made by successive British Ministries. (On the other hand, if we resisted it we laid ourselves open to the serious danger of provoking a conflict with a self-govern ing colony, which was practically a colony in- dependent of all except goodwill towards us. He did not make an accusation against the Boers. They could not be supposed to have any sense of responsibility for the British Empire in India or for the pledges of either Mr Chamberlain or himself. But he said deliberately that this for- midable, and he was afraid hopeless, dilemma, had been created by the action of his Majesty's Government, and he could only say that unless they had satisfactory explanations to give both as to their actions in the past and the proposals they hoped to make in the future with regard to this subject they would justly incur the censure of all right-thinking men (cheers). Passing on to deal with the future of the Unionist party, he said a splendid effect had been made upon the spirit and feeling of the party by Mr Bal- four's great speech at Birmingham (applause). There were obligations imposed upon every member of the party by that speech (hear, hear). It had been easy to criticise certain portions of the speech, but he thought it was the duty of all those who had seen its wonderful effect upon the party to do their best to make that speech the standard round which the party should ral- ly (cheers). They ought to remember that they had the duty to accept it, not in part, but in its entirety, particularly in matters of procedure as to the relations between one portion of the party and the other. For the discipline of the party and the loyalty to the leader, they ought, for many reasons, to give loyal obedience to the call he had made (hear, hear). But loyalty to a leader was not fulfilled by making a selection from his counsels, by selecting th-U which pleased and rejecting that which did not please. Procedure should also be taken as a whole, and here, he might say, while he himself was a convinced Tariff Reformer—(cheers)—he deprecated anything like menaces or threats to- wards any of their party who for a time—he hoped only for a time—might dissent from them in this matter. Those members of the party who were not Tariff Reformers were not numer- ous, and they were a diminishing number. But they ought never to forget that even in this diminishing number there were some devoted allies and friends of theirs in every dpartment except that of Tariff Reform. Neither should they ever forget that they should reason with friends and not denounce them (hear, hear). Let them remind them that great men had ad- mitted that they had been converted upon this subject. There was one who had recently con- fessed that. He meant Lord Milner, fl,'d he defied any man to say that in the whole of this country there existed a finer, a stronger, or a broader intellect, or one with a riper and rich- er experience in the actual practise of finance and administration (applause). No one need be ashamed of saying that he had been converted if he had been converted to the cause of Tariff Reform bv the interests of the Empire ana uh- losric of facts (hear, hear). Passing on to deal wífu Tariff Reform in detail, he said that if they were going to say that the logic of actual facts had supported what was at first admitted- ly a matter of conjecture, they could go a long way both with their friends and opponents in saying that that policy was based not upon the sand. but upon the rock (cheers). First they said that the revenue of the country could not be raised sufficiently for the needs of the coun- try upon the present basis of taxation. What had happened since that was put forward? When last year's budget was brought forward a tremendously high income tax and other taxes still rested upon the shoulders of the people of this country. The coal tax had been taken off, but unhappily a rise in the price of coal had taken place. Now the Radicals who supported the present system would have to bring forward a budget this year. They were pledged to econo- my, but during the last few days Sir Edward Grey and Mr Asquith had spoken of the neces- sity of maintaining the Navy (hear, hear). They were quite right, but it could not be undertaken without cost. Then Mr Haldane's scheme for the Army would involve such cost in respect of the Army as wa.s involved hithertofore. There- fore they could not economise there, and they could not get it in education, if the professions of the Government were to be believed. Then there were old age pensions to be considered. Such a proposal might mean a charge of 20 millions per annum upon the taxpayers of this country. Was it credible that under the pres- ent system in which the revenue was raised any- thing like a sufficient sum could be raised to meet this great and increasing charge. In the second place Tariff Reformers said that the colonies were about to offer preferential treat- ment to the Mother Country, and at the Col- onial Conference that prediction and that asser- tion had been entirely verified. But it had been repelled, and no alternative suggestion made, by the Ministers who met the Colonial delegates. The result had been that Australia had found herself compelled to refuse preferences to this country, and that Canada had been approached by foreign countries to make treaties, not to take away, indeed, our preferences, but to give them preferential treatment also. Every word of what Mr Chamberlain said with regard to ourselves and the colonies had been justified. Proceeding, he said that this country was al- most defenceless against the operations of for- eign capitalists and foreign Governments, and what had happened lately to bear out that state ment which f- made was found during the course of the long controversy. There had been of late three subjects in which the most remarkable facts had been exhibited -steel, tin and meat. He took those facts that he was giv. ing briefly from Radical newspapers, not always a high source of information—(laughter and cheers)—but when they detailed facts which were against their own general argument and party were worthy of credence. With regard to steel, America had sent to England in the month of November £ 120,000 worth of steel more than she was sending before and England had reduc- ed her export of steel bv more than £ 300 000 and it looked very much tlierefore-and lie was bound to say that although a Radical journal had said it—-as if the bad times in America had left the steel manufacturers there with large stocks upon their hands, and that they were do ing what they had done before, sending over that large surplus stock and selling it at a low price to undercut the manufacturers of this country. As regarded tin they had been even more express upon thus subject. They had come to the Welsh producers and said Sell us: at a certain price "—it was a lower price than it °U3 +1 T at~"or we will break you up," *7 P°wt'r' by their combination and their tariff, to give effect to that threat un. less the tin people gave way. Those were very important matters, but there was a more im- Portant matter than steel. According to the Westminster Gazette." 40 per cent. of our beef consumption was hought from the Beef Trust, the great combination in America that Sr^t mastered the markets of Chicago, then the markets of the Argentine in South America KntlC^f° °Ver and gaTe their attention to fUlS» 1 WT° th6 "lords of smith- flelds, and the only rulers of our agricultural nroduchon. The prices of meat were 110 longer determined in this country by the local supply

j ( VOc Sign Of 5Brigbtness ir j MONKEY BRAND Makes Copper like Gold Tin like Silver i I Paint like New. t! WILL CLEAN HOUSE FROM ROOF TO CELLAR. I off, 44, C) NgT VJASH j CLOT14ES- J I LEVER BROTHERS, LIMITED, PORT SUNLIGHT, ENGLAND. & 1\11

and demand in London, but by the will of the foreign trust and instead of our free trade system enabling us to regulate and control our own trade-in a matter so vital to us as that of our meat supply-it was regulated and controlled by foreign capitalists and foreign trusts. They would, he was sure, regard that as a very seri- ous matter (hear, hear ,and cheers). If we were to have what was called the natural price of commodities regulated and controlled surely it ought to be regulated and controlled by our- selves, by our own Government instead of by the caprice of foreign countries. The Trust might find it worth their while in order to break up the English butcher, or the English farmer, to sell at an absolutely cut-throat price for a considerable time, and for that time no doubt the general consumer would get the bene- fit. But when they had ruined the English pro- ducer, then the price would go up to a far great- er height than ever before, because these gen- flemen did not pursure their operations for the purpose of philanthrophy, but for the purpose of business (hear, hear). Lord Cromer had", spoken of the difficulty which he, in the course of his long experience had seen from foreign countries, and from the notions that they held of this country, because it was the centre of what he called the Free Trade Empire, and he went on to say that if we interfered with this opinion of foreign countries it would be the worse for us. Of course they valued very much the Free Trade which we were giving them in other words they had shorn the sheep for a very long period of years, and the-" not only wished to continue to shear him, but they would resent, if the sheep would not be still when he was shorn (laughter and cheers). It was a very dangerous argument, because it showed in the first place how immensely foreign countries value that which we were at present giving them for nothing. He must say that when we had something valuable to give and a stranger and a foreigner wished to have it he rather liked him to pay something for having it (cheers). But when Lord Cromer said this was & Free Trade Empire he was not altogether accurate. With the Crown colonies of the empire—and they had an immense population and immense val ue-Grei.t Britain was at the present mo- ment in not a complete but a very effective sys- tem of Colonial Preference (hear, hear). Many more holes had been driven into the system of Free Trade than Free Traders imagined, and he hoped many more would be driven (cheers). There were two systems of taxation with regard to tobacco. There was the taxation for the raw material and for the more finished material. That was w'hat they always said was right; let the raw material in free, but tax the manufac- tured article (hear, hear, and cheers). That tured article (hear, hear, and cheers). Tha.t was done in the case of cocoa and tobacco. When the late County Council of London was in there was a tremendous hulla-ballo because the County Council put up their steel rails for ten- der and accepted a tender from Belgium. What was that? Free Trade, nothing more, nothing less. But tho Free Traders in London-Radical supporters of the County Council, when the doctrines of their grea.t faith were brought un- comfortably up to their own doors, raised a tremendous outcry against that which in every other department they were ready to recognise and welcome (hear/hear). Another fact in regard to steel was given in evidence before the Tariff Commission. The iron and steel people said that they would have been ruined in the course of the last ten years if it had not been that the Crown colonies inserted in their big contracts for railways and the like a provision that the steel supply should be British made (hear, hear, and cheers). Important inroads had been nittdo into what he believed would, 10 ye-ars from now, be considered an obsolete and a reactionary-system (cheers). One of the first and one of the boldest to preach the doctrine of Tariff Reform was his friend Mr Bridgeman (loud cheers). In conclusion, Mr Lyttelton said there were not very many of them in Op. position in the House of Commons a-t thia mo- ment;—(laughter).—and he drd not know what thej* should have done without their young men. Among the best, the pluckiest, and the hardeet working, and Among those upon whom they could rely to go to the bottom of a subject ke said with absolute sincerity that none of them excelled Mr Bridgeman, and he would go an- other six hours through a much thicker fog than that through which he had come if he could say anything in that constituency—but he did no tbelieve that he could—that would en- hance the opinion they had of him or that would make his position more certain that it was for a long and happy representation of that splen- did constituency. Mr Lyttelton resumed his seat amid an outburst of cheering. Mr Clive Bridgeman proposed a vote of thanks to Mr Lyttelton for his address, and Mr Orms. by-Gore seconded. Mr Lyttelton, after responding, proposed a and Mr Lyttelton, after responding, proposed a vote of thanks to the chairman for presiding.