Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

36 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

AN EXPENSIVE AND WEARISOME…

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

AN EXPENSIVE AND WEARISOME FARCE. THE Bishop of ST. DAVID'S is one of the land- owners of Cardiganshire who, in compliance with the orders of that unique body, the Aberystwyth Rural Sanitary Authority, have been putting some of their cottages into better sanitary condi- tion by removing earth from behind them. The INSPECTOR OF NUISANCES, who is almost as pecu- liar as a landowner in his notions of the sort of house a labourer ought to live in, reported to the Authority on Monday last that owing to the thaw he bad consented to have the earth replaced behind the cottages to prevent an accident. After about six years' effort the earth is removed from behind some hovels which ought to have been made habitable during the first twelve months of the Board's existence. No sooner is the work com- pleted that it is discovered the earth must be replaced in order to prevent an accident." These houses, it was feared, would not stand a thaw The Inspector saw nothing ludicrous in what he had done, but rather seemed to feel that by his sagacity and forethought he had perhaps prevented an accident like that at Penparke some time ago, where a mud hovel fell upon an old man and killed him in bed. The members of the Sanitary Authority listened to the forehanded precaution of their officer in respectful and ad- miring silence, and appear not to have suspected how completely the replacement of that earth stultified them. It seemed to the other owners of mud cottages a perfectly reasonable and no- cessary precaution that the Inspector hai taken, and it is somewhat surprising they did not signify tbeir approbation of his conduct by according to him a vote of thanks. The report on Taliesin read at the meeting substantially confirms the MEDICAL OFFICER'S report presented some time ago, and shows that after six years' expenditure on a staff of officials Taliesin is very little better than it was at the start. The landowners' hounds are far better housed than his labourers, but then a hound would cost a sovereign or so to replace,and a labourer can be replaced for nothing. Kennels and stables and sties must be kept clean and comfortable, because they shelter animals worth money, but cottages can be left until they are rendered dangerous by a thaw, for the simple reason that the poor are worth nothing at all. When agricultural labourers realize their position and betake themselves to the United States and the Colonies, where they are, at any rate, worth as much as a hog or a hound, landowners will begin to see the propriety of pulling down mud cottages that will not stand even the test of a thaw At present the labourer is looked upon as a living nuisance, with a strong tendency to kill game which is intended for sale to retail dealers as soon as it has fattened on tenants, crops. His only hope is emigration—persistent emigration, until he has become as scarce as decent cottages, good landlords, leases, or any other scarce and valuable thing. It is the fashion to pretend that the occupants of damp mud hovels, that will only stand when supported by earth at the back, are happier than they would be in dry comfortable houses. They are repre- sented as enjoying misery and revelling in squalor, 0 so that it would be positive cruelty to them to better their condition. This is cant of the very worst sort. The labourer is a docile, stolid, and patient animal, but the Board School will, sooner or later, teach him that the den he now lives in means consumption, rheumatism, and premature death, and that there are such places as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The members of the Aberystwyth Rural Sanitary Board are help- less and hopeless. Mr. LOXDALE, at his own cost, supplied Llanilar with water. Sir PRYSE PRYSE not long ago supplied PEnrhyncoch. now he has supplied Bow Street. But what has the Sanitary Authority done ? Nothing. There are houses all over the district unfit for human habitation, but they are allowed to be occupied because they are better than living under a hedge "—a Cardiganshire hedge. When 0 9 the medical officer of a Sanitary Board says there are scores of houses in the district unfit for habi- tation, and the INSPECTOR defends them because they are a little better than living under a hedge, is It worth while to go on spending the rates in Paying officials ? Would it not be more credit- able for the landowners and farmers to remain at home than to spend their time in aimless talk that never even by accident ends in anything of the slightest advantage to anybody. If the Local Groverament Board feel justified in repaying a moiety of the salaries paid at Aberystwyth they are satisfied with very small results indeed. Local Government Board Inspectors have a good deal of work, but Mr. BIRCHAM, who attended the mee ing of the Aberystwyth Rural Sanitary u Y a Inonth ago, would confer a great boon upon this district if he would make such representations in London as would put a speedy end to the dismal farce which has been acted Once a month for the last six years at Aberyst- )yjth. Tho landowners simply will not condemn eir own property as unfit for human habitation, It is ridiculous to keep up an expensive system ° officials and to hold meetings once a month srely to remove manure heaps in spring hxch are replaced in autumn. The un- ^"lstactory condition of Cardiganshire is ^e to the fact that tho country gentlemen do not iriy fulfil those duties which devolve upon them owners of the soil. There is no possible way eyading the fact that the dens and hovels of ofaraiganshire are tenant3d because the owners Property, with one or two exceptions, will either build cottages, sell freehold sites, nor pant building leases. How eager the people are p build i-? seen at Bow Street, where Sir PKYSE ^YSE grants small building plots on very favour- a"le terms. There are landowners who, feeling the Responsibility of owning mud hovels, have leased kem for long terms of years, or sold them out ad out. This is one way of fulfilling the duties of landowners, but whether it is a creditable way not, the -public must judge. It is sometimes SQ.ld that landowners may be excused for not building cottages on their estates, but thsre can be no excuse for not granting building sites in convenient places. Besides, look at the farm houses. How many of them are unfit for habita- tion ? There are scores of farm houses of which the owners have every reason to be ashamed-- houses which a Rural Sanitary Authority worthy of the name would have condemned years ago. Dilapidated houses might be put up with, and a Rural Sanitary Authority that discharged its duty faithfully might be tolerated, but a body that seems to exist only to spend the rates and to obstruct reform must be swept out of the way as soon as possible. A Board.that merely spends money and talks, can well be dispensed with iu these by no means prosperous times.

LOCAL AND DISTRICT NOTES.…

[No title]

--------LOCAL AND DISTRICT.…

HUNTING APPOINTMENTS.

SHIPPING.

TIDE TABLE FOR ABERYSTWYTH,…

LLANGOLLEN.

LLANARMON-DYFFRYN-CEIRIOG.I

[No title]

LLANYCHAIARN.

1 TOWYN.

LLANDDEWIBREFI.

PENRHYNDEUDRAETH.

RURAL SANITARY AUTHORITY.

PORTMADOC.

LLANSILIN.

LLANFYLLIN.

LLANDRINIO.

WREXHAM.

CEFN AND RHOSYMEDRE.

RHYDYCROESAU.

,RUABON.

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THE ZUL U WAR.

ARRIVAL OF THE DUNROBIN, CASTLE.

THE REPRESENTATION OF SOUTH…

THE CITY OF GLASGOW BANK.

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MRS. DYSON.

THE HADDINGTON BURGHS."

[No title]

RELIGION IN WALES.