The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard

ANOTHER WEEK OF WAR. Tins is not a time for criticism, or for lamentations, or abuse, or predictions. What has been made clear during this week is, the fact that not one of the nations engaged in the war was pre- pared for it on the scale which was quickly shown to be possible after this countrv wisely threw in its lot with France land Russia on behalf of Bel- gium. hJiére has been continuous con- flict, but the chief aim on both sides has been to prevent advances, delav t)eiii,r N\Iilted for obvious reasons the provision of additional forces, lor in- staiice. The general feeling in this countrv is that the Allies will be strengthened more rapidly and to greater-extents than the German lorces. and that the outlook is, on the whole, more favourable to the Allies. Wales is now also on the warpath, and there is no doubt whatever, from what is going on all over the world, that there will be no end to the war, however disastrous its consequences may hc, until the German defeat is so complete that, the conditions of peace, whatever thev may be, will have to be accepted without demur. I* rani e is more cheerful and hope! id. Russia is going forward with armies amounting, it is said, to five millions of men. I t has been stated bv the Prime Minister that reinforcements have ■ arrived from India. To what extent- those reinforcements will be needed remains to be seen. There may he d:faculty in bringing larg-e forces from ii, hot countrv like India to bear the cold of winter in Europe, but what, ever Itidia can do will be done, to the d'scorrifitiH e of Germany. The Pope of Rome is said to be striving- for peace. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York seem to have left the struggle to be decided bv force. It is we think, that those who create wars should be left to those who are opposed to them. When police officers have to contend with recalci- trant thieves, burg-lars, and other law- breakers, thev resort, if necessary, to batons sheer brute force- and not to appeals for reasonableness. Germany has made war and will have to take the consequences of it., for the Allies will not stop lighting- when the German Emperor realises that he has under- taken a task that is too great for him. When the nations of the work! want peace thev can have'it, for thev have the power to preserve it. It is satisfactory to see that the, London and provincial daily news- papers are gradually becoming- less hysterical. They have played a very foolish part during the past eig-ht weeks,- and have revealed what awful fools may have control even of the numerous papers, each of which has the largest circulation in the world. Business is becoming more normal, but there is still much to be faced that can only be dealt with successfully by com. bined action on the part of the people. Wales has been hard hit in manv ways. The slate industry is depressed in ways that builders, architects, and others could relieve bv recommending- the use of Welsh slates, which are tfie best roofing material in the world. We do not hesitate to repeat this appeal on behalf of the quarrymen of Wales and their families. It would be well if the quarry owners could send out agents to push the slate trade and tOI make what- ever arrangements are -necessary with those who supply timber, bricks, and roofings materials. The depression caused in all the wealth and pleasure resorts in this dis- trict continues and will mean much sclent misery that can onlv be relieved by bringing visitors into the district during the next eight or nine months. Every local governing body should do whatever is possible to make up the loss which fell with disastrous force upon the health and pleasure resorts in the month of August. We do not want to take too gloomy a view of the war and its Inevitable consequences, even if the success of the Allies should be complete and not long- delayed, but it would be folly not to be prepared for those consequences and to make provision for them in everv N%-a N, ttitt is It is not when the storm is raging- that the loss of the crops is most keenly felt. When mil- I lions of men are engaged in war and hundreds of millions of treasure are being worse than wasted is not the time when sorrow and loss aud hope- f lessness arc most deeply felt. E\cn d' the Allies suffer serious reverses, and the possibility Is there, the war will have to be continued. What is wanted In every section of each community is care, moderation, and thoughtiulness, so that the after consequences of the war may be wiely met and bravely borne. Our readers may ask whether the war was inevitable to this country? It was, in our opinion, absolutely in- evitable, for if this country had allowed the international treaty to be set aside by < iermanyv as far* •■»!« B^lum was concerned, the British Empire would soon have been forced to fight, not for international justice, but for mere national existence, rind the whole British empire would have been degraded. What-will be the main final results of the war it is impossible to say, but it would be better to be wiped out of existence than for the British Empire to have played a mean and dishonest part in reference to great international undertakings and then have to kotow to the mad German Emperor, for that he is mad there can be no doubt. Our readers know that we believe in an International Police which would. of course, use force against acts like that which Germany has been guilty of, but now is the time to tlg-ht and not to set forth schemes for preventing I wars. W ales is to the front, and we have no doubt ,ill hold her own among the other nations in the great struggle that is now going ili.

WALES AND AGRI- CULTURE. THI:IΠwas probably never a time when greater opportunities for the develop- ment of agriculture in Wales were o numerous and obvious as just now. We do not want: the landlord and tenants of Wales to work miracles, and we are quite aware that there are still many obstacles in the way of progress, but the war has quelled for the time being many of the embittered relation, ships which prevented united action between landlords and tenants, and it j is now possible for schemes to be dis- ri;>sed m detail which onlv a couple of months ago could not have been mentioned without giving rise to all sorts of bitterness. We do not believe, and never have believed, in the impos- sibility o I co-operation between land- lords and tenants. We need not now go into the real or imaginary griev- janccsoflandtords and tenants. There is war theie is need for increased pro- duction the:e arc possibilities of agricultural progress, and the question is whether bv co-operation something cannot be done to bring about an im- proved state of Ihings that will be of benefit not onlv to landlords and tenants but to the whole country, not only during the war but afterwards, What ought not to be done is well illustrated by the following information from Cairo. At a recent meeting held at the Ministry of Agricult ure the Minister explained thai as probably onlv four million cantars of the present cotton crop were likely to be sold, and in order to avoid depreciation the next crop should not exceed this amount. Therefore a law-would be promulgated the area under cotton bv a million feddans. The cultivation of cotton in Egypt would be absolutely forbidden except in certain regions, and any infringement of the law would be punishable bv imprisonment. The liberated areawould be devoted to the growing of cereals. We ask our readers what chance is there of devel- opment under a system of this sort? We are not going to criticise it, but we will show a quite different course of action on the part of another authority. The Board of Agriculture, it is announced, have issued a leaflet giving the text of a communication they have received from the Agricul- tural Consultative Committee, who state that, with the arrival of the time for preparing the land for autumn and winter sowing, they desire again to impress upon farmers the great import- ance in the national interest that the acreage under wheat should be largely increased. They point out that shouid it be found possible to increase the wheat acreage without detriment to the live stock and general organisation of the particular holding, there seems every reason to suppose that it might prove to the financial advantage of the grower. The Committee add that they have been influenced in arriving at this opinion by the belief that the diminu- tion in the area of wheat sown upon the Continent, and the consequent addi- tional demand which must be made upon the world stock, cannot fail to resulr in a higher range of price than that which has obtained for man); years past. Should this anticipation prove correct, farmers would probably find it profit- able to sow wheat on land other than that which would be drilled in the ordinary course, and the nation would benefit, equally with the grower, bv an addition to the home-grown wheat crop. Our readers will see that there are no threats in the leaflet of the Board of Agriculture.. There are strong reasons why Welsh farmers do not grow wheat, but many of those reasons have nothing whatever to do with agriculture, but are brought into existence by the action of railway companies, the relationships between landlords and tenants, and the greater facilities which foreign countries and the colonies possess for growing and marketing wheat. t the general meeting of the Agricultural Organisation Society, held last week in Caxton Hall, Westminster, it was stated that one result of the war 1 ad been to bring into prominence the question of army contracts for farm produce, such as hay, oats, straw, and other things. It was said to be obviously not only to the interest of the producer to be able to sell direct to the purchasing Govern- ment authority, but it was a financial advantage to the Government to be able to deal direct with the producer. We ask what would happen when the war was over? Sir Horace Plunkett, at the meeting, said that farmers were still rather backward in the matter of co-operation, and though obviously large farmers benefited very much less than small fanners from cooperation, he had been gratified and astonished at the part which the leaders of agricul- tural opinion allover the kingdom were now taking in the movement. But though the principles of co-operation were accepted almost universally, if they compared the turnover of the Society with the total output of the land they would realise that a very small proportion of agricultural business was done co-operatively. Our experience is that not only farmers, but the public generally, are opposed toco-operation. When the war is over what will the State care about the fate of home farmers who- have grown wheat wllieh, owing to climatic conditions, is not equal to the wheat of the colonies and other countries? It cost- less to send agricultural produce from foreign countries and the colonies to any part of this country than it costs to send it from Wales. This ought not to be. and would not be if the State was alive to the needs 01 agriculturists in Wales and the other three nations of the United Kingdoin and did the same with produce as is done with letters and p;fjL,4i>,m*o^^ There is ample room in Wales for agricultural improvements, but those Improvements cannot become general until tenants arc secure, not only from consequences which arise out of pos- sible changes of land ownership, but out of the success which might be achieved by enterprising tenants. It is not likely that tenant farmers are going to turn large portions of their holdings into gardens and take the risk of being given notice to quit. Even if there was no danger of notice to quit, there would be danger of changed ownership by sales or deaths. It is all very well to urge farmers to grow wheat next year because it may be wanted owing to the war, but wh )t about the fanner's plight if before the wheat is ripfc the war is over and is a slump in wheat prices? The State makes all sorts of demands upon the individual, but when vall cornc to ask the State what about the condition of the individual, then the State has nothing to say except that it is the in- dividual's business to look after his own welfare We think there is ample room for more united actioiv on the part of Welsh farmers and landowners, but we do not believe that any material pro- gress is possible as long as farmers arc handicapped bv the great railway companies. What on earth is to be done with a great railway company that charges more for the fares of people to towns on market days than on other days and that do whatever is possible to make fairs and markets un- successful?

MR. LLOYD GEORGE. Wi; wonder what would have been said about us if ten or fifteen years ago we had expressed the opinion that it Ger- many drove this country into war Mr. Lloyd George for a lighting spe t'h would have been praised by afl the Conservative papers in the country, and would have taken the leading" part in bringing into existence a Welsh military force of thousands of men of which the Prince of Wales might be the titular head. Wales is certainly not g-oing to be less to the front than the other three nations of the Unit.'d Kingdom, now that the issue has b- en raised whether international treaties are to be ignored and an attempt is to be made to bully the whole of Europe. The whole, of Europe is not going to be bullied, and as far as Wales is con- cerned, Mr. Lloyd George, true to his exceptional natural endowments, is going to voice the desires and asp! tions of his countrymen. We do not think that Mr. Llo\ J George has yet entered upon his greatest work, nor can he possibly enter upon it until the war is over and the allied forces have won. Until they have won the war will not be over, and not until then will be the great oppor- tunity of Mr Lloyd George who must, we presume, be one of those who will have something to do with settling the conditions of peace and deciding what the future, map of the countries of Europe will be. His present attitude in reference to the war is, in our opinion, typical of his nature. He has no designs. As he himself savs, he is in favour of peace, but if there must be conflict then the conflict must have peace in view on sound and just con- ditions, and due regard being paid to the gross violation of an important: international agreement. We do not think that there is anybody less aware of the tendencies of Mr Lloyd George's hopes and aspirations than he is him- self. He responds more or less un- consciously to what may be called the ieehngs of the time, and he is so con- stituted that he can express and embody those feeling's and can accom- plish what the people desire and long for. Sir Edward Carson has this week accused the Government, of which Mr. Lloyd George is a member, of in- famous action and of treachery, and as soon as the war is over there are to be enew eci threats of civil war against Irish Home Rule. Germany is not the only nation where there are mad war- makers. We need not now discuss the threatened resumption of resistance to an Act of Parliament. What we want to make clear to our readers is that the present popularity of Mr. Lloyd George among conservatives will quickly die down as soon as the. war has been tQ a satisfactor>' conclusion. What to us seems will be the greatest opportunity of Mr. Lloyd George s lite will arise out of this war. before war was proclaimed that oppor- tunity seemed to be impossible, but now it is, in our estimation, inevitable. W e may be wrong, but that is our opinion. In ways quite unexpected even to himself he is drawn into the great international conflict and is do- ing* what nobody ever expected him to have to do in order to strengthen the Britisn fighting forces. He has aston- ished even his bitterest" fees and greatest friends, and has forced them to realize that they did not know him nearly as well as they thought they knew him. Since war was proclaimed it has had to be generally admitted bv Conservatives that as Chancellor of the Excnequer he has met the financial difficulties with a masterly skill that will probably never be generally known. He has many sides of power, and one of the greatest and most unique of them is that he does not want anything and is moved far more by what is going on outside of him than within him. It is not what he wants, but what other people want that stimu- lates his action and stirs his emotions W e saw some weeks before war was declared that a movement had been staited by the Women Liberals' Asso- ciation in the Carnarvon Boroughs to- celebrate next year the completion by Me Lloyd George of twenty-live years as Parliamentary representative of that constituency. The form of the cele- bration had not been decided, and probably the war caused the movement to be postponed. Here are some lines which we command to the authors" of the movement to celebrate his quarter of a century's parliamentary work. ONE OF THE I'KOI'lK OF WALES. "tte long to pay a, tribute to Lloyd G!eoz"ge Vi ho is, we know, our great embodier, Our strong expre,ssor and accomplishes Ho fights our battles and upholds our cause No," heeds what lurchers at his heels may say. Our aspirations and our hopes and aims We know quite well have his warm sym- p^.thy, And his help cost him does not count. Of .scorn unmindful he on his way To greater heights than was thought pos- sible. AW want to .show our Gre.it Embodier hat for his help we give him gentle love, Audtslfe fe. That what, he thinks and feels .she thinks and feel's. And those, his foes, who scoff at him and sneer, Must know he is the hero of all Wales— Her great expressor in whom trust is placed And who will win the battles which he fights. The people of the Principality Give their glad recognition to Lloyd George, That he may know they are all on his side, And that his struggles, aims, and hopes are theirs. They do not know what form their love should take, Or what there is that thev can say or do, But he must know that where he goes thev go And that they look onlJim as one of them Their helper guide, and strong deliverer, And is no slave to fear, or hate, or gibes. Perhaps some chaired bard—who is quite welcome to the lines—may be able to put in Welsh what they are in- tended to express. Our desire is that the people within and beyond the borders of Wales should do what it is possible for them to do to express their appreciation of Mr. Lloyd George's courage, his national devo- t'on, and his wonderful success in the face of all sorts of difficulties. It is a great privilege for a person to be able to render service not only to his own nation but to the whole world.

ABERYSTWYTH COUNCIL ELECTION. J a month the Aberystwyth municipal election, when all the sixteen members are to retire, will be held, unless some- thing happens of which at the time ol writing nothing has been heard, as far as we know. The extension of the borough is the reason why all the mem- bers are to retire. The number of Councillors and Aldermen will be in- creased, and the borough will he divided into wards. if is possible that owing to the war the extension of the J borough may be postponed, but we do not see any occasion for the postpone- ment, and the ratepayers have taken no action ol any kind in reference to the election, the borough extension, the selection of new candidates, or any- thing else pertaining to the affairs of the town which are mainly managed in committee, as the ratepayers are not, we suppose, fit to be treated with knowledge of what tS going on. I here is a great deal to be said for the com- mittee system at Aberystwyth, for we and others, including members of the Council, have failed to awaken any in- terest whatever in reference to matters which the ratepayers individually admit are of great importance. We do not now intend to go through the list of things that require atten- tion. Our present object is merely to call attention to the fact that the rate- payers are either apathetic, or indiffer- ent, or both. It is not for us to impute blame or to fix responsibility when o n election is pending. The ratepayers themselves should move in more dHoec- lions than one, and if thev do not move then they themselves, and not their representatives, must take not only the blame for their own municipal slack- ness, but the consequences of it. 1 hose who have given attention to the affairs of the town will agree that