The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard

ON OTHER PAGES. Yii Ai-iisei, Rhvfel 2 Cardiganshire Police Committee 3 Volunteer Movement, iia Cardiganshire 6 Piictos 6 Cardiganshire Appeal Tribunal 7 Machynlleth Ccuncftl/ 7

lifts gMmfcmn Htu's HYidsty October 20t.h 1916. A DUTY TO BE BONE. THE efforts being made by the War Savings Committee to inaugurate associations of thrift throughout the Kingdom demand the attention of every man and woman—the more re- sponsible the position they hold the greater is their duty to the nation m the matter of organising local associa- z;1 27, tions. It will, no doubt, be said by critics that the schemes apply only to areas where big wages are being paid, and where artificial prosperity is on the crest of the wave, but there is plenty of money in the rural areas if it is properly directed. At a meeting this week in Manchester it was stated that nearly twenty prisons had been I closed a well-known judge speaking; in North Wales a day or two ago attri- buted absence of crime to curtailment oil the drink traffic. Closure of prisons and absence oi crime means economic j saving. On the other hand, reports to Dolgelley Guardians, this week, show tnat they took no action to compel aa owner to repair a house, despite the fact that that county as a whole has a shocking record in public health. Neglected nouses lead to loss of life which is economic waste. The work of the War Savings Associations is con- cerned with mere pounds, shillings, and pence. Money was never more sorely needed by the nation, and those who are desirous of -saving something for the lean years that are to come will l weli advised to choose the War Savings Certificates as their method, for ali securities of a speculative character are, to-day, at inflated hgures, which can last only as long as the nation continues to live upon its capital. They will fall, and fall heavily, as soon as hostilities cease, and the holders then wMl stand to lose large sums. The War Savings schemes are varied and may be adapted to adults or child- ren. The advantage is that by pooling funds, certificates can be bought and neld by the Association to be paid over to individuals (when the latter are entitled to them) with several months' interest already accrued. But th:.s is not all that can now be done to help the nation. Saving money is a great thing, and it is the duty of the educiied 10 iifip tut- uiiiMitinred into the ways the Government have prepared. But it is their duty to do more. The Pensions Act will require careful administration local government—if it is to be worthy of the name-must now prepare itself for the aftermath in a vastly different way to that indi- cated 'by Dolgelley Guardians. These duties demand time and energy but j thev are the duties resting on those who, for varied reasons, cannot offer their services to their country on the field. The reception wh:ch will be afforded to the representative of the War Savings Committee on his vis;.t to the district will be an indication of how far those able to do duty are prepared to carry it out.

EDITORIAL NOTES. Cardiganshire Joint Police Committee, at last week's meeting at Lampeter, was asked to make regulations for the control cf street collections; but as the members did i-ut seem to have studied the new Act the discussion was adjourned to a further meeting. By recent legislation all war charities must be registered by the County Council, and the Joint Police Committee may permit street collections in aid of charities and make regulations for the con- trcl of such- collections. Members of the Committee felt that registration alone would be sufficient and that there was a danger of the people becoming police- ridden. That there should be some control of street collections in watering places like Aberystwyth there can be no question, for in present conditions anyone can collect money in the street for any purpose and annoy visitors by pushing collection bo::es under their noses on the Promenade and streets. The recent Act enables the Police Committee to stop nuisances of that kind. and should certainly be put in operation. w It is satisfactory to find that the Govern- ment has at last put a sprag in the wheel of the food exploiter. There was a feeling in the country that the Government was doing nothing in the matter of food prices; but it now appears that Grain Supplies Committee has been at work for over twelve months and millions of quarters of wheat v, ere bought to the account of the Govern- men t before Murk Lane knew who the buyers were. As Mr. VV. G. Faulkner points out, We shall now get all the wheat we want. The gamblers in the staple food or the civilized world have had a nasty shock. Freight :(nd corn gamblers and all the other tribes of profiteers who make and lose money ^.exploiting wheat will have to find another occupation. The grower of wheat is no longer the plaything of the opeiator." Now the Government has shown how to deal with wheat rings, it will be easy to apply the same methods to ex- ploiters in meat and other foods at home as well as abroad. Alderman T. Martin Williams initiated an interesting and instructive discussion at the meeting last week of Merioneth Insur- ance Committee on the lack of provision for the after care of patients discharged from sanatoria. It was stated by speaker after speaker that patients whose disease had been arrested or cured by treatment under che Memorial Scheme returned to insanitary homes, unsuitable occupations, domestic anxieties, and therefore rapidly relapsed into a more hope'ess condition, in add iron to infecting others compelled to live under the same roofs. Dr. Hugh Jones, a fearles foffieial himself, instanced cases within his own observation of houses which are veritable pestholes in which deaths have occurred with unfailing regu- j larity. These had been repeatedly re- ported and preliminary steps for closure taken, bufr deferred owing, not to. the indifferene^of the councils so much as to the lack or provision for housing. The matter is a question of housing. Work- ing people do not live in pest holes from choice, but from necessity. The opinion was expressed by the Committee that the Government should provide funds for housing, but surely it is to the interests of local authorities to help financially in promoting the 4ealtb and therefore the effectiveness of the communities they repre- sent. One of the insistent lessons of the war's mortality is that the policy of losing national health and welfare to individual and sectional efforts must go by the board, and it must be done quickly. People who believe that what we call crime is only energy that wise direction can' turn into useful channels will find some support in the report of what has been done- by past scholars of reformatory schools. The report also demonstrates the useful work which reformatory schools are doing. No fewer than 29,920 old boys are now serving their count.ry-3,884 in the navy and 26,036, in the army. Thirty-two boys have been mentioned in despatches, 69 awarded the D.C.M. 8 the Russian medal, 3 the French medal, and 19 have received commissions. At a recent meeting of the Aberystwyth Chamber of Trade a circular was given to each member from the American Bureau of Foreign Trade pointing out that the Bureau wo aid buy in the States any product of any industiy fcr .British consumers. The c:rca;ar was cieveriy worded and. neatty arranged. The service of the Bureau is said to be free. It is not the circular that merits attention, but the idea. behind it. The idea spells progress, advance, business enterprise, and as a business community we cannot shut our eyes to the competition which will have to be faced after the war. Yankee methods are not always acceptable and many of us would rather purchase home-made goods, but those who sell these goods wholesale or retail cannot afford to overlook modern methods. A good deal of loose talking and writing is indulged in relative to the equality of sacrifice demanded by the war from different classes of the community. Equality in sacrifice as in other respects is an almost impossible con- dition. What equality of sacrificfie is there between the rich epicure who con- descends to dispense with one or two courses in his menu, and the enforced sub- stitution of margarine for butter hy the workman and his family, or between the rich officer who returns home minus a limb and placed above all need for worry and anxiety, and the case of the private who returns home in the same condition with fjjl marketable value impaired beyond hope or recovery? There is a broad gulf be- tween such cases which no amount of rhetoric and wdrd painting will bridge over. A memorial signed by thousands of prom- inent men is to be presentel to the Govern, ment in favour of the total prohibition of drink and whatever may be said in favour of not restricting the liberty of the sober public it must be admitted that the mem- orialists make out an exceedingly strong case. It is stated in the memorial that the national drink bill for the first two years of the war exceeded £ 250,000,000, and that more financial strength had been poured into the trade than had been spent in France on the provision of shells. At the present time, adds the memorial, drink costs the nation a million pounds a day, and at the same time interferes with industry, absorbs freightage, and occupies one million acres of landl which might be devoted to more useful purposes. Though the memorialists pray for prohibition, they view with sympathy a proposal by Lord Sydenham and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, by which spirits would be prohibited and lighter beers retained; but at the same time maintain that the remarkable manifesta- tions of feel'ng in favour of the plain and simple remedy of total prohibition would justify the Government in bringing in a Bill to that effect. For some time past Aberystwyth has had a volunteer corps; but it was stated at a public meeting last week, presided over by the Lord Lieutenant of the County, that the number had dwindled down from na to about twenty, and that the Corps, if continued in existence, would have to be again sanctioned. It was pointed out in the meeting that the War Office will not in future sanction individual corps, but only a battalion of 600 men: The question then arose whether a battalion can bo formed for the whole of Cardiganshire; and the answer did not appear to very optimistic. It was suggested that Tribunals should re- quire all exempted men to join a volunteer corps; but there are difficulties in that direction. It appeared to be doubtful what I work volunteers can do in places like Car- diganshire, which was said to have no vulnerable points to protect; but it was pointed out that the Government wanted ■ trained men above those of present military age for possible home defence in case of invasion. If so, all eligible men between forty and fifty should be required to join a home defence corps. As at present it savours of absurdity that men of seventy who would drop of exhaustion before getting within bullet range should volun- tarily join while younger men in sedentary occupations, to whom physical training would be an advantage, do nothing.

Small Holdings in Cardiganshire • Alderman J M. Howell and Councillor John Davies, Aberayron, and Mr. Tom Parry, land agent, met Mr. Tom Davies,. part owner and occupier of Penbryn Farm. and Evan Jones, egg dealer, Cribynr applicant for a small holding of about six acres from Penbryn Farm, at Cribyn on the 12th October, in order to inspect on the spot. Two fields of six acres were selected -incl the rent was fixed by volun- tary agreement. The difficult questiqn of fencing to tnke animals to the brook 'I' for water was likewise settled amicably.

The death took place with tragic sudden- ness on Saturday morning ot th Rev. J. I W. Thomas, vicar of Llanrh-aiadr, near Denbigh. Mr. Thomas, who was one of the most prominent clergymen in the dio- I ceoo of St. Asaph, was educated at Llan- dovery College and Jesus College, Oxford. He was ordained in 1880, and held his first curacy at Llawnog (Mont). He afterwards removed to curacies at Llanelidan, near Riithin, Wrexbam, and Meifod. He suc- ceeded the late Rev D. W. Evans, of Llanrhaiadr in 1915. He leaves a widow and four children. One of his sons i& on active service in France.

Reduce your Meat Bill. Puddings made with ATORA Shredded Beef Suet are sustaining aud digestible- lib. cartons Is and ilb. cartons d. with recipes—goes much further than raw Suet. Aaik your grocer for it.