Cymro a'r Celt Llundain

THE GOVERNMENT AND WALES. Mr. Ellis J. Griffith, M.P., for Anglesey, has addressed a letter to the press com- plaining of the attitude of the present ministry towards Welsh Disestablishment. Among other things Mr. Griffith states The position of Welsh Disestablishment is developing rapidly. During and since the General Election I have continously kept it as a live question before the country. The constant answer has been Exercise patience, wait till the third Session, and all will be well. The hollowness of the advice is now apparent. We are face to face with a new aspect of the Welsh case, and the voice of the people's disappointment is gathering strength. During the General Election I pressed upon the attention of my countrymen the necessity of obtaining a definite pledge in order to avoid misunderstanding. I was informed that the pledge was clear and satisfactory. But was it ? First of all, the subject was not discussed in public by a single Cabinet Minister, and the announce- ment of the pledge was not made directly to the British electors by the Prime Minister in a public speech, but conveyed by an assur- ance to two Welsh members. Secondly, it only amounted to a promise that the ques- tion would be dealt with at the first available opportunity. Opportunities are not born, they are made. The question that interests Wales is this Why was no opportunity found to place Welsh Disestablishment within the third Session programme ? As the programme became more and more overladen, why was Welsh Disestablishment forgotten ? When, early in this Session, I urged the importance of calling the attention of the Government to the necessity of dealing with the subject in the third Session, I was told that this was premature. Last week I was informed it was too late. The psychological moment in politics is difficult to fix, but one principle is beyond doubt-nothing comes to him who waits. What of the Welsh members ? They were once described as whipped curs" when they supported a Liberal Government against a Welsh revolt. What are they doing now? Do they acquiesce in the apparent hopeless- ness of tha present position or do they pro- pose to take steps to press forward the case of Wales ? It is true that the course of future legis- lation is uncertain; but why should the postponement of Welsh Disestablishment be the only matter about which there is appar- ent certainty ? The position is not only dangerous, but critical. If Welsh Disesta- blishment is not passed through the Com- mons during this Parliament it will not be before the country at the next General Election. If not included within the ambit of the mandate of the next Liberal Govern- ment, it will not be dealt with during the next Parliament. A generation may go by before we shall see as favourable an oppor- tunity as that which now exists. The present delay will lead to indefinite postpone- ment. If the 34 members for Wales and Mon- mouthshire are united and determined, I still hope to see Welsh Disestablishment passed through the Commons this Parlia- ment. If this unity and determination are absent it will be for the Welsh people to insist that the first and paramount duty of their representatives is to the cause of Wales." On Monday last Mr. D. Owain Evans, of Clapham, replied to Mr. Griffith's criticisms in the Daily News as follows :— This new departure of Mr. Griffith appears to me to be somewhat belated. He tells us that, since the General Election he has continuously kept Welsh Disestablish- ment as a live question before the country. That, of course, may be true, but, alas, the difference it would have made, if he could assure us that he had worked continuously to keep the question before the country in the dark years of 1895 to 1906. Who can say what the result would have been, if certain Nonconformist members of Parlia- ment, including Mr. Griffith, had, during the General Election of 1900, pressed for the verdict of the electorate on urgent questions of home politics instead of allowing them- selves to be browbeaten by jingo Imperia- lists ? Now, what is the cause of the existing dissatisfaction ? Mr. Griffith appears to be aggrieved that the Premier does not include Welsh Disestablishment among the questions which will be tackled during the third session of Parliament. There is a peculiar mystery about this third session of Parlia- ment. Why does he mention it ? Why not say the first or second? I have heard a pledge was given for the third. But Mr. Griffith never appears to have believed this, as he says, It only amounted to a promise that the question would be dealt with at the first available opportunity.' Therefore he, at all events, was not under any misunder- standing as to this. The whole question turns on the meaning which the Government attributes to the first available opportunity.' It may mean simply a question of time in which to squeeze a Bill through the Commons. But surely a politician of Mr. Griffith's sagacity cannot limit it to this. Has not the Government the right, and, indeed, is it not its bounden duty, to consider the question of expediency ? We are pretty well agreed that by no pos- sible means can the House of Lords be con- vinced of the justice of our claim. Before they can be made innocuous, we must have another General Election, and then we shall unfortunately have to impress the English electorate with our claims. The Welsh members are hopelessly divided as to procedure. While one wants to proceed by a Suspensory Bill, another wants to commence by resolution. All this does not matter. It were far better to settle down down at once to a sustained effort-not a spasmodic outburst-to keep the question alive, and to get it ripe for solution during jihe course of the next Parliament. This is the way to obtain the more satisfactory position, which Mr. Griffith so earnestly desires.

THE WELSH CLUB. The second annual general meeting of the members of the Welsh Club was held at the Club House, No. 2, Whitehall Court, on Monday last, when Sir John H. Puleston, chairman of the Executive Committee, pre- sided. Among the members present were Mr. Pritchard Jones, J.P., Mr. John Hinds, Dr. D. L. Thomas, Stepney; Mr. T. E. Morris, Ll.M., Mr. J. T. Lewis, Mr. T. Huws Da vies, B.Sc., Rev. D. Bryant, M.A., Proff. Brough, Mr. W. E. Da vies, and the secretary, Captain J. Jenkins. Reviewing the Club year, which will expire with the present month, the Chairman remarked that satisfactory progress had been made, the membership having already reached the respectable total of 796, which compared favourably with the roll of 558 with which the club was opened in the summer of 1905. The accounts, which had been audited by Mr. Howell Thomas, of the Local Government Board, and Mr. R. 0 Jones, amply confirmed the committee's confidence, that the Welsh Club would justify its existence by becoming a pleasant social meeting-place for Welshmen and other gentlemen who claimed a connection with Wales or the border counties of Wales, or with Welsh institutions and affairs. They had made an attractive place, in which the members met without any regard to dis- tinctions of party or sect, and he would remind his fellow-countrymen that the beginning of the new club year on the 1st of July next, afforded a most timely opportunity of joining, because the more members joined, the more attractive the club would prove. Lord Tredegar was unanimously re- elected President, as also were the five retiring members of the General Committee Dr. Emrys Jones, J.P. (Manchester), Dr. Walter Ll. Davies, Mr. William Evans (Board of Trade Inspector of Official Receivers), Mr. E. Vincent Evans, and Mr. J. Owain Evans. In order to assist the enterprising General Committee to develop the social side of the Institution, a strong sub-committee of 12 members (with power to add) was appointed as follows: Dr. D. L. Thomas, Dr. Duncan Fitzwilliams, Rev. Dan Bryant, M.A.,B.C.L., Mr. T. Huws Davies, B.Sc., Mr. T. E. Morris, Ll.M., Mr. M. Pennant Jones, Mr. Tom Davies, Mr. John Kelt Edwards, Mr. W. Melhuish Thomas, Mr. C. J. Howell Thomas, Mr. Ted Jones, and Mr. Fred. Morgan. The first annual balance sheet showed that the total receipts amounted to over Y,1,004, whilst the expenditure, including the cost of preliminary meetings totalled over YI,047, leaving a deficit on the first years' work of £ 43. The auditors, however, add that had all the promised subscriptions been received another ISO would have been added to the fund, thus giving a favourable balance of some t37. During the coming year it is hoped that a large increase will be found in the mem- bership roll, and that the social element of the club will be greatly improved. The club year commences on July 1st, and any intending members should at once com- municate with the secretary, Captain J. L. Jenkins, Welsh Club, 2, Whitehall Court, S.W.

SOUTH WALES BUSINESS NOTES. WHAT is Chromopathy ? Chromopathy is the study of wall-paper colours. It has long been recognised that colours of wall-papers have an appreciable effect on the occupants of the house. The Harlem Wall-paper Co., 6, Mill Lane, Cardiff, have made a study of chromopathy. Consult them.