The Merthyr Express

LORDS AND COMMONS. THE Parliamentary event at the end of last week was a surprise by the Government in the reduction of the period lor which votes cn account were taken. Previous to 189(;. the year in which the late Lord Salisbury returned to office upon the defeat of Lord Rosebery's government, it had been the practice of the Government to ask for votes on account of various services to cover from a month to six weeks, the object being to keep the House of Commons constantly in control of the Govern- ment by its grip upon the purse strings. Lord Salisbury's Government introduced a great change by taking votes for periods of four or five months. By these votes for longer periods the Government gradually acquired a, stronger position ir regard to the House and also more independence. If the practice had been adhered to last week the House would have voted encugh money to cover the whole period during which the anticipated crisis will occur, and any interregnum due to a change of Govern- ment followed by a. dlutionand general election. In that event there would be no financial difficulty arising from the absence of authority to spend, and the prospect could be faced by the Tories with comparative equanimity. They would not be plunged into a tight place for the means of carrying on the King's Government. But by limiting the vote to a period of six weeks the authority of the Government to spend will run out about the same time that the conflict with the Lords reaches its crisis. If all goes well for the Government the House can. give another vote on account with promptitude. If, on the other hand, they should be defeated on the Veto or Budget and tender their resignation, the first question that Mr. Balfour will have to answer when called upon to form a new Govern- ment will be how he is to obtain money from the present House of Commons ? He knows the House will refuse it to him, and then he will have to devise how the public services are to be kept going between the dissolution of one Parliament and the election and constitution of another. It is obvious that the situation will be one without parallel in our history—a whole year past without a budget, the Govern- ment living upon loans, a House of Commons refusing to vote expenditure on account, and an interregnum without a Parliament, with no taxes voted, with powers to borrow but none to spend. To this pass we shall have swiftly come in less than six months from the time when the House of Lords jauntily upset the old coach of the constitution and sent all parties sprawling over the highway. THE Opposition were simply staggered by the new tactics of the Government. Mr. Austen Chamberlain was particularly wrathful. He is waiting with ill-concealed anxiety to step into Mr. Lloyd George's place, which, from his observations, he reckoned would be vacant on or about the 13th May, when this vote on account would be exhausted. The life of this Government hung upon a thread, he said, and how was a new Government to carry on without money ? What is to happen ? That's the knotty problem for Mr. Chamberlain. But Mr. Bowles came to his aid with ironical relief. He said it was by no means certain that there was to be a change of Government, and he would remind Mr. Chamberlain of the fate of the man who sold the lion's skin before he had caught the beast, and then lost his own in hunting it. Mr. Bowles also made one of the smartest hits that I has ever delighted the House, in further remind- ing Mr. Chamberlain that the financial morass which he so dreads was not dug, as he alleged, by the Government, but by his noble friends at the end of the passage (meaning the Lords), I by advice which they received from Birmingham --that great city which indifferently manufac- tures false gods for the heathen and false policies for statesmen." The vote will be exhausted about the date when the crisis will I arise upon the veto resolutions and the Budget, and it is clear therefore, that the House of Commons will then have the whip hand in a i very grave and unprecedented j? situation. It can make it absolutely impossible for a Tory Government to take over the administration of affairs without resort to further unconsti- tutional practices in the revolution that has only just begun. < THE House of Lords began a great debate upon Lord Rosebery's reform scheme on Monday. The House gave a very sympathetic hearing to all he had to say about the perils of a single chamber stirred by gusts of passion, into acts I which wqald be detrimental to the nation's well-being, and so forth; but when he declared with emphatic gravity that there was a triineiidottsly strong and settled popular antipathy, amounting lr." Scot-land to hatred, to the U«rodil«>ry principle of membership, their Lotdsliip3 were not so effusive in their [ cfceers, and from the speeches which followed i. i it was made perfectly clear that the genuine oid Tory peer is in no inclination to doff his hereditary privileges as a legislator in order j to conciliate the democracy. They wero all agreed with Lord Rosebery in his desire to see the House of Lords strengthened in it." powers, but they sniffed at the elective principle as a substitute for the right by birth. Lord Morley, of Blackburn, in a speech of great moderation, but with an exceptionally strong grip of the cardinal principles at issue between the two Houses, pointed out that the reform adumbrated by Lord Rosebery did not touch the fringe of the question it dt utterly out of sight the central difficulty w Ú was the means of preventing deadlock between the two Houses and of smoothly surmounting differences. Whatever they might say about one chamber government, for all the greatest practical purposes of State we had single chamber govern- ment {fe&Qnft&icgrof-the H-owse of Commons. It was that House which made and unmade Governments, levied taxes and spent them, determined questions of national policy and made its voice paramount in every emergency. It was in the sphere of domestic legislation that the gravest causes of friction arose, and these were created not because the House of Lords was an impartial second chamber treating each party in the State with equal consideration, but because it was a standing party House, which always enabled a minority of its own political complexion to defeat the will of a Liberal majority in the House of Commons. Sir Edward Grey, speaking on the same evening in the city, declared that no reform of the House of Lords would be accepted by the Liberal party without the absolute abolition of the financial veto and the strict limitation of the general veto. The House of Commons must have a way provided for the passage of Liberal measures carried by a Liberal majority in response to the demands and requirements of the country finding legitimate voice through its elected representatives. With this secured the present Government and the Libera! party would cordially participate in carrying out a reform of the House of Lords which, by getting rid of the hereditary principle, should bring it more into sympathetic touch with the mass of the people, and at the same time make it a thoroughly impartial revisory chamber. We must prepare ourselves for a hard and protracted struggle for the Lords and their friends will die hard fighting, whilst for the Liberal party it is a genuine issue of life and death. They must win or be extinguished. ¡ and death. The general tone of the debate in j the Lords' House shows that it is hopeless to expect reform from within. Lord Halsbury declared that its present constitution could not be improved upon—it was the House of Commons I' that etood in need of reformation.

GOSSIP. I As a result of the conference of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, held in London, last week, a further attempt is to be made to solve the difficulties in the South Wales coal- field. A meeting of the Conciliation Board is to be held to-day (Friday), when negotiations! between the owners and the men's leaders are to be resumed, and strong hopes are entertained that the threatened stoppage will be averted. The workmen's representatives will be reinforced by three of the leaders of the M.F.G.B.—Mr. Enoch Edwards, M.P (the president), Mr. Thomas Ashton (general secretary), and Mr. Robert Smilie (Scotland). Messrs. Ashton and Smilie played an important part in the negotia- tions in South Wales, last June, when the difficulties in connection with the Eight Hours Act were under discussion. The points at issue now are so well known that it is not necessary to re-state them. It is safe to say, however, that if an agreement is to be arrived at there will have to be concessions on both sides. If both masters and men adopt a give- and-take policy the threatened calamity may be prevented. The result of the conference to-day will be'anxiously awaited. That it may lead to a lasting settlement will be the wish of all sections of the commumty. I V\ I At a meeting of the Parks Committee of the Merthyr Corporation, on Friday, it was reported that a. grant of £250 had been received from [' the Local Government Board, towards the cost of glv ing work to the unemployed on the Cyfarthfa Castle grounds. The Chief Constable (Mr. J. A. Wilson) has drawn the attention of the Merthyr Watch Committee to a real danger. Fortunately, there has been no serious fire in the borough for a long time, but one may occur any day, and property worth thousands of pounds be destroyed. It is very essential therefore, that the borough should possess an efficient Fire Brigade, with up to-date appliances. When fires have oc- curred in the past the police have rendered excellent service, but they are always seriously handicapped, as the present equipment is out of date, while the existing arrangements arc far from perfect. In a report submitted to the Watch Committee Mr. Wilson points out the danger, and also suggests how an efficient brigade can be established. The report has been referred to a sub-committee, who will go fully into the question. Mr. Wilson estimates that the cost of a properly-equipped police Fire Brigade will be nearly £400 a year. At the present time one hesitates to suggest anything that will mean the expenditure of ratepayers' money. An efficient Fire Brigade, however, is a necessity. Ought not the iEsurance com- panies to contribute somethiug to the upkeep of a Fire Brigade? The Postmaster-General is considering a scheme by which it is proposed to issue small steel money-bcxes for the use of depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank. Such co lecting- boxes are used by depositors in many trustee savings banks, and they are also extensively used on the Continent. The boxes would be so constructed that money deposited therein could not be released except by a specially- designed key in the possession of officials of the Post Office when it was desired to make a deposit. The idea was brought to the notice of the Post Office authorities, who have had the matter under consideration for some time, and it has now been submitted to the Postmaster- General, but several months must elapse before it can be brought into practical use after^the-- principle has been adopted. principle has been adopted. < The first Welsh National Conference of Young Men's Christian Associations (in connection with the Liverpool and North Wales, and the South Wales Divisional Unions) will take place at Hereford, at Easter. We have received a programme from the general secretary, Mr. T. Gwilym-James, which gives full details of the various meetings and services which are to be held. There will be a reception on the Saturday evening, by the Mayor of Hereford. On Easter Sunday morning an official visit will be paid to the Cathedral, where a special sermon will be preached by the Dean of Hereford. At the! afternoon meeting, in the Cory Hall, Mr. Edgar Jones, M.P., will speak on "The Y.M.C.A. A factor in shaping the future of the Princi- pality." A conference will follow, and later in the evening another meeting will be held in the Cory Hall, at which Mr. Edgar Jones is announced to speak on Young Wales The problem of leadership." Several meetings will be held on Monday, for the transaction of business, election of officers, etc., and the delegates will adjourn to the Bishop's Palace for tea, at the invitation of the Lord Bishop of Hereford, who will afterwards open a discussion on How best to help lads and young men in small towns and villages." Mr. Llewelyn Richards, the warrant officer I of the Merthyr Board of Guardians, applied | at the police court, last Friday, for maintenance orders; but the Stipendiary refused to make them. His reason for taking this stand was because the Guardians had accepted offers of reduced amounts from persons who have appeared before them, after orders had been made by the Magistrates. This, he said, they had no business to do. If the Guardians wished to have the orders varied they must appear before the Magistrates with fresh evi- dence. I think Sir Marchant is justified in adopting this attitude. It looks very much like playing with the court to bring a man before the Slagist rates, and, having secured an order, to reduce the order in the Board-room. One can understand the Justices regarding this as a slight. Circumstances may warrant a reduction in an order, and if so the proper course would be to bring the case before the 'I Magistrates again. < Sir S. T. Evans is the first Nonconformist to occupy the DOS'0** pf President qf tbe Divorce Court, 1 *• How brittle the thread of life is was once I more exemplified on Saturday. The Rev. J Hathren Da vies, than whom there was no mes. esteemed resident in the village of Cefn, was 1 apparently well and strong on Saturday morn- ing in the evening he was dead. He had been iiovrn to Merthyr and died' on the way home. For many years Mr. Davies had taken a. deep interest in all that concerned the welfare of the village. Besides being pastor of the Unitarian Church he filled many public offices. He was a member of the Vaynor and Penderyn Rural District Council, a member of the Merthyr Board of Guardians, of which body he was chairman last year; he was the leader of the Liberal party in the village, and in many other spheres he served his fellow-men. He led a busy life, and his genial presence will be greatly missed in Cefn, and even further afield. He was a man one could not but admire, and his death under such tragic circumstances cast a gloom over the district. He was a Unitarian, but he was tolerant, and though an ardent Liberal he had many friends among those whose political views were opposed to his own. Those knew him pest respected him mostv Wif!}L,Lhe members of his family the d1:J11ytn1}át}¡y has been expressed by all sections of the community. He has gone, but he will long be remembered by those who were privileged to know him. Nonconformists in general, and Baptists in; particular will read with, interest the brief sketch which appears on another page of the historic Welsh Baptist Church, at Hengoed, the bi-centenarv of which will be celebrated in September next. s » Emily West appeared before the Merthyr; Magistrates once more, on Tuesday. This time she was charged along with another woman with stealing. They were both sent for trial at the Quarter Sessions for the borough, this being the first case to be sent to the new court. On announcing the Magistrates' decision Sir Mar- chant Williams remarked Let the Recorder be introduced to Emily West." The Rev. J. Morgan Jones delivered the second of the series of addresses on Religion and Socialism," at Hope Chapel, Merthyr, on Sunday night. These discourses have aroused considerable interest in t town, and there was very large congregation. A summary of the addrejn appears elsewhere. » A committee has been appointed by the Breconshire County Counoil to consider the Housing and Town Planning Act j « A reference to the Liberal Government's j action in regard to supply, which has aroused such anger among the Conservatives, was made in the House of Commons, on Monday afternoon. Mr. George Younger (C., Ayr Burghs) asked what steps the Government would take to warn Old Age Pensioners that there might be some delay in the due payment of their pensions in consequence of the short provision made for the necessary supply. Mr. Hobhouse replied that there was no necessity to make special arrangements for the continuance of the pen- sions after the first week in May. They would be paid as heretofore on the sole authority of the House of Commons. This is an extract from a schoolboy s essay 1 I hope to win a scholarship, so that I shall not; be a common gardener like my father. I hope some day to rise to a high position, and become a clerk or a grocer's assistant." We must all admit that the hereditary j principle has outlived its usefulness. A House composed of Shakespeares, Bacons, Newtons, and Burkes would not remove the objection to the hereditary constitution of this House."— Lord Rosebery, in the House of Lords, on Monday, in introducing his Reform from Within motion. j i Ireland is rapidly becoming a country of peasant proprietors, and all the difficulties about rack rents, renting improvements and! dual ownership are vanishing. During the last quarter-of-a-century more than 300,000 Irish tenants have been converted into owners, the sums advanced amounting to £104,000,000. The annual conference of the Independent Labour Party will be held in Easter week, and the agenda has already been issued. Among the subjects down for discussion are Right to Work," The Poor Law," The House of Lords," and Electoral Reform." The attitude of the Labour party towards the House of Lords and the Liberal Government will be criticised. A resolution will be proposed affirming con- fidence in the members of Parliament and congratulating them on their work; but an amendment by the Rastrick Branch condemns the action of the Labour Party in Parliament during the last twelve months by giving its support to a Liberal Budget while neglecting the claims of the unemployed. Also condemns their apathy in the House in regard to Ferrer s assassination. Further, it condemns the action of the Labour members of Parliament to Comrade Victor Grayson inside amd outside that House." The same branch will also propose that the Con- ference decides to separate from the Labour Party and to call a conference of all Socialistic bodies in the country with a view to forming one united body out for Socialism." The Rev. John Davies, Rector of Vaynor, has been elected an alderman of the Breconshire County Council. Mr. Davies, it will be remem- bered, stood as a candidate for one of the wards of Cefn at the recent election, but was defeated. In view of the attack on the hereditary element in the Upper Chamber, it is interesting to recall how the principle became imported into the Constitution. Originally every freeman had a right to give his decision in the Assembly of the nation. But exigencies of time and place precluded the attendance of many, and after the Norman Conquest only a certain limited number were summoned. In the words of Freeman, While the freemen in general were summoned to appear by representatives, the great men of the land were still summoned to appear in their own persons." The custom gradually obtained when a baron died, of summoning his son in his plaee, and—to quote Freeman once more—" it came to be held that a writ of summons, once received and acted on, gave both to the man to whom it was sent and to his heirs after him a right to a summons to all future Parliaments." Mr. G. W. E. Russell has defined the position of the Peerage with admirable lucidity in An Onlooker's Note Book :—" There never was a moment (he writes) whencWte Englialf people, or any English King or law-giver, decreed that the House of summoned individuals should be & hereditary body. The whole present position ofjlthe Lords—their rights, powers, privileges, and, above all, their hereditary character— came about by accident and growth. The Peers themselves, and themsevles alone, de- clared the hereditary character of the House of Lords and, though no Act of Parliament ever enacted it, several have since assumed it. and it has come to be regarded as an essential part of our constitutional system." « The Hon. Ivor Guest has selected for his title on elevation to the peerage the plare of his residence in the Micllands--Ashby St. Ledgers. This was the home of Catesby, the associate of Guy Fawkes in the plot for blowing up the Houses of Parliament. The old mansion has been considerably altered in modorn times, but without destroying the original form and structure of the house, and the gunpowder plot room stands at the entrance to the drive. The Suffragettes -will faee the ordeal of imprisonment v with greater checrfulr.ess in future, should it become tieresfarv to submit thereto. They must-have the credit of having done something to induce the new Home Secretary (Mr. Churchill) to propose certain important modifications of the prison regula- tions, which will enable the prison authorities to make a marked differenc e in the treatment of prisoners who go to gaol for different offences, with and without a good character, but all in the second division. If these regulations are agreed to by Parliament in cases where the breach of the law is not of a serious/brutal, or degrading nature, such as felony, assault and battery, and indecency or obscenity, the prison authority can relieve a prisoner of all the offensive conditions which were so objectionable to the Suffragettes, and reduce imprisonment practically to mere detention in custody. The Navy Estimates have been under discus- sion in the House of Commons this week, and no member has ever had such a set-back on questions of fact as Lord Charles Beresford has received at the hands of Mr. McKenna. The gallant admiral gave away his case before Parliament met, when he acknowledged that he had to get into Parliament somehow." Now he has had his frighkereating allegations proved to be as hollow as the wind. tTp to the 11th of March the Treasury had paid no less than £323,058 in discounting bills placed upon the market in lieu of the taxes which the House of Lords refused to sanction. A large number of holdors of stocks, from the dividends upon which the Bank of England has in the ordinary way deducted the amount of income tax according to the rate fixed in the Budget, are now applying for the return of the tax, the Government having anno-anc-ed its intention not to take steps to secure legisla- tive sanction for the tax this year. The Bank having been advised that it has no authority to retain the tax, is accordingly paying it to the owners of the stc ks, and this adds anothei bit of confusion 10 lite situation. The stock' holders have to le tailed upon to pay individually when the tax for the year does become legalised. The Moderate, or Conservative, party on the London County Counoil, have this veek gi\eu a striking ijlustration of their readiness to tnrb an a'fidcntal to full account for party pur-y>oses. By a sinele vote in Central Finsburv the Moderate candidate was elected over the Pro;<ressh e. Had the Progressive enjoyed that solitary vote the two parties on the Council would have been equal in numbers -59 e:1"})- The one vote gave Finsbury to the Moderates and made them 60, against 58. With this majority oi two in the number of elected members they appropriated the whole of the Aldermanic seats that had become vacant, and converted a have now 17 aldermen against 2 for tic Pro- gressives. After this who will say that a re flating forc e against the abuse of an acci- dental majority in Parliament is not wanted quite as much for Liberals as for any otLœ party ? It is a fre modorn instance of resort t." The good old rule, the simple plan, That they should keep "11 0 have the pov.er, And they s'lOuld take who can. Several heavy fines were inflicted at Merthyl police court, on Tresday, upon persons for selling watered milk. In one case, where there had 1 een two previous convictions, the It is only by such mean* that the public can secrre protection against the sale of fraudulent articles of onsumption, The Merthyr Labour Exchange was opened on Monday, the office being over the shop of Mr. W Harris, grocer, High-street, and the entrance in Castle-street. A number of men have applied to be placed on the register. Mr Davies, the manager, has had considerable experience in connection with Labour Bureaux^ and those who need advice will find him coorteooi and obliging. A correspondent in to-day ? paper can. attention to the tost of the up-keep of Cyfarthfa Band, and questions the wisdom of spending money on uniforms for the bandsmen when many people are unable to obtain the necessariei of life Another correspondent criticises recent apa pointments made by the Merthyr Education Committee. We have read a number of letters during the past few weeks on this subject, and if what the writers say is correct some of the applicants for posts do not seem to hav.e been treated quite fairly. In the absence of anj statement to the contrary, by someone in authority, ratepayers will begin to think there is just ground for the complaints. If no favouritism has been shown it should be an easy matter for the Chairman, at the next meeting, to defend the action of the Committer Some explanation certainly ought to be given/ The gross value of the estate of the late Coif Lewis has been sworn at £11,258, with net personalty lSmgmg festivals are still very popular in this district. They are eagerly looked forward t4 by both young and old, and even those who da not understand much about music enjoy th«' singing. I have heard complaints, however from local musicians against the practice 01 inviting outsiders to conduct. They think men in the district ought to be asked to conduct; Perhaps those who are responsible will take tø hint. if r r The arrangements for the bazaar in aid of ths Merthyr Y.M.C.A. were further advanced at a meeting held at the Town Hal! last Friday night. The Mayor and Mayoress (Councillor and Mrs.!vF. T. James) are taking the matter up enthusiastically, and they are being fairly well supported by representatives of the various churches. It is proposed to hold the bazaar in the autumn, and it is hoped to raise a sub- stantial sum towards the new building. dominations of candidates for the Merthyr Board of Guardians were made yesterday (Thursday). In some parts of the Union keen contests will take riiace, but in others the rate- payers appear to be quite listless, and indif- ferent about the persons who may be elected to represent them. The list of candidates will be found elsewhere. ♦ ? The Mid-Glamorgan Liberal Association, at a meeting held at Abcravon on Wednesday, decided to run a candidate against Mr Vernon Hartshorn, the Labour nominee,' for the seat vacated by Sir S. T. Evans. As the Conserva- tives propose to contest the seat there will be a tbrec-oornered fight. The local Liberal leaders had been advised from head-quarters not to run a candidate, but as Mr. Hartshorn ia an out-and-out Socialist they decided to oppose him. Fourteen names were su br..1Íttecl to So meeting of Liberal delegates,' and ultimately Mr. Frederick William Gibbins, J.P., of Neath, was selected as candidate, and he agreed to. stand. Mr. Gibbins is an ex-High Sheriff for Glamorgan, and one of the largest employera of labour in the district. He is managing director of the Eagle Tin pIa t Works, and con- nected with other large works. The bride appeared very much troubled and asked Must I follow ham to every place ho goes ?" Yes," said the olergyman "you" dust follow him everywhere il death do yon part." Gracious cried the girL If 1; had known that before I would never haw married a postman."—" Spare Moments." j POLONtUa-

Colliery Accident at Eedlinog. Thos. Hy. Tippet, a. collier, a'marnod roaife with a wire and several children, livxjj^r at 9, Church-street, Dowlais. sustained serious in- juries whilst working at one qf the Bedlinog pits. Having just filled a tratn of coal. he was bending -down to mark it when a stone came down on his head, causing a bad fracture. Dr. Hopkins, of Bedlinog, having dressed the man's head, he was sent by train to Dowlais where P.C. Herbert was awaiting him with &n am- bulance car to take him to the Merthyr Hos- pital. At the time of writing ho was in a precarious condition

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Congregationalists' Conference at Hirwain On Thursday last a conference and publio meeting were held at the Mount Pleasant' English Congregational Church, under the! ausipces of the South Wales English Congre- gational Union. The Rev. Edward Morgan, eatb (the chairman of the Union for next jea), and the Rev. 3. T. Rhys (secretary of the' JBfst Glamorgan English Congregational Associa-j tiqn) were present on behalf fo the Union. The conference was helQ'in the afternoon, at the; Vestry. The Rev, E- Morgan informed those; present that he and Mr. Rhys had been appointed to attend the conference to receive reports from the church officers as to renewing grants, etc.j received from the Union. The secretary, Mr. I W. D. Davies, issued the reports, which gave' a short account of the Church's history since the chapel was opened in the year 1866, which was done through the efforts of Messrs. W. Williams, J.P., the late D. E. Williams, Sim Picton and others, who took steps to provide for the holding of services in t h English lan- guage. The Church had been aided for the past 30 years to the extent of £[.74. The total contirbutions towards the building and renova- tion fund up to the end of 1909 was £1 ,347 6s. 8d.' Considerable amounts had also been collected towards Foreign and Home Missions, while the church members were doing their best to eon. tribute regularly. The numerical condition and the financial condition also were of a more than usually distressing character, owing to dispersion and loss of members, and showed a decrease. Mr. J. M. Jones, the ch-ufch treasurer, I and the Rev. W. J. Rowlands (pastor) also gave evidence. IIA public meeting was held in the chapel in the evening, under the presidency of the Rev. W. J.' Rowlands. The Rev. E. Morgan delivered an address. The Rev. J. T. Rhys also spoke favourably of the report given at the conferenoo by the secretary, which he said would help them to claim the required grant. He appealed to the church members not to be too anxious to get an increase in the church, but to leave the results to God, and trust to His will. A hearty vote of thanks was passed to the speakers, on the motion of Mr. J. M. Jones, seconded by Mr. D. Edmunds, who said that the two rev; gentlemen had brought much stimulus with them. The meeting was very well attended.