Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

7 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

RUTHIN. ......r-'..../""'---/",/,,/"""",_/.,,-/'-../''''''''..../-,--r-r..../''',_r...../"'-/

BOARD OF GUARDIANS.

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

BOARD OF GUARDIANS. The fortnightly meeting of the above Board was held at the Workhouse, Ruthin, on Mon- day. Mr. Henry Williams presided, and there were present, in addition to the District Coun- cillors, Mrs. Lumley, Mrs. Edward Roberts, Mr. T. H. Roberts, Mr. T. P. Roberts, and the Rev. J. F. Reece. PAUPERS AND ATTENDANCE AT PLACES OF WORSHIP. Mr. W. G. Richards, according to notice given by him at a previous meeting, called the attention of the Board to the desirability of getting those who are in receipt of parish re- lief to attend places of worship regularly in their respective neighbourhoods. He said that he had been induced to bring this subject for- ward as a result of the discussion that took place in the House on the question of religious services, because if the Guardians thought it desirable and necessary that the paupers in the house should receive religious ministrations, something should be done to bring the out-door paupers under the influences of religion in their respective localities. He knew the Board could not adopt compulsory measures, but there were other means that could possibly be adopted with equal success. At the present time, it was the custom of paupers in several parishes to assemble together at certain houses, there to spend their time in idle talk, if not something worse. He was very anxious about the children of these paupers, and it was the duty. of the Guardians, in his opinion, to take every step possible to secure these helpless children against the demoralising effect of the surroundings in which they were brought up, and in the interest of these children, he hoped the Board would adopt some effective means of getting the parents to attend places of worship regularly on Sunday. The Chairman said he knew of no pauper in the parish of Llanynys who was in the habit of attending certain houses for the purpose which Mr. Richards ascribed to paupers in other parishes. Mr. John Roberts also remarked that he knew of no one guilty of such conduct in the parish of Nantglyn. Was the influence of the pulpit not strong enough to secure the atten- dance of these people at religious services ? It was so in Nantglyn. Mr. Richards: They must be brought under the spell of the pulpit first of all. Mr. Owen Williams The paupers of Aber- wheeler are very good in this respect, but I am afraid what Mr. Richards has said is quite true. What is the remedy is another matter. The Rev. J. F. Reece said the address de- livered by Mr. Richards liadchanged his opinion entirely on this question. Previously, he thought they as Guardians should not deal with the question at all, but now he was quite of opinion that they as a Board should express themselves very strongly as to the desirability of these people attending places of worship, and especially so tor the sake of their children. The Chairman We have nothing before us. As far as Llanynys and Nantglyn are concerned, we have heard that the complaint does not apply. The danger is to make a mountain out of a molehill without cause. Had we not bet ter get more information on the subject before coming to any decision regarding it. Mr. Richards s tid there was positive proof for the statements which he had made that day, but he did not like to mention any particular parish. Mr. R. Rogers Jones suggested that the Re- lieving Officer be instructed to convey to the paupers the wishes of the Board on this matter. He quite agreed with Mr. Richards. Soldiers, who, as a rule, were recruited from amongst the lower classes of society, were compelled by the Government to attend a place of worship, at least once every Sunday and why were these paupers, who live close to their own doors, to be left to absent themselves with im- punity from chapels and churches? Mr. Reece then proposed that the Guardians notice with regret that some of the paupers of the Ruthin Union, especially children, are not in the habit of attending places of worship regularly, and in their opinion, it was most desirable that paupers should show a good example in the matter of religious services.' Mr. R. H. Pugh seconded, and the motion was unanimously agreed to. THE QUESTION OF RELIGIOUS SERVICES. The Clerk submitted for adoption the report of the Committee appointed at a previous meet- ing to consider the question of holding religious services in the Workhouse. According to the report, the Nonconformist ministers of Ruthin had agreed to take the Sunday services in their burn regularly, and to visit the sick wards in each week following the Sunday. The report went on to state that the total number of Bap- tists in the House was 7, of which 5 went out on Sunday to the chapel services, leaving 2 un- provided for; Calvinistic Methodist, 26 in the House, 13 attending chapel, leaving 13 unpro- vided for Church of England, 36 in the House, none of which went out on Sunday, and were all thlerefoie unprovided with services; Wes- leyans, 7 in the House, leaving 7 unprovided for Independents, 3, leaving 3 unprovided for. The Presbyterians, the Roman Catholics, and the Salvation Army had one adherent each in the House, but none were provided for. This made a total of 82 paupers in the House, 18 going out to services, and 64 unprovided for. Mr. T. H. Roberts said he had a word to say on this matter before the report of the Com- mittee was put to the meeting for adoption. He found from the newspapers, that the Warden of Ruthin, in his letter to the Board, had given it as his opinion that those who spoke on this question at a previous meeting should have made inquiries before bringing the accusations they did against the clergy and ministers. With regard to the part which he had taken in the discussion, he could only say that he put a plain question on the subject to the Master of the House, and the reply given by him was, that the clergy and ministers did not attend every time they had received a notice from him. Subsequently to that, he (Mr. Roberts) had been over the Porter's book, in order to get the attendance of the ministers, &c from the 1st July to the 13th day of February. In that period there were 32 Sundays, but they attended only 17 Sundays. During the same period, only four weekly services had been held. The Nonconformists had indeed attended very well, but not the Warden of Ruthin and his curate,-and it was to them that he referred the more particularly in his remarks when this subject was first brought to the Board's atten- tion. During the seven months referred to, they only attended three services. Now, it had been proved the largest number of in-door pau- pers belonged to the Church of England, there being no less than 36 out of 84 paupers belong- ing TO the Established Church yet the Warden and his curate only thought proper to attend the Workhouse on three different occasions. He did not, however, complain so much of the action of clergy and ministers with regard to the Sunday services as he did with regard to their apathy in visiting the sick. Only one minister had paid a visit to the sick since the 1st of July. That being the case, he wished to know whether he had done anything wrong in calling the attention of the Council to this mat ter. The Warden evidently cast the blame on the Master of the Workhouse. The Master informed the Board that he was in the habit of sending out invitations to the clergy and minis- ters to attend the house. The Warden again stated that he had not received such invita- tion, and he (Mr. Roberts) wished to know why should the Warden require notice to attend the House, when he was perfectly aware of the ar. rangements in force, and within easy distance of the Workhouse. The Chairman pointed out that iihe Master admitted at the last meeting of the Council that Chancellor Bulkeley Jones had never re- fused to attend the Workhouse, when asked to do so. Even if the Master usually sent out his notices on Saturday nights, as he said he did, that was not, in his (the Chairman's) opinion, the proper way to do. The notice was much too short. too short. Mr. T. H. Roberts granted that that was so, but one could not get over the fact that the but one could not get over the fact that the Warden had entered into an arrangement to visit the Workhouse on week days. The Clerk explained that it was part of the arrangement with the Warden to intimate to the Master whether it would be convenient for him to come or not. Replying to Mr. T. H. Roberts, the Master said that he was not to give the Warden an in- timation to visit the house on week days, but on Sunday mornings only. But he was bound to admit that several weeks passed at the busy season, immediately preceding the Christmas holidays, without the usual notice sent. The Chairman said that the question now was whether the recommendation of the Committee as to the holding of services in future should now be adopted. Mr. T. H. Roberts said that the Master must have neglected to send out thenoticejfor several weeks, prior to the Christmas iholidays,, if, as he said, the Clergy had attended every time he had sent them a notice. Mr. Owen Williams said that the Master ad. mitted having only sent the notice on very rare occasions, and it was therefore not the fault of the clergy and ministers. Mr. T. H. Roberts: That being so, I think the Board should now express an opinion as to whether, in their opinion, I have done right in bringing this question under your notice. The Chairman: The question now is as to whether the report is to be adopted or not Mr. Richards: Before you go to that, Mr. Chairman, I think the question now put to us by Mr. Roberts is a very fair one, viz., that we should express an opinion on his conduct in bringing this matter forward. Mr. John Roberts, Nantglyn The very fact that this Committee has been appointed, and has submitted a report on the subject, is a sufficient proof that Mr. T. H. Roberts did what was right in the matter. Mr. Owen Williams proposed that the report of the Committee be adopted. Mr. R. Rogers Jones asked whether an im- provement had taken place in the holding of the services since this matter had been firso discussed. The Master Yes services are now held on Sundays and week days. Mr. Rogers Jones: This again proves that Mr. T. H. Roberts' action has resulted in good. Mr. Evan Davies proposed, and Mr. Rogers Jones seconded, that the Board approve of the action of Mr. T. H. Roberts. The Chairman I have nothing against that, but I feel at the same time that words were used here, that should not have been used. Mr. J. F. Reece was also of opinion tha.t the Board should pass a vote of thanks to Mr. T. H. Roberts. To draw attention in this matter was evidently not conducive to his popularity, but a member of public bodies should be pre- oared to do an unpopular act when duty called (hear, hear). The Chairman: I again say that I do not ob- ject, but I am sorry to say that words which we could not justify were used a month ago. Mr. T. H. Roberts: What I said was true, and I will stand by it. The report was adopted, and the motion thanking Mr. T. H. Roberts also carried. THE FINANCES OF THE UNION. The Clerk submitted the estimates for the half-year ending Michaelmas next, and in doing so, said that the sum of £3,836 was required, as against 92,697 in the corresponding period in 1889. This showed an increase of over EI,100, which was accounted for by the increase in the following items :—In the County Rate, there was an increase of £294. For that they esti- mated last year an increase in the Union Call of f240 Increase in Out-relief and Superannua- tion of the two retired relieving officers, Mr. Fox and Mr. Griffiths, £ 250 and difference in balance in hand of 9176, making a total of 9960. The Chairman said he wished the Guardians, who advocated the increase of out-door relief, to bear in mind that there had been an increase of E300 in out-relief. The Clerk explained that that was not so. There was only an increase of f,150 in the out- relief, and the other E150 was made out of the increase in the superannuation of Mr, Fox and Mr. Griffiths. Mr. T. H. Roberts reminded the Council that many paupers had recently been buried, and were, previous to their death, in receipt of very large sums from the Union. The Clerk said he had no doubt that the re- lief in the Ruthin district had increased, and that was only to be expected, when a young man succeeded as relieving officer an old and experienced officer, in the person of Mr. Griffiths. The Chairman said that the out relief could not possibly have increased very much during the short time that the new relieving officer had been in office. The Clerk said that there could be no ques- tion about this, when there were a good many paupers on the list now that had been kept off it for many years by Mr. Thomas Griffiths, the" late relieving officer. Proceeding, he said that the sum of £3,896 required, represented a rate of lOJd. in the 91 of the rateable value, and Is. 2Jd. on the assessable value. Under the old system, a rate of only lOkd. would be required; now, it would be on the assessable value of Is. 2id. The Chairman pointed out that there was an increase of X300 in the County Rate, from what had been estimated. Mr. T. H. Roberts: The reason for that is, that the Liberal party is in power (laughter). The Clerk said the increase in the County Rate was to be accounted for by the sums allo- cated towards Technical, Intermediate, and Agricultural Education in the county. This meant a halfpenny rate, and many halfpenny rates would of course increase the bulk re- quired. Under the old system, the rate would be lOd. in the C, calculating on the rateable value, which was equivalent to Is. 21d. on the assessable value. When he ventured to submit these figures last year, Mr. Pennant disagreed with him on this question, but he sfill said that this was so. They received from the Treasury under the Agricultural Rating Act, 1:465 per half year, or a sum equivalent to lid. on the rateable value, and lid. on the assessable value. If Mr. Pennant questioned the accuracy of these figures, he should like to hear from him. Mr. T. H. Roberts said the passing of the Agricultural Rating Act must have benefited the farmers. Mr. Owen Williams How can it benefit us, when we have to pay 3d. more? The Clerk said that every man who paid upon a house or building would now have to pay Is. 2d., instead oi lOJd., as under the old system. Towards this he got, If d. The farmer, of course, might get a little advantage from the Act, but not so the townspeople and those who paid upon buildings. Mr. Reece said the farmers were gaining, no doubt, by the Act, but householders did not. The Act had really done him harm. Mr. Owen Williams said that immediately this Act came into force, the abatements were withdrawn on many estates. Mr. T. H. Roberts: It had been withdrawn on the Kinmel estate for many years previous. Mr. John Roberts: I hope we are not drift- ing into politics, gentlemen (laughter). This concluded the business.

SPECIAL POLICE COURT.

RHYL.—

iRHYL AND PRESTATYN | TRAMWAY…

SPECIAL POLICE COURT.

. RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL.