Welsh Gazette and West Wales Advertiser

LAMPETER WATER SUPPLY DISPUTE THE lengthy report of the lawsuit between Mr. J. C. HARFORD and the Corporation of Lampeter, which we give in another part of the paper-and which appeared in a portion of our issue for last week-will be read with interest by a much wider circle than that directly interested. Mr. HARFORD, who is lord of the manor, agreed, upon certain conditions, to let the town draw its supply of water from and through lands on his estate. One of those conditions was to the effect that the Corporation were to supply water to the houses on Mr. HARFORD'S estate along the line of pipes within 150 yards; and it was on construction of this covenant that the question arose and that question was: whether the word supply meant that the Corporation were to allow Mr. Harford the right to take waterto his cottages from the Corporation main; or whether it meant that the Corporation were to take the water from their main to the cottages. Now, inasmuch as the dispute arose entirely over the word "supply," the verdict therefore depended upon the decision of the Judge upon its meaning in the covenant and, after listening at length to the arguments of the learned counsel for each party, Mr Justice KEKEWICH ruled that the term" supply" could only mean, from the construction of the deed, that the Corporation were to take water to Mr HARFORD'S cottages along the main within 150 yards. There seems to be a good deal of confusion in the minds of a large section of the ratepayers, not only as to the merits, but also as to the nature of the question at issue and we think ;t only right that the inhabitants should be given clearly to under- stand that the question which had to be decided at law was, not so much the right- ness or the wrongness of the question, not whether the Corporation should or should not, in obedience to a kind of moral imperative, supply Mr HARFORD'S cottages with water but whether the Cor- poration had or had not covenanted to supply Mr HARFORD'S cottages. The Corporation, would not, we think, have gone to law but for the fact that they apprehended—as explained by the Mayor at a meeting of the Council yesterday-that the construction put upon the covenant by Mr HARFORD would involve them in further and more serious responsibilities than those of supplying the cottages specified in the doed. Both parties failing to agree upon the meaning of the covenant went to Jaw, with the result as already stated, that a verdict was given in favour of Mo HARFOBD, who had entrusted his case to Messrs COOKE, SONS, and ACTON, the well-known solicitors, of Bristol. We have gone to considerable trouble to give a full report of the case, and whatever may be said of its merits, we trust that the publicity we have been able to give it will contribute to some extent to a better understanding. It may be easier to moralize than to be wise after the event: but we do not think it amiss that all disputes of this kind should be submitted to a referendum, that ie, that the people who have to bear the burden should be consulted and taken into con- fidence before taking any decisive steps. .—

LORD PENRHYN. LORD PENRHYN gives one the impression that he possesses a peculiar frame of mind-he is always in a kind of rejective mood. A short time ago it was announced that he had dis- appointed the friends of that innocent old Welsh Dame-the Eisteddfod—by refusing to act as a president; and now comes the news that he has sorely disappointed that more august body-the Corporation of Bangor-by refusing to assist the City Council to provide a free site for the University College of North Wales. Lord PENRHYN'S refusal in this matter has brought both the City Council and the College Authorities face to face with a very grave situation-they will either have to pay Lord PENRHYN the enormous price he asks for his bit of land, or resign themselves to see the College removed to some other town. The Bangor City Council asked Lord PENRHYN either to re-consider his price, or, as his estate stood to profit as much as if not more than any other interest in the place by the retention of the College at Bangor, to give the land to the College. Lord PENRHYN replied to the effect that he could do neither. We are not told that the people of Bangor offended Lord PENRHYN by approaching him through outsiders; but his stubborn attitude throws a flood of light on the difficulties the quarrymen have to deal with. A man of such an iutractable nature as Lord PENRHYN J would make it impossible to surmount any difficulty: and now the citizens of Bangor, like the quarrymen of Bethesda, will have to go a-begging and a-bori owing in order to I keep the College in their midst. Little! wonder that the ratepayers feel it a particular hardship that they have to do this. And what makes the hardship to them as to the quarrymen all the greater is the knowledge that in order to keep the College they will be paying money to the very estate that will profit most in the future, as it has profited in the past, from the establishment of the College at Bangor.

a** i THE LIBERAL SPLIT." Rosebery v. "C.B." How it affects Wales. (By LLEWELYN WILLIAMS, B.C.L.) LORD ROSEBERY has refused to enter C.B.'s tabernacle," but occupies a vantage-ground outside. Like the prophet who was angry because his maledictions were not verified he stands outside the city walls, awaiting the coming doom of those who harkened not to his preaching. A flimsy and unsubstantial gourd has sprung up and sheltered him for a time from the scorching sun. But the gourd of Liberal discontent has no firm root in soil and will soon wither away. Already Lord ROSEBERY is beginning to find out that the Imperialists" dare not support his policy of Definite Separation." Let us take the list of Welsh members who are advocates of the present war and who are reckoned among the Imperialists:—1, Mr. Ellis Griffith, Anglesea; 2, Mr Osmond Williams, Merioneth; 3, Mr. Vaughan Davies, Cardigan; 4, Mr. Abel Thomas, K.C.,East Carmarthen; 5, Mr. Alfred Davies, Carmarthen Boroughs; 6, Mr. Frank Edwards, Radnor; 7. Mr. Brynmor Jones, K.C., Swansea District; 8, Sir Edward Reed, Cardiff. In addition to these, the following members have not associated themselves with the out-and-out opponents of the war, such as Mr Lloyd-George and Mr Bryn Roberts, and may be termed, there- fore, members of the "Centre Party":—1, Mr W. Jones, North Carnarvonshire; 2, Mr Sam Smith, Flint; 3, Mr Sam Moss, East Denbigh; 4, Mr Lloyd Morgan, West Carmarthen; 5, Mr.,Winford Phillips, Pem- brokeshire 6, Mr Charles Morley, Breck- nock; 7, Mr Alfred Thomas, East Glamorgan; 8, Mr R. McKenna, North Monmouth. It will be seen, therefore, that the Stalwarts' only compri|| the following:—1, Mr D. Lloyd ^George, Carnarvon Boroughs; 2, Mr Bryn Roberts, South Carnarvon; 3, Mr Herbert Roberts, West Denbigh; 4, Mr L Herbert Lewis, Flint Boroughs; 5, Mr Humphreys-Owen, Montgomery; 6, Mr S. T. Evans, K.C, Mid Glamorgan; 7, Mr Keir Hardie, Merthyr Tydvil; 8, Mr D. A. Thomas, Merthyr Tydvil; 9, Mr W. Abraham (Mabon), Rhandda Valley; 10, Mr Aeron Thomas, Mid Glamorgan 11, Sir W, Harcourt, West Monmouth. It will be seen therefore that of the three groups of "Limps," "Centre" and "Stalwarts," the "Stalwarts" not only outnumber the other sections, but that they contain, almost without exception, the men who have influence outside the limits of their own constituencies. Indeed, few would dis- pute that Mr LLOYD GEORGE has more influence on Wales and Welsh opinion generally than all the" Imperialists" put !together. THE CENTRE WITH C.B. The Centre men must and will go with C.B.—and of course the 'Stalwarts' are with him to a man. Of the 27 Liberal represent- atives for Wales, C.B. can therefore count on 19 absolutely in any contest with Lord ROSEBERY on the lines indicated by the ex- Premier in his letter to the Times. But what of the eight "Roseberyites?" Are they going to follow their leader into his Cave of Adullam ? I hardly think so. Sir EDWARD REED may possibly join his Lordship's party; but then Sir Edward, with every respect to him, has long ceased to bo an effective Liberal. I remember that even before the 1895 election he coun- selled Welshmen to abandon Diseadowment, ard to press for Disestablishment only. But the others, however much they would like to join the secession, dare not do so. Their constituents would not stand it. Take the two cases of Mr ELLIS GRIFFITH and Mr BRYNMOR JONES for example. Both had a walk over at the last election. Both were known to be Liberal Imperialists," but neither would dream of joining a Rosebery party, because they know their seats would not be worth a day's purchase if they did. In fact, LORD ROSEBERY has played his cards badly, and he has placed his unfortunate followers in a bad plight. He consulted no one before sending his letter to the Times even Mr ASQUITH, the most devoted of his followers, only learnt the news when he saw the paper next morning. That has always been Lord ROSEBERY'S weakness. He rloP things on the impulse of the moment, out of sheer petulance, like a spoilt child. He threw up the leadership six years ago in the same way. No one was more surprised than Tom ELLIS when he received the letter of resignation, and TOM ELLIS had been staying with Lcrd ROSEBERY the previous week. He has acted in the same way again, with the result that his followers are placed in a most awkward fix. DEFINITE SEPARATION. Is it to be 11 Definite Separation ? I take leave to doubt it. I don't believe either the country, or Parliament, or Lord ROSEBERY himself want a new party. The ex-Premier is, in my view, a Liberal in spite of many limitations. He would never consent to support the vulgar Imperialism of Mr CHAMBERLAIN, or the Church Policy of the CECILS. He understands social better than political questions, and he sees that social reform can only be obtained by means of the Radicals. Nor can I see that Lord ROSEBERY'S views on Home Rule are necess- arily inconsistent with those of C.B. My own view, therefore, is that the Definite Separation" will become more and more undefined, rand that the tendencies of the time will drive Lord ROSEBERY eventually back into C.B's. tabernacle. Not all at once, of course. It will take weeks, perhaps months. But the Government is flat, stale, and unprofitable. It is dying by inches of sheer senility. Mr CHAMBERLAIN is its one strong man, and he is supposed to be at present at the zenith of his career, yet he doesn't look happy. He lacks his old confi- dent bearing; he seems oppressed by the consciousness of failure. He has fooled the country for a long time he has suppressed news from South Africa he has roused evil passions of hate and greed and conquest. But he cannot deceive himself; he cannot smother his own conscience he is a shrewd man, and he must be convinced by this time that he has embarked upon a most disastrous and ruinous enterprise. He means to go down fighting, but go down he must and will. The stars in their courses are against him: the God-ignited spark of national conscious- ness can not be extinguished by a deluge of blood. The Boers are fighting like heroes, and in the long run they must win. Each month adds to the number of their great deeds and great names. Lotter, Louw, and Scheepers have been enrolled on the scroll of their national fame Kritzinger, as true a patriot as Wallace, as gallant as Andreas Hofer, as stainless of guilt as Glyndwr, stands on his trial to-day, and to-morrow may be hanged or shot. The blood of the Martyrs is the seed-plot of the Church": a cause consecrated by the death of brave men will never die. Even so unimaginative a politi- cian as Mr CHAMBERLAIN is beginning to realise the hopelessness of his policy. The country will see it by-and-bye. For my own part, I care nothing who leads the Liberal party, but I do care most earnestly and sin- cerely for Liberal unity. In many ways it will be a bad day for Liberals if and when they take up the task of settling the South African problem. It will be thankless and disappointing work. From a party point of view it will be bad policy. But we must look at the matter from a higher standpoint. The present Government is too deeply com- mitted to war to be able to establish peace only a Liberal Government can bring back peace to a distracted nation only a Liberal Government can put a period to the bloody agony of South Africa. These considerations, I trust, will impress themselves upon I.ord ROSEBERY'S sensitive mind, and I for one do not despair of seeing him before the end of the year copying on to his clean slate the old watchword, to which C.B. has succeeded, of Peace, Retrenchment, and Reform."

NOTES AND COMMENTS. There are many complaints in the Nant- wich district of losses from sheep-worrrying. The attention of the Farmers' Club has been drawn to the matter, and a scheme suggested for insuring farmers against the depreda- tions. At a meeting of the committee of the Poor Law Unions Association last week, a strong feeling was shown in favour of the reduction of the minimun fees of public vaccinators. Mr D. A. Thomas intends, on the second reading of Mr Ritchies Licensing Bill, to strenuously advocate the abolition of the pernicious system of tied houses by making invalid any agreement binding the holder of a licence to purchase drinkables for consumption on his premises from any speci- fied person or persons. Now that the arrangements for the summer entertainments are under considera- tion, it is to be devoutly hoped that the Aberystwyth Town Council will take the precaution to safeguard the beach from any undesirable structures. All artificiality on the Marine Parade, however ornamental, will only contribute to the uglification of one of the best and most permanent assets of the I town. The Dolgelley doctors' dispute has beem amicably settled. Over fifty-eight tithe plaint cases came before the Registrar at Newcastle Emlyn County Court last week. The news of the death of the Rev Dr John Hughes (" Glanystwyth") will be received with wide-spread regret throughout the district. The Directors of the St David's Gold Mine Co. have declared a dividend of 10 per cent. During the year 1901, 15,517 tons of ore was crushed, producing 5,537-325 ounces of bullion, which had realised £ 19,654. Having been disappointed in the interview with Mr Chamberlain, the Welsh Patagonia, Committee is now taking steps to appeal for subscriptions towards a fund to cover the cost of the transportation of the Welsh Colonists from Patagonia to Canada. 6 The Brentford Guardians are disturbed by the heavy cost of vaccination to the rate- payers. The operation at the patient's home casts 7s 6d; at the vaccination officer's sur- gery it costs 2s 6d. One of the guardians stated that a vaccination officer, in reply to a ratepayer's inquiry, had sent a message to say that he need not call at the surgery, p the doctor would visit the patient's home. Speaking in London, Lord Tweedmouth said that what was needed above all was unity among Liberals. It was necessary, for the leaders would be compelled to work together when they got back into power. They had too many metaphors in the air recently. Let them gat back to facts. They had three broad facts on which to unite—education, temperance, and the housing question. There was also the obvious need for representation reform, one man one vote," and the aboli- tion of polling abuses. Mr Justice Bigham on Saturday passed sentence on the four defendants who were before him charged with fraud and con- spiracy in connection with the Liverpool Bank frauds. Goudie and Burge have each been c'dered ten years' imprisonment. The pris- oners Stiles and Kelly were each sentenced to two years' imprisonment. The history of this gigantic fraud, as unfolded in the Law Courts, is a striking example of the evil of betting. The crimes of these men had their roots in betting—and it was betting which hurried them to ruin. The Vicar of Garton, Hull, in a letter to the Daily News says :-Lotter and Scheepers and Kritzinger—if he, too, should pei-ish-will be more terrible enemies to England in their graves than ever they were alive. Is it too much to ask the clergy of all denominations to plead for mercy to men who have committed no moral crime, but have only sided with their race in a great national struggle. The Transvaal authorities spared the Jameson banditti when they might lawfully have shot every one of them." If Kritzinger dies, the voice of another brotbee. blood will cry to God from the gory ground of Africa, and another brand of Cain will mark the British race for centuries. Miss Hobhouse, speaking at a "Peace Day meeting in London on Saturday said that she thought the peace party would be greatly helped in their work when the major- ity of the Army came home-the best cure for war was to look on the face of war. She. could only speak of the soldiers she had met, but the great majority of these seemed to loathe war after having been through ite The officers on the troop-ship upon which she had come ho ae all had this idea of war- Never again When nearing the coast the; got news, and questions arose about Germany and the Afghan frontier, and they said, We hope there will never be another war'—that was the one idea. In her exper- ience civilians were very much more warlike than soldiers. At the Metropolitan Asylums Board meet- ing on Saturday Sir V. Kennett-Barrington pointed out that" the revaccination of persons a day before they were allowed to visit dying relatives was no security against their con- tracting smallpox, as the vaccine would be inactive." Dr W. A. Bond, the Medical Officer of Health for Holborn, says that smallpox takes 12 day a before it begins to make you feel ill. If you are vaccinated before the third day of that period you are quite safe." When two authorities like these (remarks the Morning Leader") thus flatly contradict one another the man in the street is likely to come to the conclusion that doctors are more apt to deal in assertion than in proof. Addressing an educational meeting at Shepley, near Huddersfield, the Rev. J. Hirst H ollowpll made allusion to the present crisis in the Liberal party, and said it be- hoved all Liberals to stand together in regard to education measures proposed by the Government. This was not a time for carping criticism of one another, nor a time for dis- union. The Liberal party set up the first pillar in education autherity in this conntry, and its central principle was public control. That principle was not pencilled on a slate, nor did they go about the country with wet sponges in their pockets to wipe out such a principle. These were days of trial for the Liberal party, and days of trial were apt to be days of desertion. In dark days weak Liberals sometimes got into a temper or into a panic, and even went over to the other side. Such times only tested and proved the loyalty of all sincere Liberals. Would to Heaven that we had a few more men of the stamp of Mr George Cadbury— then Penrhynism, that survival of the tyrranical days of Feudalism, would be a thing of the past. Speaking at a meeting of the National Labour Party in Birmingham on Saturday Mr George Cadbury said it was quite time to do something to save their country. In Birmingham they found, said he, a mass of suffering that only those who knew it could realise. There were men and women working all day in close factories, and when they had finished at night, where did they go? Not into the open air, but into a back street. There were 200,000 people in Birmingham living in courts. His own practical experience in trying to make people a little happier showed him that there was no other possible way but to bring them back to the land. The difficulty was that most men worked in factories, but he maintained that it was possible to combine factory life with work on the land. As a landowner he (Mr Cadbury) did not think the land be- longed to him, it belonged to the Lord-not the House of Lords. He believed the land, like the air and the water, belonged-through the Giver of all gifts-to the people. He asked if those present thought that the working men of Britain, if they used their brains, would allow the land to be in the hands of a few people and themselves be crowded into dark and unhealthy courts. Jt would be impossible, and he was glad to see that a number of thoughtful men had been assembling in Birmingham to see how they could best get representation in the House of Commons. They must lend men to Par- liament whose one idea was to bless the multitude in Briton.