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? There is unquestioriab 1 y a growth of pub- lic interest in the women s suiirage question. Wlwstner this is due to the criminal excesses _d the militants, or notwithstanding them, the fact hardly admits of doubt. It was evidenced in the audience drawn together by the debate in the dub-ha.U of the Swan- sea Junior Imperialists—which is of fairly Jalrgte dimensions—between Miss Pott, of aondon representing the Antd-Suffragette iety, and Miss Foxley, M.A., Cardiff, an ■ad vocate of women's suffrage. The hall was [Crowded, and scores if not hundreds of peo- ^e failed to obtain admission. These latter (were heavy losers by their exclusion, for the deb-ate attained a very high standard of k-rafzit in respect of rhetoric, cogent reason- jfaig- and knowledge. Nor was the element fof humour entirely a bsent. f The threshing out of the merits of a con- wiroversial topic by means of o debate main- gained by speakers specially equipped with (natural gifts and acquired knowledge pos- øesses the advantage that the audience hear ,t.he two side.s of the case, which is mtlich jjmore likely to lead to 1 le formation of a f Bound judgment. than Estening to a repeti- frfcian of speeches from the snme standpoint. • And it is unlikely that oae amongst the Ifcundreds pers^nt on Monday did not feel nmore competent tc express a definite opinion | after listening to the two leading ladies and ■tihe others who took part in the d iscut-sioin [When it was thrown open to all. 1 hoe gene- [Tal impression was that the debate had been ptof a most illuminating and informative char- ruder, and that another, to begin where this I jfteft off, would be most welcome. For ta-is 1 t fesues involved in this question of women's £ suffrage a,M so num?rou? 4nd complex that ? they cannot tw ?iTtn ?i?ua? treatment '• fevcn by the ablest in a couple of houra In >Uhe vote taiken at the close the r,olu,im ;b ?vnur of the extension of fh? franchise ?'was carried, but a conai durable minority lofted a.gninat. The proportion* as n?Ar &s Uey coukl l?e an Lured without actually | counting the hands were three-fifths for an? {("two-fifths against. (As to the argumeDts pro and con, it is feertain that the Icgical but academic con- eiderations urged by Miss Pott why | Woman's chi&f fun(ti(m in attending to the llindmdual incapacitated her irom M'mg a ^trustworthy or expedient factof in coaling l !lth legislation for the community will not 'hav any strong app ai \o the plain män,: [ Whose vc? is suppu? to d.'termnn Parlia- f^nentM'v ^Wtionr- ji 1 t-'r". t e pt-??.'Y the Legislature..On the other hand, of the I t "two points particalarly emphasised by her repponents one was unconvincing and the pother calculated to deepen and strengthen the pdistrust oi the influence of the feminine -vote upon matters of vital national and Im- jtjperial interests. How is the rate of in- fantile mortality to be affected by legisla-. Ition when the chief contributory causes are I the ignorance and carelessness of mothers, V'ho will persist in improperly feeding their and neglecting the most elementary fcygieuic law:, for keeping in wholesome tonditioll the milk-bottle and other feeding i utensils, and properly clothing and {ing the infant? The organisation of Dis- ifcrict Nurses, initiated and wholly managed i ky women, does more to reduce the propor- tions of the persistent massacre of the inno- cents than any conceivable legislation. < The other point brought vividly into the ( 'picture the difference iln perspective re- sponsible for the great body of masculine "resistance to feminine demand for equal vot- l'ing power. Miss Foxley, whilst expressly dis- < 4Claiming any desire for a small navy, re- J turned again arid again—as did mare than f one of her supporters—to the implied wast-e of money and brain labour on the navy, t Hvhich, if diverted to educational and socio- f logical purposes, would be more fruitful of 'oresults. It is precisely the fear of the '!Women' vote being ca??t in overwhelming j strength on the side of a minority of senti- mental dreamers ready to sacrifice the means by which the Empire is kept together end the independence of our Island people is (preserved. that is chiefly aoooun table for the stoiid resistance offered to female enfran- j chisement. At the back of the average j man's mind is the reflection that in a crisis ) ii supreme national importance four-fifths of* I women voters, co-operating- with a small minority of the men voters, pdgllt. for hu- Tnanitarian or sentimental reasons, favour a ■ policy that the great body of the manhood I)i the country regarded as unworthy -ind r^Fuicidal. In which event the truth is bound to be demonstrated that law and legislation • a'i'?' presume that behind both as a last re-I source there is the ncce&sary physical force k mah them effective. In a debahe con- ?ined to iadies this, the sup?mp factor in the existence of every Empire and State, WlIS j overlooked. i I ——————
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f. The Insurance Act is steadily developing none the 1 ess because it has for the ?itne being passed to the background of "YoLllal discussion. At an insurance con- 1ÍerHnpe at Glasgow, the .secretary of the p*Joint Gommitte:: of Approved Societies took 'th(. view that the calculations upon which ,;?he Act was based were baing fanned in I.texprience to a serious degree. The ?c?ta.rics, he said, made no proper aliow- iiancp for the fact that the rate of claim biad been going up for many years even with the picked membership of voluntary pocteties; they made no allowance at all or the tendertcy of the compulsorily a -,sured to get something out of the Act t-o 'which they were passively assenting con- tributors as against the exactly contrary ppirit of the old type of friendly society (man, who made it his boast that he as I ?!dom as possible came upon the club; and the calculations as to the rate of sickness '■iinongst women had been greatly under- estimated. In a word, the actual bapis of the Act was optimistic to an extent that is proving quite deceptive in actual working. ) ———— These troubles are, however, in part the jjvork of the approved societies themselves, ,who accepted candidates freely, witbont Imposing a strict medical test. The result is seen in the number of deposit contributors proving surprisingly" small; it had been anticipated that the weaklings and ailing rwould have been debarred from member- ship of any other body than the "Post Office contributors" by a searching medieal examination. The penalty has now to be ipaia, as this class has been so largely in- icorporated in the approved societies, tjebilitating them and playing havoc with their figures. The class itself is a direct gainer, in view of the notoriously disadvan- tageous terms that were all that it had to 0 expect from the Post Office; but the 'eties who recruited such so eagerly ? pUMt now be 1'epentiD that Uley eet I t' numbers above quality and took over the 1 responsibility for bad cases.
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South Africa is not the only colony which has just passed thi-uugh the throes of a m'IS" serious strike; it is instructive to note that, as at the Cape, the personal intervention of the farming class brought it to a speedy finish. A number of shipwrights struck worl; in New Zealand over a dispute concerning the payment of "travelling time"; wharl labourers; seamen and miners struck in sym- pathy, and the chief seaports of the country were at a standstill. The original cause o! the quarrel was soon merged in the recogru- I tion or non-recognition by the employers ei a body known as the Federation of Labour, against which the familiar charge was brought t,hat it was useless to enter into agreements with it, as such agreements were speedily torn to pieces. Eventually the farmers, seeing their cargoes of beef and but. ter held up, marched into the towns and. dividing themselves into police and dock labourers, put their stuff on board the ships themselves. The strike suddenly collapsed a curious sequel has been the formation of a number of unions which make it a condition of member- up that no applicant shall belong to the Feu -ration, and shall be prepared to accept arbitration court awards. The experiences of New Zealand, and of Australasia generally, do away with the idea that conditions that are generally much superior to those ruling in this country— high wages, low hours, amongst a number of other material advantages—ea,n guarantee peace, and tend to discredit State interfer- ence, which has in Australia practically re- verted to the mediaeval system of fixing wages by statute. This failure to ensure a permanent peace has been la-rgcly du-a to the perverse and uncontrollable spirit that has been so conspicuous at home, and until it is replaced by some sentiment that is prepared to argue rationally and coolly and stand by decision? once colne to, it hardly seems worth while devising any machinery, State or private, that is destined to work fruit- lessly.
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A Prussian State loan for 17 millions I sterling was issued last week; the subscrip- tion3 offered towards it totalled no less than 1.250 millions. The phenomenal financial success of the issue is deeply significant. It is a point ceaselessly put forward by the persons who believe that in time excessive expenditures upon armaments must throw Europe into bankruptcy, that the wealth of the nations is being drained to a devitalising degree by the consumption of money in an unreproductive purpose It, is notorious that armaments, apart, the financial posi- tion in Germany, is on<> of stringency there is little liquid capital about in the country, in consequence of the demands made by an extraordinary industrial expansion. Yet a four per cent. loan—issued, be it allowed, upon attractive teims-pr,-glue" the offer of enormously excessive sums, and that although even the capital of the country itself is being laid under contribution for a riLecij] udiilrr-v vouM --pp^ar I thaft there is little in the finamia.1 ex- haustion" argument, in the case at least of the great commercial and industrial European powor whose finanoes have long been acknowledged to be less elastic and more constrained than those of any one of its rivals in the "iirts of peace or war.
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.———— .:ar On Saturday the Swansea Rugby Club achieved its most conspicuous triumph of the season by decisively defeating Leices- ter (on its record the best club side in Eng- land), and Swansea Association Club met itss Waterloo, so far as the English Cup competition is concerned, by losing to the odd goal to the Queen's Park Rangers. As the result of recent victories over Cardiff, Ll-ui- elly, Newport and Leicester, the All Whites occupy a practically unchallenge- able position ad the premier fifteen of Wales. And this notwithstanding defections due to the allurements of Northern Union clubs, which might have produced a virtual col- lapse were it not for the store of young talent available locally to be drawn upon. The failure at home of the Swans to overcome the Rangers was a great dis- appointment to South Wales supporters of the dribbling code. Sucoess oliertd such attractive possibilities, and at one s-.age of the game seemed so well within reach. Chance, which is a factor of considerable influence in all football contests, plays an exceptionally big part in the Association game. The defeat of Manchester United by lwilldon was a striking example, since on form the latter had not a ghost of a oha.nce agamat one of the most formidable com- binations in the country. So that when the local side scored a goal within a couple of minutea of the start, the owivictio-n was for the time established that the luck of t,he Swans would carry them into the third round. Had one of the several opportu- nities which offered themselves soon after been taken, and a second goal made, it is reasonable to conclude that Lhe effect upon the morale of the two sides respectively would have been so great as to ensure vio- tory for the Swans." But there was no goal, and the Rangers were able to equalise by means of a shot for goal that, Storey should have stopped, but did not, failing in an effort to fist away thet ball, which he might ea.sily have caught. Ry way of atonement the goal keeper subsequently cleared a succession of hot shots. After thas success the visitors, recover- ing from the scare induced by the sensa- tional opening, settled down to their game and gradually asserted a definite superiorly —due to that extra shade of olass which generally determines the igsue--iii speed, individual skill and determination. The odd goal win dlld not flatter them. On the other hand, so prodigal in possibilities is the dribbling game that a win for Swansea, j even on tire run of the play, was not improb- able until the closing stage of the struggle had been reached and a draw might have been effected, as in the match with Oswestry, in the very last minute. Tfrus was not to be, however, but the Swans are entitled to the comfort yielded by the knowledge that they I made a great fight against a stronger aide and went down with colours flying. I
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Mr. Birrell recently delivere d an address to his constituents-in-d the public generally—in Bristol. He took occasion to make the following notable remarks: — "Before they could begin civil war Mr. Asquitb would have stated to the world the opportunity that had been offered to Ulster and what Ulster had refused, and he was satisfied that, however much those people disliked the idea of having to throw in their lot with their fellow-countrymen, it was not a case upon which any reasonable human being could go down to history for a call to have it settled." It was generally understood that Mr. Birrell's words meant what they plainly appeared to mean, that Mr. Asquith had quite recently made a new offer—a proposal of serious and con- siderable oonces R'lf-)ns-t-o the people of Ulster, and that they had rasblv rejected it. Such a statement was calculated to assist the Government in avermrning popular indignation against their Ho-lie Rule Bill by prejudicing the case of the Irish Loyalists afld putting them in the position of headstrong, unreasonable resisters who /petulantly spurn the olive branch when it is extended to them in the spirit of generous and considered conciliation. Naturally, Mr. Birrell's singular and significant observations drew forth a prompt response from the North Ea,st of Ireland. "An Ulsterman," in a letter to which the "Times" gave prominence, pertinently asked :—"What does this mean? If it is an offer not yet made, it is evidently an offer which is to be made with the full certainty ot its refusal. If it is an offer which has I i)een made, what is it and how and when has it been offered to Ulster? Protestant Ulster means a million or so of men and women accustomed to think for them- selves. No offer to Ulster can be refused until it has been publicly and definitely made, and carefully and deliber- ately considered." The prejudice in which Mr. Birrell's speedh was—according to one interpretation of it—likely to involve the Ulster cause was thus checked, and there- upon the "Star," one of the representative London Radical papers, propounded another interpretation in the following form:—"W e are glad that the right of the Ulster people to decide their own fate is slowly being recognised. Hitherto their leaders have not consulted them in any democratic way. If that is not done, the refusal of Mr. Asquith's offer may be dictated by the tactics of the Tory Party here, rather than by the wishes of the Ulster people." The new implication was, not that Mr. Asquith had offered a gem of compromise to the people of Ulster which they had scorned, but that the Prime Minister had entrusted such a gem to the Unionist leaders, and that they had cast it from them without consulting the people of Ulster, for whom it was intended. This allegation was promptly refuted by Mr. Walter Long, who, speaking at Nottingham, referred to the tactics of Ministers, and especially to Mr. Birrell's seemingly pointed remarks at Bristol, in the following terms:—"He did not want to suggest that the Government were trying to exasperate Ulster to drive the Ulster people into the commission of some act of violence which would prejudice their case and enable the Government easily to deal with it, but the use of language like this by a Cabinet Minister, a;bove all by the Irish Secretary, made it very difficult to avoid some suspicion of the kind. Surely there never was a case when it was so imperative for the Government to speak plain, straight- forward words which any man could under- stand. This was no time for trickery, for jugglers, for keeping cards up the sleeve. This was a time for honest men to speak honest words. If they had got a proposal to make, why had they not made it? Up to the present, they had offered nothing, they had made no propoeal." Mr. Birrell thereupon withdrew the insinuation which exposure has rendered useless for electioneering purposes. He wrote to the "Times" in the following terms:—"My language at Bristol has been misunderstood, and as I am sure it has been 80 honestly, it must have been ambiguous; though I cannot myself detect the least ambiguity. The only 'offer' I referred to— and I did so in unmistakable terms-was the public offer, made by the Prime Minister, and repeated by other speakers on scores of occasions and by this time known to everybody, namely, that, subject to certain conditions, the whole case of Ulster will be considered and her grievances met, if possible. No other offer was in my mind, or could have been in the minds of my audience. I went on to say that before civil war could begin the world would be told what Ulster had been offered, and what she had refused. Must it not be so? How can it be otherwise? The casus belli must be defined." Mr. Birrell's belated assumption of innocence is hardly impressive. He invites us to believe that when he used the phrase "Before they could begin civil war Mr. Asquith would have stated to the world the opportunity that had been offered to Ulster, and what Ulster had refused" he merely referred to "the public offer made by the Prime Minister, and repeated by other speakers on scores of occasions, and by this time known to everybody, namely, that, subject to certain conditions, the whole case of Ulster will be considered"—so that the "public offer" aflie3 to a "whole case" which has not yet been considered as such- "and her grievances met, if possible." So what Mr. Birrell really meant to say when he first spoke was:—"Before they could begin civil war, Mr. Asquith would, subject to oertain conditions, have con- sidered the whole case of Ulster and have announced that he would offer to remove her grievances, if he should consider that act of redress possible in the light of the conditions aforesaid." On a previous occasion, Mr. Birrell lapsed into ambiguity which appeared to be, but was not useful. Shortly before the General Election of December, 1910, he publicly assured an inquirer that:—"Home Rule was one of the questions which ought to be left, and should lie left, to the judgment of the whole people. There it was, and there it would be. If they thought they could smuggle a, Home Rule Bill through the House of Commons in the three years following, all ht- could say was that their ignorance was beyond all conception." This statement was understood to be a clear intimation that a Home Rule Bill would not be introduced into the House of Commons then being elected. But Mr. •Birrell intended it to convey the opposite meaning. It was another case in which "his language was misunderstood it must have been ambiguous though he could not himself detect the least ambiguity!" — 8& I
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The banquet of the Swansea Building Trades Employers' Association, which brought together builders, architects, mas- ter painters, and merchants, who furnish the principal materials used in building con- struction, served as an occasion for a good- tempered scrutiny of every practical phase of the business. Architect criticised builder a rid the latter reciprocated; both had their word to say of the public which invested in buildings and the workmen who supplied the labour. In view of the national issues raised by the general lock-out in London and the fact that in May next the differences between Swan- sea builders and their employes reach their crucial stage, the references to the relations between employers and employed had ob- viously more than an academic interest. It is to be feared that unrest in the building; industry is about to carry grave consequences unless wisdom and forbearance prevaIl with: all the classes concerned. I Incidentally the housing problem came under discussion at this meeting of specially qualified critics. It is noteworthy that gen- eral assent appeared to be given the proposi- tion persistently put forward in these col- < umns that two distinct classes of tenants have to be con&idered in relation to munici- pal hauaing 0obeBM)6j, OM? c*mpome4 of inde- pendent working men capable of and willing to pay the c-conomic rent, -and the other dis- placed inhabitants of shimdom only a degree removed from the paupers, for whom whole- some habitations would na.ve to be provided for such rent as they can afford to pay- habitations so effectively supervised that there would be an absence of the neglect and the wanton abuse of property which, allowed free scope, quickly transforms even a decent dwelling into a hovel and have an appreciable effect upon the rent. A suggestion made in very pointed terms calls foor inquiry. It was to the effect that whilst Coipora- tion bye-laws in respect of width of roads, t.he material used in the making, drainage, etc,-all elements of the cost which determines the rent—are rigorously enforced against the private investor, they are reiaxed or ignored in connection with muni- cipal housing schemes. As the public in- terest demands that every encouragement should be given private enterprise to co- operate with and even, if possible, render unnecessary municipal effort, it is almost incredible that the differentiation alleged is actually taking place. For the choking off of the investor in new cottage property is incompatible with any earnest attempt to make good the shortage in housing accom- modation at Swansea. i"^
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The deportation of the ten Labour leaders from South Africa is unquestionably a sen- sational event. The men, who include the president and the secretary of the Trades Federation, the secretary of the Railway- men's Society, and four prominent Socialist leaders, were railed down to Durban under armed escort and shipped out of the country. An effort was made in the Supreme Court to arrest the action taken by the Botha Government. It failed the Supreme Judgie confessed himself powerless to prevent what he described as an illegal step if the Government were bent upon it. He recognised it was a case where the old Roman maxim "laws are silent in the clash of arms" applied. The step was illegal—or extra legal; to-day (Friday) Genera] Botha will ask the South African Parliament to legalise it by a Bill of In- demnity, and to prohibit the men from landing again in South Africa. He will have to justify his action by ffict and argument, and until he has done o judgment should b8 suspended. For thf-re are issues raised that extend quite beyond tha obvious ques- tions that present themselves on the sur- face, through action that is identical with that employed by the Russian Government to get rid of troublesome people. South Africa is a self-governing country— that is to say, it is all but independent. The -authority of the Home Government and its representative, the Governor-General, are alike nominal and titular, for practical pur- poses. That this is the case is due to the act of the present Liberal Ministry, which gave self-government to the Transvaal and then Union to the South African States— Union, not Home RiiM. It did this, and it boseted of its wisdom ld it* success in S-û doing. If Mr. Asqutth discovers in due 1 course that the Stauth African people, through the Government which they eleoted and for which they are responsible, have committed what Mr. Keir Hardie terms an "outrage" upon British subjects, he is powerless to obtain reparation, unless the views of the South African Parliament which controls its Government agree with such an opinion of the case, and General Botha is refused his Bill of Indemnity. Mr. Asquith cannot oomplain of this impotence; it is the work of his party. If he meddles in South Africa in a South African business, he will send a wave of alarm and resentment throughout not oiuy Cape, but Canada and Australasia. 'QT the Colonies are more sensitive than is popularly recognised in this country upon the subject of their power to order their own affairs. The Liberal and Labour Press is, of course, enraged. General Botha's act is denounced unreservedly; every epithet that the Union- -ist Press applied fifteen years ago to the deeds of Krug^rigm—some of these deeds were not unlike that of this week at Dur- ban, and the Old Boer is the father of the Young Boer—is being bestowed by these erstwhile champions of the Boers upon their quondam proteges. Botha is told that he is outraging liberty and law, playing the tyrant and the despot, and much else in the same strain. For this attitude even if it prove ultimately to be justified, there can only be felt a degree of contempt, in view of the men and the journals fore- most in displaying it. They should have formed their new estimate of the Beer character, of its reactionary and arbitrary tendencies, in 1899. Setting this aspect aside, and considering ] the nature of the railway and the subee- quent attempted general strike in South j AftAca, there is one important point to be noted: It was the South African people themselves, through, the medium of their armed manhood, w4to were the instruments j of the Government's policy. Public opin- ion did not content itself with moral sup- port of the servants of the Government— police and troopers; it was public opinion personified that patrolled the railway lines with rifles loaded and eyes alert for the dynamitard. Then the strike co!!apaed with curious rapidity. There was, after aJl, no reaj reason why strikers should return to work, because men who attempted to dyna- mite the railways, wreck trains and wreak wholesale murder were liable to be ehot at sight. We know little as yet of the facts, as a rigid censorship is still in force din South Africa, but we do know enough to draw the inference that a decisive number of potential strikers refused to come out, and could only be induced to do so by an inde- femrabJo terrorism that would automatically outlaw the men who practised it, and was physically impossible as a result of the dis- play of force to protect the workers. Up to a point every right-thiinicmg msui can endorse the acts of tihe South. African people; in so Car as they tended to main- tain the law, aaifeg-uard the rigSht to work, ensure the working oi puibiic services, and suppress eumme and outrage. The polioy of arresting wholesale men wtho had orgaaiased a campaign for the withholding of llaroour— not intrinsically an offence even in the case af public employes working services india- pensaMe to tihe health or even livelihood olf a community—da, however, questionable; and th-e further step of dieipartetdon hM yet to be jusitufied upon the grounds of principle and of expediency. The poinlt to liecollecit m that in Britain sueh discussion must be academic, as such things hsuve not been done here: futile, as we cannot inter- fere in South Africa to put into force Siuicih decisions as may be deemed desirable tufter discussion; and actively mischievous, and conttmary to democratic principle, in view of South Afjioa's right to manage her own business. We can, however, make the grim reflec- tion that even Kruger could not exile British subjects beyond the borders of the Trans- vaa.1, and that we have less actual freedom in dealing with the Dominions than we have vfith foreign countries, 49 wjtoee sua-. ceptibilities we are not required to be so tender. If the incident is construed as evi- dence that the war has been fought in vain, and that British are again subject to the Dutch in South Africa, why, it is the fault of the people- of this country, who relin- I quished actual control of affairs in South Africa, though the action of the Govern- IDent that they elected; and due, moreover, to our failure to occupy the country effectively —.not with soldiers, but with British colon- ists. The reason6 for that, failure lie on the surface; Canada and Australia ha.ve proved far superior in their attractions to the Brit- ish emigrant, and it is perhaps for the best. We need to reduce to its smallest compass the British parallel to the problem of the Southern States of the Union of North America—a slowly increasing white popula- tion dwelling amidst a swarm of much more fecund blacks.
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In one of the States of America the ladies, .because they have to declare their ages when applying, won't look at votes. Astonishing the interest taken in the lay- ing of a grating in Wind-street on Monday afternoon. It couldn't have been more if someone had fallen through. The following was heard at the Ammah- ford Court on Monday:—Magistrate But where is the point?—Witness It was be- tween the mattress and the bed. "A Swansea man about town" fears no invasion, German or other. "Why?" said foe, "look at the battalions of brave and i gallant fellows who nightly guard the en- tranoea of our innumerable cinemas." <Xtx £ xJxix$>. Jack Johnson's appearance in Swansea on the 2nd March is so hedged round with diffi- cu lties that to prevent disappointment it will be prudent to asBUine that he will not be seen m the flesh locally. The Swans' Welsh Cup semi-final with Llanelly is the next big item on their pro- gramme. Llanelly want the Cup, and the Swans have to avenge a six-goal defeat., so that the clash is likely to he an unusually exciting affair. Tea, coffee, etc., and "music" was the menu for Brynmili residents on Tuesday morning. A band of five youths were grindinar out Killarney on cornets and ibutw-iow one, of the iooal stret-te before eight o'clock. The iheaits for the Welsh Aimatetir Billiard Chacnpioinahip are beinig played off in Ponty- pridd, a.t the A most snitaible location, judging by the manner in which ATr. A. Pa ton. of the Swansea Salis- bury Oluib, is slaughtering his opponents. If the Swans had won on Saturday the reasonable presumption is tt they would have been drawn to play away at Birming- ham. In which event the bitters of a prac- tically certain defeat would have been sweetened by knowledge of half-share in a Bl,200 or £ 1,400 gate. Superstition dies hard. And why, at lunch on Saturday, were you so positive that the Swans were gtoing to lose?" was asked a, Swansea doctksman on Monday. Because I waa lathered by a cross-eyed boy at the barber's in the morning," came the reply. And it sufficed. The audience at the Oxford Electric Theatre on Monday evening were surprised to find on one of the pictures some extremely familiar scenes. As a matter of fact, the Sioture, The Dustmen's Holiday," was ?me,cl on Swansea Sands, the Mumbles and Caswell, and the chief figures in it are the Bros. Egbert. ♦ »<»■<» » » In an editorial calling attention to Swan- sea's strides of progress, the "Welshman" says :—"Even Llanelly is undergoing a pro- oees of regeneration," and as if this wasn't spiteful enough, adds: -"The liberality of Sir Stafford and Lady Howard promised to make even Llanellv an attractive place." Carmarthen evidently thinks it is "even" now! -0  0 <  -?-<'? Seventy-seven boys left the Bonymaen Industrial School last year, and they are now in the following occupations:—Navy, 1; sailors, 2; blacksmiths, 1; carters, 7; copper, tinplate, and other works, 20"; farms, 2; labourers (various), 33; porters, j 4: colliers, 9; printers, 1; railway (engine i stokers), 2; Shoemakers, 1: shop assistants, 6; hotel employes. 3 giving a percentage of 96 in regular employment. This ia how an anti-Suffragette summed up on the subject of Monday's debate at the Swansea Junior Imperial Cluh :-The friends of women's franchise are organised, »nd—doubtless by arrangem--nt-,w-rved early to occupy the greater part of the room. The Anti's have no organisation and trickled in late, many to find themselves excluded. I So that the vote taken did not do justice to the convincing case submitted by Miss Pott. .$. I The Swansea Bench don't often come down with the closure for the "frivolous and vexatious" reason, but they did so in a husband and wife case on Monday. After hearing an account of a row between the fond parents as to which should carry baby boy out for his Sunday afternoon constitu- tional, elicited from the wife in Mr. Henry Thompson's best manner, the oourfc called "Time!" and passed on to the next case. The Dance of Death," the new opera that the Moody-Manners Co. intend to pro- duce for the second time during their com- ing visit to Swansea, is based upon the story of a Swiss in the French service in the time of Louis XVI.. in whom his colonel's wife takes an inthe having been sentenced to death for singing "The Kuhrergen," a Swiss national song. The lady's chateau is sacked by a mob during the revolutionary outbreak, and the Swuss, who joins the Na- tional Guard, finds his benefactress in prison aw aiting the guillotine, in the famoue Paris prison, the Temple, where the aristocrats are dancing to pass the time whilst await- ing death. The Swiss implores her to wed him (her husband having been guillotined) but pride of birth compels her to refuse. She, however, consents to give him a last dance, and at the clo?e she is called out and guillotined. Tlhe music, by Dr. WiJhelm ivienze. is described as very tuneful, and the work is popular in Austria and Ger- outoy* "The most enthusiastic audience in Brit- ain."—(A writer in "The People" on the Swansea Vetch Field crowd.) • • "!>• The (three parson forwards have not proved the salvation of the Scarlets, for t.hey lost to i'onarth 011 Saturday, and at Stnadey, too! :ti it < ■ ■!> .IT* T. The lave Dr. W. P. Williams, Landore, died practically "in harness." The very day before he died he t-ickled the proof of a book of his which is in the press. The first intimation an Oxford-street bar- man had t.hat the London teavn were win- ners at the Vetch Field was from a gent behind a green and white rosette: Hi, I-kmld, two 'arf bitters and a Guimness, an step lively ole sport. ''—■("Prospero. ") The wearers of white rosettes in Swansea streets on Saturday night were like the showman who got brick from the swmgs I what he lost in the roundabouts. If the Rangers netted the Siwans, did not the All Whites successfully "swlk" the "Tigers ♦ ■» ♦ ♦ » «t* Talk of the fickleness of football crowds. WhY, the docksnieh. who have been "superin- tending" the building operations of their new Exchange have now gone around the corner, and are "overlooking" the making of the Cambrian-place roadway by the Trinidad process. process. It was a touching aigtht to see one sup- porter of the Swans amongst a dozen of the Queen's Park followers, with mourning cards of Swansea Town pinned to their coats, in a lccal hotel on Saturday. But ne was a little consoled when they admitted that the local lads had given them a far better gaime than they anticipated. <>+-- When will promoters of boxing tourna- ments realise that exhibition bouts even by stars of the first magnitude have no drawing power whatever? For they are almost in- variably tame and uninteresting. The audience at the Swansea Drill Hal 1 on Sat- urday evening, once they had seem Long- ford, were merely bored by his exhibition boats. "Lloyd's News" describes the Swans' half- back line as the best in the Southern League. It was the failure cf the baclis against the fleet-footed and clcver Ranger forwards that let the local side down on Saturday, in com- bination with the impenetrable defence offered after the first few minutes bv the: Rangers' backs to the attack of the Swan- sea forwards. MM »<»♦!>■ The best of the Cup-tie gates" on Satur- day was at the Bolton v. Swindon match, where the spectators were 50,453 and the re- ceipts £ 1,657. In only four amongst the six- teen matches did the takings fall short of a thousand pounds. The Swans' B770 ex- ceeded the total of that at Exeter (the local side was opposed by Astoo" Villa), where only L310 was taken. A rare visitor to these shoros haa been captured near Pennard, Gowe<r, in an Arctic It i,s being "treated" by j Mr. D. Bennett, the Swansea isi I who has been also entrusted with the pre- paration of a "black-back" seagull, which was shot not far from the other bird, and which, "tip to tip," measures precisely five feet eleven inches. Let there be no misunderstanding. No ,c,ne had more contempt for the Yah. didn't I tell you" Swans' "follower," on Saturda-y night, than had the Rugby man. We all know this brand of "sportsman." At  St. Helen's he wants a try every scrummage, and on the Vetch Field expects a goal each time his pet performer sights the ball. In other moments he delights in baiting the referee.—( (Ptrospero. ") The Swans' goal in Saturday's m&toh was well played for; the second goal of the Rangers represented the culminating point in a series of admirably combined move- nients which fairly overcame the defence. But the first goal of the visitorhe odd one in three as it proved-was fluky in the extreme. Per contra, Storey would have been excused if two or three other shots for the net had baffled him. Boxing under modern conditions seems to have been specially intended for the benefit ori sturdy negroes. For amongst them are men of gigantic proportions; as a race they are less susceptible to pain than the whites; the thickness of their skulls, practical im- munity from the consequences of the upper- cut on the chin; and their armour-clad sides, covered with flesh and muscle to an extent rarely seen in the wise of a white man --aal these factors give the black a long odds on chance against a Britisher or American of equal weight. Miss Pott and Miss Foxley splendidly argued the case against and for women's franchise on Monday even- ing. The former was caustic and meacileisslv logical; the latter, per- I suasive, appealing to the heart rather than to the head, and therefore hardly convinc- ing to tho average person. Hence a bare victory by show of hands did not leave con- tent the supporters of women's suffrage. Notwithstanding the vote the general im- pression was that the battle had been Velt drawn." Trinidad is supplying from its pitch lake some of the asphalt to be used in giving Swansea something unknown to-day—decent streets. The lake is 110 acres in extent; composed of solid pitch, that is firm enough to walk upon and to secure as the bed for the tramways on which the pitch. after being cut out into blocks, is carried away. The lake has been yielding pitch at the rate of 100.000 ton. a year, but is apparently in- exhaustible. Trinidad his not only this local connection, but it was for a time gov- erned by Picton, who underwent a curious experience during his governorship there. The "coloured" element, made an imposing; show at the Swansea Drill Hall on Saturday right. For Langford had in his train four compatriots, big and brawny, in shades from ebony black to two degrees of white. And m the course of the tournament a blind negro of burly build was guided to a reserved seat. i It was Reed, who a few years ago was prom- ineiit in Welsh boxing circles. A stone thrown by a mischievous boy deprived him j of his sight. There was a pathetic gro- tesquenes5 in the explanation that he had come to "sec" Langford, next to Johnson the most powerful pugilist yet produced by the negroid race. In an overloading case at Swansea allusion was madfe to the Seine being full of ice. A thing inconceivable in Britain to-day, though time was when the Thames was frozen over so that oxen could be roasted whole upon the massive ice that covered it. Not only has Northern France got frozen rivers, but in some places it is plagued with wolves as well-the wolt still ranges many French forests. It is a peculiar tiling that as we go eouth we would encounter at the present weather of autumn mildness in South Brit- ain of almost Arctic severity in Northern France, which is still further south; and, then sunshine again on the Riviera. I One of the Cardiff papers announces tht swa,rls, reverse by the odd goal as a "crush. ing defeat" <xj»<»x £ >-<3xs>- Just a friendly hint to the Swans. O-s-w-e-s-t-r-y does not spell "Queen's Park Rangers!" The roar from the Vetch Field when the first goal was scored was heard distinctly by the Midland Bridge over Port Tennant- road. Life in our villages.—" Courting time at t ^erryside starts at 10 p.m. said a witness at Swansea Police Court, who admitted his oourting finished at 1 a.m. -?<  -<t> 0 <t-<t? There appears to be a subtle b" percep- tible connection between unsuccegsiul affili- ation proceedings at Carmarthen and the servant problem at Swansea. "Talk about the hardness of a black man's head," said the gallant captain, "I've seen a black man throw a cokernut into the air and break it on his head. But hit him be. low the shizia aaid hear him holloa!" Mr. Abe Freedman was singularly quiet a.t the Swansea Guardians' meeting on Thurs- (Ia,y-uiitil the result of the Swans' match at Oswestry came along. Then he made up for it. The Union Castle's newest liner is called the Llandovery Castle. Another boat is called the JJanstephaii Oastle. Doubtless in time there will be a Swansea Oastle. A new degree of drunkenness was ex- plained at the Aberavon Borough Police Court on Thursday. The Clerk: Was he dsrunk Lodging Housekeeper: Obstropo- lous druni, sir. The proportions of the "gate"* at the Swansea v. Queen's Park Rangers match will be invested with peculiar interest after the lively controversy over the "bob v. tanner" question. The S'wansea Guardians on Thursday spent an hour in discussing the appointment of a fourth-assistant clerk. At this rate the ap- pointment of an office boy would necessitate the calling oi a town's meeting. After all it is the secretarial work that counts. The pronounced success of the Swansea builders' dinner oratorically and musically must in a large measure be set to the credit of Mr. Brinley Bowen. The half-time score between Oswestry and the Swans was the same on Thursday as on Saturday, but what a difference when ho final came. CJheers were raised in High- st,reet when the "Post" came out with 4,114 result. Two outstanding features of the Swansea bu i l d ers' builders' dinner were (1) the well-turned and pointed speech of Mr. Mcrcer, Lnelly, and (2) the discuur?e, "racy of the soil," con?Ron sons'??.'wd humr?B?'o! Mr. h?:? Morgan, Tr<< Moi?n, Tr?.?' That is your feeble-minded committee." remarked the Clerk to the Swansea Guar- dians after he had read out a rather high Bounding title. But it wasn't very compli- mentary to the intellect of the members on that committee, was it ? A Swansea councillor's mother recollects when the Swansea Valley canal was a, fa- vKxiritfe tresofrt, trees growing on either side, and the young men of that day taking their young ladies for a row. Then Fisher- street and the Strand wdre fashionable places. According to the reports of the school- masters under the Gowerton Schools Group of Managers, there is much illness amongst children under their care. If the attend- ance falls other than through illness, there is some excuse about some tea-fight or a fait in the district affected. The chairman looked round for his baton, the clerk glanced about apprehensively, and the press sharpened their pencils when the stormy petrel of the Swansea Guardians rose to his feet at Thursday's meeting. But for once in a while there was nothing do- ing "-for which much thanks. A drop of two per cent. in the Bank Rate in the course of a few days is almost un- precedented. Cheap money means an enormous stimulus to speculation and businesa enterprise. The Stock Exchange and the brokers generally are in con- sequenoe amongst the over-employed just now. Inspector Powell, at the Gowerton School Group of Managers on Wednesday, spoke of alarmist press reports in reference to an outbreak of measles in Llanrhidian. Mr. G. E. Gordon, Penclawdd, justified the press comments, and emphasised the fact that the village schoolmaster and his family, although suifering, from measles, attended the school I The Gowerton school managers received a recommendation from one of the masters at their reoent meeting not to pay a teacher under him for three days' absence from school through an injury whilst playing football. Another master wished one of his boys to be sent to a penitentiary because he had defied all the rules of the school by playing truant and running out of the schoolyard.. They are very good at Gower- ton. The eleven picked players of the Swan- sea Association Club only drew at home against Oswestry. A side selected to play away, three parts made up of alleged second-stringers, win outright against Oswestry, performing on their own "midden." What's the moral? Is it that the eleven best were off their form on Saturday, or that there is hardly a shade of difference, so far as the majority are concerned, between them and the next bestf It appears that one of the dangers to which Swansea is peculiarly exposed is the foreign burglar, who dhips as a common seaman on one of the craft trading regularly to the port, "goes ashore, makes a raid on shop or private residence, and is back- aboard again in a few hours. This kind of visitor takes watching, and hence th6 reference in the f!hi>>f C"■nstable's Report, which, having been miR'tn^rstood. has incensed the members of the Seamenf Union. The luck of the Swans persists. Lass Satuixkiy's failure to defeat Oswestry on the Vetch Field, and the coming out of the hat of the Swansea ticket last in th< draw for the- semi-final for the Welsh Cup, seemed to portend that fickle fortune was a4 last turning her back upon them. But th< win on Thursday, and the fact that tllf draw makes no practical difference, suggesU that whatever mascot is used its influenc continues effective. Heartened by the re- newco evidence that they've the lock, the Swans will on Saturday face the (lueen's Park Rangers with revived spirits.