The Cambria Daily Leader

A LLAHELLY POET, -1 In Distinguished Company in the £ fcrigSssh Revlaw." In the English Keview" for Febru- ary, the poetry section is contributed to by Mr. iiaurice Hewlett, Millicent Duciifcfes of Sutherland, Mr. S. R. Lybaguc, and Mr. I'tTey Thomay. The latter's veitie is entitled, (live me to Write of Simple Things," and it is characterised by a beauty of language, and a simplicity of style—the hardest thing to attain in literature—which give it distinction even in such distinguished company. Mr. Thomas sings of the little child. With laughing eyes and ringlets wild, Playing mid sunbeams as they pass, Gleefully picking with chubby hand The daisies adjoining that baby land. And of the tranquil hour When mid- night comes with soothinjr dnvrr of elfin fancies wandering by "—bat we I must refer the reswier to the review for the enjoyment of what is undoubtedly an achievement. I The poet is engaged in the Housing i Department of the Local Government Board. He hails from Llanelly, being the son of Mr. William Thomas, of Ithern Villa, Coldstream-street. He mar- ried Miss Grace Boynon, of Llanelly, last year. Of oourpo, he is an ardent Welsh Nationalist. He is now studying for the Bar, where, if he oquals the he has T £ fcAaled in the poetic ar t ha will go far.

Sun Rises 7.36. Sun Sets 4.53. Lighting-up Time, 5.47. High Water To-day, 9.46 p.m. To-morrow, 10.5 a.m., 10.23 p.m. I

THE PEOPLE'S LIBERTIES Vv hen the liberties of the people were wrested out of the hands of a tyrannous king, and each subject of the realm from the highest to the hnyest secured the right of trial, a great step forward wa.s takE-a in the history of Great Britain. Magna Charta enacted that No freeman sl^.aii be taken or be imprisoned, or be disseised of his freehold, or liberties, or free customs, or be otherwise damaged, nor will we pass upon him, nor send upon him, but hy lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land." Magna Charta," in the words of Sir Edward I Coke a long time ago in the Commoiis, H is such a fellow that he will have .no sovereign." We need not enlarge here upon the jealous eye that is kept by all upon the fundamental principles embodied in the Charter King John signed, particu- larly, upon the right created by the sentence we have quoted, which muiw up. all that Magna Charta meant to the nanon. The Defence 01 the Realm Act it is now I reasoned by critics on both sides of the political arena, practically entails a re- peal of Magna Charta. It is an exag- gerated way of defining the consequences of the new Act-tor, to speak sanely, the rights of the subject are guarded by this Act in a sort of way—but there are points about the Act that deeerve the serious consideration of the country. The Defence of He Realm Act makes the citizen liable to (juite a number of new oii'onoes, such as tile makrlg of state- ments calculated to cause disaffection or alarm, or to prejudice recruiting. No one will complain about this, but the Act aLiJ provides that civilians can be tried oy court martial*, not necessarily I by the civil tribunals of the country. The Government have put forward a measure to amend its provisions in ease of charges involving the death penalty, and in the House of Lords yesterday Lord Pariuoor'.s Amending Bill was discussed. The latter, however only deals with offenüb already punishable by law otherwise than under the Defence of the Realm Act. That is, it does not take into itt: purview the new offences created by the measure. These are still subject to trial by Court Martial. In efi'eci;, it can be indicated roughly, the Act means that auy person charged with causing disaffection or I.,larm--thc latitude is very great-is to be brought for trial before a court constituted 01 soldiers. Let us say that someone is foolish enough in Swansea to go about spreading panicky tales or rumours; lie may be taken before a local court-martial and there dealt with. A perfectly fitting procedure this would be were the ordi- nary courts of justice disarranged for some reason or other, and unable to L-arry on their functions. But it does appear to be an unnecessary procedure when the courts are regularly sitting, presided over by those learned in the laws relating to evidence, and wise in experience. Wo have the utmost rupect for those who have tho military deferee:? nf Swansea and its surroundings in their charge, but they will not, we are bure, claim to be experts in that most perplexing of all studies, that dealing with evidence. An offending citizen of Swansea may be cer- tain of obtaining the fullest measure of fair play at such a military court; what he cannot, in the nature of things, com- ma nd will be trial by those with a life- time Of experience in the sifting of evid- pnee. When tho" measure was in the House of Lords, Lord Loreburn protested in the strongest terms against the dangor of taking away from the subject his right of trial and handing it to military officers even though a court of assize might be sitting within fifty yards. lIb moved au amendment under which all British subjects who were not iif The naval or military forces should have the power to claim a trial in tho ordinary courts, with all the security which those courts afford, provided such courts were In-ailablo..But the amendment was withdrawn. Yesterday, however, the Lord Chancellor stated that the Govern- ment were introducing remedial pro- posals. Ho admitted that the Act went arther than was really necessary, and cleared away most of the prosent grounds of criticism by stating that the necessities oi the case would be met if anybody, be- ing a British subject and not subject to military law, wno was aJKlllt to be tried for all ofience which could not come be- I lore a court of summary jurisdiction, had given to him tho option of being tried by a civil court and a jury. We wrote recently regarding the official neutrality of the United States, staling the views of a Swansea native who has climbed to prosperity in Cleveland that the intense (sympathy of the Americac people was with the Allies. There are corroborative facts to be obtained from practically every day's iseu-e of the news- papers, but none more striking than that revealed in the outburst of the Rev. Billy Sunday at Philadelphia recently. Billy" Sunday is an American institution; he commands a greater following than any preacher in the States. Special buildings .n:aNo to be erected to accommodate those who would hear him, and his influence upon the life of a. town he happens to visit is equal to that which at one time was exerted by Mr. Evan Roberts upon the Welsh villages. When the news of the German air-raids carne to Philadelphia, Billy Sunday dramati- cally interrupted a Gospel oration, ex- claiming with scarcely controlled emotion: a Look at those incarnate devils dropping death-dealing explosives into peaceful vil- lages, snuffing out the lives of toddling children who know no more about war than these fiends do a,bout Christianity. WhAlt can Jesus do with people of that kind? Man should deal with thejii. There should be international laws to stop :such things." The importance of (he utl.era.nce is in the certainty thai it will move other preachers to fallow suit.

THE SPIRIT OF TWO HIES, SPLENDID UNITY. ??JL JL?<1?JL?J<L?J!LJ:L? U??N??!AT? YJtLw How British and French Fight There are indications of tremendous activity on the battlefield, more especi- any in the neighbourhood of the Belgian Cott, t 'I? l ie Pa.Ilis Colil coast. The Paris communique yesterday spoke of lively artillery engagements in the Nieuport district, and reports iroini Dutch sources refer to a heavy bombard- i ment of the Belgian coasi by warships, which seems to have begun on Wednes- day night and was continued on Thurs- day morning. It is quite possible that naval guus were devoting their attention to Ostcnd. Heavy fighting lias been going on in the Perthes district, where the Germans delivered throe attacks in strong force,, in the first two the enemy being completely scattered. In the third the Germans succeeded in making an advance, but eventually the position was recaptured. Probably it is the Last attack which is claimed by the German official bulletin as a success, their subsequent repulse being passed over in tilence. Toward Hungary. In the Carpathians tho lighting is be- coming more determined than ever, and t tho battle line is extending. The enemy evidently realise the danger of a Russian descent into the Hungarian plains, and large forces are being sent up to avert the peril. This huge concentration, it :s believed, will have the effect of po^pou- iug the great campaign against Serbia, about which so much was being said a Últle while ago. Fighting has again taken place at the Suez Canal, the Turks attempting on Wednesday, under cover of a bombard- ment of Tussuiu and Serapeum, to effect a crossing on rafts. These attempts were nullified by a vigorous fire from the British artillery and from ships stationed in the Canal, and the enemy retired after suffering considerable losses. An attack at Kantara in which, accord- ing to one estimate, 12,000 Turks took part, was also successfully repulsed. GERMANS' DAMAGED PLANS. THE German attacks on the Bzura and the Eawka lines arc attaining an in- tensity and proportions that exceed all previous operations-on this front. The articles of the majority of the mili itary critics agree that we are confronted by a new development of German plans (states a "Times" correspondent). Whereas only a few days ago it was confidently assumed that the full weight of the Austro-Germau pressure would bo exercised in the Central Carpathians, to act as a diversion against the Russian ad- vance against Transylvania, it is now assumed that the Austro-German efforts will be simultaneously exerted in Galicia, and the region beyond the Vistula. Huns Reinforce Austrians. The enemy, however, have already sus- tained a severe rep ulse in tho Car- pathians, although the Austro-Huugarian troops have here been reinforced by a Bavarian and perhaps a Saxon corps, i originally intended for service against Serbia, where operations aro suspended owing to flooå" on the Danube and its tributaries Our Allies aro streaming over the Carpathian passes along the broad front from Dukla to Wyns/.kow.; Perhaps its response to this severe check to tho enemy's phius, the Austrian artil- lery on the Nida and the Dunajec have' resumed their demonstrative bombard-, ment. Whatever form tho enemy's activities may assume on the Galacian borders it is fairly safe to conclude that the at- tempt to penetrate in the direction of Przemysl has utterly failed. The fury of the German onslaught on the Russian, lines west of Warsaw at the present time can be explained by many causes. Great Attacking Move. First among these causes is the necea- city which the Germans are under to: show some results for their tremendous sacrifices of blood and treasure which1 their occupation of Western Poland has involved. Tho details furnished by the Grand Duke regarding the latest German at-, tacks on the Sucha-Mozely fronts in. Cen- tral Poland show that 11 German regi- ment:3 were simultaneously engaged. This would mean that practically the whole of the two German corps which! have been operating in this section have b&en thrown into the melting-pot. it. will be interesting to see whether the Germans will be able to keep up these numbers. Uulesfi they brought up fresh ieeerves to this front it may be presumed that tho attacks recorded on Tuesday will not be followed up on anything like the same scale. On the other hand, should the attempts to gain jjoeseseioj^ of the Boli- mow highway be renewed with the same vigour there will be good reason to ex- pect the continuance of exceptionally severe fighting on the Bzura-Rawka front. COMRADES IN ARMS. HPHE cordial relations existing between x men of the British and French armies are dwelt upon by a French officer with whom a "corning Post" correspondent has conversed. The effect of the war oil this officer, as on many others, has been to hide what one has always been inclined to reyurd as the typical French characteristics with a seriousness and obvious senso of purpose that after the war will help very materially in cementing a close under- standing between England and France. There has been no trouble," the officer said, about the relations between the French and English troops of the sort that one might have anticipated. Occa- sionally the souvenir mania that they have, adds a little to our One morning, for instance, the exchanges in equipment between some English artillery- men and ,tilc men in my battery had been so thorough that it was difficult to tell which man was French and which was English, and as this might have been embarrassing a re-exchange had to be effected. French do the Cooking. At the beginning the men used to cut the buttons off their tunics and ex- change them. Lots of our soldiers now have the big knives that were served out to the English troops, and when we are together there is a good deal of inter- change of rations. Of course, there is not an English soldier that knows the mean- ing of cooking, and in such circumstances our men always do the cooking, while they greatly appreciate a share of the abundant jam that is served out to the English troops. The first army that England sent out was equipped very much on the line.- of a Colonial campaign—enormous trausport, water-carts, rather too complcx to my mind. and material s of all sorts well in excess of whft the men needed. It ha.3 nearly brohn my heart on Rye141 ocqa- i sions when I have been taking my battery along to come across one of these enormous convoys and to have to wait to let it go by. TOMMY IS SPLEN DI D T> LIT the English soldier is splendid. He whistles continuously; he is always gay—that perhaps rather surprised some of us—he is always a dogged customer, jmaffected by the extent of his losses, and a good shot. No one, who has seen him in action can doubt his personal bravery. He is perhaps inclined to hold on to his trenches rather too long, and in f way has suffered heavier losses than he should have done." "The British soldier has been greatly struck by our 75's. His own gun "peakaj with a deep note and is comparatively slow, and to show his appreciation of the French weapon ho never speaks of it as the 75 or as the soixante-quiiize, but Tie calls it the 'pa-pa-pa-pa.' No one who has heard the gun in action could have any doubt as to what gun he was so earning. '8,000 Shells in 15 Minutes. Partly by pcrfecied mechanism and partly by absolute divas ion of labour the French 75 can bo fired as often as twenty-eight times a minute, and twenty 61tois to the minute is quite a common number. At the battle of the Mnrne our batteries go off six thousand shells in a quarter of an hour, and we had the satisfaction in reading next day in the diary of one of the killed what an appal- ling effect this intense fire produced. In directing fire the aeroplane has been invaluable, and the English, now have splendid machines. At the start of the war their artillery suffered because there were not enough of them, but now there are plenty of English aeroplanes. They are splendid in getting quickly off the ground, are all armoured, and as a result of their work the rather hap- hazard shooting of the British artillery at the outset of the war has been cor- rected to become exact." BOMBARDMENT OF CERNAY. TT is known that Germans have bom- barded Cernay, which is somewhat sur- prising, for it had been hitherto believed t lii;t Gernay was still occupied by German troops. It would appear that the position had become untenable for the Germans exposed to the precise and sustained French aLDallery nm (writes ? Daily Chronicle? correspondent). The most likely hypothesis is that Cernay is now occupied neither by the Germans nor by the French. It sscms true that the Ger- mans have retired northwards and have strongly fortified themselves to the east of Stain bach and Uffholz. For the present the French do not con- template entering Cernay, where they would, be exposed to the direct fire of the German batteries installed west and north of the town, as well as on the border of Nonnenbruck, or Nun's Forest, TMs forest will certainly play a very import ant part in forthcoming oporaLion". It ,separ- ates Cernay from Mulhouse, being seven kilometres in length, with four lulometres breadth on the Thann side. Forest as Fortress. The Germans are working feverislilv to transform it into a regular fortress, with a view to opposing a French attack upon Mulhouse. They have placed a lot of heavy artillery in it, dug deep trenches along the borders, and mined it exten- sively. Being probably aware of this, the French are cannonading the forest. Their melinite projectiles have already done great damage there, as well as to tho railway between Mulhouse and Cernay. Further, the French', at the end of last week, made a vigorous offensive move- ment between Carmen and the Altkirch- Au front, twelve kilometres long, passing via Aspach le Bas, Ammerzuzeimer, and Ileidweiler. Ammerzurtilev is four kilometres south of Burnhaupt, and the French are established on the height to the north in excellent positions. Tli e Germans have excellent fortifications in the vicinity of Altkirch, but it is pro- phesied that these will soon be carried by the heroic impetus of the French at- tack. The Kaiser is said to be anxious regarding the Cernay-Altkirch front. SERBIA'S TRIUMPH. THE triumph of Serbia and the spirit animating the peasant troops are the subject of an interesting article by Mr. G. M. Trevelyan in tho Daily News and Leader." The sudden recovery of the Serbian spirits, after the arrival of the ammunition and the stirring words of the old King, is certainly one of the most moving things in history (he says). They swept tho Austrians before them iu complete route the whole way to the Drina. Thero ,was very severe fighting in some places, but once they gave way the Austrians were a mob. Outside Belgrade, to which the Ser- bians next turned their attention, the Austrians vere not taken by surprise, and had time to choose good positions. But they had not time to fortify them. They were beginning to do so, and in another ten days might have madCl. them impregnable. Their positions were cap- tured' after murderous lighting. The evacuation of Belgrade across the pon- toon bridge over the Save, the temporary substitute, for the famous iron bridge, now hors de combat, was carried out amid scenes of wild panic like the sauvo qui peut over the bridges at Beresina and T.eipsiz. Many thousands failed to get across and were captured. The Peasant Soldier. The victory is the victory of a peasant soldiery defending its own land against an invasion of civilised barbarians who came to destroy the country. The com- plete harmony between officers and men in the Serbian army is not on the Eng- lish model. In the British army there is a harmony, but, it is a harmony between two distinct classes. In Germany there is not harmony, ouly discipline. But in Serbia the social difference be- tween officers and men is much les' marked. It is a rural democracy in arms, and the peasant; and soldier are merely two aspects of the same man. The fact that in the absence of uniform he often retain5 characleri "tic of his peasant costume makes this all the more observ- able. Qualities of a Fighter. The Serbian peasant freeholder is well worthy of study, which he has never had yet. He is an emotional, sentimental, mercurial person, yet with a strong foun- dation of endurance and determinvaion- a fine compound. When next he is attacked by overwhelm- ing force, which may not be long, I hope England will do all -she can to save this fine people from the murderers of womeu and children who have the insolence to think themselves mare civilised than the Serbians,

I CONTRABAND, GERMANY'S TOO-SANCUliV CALGULATSSMS. ) c t rJTHE Wilhelmina may be seized, an<?, accordiug to a Foreign Oflice siato- ment issued to-day, the cargo in that event will be submitted to a Prize Court, I in order that the new situation created by the German Decree mav be examined, and a decision reached upon it after full consideration." The statement that the vessel herself will not be detained is correct. It is not very long since we were told that foodstuffs were not coutruband unless they were intended tor the use of tho enemy's armed forces, and the sudden change. of policy require;) some explana- tion (says the Manchester Guardian "). It is to be found in the recent decree of the German Government confiscating all private stocks of corn and* flour, and putting the whole population of the country on food rations so far as bread- stuffs go. All the stocks of corn had been seized by Monday this week, and an. order had then been in force prohibiting all business transactions in flour. No Private Property in Wheat. There is, therefore, no longer any private property anywhere in Germany in wheat en flour or in the bread made from it, and perhaps not in rye and rye-hread either, though this is net so certain. The result is that the distinction between foodstuffs destined for the civilian popula- tion of Germany, which ordinarily are not legal contraband, aud foodstuffs meant for the use of the enemy's armed. forces has now broken down. Article 33 of the Declaration of Lon- don lays it down that conditional contra- band (such as foodstuffs) is liable to cap- ture, if it is shown to be destined for the use of the armed forces or of a Government department of the enemy State," and the following article (34) says that the destination mentioned in tlio previous article is "presumed to exi';fc* if the goods are consigned to enemy authorities or to a contractor established in the enemy country who as a matter of common knowledge supplies articles of this'kind to the enemy." Obviously, therefore, now that there are no private dealings in flour in Germany, but all breadstuff's are the property of the State, all cargoes of this natiire for Ger- many are liable to be treated as absolute contraband. What Germany Thought. At the beginning of the war, it seems, Germany thought that though she would be short of wheat she could make good the deficiency out of her abundaait sup- plies of rye. Her calculations were too sanguine. The harvest was not a good one, owing to the excessive dryness of tho summer, and the invasion of East Prussia and of Alsace further reduced the crops. There was, further, a great shortage of fodder for cattle, and the yield of rye was used to make it good- It i, moreover, alleged that, owing to the fact that tho fixed minimum prices of rye and whearen flour were lower than these which prevailed beyond the fron- tier, there had been not a little exporta- tion from Germany. Its Disappointment. From all these causes the sanguine t-xv pectations with. which the Governme-nt began the war have been disappointed. There was a stocktaking at the beginning of December last. Its results have never been published, but it is evident that the figures of available stocks of meal and flour seriously alarmed the Govern- ment. After trying to no purpose. the effect of exhortations to economy, it decided to put the whole nation on what are in effect siege rations of breadstuffs. Ac the same time every effort is being mada to make Germany independent of imports of flour. Grass land is everywhere being ploughed up, and all land lying fallow or awaiting the builder is being prepared for growing potatoes, corn, and vegetables. Much de- pends on the harvest next summer; the Handclsblad of Amsterdam has gwa so far as to say that if the new harvest is a bad one Germany will not be able to continue the struggle. Gravely Alarmed. The great outburst of indignation inJ the Kolnische Zeitullg n over the re- port that some of the British prisoners in Germany had been playing football with some rations of bread of which they did not approve shows how gravely alarmed Germany is about the future of her food supply. The shortage of bread- stuffs gives additional importance to the coming campaign in Hungary, which ia a very important source of supply for Germany. Even an unsuccessful in. vasion of Hungary might have very serious consequences for Germany if it injured the growing wheat crops. Work of Our Navy. This new danger that threatens Ger- many is entirely the work of the British navy, and it may help to expla'n the bitterness of German feeling against this country. Germany, of course, is not so dependent as we are on her communica- tions at sea; still we can form, from the annoyance and inconvenience caused to us by the appearance of a couple of submarines in the Irish Sea, some idea of the state of Germany, tow-hore the interruption of her communications oversea has now for more than six montha been all but complete. Big Armies Not All Gain. One curious train of reflection is started by the present position of Germany in re- gard to her food supplies. It shows that the increased size of modern armies under the system of universal service is not by any means all gain. Not only doqs the process of national exhaustion from the waste of war proceed much more rapidly but the larger armies are and the more complete the demands made by war on the energies of a whole nation the greater becomes the difficulty of distinguishing between the civil population and the armed forces of the nation.

.'I "3 ASSISTANT OVERSEER. i At a meeting of the Neyland Urban District Council, the vexed question of the appointment of an assistant over meet again came up, when Mr. Thomas formally moved the appointment of an assistant overseer. Mr. Roach said he supported this re- solution at the last meeting, but was of a different opinion that night. He should like Mr. Thomas to give reasons for hia motion. Mr. Thomas: I havo given them three or four times. Mr. Roach: I am afraid it is a poli- tical job. Mr. Thomas: You are quite welcome to think it if you like. Mr. Saunders seconded the resolution, which, after further discussion, was deo beated by four votes.

Mr. Frank Stuart-Murray, the well- known artist and designer, whoso death is announced, was often consulted by the late King Edward. Tie designed QllM'O Alexandra's boudoir and studio at Wind- sor, and- the Kaiser entrusted him with. the dccatat^on. of his yarjkt