The Cambria Daily Leader

MANY CRISES. The country, will have to put up with another couple of days of poli- tical excitement before it knows how the Coalition Ministry is to oe reconstructed. The House has ad- journed until Thursday, and we will not encroach on the preserves of the lobbyists in venturing any pre diction how Mr. Asquith will get over the latest crisis. We believe he will find a way out of the diffi- culties that now threaten the life of the Government. The Premier has been assailed as an easy-going man, but he is at his best in situa- tions of this kind, and as a recon- ciler of clashing interests. It is not too sanguine a judgment that the political crisis will be dead before Thursday closes, and that the new War Council will be formed, with the Premier in supreme control of the Government and the direction of the war in the sense that he will sanction the decrees of the Council. This is understood to be Mr. Lloyd George's solution of the question. In themselves these crises are not deplorable. They clear the air. As in business houses, so in the work of government, a good old-fashioned row, leaving wigs on the green, serves a useful purpose. It wakes everybody up, it speeds up the laggards. There is such a thing as too much complaisant agreement, and too much can sometimes be sacrificed to attain the illusion of unity. Better storms than slumber; better rows than rot. The crisis now with us has given our gover- nors a rare shock, and although up- sets of this nature ought not to be made without complete cause, Mr. Lloyd George's medicine is in the form of a tonic. And it was all too evident that the Government wanted a tonic. It seemed content 'to follow rather than lead. The Minister who confessed that the food regulations were forced upon the executive showed us how very necessary it has been to have a shake-up. It has to be borne in mind also that Governmental crises are com- mon to all the countries at war. Russia has just emerged the -stronger-"frour'one-' -that- was far graver than any we shall ever be called upon to go through. There has been squally weather in France. In Italy last month the Official Socialists were accused of intriguing to weaken the National Ministry. But the troubles of the Allies ara minor things compared with those of the Central Powers. The Ger- man Chancellor has barely held his own during this year, and, in spite of a drastic censorship, the German newspapers are one chorus of dis- content and complaint at the al leged bungling of the Government in .regard to food supplies. The Aus- trian Prime Minister dare not as- semble his Parliament, and the Hungarian has to close his abruptly when the Opposition gets too strong for him. Betliman Hollweg appears to have defeated all the attacks re- cently made upon him, but there are very stormy days coming. Criti-, cism of the German Government's food policy is reaching the danger stage. German organisation has been lauded until it has seemed to us a fetish of perfection. In reality it is working very badly in the con- trol of the food supplies. The Go V- ernment is being accused of mis- management; -and the admission has been made that many of the crop-estimates have been greatly exaggerated and never existed ex- cept on paper. The newspapers have been full of the most vigorous criticism, and it is certain that Ger- many is in a very bad way, for all its boasted organisation. At present doubtless the people are being sup- ported by the hope that the Ruman- ian supplies will be available to feed them. It is in this respect that the advance of Falkenhayn is most 'serious for us. It undoes much of the work of our blockade. Failing relief, the Central Em- pires will be on their beam ends by March is declared to be an accu- rate indication of how things stood in October. The invasion of Ru- mania hs altered the whole com- plexion of affairs, and although we believe it to be true that the hope of compelling the Central Powers to submit from economic causes had faded, the critiocal days of next spring might have had some effect upon the military situation. In this connection it is worth while noting the expression of opinion, in a quarter regarded as well-informed, that apart from the discontent which such an unprecedented inter- ference with the liberty of the sub- ject is likely to cause, the operation of the levy en masse from the eco- nomic point of view must prove in- jurious, and will result in still further reducing the available sup- plies of foodstuffs and indispensable industrial goods. The treachery of King Con- stantine is at last revealed to the world. One of the- mysteries that will face future historians will be the long-suffering with which the Allied Powers have stood the shifty tricks of the King and his advisers, and the hidden cause of their patience. Now, however, the complicity of the King stands beyond doubt. Lord Robert Cecil said, in the House of Commons on Monday, with regard to the attack on the Allied detach- ments, that "His Majesty's Govern- ment consider that King Constan- stine and his Government are equally involved in this matter, and they are considering in conjunction with their" Allies immediate mea- sures to secure a radical solution of the situation that has now arisen." But, according to a Greek report, Palace circles state that normal relations with the Entente Powers have been re-established." We are familiar with these normal rela- tions. Developments of the situation are being awaited with some anxiety. The view prevailing in Salonika is I significant in the extreme. There it is believed that the disturbances m Athens are elecqrlyi capable of changing completely the situation on the Balkan front. Till now the Greek army at the capital did not count. As the result of the de- velopments of the last day or two it seems, at any rate, possible—so it is now being argued at Salonika, where the whole situation is seen I more plainly than here-that it might be thrown into the war against us. Moreover, from the I military point of view, it is clear that the Greek army might try to attack the rear of tne Allied army in the Balkans, or attempt to march on Salonika. All the news that reaches this country from Greece shows that the King is capable of such black treachery. The story of the attack upon the Allies is sufficient indica- tion ol his capabilities in this direc- tion. Admiral du Fournet, still on terms of negotiation with the King, told him what troops he should land, and whera they would be sent; and arranged with him that there should be no firing on either side. The King and his military advisers used the information to cover he places with greatly superior Greek forces; and when the small Allied contin- gents appeared (only about 2,000 marines in all), they were heavily fired on, and had eventually to be withdrawn under an armistice to the Pirieus. The Greek Government spent Saturday in a general round-up of the Venezelists throughout Athens, by the aid of machine-guns and armed Reservists"; and at the; end of the day they had." purged the city and the public services of all our notable supporters. At the same time, it is reported, the King has decided that he is absolved of all his promises to the Allies; he has reappointed the pro-German General Ehasrn&nis to the command of the Army; and he is resuming 1 control of the railways and --?s, which he had given up to us.

McLUCKIE OF YARMOUTH. -a. I Swansea's New Public Force Swansea's New Public Force By Sydney Walton THE invitation extended by the Walter-road (Swansea) Congrega- tiona lists to the Rev. George McLuckie, B.A., of Great Yarmouth, has been accepted, and Mr. McLuki-e has de- cided to leave the East Coast for the West, the Norfolk Broads for the Welsh hills. Five or six summers ago, when he was invited to succeed Dr. Jowett at Carrs-Iane, Birmingham, I went specially to Yarmouth to hear him. I found huii in the quiet of his study that Saturday evening. He is one of the men who-se handshake marks an epoch in one's life. He gives himself to you in such royal hospitality of nature, and yet without gushingne&s but with manly strength. lie has a genius for friendship. I could understand, before I had been in his pie- sence more than a few moments, that his study had been a blessed haven to many a sorrow-tossed mariner, lie himself, if I may change the figure of speech, is the rock whose shadow gives coolness and strength to the heart in the midst of the desert. i" SPLEN DI D SOLDIERING." He is a rock of a man. f all, robust, sternly built, he suggests one of those Highland mountains whose voices spoke te him mysteriously in childhood and still do speak. He takes a vigorous view of Liie, and no one does intenser battle with life's wrongs. He is the warrior of Bunyan's dream who wageth war with the guardiant. at the gate that he may make a passagt into the Castle Beautiful. There is no sloth in his religion. It is splendid sol- diery. Just the other Sunday I heard him preaoh about comfort and that silken word became in his interpretation an aus- terely beautiful quality, not a cloistered virtue seeking easy chairs and cosy hearth- stones, but going out into that dusty race where, as Miiton puts it, the immortal garland is run for. To give real comfort is to give oneself, and nothing is hardei in this mortal life. A BRACING PREACHER. And yet what depth of gontleness in him! What sweetness emergeth from thi* rock! In my native dale there is a winsome sight in the summertime. The stone arch of a noble bridge is covered 'vith roses, and you can scarcely see the stone for its robe of flowers. I shall use the picture by way of a parable in writing of Mr. McLuckie. His 6tern uncompromis- ing righteousness is clad wibii ail graces. Over his garment of sackcloth he wears his singing robes like that poet of whom Mathew Arnold tells. His preaching never enervates. It braces like the breezes of Yarmouth. He is a tonic of the soul And do we not need such men in these dim sorrowing days? A thousand times YClll Swraneea will soon be proud of Mr. McLuckie. OUT OF A WRECK. Let me return to that Yarmouth Sun- day when I first heard him. I hear the I singing still and the distant murmuring of the sea with which it seemed to har- monise in some mysterious way, so that earth and ocean made melody together There is something that always strangely stirs one's emotions in a service by the sea. Mr. McLuckie, I remember feeling, had looked out upon the North Sea day by day until he seemed to understand every mood of it, kn;'l its glory and its wrath, its silver splendour and its sorrow, had looked out upon it with an eye that has watched over man's mortality." His sermon—I forget the text-was sweet with the tide. His eyes bad something in I them of the grandeur of sunrise. He had watched the sea of human life, the Sea ot I Gennesareth upon which we all have- our boats, and h(< understood that though etfrrow end u re th for a night, joy cometh with the morning. Out of the grief and riiin of this terrible war. he sees a new knigdom growing up whose golden borders are peace and brotherhood in a sense the old world has never known. AS PASTOR. It was the sacramental service that fol- lowed the sermon which is my chief memory of that morning. The preacher came down fronr his pulpit to the holy i table, and was one with his people. I shall never forget the warmth of the handshake he gave to those who for the first time were entering into church mem- bership. He made them feel that church was home-the home of the people in all generations. That is one of the secrets of buccess; he makes the altar a hearth, if you will allow the figure. The warmth and graciousness of his own personality kindles all who come into touch with him. He is a true pastor. We want a preacher who can lead us to battle with banners flying, but. we want him also to descend to our homely trivial cares and sorrows, which are indeed trivial in the whole sum of sorrow but great and terrible to us. THE CARRS-LANE CALL. On the morrow after that Sunday the limelight began to blaze upon Mr. McLuckie, though I know how he tried to bide himself from its glare. He was ?ea,l,led to succeed Dr. Jowett. He was offered one of the fadr?t diadems in the Congregational ministry. I was in Bir- mingham at the time, and we all mar- ?velled at the modesty of the man. He preached in Carrslane without any striv- ing after at?ctation, but in his tw. geirial, joyous way, in circumstances which would have tried the heart of any man. He refused the call. His work at Yarmouth claimed him. I felt he had done wrong, though he knew best. I wrote and spoke at the time about the reserve of power which Mr. McLuckie seemed to possess, and that reserve might have been called into tremendous play in Birming- ham. But we all said that it required a strong man to refuse Carrs-lane, and hi? renunciation of the historic pulpit proved his strength. And now, though many calls have reachedhimiii the intervening years, it is Swansea that has wooed and won Mr. McLuckie. THE YARMOUTH MINISTRY. Yarmouth has been sorely tried during the war. It has been in the firing- line. Mr. McLuckie's ministry must have been an inspiration to the town in its days of tribulation, and one of Yar mouth's poignant sorrows must be the loss of that manly voice. Envious eyes will follow him to Swaiic-ea. J know luv.v I he has built up the week evening service until it has become a great institution in Yarmouth, and I have sometimes thought that to be the true test of a ministry. Will the people turn out to hear him in the weekdays ? In Yarmouth Mr McLuckie has been a i public figure. He has played his part as a citizen and has established friendships beyond the bounds of his own ehurch. Soon, no doubt, Swansea will hear his voice on many questions, and he will make the contribution of a rich and sanfo personality to its communal life. He will be an anchor of all that is of goodly re- port in the activity of the town. All religious and social problems are at root problems of personality. We can do much when we have found the man. And Swansea, wise Swansea, has cer- jt&inly found 'uan in Mr. McL ilk^o, the ?new pMtoT of Watt?r-road Church.

LANDORE AMBULANCE. I Distribution of Awards to I Sucodssiui Candidates. On Sunday, awards were distributed ta suecesoiui candidates at the recent exami- nation ol the Lundore Locomotive Dept. Ambulance Class (G.W.R.). The chair was occupied by Mr. E. T. John, the fore- man of the loco depot, who announced that Mr. Chriatison. the divisional looo- motive superintendent, and Messrs. Trevoe Roberta and Charles Roberts, had iuti- mated their regret at their inability to be present, and in the absence of Mr. Chri-stison he (the chairman) asked Mr. Wilfrid P. Morgan, who is divisional am- bulance sceretary for the Swansea divi- sion of the G.W.R. ambulance centre, tq present the awards. Mr. Morgan referred to the successful record of the class during the last two sessions, notwithstanding the depletion ot the staff owing to so many men having joined his Majesty's Forces, and the fact that another class is held at Landore station, in addition to the locomotive de- partment class. Twenty-seven members of the loco. department class were entered for the examniation in 1915. of whom 25 satisfied the examiner. This year, there was a reduction of only three members, and 23 out of the 24 candidates who were examined were succetsfuL It was satis- factory to find the interest in ambulance work was being maintained, and to such an extent was this the case that the Swan- sea division secured third place in the ambulance results for the w orle of the system for last winter, with 287 successful candidates at the various classes in the division. ihe awards were aa follows:— Certificate awards (first year): Ernest Pye, John Phillips, Joseph Harding, Levi James. Voucher awards (second year): Bertie Pooley, George Bartlett, William H. Thomas, John Griffiths, Benjamin H» Jenkins, John W. Jeffreys. Medallion awards (third year): Albert Jones, Daniel Davies, Charles J. Tyrrell. John J. Connick, William H. Poulton, Wilfred G. Brinsdon. Label awards (fourth year): Edmund T. John, John Ree6, Henry Humphreys, Thomae Roes, Thomas E. Rogers, Saml. Davies, Edward A. Russell. A vote of condolence any sympathy with i the reiativos of the former instructor of the class ((Pte. George F. Webber), who was recently killed in action in Franco, was proposed by Mr. Pooley and seconded by Mr. Alfred Jones, and carried in res- pectful silence. The resolution was sup- ported by the chairman, the class secre- tary (Mr. T. Rees) and Mr. Jenkins. I te. Webber was regarded as one of the best instructors it was possible for a (1866 to obtain. He Joined the King's Royal Rifles and he made the supreme saeriiiee ot giving hie life for his friend. Pte. Webber volunteered to remain with a wounded comrade when a shell exploded with fatal results to Webber and two other men, and further injuring the wounded man. Before joining the colours Pte. Webber (who wao a native of Stourbridge), was a fireman at Landore, and is the second member of his family to give his life for King and country. There is also a third son in the Army. Another member of the class has also been killed in action, namely, E. T. Bishop, who was serving with the Worcester Regiment, and alto- gether six members of the loso. depart- ment at Landore have kwt their lives in the war. The class have elected Mr. Jenkins as chairman for the next session in place ot the retiring chairman, Mr. E. T. John. and Mr. T. Reee has again been re-elected as class secretary.

BOTTLE OF WHISKY. AJbergwynfi Grocer Heavily Fined for Illicit Sale. Henry Richards, grocer and off-license, holder, 3, Jersey-road, Abergwynfi, wail summoned at Aberavon on Monday for a bieach of liquor Control Order on Nov. 25; and John Howell Jones, his agent, who managed a branch shop, at 77, Jersey-road, was summoned for aiding and abetting. Mr. L. M. Thomas appeared for the defence. Police-constable Hurford. Port Talbot, visited the premises, 77, Jersey-road, on Saturday evening, November 25, and made purchases of provisions. He asked for a bottle of whisky. The lady behind the counter told him to call later. He did so about 8.15, and saw Jones, who allowed him to have a bottle of whisky, for which he paid 6s. The constable was in plain clothes and unknown in the locality. Richards was fined ;V-O for selling the liquor contrary to the Order, and .£1 for not labelling his stock of bottles or seeing that they were labelled. Jones was fined .£5, and another £ 1 for not Seeing to the labelling of the bottles.

PrineA Jeanne Ghyka, a relative of the late Que-en Nathalie of Serbia, has left for Rumania in connection with Red Cross work. Sir Geo. Moyera, who, when Lord Mayor of Dublin, opposed the granting of the freedom of the city to Parnell, has died, Laged a 4

WATER I.N SCHOOL YARD. The Swansea Building Sub-CommittM met on Monday. Ald. J. Devonald wae re- elected chairman, and Mr. Parker vioe. chairman. A special sub-committee reported that they did not consider the house visited a fit one for the caretaker of the Morriston School. The caretakers of the Brynhyfryd and Brynmill Schools were ill, and two tem- porary caretakers were appointed. Councillor John Lewis brought up the condition of the yard at the Girls* School at Dyfatty, and asked that something should be done. The Chairman said they had seen the yard and advised that ashes should be placed in the water-logged holes for th4 time being. SCHOOL ATTENDANCE. The Swansea School Attendance Com- mittee met on Monday, Councillor W. Howell presiding. Mr. Powlesland was re-elected chairman, and Mr. Howell vice- chairman. An excellent report was submitted re- garding the Industrial School, and the Government made a few suggestions to raise the tone of this school. Theee in- eluded an increase in the library books; the wearing of shorter shorts by bow up to 14, and turning down stockings over the knees in the Scout'fashion; giving senior bovs glasses to drink from at dinner and cups and saucers on other occasions, in- stead of mngs; provding boys with new suits (instead of suits not worn out de- scending to the smaller boys); the giving up of tailoring bv the boys (who now make nil their own clothes); and the doing away with the automatic knitters, which lead to nothing useful, and v/hich take up valuable time (not one per cent. of the boys tike up tailoring as a trade); boys to do their own patching and mending. Tliasp suedestions were favourably re -fvivd. and the principle endorsed. It w-ig decider! to comply with the Scout TO^frestion, but as regards the ready- msides." it was stated fliere was eneugb n1-nthe6 in the institution now to make till spring smts, and the matter did not immediately arise. v There were 944 summonses of non-school attendance taken out this vear. compared with 877 last year. The fines were imposed in 351 cases, compared with 314 last year.