Welsh Journals

From the formation of the movement, it was anticipated that it would put up candi- dates in local and parliamentary elections. While the latter were to be contested only as a means of allowing Welsh voters to protest against English government within Wales, the winning of the former was to enable nationalists to lay the foundations of a Welsh Wales: 'The objective of Plaid Cymru will be to win the local authorities through local elections as quickly as possible'.135 At the time of the party's foundation in 1925, the Welsh press recorded that its primary objective was to 'capture the local authorities in Wales parish, urban, rural and county councils'.136 In view of such protestations, the party's evident inability to find members ready to stand in local elections was a major weakness. In February 1928, Y Ddraig Goch as- serted, 'At the moment winning the County Councils is more important to Plaid Cymru than even winning a parliamentary election'.137 Yet, in spite of an appeal by the party's Executive Committee for members to stand in the March 1928 county council elections, H. R. Jones, who opposed Liberal and Labour opponents at Upper Deiniolen, was the sole Plaid Cymru candidate. He came a poor third.138 Outlining the failure of the party to contest local elections on a reasonable scale, William George enquired, with justification, 'How long will it take the party to win the country's parish, urban, rural and county councils?',139 a criticism with which Saunders Lewis was forced to agree.140 Late in 1928 the Rev. Fred Jones won a seat on Cardiganshire County Council standing as the Plaid Cymru candidate at Tal-y-bont.141 'This is a beginning, and I hope that it will be a stimulus to others to fight for seats on public councils', wrote H. R. Jones. 142 Yet such successes constituted no more than isolated victories achieved mainly because of the popularity and repute of individual candidates. 'It is a pity that our County Committees and our branches are not more alive to look for opportunities to fight for seats on the public councils', lamented Jones to the 1929 summer school.143 It appears that many party members, motivated primarily by cultural considerations, did not appreciate the need for political action. They saw membership of Plaid Cymru as per sea. protest against the destruction of the Welsh way oflife by English influences. In spite of these disappointing performances, there ensued no change in the official party view that the route to success lay via the local authorities. When Valentine polled 609 votes in the 1929 general election in Caernarfonshire, Y Ddraig Goch re- sponded, 'We must give our work a new direction. That is the great lesson of the election for us, namely using the work that has been done to win the local authorit- ies'. 144 Commenting on the enthusiasm displayed by young people in Caernarfonshire during May 1929, the paper remarked perceptively: 'There is fun in a general election but the fun must be paid for. There is no fun concerning the local authorities, but it is through them that Wales will have a voice of its own'. 145 It may well be that the greater glamour and excitement associated with parliamentary elections accounted for the