Welsh Journals

arrangement which now prevails, and the bye-laws should be amended so as to allow one-sided roads of a fairly light construction. Town- In preparing town-planning Planning schemes England is not particu- Schemes larly advanced, and Wales is mov- ing at about one-third the English pace. There are in Wales 189 Local Authorities possessing Town-Planning Powers and only four are using them Newport and Neath Boroughs in the South, and Wrexham Borough and Wrexham Rural District Council in the North. In England one authority in sixteen is preparing schemes in Wales one in forty-seven. No doubt the main stumbling block in the way of the authorities, as of Public Utility Companies, is the uncertainty as to the terms on which the Public Works Loan Com- missioners will be empowered to make loans for land and housing purposes after the War. It would be a great stimulus if the Government could soon in- dicate its intentions with regard to the financing of hou ing schemes. The estimate of the experts is that Wales will require not less than £ 5,000,000 by ways of loans and grants for urban and rural re- housing of the working classes. Jack London No man of letters in his own age was better known to the English reading public than Jack London, who was born in California about forty years ago and died there the other day, after incessant wandering in almost every land and on almost every sea under the sun. As far as school and college education is concerned, Jack London was an uneducated man, for he was working for his daily bread at an age when boys are usually in PRESS OPINIONS OF THE WELSH OUTLOOK: The Christian World That excellent monthly." The Nation Periodical of great interest and power." the second or third standard of the elementary school. In contemplating the careers of men like London, Charles Dickens, and Pat Macgill, one is often tempted to question the value of our educational systems, at least as far as a literary career is con- cerned. Jack London was educated, like Sam Weller in the street, on the sea, and amid the rigours of winter in Alaska and North-West Canada. And his mental development was extraordinary. The insight into psychology displayed in such books as White Fang, The Call of the Wild, and others, is most striking. Lovers of English fiction in every continent will deeply regret the early death of Jack London. Varia We desire to thank our readers for their hearty support during the YePr that is passing away, and invite them to continue their subscriptions for the future. In the course of the year we have received most encouraging letters from many quarters and it is pleasing to feel at its end that our efforts have not been altogether futile. — Robert Roberts will continue in 1917.- Articles will appear also on the supreme duty of every citizen to subordinate every interest to the great object of winning the War in order to secure for Europe a lasting peace.—The article on the tur- moil in the coalfield is to be followed by two others.- The necessity of dealing with the grave unrest in the South Wales Coalfield has obliged us regretfully to postpone to our next number Prof. Geddes' second article on Universities historic and incipient. We are glad to be able to announce that an anthology of present-day Welsh lyrical poetry primarily for the use of the Secondary Schools is being prepared by Miss Annie Ffoulkes. Her literary ability and ex- perience eminently fits her for such work.