Welsh Journals

And even were it otherwise, experience has shewn in relation both to Woman's political emancipation and Irish Home Rule, that a half measure of reform will encounter just as bitter an opposition from reactionaries, as a complete scheme. I further agree with Mr. John that in the end, it will be found neither possible nor desirable to ex- clude a Welsh Parliament from some control over foreign affairs. It would be monstrous, if Wales could be conscribed without its consent to send its sons to die in a war as unjust as that which England waged against the Dutch Republics in South Africa. In any case Wales's contribution to British Imperialism must be in strict proportion to her accumulated wealth, for at present, as our authors shews, she is over taxed. Mr. John assumes that with the establishment of Welsh self-govern- ment, a Labour Ministry would at once come into power. Here he is probably right, but I am by no means convinced that the policy of the Labour party or of the International Socialism with which that party is allied will permanently dominate Wales. Nor does Mr. John himself write entirely from the socialistic standpoint. He is still (he, will I think, allow) a follower of Mr. Lloyd George's social policy, and he contemplates its continuance under Welsh self-government in respect of such matters as Insurance and Housing. Now, Mr. Lloyd George's economic reforms were not socialism. They did not aim at the des- truction or nationalisation of great properties or great businesses they were on the contrary based on the theory that large private fortunes would continue, and that the proletariat would so remain entirely depen- dent on a weekly wage. The aim of these reforms was to guarantee to the labourer some security at the expense of wealth in the hours of sickness and unemployment. That these reforms have done much to relieve the condition of the poor is undeniable. That they would be needless in a community in which wealth and property were equally divided is no less true. They would certainly be extremely difficult to work in a self-governed Wales, and it is not impossible that a Welsh Parliament, by a radical alteration of the laws governing the distribu- tion of property might make these superfluous. Many will believe that this charge would take the form of socialism, but of this I am very doubtful. The trend of the South Wales collier to syndicalism, the THE WELSH SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SERVICE. To the Editor. Sir,­As many of your readers are interested in our movement, I should be glad if you would kindly allow me to say that the arrangements for the 1919 School are now complete. The Women's meeting on the Wednesday afternoon, August 27th, promises to be one of the most interesting meetings ever held in the Principality. Mr?. Coombe Tennant of Neath has consented to preside. It is to be hoped that there will be a representative gathering of women who are taking their part in the administrative, educational, and social life of Wales. Experts will deal with various phases of Welsh Social Work, and it is hoped that a session can be arranged at which Welsh padres will speak of their impression of the religious outlook. The 5chool will be held in the last week of August at Llandrindod Wells, and its membership is open to all. I am, etc., Llandrindod Wells, Hon. Sec. July 15, 1919. NATIONALISM AND THE "LARGE-SCALE WORLD." To the Editor, Sir,— It were a pity if more minds were carried away by the stream of Professor E. Zimmern's eloquence than a seasonable application of the flood-gates of reasoning should enable us to rescue from the watery grave concealed by his swirling periods. With a deal that the Professor says in the course of his paper in the Welsh Outlook nationalists of all complexions will be in hearty agreement. Undoubtedly, the large-scale world of which he speaks is hastening upon us. The eagerness which the Welsh farmer has shown during the war to pur- chase his homestead, alike suggest that whatever experiments may be temporarily tried, Wales will not permanently adopt State Socialism. Indeed, I venture to doubt, whether in a country like Wales, where, as Mr. John allows, Christian principles are deeply rooted, where family ties are strong, and great associations unconnected with the State like chapels and trade unions are powerful, State Socialism, far less Bol- shevism will ever flourish. The one thing which gives Bolshevism its chance is that its opponents cling to the exploded capitalistic system, and offer no constructive policy of reform. Mr. John is, however, I am glad to see, ready to allow that the question between peasant proprietorship and State owner- ship is one that a Welsh Parliament must settle. Much might be done to solve the problem by an adoption of the policy lately adopted by the Czecho-Slovak Republic. A law has been past limiting the amount of land which any one citizen may own, and providing for the purchase by the State, from any individual of property exceeding this amount. A similar measure put in force in Wales would both guarantee private property and give the State plenty of land on which it might undertake agricultural experiments. Still, while not advocating socialism, I agree with Mr. John that there is a great field for State activity in Wales. In the development of electricity through water power, in afforestation, in the regulation of the mining industry, there is a wide and a legitimate field open for the rulers of the Welsh State. Into all these questions Mr. John enters, and all who desire to know what a free Wales might accomplish will study his pages with profit, and best of them all are the pages which deal with finance. Yet as we read, we cannot refrain from asking how long ? The book contains a stern indictment against the Welsh M.P.'s who failed to secure for Wales a proper number of Parliamentary seats, when the last Representation of the People Act was before Parliament and who failed to obtain Welsh Educational autonomy when Dr. Fisher's Educational Bill was passed. From such M.P.'s there is little to hope. The dissolution of the Parliament of the vested interests must I fear precede the dawn of freedom in Wales. Arthur Price. CORRESPONDENCE Gwilym Davies. days of absolute sovereignty," and isolation, more or less splendiferous, are gone and though it is possible that, in the distant future, they may return to earth, yet that prospect is so remote from us that the contingency in question has little or no immediate bearing on practical politics. I imagine, however, that it is one thing to endorse Professor Zimmern's views as to the advent of a large-scale worId, and quite a different thing to homolgate the divers lessons and morals which that writer would appear to seek to draw from the political phenomena of which he treats. But to-day (he writes), I fear it must be admitted that it is difficult to live absorbed'in the affairs of a local community, or even a small State, such as Wales or Ireland would be if they were independent, without sinking into an illiberal provincial- ism," to avoid which dismal fate he urges that Wales should embrace the British Commonwealth." From this dictum the pregnant question naturally arises: What sane nationalist contemplates the creation of a Wales, an Ireland, or a Scotland that should be in possession of the "absolute sovereignty" of the old jurists ? It is possible that there are madmen living in all three countries to whom the Professor's hypothetical extravagances would address some sort of appeal; but assuming that cranks of that kind do somewhere exist, it would appear to be the fact that they have a shocking bad Press." For my part, I am a fairly diligent student of contemporary nationalist literature, but I should be sore put to it to lay hands on a single specimen of res- pectable propaganda writing calculated to afford the least colour to the assumptions on which the Professor's observations are based. To the vast majority of thinking nationalists the large-scale world of to-day is quite as much a demonstrated truth, to which all due regard must be had, as it is to Professor Zimmem himself. Thinking nationa- lists everywhere accept that particular dispensation of providence, and as internationalists as well as nationalists, are quite as keen to turn it to man's account as the most zealous admirers of the Wilsonian Four- teen Points can be. To imply, as Professor Zimmem would appear to do, that small State independence must entail stagnation, isolation,