Welsh Journals

the idealistic aims with which we set forth to war, and had it, when the war ended, insisted on a speedy, clean peace, based on justice and goodwill, it would not be in the sorry state in which it is to-day. There is still a chance. Will it set forth on a grand crusade for fellowship, purity, and social justice-this it its chance for survival during the next generation. Did the Church think that by being silent it could please all? It was a fatal mistake, for it pleased none. The new aims must be based on human fellowship. The Church has always preached the brotherhood of man. but unfortunately it has left the matter in practice to the Freemasons, Buffaloes, Friendly Societies, and Trades Unions. A Church of quarrels and hatred is a mockery of the loving God, and the sooner such Churches cease to exist the better. Hatred and jealousy in a Church should be unforgivable. When the Church itself is a real brotherhood there will be no need for artificial attractions. The Church, too, must aim at goodwill everywhere-was not that the message of the first Christmas morning ? Ministers could further the feeling of brotherhood if they saw more of the lives of their members during week-days; many of them have but the vaguest idea of the temptations and troubles their members meet during the six working days. A VILLAGE PROBLEM. IN view of the interesting discussions at the recent Conference of the Library Association at Norwich, we have been asked by the Editor to say some- thing on the part the public libraries can play in educational work, or on some aspect of the work of these libraries." In 1915 Professor W. G, S. Adams submitted to the C.U.K. Trustees a general report on library provision and policy, wherein the whole position was carefully examined, with useful comments and suggestions as to future developments. It was shown that while great progress had been made in some of the larger and middle-sized towns, there were still many important centres without adequate provision. The problem of the Rural Library still remained unsolved. The Parish Councils were empowered to adopt the Library Acts and levy a rate for maintenance limited to Id. on the pound assessment, but the low yield produced by the system of rating agricultural land was usually quite insufficient to cover book-provision, rent of building, curator's salary, etc. Contiguous parishes were em- powered to combine, if they so willed, in administering the Acts, but neither the District nor the County Council had any locus standi as library authorities. The C.U.K. Trustees commenced, with a public spirit which has earned the warm commendation of most leaders of thought in this country, to remove the diffi- culty by offering to County Education Authorities a Much of the disfavour with which Churches are viewed to-day is. due to the suspicion that they favour one particular party or class. The Church of England is suspected (to an extent rightly) of being the back- bone of the Conservative Party and of the upper classes, while the Nonconformist Churches are sus- pected (again to an extent rightly) of being too much in the handsof the Liberal Party and the middle classes. The Church must make up its mind that it has no politics, and must at all costs eschew social distinctions. It must be no respecter of persons. The Church is a non-political body, and its adherents must be entirely free to be members of any political party. On the other hand, it must claim the right to apply the highest moral standards to all social and political theories, and to express itself in favour of all that is uplifting, and against all that degenerates. By harbouring within it all political parties, and by applying consistently the highest standards to all theories, it may in time do the great service to all parties of teaching them to apply such moral standards for themselves to theories which come before them. And the Church must not set out to bolster up capitalism; that must stand or fall accord- ing to whether or not it is the economic theory which will best serve future generations. (To be continued). By D. Rhys Phillips, F.L.A., F.S.A. (Scot.) substantial grant towards establishing and maintaining for a period of five years a collection of books for public use in each rural school under their charge, on the condition that at the end of that period the Authority undertook to continue the provision and maintain the libraries as lending libraries for the use of the whole population of each rural area. By the end of 1918, eight county or district authorities in England had put the scheme into operation, the initial grants varying from £ 100 (Worksop and District) to £ 1,250 (Bucking- hamshire). In Wales the county authorities of Cardigan and Carnarvon received respectively £ 1,000 and £ v?00 as initial grants, with a further annual grant of £ 400 each for maintenance; in both of these cases the scheme has been in operation for about two years. In December, 1918, a grant of £ 4,700 was promised to Montgomeryshire, and to Breconshire £ 4,400. The county of Denbigh has also taken steps to put the scheme into operation, while Glamorgan is now con- sidering the matter. It soon became apparent that legally the County Authorities would be in an unsound position, if and when they proceeded at the end of five years to devote a portion of their education rate to the upkeep of these libraries. The whole question was considered by the Adult Education Committee appointed by the Ministry of Reconstruction, who, in their third Interim Report on Libraries and Museums, 1919, made a series of recommendations.