Welsh Journals

The Welsh School of Social Service. AN IMPRESSION. By G. A. Edwards. UTTTHAT is Algebra exactly? That was the question which Miss Susan Throssel (in Sir James Barrie's Quality Street) asked as soon as she learnt from her sister, Miss Phoebe Throssel, the terrible news that a pupil had that morning stated that her father was anxious for her to receive instruction in Algebra. And many people are demanding exact information just now about the Welsh School of Social Service and its activities. And there can be no sort of doubt with regard to the most satisfactory answer to that question. It would not take the form of referring the enquirer to a copy of the constitu- tion and rules of the School; it would not even urge him in the first instance to look up past reports of the School's annual gatherings. But it would most certainly invite him to attend the meetings of the School next year during the last week in August at Llandrindod, to make a careful note of the date (August 26-Sept. 2) in his new diary now, and a little later on to secure a copy of the School's programme from the Hon. Secretary at his office in 6, Cathedral Road, Cardiff. I. Among many institutions of recent origin and developments in Wales the Welsh School of Social Service holds a remarkable place. Keen Eisteddfodwyr must not be angry when they are told that this School is not unworthy of com- parison with the ancient institution, which is their legitimate pride and glory. The National Eisteddfod stands absolutely alone in some respects, but as a meeting-ground for all sorts and conditions of Welsh folk the Welsh School of Social Service is, at any rate, beginning to pay the older gathering the compliment of imitating it. If at the School a meeting is held to discuss some social question from a religious standpoint, you may be certain that representa- tives of communions which are still or have long been at variance with each other in some matters, will be among the speakers; and industrial questions are handled by gentlemen who represent various and very conflicting points of view. What could have been more satis- factory in this connection than the meeting which was held last August to deal with the question of Fellowship in Industry "? The chair was occupied by Mr. C. P. Hailey (a director of North's Navigation Collieries, Ltd.), and the speakers were Mr. F. W. Gilbertson, J. P., who put the point of view of the masters clearly and fairly, and after him the Warden of Toynbee Hall (Mr. J. J. Mallon), with equal lucidity, stated the men's view. People left that meeting knowing that there were two sides to this subject (as, indeed, to all questions), and feeling that it is only by a fair examination of both sides that one can arrive ultimately at the true solution. If the School did nothing more than provide a platform for the untrammelled and impartial discussion of questions that sepa- rate men and women of good-will and of honest convictions, it would be performing a very real service. And in itself it is a delightful experi- ence to meet folk who are experts on some subjects, as well as folk whose fads are not one's own. Outside a meeting it is by no means a rare occurrence to see a man holding forth in the centre of a small group on his own particular King Charles's head, and at another street corner another enthusiast is waxing eloquent about an entirely different but equally infallible remedy for our various ills. Quot homines, tot sententiae is true of Llandrindod during the School's session, and it is the glory of the School that it allows any man, who has a concern about this or that aspect of our corporate life, an opportunity to state his view, and, let it be added, to have it carefully examined, and quite often, as the result, to have it completely discredited. The School is yet in its infancy, but its past record encourages the hope that it will become the clearing-house for all social movements in Wales. And social movements," in the inter- pretation put on that phrase by the promoters of the School, include not merely economic and industrial movements, but also any and every cause or issue which may affect the social life of Wales in the widest sense of the term. That is why at this School of Social Service there is always a public meeting which deals with educa- tion and another which concerns itself with the international outlook and for the same reason it is never forgotten that all our social problems are at bottom religious ones. And there is a great deal of evidence to support the affirmation of last year's programme that the Welsh School of Social Service is a Welsh idea. It is the first attempt to organise, on a National scale and upon a National basis, an annual survey of the whole of a Nation's social activities." II. It is no part of the object of this brief article to give a careful chapter-and-verse account of the meetings of the School last year at Llan- drindod is that not written in the columns of the newspapers of that week ? It will be sufficient to remind the initiated and to inform the un- learned that, brolly speaking, the School during its annual session is a dual personality; in the mornings it settles down to hard work, or, at least, to that amount of hard work which is compatible with and possible in a health resort