Welsh Journals

Is Welsh Home Rule Doomed ? By T. H. Lewis. NOT the least interesting feature of the recent election in Wales was the manner in which certain problems were emphasised and others ignored. Among those topics which seemed to have aroused no effective interest was that of Home Rule for Wales. Few would deny the extreme apathy shown. Such a state of affairs may well repay investigation. Possibly the primary reason for this apathy lies in the fact that the movement is not only in origin of the nineteenth century but in its present outlook somewhat out of touch with present-day conditions. The first stirrings in Wales of a movement towards self-government may be traced approxim- ately to the middle of the last century. Europe was at that time rightly freeing itself from the effects of the spirit of the Congress of Vienna, Nationalism was a new and popular cry. It seemed to provide a remedy for many of the existing evils. Belief in its possibilities became an article of faith in many a corner in Wales. The earlier leaders in our country were earnest- minded men who, with a few notable exceptions, were not particularly familiar with the affairs of the outside world nor very much concerned there- with. In practice their energies found an outlet in such directions as the maintenance of the Welsh language, attacks on the Establishment of the Church, the problems of the peasantry. To them Wales was an oppressed country writhing under the yoke of the Saxon who ruled without any knowledge of the language, history and tra- ditions of the governed people. Nor is it possible to deny to this indictment a large measure of truth. Wales, indeed, has every reason to be grateful for what these pioneers wrought in their day and generation. But it cannot any longer be maintained that the old order now prevails. The Anglican Church has been disestablished. Educational and other advantages compare very favourably with those of other countries. No Welshman, provided he be of the requisite calibre, need despair of filling even the very highest offices of State. Nor is the Welsh language in danger, or at any rate not in the same sense as it was half a century ago. The native tongue is taught wherever there is a call for it. Whatever dangers that may in future threaten Welsh cul- ture will come not from without but from within. Witness for instance the melancholy fact that at the recent election, Cardiff, with a population nearly that of North Wales, had no candi- date who could address the electorate in Welsh The future of the language rests, not on political manoevures, but on the way it meets the need of the community. If it does this, then it can laugh even at alien influences just as it reduced to ridi- cule the repressive measures of the past. If it fails in this duty, then in vain will ardent local authorities issue stringent regulations. Another feature which has undoubtedly alienated public sympathy, has been the movement's fond- ness for vague, dreamy generalities and its lack of practical grasp of affairs. Examination of the speeches and writings of the earlier and some of the more recent Home Rulers shows clearly that few had ever regarded from a matter-of-fact financial standpoint. Conferences galore, it is true, but of such gatherings there has never been any lack in Wales which is, unfortunately (as a writer in the OUTLOOK recently reminded us) a land of resolutions but not of resolution. There was evident, indeed. something of the emotional eloquence of a crusade, with a predominance of men of the "visionary" type. "Where there is no vision," as holy writ reminds us, "the people perish." Never was there a truer saying. But the true "visionary" must have something better than a constitutional lack of orderly thinking and a repugnance of squarely facing unpalatable facts. Yet curiously enough, it was the delightfully vague character of the movement that drew to itself much of its support in the nineteenth cen- tury. Its leaders in that period were ministers of the gospel, literary folk and the like. It en- joyed the support of a group of zealous and even brilliant writers. If newspaper articles of them- selves (could have achieved the desired result, then Wales would have unanimously and success- fully clamoured for self-government. There is reason to believe, however, that a sentimental and idealised rather than the actual Wales shone through such writings. When, therefore, there' recently arose the necessity of bringing to an age sceptical of glowing promises much of the eloquent generalities and wistful irrelevancies into practical form, the eyes of many were opened. To many the glamour was no more. Possibly also much of what the Home Rule move- ment sought to uphold is not now so highly valued, to wit the "distinctive characteristics" of Wales. Few have addressed themselves to examining the precise nature of these. Far easier it is, of course, to speak of the uplifting influence of the Celtic fringe on the less favoured Saxon. Indeed, most of the writers of the nineteenth century and early twentieth, assumed that Wales was spiritually on a higher level than her neighbour, being "in a peculiar manner en- trusted with the sacred flame," and as such possessing something to be zealously guarded, Wales was the land of cymanfaoedd, and of seraphic preachers, the stronghold of the Sunday School, the home of enthusiasts for education and social reform. Such a line of thought was obviously popular and at certain times was true. But unfortunately such a description to-day requires serious modification. Thus the "hwyl" which certainly distinguished the Welsh pulpit from that of neighbouring lands is now