Welsh Journals

Wales at Work-A Social Diary. By the Rev. Gwilym Davies,M.A. The outstanding difference to me is the change wrought by modern transport. Few realise the difference to church life which the tube and the motor 'bus have brought about. When I came to London the churches pursued a policy of decentralis- ation, to-day we centralise as much as possible. The fact that people come long distances makrs it imperative to have shorter services. I always tell my Welsh brethren who come to preach here to avoid long ser- mons. They must try to realise that the 'bus ride is part of the service, and the 'bus fare a part of the collection. There is per haps a change of emphasis in the matter of our sermons. There has been a process of disintegration in all realms of thought, but there is now a reaction in favour of con- structive activity. There is, of course, a good deal of looseness in modern thinking and modern conduct, but that hind of thing spends itself in time. There is an honest desire to learn and to live, and my experi- ence is that efforts at intensive culture of the moral life meet with wide response. That accounts for the size and character of our congregations. The Rev. Peter Hughes Griffiths to a Western Mail corres- pondent on the completion of his 25th year of service as minister of the Charing Cross Welsh Presbyterian Church, London. INTERNATIONAL. There has been a demand for the Order of Service for the use of schools on Armistice Day. Head teachers will find the Order useful, and it may not be less welcome to ministers of religion who hold an Armistice Day service. Copies may be ob- tained on application to the Secretary, Welsh National Council of Music, Law Courts, Cardiff, or to the Secretary, Welsh League of Nations Union, Richmond Terrace, Cardiff. Under 12 copies, Id. each, plus postage Id.: 12 copies and over, Is. per dozen, post free. Applications like the following are often received by the Welsh League of Nations Union:- These Danish children who learn English in the school would be very glad if they could be able to write to children in other countries, but only in English, merman, or French languages. They are 10-11 years old. (Signed) Rizmor Kjems. Address: Arte R. Kjems, Blindebom svej 7, Middle- fart, Denmark." Then come the names of about forty Danish boys and girls who would like to receive letters in English from boys and girls in the schools of Wales. We shall be grateful to hear from teachers who will help in this work. One of the most encouraging features of the modern peace movement is inter- school correspondence between country and country. There are in Wales a few schools, secondary and elementary, in regular touch with schools abroad. May their number increase On October 5th-7th the Federation of League of Nations Societies hekj. its Council meeting in Sofia. On the last day we went on an excursion to a spot on the hills some twenty miles beyond the Bulgarian capital. When we reached the little town of Samakov all the inhabitants were out to greet us, and am im- promptu League of Nations demonstration was held before the town hall. Memories of Wales came back to delegates from the various countries who were present, and Tregaron was very much in the minds of those who were at the Federation Congress at Aberystwyth. The women of North Wales are to be warmly commended for their campaign for arbitration in international disputes. Miss Kate Courteney, of the Peacemakers' Pilgrimage Council, addressed meet- ings at various North Wales centres in October, and in Anglesey a peace van has been moving from place to place. Among the speakers in the campaign were Mrs. Councillor Price White, Mrs. Silyn Roberts, Mrs. Thoday, Miss Pugh Jones, Major Wheldon and the Rev R. W. Rowlands. NATIONAL. The Welsh version of the Departmental Committee Report was published on October 12th at Is. 6d., under the title, Y Gymraeg mewn Addysg a Bywyd." At its meeting at Shrewsbury on October 1st, the Council of the National Union of Welsh Societies, under the chairmanship of Mr. William George, decided, on the proposition of Professor Ernest Hughes, to hold a national conference. This national conference, to which various authorities and societies in Wales will be invited, is to be asked to consider the report, and to carry out the suggestions of the Departmental Committee. The work of arranging the National Conference was delegated to a sub-committee — Mr. William George, Professor Ernest Hughes, Dr. Miall Edwards, Mr. D. Arthen Evans, of Barry (secretary), and Mr. V. Clements (treasurer). It was resolved to ask the B.B.C. how their Welsh programmes were arranged, and to express to them the willingness of the Union to help them in any further revision. Mr. D. Hicks Morgan, speaking with the authority of long experience, at a meeting of the Council of the Swansea Cymmrodorion, doubted the practica- bility of the suggestion made in the report to resus- citate the book "Dosbarthwr." The best they could do was to induce country and village booksellers to foster the sale of Welsh books. THE LATE REV. THOMAS CHARLES WILLIAMS. The widow of the Rev. Dr. T. Charles Williams received the following telegram from Mr. Lloyd George, dated Monlaj, October 3rd: — "Deeply dis- tressed to hear news of the death of my dear friend. Sympathise from my heart with you and the children in your grief. We were all proud of his great gifts and his death is a grievous loss to the little country to which he was such an ornament." EDUCATIONAL. Mr. J. C. Davies, Director of Education for Denbighshire, speaking at a Llandudno meeting arranged by the County Association of Teachers itt North Wales, said that in very few North Wales schools were there adequate facilities for instruc- tion in domestic subjects or manual work, and in. still fewer were there facilities for instruction im science. No school ought to be built in a rural or in any area without a small laboratory and facilities for practical work. Agriculture would more likelyi benefit by raising the standard of general intelli- gence than by tinkering with land laws. The University of Reading granted a degree in dairying; Cambridge had its courses in dairying and in norti-< culture, but there was no such university provision in Wales. At a meeting of the Merioneth County School Governors, Mr. Edmund D. Jones, M.A., reported that Sir Walford Davies had generously offered to help to provide proper scholastic wireless sets to be used in County Schools for lessons every Tuesday.