Cylchgronau Cymru

VOLUME XV np TT Tf NUMBER X WELSH OUTLOOK Where there is no vision the people perish NOTES OF THE MONTH OCTOBER 1928 WE believe it was the Rev. Sidney Smith W -the remark sounds like one made by a Dean of St. Paul's­who said of an eminent judge of his time that it was a pity that he thought that a cap and bells were as necessary a part of the sartorial equipage of the Bench as the ermine. That justlv pilloried legal luminary is by no means a solitary or even an exceptional instance of similar disastrous errors made by those who are entrusted with the administration of justice in this and all other countries. Re- cently one of the Metropolitan magistrates-a Mr. Bingley by name-has had to perform the painful duty of dealing magisterially with two or three instances of thefts by servant girls who had migrated from the economic desert of South Wales and had entered into domestic service in London. Mr. Bingley is entitled to his wig, but we fail to see why he is entitled, or should be allowed, to don the preacher's gown and deliver the usual futile generalities on the Welsh origins of the unfortunate victims whom he has had to try. We do not wish to be unjust. Pro- bably Mr. Bingley never intended to imply that Welsh servants are, as a class, more dishonest than English or Scottish servants, nor did it occur to his unvigilant but pontifical mind what the effects of his absolutely irrelevant and foolish remarks would be. There is, however, no doubt but that at a time ftf the direst distress in our industrial areas, the publicity given to his remarks in our daily press ­hungry as it is for any sensational headline- has had a serious economic effect on the chances pf girls from these areas who are making such efforts as they can to relieve the conditions of their stricken families, to secure employment in domestic service. We are glad to see that the Welsh Nationalist Party has taken the matter up vigorously at its Summer School this year. It is intolerable that even a Metropolitan magistrate should be allowed to use his public office so un- justly to indict a nation and a class in this way. Mr. Bingley, and many others who are guilty of the same sin against justice, should be sharply reminded by his superiors that a Court may as easily be brought into contempt from its bench as from its floor. TWO very important events in the religious life of Wales occurred during the past month. One was the election of Dr. C. A. H. Green, the present Bishop of Monmouth. to succeed the late Dr. Daniel Davies as Bishop of Bangor. The result was perhaps, in some ways, an unexpected one, although those "in the know" were aware that this would be the easiest solution of a somewhat difficult temporary problem. On the general question of elections and appoint- ments to high ecclesiastical offices in the Church in Wales we have already expressed our opinion. Dr. Green, if he accepts the Bishopric of Bangor, will make an admirable diocesan. He is Welsh to the marrow; in origin a descendant of the Rev. Peter Williams, of "Bibl" renown; in sympathy a proved nationalist and a supporter of all national causes. He is learned he is tactful; he is a tried administrator. All those who have come into touch with him regard him as a fine, gentlemanly Christian. Bangor will be safe under his direction. But one thing remains to be said. The election makes it clear that the Church in