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IWELSH CASUALTY LISTS.

MEDITERRANEAN FORCE.I

I WELSH BANK CLERK KILLED.I

LLANGEFNI MONTHLY AUCTION.

IANGLESEY EDUCATION COMMITTEE.

SUNDAY OBSERVANCE IN WELSH…

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DEATH OF FAMOUS WELSH SCHOOLMASTER.

WELSH NONCONFORMITY AND I…

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WELSH NONCONFORMITY AND I THE WAR. (To the Editor.) Sir,—You say in your leading article of last week, "We have no desire to break the political truce," but in spirit you do so with a vengeance, because, I presume, the occa- sion was so tempting-with two or three pages ot your issue failed with the evidence of the conscientious objectors-and you do this at a time of (stress and trial in wnich we require great unity of spirit. I wifc-h to deal with ycur partisan statements regarding the Church of England in Wales and the war, and to prove that your facts are not correct. You say "no pressure of any sort whatever is exerci.-ed" re the religious question among the soldiers. Again, We have recpived com- munications from Welsh soldiers in the trenches, both in France, in Gallipoli, and in Egypt, and tho one comment which is made in reference to religious administration is that the Nonconformists are only 'an infinitesimal number.' In answer to the above I may ,sav that I was asked, in July last, to go to Beford to minister to the troops of the 53rd Division (Welsh) of the Territorials, before they left for the Dar- danelles. During that month three of the biggest chapels in the town of Bedford and district were practically filled with Noncon- formists on the Sunday morning in church parade—two in Welsh and one in English. But I can produce evidence that a large num- ber of those who attended our services on the Sunday were marked on the Army register as Church of England members, although they never attended the services of that Church in the town. I have in my mind now a man of great influence among the mon, who came from Glamorganshire, who was a zealous Baptist and who attended our services regu- larly at John Bunyan's Chapel, and he said that hiti pap?r was marked Church of Eng- land, and when I asked him why he allowed this he said that being a non-commissioned officer he did not like to cause any disagree- ableness. Also should there be among some of tho battfolions of that Division the appear- ance of a lack of Nonconformists it must be remembered that that Division was not made up w holly of Welsh troops, but the Cheshircs. the Queen's, the Hereford", and other English troops were drafted into that Division. Again, witrun tho last three weeks I met, in the city of Bangor, two men who have been at the front in France or Flanders for a year and they said that they had not seen a Noncon- formist minister since they left here, and that they always joined in the services of the Church of England, although they never did so when at home, on the wry reasonable ground that they were not going to wrangle over the religious question at such a time as this. In reference to the local conscientious ob- jectors I need not say anything, as that mat- ter has already been settled by the Govern- ment. I may state, however, that the mem- bers of the Congregational Church in England and Wales have proved themselves worthy descendants of Oliver Cromwell and the, Non- conformists of the seventeenth century. Is it not also known to you that even in the city of Bangor the members of the Baptist de- nomination have lost some of their best blood in thi9 war? The Calvinistic Methodists have from the beginning sent .men, at their own expense, to minister in spiritual things to the very large number of their members and others under training in the various centres. Their theological colleges have been practically closed, and tho professors and students are doing their best to help their country Í11 this terrible struggle. In the same spirit the Weseleyan Church in Wales as well as in Eng- land are using all their influence in the sam", direction. Practically we have found no diffi- culty in working with the chaplains of the Church of England, who have been agreeable and even brotherly in every way, and it was left to you to strike the sectarian note. Chris- tianity, as understood by us, is a healthy, robust., and courageous force in this war against injustice and wrong, and if Christ stands for anything in our life He stands for courage, positive and negative, in bringing in the Kingdom of God "and a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteous- no" In closing you have a dig at Mr Lloyd George and the lack of preparation for this war. Is it not known to you that the foreign policy of Great Britain has been consistent for over twenty years? That the late Lord Salis- bury, and especially Mr Balfour, as well as Sir Edward Grey, have been saying that our great defensive force was th,, Navy, And now when we were caught unable to cope with the great powers of the Central Empire of Europe you cannot prove thit they were wrong. If we had become a military machine, like the German Empire, sonv years ago, we would have brought about a war of greater range than the present war. The best thing that can happen to the world and civilisation is to continue an Empire like ours which sits lightlv upmi the ocean and across the globe, with no upon Australia or Canada, or any other colony, to come and help us. It is our privilege to defend this vast. Empire with all its fine traditions and be very careful not to convert it into a tyrranical military power. Until this is done let us drop all sec- tarian controversies and consecrate our ener- gies to tb,, preservation of our vast interests. —Yours truly, LEWIS WILLIAMS. Ceiri, Bangor, March C'h, 1916. Though prepared to admit that some Noncon- formist recruits may have been incorrectly described as Church of England, the fact does not materially affect, our assertion that the burden of national defencc up to the present, has been borne by Churchmen. Perhaps the future may equalise matters a little more. Nobody will be more pleased I'han ■ oui-sc'vea, for it is incredible to think that- in this hour of our country's need a roll- of honour should be practically confined to one denomination. That the Government have exempted divinity students from military (service does not alter the position we have assumed with regard ♦o.tlie. conscientious objector. We gladly acknowledge the. tine patriotism which has •- robbed many Nonconformist homes of its young manhood our criticisms were chiefly directed against those who stage mana-ged the pitiful exhibition before the Bangor Tribunal. And the military exemption does not, in cur opinion, relieve tlieni ot their responsibility. The Bishop of Southwell, in I his Diocesan Magazine, says that the Seere- taiy for War offered th? same terms to the Church of England as had been offered to Roman Catholic f-tudent-s, but the Bishops refused this only accepting the ex- emption of those to be ordained it Tnnity. The response of the Chin oh of E; -g'a.ul theo'cgicil students has been splen- did. Most of them offered themselves long before the, Derby si-heme. and no fewer than 22 candidates have been killed. It esti- mated that instead of about 1250 sludtnts there aro now only 360 mid! moist of them are unlit, for Army «*>rvxv..If our Non;on- fcnn:.st friends have d.-ne .as well we shall be glad to publish ¡:: !'ti<rlar2, lkrman,y'" aggressive "tactics grew most acute after the Liberal Government can;?-, into power in 1906, I and our present military -position speaks for ■itself.- In advising- «es to devote oar ener- gies to preserve, our vast interests, our corres- pondent in the same breath thinks this should be carried into effect without any compulsion ujioa Australia, and Canada. Thase great colonies did not wait for a Military Service Act before they the thotm-ude of the lighting men in the world to help the Mother Country. (TD L lieI Sir;—I think, in answer to the leader in your columns last week, March 3rd, a word is due from "the few Nonconformists who do not de- precate the attitude adopted by the conscientious objectors," but who fed proud of the stand they made, in the most 'difficult", circumstances, for .conscience and Christ-an it.v. In your own columns last week appeared a letter expressing the hope that members of tilc Tribunal had song or relatives at the front, in order that they might be prevented from dealing lightly with claimants for exemption.- This week's proceedings, and not less the-ieader from which I have just quoted, and also the lotte;- in the same publica- tion which ( Kipling "wliolesale to prove Christ'? dct?nce of war— neiVdess to say Christ himscif would be a more ?o<thy authority—an show that another precaution is far more rie'ees- Initow iiiat iiiiet,icr precautioii.is f., niore rie;ces- of men who can understand the position of the men they claim to judge. Sympathy, though they might not agree in principle with the claim- ants, and not sarcasm, which was used most freely on Monday night (February æth, is sure- ly the most necessary qualification. How can men,' who found it necessary, to ask for an explanation of the phrase the "rule of love," proceed to judge the consciences of men whose sole plea was based on tjiat simple, though perhaps to some, difficult principle. It would be very interesting to know whether the Tribunal was established to state its own case or to hear the case of the men summoned before them. I think most of us thought it was the latter, but what actually happened was the former, and, given the Tribunal's premisses, the claimants were asked to draw their own con- clusions: and any refusel to do so was inter- preted as lack of the sincerity of their claims, whilst- o.n the other hand, any attempt on the part of the objector to state his own premisses wliprfefrom to draw his conclusions was cut short and interpreted as an attempt to start an argu- ment which the Tribunal wished to prevent, the fact being ignored, of course, that all the force of the Tribunal's own contentions were put into their questions—ingenious questions, I admit, but, rather lacking a grasp of the principles at issue in the claim of the conscientious objector. That a man who, whilst able to receive abso- lute exemption on undcbateabie grounds, should prefer to stand or fall on the ground of con- scientious objedion, seems to me sufficient, answer to the statement in the leader that "some in their eagerness to prove that they had a con- science, went to such lengths as to convince most people that they had no conscience at all; and that such a man was met by a retort from one of the members of the Tribunal "That is not conscience, and you know it,' speaks for itself. A similar inquisition as that of Monday last, demanded an answer in terms of "Yes" or No" from Christ, whose words ring down through the ages, strengthening his adherents in this hour of trial, "Hellder 1111 to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the tilings that are God's.Yours, etc.. GLADYS R. rUNCHARD. University Hall, Bangor ) March 4t,h. (To the Editor). I Sir,—With reference to.*he figures in your leading article comparing the numerical strengths of Ciiuix-hmen and Nonconformist? I should like to state that judging by my own experience when attesting- they are entirely misleading. My Mue form tArmy Form B2512A) was endorsed bv the recruiting officer "C. of E." although I plainly stated Baptist," I called his attention to this when I observed the initials, and he replied that it was only used to dietinguish Protectant from Roman Catholics, and that at th.at office ail Non- conformists were eo classed. It is only fair to state that I attested in London, but did many of "Lloyd George's Arniy" who were stationed at Llandudno. I have not enclosed the above-men- tioned form as I believe parting with it is for- bidden by the Army Council.—Youre etc.. London, S.E., "GROUP 32." I March 6th, 1916.

MARRIAGE OF LIEUT. KEITHI…

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TO-DAY'S WAR NEWS.

I -THE MARRIED -GROUPS.-

ITHE PRICE OF SUGAR.

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CARNARVONSHIREES.I .QUARRYMEN'S…

FATAL BOMB EXPLOSIONI NEAR…

PWLLHELI OFFICER KILLED. I

DEATH OF VlCAROF PENYCAE.

ALDERMAN BAYNE AND BOXING.