Welsh Journals

Before dealing with the plans which the B.B.C. have carefully prepared for the future arrange- ment of the Stations it will be advantageous to consider briefly the criticisms levelled against the present methods. Apart from interference, which has been dealt with earlier in this article, the main criticism is that too much time has been devoted to educational talks and that there have been no alternative programmes to choose from. A study of the facts proves that this criticism is hardly justified. Of the time given to broad- casting, talks occupy only 21.47 per cent. of the total. In this percentage is included the time taken by news bulletins and radio drama. While the B.B.C. are desirous of meeting the wishes of the public in this matter, they cannot do so under the existing arrangement. Their new scheme, however, overcomes both the difficulty of inter- ference and provides the solution of the problem of providing alternative programmes. This scheme provides for a number of regional high power stations, each having an alternative programme. There will therefore be available for the first time a minimum of two alternative programmes capable of reception by crystal sets in any part of England, Scotland and Wales. Before it can be put into effect this scheme must be approved of both by the Postmaster-General and the Imperial Telegraphy Board. I have gone very carefully into the details of this scheme in so far as it affects Wales. It is proposed that Wales will have a national transmitter placed away from the industrial areas probably somewhere in Mid-Wales, where its radiations with high power will reach the whole of the popu- lation of the Principality. This national trans- THE PATHWAY. Long and narrow was the pathway To the dingle by the hill, Where I found in peerless splendour Nature reigning calm and still Here the flowers shed their fragrance, Here the trees their glory spent, Here the bees were humming round me And a purling streamlet quenched me, All on kindly service bent. On a mound I sat enraptured Far from city, town and strife, Till the evening shadows gathered, Quaffing deep the wine of life Then to crown the day's enchantment All became a sea of song, For the warbling woodland choir Must have been a thousand strong. Long and narrow was the pathway To this haven of perfect day, But there's waiting deathless splendour Just where ends The Narrow Way." Tydu. T. G. JAMES. mitter will operate on two alternate wave lengths, thus providing simultaneously two programmes. The transmitter will be fed by the studios at Cardiff and Swansea and other new studios to be opened in other parts of Wales. Greater variety in the programmes than those supplied by the Welsh transmitter can be obtained by tuning in the adjoining regional high power stations in Lancashire, the Midlands and the West Country. Daventry will continue to transmit and another similar high power station in the same district will transmit an alternative programme. I think that all will agree that Wales has much to gain from the new system. We have had a grievance in the preferential treatment which, partly by accident but nevertheless in fact, has been accorded to Scotland. It is essential, however, that public opinion in Wales should be alert. In this way we shall secure all we can reasonably demand in the way of distinctively Welsh pro- grammes. In conclusion, I would like to sound a note of warning. The majority of us want Welsh features in our programmes and would like the Welsh service to be oustanding in every way. There is a danger of carrying such a policy to extremes and we should in this way miss the advantages of hearing the music of the World's geniuses. Music is the universal language, it knows no nationality. Our desire for Welsh character- istics is admirable but should not be carried to such extremes that we are in consequence deprived of the enjoyment of hearing the best music of the rest of the World. GLAS Y DORLAN. Cyfieithiad o "The Kingfisher"-W. H. Davies. Yr enfys roddodd it dy fod A gwaddol-wisg o'i liwiau 'i hun A chan mai Dagrau enw 'i fam Daeth yn dy waed i ddewis cun Gilfeydd a phyllau, coedydd syn A wylant uwch y tawel lyn. Dos di, a chyda 'th liwiau bras Trig gyda pheunod parciau chweg A cherdd ar lawntau gwydr-lyfn Yn ddrych a marc pob pluen deg A cher ffenestri breiniol bias Ar wyrdd-wydd ysgwyd edyn glas. Na, Dderyn Serch, nid balch wyt ti Ni feddu feddwl uchel bal A minnau wy' 'n dy ddeall di A swyn llyn-encil cangau tal Heb firi dynol, dim ond su A mynwes coeden drosof fi. PETER HUGHES GRIFFITHS.