Welsh Journals

meeting of the Welsh School of Social Service. That meeting was devoted to a study of the con- trasts and comparisons between Wales and an- other small country-Denmark. The School had been fortunate in obtaining the assistance of a group of Welsh people who had in recent years visited Denmark to study its history and charac- teristics. This group had met several times dur- ing the year, and had prepared some memoranda on various aspects of Danish life for the guidance of the School. An extremely well-informed and interesting Dane-Mr. Paul Hansen-came over from Denmark to direct the discussions. The result was that the "comparative" method of study was given a good try out. The results were wonderfully interesting and suggestive, and we venture to think that all those who were able to follow the course at the School went through a rather unexpected experience-in learning much about Denmark they learnt more about Wales. We began to see the force of seeing ourselves as others see us and in the light of what others are and do. Perhaps the message from Denmark that mat- ters most to us in Wales at the present time is that our numerous activities do not lead to much that is tangible and creative. We love to work in the old grooves. Like our mountain rills we babble a great deal, and often go rushing along impulsively. All this is pretty enough, but oh! how ineffective. We lack the gift of "engineer- ing" our national life, the gift of converting all this indiscriminate water power to some conscious and solid purpose. The Danes, who are a striv- ing and a resolute people, have shown us how a small nation can turn the national gifts to great educational and economic advantage by con- REAL silence at last: Noisy the leaf's stir; And the testy bee in the fox-glove den Is a roaring man-eater. Loud is the mother pride In the throat of the hen on her dusty ledge She has seen me-O, the panic-alarum- "Watch out! There's a man in the hedge!" They scamper on then silence again So still that over the blue hills of the years I can hear things dead and gone At my ears. structional thinking on large national lines. This is essentially what we most need in Wales. The Welsh School of Social Service has done us a real service by calling attention to this funda- mental truth. Do not let us ignore it. AT this season of the year it is not inappro- priate to refer again to the aims of the Council for the Preservation of Rural Wales and the need for educating public opinion and for bringing pressure to bear on our County Councils. Few of those bodies, especially in Wales, appear to realise the far-reaching powers conferred upon them by Section 16 of the Local Government Act, 1888, under which they may make by-laws "for the good rule and govern- ment" of their counties. That expression has been so widely interpreted as to include such offences as noises by excursionists and the litter of waste paper, broken glass, orange peel, and other refuse in public places. So far as we can ascertain only four of the Welsh Councils have made by-laws to prevent the destruction or up- rooting of wild plants, and four have made regu- lations under the Advertisement Regulation Acts, while three actually declined to do so! The re- cords of the County Councils' Association tend to show that the English Councils are more in- terested in these matters. In at least one English County unsightly advertisements are not only controlled by regulations, but a Standing Sub- Committee has been appointed and charged with the responsibility for the enforcement of those regulations. It seems rather futile to clamour for additional powers of self-government when we fail in the duty of exercising those we already possess. IN THE HEDGE The sound of little bells Ringing in Havod pool: The hum of a busy class-room, And I know I am late for school. The patient suck of firm hands In the dough; the drumming of rain; The grand click of the new white knife Opened just to shut it again. "On the road?" asked a passer-by, "Have you come far to-day?" "Well, yes," I stammered, trying to think, "I have come a tidy way." WIL IFAN.