Welsh Journals

Wales and Armenia. Cymru Unllais. No. 6. SEPTEMBER 22ND, 1896. PRICE id. PROGRESS OF THE NATIONAL PROTEST. A mass meeting of the inhabitants of Cardiff was held last night. The Bishop of Llandaff, who presided, asked the people to tell Lord Salisbury that they were not afraid to entrust the solution of this difficult problem to his capable hands, but warned them that beyond that it would be dangerous for them to go. The Bishop of Hereford said that at this moment it was the duty of_ every citizen of this free country to speak out very plainly his convictions, so that those who represented him in the councils of Europe might be able tQ point to the mass of conviction in the nation standing at their back. He believed that this would give to our Sovereign and her Ministers just the strength they needed. He could not but think that Lord Salisbury would be truly grateful for this voice of loyalty and support. Resolutions practically identical with the first two of the Bangor resolutions were passed. A large meeting was held at Bangor, under the presidency of the Mayor. The Bishop of Bangor empha¬ sised the fact that all parties were united in this movement, and said that he for one felt it was impossible to keep silent. Mr. E. J. Griffiths, M.P., said that the Armenians were suffering not only because they were Christians, but also because they had aspirations after a national life, and that therefore the sympathy of Wales was specially called for. Mr. Bryn Roberts, M.P., dealt at length with the present position of affairs at the Continent. He expressed the opinion that England should by the most binding pledges assure the other Powers that she had no selfish objects in view : at the same time he thought that by declaring beforehand that in no case would she act alone, her counsels would lose weight. Dealing with the argu¬ ment that England might not be able to achieve her object of rescuing the Armenians, he said that to his mind the humiliation of defeat was not so great as the humiliation of disgrace. To himself, he said, the whole purpose of these meetings centered in the adoption of the words " cost what it may." Principal Reichel gave reasons for believing that England was thoroughly disliked on the Continent, but believed that meetings of this character served good purpose in giving the Government confidence and nerve. A wrell-attended meeting was held last night at Holywell. Mr. Samuel Smith wrote to the meeting, saying " I have always felt that there was no true solution possible till this country came to an agreement with Russia. The Bishop of St. Asaph also wrote a letter which is printed elsewhere. The Bishop of Durham addressed a large meeting last night, at Bishop Auckland. He said the meeting did not seek to direct or control the action of the present responsible Government. They trusted in the patriotism of those who directed England's affairs, and pledged them to a united support in whatever steps they might take to bring about a better state of things. The Rev. the Hon. A, T. Lyttelton, preaching at Eccles, said that " personally he believed with many others that our responsibility was so clear that it was our moral duty to risk everything in order to fulfil it: but the crisis was very grave, and above all it behoved us to undertake the task for no advantage to ourselves, but simply as a plain national duty. At Shoreditch yesterday, Mr. Lowles, M.P., said that he was authorised by the Foreign Office to say that we were confronted with the agreement of three Great Powers that if England single handed attacked Turkey, on whatever excuse or pretext, she would be face to face with that combination. If England fired a single shot or took action alone, it would mean at this moment European war. EDITORIAL. There can now be little doubt that Wales will speak out its mind decisively on the Armenian question. "Never " a correspondent writes " has Wales been so united. When we collected for the Relief Fund in our village, there was not a house which did not contribute a little." At the same time public meetings are being discounten¬ anced by many persons who speak with authority, and even by some whose active sympathies with the Armenians are unquestioned. We give in this issue of our circular several letters to that effect, which we think claim the thoughtful consideration of all our readers. From the various announcements in the daily news¬ papers, we gather that the Great Powers are actively engaged in deliberations for restoring order in Turkey, but that three of them are agreed to oppose separate action on the part of England, and that Lord Salisbury has pledged himself not to act separately. But all such accounts must be received with reserve, until the precise facts become known. We beg to call the special attention of our readers in those districts which have not yet held meetings to the fact that the resolutions adopted by the public meetings, both in England and Wales, are absolutely unanimous in the opinion they express, namely that the country will support the Government in whatever steps they think wise to stop the atrocities, and at whatever- cost. We believe that the national protest has in this way served a great end, and that we can await with confidence a useful result from it. On the other hand, we are fully in agreement with many corres¬ pondents in thinking that definite suggestions (except per¬ haps as to relief) are out of place, and tend rather to injure the cause which we all have at heart. As soon as the course of the Government is definitely settled, we trust all our friends will turn their energies to¬ wards an effective collection for the Relief Fund. MONTGOMERYSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL. On Friday^ September 18th, before the business of the Council commenced the Chairman said he should like to mention that in conjunction with Major Pryce-Jones he pro¬ posed to draft a requisition to the High Sheriff to call a meeting on the subject of Armenia. He would read the requisition :—« To the High Sheriff of the County of Mont¬ gomery—We, the undersigned, freeholders and other inhabitants of the county, hereby request you to summon a county meeting for the purpose of expressing the horror which has been felt throughout the county at the cruelty perpetrated by the Sultan of Turkey upon his subjects, and to assure the Government that they will have the support of the country in carrying out effectual measures for remedying these evils:'—The requisition was signed by most of the members present.