In the Commons on Tuesday Mr. W. Jones moved a
Reso" hiticn declaring that in the best interests of the Welsh nation. and of the Church the State Establishment in Wales should cease to exist. The Motion was supported by Mr. Asquith, who described the Welsh Church as an alien importation imposed upon a reluctant people. Mr. R itehie, replying for the Government, relied (1) on the diminution of the Radical repre- sentation in Wales in. 1895, when the question of Disestablish- ment was before the electorate; (2) the impossibility of separat- ing Welsh- from English Disestablishment ; (3) the fact that by Disendowment the Welsh Church would be deprived of opportunities of doing the useful work that Mr. Jones a,draitted she was now performing. Sir William Harcourt in a short speech defined the principle on which the Opposition. took its stand. It was, he said, that the Church of the minority of a people ought not to receive an endowment from national funds. On the vote the Resolution was rejected by 218 votes to 177. The proposal is, of course, in reality for Disendowment, since there is no Welsh Church. It is not one with which we can sympathise, nor will it, we believe, win the assent of the English people.
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