the education of ordination candidates, training colleges and other Church purposes. In 1919 a sum of 120,000 was allo- cated to the pecuniary assistance of the clergy, but in 1920 only 30,000 was available for this purpose, the progress of the central fund having been disappointingly slow; most, if not all, of the dioceses have failed to raise their quotas. The Board has established an Ordination Test School at Knutsford, for testing the vocation of candidates for the ministry who had served in the war, and down to the end of 1920 about 700 men were sent there, while a somewhat similar number were helped to go to the universities and theological colleges. The school was in 1921 being used mainly for civilian candidates. The Central Board of Finance, whose methods have been seriously criticised, is henceforward to be responsible to the Church Assembly.
Welsh Church Commission. The Royal Commission appointed in 1906 to " inquire into the origin, nature, amount and applica- tion of the temporalities, endowments and other properties of the Church of England in Wales and Monmouthshire, and into the provision made and work done by the Churches of all de- nominations in Wales and Monmouthshire for the spiritual welfare of the people and the extent to which the people avail themselves of such provision," did not report until Dec. 1910. The statistics presented on behalf of the Church showed that the actual number of communions made at Easter rose from 134,000 in 1905-6 to 144,000 in 1908-9, and that the total number of persons upon all the Welsh communicant rolls was, in the latter year, 193,000. These returns were based upon lists for each parish, with the name and address of each communicant. The Nonconformist lists of " full members " gave the Congrega- tionalists 175,000, the Calvinistic Methodists 170,000, the Baptists 143,000, the Wesleyans 40,000 and the smaller Pro- testant denominations 19,000 among them. Other figures prepared on behalf of the Church showed that in every diocese in Wales there had for many years past been a constant and sub- stantial increase in infant baptisms, confirmations, and Sunday- school scholars, and that in most cases the numbers had grown in a larger proportion than the population, the inference being that the Church was expanding by conversions from Non- conformity. The Commission found that the Church in Wales provided 1,546 churches and mission rooms, with seating accommodation for 458,917. The officiating clergy numbered 1,597 968 incumbents, 561 curates and 68 others. The seating accommodation provided by the Church in Wales was 22-8% of the population. The accommodation in the Nonconformists' places of worship provided for more than double the total of Nonconformist adherents; the chapel-building debt of the Calvinistic Methodists amounted in 1906 to 668,000, and of the Congregationalists to 318,000. On the other hand the Anglican Church accommodation failed to keep pace with the increase of the population. Resident clergy, however, grew by 1 1 1 % and regular Sunday services by 176%. Much controversy arose as to the accuracy of the figures presented on the one side or the other, but in the end it appeared to be clear that the Church of England was numerically the largest single religious body in Wales. The Commission found the total gross endowments of benefices in Wales in 1906 to be 242,669. (A Parliamentary return issued in Nov. 1912 showed it to be then 260,037.) Of this sum 135,980 is income of endowments believed to have been in existence in 1703; 37,344 is income derived from Queen Anne's Bounty; 49,669 is income derived from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners; 19,672 comes from private gifts since 1703.
Welsh Disestablishment. Before the Commission could report the Government in 1909 brought in a bill for the disestablish- ment and disendowment of the Church in the four Welsh dioceses and the county of Monmouth, generally similar in its provisions to the bill of 1895, but withdrew it after the first reading. The date after which private benefactions were to be exempt from the operation of the Measure was fixed at 1662, instead of 1703, as in the former bills. In April 1912 a fresh disestablishment and disendowment bill was introduced which admittedly took away 135. 4d. in the of the endowments. The measure, after numerous alterations and amendments, and after being twice
rejected by the House of Lords, received the Royal Assent, under the Parliament Act, in Sept. 1914. Coincidently with it a Suspensory Act was passed, postponing its operation as regards disestablishment, but not disendowment, for 12 months, or until the conclusion of the World War, whichever should be the longer period; by a subsequent Order in Council the date of disestablishment was postponed until the end of the war. Under the Established Church (Wales) Act, the vested interests of incumbents were preserved for their lives. Welsh Church Commissioners were appointed to whom were transferred all property belonging to the Church in Wales which was vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and Queen Anne's Bounty; the property left to the Church was transferred to a Repre- sentative Body, appointed by the Welsh Church. The property so allocated included the churches and parsonages, a propor- tion of the value of the glebes, private benefactions since 1662, and all the movables contained in the churches. The tithe rent charges and other property of which the Church was deprived went to the Welsh County Councils and the university of Wales. The Act was modified by the Welsh Church (Tem- poralities) Act passed in 1919. Under this measure a sum of 1,000,000 was granted by Parliament to the Church in Wales, mainly as compensation for the increased value of tithe since the passing of the principal Act, and the date of disestab- lishment was finally fixed as March 31 1920. The Parliamen- tary history of this legislation is dealt with elsewhere.
Constitution of the Church in Wales. The constitution of the disestablished Church was drafted by a Convention consisting of representatives of each of the four Welsh dioceses. This Convention decided that the Church should be called " The Church in Wales," and that the governing body shall consist of the diocesan bishops and their suffragans or assistant bishops, the dean and archdeacons, 25 elected clergy and 25 elected laity from each diocese, together with 12 coopted women. The gov- erning body is to maintain the Articles, doctrines, rites and formularies of the Book of Common Prayer, subject to sub- sequent modification. New canons may be made by a two- thirds majority of the diocesan bishops, clergy and laity. The Representative Body consists of the diocesan bishops, four clergymen and eight laymen from each diocese, 1 2 coopted mem- bers and eight nominated by the bishops; subject 'to the assent of the governing body, 12 women may be added. The Repre- sentative Body will act as trustees of the Church's property, under the orders of the governing body. The bishops are to be elected by a board of 33 electors, consisting of the remaining bishops, six clerical and six lay representatives of the vacant diocese, and three clerical and three lay representatives of the other dioceses. The election must be by a two-thirds majority, failing which the appointment is to be made by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Presentations to livings are to be made by Diocesan Patronage Boards, but every third appointment is reserved to the bishop. Benefices are held for life, subject to the right of the governing body to divide or rearrange parishes, to the right of the bishop, with the consent of the patronage board, to remove an incumbent to another living of equal or greater value, and to the right of the Supreme Tribunal to deprive an incumbent whose conduct " grievously hinders " the welfare of the Church. In case of such removal reasonable provision is to be made for the maintenance of the priest so removed. On April i 1920, a week after disestablishment became effective, a Province of Wales was constituted and the Bishop of St. Asaph (Dr. Edwards), was elected Archbishop of Wales; but it was anticipated that ultimately the Primacy would be attached to the See of St. David's. The new archbishop was enthroned by the Archbishop of Canterbury in St. Asaph cathedral on June i 1920. It is intended, so soon as circumstances permit, to divide the dioceses of St. David's and Llandaff. A fund of 1,000,000 was started for reendowment; rather more than half the required amount had been obtained by June 1921.
The Kikuyu Conference. In 1913 an event occurred which for a time threatened serious consequences to the unity of the Church and caused much excited and angry feeling. In June'
