9043. (Chairman) Now we pass to the contributions of the church. I suppose I shall find those in the accounts? - Yes, the two balance-sheets for 1904 and 1905 are translated.

[The 1905 balance sheet was reproduced within the evidence so I copy it now to illustrate the following extracts.]

9044. One is called the general fund and the other is called the building fund? - Yes.

9045. We will take the general fund first for 1905:............'Ministry £264 8s..' Where does that money come from? - Voluntary contributions of the members.

9049. Does 'To the Ministry' mean for the remuneration of the minister, or does it cover other matters? - Simply for the remuneration of the minister.

9053. 'Towards the poor fund, £26 5s.. '? - Yes.

9054. I do not know whether in your particular church you account for the expenditure of the poor fund? - We collect monthly for this. This matter is left entirely in the hands of our deacons and our district visitiors........These district visitors visit every house , and bring back the report, and the monthly collection towards the poor in every case is considered, and they meet in camera.

9055. I daresay in your church, as in many other churches, and, I think, in the Church of England in many cases, that particular collection is distributed by those trusted people without their having to account? - Yes.

9056. That is done to spare the feelings of the recipient? - Yes; we never publish the names of those.

9073. 'Education Act Campaign, £23 9s..'? - That is towards the new schools in Merionethshire in North Wales.

9074. Why do you call it ' Education Act Campaign'? - That was the name given to a campaign in Wales after the Education Act of 1902.

9076. It means this, that in Merioneth some of the schools were not minded to come in under the 1902 Act? - Yes.

9077. As they would not come in, they did not get the money contribution from rates or taxes, or anyting else? - No.

9078. And in order to supply that deficiency in your chapel this money was collected? - Yes.

9079. Were you the only chapel in Wale swho did that? - No, hundreds besides; it was a general collection throughout Wales.

9080. Was that limited to your denomination, the Baptists? - No, it was not; all denominations took it up.

9081. Including the Unitarians? - Well, I cannot say about the Unitarians.

9082. When you say all denominations, what do you include? - Well, I meant the denominations represented in this proof, the Calvinistic Methodists, the Independents, the Baptists, and the Wesleyans.

9084. Then on the other side one has got 'The Ministry, £208'; you seem to have been paid short; why did you not get the £264 8s..? - I received a stated salary.

9085. But I asked you whether the whole £264 8s.. went to you? - No, £208.

9086. Then the rest of it went for the expenditure of the ministry? - The reserve fund.

9087. So it was not limited to you? - No.

9088.......Education Act Campaign, £40.' You seem to have spent more than you got over the campaign? - Yes, we gave from the Expense Fund to make up the £40.

9089. Was your particualr chapel about the most liberal chapel to this fund of any in Wales? - No, there were many churches that contributed more than we did; perhaps we were one of the best in the Rhondda Valley.

9090......why does your Christmas oratorio performance come in with the same figures on both sides? - There is a seperate statement with regard to oratorios in that report.

9093. However, it is explained in another account? - Yes. I might explain that our purpose with regard to these festivals is culture in every way. The organ fund gets whatever profit is made.