File A1/531. - 'Bill' [William Arnold], Secretary of the Welsh National Council of the Welsh National Temple of Peace and Health, Cathays Park ...,

'Bill' [William Arnold], Secretary of the Welsh National Council of the Welsh National Temple of Peace and Health, Cathays Park, Cardiff. Thanks for the interest which Huw T. Edwards has taken in the pamphlet. He did not hear Huw T. Edwards's conversation with T. I. Ellis, but has been informed that he was helpful in his remarks and was complimentary to WA. Appreciates the points of criticism in his letter. When he drafted the pamphlet, he knew in his own mind exactly what he wanted to say. Knew, too, that he could not solve the problems of Government Administration in Wales. The important part is the reasons, some of them historical, which have led to the present position in Wales. The conclusions are not wholly negative, for he does argue that the Welsh Office should be developed as a centre of co-ordination, leading eventually to the appointment of a Secretary of State for Wales. He has also concluded that the continuation of the Advisory Council is important. But believes that the reconstituted Council should be more powerful in decision making. Argued this point in a memorandum which he sent to Blaise Gillie two years previously. It should tender advice on the functions and development of the Welsh Office. 'Without such a committee the government would have a free hand and we would be at the mercy of the bureaucrats'. Inevitably tension would result from clashes between the Consultative Committee and the Advisory Council. But it could pave the way to the appointment of a Secretary of State. Has concluded that what exists in Wales is a 'breadth of patriotism' rather than 'an aggressive nationalism'. After Huw T. Edwards had resigned, the writer was afraid that the Government would simply shelve this problem and that Wales would forget about it.