The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-01-23 00:00:00

Bletropoittan 6osiy.
OPIT ONIM CORRISPONDMIT.

!Tht remarks under this head are to be regarded as the ex-
pression o: independent opinion, from he pen of gentleman
In "hem ;v: have the greatest confidence, hut for which w•
neverthele,s do not hold ounelves responsible. j

The election petitions have somewhat revived the
languishing interest in political affairs, but otherwise
there is still but little excitement in the political world,
and there appears little chance of politics securing
much public attention till Parliament meets on the
16th of February. Ifer Majesty, by the way, returns
to Windsor on the 15th or 16th of that month, and this
has led some people to hope that Parliament may be
opened by the Queen in person. The public are
very naturally looking forward to the meeting of
Parliament with special interest, in consequence of the
rumours, and something more than rumours, of con-
siderable reductions in army, navy, and the Govern-
ment departments generally. 'flint this will be the
policy of the present Ministry might easily be shown
by adducing numerous direct and indirect statements
and facts all tending in that direction. Take the
latest of these. A deputation has waited on Mr.
Cardwell, the Secretary for War, urging Government
to assist the operatives who have been thnovn out of
employment at the dockyard and arsenals at Woolwich.
l'he Secretary I'4 r War emphatically said that be could
not hold I git ally prospect ,A increased work, nor could
he promise any assistance from the Government,
who rather contemplated further reductions. Bad news
this for the employed as well as the unemployed. No
doubt reductions are needed, but it is a lamentable
thing that it is always the working classes who suffer
first, and oftentimes they are the only persons who do
suffer, while governors, superintendents, managers,
officers, &c., retain their snug berths. Whether in
carrying out their policy of retrenchment, the present
Government will make an exception to the rule remains
to be seen. The only other great political subject
which occupies public attention is the Conference, and
there is every reason to believe that it has arrived at a
satisfactory conclusion, and that all danger of war is
now averted. •

There is one inference, and a very pleasant one it is,
to be drawn from the reports of the numerous meetings
of banks, companies, &c., that have recently taken
place, and that is, that confidence, which Pitt said was
a plant of slow growth, has been growing for some
time past. The joint-stock banks, notwithstanding
that during a great part of the year the value of
money was so low, have 118 a rule mails large profits and
declared handsome dividends; while many other limited
liability companies, of varied character, have also
found that the effects of the panic which set in in May,
114;6, have now almost died away, and good dividends
have been declared, with the prospect of a larger
division next half-yearly meeting. Commercial men
generally now appear to expect a period of revived
activity and onterprise.
- -

Without wishing to enter on a, f the disputed
points in the great Ritualist coo' rover:ly, it is not
easy to avoid reference to the matter as one of the
most prominent topics of the day. The great
meeting of Ritualists at the Freemasons' Tavern the
other day appears to me to have failed to arrive at any
conclusion at all On the leading question that brought
them together—whether they should obey the law of
the land or resist it, this being the terms in which the
chairman himself stated that question. At first a
majority of the meting passed a resolution ac-
knowledging "the duty of submitting, under protest,
to the law of the land, upon that law being put in
force'; it rejected an amendment refusing sub-
mission; then it struck out the words "upon that law
being put in force ;'' then that part of the resolution
(which had been carried) which acknowledged the duty
of submitting was struck out; and then an addendum
was made to the already alteredresolution leaving sub-
mission or non-submission "to the individual judg-
ment of each priest.; So Ow practically with the
exception of repudiating the Court of Trial Appeal
the meeting left off where it began. All who take an
interest in the affairs of the Church of England mast
now be anxious to see what will be the next move-
ment on the part of the Judicial Committee of the
bishops or of Government on the one hand, and the
Ritualists on the other. Will the Privy Council rust
contented to have merely declared its judgment, with
out that judgment being enforced? Will the bishops
act upon it? Are the Ritualists to be allowed, if they
choose to do so, to defy the law of the land as ex-
pounded by the highest legal tribunal? Such are
some of the many questions now agitating the public
mind.

Volunteers, who have rec.mtly had something to
grumble at in Mr. Cardwell's refusal to aid them in
their effort to obtain any increase in the capitation
grant, have now something else to talk about of cpecial
interest to them. Where shall the Pro.ter Monday
Review be held It is said that the choice is to lie
between four towns—Portsmouth, Bri.diton, Dover,
and Guildford ; and that Lords Truro, Bury, and
Itanelagh, with some other gentlemen, have hen
,ppointed a committee to decide this ticklish question.
['hero are arguments in favour of each, and not the
weakest in favour of the latter town is that the
annual Review has never been held there before.
Many, however, would regard this as an argument
against it. Wherever the Review may be held, it is to
he especially desired this year that it mar be a success,
on account of the Government having felt it to be their
duty to refuse any further money to our citizen
soldiers. There have been a good many resignations
since Mr. Carilwell's decision was arrived at, but we
may still look to the volunteers for that patriotism
which has never yet failed.

A clergyman in Clerkenwell —one of our poorest and
most denselypopulated districts—draws attention to a
fact which is of great interest to the working classes
generally. He says, "By the last mail lam informed
that the Government of Ontario, Canada, has deter-
mined to make free grants of 200 acres to every bona
fide settler. This will be an immense boon to the
working classes of Great Britain about to emigrate to
Canada, where, after five or six years' labour, a com-
fortable living can he obtained as a good provision for
old age." And he adds that a society has been formed
in his district on the principle of self-help and mutual
help—with a view, I presume (though he does not say
so), to assist unemployed working-men to emigrate to
our Canadian possessions. Are there not, may I ask,
POMP funds out of Mr. Peabody's bounty that could be
applied in this way. That benevolent man has given
to " the poor of London" some £350.000, and it is
universally admitted (except by Mr. Peabody himself
and his trustees, strange to say) that the poor of Lon-
den—the absolutely impoverished class—have not
benefited by his munificence, though mechanics and
artisans and their families may have largely benefited
by it. If a few thousand pounds were devoted to
emigration, under proper conditions, it would be a
boon indeed to the half-starving, unemployed poor.

How (ten are we called upon to read some lament-
able report of an "Accidental death from a gun!"
The tale is nearly always the same. A silly, practical-
joke-loving man sees a gun which he thinks is unloaded;
he presents it to somebody, "in fun ;" he draws the
trigger, and a corpse lies before him. Argue and
moralise as we may, this kind of practical joke occurs
over and over again. But Mr. Justice Keating has
gone come what beyond moralising and argument In
summing up the evidence in the Barnsbury shooting
case, the learned Judge has laid down that, "if any one
takes up a gun without knowing whether it is loaded
or nit, and without taking any stops tonor-
tam n whether it is loaded or not presents it at another,
discharges it, and death ell SW'S, he is guilty 14 the
crime of manslaughter." This ought to be exten-
sively promulgated, and for this reason I give it ad-
ditional publicity. If juries will have the courage
to act on this judicial dictum, it will go far to put an
obi to this stupid and wicked species of practical
joking.

The trial to which the nporting public looked for-
ward with much interest - - "Day ro. Rona"— •
has been privately arranged, and will therefore not
go to court. I think it is better that it should be
SO. There is another sporting event (though sport-
ing of a very different character) which at present,
it is feared, will not come off. It is said that owing
to the unexpected inability ~f one of the intended
Cambridge crew, and the c bsence of any vim-
man to fill his place, the University rowing
itch will not take place this year. A similar fear
cvistial I tt year, and for a long time it wits doubtful
...bah, the match would be rowed, but the ilitticulty
was at last overcome all in got time. May it beef,
this year. The grand feature of this annual contest

Letts .t the two great universities is that it is rowed
for h 11. ai,ol honour only, :Ind I I elieve is in this
If for nn other reason, therefore, it is
In will be favoured with its grand
aflTllttl tie , in:itie t.,arnament.

ielp4 et ii.pir•
tiole h"ptli

The Sea si.aper Pre,. Fund, which, in itx young
days, of course, had tic conteinl against numerous dif-
ficulties, many now be re_!ariled RA a thoroughly ea
Wished institution. It nmv munlvmi 217 int trib•rs,
170 ..f whom are resid,nt iii I.nml n, and 77 in the
country; and there are no les, than hi I I members.
Its pecuniary position insecure, Ir it luis an lace ted
capital of upwardn of £4,400. 11ilt still, making due
allowance for all thrice facts, the Annociation is not so
well supported an it ought to be. Instead of 247
members, there ought to be 700 at the very least.
I find that during the pant year the society made
grants to distressed members to the amount of £2115.
Like the Literary- Fund and some other asanciatina,

the N.P.F. keeps secret the names of those who are
relieved. If it do not exactly do good by stealth, and
blush to find it fame, it at least applies the Press
system of anonymity to the alleviation of trouble,
and thus renders a double sort ice to the recipient of
the bounty.