The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-02-10 00:00:00

THE CORONATION OF THE CZAR.

The Emperor of Russia has proclaimed his intention
of being crowned in May next. This is the full text
of the Imperial Manifesto, published in Tuesday's
Officio." Messenger :
'We, Alexander the Third, Emperor and Autocrat
of all the Russias, &c., make known the following to all
our loyal and faithful.subjects. Whereas it pleased God
to call us to the hereditary throne of All the Russis.s,
and, inseparable therefrom, to the throne of the King-
dom of Poland and of the Grand Duchy of Finland, at a
moment of fearful convulsion. In the midst of the grief
arid horror with which we were seized, and which
overwhelmed the hearts of all our faithful subjects,
we did not deem it a fitting time to proceed with the
solemnity of coronation. Submitting to the inscru-
table ways of Providence, and bowing before the
judgment of God, we determined in our heart not to
perform this sacred rite until the feelings excited by
the crime to which our beloved -parent, the benefactor
of his people, fell a victim had had time to calm down.
"The moment is now approaching for us to execute
the will of God, and to tarry out our own sacred
desire, together with that of all true sons of our
Fatherland. Following the example of our pious
forefathers, we have resolved to place upon ourselves
the crown, and receive, according to established usage,
the Holy Sacrament; uniting with us in this act our
most beloved Consort, the Empress Mary Feodorowna.
"Announcing this our intention, to be carried out,
by God's help, in May next in the ancient capital of
Moscow, we call upon all our faithful subjects to join
with Wi in fervent and humble prayer. May God, the
Ruler of the Universe, keep us and our Empire in
peace and safety; may He pour out upon us the spirit
of wisdom and understanding ; may He aid us, on assum-
ing the crown of our ancestors of imperishable memory,
to faithfully keep the oath which we take, and to con-
secrate ourselves to the glory and well-being of our
beloved Fatherland by the observance of right and
concern for the welfare of the people which God has
committed to our charge I
"Given at St. Petersburg, this 24th of January,
in the year of our Lord 1.883, and the second
year of our reign.
"ALEXANDER."

This Manifesto is followed by a Ukase, calling upon
all the marshals of the nobility, mayors, and preal•
dents of territorial assemblies to appear in Moscow at
the ceremony. Those of Siberia, on account of the
distance, are exempted from attending.

The preparations at Moscow are being proceeded
with. A correspondent gives the following as the pro-
gramme of the fetes which will precede and follow the
csremony of the coronation :
A gala dinner and a great ball will be given on the
28th of February, the Emperor's birthday. On the
2nd of March, the anniversary of his elevation to
the throne, a religious service will be celebrated
in all the churches. A great dinner will be Riven
in. the - evening. On the Bth of March the Court
will. proceed to Gatechina. On the 22nd of
April the Emperor and the Empress will leave for
.Moscow, while the Court will proceed to Peterhof,
where their Majesties are expected to arrive on the
28th of April. The Court will leave for Moscow on
the Bth of May. Heralds will announce on the 12th
the coronation, which it is understood will take place
on the 15th. Three balls will be given at Court be.
tweet) the 16th and the 25th of May.

THE FARMERS' ALLIANCE.

In London, on Tuesday, the annual meeting of the
Farmers' Alliance was held at the Bridge House
Hotel, Mr. Jas. Howard, M.P., the president, in the
chair.
The following report of the committee for 1882 was
read
"At the annual meeting last year it was decided
that the Landlord and Tenant • Bill drafted by the
Alliance during the previous autumn should be
modified, and a new Bill was accordingly drawn up
by a special committee appointed to prepare it. This
Bill was inttoduced in Parliament by the President,
Mr. James Howard, but the factious opposition
of a few obstructive members of Parliament pre-
vented it from being read a second time and referred
to the Select Committee appointed to discuss and to
report on other Tenants' Compensation Bills. As the
labours of the Select Committee catne to an abortive
conclusion this exclusion of the Alliance Bill from its
notice was not of much consequence. The Bill served
its purpose, as an example of the kind of measure
which the Government are urged to bring forward,
and its influence upon public opinion has been shown
by the striking advance in the views which now so
largely prevail upon the subject of tenant-right.
During the past year numerous meetings have been
held in variou4 parts of England and Wales. The
meetings in Wales were highly successful, and it
was obvious that the Alliance was gladly welcomed
by the Welsh farmers. It is expected that branches
in Wales will be formed during the present year. A
conference of members of the Alliance, attended by a
deputation from the Scottish Alliance, was held in
London on October 23, when a memorial to the
Prime Minister was unanimously agreed to. In this
memorial, which was presented by the President,
Mr. Gladstone was reminded of his assurances made
to a deputation from the Alliance which waited upon
him in 1880 and urged to introduce early next Session
Bills to give complete security to the capital of Eng-
lish and Scottish tenant-fartners invested in the im-
provement of their holdings. At the same conference
resolutions in favour of the abolition of the law of
distress in England and the remnants of hypothec in
Scotland, and the continuance and enlargement of
the powers of the Railway Commission were carried.
The Select Committee en Railway Rates and Fares,
appointed through the efforts of the Alliance and the
Mark Lane Express, reported during last session, but
on some important points the report was not satis-
factory to the Alliance. The report of the Royal
Commission on Agriculture has also been published,
and that, again, fails in many respects to give expres-
sion to the powerful arguments for agricultural reform
brought before the Commission in evidence by the
Preeident of the Alliance, one of the vice-presidents,
and numerous other witnesses. Although the feeling
that nothin e. would be dens by Parliament for the
farmers of England or Scotland during the past year
was to some extent a sedative to the energies of the
Farmers' Alliance, the Committee are able to congra-
tulate the members upon a steady progress towards
the realization of the objects of the association. In
counties where active branchee have been working, a
considerable increase in the number of members has
taken place, It is of the utmost importance that all
the energies of the Central Alliance and every branch
should be put forth during the present year in order to
induce the Government to redeem some of the pledges
which helped to bring it into power. It is desirable
to hold as many public meetings as the means of the
Alliance, and its branches will allow, and At every
meeting resolutions in favour of complete and com-
pulsory tenant-right and the abolition of the law of
distress niight with advantage be parsed. The abolition
of extraordinary tithes on hops, fruit, tee and the
compulsory revision of railway rates on farm produce
are also subjects on which the opinion of the Alliance
should be distinctly made known at its meetings.
The committee take this opportunity of reminding its
members that upon their exertions the success of
efforts made to realize their objects mainly depends,
and of urging them to do their utmost durine the pre-
sent year to increase the membership of the Alliance,
and to extend its influence in every possible way. If
every member would make a point of adding at least
one new member te the association, the executive would
be
.greatly strengthened, and the extended influence
of the Alliance would assuredly be manifest through-
out the country. Upon farmers and others in-
terested in agricultural reform who have not yet
joined the Alliance, the committee urge the import-
ance of immediate organization, At such a crisis as
the present small differences should be sunk in a
general effort for those important objects which are
essential to the restoration of agricultural prosperity.
As the objects of the Alliance are generally admitted
to be highly desirable, and as the suspicions against
the association, fostered by designing politicians, are
absolutely groundless, all who wish well to British
agriculture, independently of party, are cordially in-
vited to become members and to help to carry those
objects into effect."
- - -

The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the re.
port, said that it went so fully and argumentatively
into the action and progress of the Alliance, that he
thought it unnecessary that he should make any re-
marks upon it at that time.
The report was then adopted; and the committee
for 1883 was appointed.
The Chairman next said that there had been a long
discussion among the committee as to the question of
the desirability or undesirability of bringing in a
Landlord and Tenant Bill on the part of the
Farmers' Alliance during the ensuing session, and
they unanimously agreed to recommend the follow.
lug resolution for adoption by the general meeting :
"That the members of tbe Farmers' Alliance, in
their annual 4naeting satenablocl, beg to thank the
Government for the announcements made as to the
intention of the Government to deal with the question
of compensation to agricultural tenants in the coming
session, and, further, to urge that the intended
measure should be introduced early enough to allow of
its being passed this year,
Mr. Everett (Suffolk) proposed the adoption of the
resolution in the foregoing terms. He thought that
the subject was one which would be better dealt
with by the Government than by the Alliance. It
was preferable for the latter to urge their general
ideas, keeping themselves free from the trammels of
detail. This was seconded by Mr. Woodward (Tewkes-
bury).
The Chairman said that the Farmers' Alliance
might, perhaps, take credit to themselves for the an-
nouncement on the part of the Government, for until
a resolution was passed at their January meeting no
sign had been made by the Government as to their in-
tention to deal with this important question.
Mr. Freeman stated that he had heard rumours
that the County Government Bill was not to be
pressed forward next session. Farmers would be
heartily glad if that measure were postponed and
a Bill for compensation and security to the farmers
passed before it, as the latter was the more pressing
question.
The Chairman agreed with the last speaker as to
the relative importance of a county gover,anent bill
and a good tenants' compensation bill, and they had
taken steps to urge their views on the subject to the
Government.
Mr. Freeman also pointed out that the Hares and
Rabbits Bill was of no use to farmers with a yearly
tenancy unless they had some protection in their hold-
ings.
Mr. G W. Latham moved that the following rider
be added to the motion—" And this meeting trusts
..

that the proposed bill will both ensure full security
for repayments to out-going tenants for such un-
exhausted improvements as have added to the letting
value of the holding, and also provide that the rent of
a sitting tenant shall not be raistd on his own im-
provements."
Mr. A. Bath seconded the adoption of the rider to
the motion.
After some discussion, the motion, with the rider
added, was carried unanimously.
On the motion of Mr. Clarke (Brighton), seconded
by Mr. Robinson (Sussex), it was further resolved
that the Question of introducing a Landlord and
Tenants' Bill in the cowing session of Parliament
be left to the determination of the general com-
mittee of the Parmers' Alliance.
This concluded the proceedings.

In the evening about 300 members of the association
sat down to dinner At the Bridge House Hotel, when
Mr. J. Howard, M.P., presided. Among those
present were Sir J. Balfour, M.P., Dr. Farquharson,
M.P., MT. Inderwick, M.P., Mr. Borlase, M.P., Mr.
Briggs, M.P., Mr. Rilandson, Mr. John Clay, Mr.
W. Wren, Mr. R. L. Everitt, and others.