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

CORRESPONDENCE.

We wish it to be distinctly understood that by inserting
tette rs in this col man, me do not thereby identify ourselves
with the opinions of our Correspondents.

rates in as- • . --- • To the Editor of Mc.' Observer."
dal Hill. 3fil. The said parishes of Hawley Regis and i
^ •-; laid are divid:::l by the Dudley and Netherton , Sin,—ln the fate of the persevering but lying user-
,,,e„,„ • •• . conmon boundary. thins of her enemies, that the Irish Church haa failed in
Canal along the whole Awe
it 200 feet or thereabouts above the level of Redd i s
hher
labsieoun
e,
pi tt iwireriiig
ftolriaet
the English eth”erl feu! loTwhifil
and lies at the top of a very steep range Of nue.,
population have no community of interest, and but little Congress. :say years more than 500 additional
They lie on two different levels. Rowley is neaLt.ii7. '
are mainly taken from a paper read at the recent Church
trade intercourse, and are for the moot part strangers to " IVithin the lass.. ' • and besides these new
each other. Toe fourth and fifth reasons had reference churches have been erectea , . s lots, been
to statements alleged to have been made at the alerting churches which have been built, 222 nu, •. end
when the Act was adopted. To this petition 1.09 signa• enlarged ; and superadded to these 172 schoolbouss.
tures had been attached, representing property rated at other buildings are licensed by the Bishops to be owl
£1,729. The total number of rotepoyers and occupiers for Divine service,—that is to say, there are 672 more
in the whole pariah Was 2,921, and the gross amount of places in which the public worship of God is statedly
rateable value was 1:03,112. The number of petitioners conducted thou there were in the year Isind, and 242
and amount of property not amounting, according to the others iu which there is increased accommodation. Part
terms of the Act, to one-twentieth of the whole, the of the for this church extension has been provided by the
petition had been seut bock by the Secretary to be Ecclesiastical Commissioners; but they have no property
omended, and fifty-three names had been added. loan- save that which is obtained from the church itself ; not
swer to the petition, a lengthened statement had been a sixpence from the fund. of the state going into their
forwarded to the Secretary of State by the promoters of exchequer. And what further is the feet? Within the
the Act, settiug forth :—lst. That the parish of Rowley lost 35 years more than £370,000 have been contributed
had never been divided for other than ecclesiastical par- by Irish churchmen for building and enlarging and im-
poses, and that it still reinained, beneficially to both proving and endowing churches. And this without is.
portions, one and undivided in all parochial busineas. eluding the munificent sum of £150,000, which Sir B.
dud. Taut the addition of Ileildal Hill to the borough of L. Guinness laid out in the restoration of St. Patrick'
Gulley for the purpose of returning a member to Parlia- Cathedral. If that sum were included, more than half.
meat will not remove it from the Rowley pariah collec- a-million of money has been expended by members of
tion of poor rates. Two systems of rating must, there- the Church in Ireton I in their places of worship within
fore, exist uader any circumstances in It nviey parish so the last five-and-thirty years."
ding as the law remains mialtered and the parish uudi- Tnede, sir, are stubborn facts, and should cause •
sided. The third nanwer denied that there was any nori- blush of shame to show itself on the faces of reckless
./lIS difference of level between the two p wishes, and porton,n commoiators.
denied us tofu the asserted absence of commit:lay of in- I am, Sir, yours truly,
te:est. Teo fifth reply urged that the whole of the peti- IN nuNsiru.
inners for the separation were residents of one particu-
lar portion of Redden Hill, mid that the ratepayers of
other parts of that parish were against exclusion, A
number of further comiiderations were urged by the pro-
moters of the Act. It was state I that " ammiest the party
promoting the overate adoption, there did* not Spear
sUlliciel4 of those of kuown prohity and independence to
secure confidence in the carrying out of the Act, if adop-
ted," Aeons. a vast unnecessary expense would be saved
11 the establishment of a General 13;iard, in whirl, case
aue net of paid ollrers would be amply c•impefear to the
-Acting discharge of all the duties." Further, that the
aumbee of inhabitants ia the whole parish would secure
uader the prov,sia;ns of the Act a class of Commission- ,
•:1 St 1-sr the Board in every reiiii:iet more desirable. While
the mining property iu Reaisial Hill district W3S MAR
qiifly es•iallitAd sod would continually decrease in
oroducti di.; that R W the Rowley district AS still, to a great
-.:stent, to be opened, and that in a few pears Silly surplus
dif rates that might have beeo provided by tie Iteadal
distaict Would begin to he recouped from the Rowley dis-
triet. _

Longlands, January 19, 13,19.