The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-06-16 00:00:00

THE DUKE LAND ACT.

At the Evening Sitting Lord G. Hamilton rose to call
attention to the purchase clauses of the Irish Land Act, and.
Move That in the opinion of this House an irame-
Litte revision of the purchase olauses of the Irish Land Act,
I°Bl, is necessary in order to give effect to the intentions of
lament contained therein." The noble lord suggested
that in order to give practical effect to the Purchase Clauses
°cal authorities should be constituted, with power, on the
4Ppronl of a central authOrity in Dublin being obtained, to
ranoe to purchasing tenants the full amount of the pur-
„l'utie money, which could be raised in the form of deben-
res bearing interest at the rate of 3 per cent. repayable in
Y,ears, and based on the security of the local rates, sup.
a,Prted by a State guarantee.
The resolq.tion was seconded by Mr. A. J. Balfour, but
°Drlosed by M. Trevelyan who said that the Goverment
toUld not legietate on this question this Session.
wrd?. Parnell approved the Resolution, which, in its spirit,
kt supported by Mr. Gibson.
051 r S. Northcote said it was not desired to pledge the
12vernment to legislation at once, and suggested the subs-
of the word " early " revision for "Immediate," to
17,uich Mr. Gladstone assented, and after some remarks from
ro!. Illingworth, the resolution as thus amended was agreed

1,.,8°,:ue other business was disposed of, and the House ad-
-11rued at thirty-five minutes past one o'clock.

POOR LAW GUARDIANS (IRELAND) BILL,
tjo the HOUSE OF COMMONS, June 13, Mr. M'Coan moved
ra
i"o second reading of the which he said had already
md'tied the second reading on two prev,ous occasions by con-
erable majorities. It proposed simply to wake one or
I ° °bingos in the system of electing poor law guardians in
elland, the virtue of which was generally recognized. The
144.1 Proposed first that voting by ballot should be sub-
itted for open voting; secondly, that triennial elections
tiZI be substituted for annual elections ; and thirdly,
A
"ie VOteS should be registered in per on, whether it be
thi tandlord with his twelve votes or the ratepayer with his
lh ~gie vote. The Bill did not propose to alter the franchise
way.
nelKing-Harman moved the rejection of the Bill,
terau2 on the ground that the abolition of the present sys-
m" Proxies would prevent many persons from voting.
• D. Gray, Mr. Macqrtney, Col. Nolan, Mr. T. A.
41. and Mr. R. Power joined in the debate.
idr
evelyan supported two of the principles in the Bill,
he ~.` , _'se Providing vote by ballot and triennial elections but
jould not assent to the abolition of proxies. In some
tc;";trili the landowners represented a very small proportion
sitt:e Occupiers; and he thought the former should have the
the of sending a registered letter containing their vote to
b,
returning officer in those districts where they could not
auj _personaliv present.. Considering the immense Import-
818, and the desirableness that liish members

should have the credit of this legislation, he urged them to
assent to the views he had expressed.
After some farther discussion Mr. M'Coan said, in view of
the large and valuable concessions which the Rouse had
been good enough to make he would be content to accept in
Committee the suggested Amendment.
The Amendirnent was then withdrawn, and the Bill was
read a second time.

EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY Acr (1880) AMENDMENT
BILL.

Mr. Burt moved the second reading of this Bill, the chief
object of which was to prevent pressure being brought upon
the workmen by making an agreement to contract themselves
out of the Act illegal. There were two provisions—one that
the Bill should not apply to existing contracts, and the other
that any contribution by an employer towards a common
insurance fund should be taken into consideration in making
an award. The Trade Union Congress was unanimously in
favour of this Bill, and the miners in several districts had
petitioned in its favour.
Sir J. Pease moved as an Amendment :—" That Wits inex-
pedient to interfere with the freedom of contract between
employers and employed which enables them to contract
themselves out of the Act of 1880, and by mutual arrange-
ment and mutual payment to make provision for every
workman who may be injured and the family of every work-
man who may be killed, whether the accident is one coming
under the provisions of the Act of 1880, or is one not so pro-
vided for." The Bill would do a great deal of injury to the
very men whom Mr. Burt desired to serve by reducing still
more the contributions that would be paid to friendly
societies.

Mr Broadhurst supported the Bill, and hoped that the
House of Commons would never pass such a permissive
measure as that of the Employers' Liability Act again.
(Hear, hear.)
Mr. Warton opposed the measure, and after some observa-
tions from Sir R. Cross and Mr. Dodson, the House
divided :—For Mr. J. Pes.se's amendment, 145; against, 38;
majority, 107.
The Bill was accordingly rejected.
The House adjourned at ten minutes to six.

CONCLUSION OF THE CORONATION
FETES AT MOSCOW.

The closing scene of the three weeks of the Corona-
tion festivities at Moscow was enacted on Saturday
morning on the Khodinsky-common in the form of a
grand review of troops in the presence of the Emperor
and his foreign guests.—The Times correspondent in
describing the review, says :
Over 50,000 men were in the field, composed chiefly
of the Guards. There were 86 battalions of infantry
and 108 guns, with 2,000 artillerymen. They were
drawn up in eight lines, at some distance, facing the
Imperial pavilion, where the Empress and Court
ladies graced the balconies and looked down upon the
Emperor, mounted on a white charger, with his bril-
liant suite of Russian and foreign officers. The Duke
of Edinburgh, in scarlet uniform, rode at the side of
the Czar and Lord Wolseley in the suite.

The grand march put, which occupied about two
hours, was performed in excellent order, in columns
of companies and squadrons, some of the cavalry,
especially the Cossacks, occasionally halting before
the saluting point, and then dashing on at a headlong
gallop, raising thick clouds of dust. The famous
Preobrajensky and Simlonofsky regiments, whose
bi-centenary jubilee was held the other day, were
conspicuous by their Titanic stature, their new
colours just presented by the Cur, and their steady
formation. Many were the battle-stained and
tattered colours and bare flag-staffs, with not a
shred of silk left upon them, that were borne past and
saluted by the Emperor and the officers. Each com-
manding officer quitted his command opposite the
pavilion and rode up, saluting, to the Emperor, re-
maining in the suite until the conclusion of the review,
when His Majesty dismissed them with a few words
of compliments and thanks. Finally, the Imperial
party, with the Empress and Grand-Duchesses in an
open carriage, drawn by four milk-white horses with
outriders, were loudly cheered as they returned to the
Petroffsky Palace.