The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-01-29 00:00:00

Our Yonbon Torrtsponbtnt.

W. deem It right to Mate that we do not at All times
tiltutity ourselves with our correspondent's opinions.]

Cabinet Council. have been resumed, and Ministers
must be, figuratively epi aking, girding up their loins,
buckling on their armour, and preparing to do battle.
Ile must be a very sanguine member of the Govern-
ment that opines that the Irish Land Bill will not
he treated at all as a party measure. It may not per-
haps be looked upon ementially as • Liberal bill, and
therefore to be opposed by the Conservatives, but the
spirit of party is not dead, and, though we may- not
see any "factious opposition," we must look for at leant
enough party opposition to give j iquancy to the de.
hates. On the matter of education, Mr. Forster hopes
ti at the Government bill will be received in a fair
eiiirit by both sides of the House. Perhaps no, and
perhaps net. As in love and war, so in politics many
things are reckoned fair which perhaps could not bear
the teat of a very high standard. If, as some people
imagine, a till for the ballot ic introduced, we may
safely count on that measure being received with a
good deal of opposition, though no doubt the number
its supporters will be greater than hae ever yet de-
clared for an abstract motion in its fax our—in the
House of Commons at least. And we may depend on
some exciting debates on the Government measure to
amend the law on the Henning of public houses, a
law which is generally thought to need reform. On the
whole it is likely to be a busy and exciting session, and
Lords and Commons are individually preparing for it.
A great many of our legislators and persons officially
connected with the Legislature have recently come up
to town, and the metropolis is becoming brisk and
lively in its winter season.
Since the present Ministry have been in power their
policy has been to reduce national expenditure as much
as possible. Reductions in Dockyarde, &c., have been
the order of the day, and there are to he, on die,
further reductions. It is said that when the army and
navy estimates are produced it will be found that very
important curtailmenta will be proposed. Among the
latest rumours is the report that Chelsea Hospital and
Kilmainham Hospital (Ireland) are to be abolished as
institution., and it is said that the Household Cavalry
will he removed to what is now Chelsea Hoepital, but
which ought then to be c sited Chelsea Barracks, and
that the Hyde Park Barracks will be pulled down. If
those alterations be effected doubtless it will not be
without good reason. And there no doubt was good
'vision fur reducing the men in the di okyarda but still
the throwing so many men out of employment has had
a deadening effect on the tabour market. These poor
fellows have only one consolation ; they are sacrificed
for the general good.
A leading financial journal takes so hopeful • view
?of our prospects in relation to the forthcoming Budget
that it is worth while to glance at the position
slimmed. We are reminded that our reveille has re-
covered somewhat of its buoyancy, and that a
diminished expenditore has enabled Government to re-
pay its loans to the Bank of England and strengthen
the Government balances, The taxes drawn from the
public during the next few months (about which we
naturally grumble a good deal) will be thrown into the
coffers of the Bank, to be dispersed again by payment
to the telegraph companies. At the time of the
Budget," it is added, "hEr. Lowe will be in a par-
ticularly strong position, and we know that one lead-
ing member of the Cabinet has set his mind upon the
complete freedom from taxation of all articles of
necessary consumption. Is it unreasonable to ex-
pect that, with a real merlin and an abundant supply
of ready cash beside, the Chancellor will execute some
great coup that may be worthy of the reputation of a
progressive and economical ministry?'
The election for Southwark, now Sir Francis Lycett
ha. retired, bids fair to be an exciting one, and will
be looked forward to with especial interest on account
of Mr. o,lger, the working men candidate, having a
much better chance than before. Opinions much differ
119 to how the election is likely to go. Two Liberals
opposing one Conservative seems to give the latter •
good chance, but on the other hand it is thought that
many who would nuder other circumstances vote for
Colonel Beresford will record their votes for Sir S.
NVaterlow, so as to make certain of his return and keep
Mr. Odger out, which such person. greatly desire.
The friends f the latter are very numerous, and it is
thought probable that the great majority of the work-
ing men will vote for him. Should he obtain the seat
the question will be, "what will he do with it?"
How can he support—l will not pay the dignity, but
the expense of a seat in the House of Commons? This
is a question which I fancy neither Mr. Odger nor his
supporters can very well answer. Greater than the
difficulty f bearing the expense of the seat, however,
is the difficulty of getting it.
What may be the result of the pronecution of M.
Rochefort it is hardly worth while to speculate
upon, aa the affair is in a transitional state, but
certainly M. Rochefort Lae proved himself a fire.
brand that it would be well to extif guieh. An article of
his in the Marsrillaist is of • most scunilous character
whilst the Emperor, the Ministry, and everything im-
perial. Alluding to him prosecution and to the Emperor,
M. R eihefort says, "It would be far more simple te
treat me as his uncle treated Pichegru, and get his
Minister of Justice to strangle me in prison with his
own hands ;" and he talks of the " blacklegeof power,,
and so on. It really will be a treat to see the ex-
tinguisher put on this man. Liberal he cannot be
called, for he is thoroughly illiberal, and his revolu-
tionary fireworks are calculated to produce the worst
possible effects.
The great parish of Marylebone is about to try a
rather curious and certainly novel experiment—the
adoption of an educational test, instead of a labour
teat (stone-breakir g or oakum-pickicg) for all applicants
for relief above the class of labourers. Oakum-pick-
ing is a dead loss to the parish, and is cruel to those
who have to use their hands afterwards for more deli-
cate operations, and as to stone-breaking it could be
much better done by machinery. But yen cannot
educate by machinery. An educational test, however,
is rather a difficult thing to understand in connection
with pauper relief. Can it be meant that if applicants
are found to be educated they will be relieved?
Or that in return for relief they must consent is
receive a certain amount of education? Really it ought
to be explained. "If we adopt the proposal of the
Relief Committee," says one of the speakers, "a good
schoolmaster will be provided for the school, and the
Board will have the option of sending the respectable
applicants for relief to it." About the only conclusion
to which I can come at present is that education is
much better than stone-breaking or oakum-picking,
and I shall be curious to see how this "educational
test" works.

Thirteen able-bodied men have been committed to
seven days' bard labour for begging. They carried a
'placard, inscribed " Labouring men out of work," and
they demonstratively sang, "We've got no work to
do-00-oo !" Whether the sentence lea just one would
be very difficult to decide. Supposing these men had
really tried hard to get work and had failed —and this
is likely enough—it seems cruel to imprison them for
merely asking for food. The men said, of course, that
they did not know that they were doing Nevin, and
they added that they had not tasted food that day, but
on the moneyicollector was found ss. 31. Surely they
could bane got some little food with that. In any case
these demonstrative exhibitions are very painful. It
is generally agreed that these are not the class of men
who suffer most, which is probable enough; and it is
a common thing to sly that they could get work if they
liked. That is very doubtful. There must be many
thousands of men now out of employment in London
who cannot get work, try as they nifty.
Partly owing to the season of the year, and partly to
the continued scarcity of employment, as well as to the
efforts of the emigration societies, the subject of
emigration is now attracting unusual attention, and
numbers of people are preparing to leave their country
to seek employment elsewhere. I have often thought
that it is a pity that there is no authoritative guide to
persons thinking of emigrating. There are numerous
books professing to give this advice, but all that I have
seen are one-sided, and es idently written with an
object arid a forgone conclusion. There ore a'iso emigra-
tion sivieties which direct their attention to one
particular country, and for varione reasons ignore
others. But it is questionable whether there is one
book, one society, or one office where a poor man wish-
ing t r emigrate can procure sound and impartial
advice as to what country would be the best for him to
go to, all circumstancea considered. On the other
hand, high praise is due both to the British and
Colonial Emigration Fund and to Mr. Goschen, the
one for their efforts to assist ramifies to emigrate to
Canada, Mei the other for his generous offer of 104. pee
head fig' every Cmigrant, tip to '2,000, sent out by the
society. This direr is already working well, and will
continue to do so. Unhappily, it will be a long time
helm such efforts are likely to be overdone.

It is said that Mr. Martin F. Tupper intends, during
the approaching London aeavon, to give a aeries of
readings in proverldal philosophy. But surely readings
on this subject will be rather dull work. His book of
"Proverbial Philosophy" is a book to read, mark, and
learn, a book to think over, but it is not particularly
lively, and if the readings are to be given from this
work the entertainment will not, I should say, be very
attractive.

A large and important well-known London firm
have issued a ukase a.7ainat the monatache. Unless
• person in their employ can prodwe a medical
certificate that this hirente appendage is desirable
in hi, ease, he will not be allowed to wear it. Very
rbiteary, thia. It placee a clerk below the level of

& policeman, for the police have now been allowed
fur some months to let their beards and moustaches
grow, and many of 'the force" have most respect-
able beards. The action of this City honse—a
house in other respects liberal —:s not viewed with
favour by most persms who comment on it, as far as I
have observed. In such a matter, it is theng,ht, men
arrived at th 4 year,' of discretion ought to be per-
mitted to do as they