The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-08-04 00:00:00

Cur Yonbag aurespoubent.

SWe deem it right to state tint we do not at all VraeA
2Ant if y ourselves with our Correspondent's 3pinions.l

Just this time twelve months a sable visitor arrived
in London, whose presence attracted a considerable
degree of attention. It was Cetewayo, the ex-King of
the Zulus, with whom we had been at war in 1879, and
who, after his defeat at Ulundi in July of that year,
had remained In captivity in Capetown. The sayings
and doings of the Ebony King were recorded very
fully in the London press, and were read with much
Interest by the public. Cetewayo was here a month,
from the first week in August to the end of
September. He had an interview with the Queen at
Windsor, and was sent back by the Colonial Office to
Zululand with a view to the resumption of his
sovereignty In that far • off country. Unhappily,
for him, other kings had arisen who knew
rot Cetewayo ; civil war ensued; and now we
hear of his having been slain in battle, together with
the intelligence of the complete overthrow of his
power. Those who, last year, had opportunities of
Judging of the character of the dusky potentate, testi-
fied to the posseesion., of 'many good qualities on the
part of one who in the war of 1879 had been held up
to the peop'e of this country as a cruel tyrant.
Seven years ago this autumn, Captain Webb as-
tonished the civilized world by swimming acr3ss the
Channel from Dover to Calair, and was universally
congratulated on the accomplishment of a feat re-
quiring those qualities so dear to EngliAmen—
pluck and physical endurance, Since then his mar-
vellous feats in swimming —admittid'y a most
important art to be acquired by a maritime people—
have ehoited expressions of surprise and pleasure.
But it must be confessed that his attempt to swim the
Niagara rapids and whirlpool was regarded with very
different feelings. Nothing was to be gained by such
a feat, and he was warned that even if he escaped the
perils of the rapids, death surely awaited him in the
vortex below. But whatever project Captain Webb
took into his head he would certainly carry out. In
this instance, however, his courage led him into a
perilous undertaking which proved fatal to him. His

unfortunate death will be regretted by all his country.
men.

The Suez Canal arrangement appears for the time
to be at an end. It was originally at the instance of
Lord Palmerston that we shut ourselves out from a
project which concerns the interests of the whole
universe,,and M. de Lesseps acquired a monopoly which
to some extent we have been compelled to recognize.
The provisional arrange ment entered into by the Govern-
ment has not been submitted to the House of Com-
mons ; but this does not dispose of the necessity for
increased accommodation for the passage of British
commerce through the isthmus. Something will have
to be done in this direction, and that soon, either in
conjunction with France, or in opposition to the sus-
ceptibilities of that sensitive people.
Our neighbours do net seem. best pleased at the
rejection of the Channel Tunnel scheme by the Joint
Committee of the two Houses of Parliament to whom
It was referred. There is no doubt that recent events
had not contributed to render the project increasingly
popular. The development of French foreign policy
does not please either our statesmen or our people.
Under the circumstances of the time it has been
thought best by the High Court of Parliament not to
increase the facilities of communication between the
two ccuntries in the way suggested. Sir Edward
Watkin, the Chairman of the South Eastern Rai:way,
has told the shareholders still to persevere ; but this is
a ,view which for the time is not generally endorsed
by the Briti.h public.

The process known as the massacre of the inno-
cents goes merrily and cheerfully on in the House of
Commons. When the late Lord Beaconsfield, as Mr.
Disraeli, was the Leader of the Conservative party
In that assembly he made an observation at the
opening of a se-sion which has become hi-torical.
On the first night of the Parliamentary year notices
of Bills were given by the score; perhaps it might be
more truly said by the hundred. Mr. Disraeli ob-
served that in these notices he s4.w a prospect of
"a terrible July." That was to say, long hours of
labour in the sultry atmosphere of the legislative
chamber when the minis of Ir.nourable members were
jaded by five months of exacting work, and they
are looking forward to the hour of release. Bat
as a rule in July the Ministerial ship is lightened by
throwing over the measures which are deemed to be
not absolutely necessary at that time in the public
Interest to be passed. The members who are concerned
in them utter plaintive protests, but in vain, The
Bills are relegated to the uncertain future of the next
Session.

bf tnree neeeible-tetjeeenani: unh'indifie
mons. The Premier has dropped one or two hints lately
tending to convey the impression that he would not
regret a termination of his official career. He began it
nearly half a century ago ; for as far back as 1834 be was a
Lord of the Treasury. In 1844 he was Vice-President of
the Board of Trade and Master of the Mint; in 154
Chancellor of the Exchequer; in 1864 again Oben-
cellor of the Exchequer; in 1874 Prime Minister; and
as we are now within a few months of 1884, the pro-
babilities are that he will be Prime Minister then.
The collocation of dates are somewhat remarkable.
Put together they mean a long and weary life in the
.lervice of the State; and the man who has undergone
it, when he has arrived at the age of 74, not un-
naturally desires rest. With Mr. Gladstine with-
drawn from official dutiee, and Lord Hartington in
the Peers, there would be room for very extensive
changes in the Liberal leadership in the Commons
The Duke of Devonshire, it may be added, is now 75
years of age.
The Speakership is also an object of speculation.
Sir Henry Brand is 69, and has held his high and dis-
tinguished office eleven years. That is not so long as
it was fillei by his two predecessors, Mr. Shaw-
Lefevre and Mr, Evelyn Denison; at the same time
there is no doubt that the duties of the chair are very
much more exacting now than they ever were. Before
Sir Henry Brand's time there were no such incidents
as all-night sittings, and the duties of the chair were
much less onerous in many other ways. The Speaker
Is nearly seventy years old, a period of man's existence
when he might be not unwilling to accept a viscountcy
and the pension of £l,OOO a year for two lives which
the State always assigns as the reward for a Speaker's
services. Mr. Denison, when he retired, declined to
accept a pension, but Mr. Shaw-Lefevre, as Lord
Everaley, has lived to enjoy his more than a quarter
of a century. He resigned the chair in the spring of
1857, and is now nearly ninety years of age.
This week witnesses the introduction of one of tie
most important postal reforms which even the enter-
prising State department in St. Martin's-le-Grand has
ever inaugurated, That is the establishment of the
Parcels Post, so long promised, and the arrangements
for which have taken so long to perfect. Mr.
Piawcett's term of office as Postmaster-General has
been marked by a succession of improvements in the
administration of his office, both small and great, of
essential value to the public service. He has lifted his
department out of the round of mere routine, and
has made it one of the most efficient of all the great
offices which the State maintains.
The sale of the surplus furniture of the Duke and

Duchess of Tech, which took place at the Riding
School at Knightsbridge, attracted a considerable
amount of attention. Hitherto they have lived in
Kensington Palace, the residence of our Queen when
she was Princess Victoria, but not requiring BO large a
house, and being about to remove to White Lodge,
Richmond, disposed of those articles of which they
did not stand in need, and for which, in fact, they
had no room.