The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-08-25 00:00:00

Our Fenbon Cm.respoubent,

(e deem it right to state the we do not nt all Vmelo
4ntify ou,selves with our correspondent's -)pinions.)

The sitting of the House of Commons until nearly
half•past two last Sunday rnornkg is an inci-
dent without p4.rallel in our modern parl,a,, entary
history. The nearest approach to it was in February,
1868, when Parliarnent was detained until twenty
minutes to one on Sunday morning in order to
obtain the Rcl al signature to the Act which
had been passed through both Houses the previous
day suspending the right of Habeas Corpus in
Ireland. The House of Commons sat more hours
last week within the space of six 'days than it
ever did before within a similar time, and after such
an experience extending over night and day and into
the Sabbath morn itself, the hard-worked legislators
avill certainly enjoy their well-earned rest. Toe ex-
Percence of Saturday was not at all a bad zepresenta,
Hon of the toilsome legislative week. Meeting at
fenr in the afternoon of Friday, the House sat until
that hour in the morning, or once round the clock,
then met at noon, and went on for another fourteen
hours, in order to finish the votes in Supply, so that
the Appropriation Bill might be'brought in sufficiently
early for the prorogation to take place on the day
which had been named by the Prime Minister.
Saturday sittings in the House of Caramon!,are by
no means popular institutions, more especially in such
weather as that which the middle of August this year
has brought. In the last fortnight of the Session the
exigencies of oupply demand the concentrated atten-
tion of the assemhty upon the passing of the votes,
and of late all-night sittings have had to be resorted to
in'oider tr. get—the work through at all. Half-past
five or six in the morning, when broad daylight floods
the streets of the metropolis, and the great capital is
awakening to another day of life and labour, has
found the' wearied legislators at work, and after a few
hours of adjournment thislias been resumed, with the
jaded Speaker in the chair, or if the House is in Com-
mittee, within ea_sy. access, so as to be called should
the stage of a Bill have to be taken. Glad enough
are Speaker, Ministers, officials, and all who have to
be in attendance at the Palace of the Legislature when
the day of prorogation comes with the order of release.
For many years past the ceremony of proroguing the
High Court of Parliament has been of a quiet, spiri--
less character. In the early years of her Majesty's
reign the Sovereign was accustomed not only to open
but to prorogue Parliament in person, bat this has
not been the case for a long time now, and the wind.
lug-up ceremonial has, during the pest qdarter of a
century, been p-3rformed by Royal Commission. The
Lord Chancellor, with two peers on either side of
him, all robed in antique garb, are the representatives
of the Queen on those occasions. As the Commons
await the arrival of Black Rod, a question or two is
put to such Ministers as may happen to be present,
and then absolute silence prevails, until the mys-
terious three knocks are heard at the door, summon-
ing the tired assembly, or such as remains of it, to the
bar of their Lordships' House, to hear the doom of the
session pronounced.
Lord John Manners, in his earlier years, spoke of
' The red ripe corn that stands in sheaves beneath the
harvest moon." The splendid August weather that
has lately been experienced must have made white
unto the harvest many a field of waving grain over
which the tiller of the soil had been anxious in the
face of the disturbed atmospheric conditions of the
earlier pirt of the month. A very critical time is
August for the farmer, and for some years past,
notably in 1881, it has turned out anything but satis-
factorily to the agriculturist.

By way of supplementing the precautions against I
cholera which have been taken by so many of our
public bodies, Professor Tyndall and Dr. W. B.
Carpenter have written letters to a daily newspaper,
which contain much valuable information as coming
from to such eminent scientific men. There can be
no question, according to these authorities, that the
accumulations of putrifying matter near to human
dwellings produce fatal exhalati ns, which any wind
may suddenly blow over occupied tenements, with
results disastrous to the inmates. A light breeze
might also carry the deadly germs into open reservoirs
and cisterns. " Death in the Dustbin" is an allitera-
tive headline in the newspapers, but there is a great
deal of truth in it, and the Metropolitan Board of
Works has done well to issue directions for the clear-
ance of these receptacles twice a week, BO far as Lon-
don is concerned, in order that no germs may be
created, to be wafted about.
Princess Beatrice has returned from Aix les Bains,
much improved in health by the change of air and
‘cene, and by the taking of the waters. The Queen
has but to affix her signature to the document autho•
rising the prorogation of Parliament, and to her Royal
message to "my lords and gentlemen," and there will
then be nothing to detain her Majesty at Osborne.
Accompanied by Princess Beatrice the Sovereign will
go to Balmoral, there to enjoy what she has doscribed in
her diary as the quiet scenery and the pure moun-
tain air. The Princess has long been the intimate
friend and companion of her Royal mother, and the
Queen's affection for her youngest child has more than
once been expressed in print in a pathetic manner,
notably on the occasion of the absurd attempt on her
Majesty's life early in March last year, when the
Queen's letter to her people thanking them for their
sympathy was one of the most touching documents
ever written.

The German Emperor, like our own youngest prin.
cess, has been taking the waters, still one of the most
conspicuous figures in European politics. It does not
seem so long, but nearly half a generation has elapsed
since the venerable sovereign was at the head of his
armies upon the soil of France, having beaten tack
the invading force which had been moved forward
towards the Rhine. It was in the month of August,
1870, and in the second week thereof, that three
battles were fought, which really decided the fortunes
of the campaign. These were the struggles of Cour-
celles, Vionville, and Gravelotte, the latter being
probably the most sanguinary conflict, judging from
the results sccomplished in the time the fight con.
tinned, which ever took place between two bodies of
men. It was one of the most productive harvest
fields which Death ever reaped in the history of war.
Mr. Gladstone's physicians have interdicted his ap•
pearance durihg the recess at public entertainments,
so that the right hon. gentleman will be compelled to
decline all invitations to dinners with the exception of
the Lord Mayor's banquet on the 9th November.
That is a gathering the Prime Minister always attends
if he possibly can. It offers an excellent opportunity
for a defence and a review of the course pursued by
the Government since the rising of Parliament, when
there is no opening for explanations in either House
of the Legislature. Of course when Parliament is in
Session a question can be put to Ministers by any
member of either House and upon any question of the
day; in the recess the public must be content with
such declarations as may be vouchsafed by Ministers
at such public meetings or banquets as they may be
enabled to attend.