The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-12-04 00:00:00

might say that thy were giviug their ma 3;7d
per day—(hear, bees). He thought he hal
shown that all the employ ere could Alford to gill
whet Was the miner& jest due —(epplettse).
Mr. Britten then addreesed the meetine. He
eliti be had hcard,lnt could nel, vouch For the
truth of the dew...ewe that Messrs. Foster, of
Shut Fut, 'nal agreed to give the eixpenny ad.
vanCe- (epelaeee). All these time proved that
the wasters °maid afford the rise, but refused ts
give it.
The followirg resolation was then put to the
meeting :—" 'ht we stand out end 'play ' un-
til we get the sixpenny advance."
It Was cerii.d unanimously.
Afterwarde is committee was formed to obtain
IRELAND. relief.
I On Thursday, a large meeting of miners was
In whatever light we may regard the Tipper. ' held at the Shakespeare Inn, New Mill-street,
ary election, it is deeplv to be regretted. A Dudley. After hearing the addresses of Mr.
convicted Feuitte mimed O'Donovan Reese, who . 13reakwell and Mr. Britten, the men again, by
is undergoing imprieonment for treason.felony, ' resolution, agreed to " play' until they had the
was pot up no a candidate tar that county in op- ; sixpenny advetice. One of the speakers said
position to Mr. Heron, a derided Liberal, and that Messrs. DaTCS, of Oldbury, had agreed to
to Mr. Vollet. a centlernan who never stood give the men the desired increase of wages, a
much chance of election. At first the cendida- statement which was received with epplause.
tore of Rnssn was regerded as a preetical joke, The men at play held meetings morning aud
as a mere piece of beffoonere to show Fenian night in various parts of the district.
contempt for any representation at ell, hut it
Wee soon discovered that the Feoians were in
earnest. 'rho Fenian convict was duly nomina.
ted, and at the nomination to oppose this pre.
liminary step would certainly have been to pro-
s-eke a serione riot. The excitement grew in
intensity as it was tenni that the Fenian con-
stituents were determined to carry their (-midi.
data. and precautions had to be taken against
rioting. In Nenagh a senedren of hussars, two
companies of foot, and a force of some 800 po-
lice were organised in the cause of order; in
Memel 250 constables, is squadron of dragoons,
and three companies of infantry endeavoured to
peeeerve the peace of the town ; and in the town
of Tipperary similar Ineaenres were resorted to.
in those and other places there wee continued
excite, ,ant, and some serious rioting occurred,
The en, porters of Mr. Heron were in eoveral
Instances nialtreated, and the honsee of some
persons known to be strongly opposed to Fen.
lenient were attacked and injured. That the
election was a fair out cannot be fleierted with
the elighteet snowed from Lets. There was
undonbted intimidation, and Mr. Heron would
have been placed at the head of the poll bad
not many of hie supporters been deterred from
voting for Min by fear for their live, The
Fenian conviet and the hideous policy which he
repreeents had a temporary triumph. He was
nominally elected as the reviresentative of Tip.
perary by a majority of 103 votes over Mr.
Heron, Mr, Collet only polling 12 votes. Now,
of course, this election was null and void.
O'Donovita Russia, Its an impriemied felon, could
have during his imprienninent mane of the melt
nary rights of it free citizen, and it needed not
the elaborate exposition of legal journals to
prove that his election Was informal end nuga-
tory. But was the High Sheriff to proclaim
this fact ? lie, of course, knew that th 3 elec-
tion was void, bet he lied to deal only with two
important facts—that Roma was placed at the
head of the poll, mid that to hear the declara-
tion of the p all a crowd of ex eted Feniens had
gathered round him. Under soda eircemstan-
re; the High Sheriff of Tipperary did what or
other Mall Who valued his life would have done;
lii thek the facts Its he fount them, 11.111 declared
Itt`fil elected, though it is observable that lie
heal the courage to leave out the word " duly."
which happily passed unnoticed amid the shouts
and yells of the delighted Fenians.
Tide quasi eleetiou. whiell in one sense is a
pitiable sham, hut in another sense is an alarai-
lag reality, hue been the occasion of freak, le-
jeieing among the Fenien populution of numer-
ous districts. We hear of shout 1,000 marching
in military array, six deep, threneli the streets
, of Limerick, end the proeessienists thee sing
volleys of stones and breaking the windows in
the conetahnlery henna:, ii d the military bar-
rack; of 5,000 men inarchiete in military order
through Cork, with hands and banners, torches
and tar-barrels ; of 10,000 people tieeembling
near Waterford. displaying fireworks, and other.
wise exhibiting their joy ; and of bands of Fen-
inns elsewhere prociateing In similar ways their
gratification at a Fenian convict having been
elected a member of the British Parliament.
New it may be quite leis:able to exaggerate the
importence of this sham election and of the de-
monstrations which have followed it, lint they
show that Fenianisin is its widely spread and as
rampant as ever. Although the so.ealled elee
tion wiil legally and constitutionally come to
nothine, it cannot he denied that a majority of
the votere if not of the electors of the county
Tipperary, have deliheretely spurned the math°.
rite of the law and 'limited the dignity of the
British Parliament. They hive chosen a con-
victed felon, not that they cared for him parson-
ally, not that they wished to be represented by
him, but because they thus desired to show their
hatred of the British Government, not their op-
position to haw and order. That Government,
after due deliheration, had decided that they
could not, in justioo to the community, release
Fsniene who had been jestly imprisoned for
treasoe.felony, amid with the vague idea 0' spit.
I tug and elebarreasiug the Ministry, the Tipper-
ary Fenians hive elected Its their repreeentative
a convict whom the Itw officers of the Crown
thought it advisable to keep in prison. The
Fenian electors who have taus stultified therti-
golv,, have thew a vere Ptty thing, coutenpti-
hie in its savage elite, hut the Government can.
not effeed ta LiCSPiee it, 1111,1 Eragiall4 CAUllat
efford to laugh at it. SU ter mis thie moil( elec.
the,is 03110.9'11et1. it Will of coarse be legally
I nullified in the ordinary way, but the °dime
policy of which it is int einatattien now be
regarded Si a great and glaring feet which can
no longer he played with. The greater part of
Ireland may be iranenil, end the mejerity of its
population loyal—we do not say taut tide is so,
but even if it be the f let, it is also a fact that

The monthly meeting of this body Wl9 held
at the Board room, on Wednesday; Mr. Stringer
in the chair. There were also present M oars.
Hughes, Billingliam, Alison, Newnan, Elcock,
Woo ley, and the Rev. D. Maginnis.
Mr. Taylor (the Clerk) read the minutes of
the last meeting, which were confirmed. The
Clerk also reported that on the Improvement
Rate there was due from the treasurer .2(349 Lie
81 ; Highway account due from the treasurer,
£1.31 34.—8i11s to the amount ot £l9 us ed
were ordered to be paid.
The Chairman said the first business was in
reference to Mrs. Brown's house in Coventry-
street. The Committee had waited upon Mrs.
Br.wn, vim had mode an offer, tint the offer was
refused. it was then suggested that the ease
should he settled by arbitration, and he thought
Mrs. Brown was willing for it to be settled in
that way. but she had since made a demand for
£4OO for the eleven yards of land. He believed
it would necessitate the house being taken
back.
Mr. Hughes said he did not think the explan-
ation given conveyed to the Board the position
they were in, and if the Board would allow him
he would endeavour to explain it, So far as lib
' himself had been concerned as one of the corn
sidered lie had mad a mull of it. It bad been
thought desirable on rebuilding her hones, that
It should be placed back to widen the street,
which would be eleven yards. Fur that Mrs.
Brown asked £llO. He thought this an extor-
Vonate demand, and it was refused; and the
committee, thinking it an extraordinary applica-
tion, took no notice of It. Mrs. brown began
to build on the old ground, He proposed that
oich enminittee-inen should examine the ground,
and thought it best for each person to put down
what he thought wonlii be the fair value of it.
They did au, andl the average was £4B. He sug-
gested that .£l9 should be offered for the eleven
yivds. A secmil demand was then made for
try). N doubt in the meantime she had taken
legal advice. On looking through the Acts since
he fund they had compulsory powers, but as
Mrs. Brown was going on building, he thought
they had better not interfere, but let her go on
building on the old foundation; and he could
not help saying that so far as he was concerned
he had made a mull of the business.
Mr. Elcock remarked that where the house
stood it was a very narrow part of the street,
and if they could it would be advisable to widen
it.
Mr. Allsop said he regretted that there had
been aline misunderstanding in the matter. It
could have been settled by arbitration according
to the Acts, if they thought proper ; but as it had
gone so fur he should say let it go.
Mr. Taylor here read the Acts giving the
Commissioners power to compel persons to bring
forward or put back building property if they
thought proper, the Commissioners to pay a fair
price for the laud, which, if disputed, shall be
referred to arbitration.
Mr. Maginnis said he thought that public
bodies had compulsory powers, like railways, and
could take possession by giving egaitable value.
He thought it best for committees to report the
proceedings, so that minutes may be recorded
in the book.
The subject then dropped.
. . . .

Fenianism and agrarian 'vengeance for real or
imaginary wrongs, have thrown many parts of
Ireland into a thoroughly disorganised and inse-
cure state. What Fenianiton is may he judged
by its fruits. It has blown down a prison wall,
and scattered death and desolation around, in
order to rescue its friends; for the same pur-
pose it arrested a prison van and murdered an
innocent officer of justice who was only doin,if
his duty; it aimed at the life of a Prince who in
no way had interfered with polities; and in many
other ways Fenianisin has shown itself a cow-
ardly, treacherous, murderous policy, having a
ridiculous, imprActicuble idea for its end, and il-
' legit organisation and reckless crime for its
means. That Feuianiam is chargeable with the
numerous assassinations that have taken place
in Ireland during the past few months, we do
not assert, but it is undeniable that, whether
connected or unconnected with this odious sys-
tem, m lay agrarian murders have taken place;
and the country now 1,01;-; anxiously to the Go-
vernment to do something to give security to
life and property. Aimit people, we think, will
agree with The Times when it says, " Barony and
county and province must be proclaimed, if need
be, hat crime moat be made 5, cease. It is in-
tolerable that week after week accounts should
reach us of men shot in the open day by assas-
sins, who escape without any risk of arrest or
detection. To suffer this is to permit barbarism
to submerge civilisation."