The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-11-08 00:00:00

MUNICIPAL LIFE.

ONE of the most striking features of English
public life, and one which presents peculiar
points of interest in the month of November,
is the amount of power for good government
reposed in the hands of the 'Town Councils.
Local self-government is a boon which seems
the more highly prized the longer it is en-
joyed, and the symptoms of excitement dis-
played at the annual municipal elections are
so many proofs of the desire Of the English
people that only the best men shall be en-
trusted with the powers the Councils pos-
sess. The student of history, no less than
the stlident of politics, can find abundant
features of interest in connection with these
bodies. The oldest of them has just cele-
brated the seven-hundredth anniversary of
receiving its first charter of incorporation,
and there is more than one other which will
be able to hold a similiar festival within the
next two decades. Some of these, which re-
ceived their charter from royal hands in days
when the regal power was personally exer-,
cised, have dwindled in the course of cen-
turies from relatively important towns into
small places hardly to be distinguished from
villages; but they cling with pride to their
Mayor, aldermen, and councillors despite the
change vrhich years have wrought. In many
cases, on the other hand, the municipal
boroughs of to day are towns of purely
modern growth to which charters have been
granted by the Privy Council within the
past few years. But in all instances it is
found that the Town Council, as an institu-
tion, is a means of stimulating and freshen-
ing the public life of a borough in a manner
not lightly to be estimated. It is essential
to the good Government of a town, as it is of
a nation, that its affairs should not be dis-
posed of entirely by paid officials, bat that
the administration should be controlled by a
body of volunteers. Of our permanent of-
ficials, whether those of the State or those
of the municipalities, we have every reason
to be proud and satisfied; but it does not re-
quire one to be deeply skilled in the details
of public life to perceive that their virtues
might be less conspicuous if they were not
helped by Parliament in the o:e case or the
Town Council in the other. It is our glory
that so many, men should be found willing
to come forward in local affairs as well as in
imperial, without fear, favour, affection, or
the hope of reward, as the old legal formula
has it, simply desirous of doing their duty
towards their fellow-citizens. Those who
have no acquaintance gith the amount of
physical and intellectual labour entailed by
these duties are scarcely in a position to give
the meed of praise which is so justly due to-
wards the men who undertake it, There is
nothing heroic about questions of paving, or
of street lighting, or of sanitation, and there
is a deal of hard committee work to be
undertaken by all who join a town council,
determined to use their best endeavours in
its service. But there is much to interest
in thelabours thus assumed, and even if there
were not, there is so much of value that tin
toil is well repaid. The position of town
councillor is one in which a man can render
great good service to his fellows, and in days
when sanitation has been elevated to the
rank of a science it is one which desert-es to
be always worthily filled. Another aspect
of existing municipal life upon which the
country may fairly congratulate itself is the
almost universal absence from the minds of
aspirants to corporate honours of the motive
of pecuniary gain. Not many years ago it
was common knowledge—aye, and it might
have been published in theelectionaddresscs
so well was the fact known—that a candi-
date desired to enter the town council for
personal profit only, or with a view to amass
wealth by the manipulation of marketable
property in a manne7 which would rob the
the ratepayers for his own benefit.. The
progress of a refining element among local
governing bodies has almost eradicated this
I state of things, and with the operation of the
Corrupt Practices Act, and the greater in-
terest evinced in-self-government in recent
years by the more intelligent masses of the
people have combined to bring about the
change. As a rule the Town Councils of
the, Councils of the country embrace men
who have by energy and persevering industry
raised themselves to affluence, or at any rate
to commercial positions of influence. It is
these men, whose interests are inseparably
bound up in the welfare of the town, in the
government of which they take aresponsible
and onerous share, upon whom reliance can
be placed for the disbursement of the rate-
payers money. There are very few towns
in England, comparatively speaking, where
politics have weight in the selection of a
candidate, and as was evidenced by the elec-
tions on Saturday last, it is becoming useless
to make any calculations for party purposes
from the votes recorded for town councillors.
If any illustration of this were needed, it
would only be necessary to point to Scar-
borough, where on the Ist of November the
Conservatives wrested from their opponents
two seats in the municipal body, whilst the
Parliamentary constituency on the following
Monday returned a Liberal to St: Stephen's
by a majority ,of 289. As the statistics have
been framed on a political basis, however,
we may say that the Liberal party have
I slightly the adavntage this year, taking the
country as a whole.

THE IRON TRADE.

Wolverhampton, Wednesday.

The market. to-day was quiet, and prices were in
most ca-es scarcely so strong as they were a month
ago. Inquiries generally were for limited parc-ls,
the iron being as a rule required for earl consump—
tion. The mills and forges throughout the district
continue to run at a regular rate, and some of the
manufacturers hold a fair supply of specifications
which will last them during the greater part of the
current quarter. Bar makers are chiefly engaged
in the execution of orders for medium qualitiev,
ranging from £5 15s. to ..t6 in value, while sheets
for galvanising purposes continue to realise about
..£7 55. for single gauge. Sales of hoops ;were to-
day announced at £6, but merchants assert that
they can buy at less money for cash. Makers of
plates are a little busier, and inquiries for some
good parcels have reached them during the last
few weeks, resulting in their bargaining for
heavier supplies of materials, principally pig iron,
Tin plates and best stamping sheets are receiving
considerable attention, and most of the mills are on
full time, but the profits barely cover the cost of
production. The dealings in pig iron are very
restricted, and there does not appear a near prospect
of additional profits accruing to the makers, the
curront saleable prices being very much prejudiced
by the lair importations of metal from .the Derby-
shire and .Northamptonshire districts. For iron-
stone the inquiries are a little brisker, and there is
plenty of trade being don ! in the puddled or-.
Some of the coalmasters, too, are booking orders at
a better rate than they have done all through the
summer. Prices generally, however, are weak.
Fur limestone thcre is a fair demand, notwithstand-
ing the recent advance of 31.1. per ton.

BIRMINGHAN, THURSDAY.

There was an exceptionally large gathering on
'Mange this afternoon, and the aspect of the mar-
ket was more animated. A fair number of sales
of crude and finished iron have been effected during
the week, and consequently produceis wEre in a
more cheerful c.ndition, A. local firm of pig iron
merchants have disposed of 1,500 tons of pigs,
chiefly of Derbyshire make, 'during the past few
days, and other houses have received an increase.'
number of inquiries. The whole of the ma e of
Mr. Alfred Lliekman's ilve furnaces, estimate at