The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-02-19 00:00:00

Our yonbon orresponbent.

ime deem it right to mate that we lo not at all times
&geoidy ourselves with our correspumluut's upluiunij

Parliament—or rather the house of Commone—has
begun the session well, setting to work at once, in
har.nony with a royal message which promised a very
very bogy session. Several bills have already been
brought in, and considerable progress has been made
with them. One of the Government measuree. I
fancy, will either be rejected or coneiderably modified
I allude to Mr. Lowe's bill on friendly societies.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer propose to abolish
the office of Registrar of Friendly Societies (an office
which is vacant through the death or Mr. Tidd Pratt,
and which since his decease has not been filled up).
Now this office certainly requires reform. The late
Registrar gave his certificate to every friendly society
that was framed in accordance with the Act .if Parlia-
ment, whether s society was sonnd or unsound. The
practical result of this was that his certificate was
taken, erroneously en. ugh, as a certificate of sound-
ness, whereas it was nothing of the kind, and Mr.
Pratt'. name was made to give sanctioulto many
an unsound and worthless scheme. Of course this
was an evil, but then why abolish the office altogether?
The public requirements seem rather to lie in the
direction of extending the powers of such an officer,
and at the same time establishing • ihmernment, or
rather official audit of accounts. Friendly societies
are institutions of too valuable a character to be sent
adrift ae it were. l'he state should encourage them,
and if anything can be done by Parliament to prevent
the fraud and him that frequently ensue through
Heim societies, it should certainly be done.
The army and navy estimates will both show a con-
siderable reduction, and this, combined with reductions
In other quarters will naturally involve a very agreeable
Rouge!. It is probable that the income tax will be
lowered, and it is anticipated that certain existing
duties will be either lowered or als+lisbed. The pre-
sent I lovernment has been severely taken to task for
its reductions in the dockyaris, and other Government
establishment% and, trith to say, the working men
generally are rather bitter against the Liberals for
1t,,.- relnctions,but if these retrenchments enable fir
Lowe to relieve the public generally id some f the
present heavy burdens if taxation, possibly we &hal'
agree that "all's well that ends welL"
The dispute between the High Bailiff of Southwark
and Mr thlger, the working-man candidate—a dispute
which ha• been fully explained and commented on in
the House of Commons- will probably have the effect
of drawing renewed attention to the expenses incur-
red by candidates for the honour ..f a seat in Paths.
went. The House I mce had a very narrow escape
from adopting Mr. Fawcett's proposal to throw the
expenses of candidates upon the constituencies—in
fact the clause was at one time agreed to, though
finally rejected. Many arguments for and against
thin propisal may be imed, lint whatever may be
thought of this. plan it is certain that electoral expenses
ought not to be so monstrous as they now always are
in large conatituencier. The retention of the present
system will at all events act as a check on working
men vetting into Parlianient, fir of course every work-
ing man candidate cannot expect that subscriptions
will be raised for him as they are now being raised for
file I tiger.
Whatever may be the impression of individna
readers, in respect to the dulness or briskness id trade
so far as they themsels ell are concerned, I think it can
wan...ly be denied that trade and commerce are
reviving. The meetings Id banks and limited liability
companies of all kinds show this fact clearly, the
general tone of the recent half-yearly reports being indi•
esti, e of reviving confidence and good proopects. There
Is another unmistakeable sign of renewed commercial
activity. Advertisements for persons wanted in an
immense variety of departments abound, while inquiry
of several working men in different trades leads ti the
same conclusion. The weather is at present against
the revival which has undoubtedly aid in. but • little
genial sunshine would not only rancour spirits but tend
to the further revival of business. The weather here
ha. been intensely cold and very cheerless, but it has
afforded some compensation in the shape of skating,
which would be an art in which the English would pro-
bably excel other nations had they more opportunities
of enjoying it. With such weather as we have had,
with ice and snow and bitterly cold winds, it seems
rather droll to have • so-called "Spring exhibition of
pictures " at the Old Bond-street Gallery, but it will be
• Spring exhibition ere long, it is to be hoped, and
meanwhile it presents no with some very charming
paintings.
At the moment if writing, those Bank of England
notes which were so mysterionaly stolen 1.0010 time ago
lum• 1,e4 oror«.I. Tht •
takes an UV ‘l.: • ep to twilit.- -
them. Hitt+, u die datea of all EI,Cm. note Toe
boin dated later than Islh4 thntigla the sight ~000
▪ 0.01 ill or lost were at first ernmeemsly
as *Med dm Bank 'rid issued a bear
' rie irides"! 1,741. Tti.sai,l theta i1..0+0

I. e-t ~n lb.sversig. ' Las st...lt

se • 4 toe. To 44. salt 'La - 'r beiro ie44atol
from the Bank it oomei back there, not to be re-lamed.
but In Inc• time to be burnt. This re-issue of 1:1,000
n.Ses therefore will probably soon leave the stolen note'
the only notes if that amount "out" dated 1848,
This may ilo something to facilitate discovery, but it
I. stratum that the note. (nearly £lO,OOO in all) have
sot yet been traced.
While engineers have been planning and other pro.
pie have been talking about a tunnel under or a bridge
over the Channel between England and France,
arhentes for the improvement t.f 'slain and Boulogne
have boon carefully planned. With regard to the
former port a plain for considerably improving it
has been agreed on by French engineers, and it is
expected will be adopted by the French Govern-
ment . and as to Boulogne, Capt. Tyler, of the
lloard id Trade, has prepared a plan which would
vastly imprive it at • cost of half a million sterling.
It will be a great pity if one or both these plans be not
adopted, as this would give some employment to the
French workinv• clam, who want it badly, but tope-
'tally because it would enable tus to have fine large
Channel bins, shortgung the paraa4r. tenoning 60/1-
*kn.*, affording greater accommodation for mer
dunk., awl pr .siting international communion-
n an.l the trade ,tf the two countries. That we shall
deo Lag have aim. improvemenla in the Channel
verve is b.lerably certain, for every day makes these
limpesvessenta mire imperative.
lorig-eintiumst dissuasion about the state of
Inland and the certainty that the Irish land question
will he dealt with this aaarina have given rise to a large
sonsher of hooks ow Ireland, chilly .haling with the
anwiptwatwl paantiona analog out of the tenure 4.1 land
Tko Anowess Otis week has a long review of iv, Non
ahem 4 wadi to..ka If any 41 our legislators have
teem studying all Uwe. books, bow pouted they
renet lot !
Mr. hollow, the tined elocutionist of the day, in the
opinion of Um.. who prefer him to Mr. Dickens (for
no other " reader" will bear comparion with either).
°varieties his strange performance of " Hamlet," with
scenery. and with iluntmies to represent the other charac•
tern without siting the hart.! even opening thei lips
esd pretending to speak when they do not speak;
while women move their lips and pretend to speak -
In Mr. M.llew's rich masculine voice ! The whole
exhibition la, In my humble opinion, strange.
We bar. ll heard of "the play of ' Hamlet'
with the character of the Prince of Denmark
.I.ittad by Particular desire." but Mr. Bellew trans-
cends this absurdity. Ile give" tut the play of "Ham.
let with all the character' but that of the hero
omitted, by his own data*.
It would have been very unsatisfactory had the case
of the Welsh fading girl, which excited so much in-
terest some time ago, been allowed to end with the

death of the poor girl, and per natra it is therefore
satisfactory that the Government has determined to
take up the matter and prosecute not only the father
of the girl, but the self.appointed committee who
watch,' the ‘lYing girl. We shall thus at least get at
Use truth of the affair, and clear up a mystery which,
It unsolved, would tend to increase superstition in
respect to such matters.
Thanks to the enterprise of some of our tradesmen,
we are improving in valentines this year. The prettiest
of the ordinary valentines are thoroughly useless, but
OMIIP 14 our more artistic tradesmen have combined the
vide with the duke, and this year many a young lady

and aim many a young gentleman will have received a
valentine combining the useful with the beautiful.
There are gloves, brislchee, rings, moue/wire, &c.. for
the ladle,; there are pencil-cases, studs. &c., for the
gentlemen ; and there are pretty toys for girls and
boy, all by poet—and all sent under conditions which
keep up the old idea of the valentine. Verily this is a
practical age. Apropos of the poet, I see that a dein*.
baton from South London ham waited upon the Post-
master-General to complain of postal delays in that
district. It wsa repreeented to his lordship that the
number of deliveries and collections was less than
formerly, though the population has largely increased,
and that the ab.lltion of the "5.," and the division of
the dietrict into S.E. and S.W. were grievances. The
Mar.plis of Ilartington says that a good deal of the
grievances complained of are " sentimentaL" Indeed!
If hia lordship lived in the district he would not
say so. The idea of abolishing the S district is absurd.
Why, hie lordship would "speak disrespectfully of the
Equatt r l"
Itapfilly the disturbances in Paris—disturbances that
did not even reach the dignity of an insurrection, far
lees a revolution—appear to be decisively represaed.
One might naturally think that the Preach had hail

enough of revolution, and so they have; but in l'aris-
there are always some excitable, discontented people,
with everything to gain and very little to lose, who
are ready at any moment for an cmcute. But the days
of revolution seem to be pant, never to return. It is
earnestly to be hoped that one effect of these disturb-
ances will not be to retard the progress that is being
made towards constitutianal and thoroughly repre-
sentative government.
One of our local journals states that there are
100,000 houses to let in London. It is difficult to
prove a negative, and I have no ambition to travel all
about the metropolis and count the houses to let ; and
it is much easier simply to say, what most people will
agree to that can form any ~pinion in the matter, that
the statement is simply absurd. The fact in, however,
that speculators have overbuilt high-clans and Beenid-
claw houses, though fitting residences for the working-
classes are still wanting.