The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-05-23 00:00:00

Our foOnn Correspoitant.
(We &ern it right to state that we do tot at Mt times
Identity ouraelves with our Correspondent's opinlods.)

"The Railways and the Whitsuntide Holi-
days" is a newspaper heading suggestive of
pleaTant excursions to the seaside, lwilliant skies,
and long summer days. But the run of tertt-
perature in May has been so low that if Christ-
mas had been substituted for Whitsuntide, the
difference in the atmospheric conditions would
scarcely have been perceptible. So far -F-S the
holiday falls it is when the days are nearly at
their longest and the number of hours when
the sun is above the horizon ought to fur-
nish a considerable degree of warmth. The rail-
way and steamboat companies have made ample
provision for the enjoyment of a vast pro-
portion ,of busy workers, who look for-
ward to Whitsuntide as a time of well-earned
recreation. Easter is never to be depended upon
in the matter of weather; but when we have
_Whitsuntide on the borders of June them
ought to be every reason to expect a more genial
temperature than that with which the month of
,May has hitherto favoured us.
The annuity to Princess Beatrice on her
approaching marriage has been duly voted, and
the Prime 'Minister has given Parliament to
understand that the application is the last of the
kind which the Sovereign will make. Should
the present Government be in office next year
a Committee of the House of Commons will be
appointed to inquire into the whole question.
It will not be before it is time. The children of
the Prince of Wales are growing up, and his
eldest son is already past his majority. Tho
Prince, with an expensive family, receives the
same allowance from Parliament as when he had
none. It will be impossible for the Parliamen-
tary Committee to ignore a fact like this.
Again, the eldest daughter of the Prince and
Princess of Wales is in her nineteenth year.
Should her parents see what would be described
as a suitable match for her, where would the
marriage dower of her Royal Higimees come
from ? The Premier tells us the Queen will
make no further applications to Parliament;
would the Heir to the Throne make one on his
own account? Knotty points- like these show
that the sooner they are settled the better.

Extraordinary pre-cautions were taken to pro-
tect the Revised Version of the Old Testament
from premature publication. At the recent
sitting of the Convocation of Canterbury, a copy
was presented to the archbishop as the spiritual
head of the Church. It was handed to his
Grace by a representative of both universities.
The Primate, however, after scanning it, passed
it back to the messenger. He declined the
responsibility of taking charge of it until it was
issued to the public. Now, Lambeth Palace,
the Archbishop's London residence, is a massive
castellated building on the banks of the Thames,
and does not at all present the appearance of a
place open to the enterprise of thieves who
break through and steal. But the incident only
serves to show the remarkable care which was
taken of the book from the Primate to the
university workman.
Poor "Hugh Conway" has had but a short
though a brilliant career. His "Called Back"
brought him a reputation, and placed him on the
road to fortune. Before beginning to work upon
his next Christmas annual he resolved to take
a holiday, and selected Naples for that purpose.
Whilst returning typhoid fever attacked him at
Monte Carlo, from which ho was gradually
recovering. He took a drive, but at the same
time unfortunately caught a chill, a relapse set
in, with the fatal result which is much deplored.
Mr. Faros was only 38 years of age.
The agitation against the Budget is princi-
pally on the part of the licensed victualling trade,
which has increased its prices of spirits in an-
ticipation of the passing of the financial scheme
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. But if, as
is not improbable, this particular proposal is
withdrawn when tho Budget comes to be
considered after Whitsuntide, how will
the licensed victuallers refund to their cus-
tomers the money which they would thus
have taken from them. "The Trade,"
as it calls itself, might. surely have
waited before demanding from the public an
increase in price not yet sanctioned by Parlia-
ment. It has happened in our modern political
history that the Budget as a whole has been
rejected by the House of Commons, and the
Ministry has gone out of office, or that an
obnoxious impost has had to be withdrawn, as in
the case of Mr. Lowe's match tax. This might
happen again. Meanwhile the long-suffering,
income-tax payers bear their augmented burden
4".5.i.ir76/a7L4ilaiingredwit66t, that he intends.
to bring in a bill to enable the dissolution to be
taken in November. It is a bad time of the year
for that purpose, for darkness will have settled
down upon the land before the county polls, and
those in the large boroughs are closed. But if
the general election were postponed until the
spring it would break up the session, whereas
by the proposed arrangement it will be in
working order for a full session's legislation. •
In the racing world the Manchester meeting
will be the great attraction for the -Whitsuntide
holidays. The chief event is, of course, the Cup,
-which is run for on the 28th, and, doubtless, a
large field will be seen at the post to compete
for this rich prize. After this great handicap
has been decided, there is nothing very import-
ant until the Derby, on June 3. The last
Wednesday in May is usually the day fixed for
its decision, but this year it will be the first
Wednesday in June. The race for the "Blue
Riband," the highest of all honours on the turf,
is likely to be an exciting one, as it brings out
some of our best three-year olds. Paradox, the
winner of the Two Thousand, keeps the place of
favourite, although he is closely pressed in the
quotations by Melton. The latter did not run in
the great race at Newmarket, -ant was reserved
for the Derby.
Elections take place this week in Antrim and
Denbighshire; but contests in Irish constitu-
encies so depend upon considerations unknown
to us that we take but a languid interest in
them; and in Denbighshire there is no contest.
The absence of bye-elections this year has been
remarkable. They have not exceeded half-a-
dozen altogether; so that Parliament in its
numerous divisions involving the fate of the
Ministry has had but little indication of the
current of popular opinion in the country. But,
seeing that the present franchise has been super-
seded, and a wholesale redistribution of seats
sanctioned, the loss of the opinion of an electorate
which will soon cease to exist is not a very serious
matter. G. R.