The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-02-28 00:00:00

Our ranhn Grartspubtni.

rire deem It right to stPte that we do not at all timed'
2dentify ourselves with our c orrespondeut's opinions.]

The varied scene suggestive of sadness, excitement,
ud enthusiasm witnessed on the departure of a
famous regiment for what is familiarly termed the
seat of war has become far more frequent of late
years than in the earlier history of the generation.
True, there were the embarkations which followed in
rapid succession when we declared hostilities with
Russia in 1854, and scarcely had war with Russia
been brought to an end than the necessity for sup-
pressing the Indian Mutiny arose. But after that
there was a long spell of peace, and it
was not until the closing years of the
last Parliament that the spectacles were re-
vived which carried the minds of those in middle
life back to a page of national history which had long
since been closed. Afghanistan, Zululand, the Trans-
vaal, 17gypt, the Soudan—such have been the desti-
nations of our soldiers during the last six or seven
years, the return in some cases, as from Egypt in
November, 1882, being welcomed by the Queen and
made the occasion of a great popular ovation. The
leaving of the Coldstreams, the Scots Guards, and the
Grenadiers for the Soudan—the latter after having
been addressed by her Majesty in person—are
amongst the latest incidents of an exciting period
productive of events which have concentrated to an
•e aordinary degree the attention of the people.

Her Majesty's deep interest in her military and I
naval forces has always been manifested in time of
war. Many of us remember the visits paid by the
Queen and the Prince Consort to the hospitals con-
taining those of the wounded who had been brougha
from the Crimea, and her affixing the medals to the
breastz of the men who had distinguished them-
selves on the field of battle. It was her
Majesty who instituted the coveted distinction of
the Victoria Cross, for the immediate recognition
of valour in the face of the enemy. It always
stands first in the list of honours enumerated
as belonging to a general officer, thus: Sir Robert
Lloyd Lindsay, V.C., K.C.8., M.P. At the news of
an engagement, which have been of late so numerous
and so sanguinary, the Queen is the first to telegraph
her sympathy with t'he wounded and her condolence
with the survivors of the slain. And within an hour
or so of her return from Osborne to Windsor, after
suffering from the effects of a severe cold, her Majesty
inspected the Grenadier Guards, and in a brief address
bade them God-speed in the perilous expedition on
which they have been desnatched.
The regulations for the press drawn up as a result
of the dynamite outrage on the 24th January. were
relaxed by the Speaker of the House of Commons
when their unnecessary stringency was pointed out to
him; but those for the admission of strangers remain,
and as is generally the case, the innocent are punished
for the crimes of the guilty. The Stranger's Gallery
is perhaps as uncomfortable a place as was ever de-
vised by the ingenuity of man, and even a glance at a
work of reference there, was promptly rebuked by the
doorkeeper as "strictly out of order." But it was
generally filled, and the sovereign people of England
sat there content with the scanty accommodation
which had been provided for those who had paid
for the whole of that palatial pile. But
on the night when the Parliamentary sittings were
resumed—one cf great public interest, when under
ordinary circumstances the gallery would have been
thronged—there were five persons in it. The wonder
is that even these were enabled to run the gauntlet of
the restrictions which now hedge the admission of
outsiders to the debates. Many a country visitor to
London has enjoyed a night in the Stranger's
Gallery, through the courtesy of a member of Parlia-
ment in granting an order; but in future it is greatly
to be feared that in this respect the disappointments
will exceed the gratifications.
Politicians have been speculating on what would
happen if by any possible combination of parties in
the House of Commons the present Government found
itself unable to carry on the business of the country.
The Franchise Act is not to come into operation until
the Ist of January next year, and the Redistribution
Bill, a necessary corollary of that measure has to be
passed this session, so that both may come into work-
ing order together. Recalling the circumstances of
the last Reform Bill, it may be remembered
that in 1867, as now, a measure was passed
dealing partially with the question, leaving the re-
mainder until the session of 1868. Early in that
session, however, Mr. Gladstone defeated the Con
servative Government over his Irish Church resolu-
tions; but Mr. Disraeli as he was then, neither re-
signed office nor dissolved Parliament. With the
assistance of the Opposition, the Prime Minister of
that day completed his scheme of Reform, passed a
Registration Bill calling into action the new con-
stituencies, and did not go to the country until all was
ready under the new legislative machinery for the re-..
presentation of the people.
Meanwhile the House of Commons has shown that
the Redistribution Bill is to be pushed forward. It
is to have precedence of all other business whenever
it is set down for consideration, and as the Opposition
joined their forces with those of the Government in
defeating the Irish members who protested against
the arrangement, the measure may be regarded as one
to be especially dealt with by the House and not by
any particular party. A surprise to many is the
rapidity with which the Boundary Commissioners
have done their work. They did not begin until the
end of December, and their report was ready when
Parliament assembled. In England and Wales alone
eighty-one local inquiries were held.
The excitement of more absorbing topics has in no
way interfered with the preparations for the Inven-
tions' Exhibition of the ensuing spring. The changes
in the building, which have been rendered necessary,
are making good progress; and as there are more
than two months to the opening day, the Commis-
sioners have every hope that everything will be ready
by the appointed time. The marvellous success of
that which was last year popularly known as the
" Healtheries," has often been the subject of com-
ment, and was spoken of at the recent hall-yearly
meeting of the Crystal Palace shareholders, one of
whom suggested that a great deal of it was due to the
power of the popular shilling. At the Health Exhi-
bition, on the payment of this coin, the visitor saw
everything, whereas at the Crystal Palace he has to
spend twelve or thirteen shillings before he can wit-
ness everything that is to be seen there.
Whenever the war in the Soudan may be brought
to a close its associations will be surrounded with
inemories of the loss of valuable life, not often
sacrificed in encounters with savage tribes. Tbree
generals have been killed already—Gordon, Stewart,
and Earle, to say nothing of officers of lesser grades.
There was a time when recollection's of Kaffir skir-
mishes were fresh in the mind, and we rather des-
pised a barbarian foe. But that has gone, as shown
by the fact that we are now sending out our best men
to fight the forces of the Mandi. The better the
quality of the soldier the deeper the regret at his
loss, and upon that principle we can quite understand
and explain the excitement in Dublin, on Sunday,
when the report spread through the city that the
troopship Lydian Monarch, with 220 of the Royal
Irish Lancers on board, had foundered in the
Channel. „

Of one thing there seems to be very little doubt—
that the war is telling upon the receipts of the London
theatres. For several months last year i t wasa
Temple of Peace, which acted in a similar direction—
namely,. the Health Exhibition. Now the large
number of military ofEcers who have gone to the
Soudan by being withdrawn from London are unable
to devote that time to dramatic entertainments which
the lessees found so very useful in drawing other
society. "There's always something" is a saying
which all of us have heard at some time in our lives,
and it is forcibly illustrated in the recent experiences
of London theatrical managers.