The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-06-16 00:00:00

fa ur Yonbent gortespouknt.

[We deem it right to state that we do not at all times
Identify ourselves with our correspondent's opinions.]

Hospital Sunday in London is always more. produc-
tive in collections if the weather happens to be fine,
which this year it very fortunately was. Looking at
the vast extent of the metropolis it is worthy of note
that the annual sum subscribed increases with the
gradual expansion of the great capital. Last year it
exceeded £34,000, while it began in 1873 with about
£30,000. The idea was first carried out in the
mayoralty of Sir Sydney Viraterlow, and has been fol.
lowed up by every Lord Mayor who has since been in-
stalled at the Mansion House. At first it was be-
lieved to be extremely doubtful whether a general
fund for the whole of London would be a success;
for the residents in one part of the great town know
little of the wants of the other, and there is no com-
munity of intereet between the wide-spreading prince
of houses and its various portions. Many of the
residents of Belgravia are far better acquainted with
the geography of the Italian lakes, or with the passes
of Alpine summits, than with the surroundings of
Horeleydown, or Wapping, or of Limehouse. But
cn the whole the result has been satisfactory; and the
sentiment is after all a beautiful one that the congre-
gations in the places of worship possessed by the
greatest city in the world, without distinction of sect
or of creed, join heartily once a year in the relief of
unavoidable suffering and distress.
London mualcipal reform having been postponed to
next year, a great meeting has been held at St. James's
Hall to know the reason why. The truth seems to be
that, the new rules of procedure notwithstanding, the
Parliamentary machine works very slowly and cum-
brously. The Bills now before the House of Commons
are not of a party character, such as, for instance,
might be a measure for the redistribution of political
power. The amendment of the Law of Bankruptcy,
the revision of the Patent Laws, the establishment of
a Criminal Court of Appeal, the codification of the

statutes, and the suppression of corrupt practices at
elections—all these are matters in which both parties
are interested. Yet business does not progress with
that rapidity which had been hoped and expected
when the new rules were made.

Looking at every consideration it does not appear
• to men who have to be in their counting houses and
their shops at least eleven months out of the twelve,
that the British Parliament is at all overworked. If
we leave out of account such an extraordinary event
as an autumn sitting, which is never held but for a
special purpose, it is found that Parliament sits five
months in the year. Nominally the time for legisla-
tion is six months; but out of this have to come
the Easter and Whitsuntide recesses, which account
for very nearly a month between them. It can
scarcely be urged that the ordinary membee of the
House of Commons overtaxes his strength by attend•
ing to duty five .months in twelve. With Ministers
it is a very different matter. They are in thair depart.
ments by day, and in the House at night, and at the
fag end of the session look, as they sit upon the
Treasury" Bench, as though tk ey would enjoy the rest
which is in store for them.

There has often been a talk of shortening the Long
Vacation, which, so far as the Law Courts are con-
cerned extends from the Bth of Augx.st to the 2nd of
November. As the judges, in addition to this, get
three weeks' holiday at Christmas, a fortnight at
Easter, and ten days at Whitsuntide, this accounts
for very nearly five months out of the twelve. This is
not so good as Parliament gets; but it Is not bad
as times go. It certainly cannot be said that
the country overworks those who devote themselves to
Its service. Some of the judges are willing that the
Long Vacation should close on the 24th October, on
which day the legal offices are re-opened, instead of
the 2nd November, when the Law Courts again begin
to sit. But other of their lordships de:lare that their
contract with the country has been made upon certain
conditions, and have declined to sanction any altera-
tion. It may be added that the visit of Lord Coleridge
and some of the judges to the United States this
autumn is looked for ward to with considerable interest
by the Bench and the Bar on the other side of the

The fine summer weather continues to bring crowds
of visitors to the Fisheries Exhibition. There is
plenty to be seen for the modest fee of admission, and
the sixpenny fish dinner is immensely popular, so
much so that there are always hundreds waiting to get
into the crowded dining hall. There is a multitude of
things to be seen, and there are long distances to be
traversed; but a plan of the place is easily obtainable,
and one has ample time to admire the sagacity, the
foresight, and the industry which have brought to-
gether such an interesting collection. The popularity
of those institutions known as aquaria has very
much increased of late years, as witness the succass of
th, se at Brighton, at the Cr; stal Palace, and at West-
minster.

The Bright celebration at Birmingham has had an
interest far beyond the boundaries of the great mid-
land capital. The right hon, gentleman had repre-
sented that important constituency twenty-five years
in August last, having been elected when Lord Pal-
merston was at the height of his power and at the
full tide of his popularity, in August, 1857. But the
recess of last year was not considered opportune for
holding a political celebration described as a political
silver wedding, seeing that Mr. Bright had just retired
from the Cabinet en a point of fundamental difference
with his colleagues. Now, however, that the excite-
ment over the Egyptian campaign has passed away,
It has been determined to hold this commemoration;
and as Mr. Bright has for the last forty years
been a most conspicuous figure in our public life,
a reading public infinitely more numerous than his
own great constituency have looked forward with
interest to what he has to say upon such an occasion.
It may be pointed out that comparatively few members
of the House of Commons sit for the same place for an
unbroken period of a quarter of a century. Mr.
Gladstone has represented five constituencies in Mei
years—an average of ten years to each. His longest
term of service was for the University of Oxford—
eighteen years. Some members break their connection
with constituencies and resume it after the lapse of
a Parliament; but Mr. Bright's association with
Birmingham has been unbroken. There is one
and only one, who has sat for the same place 53 years
continuously, and that is Mr. Christopher Talbot, who
was first returned for Glamorganshire in 1830, two
years before the passing of the great Reform Bill, and
still retains the confidence of that important county.
The long period of political calm which has settled
down upon the land has not been broken by the bye.
elections. The constituencies were diverse in all
particulark There was the borough ef Derby, his-
torically Liberal, the northern division of Leicester-
shire, historically Conservative so far as the last fifty
years are concerned. As to the politics of the county
Wexford, the considerations which rule Irish elections
are not at all times understood on this side of St.
George's Channel.
One of the most attractive spectacles to be wit-
nessed in London during the season, whilh is now
at its height, is the meet of either the Four-in-
Hand Club or the Coaching Club, near the Powder
Magazine in Hyde Park. Five-and-twenty or
thirty vehicles usually assemble on these occasions,
.ome with four greys, others with four bays, or four
roans, four browns,-or four blacks as the case may be.
Royalty is seldom absent from these meets. The
Prince of Wales generally occupies a seat on the
box of one of the coaches, while the Princess and
her daughters are as a rule, in a carriage watch-
ing the interesting gathering. The Duchess of
Teck and her children are not often away; and
when the Princess Louise was in England her
Royal Highness attended these meets on horse-
back The interest which the public take in
theee.gatherings is shown by the enormous multitudes
which assemble at such times. The green sward over
a great space of the Park disappears, and the grass is
covered by a vast crowd of human beings who have
some to witness the procession of coaches round the
Pare—and a very picturesque sight it is—preparatory
to the distinguished company driving off for luncheon,
either to Huriltilkkam or to the Orleans Club at
Twickenham.