The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-02-17 00:00:00

Our gonbon Corrtspodtvt.

We deem it right to state that we do 'lot at all titj
identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

Few incidents convey a better idea of the vast size
of the metropolis than the Budget of the London
School Board. This body already owes £4,000,000
sterling, and notwithstanding that the rate for educa-
tional purposes is nearly sevenpence in the pound,
the heavy liabilities of the Board continue to increase,
When the Education Bill of 1870 was before Parlia-
ment, it was estimated that the maximum rate would
not exceed threepence in the pound, whereas, as is
now seen, so far as the capital is concerned, it is now
more than double that amount. In the current year
the Board will provide for the instruction of 248,000
children; next year the number will be 270,G00;
Could a return be obtained of the immense number of
children who are not affected by the Board's system
at all, their education'being carried on in private
schools, a still more complete notion would be obtained
of the wide-spreading extent of London.
The addition of well nigh sevenpence in the pound
under one heading to local charges, is an illustration of
the fact that progressive reforms cannot be carried out
without money. The sewering, lighting, and paving
of our towns, the provision of adequate police protec-
tion, and the laying down of a good supply of water,
are very great improvements—albeit some ratepayers
are at times inclined to make a wry face when
the demand notes are presented. For many years

the increase of local taxation has been a constant
theme of discussion, nor at the same time do
Imperial burthens decrease. The County Govern-
ment Bill promised by the Cabinet will deal with

that important question of local taxation in ex-
tending to the country districts the advantages
now enjoyed by the towns. There is, however, scarcely
a probability of its coming on this session. To say

nothing of Ireland, a Corrupt Practices Bill, a
measure for the reform of the Government of London,
a bill for giving the tenants compensation for unex•

hausted improvements in the land, a Parliamentary
Oaths Bill, and a Bankruptcy Bill, are likely fully to
occupy the attention of our legislators during the few
months in which they sit.
Parliament meets late, and Easter comes early. The
Houses will have been sitting only a month when the
Easter Recess arrives, and in that month not much
will have been done besides closing the Debate on the
Address and launching the more important bills upon
the attention of Parliament. The Treasury Bench is very
sully manned, even without Mr. Gladstone, who finds
it necessary to take a somewhat longer rest at Cannes

than had been anticipated. The Ministry begins the
work of the session under circumstances of more

Stan ordinary interest in both Houses. Lord Derby,
who some years ago was spoken of as his father's
successor in the leadership of the Conservative party,
is now the Colonial Secretary
.In la Liberal Cabinet;
and Lord Kimberley now holds the seals of the India
Office instead of those for the Colonies. In the
Commons the Marquis of Hartington, Mr. Childers, Mr.
Dodson, and Sir Charles Dilke all hold different offices
as compare,d with those which they occupied at the
time of the prorogation on the 2nd December; while

three new men—Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice, Mr. John
Kynaaton Cross, and Mr. Henry Robert Brand have
been taken into the Ministry. All these changes have
been effected with a surprisingly small amount cf in.

convenience, the only re-election rendered necessary
being that of Sir Charlea Dilke for Chelsea.
At the beginning_ of a session there are generally
_ _

several writs issued, for as Parliaments run on,
members often find that their health will not stand the
late hours of the House of Commons, and they ac-

cordingly withdraw from legislative life. This step is
spoken of familiarly as the resignation of a seat; but
really there can ben° such thing as a member of Par-
liament resigning the trust which has been given to
him by his constituents. He can only get rid of
It by accepting a post under the Crown, when
the seat becomes vacant ss a matter of course, So
the stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds, the Manor
of Northstead, and the Manor of Ilempholme, are
provided by which members are enabled to retire from
Parliamentary life. To accept the office of steward or
bailiff of either of these manors is quite enough to free
_

a member from attendance in the House of Commons;
they are oonferred by the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
and as a rule are granted upon application as a matter
of course.

The Emigration Returns always possess much in-
terest for a considerable proportion of the population.
They watch how many, quarter by quarter,
leave this over-peopled island, and turn their faces
to the land of promise, either across the
Atlantic, or in the far-off islands of the Auitra-
laaian group. There can be little doubt that this
country finds an increasing difficulty in providing
occupations for the rapidly-augmenting number of her
people, and it is open to question whether a swiftly.
increasing population in an old country is an infallible
sign of national prosperity. In a new land, however,
the case is altogether different; there a large family,

instead of being a burden, as it too frequently is here,

is a source of wealth. In the quarter ending Decem-
ber 31st the proportion of emigrants to a million of
the population, was 1,258 from England, 1,450 from
Scotland, and 1,665 from Ireland, on the whole a
decline from the corresponding period of the previous
year.

Some winters are remembered for their fogs, others
for such a snow-storm as that of two years ago; others,
again, for severe frost ; but the present one will long
live in the memory for its violent gales and its
deluges of rain. The newspapers find that the head-
ing "Storms and Floods" has to be kept in type.
A mild winter is certain to be a wet one; and thus it
comes to pass that while last quarter the average
temperature was higher than usual, the amount of
rain measured at Greenwich was two and a quarter
inches above the average in the corresponding period
of 66 years. This in itself was an enormous quantity
for the land to absorb, but it has been immensely
added to by the heavy rains of the past six weeks.
The floods have, however, been distributed im-
partially, for the same accounts have come from all
parts of the world.
It is yet a long way to the harvest, nut Mr. Bright,

in an eloquent passage, once declared that, although
there are many showers, there is also much sunshine
between the sowing of the seed and the reaping of the
harvest; still the harvest is generally reaped after all.
But for several years the harvest in these islands has
been an indifferent one, owing to the sunless summers.

The late long•continued wet weather has led to the
collection of returns from English and Scotch counties,
which at preeent do not tell a hopeful story of harvest
prospects. Up to the end of January the pro.
portion of the acreage of wheat sown was scarcely

two•thirds of the average; and during the last fortnight
the weather has been so wet that any attempt to
make up the deficiency has proved an impossibility
and a failure. The prolonged rains have rotted much
of the seed, and slugs have devoured much of what
ought to have grown fully to the ear. Our wet
winters and cloudy summers become lees and lees en-
couraging to the growth of wheat, which requires a
great deal of sunshine and a temperature of at least
sixty degrees. We are ceasing to become a great
wheat-producing country, and depend more and more
upon our importations of corn from abroad.
Since the catastrophe in the Ring Theatre at Vienna

In December, 1881, the Metropolitan Board of Works
has very strictly exercised its powers with respect to
the "supervision of the Temples of Thespis in London;
so far as the means of egress is provided in case of a
sudden alarm. The lessees of several theatres have
received notice to make important structural altera-
tions with a view to secure the public safety, and the
Criterion Theatre has been for some time closed. This
etruCture occupies a very remarkable.situation, for it is
below the level of the street, and occupies a considerable
part of the space beneath Piccadilly Circus. The
closing of this building is not, however, intended to
be a final measure. The proprietors have not availed
themselves of the provisional license granted by the
Lord Chamberlain, which would have enabled them
". to keep open the house until the 30th March, but
they are busy with plans for its reconstruction. It is
expected that these will satisfy the requirements of
the Board of Works, and that upon their completion
the Criterion Theatre will be re-opened.

The mention of the augmented stringency which
the Metropolitan Board of Works is applying to this
question of the safety of theatres, is a reminder of the
fact that Captain Shaw, the chief of the London Fire
Brigade, has been down to Osborne, by the special
command of the Queen, and made a thorough exami.
nation of her Majesty's marine residence, with parti-
cular reference to the safety of Osborne House, from
the fear of the spread of fire should it break out.
Captain Shaw, who had the honour of being received
by the Sovereign, has directed the operations of the
Brigade for more than twenty years, and every con-
fidence is placed upon his opinion. Mr. Braidwood
was killed in the Tooley-street fire in June, 1861, when
the flames at one time threatened to seize the whole
of the borough of Southwark, and Captain Shaw was
appointed to succeed him. Although there has since
been no such serious conflagration as that in which
his predecessor lost his life, the present head of the
Brigade has had, and more especially during the past
few months, to deal with some very disastrous fires,
that in Wood-street, Cheapside, having been the most
destructive; and although there is not such peril in
London Ef4 there would be with a city v4th the wooden
side-walks of Chicago, there would 1111 considerable
apprehension but for the knowledge that a thoroughly
,Ampstent offieer WU at the head of Wake'