The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-11-18 00:00:00

SATURDAY, NOV, la, 1870.

tOOLSTON'S DAY" AT BRISTOL.

The annual gatherings at Bristol of the societies
sounded in honour of Edward Colston were held on
Monday. The amount of charity dispensed by these
associations will be gathered from a summary of their
respective operations during tile past yeer e—The
"Anchor" (Liberal) Society has granted six annuities
of £l3 each' ; two grants of £lO each were made for
apprenticeghip, and 330 distressed persons received
doles. The " Dolphin " (Conservative) Society has
now 68 annuitants of £7 10a. each, sad 90 apprentices
fin its books, and upwards of 1,200 indigent persona
have been relieved by the society since the last anniver.
eery. The "Grateful" (neutral) Society has during
the past year relieved nearly 900 poor and deserving
married women in childbirth. An alteration, long
contemplated, has also been carried into effect, bY
granting annuities to persons of not less than 65 years of
age, instead of apprentice fees to boys, which, under
the altered conditions of capital and labour, are now
found to be rarely required.
THE ANCHOR.
The 107th anniversary of the "Anchor," which is the
Liberal Society, was held at the Grand Hotel, Broad.
street, Mr, Samuel Lang acting as President of the
year, Among the chief guests were Mr. Lowe, M.P.,
and Mr. Samuel Morley, M.P. Mr. Lowe replied to
the toast—" The Liberal Members of the House of
Parliament "—.-and in the course of his speech (after
come preliminary remarks leading up to the subject)
said :

_ . . . . I desire respectfully to draw attention to Lord
Beaconsfield's speech at the GnildhalL lam not g ,ing to
take any party view of the case, but to draw your attention
to this speech as a subject worthy of your most serious con-
sideration, and involving consequences the magnitude of
which can hardly be over-rated. Before doing so, let me
make a preliminary proteA. It seems to be the fashion in the
newspapers of the day never to accept what a man says as
being what he means. (Laughter.) The newspapers, of course,
are infallible, and, being infallible, such good gifts cannot
be left under a busheL They are thus bound to exercise that
infallibility and they are constantly In the habit of pro-
phesying. When these prophecies do not come true of
course they get into great difficulties. (Laughter.) The
ne wepaperi now cry out,—" Why say any more upon this
sutject f People have- spoken, and the Government must
Obey the wishes of the people." But then the Govern:, nt
do not obey the wishes of the people. When Lord
•Beaconsfield had to speak at Aylesbury he expressed the
utmost abhorrent* of the doctrines preached not by a few
Persons, but by the people at large. I must remind you
that it was pot merely what Mr. Gladstone or the Duke of
Argyll, or I Save said:. You will reniembes what Shake-
speare makes Talbot sky When, he Jon to ipisit. the, Countess
of Auvergne,--- • • " " No, o; lam but shadow of myself.
- - -

snadow
YOtietter.deceiv'd ; my setbstance is not here,
For What you see is but the gmallest part
And least proportion of humanity.. -- '
I tell you, Madam, were thawhole'frame here;
It is of such a spacious lofty pitch,. .
Your roof were not sufficient tecontain it."
is the case here. It is not what Mr. Gladstone or any
retie else says, powerful though his voice may be, and worthy
et all reverence and respect as in my opinion that voice is
(cheese); but it is what the people of England says. And this
is not to be set aside as though it had never happened. It
ought to have a prominent place in any discussion .upon
these subjects. Returning to Lord Beaconsfield's speech, he
ins he has two ovjects in view. One is the maintenance
Of peace • the other the protection of the unfortunate
Christianinhabitants of Turkey. No sooner has he said this
than he goes on to mention a third object, which, in fact,
entirely overwhelms . and destroys the second of the two
objects he . had previously announced. Sweeping aside
these two objects, he says that the real object of the Go-
vernment has in view is to maintain the independence and
tutegrity of the Turkish Empire. Tie says that the main-
tenance of the integrity and independence of the Turkish
Empire is identical with peace. He does net go on to
taY that it is identical with the objtcts of the Porte,
ellud. of course, he could not say so. It comes, there-
"re, to this—everybody is agreed that it the Chris-
tian subjects of the Turks are to be relieved from
ePpreasion and misgovernment, you must not trust in Turks.
All persons, however much they may differ in other things,
agree distinctly in this. Lord liartington, a moderate and
reasonable man, who has been to see things for himself, and
Who is not at all inclined to extremes, holds this opinion dis-
tinctly. Lord Beacousfield himself, however, combated that
°lPinion, and it is the fact that, in the opinion of all men
entitled to express an authoritative opinion on this question,
Turkey cannot be trusted to do justice to her subjects if she
Pledged herself 10,000 times over to do so; and her Christian
subjects would not be a bit more safe than they are at this
Moment, when they are at the mercy of every wretch who
tries to maltreat them. The speech of the Prime Minister,
therefore, clearly amounts to this, that the Government are
entirely against any efficient remedy for the grievances of
the Christians inerarkey, because no effectual relief can be
'4,frorded to them except through some other power than
Oirkey, which is unwilling or unable to give that pro-
efttion. According to the Prime Minister we are
co renounce all effectual methods of relieving these
lenfortunate people, and leave them to the mercies
t'f the Turk, with the hypocritical pretext that we are
thus doing something to improve their condition. There
eihg only one way of protecting these poor people—vie., by
eeteriering with the independence of the Turkish Empire.
Lord Beaconsfield says "I will protect these people, but I
;Till not interfere with the independence of the Turkish
l'urePlre." This is the result of the Prime Minister's speech;
I:tit if this be. so. I can imagine nothing discouraging; but
,e,een I ought to mention one thing—the newrpspers, as I
-"`u. are Prophetic; and, having got into difficulties by their
V'roDhecies, find it necessary to get out of them. (Leughter.).
ecoeueeerney have observed how Lord Beaconsfield's speech was
u:'"'"d• "Oh," said a leading journal, "We all knew Lord
,mi-cro,oefield. There is a sort of freemasonry between him
end „te_ue People of England; he may. say what he pleases,-
itYhall believe as little as they please. It is only
re that can be deceived' by what he says. After all,
is only
en 'Pretty Fanny's way.'" (Laughter.) Now, that is
‘reAlLy funny and ridiculous, but it is also extremely ruischte-
ve-"e- (Cheers.) I make most earnest protest against it,
eecanee it is equivalent to saying that this lust country,•
the mother of liberty, the mother .of Parliaments, the
e4tntrY to whom .all Site world looks as a model and
Pattern of-geod and liberal government, is content to be
rtprelented by a Man whose weeds it won't accept when
eY ere rooiteempbatitelly given; 'but understand them in
totally different sense from what any one else would under=
n
d them. Now, it seems 'to me that this is a miserable
trifling with our destinies in a matter of peace and •
(Cheers.) It hi conduct, unworthy of the greatpOsltionwaWre
enjoy. (Cheers.) But then I maintain it is not true • it is
simply the newspaper way of getting out cf
diill'eulty.
Nothing can have been more consistent than the conduct of
the Government in this matter. They have expressed them-
selves quite opposed td the popular movement on this sub-
sect ; they have denounced it in every way, and bele.)
denounced those who supported it. Lord Beaconsfield has
Rone on holding steadily to the doctrine of the indepen-
renee of the Turkish Empire. lie reiterates it now.
iWhy disbelieve him? Why put that Insult upon bins?
Why maintain, though he is a Tory, leader (laughter),
"let every, word he rays is false ; that he mice
;cords -
Contrary to what lie means Gentlemen,
e.will net put,that insult upon him. I refuse to believe that
_Vel 'words
,che not convey his meaning. Ile upholds the in-
Dendance and integrity of the Turkish Empire. Further,
after Lord Salisbury's appointment,—and I think it a very
trzoPer appointment,—the Prime Minister gave him a part-
g blessing. (Laughter) It amounted to this, "Go, my
relieve the Turkish rayahs from their miseries, but
Vmsi you don't give up the independence of Turkey." Now,
'ward Salisbury may, on the one hand, protect the Turkish
I...Llehm, and he may on the other hand, maintain the inde-
rdence of Turkey. But I say that he cannot do both; ills
ueYond the power of human nature to do so. Therefore it is
tinli fair to suppose that the Prime Ministet and Lord Salis-
-4,"-rf, Who receives this mission, are both penetrated with
rte idea that it is their duty above all things to maintain the
ottgrlty of Turkey. doing nothing of any importance for the
ees'r,ktth *nails. Now, et I am right, as I believe I am, in
7Yirg that nothing can be done to protect the rayahe elii-
-444 except by the intervention of some other Pewee, I
say that Lord Beaconsfield's policy is a cruel and wicked
eelueten, which can lead in the future to nothing but eviL

• • • • • • • •
we know that France and Germany are occupied in watch-
;;llg each other, and will not intent re. From Austria nothing
" 2 to be expected, for the repulsion between her defferent
ces is stronger than the attraction which exists between
refo• There remains Russia. Now consider the positions
..44 which the policy of the Biglish Government will place
—rie .111,1 a She will appear in the eyes of the oppreved
Zurts,_ tins in the East as their champion—as the Crusader
la to rescue their people from their enemies—the Pro.
testant Mecca to which their eyes will be turned, while
Th
bhilanthrophic England will not stir a finger in their behalf.
--e necessary result will be that England will sink in the
ittle of nations and Russia will rise at the same
You have emboldened Turkey to -brave Russia,
lit'"4l' can be the result except a collision ten times
- dangeroue than you have at present. (Hear, hear.)
• emen, I hope I have shown that the policy of the
rattient is not a pacifies policy ; is, on the contrary, a
V.lleY which tends directly, though not, perhaps, imme-
r34`"tel7, to war. Look at it from another point of view.
eZDose the:policy recommended by Lord Derby be adopted,
(3
tis to say, something in the nature of autonomy, some
ei.eca,l government, which would be entirely under the con-
o,f the Turkish authorities, for this is really Lord
s proposal. .The moment the treaty is signed pro-
X"Atiag for such a state of things difficulties will Immo-
utately arise, the- . Turks will do - nothing to prevent the
tChristians from being maltreated, there will be horrible op-
efea!,k)ns• and, before two years. are over you will be involved
ee_au the difileulties, greatly aggravated, which now Mat.
~eniel cheers.)
THE DOLPHIN. •
• .
tivTthe 12C4h anw-Iversary of the "Dolphin." (Conzerva-
) Society was celebrated by the members of the
corninittee, the past president, and a few invited guests
thbreakfasting at the. G,rand Hotel. Broad-street, with
e President for the year,. Mr., W. Gale Coles. At
half-past
ston P).A'clOck the
,President, committee, the Col-
boys„ aPiirentices, and. others went th . into e Cathe-
lar dral, where vine service was held. There was a
ge congregs .ditiop, and an able sermon was preached
ti by the Rey. Ceereen,33rooke ersetor of .Bath. A collec-
..ou in aiu. of t)gie Nndasof.:the,charitiwae made at the
ose of the service. The dinner viaibald, as on the
lOttr prevldtvi'oecas-lo'ns- , in-the Victoria o-ornr, which
i
Were tasteflidly decorated for.the.occasiou.. 'The pre-
clents Mr. Gale. Coles, ivas supported by the
te,haneeller br 'ExCheciner (Sir Stafford Norilicote),
ue Right lion, Stephen Cave, M.P.,
lie the president
, et (11r. R. Bright, M.P.), the Hon. R. E. S. Finn-
ba. -
P., Mr: Hunter Rodwell, M.P., and Mr. W.
Wait, M.P. The customary loyal . and patriotic
--Yat,t3 having been duly proposed and honoured, in
reLY to the toast "The Health of Her Majesty's
'°llgthMisters " Sir Stafford Northoote spoke at great
uPeech
I.Ve make the fAlowing extracts from his
ulh
wa, on. friend, in associating day name with this toast,
41,v__a good e =Ts "(Ugh to say that at period of the year you
t be anxious to know what I have in store for you.
correct my hon. friend ; it is rather I who at this
ci ot the year am anxious to know what you have in
,e'veo for me. (A laugh) You, I doubt not, watch the
14,:ntle returns with interest; so do L (Laughter.) 1
co watch tho accounts of trade with anxiety;
.cnd I
to a place like the city of Bristol anxious .to knoW
i;.reithee
You can hold out to me any hap° that the long
teeto of depression which they say always accompanies
40 tenure et Mee by a Conservative Ministry (laughter) is
thevi:Lni,thg to en end, and whether the tide is turning in
It. .""/ In which my hon. friend has so elcquently dez,crined
hie There is something prophetic in the vision of my hon.
reavnd, that the tide may be turning to prosperity, and that I
net' fo store for you, if not a decrease, at all events
ha pp. increase of taxation (Hear, lust) It we are
tilivy enough to keep peace, and to witness a revival of pros-
ieralty, of which there rseeni to be some indications, I hope
ch. ar _Yewill end well, and that we may begin next year
; and I confess ills with a cheerful spirit I meet
wee on the present occasion. (Cheers.) . • •
• ‘.s Nye hear rumours from time to time of dissensions in the
eesoinet ; of anothot _one Party in the Government having the better
• er PArtng y; ot one member in et the Administration Wishing one Vei and the ov r 1 d b another thieg.' • l'horse who ythers who •
owish
11mnd statements of this
kind may be induced to en e rut:
tErtain them 'Other bec Inte the
,• ;fish is father•to the thought (a laugh), or le,cause expetiace
to other Potties points to the possibility Of such things liiours. (Laughter 4 This, at all events
LPresent Government whether it hei I may say for the
atelligence ng , or the want of anythi else, rs proof of waet of
180 t
wore never was a Party more united than ethnoze say ; but
kt Dreamt directing the counsels of Majeet whoy. (Lareoud
aPplause.) .
tell what are.the objects with reference to for
IfFHerA affairslajesty's Government had in view ? They were
4edingly well expressed only.a few days ago by thehl m
rori
Joiner in his speech at the -Guildhall b(C
enquet.
,rie had two great objects ieWel lsa taitt- &vat and perm
!ipurit object of maintaining European peace, and we had
also the object of promoting, as far as possible, the good
W,rernrno ent of the Provinces of the Turkish Emidre.
bn we are told by some persons that those two objects

¶:- •)

are inconsistent with one another, -1- entirely deny It. I
deny it, not only as being not necessarily true, but as
being, if we are wise and sensible, necessarily untrue;
because I believe it to be impnvible really to secure the
peace of Europe unless we teke steps also for the 'improved
administration of the Provir ces of Trrkey. (Hear, hear.)
As long as you leave that sore Open, as long as you do
nothing to heal what is at the bottom of the original cause of
these disturbances, any peace thlt you may promote for the
moment will be but a lion° w.pe.tce, and be but,as a patch-
work, a piece 61 stickfng-plaster put over a wound- va en
there is 'festering matter left still below. If we are really
and truly to strive for peace we must strive for peace
upon &solid Lundation ; and that has to be done in respect
of a country in which so many elements of trouble are to
be found. Well, but if that is the case, consider
candidly the enormously difficult task which we
have before us. If it were EOW put into the hands, I will
not say of the present Government, but of the wisest men
you could find in England, to deal with this problem and
they were told the Government of Turkey would do what they
desired, and that, the other Powers of Europe being entirely
paclie in the matter, that they could do as they pleased—
even with such favourable conditions as those you would find
that the task was of the greatest difficulty. This is not a
case in which we have a simple evil to deal with; it is not a
case in which you have an evil of recent growth to deal
with. . . .

lEven if you were to drive away every Turk from the Cor-
tinent of Europe yeti would still have a large and d fficult
Mahomedan population to deal with. That is a difficulty
which many lay aside and think nothing of. (Hear, hear)
But there are other questions besides. The difficulties there
are in existence in those countries are not simply such as
those that have attracted so much attention. Those horrors
and atrocities of which we have heard were, of course, of a
character which thrilled your very blood, and it was im-
possible to retain the command of your own judgment
while you were hearing of them. In point of fact what was
even woree than these occurrences was that they were not
merely accidental occurrences once upon a time, but were
symptomatic of every ttage of the government of those
Provinces, and were difficulties of a chronic character that
were symptomatic, not no much of atrocity and cruelty, but
of the weaknees of the Central Government which is mi.
able to put down those atrocities., Nobody now seriously
believes that the Government was indifferent to such horrible
atrocities as these, but what was serious was that they had
not the power to restrain them, and, therefore, you must take
care in whatever you do not to take away the power of re-
straint unless you are able to substitute some better power
of restraint for the evils which caused the had feeling between
the different classes in those countries. Rtmember that the
system of taxation there is not like our system of taxation
here, upon which we may afford to pass jokes among our-
selves, and upon which a Chancellor of the Exchequer may
claim sometimes even the sympathies of his audience. You
must remember that it is a system of most grievous hardship
and oppression, inflicted not so much by the officers of the
Government as by the farmers of the taxes, landowners,
and others, and it involves such hardship as to lead
to constant difficulties in the conduct of the affairs of
that country. Well, that being so, you have a most difficult
problem to deal with, even if in dealing with it you are able
to db as yott please. Seeing the long time these evils have
prevailed, and looking at their complicated nature, you
have a problem which is one of the most difficult in the
world to deal with. I don't say it is insoluble. Heaven for-.
bid ! I belleve.it may be possible—l trust it be pos-
sible—to find a solution ; but I say ills one of the greatest
difficulty and delicacy, and one which requires to be ap-
proached with the greatest calmness and consideration,
and remember, besides, that you have the further compli-
cation est other Powers being interested in this question,
which you cannot afford to disregard, and Powers of which
you do no wish to be unreasonably jealous. Ido not
wish to say one word expressive of jealousy of other
Powers of Europe in this matter. I think we do
ourselves an injustice, and we do other Powers an injustice,
by the suspicions current among us. I tee even to-day
the expressions that have been used in a public speech by
the Emperor of Rustia have been caught at as if there
were something in those expressions to cause alarm. To
me they hear a wholly different meaning, I do not see
anything in those expressions to induce me to believe the
Emperor of Russia is not anxious, and earnestly anxious,
to promote the peaceable solution of this question.
I think it is highly probable and highly natural that the
Emperor of Russia, especially viewing the excitement
which has prevailed in large portions of his dominions and
among those who are of ten referred to as the secret
societies, or the Sclavonic Committee!, who have had so
much to do in fomenting the recent Servian war—that the
Emperor has been anxious to prove to his own people that
he is not neglecting the cause which they have at heart,
and that it is not necessary for them to have recourse to all
the irregular and mischievous outbreaks; but that he Is
determined as the Ruler of the State, and by his Ambassador
to the forthcoming Conference prepared to deal in this grave
time in the spirit of fair and reasonable conciliation. (Hear,
hear.) That which I believe to be his spirit, I believe to be
the spirit of all the other Governments concerned, and for
the simple reason that ills for the Interests of all the Govern-
ments to bring about a peaceable solution of the matter,
and not to allow the terrible break up to take olace, which,
though it may in some way or other further particular
ambitious designs on the part of particular individuals, yet
must on the whole, be the cause of iejury to all parties
concerned. To England; no doubt, peace is a matter
of the highest possible concern, because our widely spread
Empire leads us to require peace for our prosperity every-
where. To all other countries peace is of the highest im-
portar ce, and I firmly and conscientiously believe all the
Governments entering the Conference eo desire to bring
about a peaceful solution. (Cheers.) Well, we have had
some experience of trying events lately; we have seen a
large amount of confusion and a great deal of bloodshed,
which had re-occurred in the war which is now happily
nearly brought to an end. (Cheers.) I say brought to an
end, because, although an armistice is not peace. I cannot
bring myself to believe that the war as it was can break out
again. . . . .

I do not desire on the present occasion to make a Party
speech, because I feel that in the exceeding difficulty, gravity
and delicacy of our position it is most important that we
should avoid everything that can be considered irritating.
I(Cheers.) Many men who (lifter from us in p, lities and sit
:on the opposite side of the Home will take up the Blue Book
'and- fled fault with us for our omissions and for our commis-
sions. Many of them are ready, even at some sacrifice of
their own opinion of what might have been the best course,
to give the• Government a loyal and generous support in
bringing about a pacific settlement of the question.
(Rear, hear.) They may say,—" If it had been we
who were guiding the certiage we might have taken
a different road ; but we know that it is petter
that you should follow your road, though it may
not be so good a one as ours, than that we should be
fighting as to whether you should turn to the right or the
left. if we are going in the same direction, and when it would
be dangerous to stand still and mite no progress," (Hear,
hear) Therefore I rejeice in the language which Is used
by many of Our political opponents. (Hear, hear) - We shall
be prepared to meet them and have much to thank them for.
As to the spirit in which they make their criticisms, I
trust the country will, as a whole, give us fair play, and
give oer representative who is going to join the Conference
fair play. (Loud cheers.) I am cat tam you could have no
man more admirably fitted for the task than Lord Salisbury
(cheers), who is EO old and dear a friend of mine that I
do not trust myself to speak of him; but you know
well that Lord Salisbury Is one who unites with great in-
telligence, remarkable ability, and fir mness of character,
and with strength which will be invaluable on the present
occasion (hear, hear), he will look at the matter from a high
point or alew. He is going at great personal sacritice, at a
very trying time of year to a man, lam sorry to say,, not very
strong, for a journey in the winter, and he has an tenormoba
mass of official work which he cannot easily lay aside. He is
going with the simple ol ject of doing his best for his country
and for the peace of the world. (Hear, hear.) Lord Salisbury
will have the generous support of his countrymen in that
which he has undertaken. .. . It is not that Lord Salisbury is
going on a vague and indefinite errand, he will go
out fully possessed of the mind and feeling of the Cabinet
on this question. [[is Lordship will be prepared to meet
the other Powers and their representatives in the discussion
with a full knowledge of the views of his colleagues, views
which I feel satisfied, if ultimately successful in bringing
them to bear, will meet with the approval of the British
Parliament and of the country. (Loud applause.) I do not
think it would be expedient that we should be pulling up
our fl3wers to show how they are intended to grow
(laughter), impatient to destroy the work which we have
taken in band, by encouraging a canvass of every particular
which will have to be discussed. (Hear, hear) This is no
sham attempt at a se:element, but en attempt made with a
full eonvictton that not only we ourselves, but all the other
Powers of Europe who are parties to the Conference are
earnest in endeavouring to bring about a settlement. (Hear.)
It may be that the difficulties are insuperable, and that
success will not attend our efforts. I will not forecast
the result of failure, but I think there is every reasonahle
probability to hope the desires of those who will meet
together will be sufficient to accomplish our ob-
ject ; and the great questions, difficult though they be,
will not be found beyond the powers of honest, unselfish-
seeking diplomacy to bring about a satisfactory settlement.
(Loud cheers) . . . . •

At the conclusion of the proceedings Mr. Paul, the
hon. secretary of the committee, read the report, which
stated that the collection was the largest ever made by
this society—viz., £1,281145. 6d., and that Mr Richard
Bright was chosen President for the ensuing year,
_