The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-07-07 00:00:00

ART EXHIBITION IN ED,INBURGH.

, The

The first quarter of the financial year ended on
Saturday, and the results are fairly satisfactory. Of
course, it is too early yet to form any opinion as to the
outcome of the whole twelvemonth. The first three
quarters 3 ield usually only about two-thirds of the
year's revenue, the remaining third being collected in
the last quarter. For that reason alone it would be un-
safe to draw an inference with much confidence from
the productiveness of the first three months, so much
may happen to derange all calculations before Christ-
mas has come and gone. But, furthermore, the con-
ditions now governing the yield of the taxes are those
rather of the past nine mouths than of the future. If
the glorious weather now favouring the growth of
the crops continues, the harvest will be good, and a
good harvest cannot fail to make the revenue mcra
productive. A turn in the fortunes of the farmers
will have a great effect upon the whale of the agricul-
tural classes and upon all the trades dependent upon
agriculture, and will stimulate the prosperity of the
whole community. At the same time, abundant
harvests at home and abroad will ensure cheap bread
for the coming year, and thus will make the wager of
the workingclasses moreeffective ; and if the beneficial
effects of a good harvest are heightened by the pre-
servation of peace in the far East as well as in Europe,
the revenue will yield still more bountifully.
Agriculture is still the greatest single industry in
the country, and necessarily, therefore, its depre,•sion
must he felt by the whole community. For several
years we have not got out of our own sun all that
we were in the habit of extracting from it, and we
had to supply the deficiency from foreign sources,
paying for what we bought with the produce of other
industries. We were thus poorer than we should
have been had the season been more propitious.
But although the old elasticity has not returned
to the revenue, the Returns furnish evidence that
the country is fairly prosperous. Profits are not so
large as in periods of good trade, speculation is
absent, and wages are low. But, on the other hand,
profits, if not large, must be fairly remunerative, or
production would not be continued on the present
large scale. The absence of speculation conduces to
the soundness of trade. And wages, if not high, go
farther than at many periods when they were nomi•
nally higher. S 3 far as the present is concerned, then,
we have every reason to be content. And the future
prospect is also good. The character of the harvest
will influence the result more largely than anything
else, and the promise of the crops is splendid.

Board of Manufactures in Scotland has just
opened, in Edinburgh, the most important collection
of •pictures of Old Masters ever seen north of the
Tweed, The Qiieen has sent two pictures by Sir
David Wilkie ot the "'Penny Wedding" and "Blind
Man's Buff ;" and there are upwards of a hundred
other contributions representing the oldest and noblest
families in Scotland.

Ihe collection numbers 654 pictures, and includes
33 Vandykes, 21 Jamieso,nes, 14 Reynolds, 13 Rae
hums, seven Tttians, six Gainsboroughs, and five
Murillos. The exhibition will remain open till
September.