The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-04-19 00:00:00

TBE PITO'CRI34trPOE CPSFRVER.

which twonld give redress and see fair-play..
Anti he also found that so long as he chose to
remain a forester there was no reason why he
I should not remain one; for even in the event of
a court being dissolved by a vote of the majority
of the members, if he was one of the minority the
" High Court," would take to him on the same
terms as those which he had previously had
with the defunct court. There was another,
which he was not ashamed to own was not the
lightest inducement to him, and that was ke
found that in their courts the Foresters enjoyed
the social glass together. He would tell the
chairman and those other gentlemen present
that although drink was allowed in the court
room that if any member misbehaved himself or
got intoxicated the Chief Ranger had the power
to inflict a fine on that individual and to order
him to leave the room. He would tell them,
however, that during the whole 16 years during
which he had been a member the Chief Ranger
had never had occasion to exercise that power—
(cheers). The speaker then referred to insur-
ance societies, and said he once readlan able re-
view in one of the leading magazines which dis-
cribed the latter as being affairs which were
generally got up by a few indigent persons solely
for their own self aggrandisement. It said the
modes operandi was something after the follow-
ing manner. A few individuals of the above
description got together, hired an office in a
respectable locality, furnished it with a desk and
a few stools ; dressed a small boy in a very flash
livery, and then issued flaming prospectuses de-
scribing the gloat wealth of the projected com-
pany, and got a whole lot of names similar to
those of men in a good position with the object
of giving it an air of respectability. Having
baited the trap they then waited like spiders for
the silly flies which were sure to be caught by the
above. As long as ever the thing flourished
they went ahead. There was one class of men
which such societies as those could not possibly
do without, and that was the agents. There
was a time when he (the speaker) would doubt-
less have found it munch more lucrative to have
been an agent to an insurance society than to
have been a member of the Ancient Order of
Foresters ; but there was one thing which pre-
vented him from becoming one, and that was
his conscience. For a man to be an agent be
ought to have no conscience. He then read an
extract from a newspaper describing the number
of Foresters at the present time all over the
world ; the money that was received in and paid
out on account of death and sickness; and the
various charitable and benevolent enterprises
which were undertaken by thew ; amongst the
latter being the support of two lifeboats on the
East Coast of Eng!aud, and said lie thought he
could leave those facts to agents of insurance
societies to put in their pipes and smoke. He
referred to the discussions which sometimes
took place iu the courts during Os transaction
of business ; and said that he himself loved dis-
cussion, as lie thought it frequently enabled
people to arrive at a sound conclusion, and so
long as epithets and personalities were excluded
it was bound to be beneficial, lie then returned
his sincere thanks to all the subscribers who had
helped forward that testimonial, and especially
the members of Court Foley, Lyttelton, and
Garbaldi, who had formed the "Testimonial
11 Committee." He especially thanked Brother
I Hunt, upon whoge shottlders had fallen the
greatest portion of the labour, and to whose
exertions, doubtless, the great success which
bad attended the affair was chiefly due. He
should prize that testimonial as long as he
lived; in fact prize it was a feeble expression to
pourtray the deep gratitude with which he would
cherish it to the end of his days. die concluded
by asking those members of the order who were
present to respect the laws of Forestry by which
they were governed. Even If there was a bad
law as long as it was in force they should obey
it, at the same time using every legal means in
their power to get them amended. At the con-
clusion he was tremendously applauded.
Mr. Hunt responded on behalf of that portion
of the " Testimonial Committee" composed of
members of Courts Foley and Lyttelton ; and
Mr. Mobberley on behalf of Court Garibaldi.

Several other toasts were given and responded
to, amongst them being that of "the Visitors,"
responded to by Mr. Jukes; "The Chairman "
proposed by Mr. Hunt, and supported by dr.
Field; and the "Health of Mr. Stringer," which
was proposed by Mr. Field. The toast of the
" Chairman " was given with "Foresters Fire,"
and was responded to by Mr. Brooks in a neat
speech, in which he described the Foresters as
a very useful class of men and expressed his
willingness to do all he could for them and their
order on every available opportunity.
In proposing "The Honorary Members," Mr.
Hunt stated that Messrs. Stringer and Douglas
not only subscribed 10e each to the testimonial,
but also voluntarily deducted 5s each from the
prices of the watch and chain which were Fur.
chased at their respective establishments.
The proceedings were varied by some excel.
lent songs from Messrs. Beddall, Roberts, Price,
and others, and various selections of music from
Mr. Broughton. The whole of the affairs was
conducted in a very convivial manner, and the
evening was a very enjoyable one.

held his present office that he should continue,
as far as possible, to show the same interest in
them. He had heard a favourable report as to
the matters, military and financial, of every
corps in the battalion, and he hoped Colonel
Knight might long continue at the head of the
battalion, and have as much reason to be proud
of it as at the present day.
Colonel Knight thanked the members of the
battalion for their good attendance, and also for
the very good drill they had gone through.
Some time ago he saw Colonel Bulwer, who pro-
posed to fix a brigade day for them when the
militia were up, and he hoped as many of that
battalion woull attend as possible. They wanted
1 two or three battalions together, and somebody
to work them about, and then they should
know better what they were made of than if left
to themselves. He hoped they would attend
carefully to their drills, so that when any move-
ments by double companies were given they
should make no mistake.

nated churchwardens, and at St. John's, Messrs. A.
Jones and Whitehonse.—At the vestry meeting at
Wollaston no appointments were made, and the
meeting vas adjourned for a week.