The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20 00:00:00

Oihr Inon 6orrespogtut 3
(We deem it right to state that we do not at all timeg
identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

A general election does not often happen; but when
it does take place, it necessarily throwß every other

domestic question into the shade. The topic is not a
Local one, confined to this or that particular district, or
limited to any stated neighbourhood. It is not only
In the metroplis of the empire that the chords of

political excitement then vibrate. From Sketland to
the Land's End, and from the coasts washed by the

waves of the German Ocean to the wild Lancashire

moon; upon the shores of the two Channels, and upon
the remote west of Ireland, where the thundering

surges of the Atlantic roll in upon the rocks of Con-
naught, the air is alive with electioneering life. It
is not then that hundreds of constituencies wait for

the verdict of a single community, as was recently
the case with Sheffield, Liverpool, and Southwark—
all important places whose judgment elated one party,
and dispirited another. But when every enfranchised
nlace in the three kingdoms—counties, boroughs, and.
universities—has to choose mew members, each fines
quite enough tt, do in attending to its own political
affairs. All Over the land parties bend to their work
with a will that shows the momentous importance of
the banes at ataka—the opinions of Her Majesty's
advisers for perhaps several years to come, the char-
acter of our domestic legislation, and the tone of our

foreign policy.
The Parliament whoee existence way now be num.
bend by days and almost by hours, will have been
next to the longest of the present reign, and will rank
amongst the protracted Parliaments of the century.

There was one which lasted from April 1820 to June
1826; snother from September 1841 to August 1847;
a third from May 18Z9 to July 1865. The first and
third of these ran for about six years and two months;
the second was not quite so long. The Parliament
now about to expire will have lasted just three weeks
over six years. It is the ninth which has been sum.

moned by Queen Victoria dnrirg a reign of nearly
forty.three years. The Parliaments of her Majesty
have therefore averaged well nigh five years each, and
a vary long average this is. Contrasting this with the
experiesoe of the previous reigns the result is a curious
one. William IT, occupied the throne seven years, and

in that time summoned four Parliaments. His reign

opened amid the agitation for representative reform,
and, as a consequence of this, one dissolution succeeded

another ha rapid succession. Qaeen Victoria's sway
has fallen upon quieter times; hence the longer
average duration of her Parliaments.
When the Royal Pr...lamation for a Dissolution has

been issued, the eending cut of the writs illustrates in
a curious way the working of our constitutional
system. Every one knows that during the sitting of
the Legislature the fame of writs for the election of
new members is in the hands of that assembly itself.
It can send out or withhold a writ as it thinks beat,

the suspension of a writ for a whole Parliament being

often resortsd te in order to punish a corrupt con-
stituency. When the House is not sitting, the power
of issuing writs is in the hands of the Speaker, the
supreme executive cfficer and official mouthpiece of
the Rouse of Commons, Whether the House is in
ussion or not, the Crown has no power to issue a writ

:cr the eLction of a member, while it has the power of
adding to th 3 House of Lords practically as many
members as it pleases. Bat when it comes to the clues-

tion of a eassobution the writs for the election of anew
House of Commons are sent nut by the Crown, Parlia-
n2ent no longer being in existence. The most extra-

ordinary care is taken at the Post Office that these
important documents, several hundreds in number, are
transmitted to their proper destination. A writ for
Cornwall, far butanes, getting into the Orkney mail.
bag would be a very awkward incident, and such a
mistake would is all probability delay the election for
a whole week.

Those who ac immersed in the waters of political
strife muat eavy the calm indifference to electioneer-

lug excitement which may be witn—eaa-e-d-:::;-;:y--Of
these fine spring afternoons upon either bank of the
Thames. What signifies it to the two University
crews that the whole of these islands is ring.
lug with the sounds of preparation for the coming
struggle? The "coaches," undistutbed by the clangour
of party strife, indefatigably shout instructions from
the shore; stroke and coxswain do their work as
usual; and the crowds upon the towing paths
represent anything but the political life of Middlesex
and 'Surrey. It would be too much to say that the
records of the daily practice of the crews are as
widely read as the election intelligence, ocoupyin as
&ea the latter maey u,lto.oue of spar every day; but
it is certainly perased by thousands of readers, who
do not allow the echoes of political turmoil to inter-
fere with their interest in what has came to be regarded
as a national event.

According to present arrangements the Qaeen viilL
watch the results of the pending appeal to her people
from a distance, As soon as the royal aiga-m•Anual

has been affixed to the proclamation for the summoning
of a NeW Parliament, her Majesty, accompanied by
Princess Beatrice, will leave England for Germany, for
a stay of five or six weeks. One purpose of the
Sovereign's visit to the Fatherland is to see the
last resting-place of her second daughter, the
lamented Princess Alice, at Darmstadt. No mem-
ber of the Royal family was ever more beloved
in this county, and, from the circumstances
under which her death occurred, the removal of
none has ever been mourned with deeper or more
sincere regret. All classes of Her Majesty's
subjects, while rejoicing at the continued good
health of the Queen, see with interest the routine
life at Windsor, Osborne, and Balmoral occasionally
varied by a brief spell of foreign travel—a luxury
whieh can now be enjoyed by well-nigh the humblest
of the population,

tural

Before the departure of the Empress of Austria
from this country, her Imperial Majesty was received
by the Queen at Windsor Castle with all the State
ceremonial due to the rank of so distinguished a guest.
The Empress of Austria is almost as frequent a visitor
hers as the King of the Belgians, and the mention of
the names of these two illustrious personages at
once directs attention to the betrothal of the
Prineese Stephanie, the daughter of the Belgian
Sovereign, to the Crown Prince of Austria. The
date of the marriage is not yet known, but it is
believed that it will take place at the end of
May, and that the newly•married couple will
be present at Brussels at the celebration of • the
Independence Jubilee, On the oeeasion of the
betrothal the Crown Prince entertained at a banquet
at the Austrian Legation in Brusaela the King,
Queen, and Royal Family of Belginm, at whicb nine
the Minister of Foreign Affairs and tie high digni-
taries of the Court were present. After the banquet
a reception of the diplomatic, corps took place. Next
morning there was a reeeption of the King and Court
of Flanders, the heir-presumptive to the Belgian
throne, the Ministers, and the deputations from the
Senate and the Chamber of Representatives. The
wedding will be a very gay one, and one of the chief
Incidents of this summer's rejoicing in Brussels.
People who do not follow closely the politics of the
United States, often sc.e the Monroe doctrine referred
to, and ask what it is. - Shortly it may be defined as
a principle enunciated by President Monroe a long
time ago, that no European Power should exert any
Influence whatever over any part of the American
Iliontinent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The
British poesceeione in Canada are thus held in oppo-
sition to this doctrine; but as they were ours before
President Monroe ruled at the White House in Wash-
'neer], they remain so still. The principle, however,
has bean rigidly clrrisd out since his time, as was
seen for instance in 1867, when an attempt was
made to eetsblish an Empire in Mexico. M. Leseeps,
the engineer of the Suez Canal, now finds himself
confronted with it, in his scheme for cutting a
ca-,al through the Isthmus of Panama. The President
of the United States and both Houses of Congress have
emphatically reasserted the Monroe doctrine, and
declared that it is the right AS it is the interest of that
nation to possess the direc..ion, control, and govern-
ment of any means of communication through the
Isthmuo. Yet this great project is a matter of interest
not only to the United States, but to the whole of the
civilised world, With a canal through the Isthmus of
Panama the corn and wine of the Pacific slope could
be poured into Europe after a sea journey short and
safe compared with a long and dangerous passage
round Cape Horn. The South Pacific coast and all
the islands of that glowing sea would be brought
nearer to us, and an enormous addition wield be merle
to ree facilities for supplying food to the Eur peon
continent.
It has been estimated that one result of the coming
elections will be to withdraw from London in gold and
notes between one and two millions sterling. In con-
nection with this movement it is worth noting that for
the past fourteen months there has been a considerable
reflux of gold from this country, During last year the
reflux slightly exceeded two and since 1880
opened it has not been much short of two and a quer.
ter millions. In other words the gold circulation of
United Kingdom is less now by almost four and a
quarter milliont than it was at the begining of last
yo.r.
A closer examination of the figures shows that
In the first six months of 1879 the reflux of coin ex.
ceeded four million*, and was reduced to two millions
in the succeeding six months, It would seem to follow
that the revival of trade last autumn gave employment
In the provinces to a portion of the gold which was
held in mere precaution twelve months previously.
If that be so, it is reasonable to conclude that the
further progress of the reViiral 'till more Mil the

epring currency, more especially m the splendid spring
weather has lately been most favourable to agricul-
operations as well as to the retail trade.

It is not often that a Chancellor of the Exchequer

introduces the Budget before the end of the financial
year, which closes with the 31st of March. From the
revenue returns which are made up that night, the
Minister of Finance is enabled to strike his balances,
to estimate his surplus, and to decide what alterations
to make in the adjustment of taxation. But as, by
the conclusion of the present financial year, no Par.
Bement will be in existence, the Budget had
to be constructed on such materials As were actually
available, so that the estimated surplus of £74,000
upon a revenue of eighty-one millions and a half
docetea the existence of a practical equilibrium. It is,
however, more than possible that this modest amount
will be considerably exceeded, with good weather,
revived trade, and that increase in railway traffic
receipts 0: which there is already a favourable indica-
tion,