The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-12-19 00:00:00

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OLIL S c,,RKONL'IT.

:The ferns:lts under are to he am...eh...1a. the ex-
Nasion :7 mdepeudent ...Ili, from the pen of &gentleman
• svhcm wz have the greatest confidence. but for which we
,verthetees do not In.ld ourselves reetputtsible.(

The political battle of the Elections was no sooner
over than there commenced a readjustment f d the
leaders of the opposing parties, and Mr. Gladstone,
called on to form a new Ministry, must have had many
a hard day's work, and perhaps inure than one sleep-
less night since he commenced that arduous task
which even yet is not thoroughly completed in all its
details. The eighth Parliament of our good Queen, and
the tenth since the passing of the Reform Act of 1e:12,
has been occupied in putting its House (of Commons) in
order. The opening ceremony was noticeable for some
special features. Wben the House of Lords met, the
assembly was witherieally a vary poor one, and the
few members that did an ice se. mad scarcely to know
what to make of it. The change of parties having
necessitated a change of sides as to seats, the right hon.
gentlemen seemed rather chary of sitting down,
and made up their minds but slowly to Is 80. When
several seats were occupied it could not but be noticed
that the Ministerial bench wan vacant, though not, of
course, fixen the same cause which subsequently kept the
Treasury benches in the HOMO' Of Commons empty.
Lord itatherley, the new Lord Chancellor, made two
little mistakes, which may be noted EIS showing that the
wisest of mortals occasionally err like the rest of us.
As soon as he entered he walked up to the woolsack,
se if eager to try the effect, and sat down on it; but
some kind friend appeared to whisper to hint that cer-
tain legal formalities in connection with his new
honours were not completed, anti he rose and went to
the Princes' Chamber. Again when a few of her
Majesty's faithful C0m111011.9 came in, the new Lord
Chancellor rose to address them, whereas the constitu-
tional etiquette is that the Speaker of the Lords
should, on such an occasion, address the Commons as he
sits. The House of Commons at the commencement
of the proceedings presented that aspect which we
might designate by such words as "harum-scarum" or
"pell-mell." Some of the members actually seated
themselves on the wrong side of the House till some
more calm old stager, who had perhaps often changed
sides, reminded them of their mistake. After their
summons to and return front the House of Lords, hen.
members settled into their seats in a calmer and more
business-like way, and the formal business of the
session commenced. The subsequent swearing-in of
the members has taken less tier e now than ever before,
owing to the oath having been shortened and the
ceremony thus simplified. And now that all this
preliminary fuss and formality are over the 2ublic
necessarily feels relief, and, whatever political party
we espouse, we can look back with gratitude that the
etorm has quite passed over, and look forward with
interest to the ordinary and legitimate business of
the session in that month when they say ladies talk the
least!
There are some facts which one would like to
ignore, and which, when they are told, we try to dis-
believe. Such a fact is the increase of pauperism.
But facts are stubborn things, and this is tue tnat we
cannot shirk. A return just issued shows that the
number of paupers (except lunatic paupers and
vagrants) on the last day of the fourth week o
September last was (so far as returned) 9'27,239, or
64,1;19 more than at the corresponding period of last
year. I have heard persons, much cleverer than I am,
arguing, with show of reason, that in this country the
rich are yearly getting richer and the poor poorer. It
may he so, but at all events it is undeniable that we
have in this country a greater mass of poor than there
is in any other country. Will the new President of
the l'oor Law Board do anything towards the solution
of the ever-recurring problem, how shall we diminish
pauperism? Employment of the poor by the State is
a very ticklish subject, and we all know what a signal
failure were the "national workshops" during the
last French revolution. But weall know, on the other
hand, how admirably the Public Works Act worked
in Lancashire during the prevalence of the cotton
famine. Could not this act be again tried among the
poor in some of our large towns? We have still plenty
of waste lands to reclaim; plenty of roads, bridges,
embankments, are still required, none of which
appear likely to be effected by private enterprise.
Could some of the poor be employed in any of these
works, would not society benefit in two ways?
.- _

From a sporting journal I hear that Mr. Chaplin,
whose name is so well known in connection with the
turf, intends to sell the whole of his racing stud, with
the exception of Hermit and two or three mares. He
considers that the time required successfully to manage
a large racing stud is incompatible with attention to
Parliamentary duties. This cannot but lie regarded as
a blow to the turf, and, however unpopular it may be
to say it—so much the better. Of late years there has
been so much gambling in connection with horse-racing,
so many fortunes have been lost, and so many cases of
less serious but still heavy loss have occurred, that the
public may well be congratulated on so celebrated a
man as Mr. Chaplin retiring from it. It is said that
"he may continue to have two or three horses in
training :'' but this is a very, very different thing to
the prominent position he has so long held in the
racing world.
The Isle of Man is such a quiet, out-of-the-way
place that few people ever give it a thought, and
fewer still, perhaps, are aware that the island possesses
a Parliament of its own, lint so it is, and this Par-
liament has passed a law which is remarkable. A
fine of Vs is imposed on any person capturing any
bird of the gull tribe, or taking its eggs. No doubt
there is a good reason for the prohibition; but, be this
as it may, the enactment will probably remind the
reader of the persistent attempts of many of our
farmers to destroy small birds. There are of course
two sides to the question. That these birds do great
injury to grain and fruit crops is beyond dispute, but
it is open to argument whether this is not more than
compensated for by the number of grubs, insects, dze.,
which they destroy ; and it is a noteworthy fact that
our Colonial cousins have for years been making
efforts to introduce those very birds which our farmers
try to extirpate. The whole question has never yet
been fairly argued out perhajw, and a conference of
farmers, fruitgruwers, naturalists, itc., might be em-
ployed on less important matters than deciding the
knotty points thus involved.
An important experiment has been tried, or, rather,
is being tried—for it will take two or three months to
test it thoroughly--for the prevention of street
accidents. It is pretty well known that there are
more fatal or serious accidents in the streets of London
than on all the railways in the United Kingdom.

;Startling as this fact is, it has been verified by careful
calculation. To prevent people being knocked down
by vehieles, and perhaps killed, semaphores have been
erected near the If ounce of Parliament. The pillars
are twenty-two feet high, and a few feet from the top
are a lantern anti semaphore arms. When these arms
are label to an angle of forty-five degrees it signifies
"caution," and when they are extended at right angles
it means "stop," and at night the green light signifies
the fermer, and a red light the latter. There are some
objection', to the system, of course. One is that the
signal, night and (lay, never stand at less than
" caution," awl caution, which is permanent (for of
course " stop ' includes " caution ") is apt to be die-
regarded. Another objection is that these eignals are
so far not compuleury that drivers may disregard them
with impunity, miles, a policeman see the driver's
negligence, or smite wayfarer choose to take up the
matter, which is very unlikely. On the other hand,
the signal system has a great advantage over the
stationary policeman, inasmuch as the latter can only
he seen when the driver is cometaratively close mon
him. It is earnestly to be hoped that the new system
may ar.swer, ler the loss of life and the terrible
at ',ldeas of the etreets surely demand some reform.
Bridges over danger, 0114 street crossings have been
viononsly advocated, but nothing has conic of it, and
it is a remarkable feet that, though the London,
Chatham, and Dover 'Railway heal permission to cross
Ludgate Hill only on condition that they in mold erect an
notway over the nosh the Company has not kept
fto pie.mise, and does bit seem at all likely to do so.
I have latterly ouval,lie or two velocipedes in London,
driest. or ridden, whichever is the word, by persons of
a superior order in the sticial scale to the class of people
who have hitherto been identified with them. I
think that all that is required to bring velocipedes into
pertid use for ordinary Ittionmtion i., that they ehould
let nicely built with all the latest improvements, that
the makers of them shonli well advertise their wares,
and that a few respectable people should adopt them.
Several correspondents have written to the Billififr,
bonking where they can purchase velocipedes, an the
editor refers them to the advertisers ; but I have
(searched in vain the advertising column. of The Times
for any anneuncerneat of the kind. Here is an open-
ing for enterprise I will add a hint for the benefit ~f
any who tray be bold enough to adopt it. Make a
few natty, prettydnoking velocipede'', on the best ntodel
of the Parisian vehicles ; advertise them, and hire a
pentlcm.,ll (,4. a man dressed as a gentleman, and who
shall tell the d:lTerence ?) ti drive one about the West.
End, followed by a groomy-looking servant Take
care that the latter now and then has to stop, while the
prince gets off his iron and wood home, to make a pur-
shve or two ; take vire too, that the Dame and address
of the velocipede maker be readable by passers-by;
and if velosipedee wouldn't " go" after that, why the
old story about Day and Martin when they first com-
menced business, evicting round a footman for their
particular blacking, saying his leader would not use
any other, cannot be true.