The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-12-24 00:00:00

OUR CHRTSTMA_S OUTLOOK.

. .
CHRISTMAS is with us again, with its holiday
merriment, its feasting, and its goodwill,
and happily, as far as Britain generally is
concerned, it finds the great ° public so
situated as to be able to fully share in the
seasonable enjoyment. We have peace
abroad. and prosperity in the ascendaut at
home. Discord between class and class is

conspicuous chiefly by its absence, and we
dwell together in amity. It is true that the
agitator for what he and his sympathisers
,!onsicler ref. q'nis is abroad in the land, be,.
he is infinitesimally insignificant as compared'
y it'll tile vast majority who are content vita
Id,sys •ind customs as they are, or as they will
he itlout revolution aschanging times may
require. We are more constitutional than
ever since we have celebrated the Sovereign's
Jubilee; and herein we speak with independ-
ence and indifference to party view, The
Conservatives are not less loyaA to the Con-
stitutionalism which some among them are
inclined to consider their own peculiar de-
monstration; and the Liberals also have been
at much pains to demonstrate their fealty
to the State and the grand principles which
govern us satisfactorily. For purely party
ends there has been—and blame attaches for
it to both camps an exaggeration on the
platform and in the press of differences of
opinion as to how to rule Ireland, but even
iii the thick of the quarrel both sides have
loudly claimed to be striving for the Union ;
so that the variance is after all one of methods,
not of aims. The Irish Nationalists them-
selves, though thought bitterly of by many
who regard themselves as moderate men, are
entitled to be considered earnest workers
for their. country's good by all unbiassed
people until those who would discredit them
should prove them otherwise; and we believe
it would be impossible to find a better-
affected subject of the Queen than is the
Irishman who has not been soured by
harsh treatment from imperfect laws or mis-
led by the insincere. Government is seeking
as seems besl-, to be, to set matters straight
in Ireland, and whether the Ministerial
efforts are crowned with success, or whether
the work is left to other hands, the true
Irishman may rest assured that the end and
desire of Imperial Parliament is all for his
and the nation's good. Gross illegality and
resistance to law will have to be firmly re •
sisted. in Ireland or wherever elsewhere in
the United Kingdom it may appear, just as
it always has had to be repressed in any law-
abiding community. Let us hope we shall
have no more Mitchelstown, Trafalgar-square,
or Crofter disturbances for many a day. The
outlook abroad is pleasant this Christmas.
Our Colonies are all prosperous, and more
_ . _ _ _ _

fraternal than ever towards the Motherland;
and India is quieter throughout her her vast
domain than since the days of the mutiny.
There is a vague feeling of dissatisfaction as
to the military movements of some of the
Continental Powers, but it is re-assuring
in the extreme to have so great an authority
on foreign affairs as Lord Salisbury speaks
hopefully of the maintenance of peace. No-
where in Europe is there war, even on a
small scale. Egypt has all but ceased from
troubling, and Afghanistan is at rest. The
glad time of gocdwill finds the world, so to
speak, with its sword in the abbard. As
to trade and industry, all that goes to make
People happy and contented, the outlook is
hopeful in the extreme. British commerc3
has steadily of late increased, and the returns
have gone on improving in every way, not
by leaps and bounds, but with the sure
graduation which so gladdens the eye of the
discerning. The trade of the world at larcre
active, so that we may confidently look to
foreigners for a continuance of custom, and
also for keeping up a demand for our manu-
factured goods. In consequence of brighter
times, commercially speaking, there is little
comparatively little, distress in our midst.
The " cr3 ot the unemployed " which was
raised awhile ago (we tear by many whose
greatest dread was that they would be find-
ing work) has much subsided in London;
and there is:really less privation to deal with
this Christmas than is usually the case. This
in a measare, no doubt, arises from the mild
weather we have of late been having, which,
i unseasonable a-nd not altogther agreeable

to the warmly clad and weir to-do, is wel-
come enougil -0 those wlieEe attire is insuffi-

cient to check the attacks of frost, and
whose pinched features point to other pains
than those of indigestion. "The poor ye
have always with you," said the wisest One
the eat.th has seen, and so it has been proven
often enough before, when the times have
not been generally had; bat at Christmas,
above all other seasons, one feels generously
disposed towards the poor, and inclined to
~c_riee to them of our plenty without enquiring
too closely whether their want is of their
Anoher cause for gratu.
own onbringinet.
lation in the Christmas outlook is the low
price of food of every kind in Britain,
bringing provisions of a wholesome sort,
broadly phrdsing it, within the reach of all.
Quick ocean transit has put the great grain
and meat producing, countries of the world
within short distance of the British markets;
and hence good bread was never cheaper,
while really presentable beef- and mutton
may be had at such low prices in populous
districts as wonld..
,surprise many who pay
the family ,butcher a shilling or more a pound
for prime Cuts. Relative necessities, and
the luxuries of life te .4 well, may be procured
now-a-days with a readiness which would
have made our grandsires stare. Our lot is ,
cast in favoured times for cheapness in food
and in clothing; and our advantages over

our foregoers in the matter of enjoyment
are immeqsurable. Combination and enter-
prise have given to each district abundant
choice in the way of entertainments of every
class at popular prices; while travelling., to
pay those family visits which are so season-
able at Christmas, is at o ice speedy, con-
venient, and inexpensive. "Our lines have
fallen in pleasant places," we may say with
truth; and the outlook forces one to aimit
that never has the axiom had more &tin g
application than this Christmastide. 4

3.1 LLL (-4

swindling established for the benefit of in.
vestor,4 in private and public comlxtuies.
bankin„.r, manufacturing, or otherwise ?
Such investors are largely ignorant of im-
portant business details of the concerns in
which they are interested. Their ease i as
much in need of safe guarding as is that of
the employer of clerks and assistants in
positions of trust ; and yet few smart
traders will take' a man now-a-days without
being guaranteed against possible peculation
or loss, either by an assurance association, or
by some private person.