The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-04-17 00:00:00

MR. EDISON'S LATEST DISCOVERY.

Mr. Edison's latest discovery bids fair to eclipse any
that he has yet made if the accounts given of it by the
American papers prove correct. He has, it is stated,
invented methods by which he can extract a greater
amount of gold from the rejected residuum of auii-
ferous quartz, termed by miners "tailings," than is
obtained by the present processes from the virgin rocks
triturated by the crushing mills. The agents he em-
ploys are chemistry and electricity. He takes a
quantity of "tailings" which, so far as any known
process is concerned, contain not a trace of gold, and
produces therefrom the precious metal in quantities
truly astonishing. He says that by his method he has
got out gold from concentrated "tailings " at the
enormous ratio in some instances of 1,400 dols. per ton,
at an expense not exceeding five dols. per ton.
This discovery was made by him while endeavouring
to find a supply of platinum for his electric lamps. In
the course of experiments made by him with the
view of inventing a process for the cheap extraction of
this metal from the " tailings " of some California
gold-mines, specimens of which had been sent to him,
he was surprised at the large amount of gold- existing
in the rejected residue of the mines. This gave his
researches a new direction. The electric light came
to be- a secondary consideration. He devoted his
energies to the fresh discovery,' and the success of his
process was at last evident beyond a doubt. Keeping
the secret to himself and to a few confidential agents,
he at once made contracts for the " tailings " of a huin-
, ber of the largest mines for a term of years. He has
thus secured millions of tons of "tailings," and if his
manipulations of the refuse really prove as valuable
as stated, Mr. Edison ought to become a " veritable
Crcesus."—Pall Mall Gazette.

Mr. John Bright, M.P., has been nominated as, the
next Liperal Lora Rector of Glasgow University. Tile. -right
lion. gettletnarehas ingqixted:kia .accieptam,2f,thqiifilainit=
tion. The term of oftice of Mr. W. .I.4la(lstontr'; the present
Lord Rector, expires in Yovernber next.

THE DISSOLUTION.

The Times has publishei tlw following letter on the Dis-
solution :

Sir,---As a matter of business, the defeat of the
Government must be accepted by both parties, and the
immediate consequences of that fact must follow. But -
those who look both to the past and to the future and
do not confine themselves to the party views and
transitory interests must look deeper and consider. the. -
true value andiimport of recent events-for the purpose.
of seeing whatitheir effect will be on the history of tte
country, and what weight and practical importance they •
have with reference to the policy and government of
the Empire.

We'hear daily that the opinion of the nation has
changed, and that it has deliberately condemned
..the
Policy of the Government and embraced Liberal _
opinions. It is most important to consider whether
this is so, for on the question depends the future, the
great object of human curio,ity and inquiry. _

_
Having- regard to all the circumstances of the:case,
I deny that this dissolution has, in all the circunr: .
stances, produced a real, and reliable expression of
national opinion. I will prove what I say.

The Government may perhaps be held to be estopped
from impeaching the inue of the trial upon which they.
put themselves; but I, as an independentsupporter or
the Government. have no such difficulty, and I say
that the dissolution was an error in point of time, and
that its result is to a considerable extent an error. The
Crown has an undoubted right to dissolve Parliament
at any time. But a dissolution of Parliament is so
grave and important an act that it requires not only
the most mature deliberation, • but ample notice,
in order that the Qommons of the realm • may
exercise their high franchise in obedience to the ,
Queen's Writ with full and mature consideration and
judgment. This is the spirit of the Constitution. So,
in general, the course of things in Parliament indi-
cates the approach of a crisis, and every one knows
that a defeat of the Ministry will be followed by-alt
appeal to the country. Thus the country has notice,
and an issue presented to it for trial. Six years ago
Mr. Gladstone violated these sound principles. He ,*f:
suddenly and unexpectedly dissolved ParliaMent.. His .-ret
policy had 14een sensational and alarming, but pleasing t;
to those w-ho wanted change. He had an ample
majority. He thought that the tide was at the flow and
that it would lead o,n to fortune. He took the country
by surprise by a dis?Zolution, and the country surprised f*
him with a disaster. If he had not attempted that -
coup de main., he might have lost strength on a dissolu-
tion and, perhaps, have lost power; but he would not
have been destroyed, as he was for six Years. That
dissolution being a surprise did not give reliable -and
safe results, though it represented distrust and fear of the
Gladstonian home policy, under which all institutions
and all interests felt themselves in danger. And this
is one reason of late events.
Let us now consider the parallel event—the late dis-
solution. I deny that it represents.- the. mature and
true opinion of the country. No one expected- it. I
speak confidently, for no man lived more in the Hoffse
than I did, and I say that the members had ,not.any
notion that the Sessionitwould be interrupted by a dis-
solution, and this was eSpedially the case with the
Conservative members. Everything contributed to
foster this opinion. Then one day, at five o'clock,
came the announcement of the dissohition, which, it
was said, had been decided oil that very morning.
"Members of the 'Government said the 'seeret•had
been well kept." All was. tonfUsion and colasteisna-
tion, and .members rushed out :to -write letters and
addresses.
The result is now a matter of history, but what is it
worth? Can any man of common sense believe that
such a change of opinion in the nation could have
taken place in so short a time? Within three weeks
of the time a Conservative had been returned for
Southwark, a Radical borough, and another for Liver-
pool, in the place of Liberals. Could any one doubt
the meaning of such returns for such representative
and important constituencies? They undoubtedly
show that there was no change adverse to the Ministry.
Unfortunately, due weight was not given to the wise
saying, "Ii nefaut pas repaer vu succes."
These victories may have encouraged those who de-
sired a dissolution, and they caused a strong report
among the Liberals that the Government would dis-
solve, and so, stirred them up to the most active pre-
paration. At the same time they lulled the Conserva-
tives into a delusive estimate of their immediate strength
and security. A sudden dissolution cast everything on
the stormy sea of accident. There has been and was
much distreSs and suffering': As the sick mag.turns
an,d tosses in his bed, the poor people longed for any
change. To my certain knowledge multitudes of electors
said, We do not know about politics; but trade is bad
and we are poor; we want a change, and the Liberals
will do something for us." A good harvest and an im-
provement of trade would have made them Conserva-
tives. What did these people know or care about the
Zulus, the Berlin Treaty, and Cyprus, and the Eastern
Question? They knew that Mr. Gladstone-said that
the Government had ruined the country, and they
hoped he could do something for them. And there
were multitudes of tradesmen who, taken by surprise,
said, "There is no business; the Government have
done nothing for us, let us try the Liberals."
The working man had been suffering, and lie sast
the blame on the Government. He had not time to
listen to reason. Again, numbers, when they saw
which way the wind blew, determined to be on the
winning side. Others said, "We must have a strong
Government to keep down the Home Rulers." All
these crude and ignorant notions, at a time of sudden
excitement and conflict, had a powerful effect.

Let us remember that the return of Lord Beacons-
field and. Lord Salisbury from Berlin, only eighteen
months ago, was, not an ovation, but a triumph, cele-
brated by the nation with acclamation which over-
whelmed criticism and silenced envy. I. heard even
Liberal members say that Lord Beaconsfield ought to
be made a Duke. Can all this be sop soon forgetten?
For the last six years there have been no indica-
tions that public opinion was hostile to the G-overn-
ment. When the dissolution was announced, the
general opinion of the House was that, though the
Government would lose some seats in Ireland and
Scotland and a few in England, they would still have
a majority. And the Liberals are astonished at their
success. A dispassionate view of facts will show that
that succes-s,does not prove a deliberate change in the
political views of the nation : and those who rely on it
will find themselves disappointed when the country
has had time to reflect.
Whether the Government will meet Parliament
I know not. lb do so would be the most Constitu-
tional course. Many liberal members would hesitate
to condemn by a vote the policy of Lord Beaconsield
which they supported in the late Parliament. A
debate would enlighten the public- mind, still
darkened by the smoke, the falsehoods, misrepresen-
tations," and rubbish of a hasty, hot, and unscrupu-
lous contest. The Liberal leaders would have to show
what their policy will be, and in what respect it de-
serves the preference of the country. A delay of a
week or ten clays.for these purposes -would be of little
moment. But the question must await the judgment
of her Most Gracious Majesty, with the advice of her
responsible Miniaters.—Your obedient servant,
GEORGE BOWYER.