The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-10-22 00:00:00

OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.

[We deem it right to state that we do not at all times identify
ourselves with our Correspondent opialonici

Snow in October is so unusual a phenomena in
London that it is permissible to us who reside
in the metropolis to dwell more upon it than
would be expected from those who live in hilly
regions where such an event is comparatively
common. It is six years since it was witnessed
in the capital, and it thenpreluded an exception-
ally severe winter. The weather-wise are of
opinion that it may do the like in the present
instance, and if their prophesies prove to be well.
founded, it will add considerably to the social
difficulties of the time. A hard winter, even at
the best of periods, always means much misery
for the working poor, and as this is certainly not
one of the best of periods, it would just now
mean more misery than usual. Already a great
cry is going up from the unemployed, not only
in London but in other centres of industry, and
although much of this may be unreal, there is
sufficient force in it to arrest the at-
tention of all thoughtful men. Two
years ago, owing to the length rather than the
severity of the winter, there was the same com-
plaint to be heard; but last year, when on the
whole the winter was milder, the amount of dis-
tress was decidedly smaller, and it may even now
be hoped that the months to come will not pre-
sent the picture of 1885, but rather that of 1886.
In any case the condition of the labouring classes
is likely to attract the increasing attention of
statesmen of all shades of opinion; and at the
very outset of a movement for the greater inter-
ference of our public men in the social rather
than the political condition of the people, it is
well to look the facts straight in the fase.
Ten years ago, when, owing to the working of
the short-service system, a great number of
soldiers, who had passed through the ranks,
wanted to secure civil employment, a Select Com-
mittee was appointed by the House of Commons
"to inquire how far it was practicable that
soldiers, sailors, and marines, who had meri-
toriously served their country, should be em-
ployed in such civil departments of the public
service as they may be found fitted for." The
report of that body was distinctly in favour of
such employment, and a parliamentary return
has now been issued, which shows how far its
recommendations have been adopted in the
various departments of the public service. It
can hardly be said that the result is likely
to be quite satisfactory to those who
initiated the movement, for it shows
that, of the nearly nine hundred permanent
messengers and park or lodge keepers appointed
within the past ten years, not one-third had
served in the navy, army, or Royal Marines. It
was, of course, only to be expected that the Ad-
miralty and War Office should have availed them-
selves, almost without exception, of those who
had previously served their country; while the
Office of Works shows an almost similar record.
But it is strange indeed to find that the Inland
R3venue and the Customs have secured the ser-
vices of so few old sailors and soldiers, and even
stranger that the British Museum and the Record
Office, with eighty appointments open to these
retired men, have not chosen a single one.
The public can hardly be expected to take up
the movement with so much fervour as
it desetves as long as the Government depart-
ments, which should set a good example in the
matter, are so backward in making provision,
even where they have the opportunity, for men
who have served their country in one capacity
and would be glad to serve it in another.
When there was published in the spring of this
year an official description of the wretched cells
in which, at most assize courts of the kingdom,
prisoners were detained while awaiting trial,
there was an outburst of popular indignation
which, it may be hoped, has had a good effect.
But, as was then suspected, there are other
places of detention which equally demand re-
form, and a Blue-Book, issued within the past
week, shows that the metropolitan police courts
possess some miserable dens which need both
cleanliness and light. The cells attached to
nearly every court in London appear to require
each of these absolutely necessary commodities,
and it may be expected that they will at once he
supplied. Since the days of Howard and Neild
much has been done in the way of improving
our prisons, and so much'attention has been given
to the convicted that the unconvicted—a pro-
portion of whom must certainly be persons more
worthy of proper care—have been left out of
sight. Yet it is one of the proudest boasts of
English justice that all accused persons are
considered innocent until they are proved.
guilty; and as not even the most spot-
less among us are free from the
possibility of accusation, it is the concern of
every man, on strictly practical grounds, to in-
sist that the untried shall have every privilege
consistent with safe detention. Upon the
philanthropic side of the question there is no need
in these days to argue. It is sometimes urged that
in our treatment of convicted prisoners we are
apt to err on the side of lenity; but no one can
contend that it ',is right to keep the unconvicted
accused in dark and dirty dens during the hours
they are awaiting examination, and in which
they require the exercise of every mental faculty
to prepare for the ordeal they have so shortly to
undergo.
"Black Friday" is a name of evil omen on the
Stock Exchange, and although the most recent
of the species was tame indeed compared with
that fateful day in 1866 when Overend and
Gurney's Bank came down and tumbled over a
score of firms in its fall, it was sufficiently
exciting to deserve attention. It is stated by
those acquainted with the mysteries of Capel-
court that, had it not been for the present cheap-
ness of money, the last bi-monthly settlement
would have been a very disastrous one. As it
was, three firms made default on the same day,
and the effect was naturally to cause the market
to be what is commonly called "panicky." Those
who are not versed in the ins and outs of the
Stock Exchange can scarcely conceive how sensi-
tive it is to almost every passing breath of
public event. The wildest rumours there
have readiest credence, and what would
not be believed for a moment by an
assembly of men in calm mood is eagerly
accepted by those to whom excitement is as
their very life. The wonder, of course, is that
outsiders should risk so much upon the varying
moods of those within the charmed circle of the
Exchange. Small investors are peculiarly liable
to suffer when they dabble in speculative stocks;
and such matters are better left to the men who
know all about them, and who are daily in a
vortex. which would drive many a man mad.
High interest, as the old saying has it, means
low security; and those who want the former
must put up with the latter. And it is because
they do so that there are such frequent panics.
It is comforting to find from the most recent
statistics that crime in England is decidedly on
the decrease. There are certain people who
appear to take a morbid delight in setting forth
the contention that the old country is going
to the dogs, and that it is taking more rapid
strides down-hill every day. But this class of
persons should be asked to explain how they
can fit in with their theory the fact that, while
population moves upward, the number of our
paupers and criminals is proportionately on the
decrease. Try to explain it as they may, the
almost startling fact is before us that what is
called the "prison population" was last year the
lowest of which there is any record for thirty-
eight years. It is significant to note that it was
more than six thousand less than it was in
1878, the date at which local prisons were put
under the authority of the Commissioners who
at present govern them ; and it is the more sig-
nificant7hen it is remembered that, if the prison
population had increased since the year named
in proportion with the general population,
it would have been between eight and nine thou-
sand more than it actually was. This is a fact
upon which we are decidedly able to congratulate
ourselves; and its sober among us will agree
that, while England can continue to show so
excellent a record, the parrot cry of its moral
decadence may fairly be despised.
Hampstead Heath is one of the most favoured
resorts of the working population of London,
and the Metropolitan Board of Works, by its
decision to largely contribute towards the buying
of Parliament-hill, the adjacent open space, has
given great satisfaction to those Londoners who
believe in the preservation of open spaces. These
have well been called "the lungs of London,"
and as the area covered with bricks and mortar
extends, and ever extends, the need of such lungs
becomes more apparent and even imperative. A
man of science recently proved to demonstration,
before an admiring audience at the Society of
Arts, that no breath of pure air ever finds its
way into so central a spot as the Strand; and it
therefore, the more a necessity to get as mulch
pure air as we can in the suburbs. For in these
days, comparatively few people live in the interior
ef London; it is in the suburbs that even such of
us as derive their daily bread from work in the City.
mostly reside; and the suburbs are just those
portions of !..,oridon which most iirgpntly iwed
epen spaces in order that our children may have
some breathing place, some playground in wnich
they may manage to olbtain a breath of fresh
:lir. Such spots as have to be b ,tight to-day are
uocessarly very expensive, for the value of land