The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-09-11 00:00:00

TEE BRITISH ASSOCIATION AND
`, ALLOTMENTS."

At one of the sectional meetings of the British
Association Lord Onslow read a paper on " Allot-
ments," and said it wi.s very unfortunate that such a
subject should have been made a matter of political
controversy, and it was astonishing how little ap-
peared to be known on the subject by those who
were not directly connected with or interested in the
land. The advantages accruing to labourers from
the occupation of a small plot of ground were ad-
mitted, and the supply of land for such purposes
appeared to be greatly regulated by the demand. In
the North, where wages were higher, it might be said
almost not to exist, while in agricultural counties
the practice prevailed extensively. The Voluntary
Allotments Association, of which he was the hon.
secretary, had publicly announced its desire to be in-
formed of any unsatisfied demand which might have
existed, but even including the application of a gen-
tleman who offered to change his opinions from those
of a Home Ruler to a Tory if the association would
send him three acres of pasture by parcels post
—(laughter)—the applications which the association
had received could be counted on the fingers of his
hands. On the whole, be was convinced there was a
general desire to provide labourers with land for
growing produce either by allotments or by co-opera-
tion ; but a great difficulty in connection with the
rearing of persons in the country was that there was
not a sufficient supply of milk for the young children.
(Hear, hear.) It had often been said that England
was the country where the peasantry had the least
interest in the soil they tilled, and in the other
countries of Europe we found that the most con-
tented c:asses of the people were those who had a
direct interest in the soil, though their lot was in
many respects harder than that of the English agri-
cultural labourer had ever been. It was to the
interest, not only of the philanthropist, but of the
statesman and the patriot, who wished to see our
countrymen contented and taking pride in the sta-
bility and continuity of our institutions, to do all that
lay in their power to bind them by a personal and
pecuniary interest in the cultivation of the land.
(Cheers.)
The Rev. W. Tackwell gave a description of the
admirable manner in which the allotments had worked
in his country parish in Warwickshire, and said he
looked forward to the time when the wife of every
agricultural labourer should spin all the linen required
for the family from the flax grown by her husband on
his allotment. (Laughter.) The idea was not a
mere chimera, ana he believed it could be carried
out.

Sir B. W. Faster, chairman of the Allotments and
Small Holdings Association, stated that the agricul-
tural labourers all over the country were crying
out to be allowed to rent the charity lands in
their districts at agricultural rents, and the gentle-
men who formed his association were convinced
that the only system which could supply the
demand in the future must be ono of compulsion.
They wanted nothing that was unfair or unjust,
but as a system of compulsion had been applied
to the acquisition of land for public purposes, the
same principles should be applied to what he con-
sidered a national need. The diminution of our agri-
cultural population was one of the gravest dangers
which beset the nation. (Hear, hear.) The peasantry
of England, once its pride, was now its disgrace, and
everything possible should be done to restore it to
something like its original position.
The Rev. Mr. Kearn, of the North of Ireland, was
of opinion that many of the labourers would not be
benefited by the occupation of allotments, owing to
the difficulty of making profit. He did not believe
that the system would prevent the influx of labourers
into towns. Other speakers followed.

"SUITS pressed with neatness and dispatch," is what
the advertisement read, and a distracted young lover
there and then determined to give them a job, for, he
said, "I have pressed my suit night and day for three
long years, and Susan is no nearer accepting me now
than when I began."
HE (jestingly) :"A fair hand, Julia—a fair hand;
but you know, in these days they make the must
perfect counterfeits out of wax or marble. Are you
sure this is not one ? " She (archly) : "Well, if you
think it's counterfeit. hadn't you better ring it?"

THE SPLIT IN THE GOOD TEMPLAR
ORDER:

For the last eight or nine years the Good Templar
Order has been divided into two sections, the British
delegates and their associates having severed from the
original body at the Louisville session of the Right
Worthy Grand Lodge, or Supreme Court, declining
to have any complicity with the alleged exclusion of
negroes from the lodges of the order in the Southern
States, and asserting as a fundamental principle of
the order that there shall be in its membership no
distinction of race, colour, or creed. The BriWh
section formed a Supreme Court of their own, under
the style of the "Right Worthy Grand Ledge of the
World," which has in its jurisdiction 36 grand lodges,
with an aggregate membership of nearly 300,000.
The American section has a similar membership.
The Right Worthy Grand Templar of the
American body and his associates have in-
vited the executive of the British, or "equal
rights," section to meet them in conference, with a
viow to reunion, and thus, if possible, to put an end
to an antagonistic feeling which, culminating in a
lawsuit against the Grand Lodge of England, has
proved very detrimental to the spread of the tem-
perance movement. Advances have, it is said, been
made in America in the direction that would justify
such a conference, and further advances, calculated
to make reunion possible, are anticipated. The
terms of the invitation place both parties on an equal
footing, and tha executive of the Right Worthy Grand
Lodge of the World has accepted the invitation. Mr.
Joseph Malins, the Rev. W. Ross, and Mr. W. W.
Turnbull are expected to leave early for the Sta:es,
the Grand Lodge Executive of En2land having
granted Mr. Malins, its Grand Worthy Chief
Templar, special leave of absence for the purpose.
The conference is to meet at Boston, Massachusetts,
on the 27th inst., and the result will be awaited by
the Gaod Templar membership with the utmost
interest and anxiety.