The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-10-23 00:00:00

Oar yonbon gorrtspoubent.
pve deem it right to state that we do not at all times
tdentify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.

Visit-ors to the French capital, whether they have
gone into the streets, lounced in the cafes, remained
in the houses, or strolled through the Boulevards,
have been brought face to face with a national feeling
which to many of them must have seemed inexpli-
cable. It is impossible to describe the animus of the
average Frenchman towards the Empire of Germany,

or rather tbwards Prince Bismarck as its incarnation.

What Bonaparte was to England two or three gene,-
rations ago, so is Prince Bismarck to the Frenchman
of to-day. The French would like to carry out the
Treaty of Berlin, to which they as well as the rest of
Europe were parties, but—Bismarck! They wish a
perpetual menace to the peace of Europa to be
removed, but Bismarck! If you go into a
cabaret, and are overcharged for your cau de vie, the
answer of the garcon to your expostulations is—
Bismarck I From scores of papers representing
classes of people as wide as the Poles asunder, this
feeling is found to pervade the Parisian population.
With all the differences which party rancour excites

on this side of the Channel, and with all the power
of denunciation possessed by the English language,
there is nothing in this country in the recollection of
tiao-t English politicians, to equal the violence of
expression towards a neighbouring Power to be found
in the capital of France.

A great deal has been said about the reluctance of
r:CM3 of the European Powers to join in coercive
measures to carry out the remaining provisions of the
Treaty of Berlin unless a distinct basis is laid demi.

The interests of seven or eight great Powers are natu-
rally conflicting to a very considerale extent ; and
nowhere is this more apparent than in the relations
between England and Russia. Take, again, France
and Germany, Italy and Austria, and Germany
and Austria. Every one of these Powers have been
at war with each other within the past quarter of
a century—England and Russia in 1855, France and
Austria in 1859, Austria and Prussia in 1866,
Italy and Austria in the same year, and France and
Germany in 1870. Be tha.t as it may, however, there
can be little doubt that if Germany and Austria were
to attempt to turn the situation in the East to their
own account, to the detriment of the other Powers,
England, Russia, and Italy would have the means of
establishing against them a formidable coalition,
especially as France would sooner or later almost
inevitably throw her sword into the scale against
Germany. This Prince Bismarck very well knows.
Bold as that successful statesman is, the prospect of
such a combination, even if it be remote, is enough to
make him cautious and conciliatory. •

Practical men turn with interest to the periodical
reports issued by the Board of Trade relating to the
commerce of the United Kingdom, as furnishing
valuable indications of the exact situation of our com-
mercial affairs, and of the growth or decline of the
staple industries of the country. These returns
possess especial valae, which causes them to be
more closely scanned at eventful periods. At the pre-
sent time, for instance, harvest operations having come
to an end, it is of interest to know whether the im-
provement which has been gradually developing itself
since the spring of this year—following the severe and
prolonged depression of the pravious two years—is to
be regarded as permanent, or merely as marking a tran-
sitory fluctuation. In this respect the latest returns
just published are in every way satisfactory and
encouraging. The conclusion to be drawn from a
comparison of the proportionate rates of increase is
that the re-action from the trade depreasion of 1878-79,
which began to be manifested at the close of last year
and the early part of this, is shown to be not only
permanent but progressive. And taking into con-
sideration the generally-favourable nature of the in-
gathered harvest, it may reasonably be anticipated
that the improvement thus established will not only
be absolutely maintained, but relatively enhanced;
that the country has done something more than merely
turn the corner; and that it has already taken a long
stride in advance on the upward path of prosperity.
National celebrations of victories are not much in
the. English way of thinking. No greater triumph
was ever won, either by land or sea, than that of Lord
Nelson, off Cape Trafalgar, yet in the earliest of its
recollections, and when gratitude to the departed hero
for saving the country from invasion was still fresh in
the public mind, there were no such commemorations
as the Germans lately held of the tenth anniversary of
Sedan. Now, when the 21st of October in each year
comes round, the stout old Victory in Portsmouth Har-
bour is dressed in laurels, as a reminder of that long
day of thunder and red flame when the naval power
of France was shattered, and twenty ships of war
were sent to the bottom of the sea. In the evening the
surviving officers dine together in London, and that is
all. Very thin and attenuated have their
.ranks
become, for a period exceeding that of the age of man
as alloted by the Psalmist has passed since the
sanguinary fray. Five years ago there was a great
celebration of the " Balaklava Charge," on the twenty-
first anniversary of that famous encounter, which took
place on the 23th of October, 1854. The Alexandra
Mace was the scene of that commemoration, which
it was then proposed to make annual. But from
whatever cause this idea has not been carried out; one
reason being that we are not a military people, and
as a rule have more serious matters in hand than the
commemoration of military struggles.

Mr. Einglake'3 new volume of "The Invasion of
the Crimea," a comprehensive tome of 600 pages, is
the book of the season. Mr. Kinglake has prepared
his work at the cost of an enormous amount of labour,
for he has practically been engaged upon it ever since
the war came to an end. Throughout his pages he re-
maids the reader that the English people have a
problem to solve which led to the disasters of 18.54,
when as it will be remembered, the outbreak of war
tonna the country totally unprepared for it. Forty
years of peace had deranged our transport and
commissariat systems to an extent which had
lamentable results in the deaths from neglect
in the trenches before Sebastopol. The Crimean
war found us unprvared, and the suffering which
followed as a consequence is told with much force.
The problem which the
.author places before our
rulers for solution, is how to make our mixed polity
furnish an executive government which at once on the
call to arms, and without needing further lessons in
the school of adversity, may be equal to' the business
of war. That is the moral of Mr. Kinglake's volume,
and that it is well pointed no one who has glanced
through his pages can doubt.

peni,

The municipal boroughs of England and Wales are
preptiring for the election of Town Councillors on the let
of November, and as the choice of the burgesses on that
day will materially affect the ohoice of the Aldermen on
the 9th the contests are being fought with more than the
usual amount of animation. The question of annual
or triennial elections has often been discussed without
much of a conclusion having been arrived at on either
side. In the municipal corporations one-third of the
members retire every twelve months; in the School
Boards all the members go out of office every three
years . without any intermediate annual elec-
tions. In the Town Councils one-half the
number of aldermen retire by rotation once in
three years; and as these are chosen by the council-
lors the contest to obtain the majority is often a keen
one. This mode of local government is in remarkable.
contrast to that which prevails in London, or rather
in the city of that name. The Common Councilmen
are elected by the citizens, it is true, and so are the
Aldermen, who are chosen for life. Another way in
which the municipal government of the city differs
from provincial towns is the exclusion of politics in
the selection of the chief magistrate. The aldermen
take the mayoralty by rotation, so that every man
has his turn, irrespective of party. The present Lord
Mayor is a Conservative ; his successor is a Liberal.
No one either in the Court of Aldermen or Common
Council would think of excluding a man from office
cal account of his political views.
Most country visitors who come to London just now
make it a point to go and see the Temple-Bar Memo-
rial. A great deal of personal feeling has been im-
ported into the controveiSy ; and in both the Court of
Common Council and the Metropolitan Board of
Works, warm discussions have taken place. The
Board of Works find that they have no power to inter-
fere, the erection of the monument being strictly
within the jurisdiction of the civic authorities. The
great question is whether the memorial is an obstruc-
tion to the traffic of a crowded thoroughfare. If not,
London is not so rich in works of art that it can
afford to dispense with any additions to its
list. Whatever may be thought of the Temple-
Bar structure, the resolve of the Corporation to com-
plete Blackfriars Bridge by placing statuary on
the abutments at either end will be generally
approved and commended. The Committee of that
body for letting the Bridge House estates have given
notice that they will receive designs for the statuary,
and that six premiums will be awarded by the Com-
mittee, two of £250, two of £l5O, Mnd two of £lOO.
The structure was opened 13y the Queen in 1869, and
its greater breadth, compared with its predecessor,
has led to a considerable increase in the enormous
mass of traffic which is poured over the river at that
point.
The Long Vacation—long enough to many of those
who have to live by the law—terminates on the 24th,
having lasted from the first week in August. The
lawyers, who have had then ten weeks of holiday, are
gradually coming back to London, and taking up
their in those dingy chambers which form the
characteristics of Lincoln's Inn and the

quarters

Temple, Gray's Inn, and the Inns of Barnard and
Furnival. A vacation which extends over ten or

.even weeks is not a bad one as times go, and a good
deal of foreign travel can be got through in the
-iod. It is a singular instance of the Conservative
instinct which rules English customs that this long
vacation, which so many law reformers have tried
to curtail, is a remnant of the Norman invasion,
the victorious settlers in this fair isle generally
suspending business from the beginning of August
until the end of October, in order to enjoy
themselves over the produce of the new vintage in
France. Centuries have come and gone j and modern
life has been adapted to the changed cireurnstanzes of
the time and the necessities of meeting modern com-
petitions. But there is no competition with our legal
tribunals, and so it comes to pass that the Long Vaca-
tion is still enjoyed to its full extent by those who
live by the practice of the law. The vacation is con-
temporaneous with tip venerable Elan itself in which
the courts assemble. Westminster Hall was built in
the reign of William Rufus, and until the completion
of the new Palace of Justice will cast the shadows of
ages upon the tribunals whose principles of justice,
as administered to-day, are even older than itself, for
they date from the days of King Alfred, and repre-
sent the history no less than the
,traditions of a thou-
sand years.

orincii,