The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-09-18 00:00:00

Our fonbon Corrtspnbtnt.

[We &ern it right to state that we do not at all times
Identify ourseivca with our Corre:Tondent's opinions.]

The effect of the gold discoveries of the last thirty
years upon the general wealth of the community has
been often canvassed, and political economists are by
no means agreed as to what that effect has really been.
There are those amongst us who still remember the
first finding of gold in California in 1847, and in Aus-
tralia four years later. Visitors to the Crystal Palace '
must have noticed a gilded pyramid of great height
representing the amount of gold which has beenbronght
from Australia to this country; and when it is esti-
mated that between 1851 and 1859 precio-as metal to
the value of ninety millions sterling was exported from
the colony of Victoria alone, it will be seen how
enormous is the quantity which has been added to the
currency within the past generation. Professor Fara-
day has told us that from the accession of Queen
Elizabeth in 1553, to the begninning of 1810 more than
three million three hundred thousand pounds weight
of gold passed through the Royal mint, and that of
this nearly one half was coined in the reign of George
TIT. A superficial view of the vast mass of
metal which has been poured into the -United
Kingdom during the last quarter of a century
would suggest the idea that it represented
so much additional money put into the pockets of the
people. Yet, so far as Australia is concerned, it is
doubtful whether every ounce of gold has not cost
more than its value to raise from the earth; and so
far as Great Britain is concerned, it is certain that,
although gold is still nominally the same price as it
was, really it has diminished in value. The rule regu-
lating the price of every other commodity must apply
to the purest and most ductile of all the metals.
When scarce it is dear; when plentiful it is cheap.
The wife of a working man who went to market on a
Saturday evening ten, fifteen, or twenty years ago,
a sovereign to spend, could make the coin go a
great deal farther than she can now. A widow with
£lOO a year in the Three Per Cents finds that sum
nothing like so useful as it-was half a generation since,
If that is her sole income, and she can add to it by no
means in her power, it is cold comfort to tell her that
really, although individuals may prove the exception,
the general wealth of the country has marvellously in-
creased. From the earliest ages gold has been looked
upon by almost every nation as the most valuable of
all the metals. It is, however, too soft to be used
pare, and is generally alloyed with copper or silver.
Our gold coin consists of twenty-two carats of pure
gold and two of copper.

Connected with this subject is some very interesting
Information which has been supplied by Mr.
Anthony Trollope. This gentleman tells us that
artizans in Melbourne. such as masons, bricklayers,
and carpenters, now earn from eight to ten shillings a
day. For this class Mr. Trollope thinks Australia a
very desirable country, for not only are wages double
what they are in England, but the same money will go
farther at the Antipodes than here. A working man
will, according to this authority, find himself in a
much better position in Australia, always provided he
does not drink. On this point he is very strong, and
says to the intending emigrant :—" He must ask him-
self, in the first place, whether he can be sure of his
own sobriety. Beer may be a snare to him at home,
and, if so, will do him much damage. But if it be so,
bad brandy and bad whiskey will certainly kill him in
the colonies. When men do drink here, they drink to
terrible excess. He must then ask himself whether he
can really work. Of course, he thinks that he can;
but he my perhaps be able to ascertain, by some
course of self-examination, whether he is good among
his fellow-workmen, or whether he be slow and un-
handy. It is the handy man who does well here—the
man who has a head on his shoulders, and a quick
touch, and a sharp eye." Mr. Trollope adds :
" There is one class of workmen, or of intending work-
men, who should never come to the colony. This is
the young gentleman who, finding that nobody wants
him at home, thinks he may as well emigrate.
Neither will any one want him here. And here no
one win pity him. At home he may get some com-
passion andvorne aid." Sobriety and thrift are there-
fore, in the opinion of a very good judge of human
nature, as indispensable to the success of a workman
at the Antipodes as in the land of the emigrant's birth.
Although an analysis of the weather which has pre-
vailed during the past forty years would show innumer-
able fluctuations, there have been no permanent
changes, and no cycle of peculiar winters or summers
is traceable. The swamps and forests of Saxon Eng-
land no doubt had their share in modifying the climate;
but there have been winters in our time almost as
hard as anything we read of in the chronicles, and the
cuckoo and the swallow arrive about the 14th or 15th
of April. i.e - Teee, fseeee...
mere is, however, a winter of exceptional severity.
Those yet amongst us who are white with age can
relate the experiences of the year 1814, when the
Thames was frozen over for 13 weeks, and a fair was
held upon the congealed surface of the river. But that
is more than sixty years ago, and there has been
nothing like it since. In many cases our weather
proverbs are as trustworthy now as when they were
first coined. A scrap of oountryside wisdom molt be
very true before it can get into the heads of a whole
nation, and grow into a proverb. Centuries ag many
of these sayings must have been uttered by Saxon
thane or Norman vassal. From woodman's hut, ahep-
herd's shieling, baron's hall—from the camp, the forge,
the woodman's fire, the oft-tested sayings must have
come to us, and they have grown imperishable from
their quaintness or their truth. Many of these
are even now useful and safe guides for the
farmer, while others are applicable only to certain
localities from which they have long since detached
themselves. There is, for instance, the Midland
county proverb: "Where the oak comes out before
the ash there will be a fine harvest; but when the ash
comes out before the oak, harvest will be wet." This
has been quoted by farmers a long way from the
Midlands, and must therefore be of not merely local
application. Much white-thorn blossom and many
dog roses foretel a severe winter. Some country pro-
verbs indicate the date of certain farming duties of the
coming of special flowers, as for example, "You may '
shear your sheep when the elder blossoms peep."
Virgil has written that the almond flourishes best in
good harvest years; but this may apply only to Italy.
A moist and cool summer, accoring to Lord Bacon,
portends a hard winter. On the other hand, "a dry
summer never made a dear peck, for drought never
bred dearth in England." The Scotch say "Early
bramble blossoms early harvest." Some of the
rhyming proverbs are very quaint and singular.
We are told that "winter thunder and summer flood
never boded an Englishman good;" and again, "Winter
thunder bodes summer's hunger," "calm weather in
June sets corn in tune," "no tempest good July lest
corn come off blue by," &c. The last-mentioned senti-
ment is rather hazy, and not quite so clearly put as
some others ; but the interpretation thereof will be clear
enough to the agricultural mind.
A curious fact has been noted in connection with
the acquisition of our latest colony. Fiji consists of
so small an amount of dry land compared with the
expanse of water over which the islands are dotted,
that this most recent British possession ratty be not
Inaptly termed a South Sea Venice. Sir Arthur
Gordon. the new Governor, has for the time taken
up his residence on board of the man-of-war Barra-
couta ; and, as at present anticipated, this floating seat
of government will be so employed for some months to
come. The duties of Sir Arthur, in establishing
British rule in these islands, will necessitate his con-
stant embarkation for passage from one to another of
the group; and it is possible that a paddle frigate will
be converted into a permanent residence such as will
be thoreughly appreciated in a hot climate.
Some statistics which have been published, showing
the conditions of life in St. Helena, give a discouraging
picture of the island home of Napoleon. Slowly but
steadily its prosperity has contined to decay. Popula-
tion remained stationary, and the income of the little
community was actually declining. Yet in spite of
commercial stagnation, all kinds of manual labour
appeared to be in fair demand. Domestic servants
obtain from £1 to £2 per month, agricultural hands
from 2s. to 4s. per diem, and trade employes from ss.
to 10s. per day. Nor is the price of provisions so

high as to render these rates unremunerative. Beef
can be purchased at 9d. per lb., mutton at 10d.,
pork at Bd. and Cape wine at 68. per gallon. On the
other hand beer averages is. per bottle, and butter
commands 2a. 6d. per lb. But then good tobacco may
be obtained at 3e. 6d. per lb. while rice averages 2id.
It is doubtful, however, whether unskilled labour will
care to find a field of employment Upon the far-off rock
of St. Helena.

It is well known that the subdivision of land is
carried out to a great extent in France, yet in no
country are proprietary rights more strongly enforced.
The right of the poor to glean in the fields after harvest
Is one which the farmers and petty proprietors have of
late almost abolished in France. Every ear of wheat,
every grain of cona, every bit of straw, every stray
grape, has been gathered in or utilized; and the
gleaners have been treated as thieves and warned off
the fields. Where permission to glean was given, the
concession was looked upon as an act of generosity for
which the farmer might take credit. Suddenly, how-
ever, a decree of the Court of Cassation has enforced
the rights of the poor in a manner only to be paralleled
by the most benevolent and touching injunctions of
the Bible. The claims of the poor gleaner are sus-
tained, and the French judges lay it down that the
question is one not of philanthropy, but of right. It
has decreed that by ancient right and by common law
the landed proprietors cannot drive sheep into
Oa fields until two days after the completion of the

harvest, in order that the gleaners May have an oppor-
tunity of exercising their calling. The decree enacts
that the poor "shall not be deprived of the benefit
whichhumanity and law have reserved to the indigent."
Any individual action or municipal regulation to the
contr.-try is invalid and illegal. There is no occasion
for such a decision in this country, where the right of
the poor to glean in the fields after the harvest would
uot be disputed. ' 1
Michaelmas, the feast of St. Michael and all Angels,
wl:ich is now so close upon us, is one of the oldest of
the religious feetivals. It brings with it, however;
other associations. It is connected in some minds
with demands for rent, and in others with the
demolition of geese. I see that the custom of
eating geese at Michaelmas has been erroneously attri-
buted to Queen Elizabeth's enjoyment of the bird at
dinner on the 29th September, 1588, at the house of
Sir Neville Umfreyville, at the time when her Majesty
heard of the destruction of thefSpanish Armada. But
it is of much older date, and was observed upon the
Continent long beiore,the courageous queen sent out
her fleets to cope with the mighty squadron of tta-e Done.