The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-09-10 00:00:00

'Our Y.onbon, Corrtspoubt.tt,

7.7 a deem it right to state that we (10 not at all tirnes
14entify ourselves with our Correspowlent's opinions..

The national celebrations of great victories in Eng-
land has almost if not entirely died away. One reason
for this that since the first fifteen years of the century
we have been engaged in only one great European
war, and the achievements in that were not of such a
transcendent character that on the anniversary of
their recurrence we should put aside every other busi-
ness and devote ourselves to their commemoration.
We keep no memories of Trafalgar or Waterloo,
Alma, or Sebastopol. The Germans act differently.
The great victory which they won at Sedan on the
2nd September, 1870, when the late Emperor
17401e0n sUriendered at the head of an army of
80,0CP men, and the military power of France was for
the 'tinie broken, is kept every year with much
rejoicisig.in Berlin arid other important cities in the
German Empire. One reason for this in all probability
is that the eyents are so recent. It is only eleven
years since the news of that momentous conflict
arrived, in this country—when we learned that while
the empire of-France had been destroyed, the empire
of Germany had arisen upon its ruins.
Strong opinions are held by many in this country
respecting .:the crushing" weight of the military
organization of Germany ; at the same time there
is a feeling of admiration for the old Emperor,
who, at eighty-four" years of age, shows wonderful
spirit and activity, never failing in what he considers
his duties to the army. In his venerable figure he is
the embodiment of that military rule which prevades
the German.-empire and dominates every class of the
population. When Germany goes to war the nation
goes witli it ; it is not merely an army that marches
forth to battle, but an entire people,. The presence of
the Emperor William at the autumn manceuvres has
testified to the deep interest which he has felt in the
maintenance of that soldierly spirit which in his belief
is the foundation of the German power and the reason
, why the Teuton commands at present the military
suPremacY of EuroPe. As a well-drilla-Mild&
there is little doubt that t e
and' tl-re sacrific; of industrial
productiveness which is involved is as nothing in the
eyes Of theCerman military officers when compared
with the necessity for keeping this machine in perfect
working order.
It is no wonder that in this country the weather
forms a perpetual topic of conversation. In some
countries the weather seems fixed and regulated by
some unalterable law. In India, for instance, the
people know when to expect the hot season as well as
the rainy season, and can calculate the length of either.
They thus, to use a common but expressive phrase, know
where they are; they do not get fierce heats during the
rainy season, nor are they drenched by unexpectedrains
during the hot period. But it is one of the penalties
which we pay for living in the temperate zone that
the uncertainties of the climate render any dependence
upon continued fine weather impossible. Than the
prospects of the farmer in the middle of July nothing
could have been more bright or hopeful. There was a
fair growth of wheat, a fine yield of barley, and a
good crop of oats. The root crops had soffiewhat
suffered from want of rain; but a few showers then
fell which did a great deal of benefit. The corn
was well nigh ready for the sickle, when the era
of brightness and cheerfulness terminated, and one of
gloom and disaster set in. Two years ago there was
also a. calamitous month of August, but then the
corn had not been ripened as it had now. The clouds
did not then come in to spoil that which the sun
had brought to perfection. In those days of blazing
heat which now seem so long ago there was no one
who ventured to predict that in a few short weeks the
corn standing in sheaves would be mildewed through
the wet, and that where it was still standing in the
fields it would be beaten down relentlessly by the
heavy rains.-
The ill-fortune which thus, year after year, falls
upon one of the inost deserving classes of the com-
munity, has set men of science thinking over their
comparative helplessness in the face of nature's ad-
vsrss forces, notwithstanding their marvellous discover-
in other directions. They may reduce electricity to
obedience; but they have no more power over the
disposition of the clouds than in the earliest days
of the earth's history. The saddening spectacle
of a harvest spoiled just when it was on the
point of perfection, and man being com-
pelled to stand by in a state of the most utter helpless-
ness, confronts the philosopher and the man of science;
but he can do nothing practical to assist the despairing
agriculturist. The wonderful advance which scientific
progr6:s has made during the present century sets some
mind's speculating as to whether, in some future state
of intellectual development, agriculture will ever be
independent of the elements, and the farmer enabled
to reap the fruits of his labour by bringing into opera-
tion artificial means when Nature fails him.
In the midst of these national anxieties, the British
Association for the Advancement of Science and Art
has been holding its fittieth anniversary meeting in the
city where the first gathering took place half a century
ago. Fifty years is not along time in the history of a
state which carries its chronicles back a thousand or

more; but even in that short time many an eminent
man of science has filled the 'chair of the British Asso-
ciation whose place now knows him no more. But
while such men as Sir David Brewster, Sir Roderick
Murchisson, Sir Charles Lyell, Professor Phillips,
and others scarcely less eminent, have been gathered
into the garner of death, their places in the field of
science have been filled by a younger generation of
enthusiastic workers who in intellectual power
emulate the fame of their predecessors.
The month of September, and more especially the
early part of it, is not generally set apart by our
public men for much political speaking. It is too
soon after the rising of Parliament, where there has
been oratory enough and to spare for months past.
Not many years ago, the late Lord Eeaconstield,
speaking at a harvest gathering in Bucks, declared
that -he was not "up to politics in September,"
and this sentiment is shared by a good many
members en both sides of the House of Commons. ,
It will not be until October that matters in
this way willbegin to makea move, and then Mr. Glad-
stone will be one of the first to address a . provincial
audience at Leeds. On the 9th November he will in
all probability be one of the guests at the Lord Mayor's
banquet, and thus in mid recess will have an oppor-
tunity of reviewing the events Which have happened since
Parliament rose, and of giving an idea of what the
next session is likely to see in the way of legislation.
It is not often that so many seats fall vacant as
those which constituencies in various parts of the
United Kingdom have, lately been called upon to
fill. The vacancies have been very evenly distributed
—four in England, two in Scotland, two in Ireland,
and one at Berwick-upon-Tweed. Counties and
boroughs have alike participated in the choice of new
members,' and have thus indicated the passing phases
of political thought in communities of diirerse interests.
Numerous causes have combined to render these new
elections necessary—death, withdrawal from Par-
liamentary life, elevation to the peerage, and appoint-
ment to office. When a vacancy arises in the School
Board for Londen, the question is not referred to the
ratepaYers, ibtit decided by the Board itself, whose
members themselves select a gentleman to fill the seat.
But Parliamentary vact. nc:es must still be filled in the
way to which we have bcea accustomed for ages, and
the question of choosing a success is settled by the
coesti,tueney intaf ested.- When Parliamezt is not sitting
these bye-elections command a considerable amount of
attention, and it is remarkable that while, for more
than two months there was not one, nine should have
fallen in within a very short space of time.
The time has vassed when the courts of law in
England laid down the dictum, " the greater the
truth the greater the libel." And the new Libel LAW
Amendment Bill passed in the recent session was
but a tardy act of justice towards the Newspaper Press
of this country. For a long time and after a pro-
tracted Wert, privilege was applied to the reports
of proceedings inTarliament and in Courts of Justice,
on the-i;rourid that it was for the public interest that
the doings of both Parliament and the legal tri-
bunws should he known. The newspaper proprietor
was therefor protected by the law in publishing these
reports. But this ithmunity did not extend to public
meetings, where if slanders were uttered, they became

libels when printed, and rendered the newspaper
cinjtilating them
,liable to prosecution. For many
years this has. been felt to be a substantial grievance
by the newspaper press, and at length the altera-
tion made is one which Parliament recognises as
being founded upon common sense, so that
reports of 'public meetings are now privileged,
like those of Parliament and the law courts.
Another very considerable change has been made,
which is a grateful one to the journalist. Formerly
when proceedings for libel were taken, the pro-
secutor had the option of putting the criminal law
into force, or resorting to a civil action for the
recovery of damages. A newspaper owner therefore
often stood in a felon's dock, and (could not be exa-
mined:on oath when,. had he been made a defendant
in a civil' snit, it-would have answered every purpose,
and lie could then have gone into the, witness-box to
give his own vefion of the affair. In fut ,re no
criminal prosecution for libel.can be undertaken with-
out the written cimsent iof the Public Prosecutnr, a
condition Which will materially diminish their number.
A substantial step has thus been made towards the
greater freedom of an institution, the value of which
as a public instructor of the people is becoming more
and more recognised with the advance of time and
the enlightcnmet:t of the age.