The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-05-15 00:00:00

our Youbou Correspodent.

(We deem it right to state that we do not at all the!)
Ideatifg ourselves with Ohr Correspondent's opinions.

The delay which has arisen ix proceeding to business
after the snmmoning of the new Parliament is not a
little remarkable, and has arisen from purely excep-
tional causes. When there is no change of Govern-
ment, a week suffices for the preliminaries, such as the
election of the Speaker and the swearing-in of members.
In 1859 the new House assembled on the 31st May,
and the Queen's Speech was delivered on the 7th June.
In 1874, a fortnight elapsed; for then, as now, there
was a change of Ministry, and a number of new writs
had to be issued. Parliament met on the sth March,
and proceeded to actual business on the 19th. Easter

was ;till ahead, and progress might be made with the

arrears before its arrival. But in the present in-
stance a fortnight from the date of the formal
opening of the Legislature brought the time down
to within two or three days of Whitsuntide,
when it would have been useless to attempt anything
during that holiday. But for this fact the legislative
machine might have been set in motion in earnest on
the 13th instant. A large number of members, how-
ever, have engagements for Whit-Monday and Whit-
Tuesday, and certainly would not be likely to be in
attendance at Westminster on either of these days. For
a new administration to lay before a new Parliament
a programme of its polic3; when the 'members were

scattered here, there, and everywhere would have
been a disadvantage to both ; hence the necessity for
a more prolonged delay than any which has occurred
in modern political history. Whitsuntide is mainly
responsible for it ; once get past that festival, and our
new legislators will set to work with a firm resolution
to make the most of the short session that remains to
them.

The London season, rudely broken in upon by the
dissolution, at length shows signs of recovery from
the blank which fell upon it. Practically, as yet there
has been none. It was on the Bth March, before

many families had come up to town, that Sir Stafford
rforthcote announced in the House of Commons that
the ninth Parliament of Queen Victoria was to be
dissolved at Easter, and immediately the centre of
political interest was transferred from the metropolis
to the provinces. Members seeking re-election were
eff in all directions; and the engagements which had
been entered into so far as the capital was concerned,
were at once cancelled. For more than two months,
therefore, the West End of London has been practically
empty. The indications of a revival of activity are
therefore welcome enough. The Drawing Rooms
held by the Queen at Buckingham Palace show that
this royal residence has not, in these latter days,
been altogether a stranger to the animation which
reigned within its gateways in days of yore. The
long lines of carriages in front of the Palace of St.
James's on the days when the Prince of Wales is
holding his levies there, are grateful to the sight of
many who live far beyond the precincts of Carlton
House Terrace or Spring Gardens. Then there will
be the celebration of her Majesty's birthday on the
29th instant, with its numerous train of engagements
all hours of that day. "Trooping the colours "in St.
James's Park in the morning is followed in the even-
ing by banquets given by the Ministers and great
officers of State to large numbers of distinguished
guests. Meanwhile the commonalty turns out in its
tens of thousands for the purpose of admiring the
illuminations in the West-end streets. Some of these
are very well worth seeing; and if the night be dry
and dark the .spectacle of the upturned faces of that
great multitude is one not easily forgotten.
The first of the levees held by the Prince of Wales
since the opening of Parliament and the formation of
the new Government was of good omen for the bril-
liancy of what now remains of the London season. It
is a long time since 400 presentations were made in

one afternoon, but such was the number on this occa-
sion. The weather was bright and sunny, though not
so warm as might have been expected in the month of
May; and the Prince, attended by his gentlemen-in-
waiting, and escorted by a detachment of Life Guards,
arrived at the St. James's Palace from Marlborough
House, and was received with lbud cheers by an as-
sembled crowd. He was met by the great officers of
State and the members of the Royal Household, and
was accompanied by the Duke of Connaught, Prince
Christian, Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, the Duke of
Teck, and Prince Louis of Battenburg. In the Throne
Room were assembled the Foreign Ambassadors,
the new Governor-General of India, the new Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland, the Hereditary Ear.l Marshal
of England, and the Lord Mayor of London. Alto-
gether the assembly was thoroughly representative
of the rank, wealth, and power of the country; and
the reception accorded to the Heir-Apparent testified
to the popularity of his Royal Highness amongst all
classes of the people. After the lev4e, and when the
long line of equipages had been dispersed to park and
square, and terrace at the west end of the town, the
Prince of Wales and the Duke of Connaught went to
the House of Lords for the purpose of taking the oath
and signing the roll of Parliament—that branch of the
Legislature having held a special sitting to enable
them to do so.

The prosperity of the people is often indicated by
the vital statistics issued by the Registrar-General,
and in his latest quarterly return he has supplied some
facts of very general interest. It appears that the
marriage rate in the last three months of 1879 was
lower than any on record since civil registration was
established in 1837, and its depression was greater
than that which prevailed in the two preceding
quarters. The birth-rate in the first three months of
1880, influenced by the long continued depression
in the marriage-rate, was considerably below the
average, and was lower than in any corresponding
quarter since 1850. The death-rate last quarter,
notwithstanding the severe cold, more especially
during the month of January, was also below the
average, except in the metropolis, where it showed
a considerable excess. During the last three
months of 1879, the marriages of 108,618 persons
were recorded in England and Wales. Oddly enough,
while eleven persons in the thousand were married in
the counties of Salop and Hereford, the rate was
twenty-three in Norfolk, or more than double.
Another sign of national progress or retrogression
may sometimes be found in the emigration tables.
The Board of Trade has shown that in the first quarter
of the year 45,151 emigrants embarked from the
differents ports of the United Kingdom, a large in-
crease upon previous returns. Between 1873 and
1877, when business was prosperous, and the various
departments of industry were in full occupation,
emigration declined, but since then it has steadily
augmented. The United States seem still to be the
favourite field for the enterprise of those who leave
our shores, 67 per cent, going there, as against
fifteen for the Australian Colonies, and only seven
for British North America.

Greenwich is known all over the world for two
famous institutions—its Naval Hospital and its Obser-
vatory. The last-mentioned is about as complete as
human skill, in the present condition of man's
development, can make it. One of the most valuable
and interesting of the contributions which it makes to
modern science is in its meteorological records. The
Astronomer-Royal can tell us not only all about the
temperature and the rainfall; he can not only calcu-
late whether a solar eclipse a century hence will be
visible to his successor, but by a little machine of ex-
tremely delicate construction he is enabled to measure
the number of hours of bright sunshine which every
day gladden the land both in country and in town.
His latest report is one full of cheerfulness and hope.
It speaks of brighter days in the past, with anticipations
that more are in store for us. The number of hours
of sunshine recorded at the Greenwich Observatory
last quarter WfIS 235, as against 141 and 137 respec-
tively in the first quarters of 1878 and 1879. There
was a marked increase in the amount of sunshine in
each of the three months. The readings of the barometer
ruled exceptionally high during January, while they
were generally below the average during. February;
they again showed an excess during the greater part
of March. The mean temperature of the quarter ex-
ceeded the average by one degree, and the measured
rainfall was only three inchqs. One curious fact in
connection with the cold wave which has lately
visited these islands may also be noted. During each
of the fifteen months ending in January last the
temperature was below the average; and there seems
to have been no previous instance on record of this
having been experienced so long a time in succession.
Some months ago the Lord Mayor of London opened
a fund at the Mansion House for the relief of the
sufferers by the famine in Ireland; and now steps
have been taken at the civic palace to establish a fund
for the relief of those who survive the famine in
Armenia, Kurdistan, and Persia. The scarcity of
food and failure of crops in the west were caused by
too much moistufe ; hunger in the east is generally
the result of drought. Of all the forms prepared for
the dissolution of the human frame, famine is perhaps
the most gaunt and the most repulsive; yet the
densely-peopled continent of Asia is seldom free
from this periodio visitant. India, China, Persia,
Armenia, Kurdistan—all in turn fall victims to its
presence. The most recent of these scourges is de-
scribed as being by no means the least destructive of
these agents of devastation, and it is therefore satis-
factory to know that such practical measures have
been taken te alleviate the distress as those just
inadagurated by the chief magistrate of the City of
London.

By way of contrast with this there is very ohee •
intelligence from our Australian colonies. In these
the people of this country take a deep interest—the
littered risiqh timiklutr-laind faels bt dig moms a

those who have left her shores to seek their fortunes
in her far-distant possessions on the other side of the
globe. We never expect Australia to become a second
United States ; the absence of great rivers must
always, in some degree, militate against its advance-
ment. Yet that it is energetic, industrious,
and enterprising, has been shown on more than
one occasion. Its international exhibitions would be
creditable to any of our colonial possessions; and the
spirited way in which it again sends over its team of
cricketers to compete with the picked players of
England, is open to commendation. So far as
Australia is concerned, the gloom and depression
which had so long settled down upon commercial
affairs seems to have passed away. The colony,
owing to the vast numbers of sheep which find sub-
sistence on its "walks," does, in times of prosperity,
an immense business in wool—which has lately in-.
creased in price no less than forty per cent. The
harvest, although not unusually abundant, has been
fair; and, while New South Wales will produce more
grain than is sufficient for its own consumption,
Victoria will export this year 200,000, and South
Australia 400,000 tons of wheat. These facts are
material evidences of returning prosperity, and will
gladden the heart of many a resident in England at
the sunshine which is again lighting up the great
island in the southern ocean.

Six years ago, on the occasion of Her Majesty's
birthday, Prince Arthur was created Duke of Con-
naught and Strathearne, a combination of titles
suggestive of Ireland and Scotland; and no* there is
a confident expectation that Prince Leopold will be
made a peer of the Bloc d Royal under the style and
title of Duke of Albany—a distinction first granted
nearly 500 years ag ) by Robert 111. of Scotland to
his son. Revived from time to time at the pleasure
of the reigning S evereig,,n, it has a pleasing sound
about it, and would be popular when borne by the
Queen's youngest son. It is worth noting that Her
Majesty in selecting titles for her sons, has not
called up any of those borne by either of her uncles—
York, Gloucester, Clarence, Kent, or Sussex, none of
which were transmitted, all having expired with the
deaths of theisr holders.

It was Mr. Pitt who once spoke of "the sweet sim-
plicity of the Three Per Cents.," and to all appearance
Consols seem to be in favour as a* investment. The
Three Per Cents. are very nearly at par, and as the
security is diminishing in qn3.ntity and contracting
in volume, ordinary competition from persons who
must and from others who will invest in it, adds units
to its value. Whatever may be the cause, there can
be no doulat of the fact that within the past few years
the popularity of Consols as an investment has largely
increased. When the news arrived in this country of
the declaration of war by France against Prussia, on
the 15th July, 1870, Consols were quoted at 88, a
very material difference as compared with the present
time, when they are quoted within a fraction or
two of 100. Fortunate are the holders of Consols who
bought just then; they not only receive a half per
cent. mcre than the depositors in the Post Office
Savings' Banks, but if they sold out, they would
realise the fact that they are substantially richer by
the purchase. Consols are regarded for the most part
more as an investment than as a speculaion ; but,
from the high prices which they have lately touched,
there can be little doubt that they have more often
come under that description than in days gone by.