The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-02-19 00:00:00

OM' -f1311111311 otorresprdent.

r [We deem it right to state that we do not at a.: tilr,,l
colentify ou,selv,,s with our Ccurespondznt's opinion.

It would be somewhat difficult at the present
moment to ascertain the precise spot "where Afric's
sunny fountains roll down their golden sands," so far
as the peace and comfort of tie British taxpayer are
concerned. Every Sunday scholar is acquainted with
Bishop Heber's beautiful description of what in later
times Mr. Henry Stanley has called "the dark con-
tinent." Just now k is causing us a great deal of
Ftrouble. In South Africa the rising of the Basutos
(and the insurrection of the Boers have followed swiftly
upon the close of the Zulu War. Nor is this the only
anxiety in Africa at a time when other matters nearer
. home are demanding the attention of the Government.
Upon the western shores of the same continent, in
the English colony of the Gold Coast, we are again
threatened with one of those little wars which seem
inseparable from the maintenance of our authority
in distant lands. The King of the Ashantees is an
old acquaintance. It is now within a few dayS of
seven years ago that Sir Garnet Wolseley penetrated
to Coomassie, the capital of the Lf.ril of the Twenty-
four Umbrellas, as the sable monarch delights to call
himself, and was compelled to teach him a severe.
lesson by laying the place in ashes. The memory of that
bitter experience seems to have become obliterated
from the mind of King Koffee Calcalli, and he has sent
to the Governor of the colony a gold axe as a declaration
of war. The bellicose sovereign will doubtless be dealt
with as effectually as he was last time, if not more so.
When the Ashantees were chastised in 1874, it was
discovered that thy were a very crafty set of blacks
indeed. They ingeniously imitated our bugle-calls,
and that in Which they showed most proficiency was
" Ceae firing." This time, however, our soldiers,
should matters come to the worst, will know with
whom they have to deal, and will be prepared to act
accordingly.

That a great civilized country like England
should at this time of day have recurring troubles
with savages like the Ashantees on the west
coast of Africa, and with Pondos, Zulus, Kaffirs,
and Basutos on the south, shows what very little
advance that great continent is capable of
making in the direction of civilization itself. It is
the largest peninsula of the universe, and three thou-
sand years ago one part of it—the land of Egypt—
was the seat of industry, enlightenment, arts, and
learning. The people who built the Pyramids, and
pt., &iced those wonderful curiosities, some of which
are now in the British Museum, dwelt thirty cen-
turies ago upon the same continent where to-day
cannibalism exists, and the intellectual calibre of
many a wandering and predatory tribe is about as low
as it can possibly be in a human being. We see what
England has done in the way of civilization, both
in the North and South Atlantic ; and it must
be a matter both of wonder and of regret that
Egypt of old, with all her advantages, was able to do
so little. But the Egyptians were not the only people
in Africa, who, in days long ago, were capable of
good things. There was Carthage, the proud and
stately mistress of the Mediterranean, with her ships,
her colonies, ard her commerce. She not only sent
forth her armed galleys to meet the Romans on the
sea, but for a long time defeated them also upon the
land, earning such resentment from the beaten foe,
that when, at length, the4Romans got the upper hand,
they ordered the destruction of the Republic. Yet

-
Egypt and Carthage left little behind them by way of
helping to civilise the vast peninsula whereon, at one
time, they exercised such a potent influence.

There are other questions besides the African wars
which are, just now, attracting considerable attention.
Foreign affairs, which slumbered for a few months,
are once more awakening and coming to the front in
the battleground of political contention. That this
should be so is no matter for surprise, looking at the
varied interests of the British empire all over the
globe. There is one subject in particular, which is
likely to be heard of more than once this session.
The Queen's Speech announced the intention of the
Government to withdraw from Candahar at no distant
day. The publication of the correspondence found
at Cabul, when the late Arneer, Shere Ali, fled from
his dominions upon the advance of the British army,
has raised anew the old controversy, and that there is
a very strong feeling in this country in favour of the
retention of Candahar can admit of no doubt. Now
that the late Parliamentary excitement has passed
away, there is some hope that time will be given to
the discussion of momentous public questions in the
spirit which their impertance demands. One of
these is certainly the continued possession of Can-
dahar.

Armed by the House of Commons with the power
of framing new and more stringent rules for the
conduct of the debates, the Speaker has drawn up a
code of regulations calculated in the view of public
opinion to advance that object. It is generally
admitted that some of the rules, which have been in
force for centuries, are ill-adapted to the ever-growing
pressure of the present day. The cumbrous forms
which did very well hundreds of years ago, are not
found to be so appropriate in an age when the House
finds itself unable to get through anything like the
work which is set befor e it. The Speaker's rules are
prepared expressly for situations of urgency, but it is
more than probable that some of them will be per-
ma`nently enrolled, amongst the standing orders.

It was to be expected that the improvement which
has undoubtedly taken place in the general trade of
the country would be reflected in the increased
traffic receipts and enhanced dividends of our rail-
way companies. Nor has the expectation been disap-
pointed. The great English lines, with scarcely an
exception, have just declared dividends greater by
to 1i per cent. than those of the first half of the
year. The London and North Western, the London
and South Western, the Manchester and Sheffield,
the North Staffordshire, the Lancashire and Yorkshire,
and the Chatham and Dover, all show the same in-
crease of / per cent, per annum, while the increase in
the Great Eastern is per cent., in the South Eas-
tern t, and in the North Eastern rt. Two,—the Great
Northern and the Midland—show no change; and in
only one—the Brighton—is there an actual decrease.
The additional sum which these seemingly small
augmentations represent amounts to £350,000. The
last half of 1880 was on the whole a profitable one
for railway shareholders. The first half of the present
year will, it is feared, not be so satisfactory. In the
week of the great snow storm the receipts of one
company alone fell off to the extent of £40,000.

An important step in the direction of temperance
and of thrift is noted in the decision of the
Admiralty with respect to the spirit rations of the
Navy. The allowance of rum to the officers is to
be stopped altogether, some compensation being
made for its loss. Boys up to the awe of twenty will
also get no rum under theanew regulations; and induce-
ments will he held out to the men
,to give up their
rum for an additional quantity of tea and sugar, and
a ration of soluble chocolate in the middle night
watch. As the rum is issued to the Navy before pay-
ment of duty, these changes will involve an extra
charge to the estimates of from £lO,OOO to £20,000 a
year—an addition which will be willingly borne in
view of the important objects which are likely to be
secured by the change.

There is no reason to suppose that the Board of
Trade returns for January show any diminution of the
flow of prosperity towards this country. The exports
of British and Irish produce exceeded in value by
more than £400,000 those of tbe corresponding month
of last year. There was an increase in the stanle
trades of cotton and woollen manufactures, but a
decrease in iron and steel. The imports, however.
were not quite so good as those of January, 1880, thus.
showing that people either had not quite so much
money to spend as they had twelve months ago, or
that they did not want so many articles from
abroad. Too much importance need not be at-
tached to these monthly returns, the period
being short and the results customarily variable and
not always conclusive. Even supposing trade to have
received a temporary check, the cause does not seem
far to seek. Any unfavourable effects may reasonably
be attributed to the very severe weather which pre-
vailed throughout the month. The heavy snowfalls
and long-continued frost, which greatly impeded—and
in many places entirely suspended—all traffic and
inter-communication, may justly be credited with the
greater part of the retardation of the commerce of the
country.

The gigantic work which the London School Board
has in hand was amply illustrated by the annual
report of its operations lately presented to that body.
It not only fixes the amount of the education rate to
_

be levied by tllv vestries, but records the prog'ress of
• the greatest educational experiment ever made. The
rate f3i. the School Board which has been levied for
the 144-Er ending at Lady-day next is 31d. in the
i
pound, which s equivalent to 7d. in the pound for the
whole year. The cost of instructing the children of the
metropolis is however diminishing, though the number
to be taught is rapidly increasing. In the coming finan-
cial year it is anticipated that each child will cost 9d. less
in the Board schools than in the year now drawing to
an end. The number of children in the schooLs is grow-
' e'Srl;o4 exiActatituu .For the year which ends at
'aCly-day there has been an average attendance of
196,704, or 85 per cent, of those whose names are on
the books. For the coming year provision has to be
made for an increase of names and an increase of attend-
ance. It is expected that 87i per cent. of those on the
books will be at school every day, and that the number
thus regularly found in the Board schools of London

will be 224,014. The rapid growth of this schoo
attendance is very remarkable. In 1873 it amounted
only to 30,853; it had grown in 1876 to 109,957; three
years later it was 182,486; and it is now expected to
be over 40,000 more in the coming year.
The provision in the Navy Estimates for a supply
of torpedoes illustrates the enormous change which
has come over the mode of conducting modern
naval warfare. The mechanism for using this
deadly instrument seems to be complete. It can
be so arranged that the torpedo will sink if it
miss the mark aimed at when fired in earnest, and
HO cease to be a danger to friendly ships. Provision
is further made for the safe recovery of loaded torpe-
does that have been launched without result. Another
appliance prevents the ignition from acting until the
torpedo has reached a safe distance from the vessel
using it. Most large ships are now .supplied with this
formidable weapon, and are fitted with a tube under
water, from which it can be thrust with the aid of
the same force that propels it when on its course
—compressed air. Many of the new swift torpedo
boats can also use it, for it is lowered from
their gunwales and started above water. It has
undoubtedly added greatly to the efficiency of these
redoubtable craft, as they can now assail an enemy
under water without approaching him nearer than a
positbn three or four hundred yards off, a distance
at which they would be fairly secure against the fire
of machine guns at night. The stupendous armament
and stout plating of monsters like even the Dudio or
the Italia would prove but a poor defence against a
fast torpedo boat armed with Whitehead's torpedo, if
directed by a commander of intrepidity, skill, and
spirit.