The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-08-13 00:00:00

frnr STOV'RWATIX3IIk 011011MVER.

COIBLENTS ON CURRENT NEWS.
"MININTERS at the Mansion House." This
h3adline in the morning pipers on Thursday
brought home to us the fact th it Parliament
will soon be rising for the reve3s, and j:d
members quitting- Westm.nsL!r for the ra,yro
itir fr .edorn of mor and looh, :11(1
c )untry .ou:ie and holida • 1-. sort. Our Lgis-
latorB will be glad of the respite whici
custom and the hot we4ther brings them ;
glad to getaway from the oratorical fighting
anent Ireland and things Irish which has
o!cunied thnm almost all the Session. The
Crimes Bill has become law, the Land Bill
follows, after a reviewing in the Lards, but
Nl.P.'s have little else to sho‘v for their
labours. We shall havo enough excitement
in the "political situation" du: ing the quiet
time at St. Stephen's, doubtless, in speeches
and rnmoartrespecting the Unionist alliance
between Ministers and the Liberals who act
with Lord flartin!)-ton, Mr. Bright, Sir
Henry James, and Mr. Chamberlain, on the
one hand ; and intelligence on the other con-
cerning the ex Premier and his forces, who
remain firm in the stand they have taken on
the Parnellite side. There is little hope of
a truce among prominent politicians, even
when everybody else is holiday keeping; but
thank goodness, the great public will give
little heed in autumn to party oratory. So
wa shall have our newspapers partially, at
least, free for a little while from the ever-
lasting repoltition of the pros and cons of thq
Irish qnestion. For this approaching relief
let us be thankful.
w• • .

The holding of the Welsh National
Eisteddfod in England has not been the suc-
eees it was hoped it would be. Mr. Glad-
stone's Yoice would not let him mingle his
own words with those of his herdic admirers;
and there was, be ides this diiappointment.
an absense in the matter of fact metroplis of
that poeticenthusiasra without which an
Eisteddfod is comparatively nothing. It is
plain that Eisteddfodau are delicate in-
stitutions, indigenous to the rugged land of
their birth, and not calculated to thrive
amid the bustle of hurrying London. The
national celebration of ceremonial song will
next year be held at Wrexham, and there,
doubtless, "the Eye of Light" will look down
at the opening Gorsedd upon a much more
sympathetic if less curious congregation than
was gathered on Tuesday near the Ma4.-,razine
in Hyde-park. There was no lack of fire or
fervour about the bards, the druids, the
orates, and the musicians, but the unaccus-
tomed surroundings threw a sort of chill
over their brightest and best efforts It is a
good many years since an Eisteddfod took
place in "Caerlud" before, and it is hardly
likely that the Logan Stone and mystic circle
will again be seen in the chief city of the
"Isle of Britain" for a long time to come.
Sitomersesa le, in onn respect, the anti-
podes of Wimbledon. It is not a place for
pot-hantin.; and pleasure, but a rallying.
ground of discipline and scientific shooting.
Volunteers in shore camp expel ience a spell
of soldiering in earnest, with all its hard
and fast restraint ; those who assemble on
the common retain the freedom and license
of civilian life. Consequently Shoeburyness
has much more real military value than
Wimbledon ; and it is very pleasing to hear
of the skill which is being this year displayed
by our artillerymen, especially as the naval
mancenvres off the coast have just now
demonstrated how needful for Britain's de-
fence is plenitude of efficient big-gunners.

HARVEST proceeds apace, wheat and early-
sown oats giving the best and most sati3-
factory yields, gene:ally speaking, while
barley is on the whole light and very short
in the straw. Though, considering the
phenomenal drought, root crops are quite
as good as anyone could expect them to be,
they:are not likely to prove as profitable as
could be desired ; and in view of many big
stock keepers being driven already to tlll the
stacks for present food by reason of the
scarcity of pastarage, the compara ive failure
of mangels and turnips is full of foreboding.
Fortunately cake and most other manufact-
ured food stuffs are cheap. Rain is very
badly wanted all over, except by those who
have corn standing in sheaf, and even they
would welcome a refreshing shower or two.
In some parts of the hop country, too, wet
would turn a doubtful crop into a capital one.
This is far and away the sunniest summer we
have had for a vet), long time.

AMERICA is beginning to set up her back
against tbe reception of British immigrants
whose only capital is their labour, and whose
sole qaalification for settling in a new
country is failure to succeed in their own
land. We do not wonder at America's
alarm at the flocking of the shiftless to her
shores, fur if the New Englanders had not
boon ti rifty toilers they would to-day have
been but a feeble folk. In big English
towns the presence of colonies of destitute
foreigners has already become a factor to be
seriously reckoned with; and that is cer-
tainly a. very queer light for a nation to look
at:its responsibilities in which permits it to
come to the conclusion that it is right and
just to pack troublesome natives on to an
emigrant ship and turn them adrift in a
foreign land, and so get rid of them. Tile
regulations internationally affecting emiga a-
tion are in need of reform if one country is
to keep clear of anther's burdens of pauper-
ism.

THE Cass case has one a step further.
Miss Cass's friends have initiated a prosecu-
tion for perjury against the suspended con-
stable, Endaeott, the hearing of which will
take place at Bow Street on Tuesday; and it
appears from a statement by the Home
Secretary that a Treasury prosecution of the
policeman had been decided upon before
that. In the face of Sir Charles Warren's
somewhat curious inquiry and its results,
there does not, however, appear much pros-
pect of a definite settlement of the whole
business. The Chief Codunissioner is stated
to have come to the conclusion that the
officer was honestly mistaken, but lakiug in
this case in discretion ; and it would certainly
seem most difficult to prove "wilful and
corrupt perjury," even had such been corn-
mited. Then the Lord Chancellor is ander-
stoi,d to have expressed disapproval of the
way the magistrate dealt with the charge ;
bit details of his lordship's pronouncement
are kept secret until the rest of the case is
out of hand. As Mr. Newton had no reason
to doubt the evidence of the policeman, in
the absence of other evidence of legal va!ue,
he seems to have pursued the usual police-
court custom, whether with grace and dig-
n'ty is a matter of opinion. One good thing
coxes out of the case. A constable's un-
corroborated word will not be taken as
sufficient henceforth to destroy a womivi's
character. Many of Endacott's collea,gues,
like Sir Charles Warren, seem to beli
in him, and are subscribing for his defence.
Our only desire is th., the principle of right
may be vindicatA, 'tl that the keepe,ra of
order shall heueforth -Je themselves brought
RA near what thy should be as foresight and
Vigilance can make human nature capable (I.
Policemen ought, of all men, to be beyond
actspicioa of corruption, and of sufficient in.
Itelligence to ra4o
.erroueoas judgment a