The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-02-28 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

In the HOUsla O URDs, Febl2pf tile Lord
eroduced four Bills, three of which had reface to le,.
estates and conveyancing. The first of these proposed to
give to the tenant for life of an estate power to grant agri-
cultural, mining, and building leases, and power to sell
tinder certain restrictions, the money to be paid to
trustees or into court. The second Bill would
afmplify and cheapen the conveyance of land and prant
the forfeiture of leases for breach of covenant in cerrain
crows. Deeds would be shortened in length, and solicitors
Would be paid not according to the length of the deeds but
by a percentage on the value of the property. The last bill
Would alter the limitation time for simple contract orders
. from six to three years, and make other changes in the law as
to limitation,
Lord Selborne remarked that the Bills were extremely
Well calculated to meet and remedy a great number of the
practical inconveniences now experienced. There were,
however, several matters which he hoped his noble and
Learned friend would reconsiaer, especially the proposal
to make a difference between existing and future settle-
ments.
The four BWs were severally read a first time.
The Artisans and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement (Scot-
land) Act (ISM) Amendment Bill, and the Seeds (Ireland)
Bill passed through Committee, and their lordships ad-
ourned.
In the HOUSE OF CODIXONS, notice was given by the
Chancellor ot the Exchequer of the terms of the motion
Which he will make on Thursday relative to the obstruction
busineu.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer stated, in answer to Dr.
Playfair, that a special pension of £BOO a year had been
awarded to Dr. Farr in recognition of his long and able ser-
vices in the Registrar-General's office.
The House was again occupied for some hours in consider-
ing complaints of Breach of Privilege.
Mr. Sullivan called attention to a recent Conservative

Chancellor,lit-
terence

Meeting in Chelsea, presided over by Lord Cadogan, at which
he expressed a hope thst Chelsea would follow the example
of Southwark, and at which Major Jocelyn had denounced
Sir C. Mike's vote on Mr. Shaw's amendment as an
unholy alliance with "a despicable lot of Irish
rebels." This language, he contended, was a breach
of Privilege, and Lord Cadogan's conduct was a breach of the
Standing Order which forbade Peers to interfere in elections.
At this there was a cry of " Rosebery "from the other side,
to which Mr. Sallivan replied that he was ready to "tackle"
any Peer who should invade the privileges of the House; and
he concluded by moving that both these persons had been
guilty of a breach of privilege.

Sir C. Mike pointed out, with regard to Lord Cadogan,
that the interference of a Peer prohibited by the Standing
Order' was always held to apply to the period following the
tune of the writ. As to Major .Tooelyn's language, it was
undoubtedly a breach of privilege under the Chancellor of
of the Exchequer's ruling on Friday night, which, he said,
bad paved the way for motions of this kind. Personally, he
wished no notice to be taken of the language, and should
not vote forthe motion.

The Chancellor ef the Exchequer denied that he was re-
sponsible for any ruling on Friday night, and instated that
ile had simply given effect to a doctrine which bad been
laid down from time immemorial, and which was universally
admitted during the discussion. But the case of Friday, he
argued, had no analogy with the question raised by Mr.
Sullivan. Nobody complained of the language used, no
evidence was laid before the House on which it could act,
and with regard to Lord Cadogan, as Sir C. Dilke had
Pointed out, the interference must be while the. election
Was proceeding.
Sir W. Harcourt thought the Chancellor of the Exchequer
had nobody to thank but himself for this motion, for it had
been distinctly pointed out to him that some such recrimina-
tion would be the result of the coarse he took on Friday.
The attempt to distinguish between the cases had entirety
failed, and there was no distinction whatever but that Mr.
Plimsoll belonged to the minority, while the persons now
elvalgned belonged to the majority. But he was as entirely
ePposed to this motion as to the resolution of Friday, and
Would meet it in the same way by the "previous question."
A short discussion followed, in the course of which Mr.
Newdegate and Mr. C. Lewis insisted that there was no
',mangy between language used at a meeting of a member's
constituents and an appeal made by one member to another
member's constituents. Mr. A.aderson defended_Lord Rose.
.13,017. Mr. Jenkins blamed the Government for having got
sae House into a ridiculous position. Mr. Chamberlain, Mr.
o'C. Power, and Mr. Biggar also condemned the Government.
Mr. A. Mille exhorted the BOAes not to waste further
time, while Mr. Forster, in giving the same advice, re-
Marked that by agreeing to the "previous question " the
House would destroy the bad precedent set on Friday night.
Mr. Sullivan, in his reply, complained of a Tory plot to de-
fame the Irish members and Sir J. M'Kenna wound up the
discussion by remarking that nobody who knew Major
Jocelyn would attach the smallest importance to what be
said or thought. The "previous question was then carried
by 229 to 15, so that Mr. Sullivan's motion was not put.

Mr. 0"Donnell next brought before the House certain
'foul and abZiminable libels" in the World, the Morning
Advertiser, the Daily Telegraph, and the Pall Mail Gazette,
Which he read at great length, and which he described as the
!await of a "base, abominable, and foul, electioneering
intrigue " to defame the Irish members and to punish the
Liberal party for its supposed alliance with them, He con-
cluded by moving that they constituted a breach of privilege.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer remarked that it was, of
course, impossible to form a judgment on those articles on a
single hearing, but they seemed to contain nothing more
*emu' than the sort of criticism which was just now very
common in the newspapers against all parties, especially
Her Majesty's Government. It would be a waste of time to
RO into a general discussion of how far such criticism should
be taken notice of as breaches of privilege, and he there-
fore moved that the House proceed to the Orders of the
Day.

Lord Hartington, in supporting the motion, congratulated
the Government on having at last learnt bow to deal with
Inch Complaints; and, after some observations from Mr.
Biggar and Mr. Newdegste, Mr. O'Donnell yielded to the
advice of Mr. Shaw, and did not press for a division. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer's motion was agreed to.

The report of amendment on the Irish Distress Relief Bill
Was brought up and agreed to.
The Criminal Code Bill WAS read a second time after some
disousaion, and ordered to be referred to a Select Committee,
With Dower, if so minded, to divide it into several Bills. A
"ups was also expressed that the Committee would not be
te°, n2Duse exclusively of lawyers, but include a certain propor-
.`"" lay men acquainted with the administration of justiee•
Rouse went into Committee of Supply, and progress
"I" triad() with the Supplementary Civil Service Estimates.
....Some other business was disposed of, and the Hotuie ad-
iu ed at ten minutes to two o'clock.

_ In the HOTISR OF LORDS, lreb. 24, in the Artisans' and
Labourers' Dwellings Improvement (Scotland) Act (1876)
Amendment Bill and the Seeds (Ireland) Bill, the reports of
amendnaents were received.
On the motion of Lord Houghton, a copy of the present-
rnent of the coroner's jury In Canidy's case was ordered.
The Presentment has reference to the non-admission of
reporters to view the execution of Cassidy in Cheatham
Prison.
Their Lordships adjourned at 25 minutes past live o'clock.
In the HOUSR OF COMMONS, the early part of the sitting
was occupied with a discussion on the Liverpool Corpora-
tion Water Bill, which was ultimately read a second time,
and at the suggestion of Mr. Solater•Booth referred to a
hybrid Committee, consisting of nine members, five to be
nominated by the House and four by the Committee of
Selection.
Mr. Ashbury gave notice of his intention to ask the
Government whether the Russian correspondence discovered
at Cabal was of the date of 1873, or of any period previous to
the Russo• Turkish War, and whether explanations had been
requested from the Ituselan Government.
Mr. Courtney gave notice that on an early day he would
Call attention to the state of the Transvaal and move a
resolution in favour of withdrawing from it.
Mr. Bourke, replying to Mr. H. Samuelson, said the
Foreign Office had received no information as to the reported
outrage upon Colonel Synge near Tricovitza.
Mr. Blake called attention to the anomaly and Injustice
occasionally arising from the privilege of immunity
from arrest enjoyed by peers and members of Parliament,
and moved a resolution declaring that the privilege is not
for the public good and ought to be abolished.
In the course of the debate which ensued, Mr. C. Lewis,
Mr. Herschel], Sir G. Bowyer, Sir H. James, Mr. Cross, and
other loon. members took part, and eventually on a division
being taken. Mr. Blake's resolution was negatived by 128 to
lit An amendment of Mr. Lewis's was also negatived; but
Without a division.
Mr. J. Holms moved a resolution declaring that in the
opinion of the House the duration of future Parliaments
Should not exceed live years each. While not disputing
the accuracy of the interpretation which the present
Government had placed on the Septennial Act, and not
denying that there were precedents for a Seventh Session,
he denied that it was for the public advantage, and
Urged that if the House did not set us foot down at
once they would become more frequent in the future. In a
Short historical summary he reviewed the circumstances in
Which the Triennial and the Septennial Acts were passed,
and &seeded that the latter had never been cordially
accepted by the country. The circumstances of our
social and political life are, he contended, so changed
that seven years now are equal to a whole generation in
1716. No other country, he said, had ever adopted a
tiptennial system, nor had the British Parliament, when
legislating for the colonies, sanctioned the principle. Among
Other argumenta, he pointed out that since the assembling
of the present Parliament the Government had committed
the country to impertant engagements of which the con-
stituencies had never been consulted.
Mr. Cowan, in seconding the motion, quoted Prynne and
Other Parliamentary antiquaries in proof ot his assertion
that the ancient practice was annual Parliaments, and in
energetic language condemned the Septennial Act as one of
the most unconstitutional Acts of our history, only compar-
able with the levy of ship money. More frequent elections
Would bring roembprs more in contact with the people,
would quicken political activity, and would give more
I.l.i_rength and independence to the political education of the
People.
Colonel Alexander proposed an amendment asking the
House to declare that the Septennial Act had been satis-
factory in its operation, and ought not to be repealed.
Sir G. Bowyer, who was interrupted by an unsuccessful
attempt to count out the House, seconded the amendment,
'"-r- H. Samuels.. .poke in favour of the resolution.
Hanbury said be had beard no single argument in
favour of either triennial or quinquennial Parliaments.
Mr. Holms having briefly replied, his motion was nega-
sired by 110 to 00, and Colonel Alexander's resolution was
sitreed to.
Lord Sandon moved that a select committee be appointed
to Inquire into the recent founaering of ships laden with
grain, coal, and other heavy or bulk cargoes.
Mr. Pdrnsoll cordially accepted the committee, but
!nought that, as legislation could not result from it this
tresion, his Bill, which he defended at some length, should
ee Passed, If only for a year.
Mr. C. Palmer, Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Semuda, Sir J. Hay,
Mr. Shaw Lefevre, and other members spoke on the general
qneation, and in the end the committee was agreed to.
Some other bushels' was disposed of, and the House ad-
Icnarned at twenty.tlve minutes past one o'clock.

IRE EXPLOSION IN THE WINTER
PALACE, ST. PETERSBURG.
ST. PETERSBURG, Feb. 21.
_ The Official Messenger publishes the following particulars
'Meeting the explosion in the Winter Palace on the 17th
"The basement in which the explosion occurred
was divided into dwelling-rooms and a corridor. Im-
tnediately above it was the guard-room, which had a
double-arched ceiling. The explosion made two gaps
in the lower arch, and the flooring of the dining saloon
above the guard room was raised only in two places,
corresponding with the guns in the arch. A breach
Was also made in one of the walls of the saloon.
" The experts who have been consulted are of
opinion that the explosion was caused by dynamite
and estimate the quantity used at about two poods.
It is believed that previous to the explosion, which
occurred at 20 minutes past six in the evening, the
dynamite was placed in or on the stove of the room in
the basement. The injuries sustained by eight of the
soldiers of the -Finland Regiment wounded by the
explosion are of a serious character. Ample provi-
eion has been made for the 1 elations of the men
killed as well as of those injured. The Emperor when
visiting the wounded men in the hospital addressed to
eaeh some words of sympathy, and expressed his thanks
for their fidelity and loyalty."

„Tbe Gobs publishas an article in —which. after pointing out
‘403 general satisfaction felt throughout Russia at the sym.
PM), shown by Europe towards the Emperor Alezender on
7nell occas:ion of the recent attempt on Ms Majesty's life, it
”
--11 Wire to cloal with au internal (mow *gland

whom external measures would be of no avail. We
must keep up our spirits, rouse ourselves to activity,
and purify one sentiments in the absorbing care for
our qwn welfare. Then the internal enemy will disap-
pear; The whole of Europe understands this, and the
situationisviewed in the same light by Germany, or at
least by her best representatives, at whose head ii the
Emperor William. When the German Emperor,
accompanied by the members of his house, attended
the thanksgiving service in the chapel of the Russian
Embassy at Berlin, he knew that his prayer for the
Russian Emperor would strengthen in the heart of the
Russian people their love for His Majesty and the
German nation—a feeling which has already been
repeatedly and unequivocally manifested."

The semi official Agence Busse states that all the
workmen who occupied the cellar in the basement of
the Winter Palace in which the explosion occurred
have now been found, and that their innocence of any
complicity in the plot appears to be oortaiu.
The Agence dwells upon the unanimity of the
Russian Press in expressing their gratitude to the
Emperor of Germany for the numerous proofs of
His Majesty's great affection for the Emperor
Alexander

The Novae Vremya, in an article on the subject, says
that these proofs of warm sympathy on the part of the
German Emperor and his presence at the thanksgiving
service in the chapel of the Russian Embassy at Berlin
arethe best means of renewing the bond of sympathy
existing between the two nations.

The Emperor of Russia has received a telegram
from the Shah of Persia congratulating His Majesty
upon his happy escape.
The Grand Duke Constantine was nresent at the
funeral of the guardsoof the Finland Regiment who
were killed by the explosion in the Winter Palace.
The coffins were borne to the graves by officers. The
Emperor and the Czarewitch attended the funeral
ceremony celebrated in the barracks previous to the
starting of the procession for the place of interment
and afterwards visited the wounded men in the hospital
Another soldier, making the eleventh, died Saturday
in hospital from the effects of the injuries received
from the explosion.
The Railway Gendarmerie in the cafltal has been
increased by twenty-six men, and the St. Peterburg
police by thirty-nine.
It has transpired that the Czarewitch and the Grand
Duke Vladimir wePe the first to reach the guard-room
after the explosion in the palace, arriving there just
as the officers, fearing danger to the Emperor, were
about to lead the remaining sentinels to the Imperial
apartments. The Grand Duke Vladimir hastened to
the barracks to give the alarm, and brought back the
Preobrajensky Guards to the Palace.

DARMSTADT, F. 22.

Portions of a letter from Prince Alexander of Hesse to his
wife, dated St. Petersburg, the 18th Inst.., in which the
former gives an account of the explosion in the Winter
Palace, have been published here. The Prince says:—

" I was received at the railway station by all the
sons of the Emperor and by the Prince of Bulgaria,
and was thence conducted to the Winter Palace. The
Emperor awaited me at the staircase. We were pro.
ceeding through a large corridor to His Majesty's
apartments when suddenly a fearful detonation was
heard. The flooring was raised as by an earthquake,
the gas lamps were extinguished, and we were left in
total darkness. At the same time a horrible dust and
the smell of gunpowder or dynamite filled the corridor.
Some one shouted to us that the chandelier had fallen
down in the saloon where the table was laid for the
dinner of the Imperial Family. I hastened thither
with the Czarewitch and the Grand Duke Vladimir.
while Count Adlerberg, in doubt as to what might
happen next, held back the Emperor. We found all
the windows broken and the walls in ruins. There was
no longer any doubt that a mine had exploded under
the saloon. The dinner hour had been delayed for
half-an-hour by my arrival, and it was owing to this
that the Imperial Family had not yet assembled in the
dining.hall. '

Writing from St. Petersburg on Feb. 21, the Correspondent
of The Times says :

"Yesterday there were buried the ten unfortunate
soldiers killed by the explosion in the Winter
Palace. The Grand. Duke Constantine, his son, and
most of the high official', as well as a large num.
ber of troops representing every regiment of the
Guards in St. Petersburg, followed the cortege. The
day before (Thursday) the Emperor, with his three
sons, attended Mass for the dead soldiers, and
took the opportunity of again thanking the officers
of the Finland Guards for the wonderful discipline
which their men had shown on the evening of the 17th.
Pointing to the ten white coffins on the floor of the
church, His Imperial Majesty remarked, with great
emotion in his voice, that they reminded him of
the la+ e campaign. His Majes y then visited the
wounded men in the hospital for •he fourth or
fifth time since he explosion, and talked some time
with the sufferers. General Gourko yesterday
Issued another order of -the day to the Guards an-
nouncing the solemn burial of the Finland soldiers,
and recalling the heroic way in which they stood to
their posts through all the confusion around them.
The General further observes that such noble observ-
ance of duty will convince the evil-minded that their
attempts to disaffect the troops by threats or even by
death itself are powerless to shake the loyalty and
obedience of the army."

Writintt from Vienna on Monday, the Correspondent of
the Standard says :
"The Neue Freie Presse contains the following
account of the events immediately following the ex-
plosion at the Winter Palace. When the Czar had
somewhat recovered from the consternation caused by
the explosion he inquired for his daughter, the
Duchess of Edinburgh, to whom a few minutes earlier,
the Prince of Bulgaria had offered his arm to con-
duct her to the dining-room. The Czar seeing the
Duchess pale and wringing her hands in the
recess of a window adjoining the dining-room,
hurried up and embraced her warmly. He then
asked her to enter the Empress's room, and care-
fully watch that the patient, who just then was
elumbericg, was not informed of the event. The
Duchess so thoroughly entered into the spirit of her
father's request that when, some minutes later, the
Czarevna asked her to pass the night in her Palace, she
refused at once, declaring it to be her duty to remain
and nurse her mother. Lord Dufferin arrived soon
after the catastrophe, and begged an audience of the
Duchess; he was requested to return the next morn-
ing.
.At the same time, the Duchess asked him,
through her maid, immediately to inform Queen
Victoria of the event, and that she and the whole
family were well and unhurt."

The Special Correspondent of the Standard In a telegram
from St. Petersburg on Monday night, says :

"I have to-day inspected the scene of the explosion.
Entering the Palace by the Soltykoff doorway, which
faces the Admiralty, and traversing the hall. I found
myself at once face to face with unmistakable evi
deuce of the disaster. In the courtyard immediately
in front of me was a vast mass of brickwork, concrete,
boards, and rubbish, with here and there a shred
of clothing. Glaziers were employed in repairing
the windows in the apartments on the other side of
the yard, to which the effects of the explosion evi-
dently reached. Turning to the left I passed through
doorless linntels into the guard-room, a building some
sixty feet long by twenty wide, with a raised ante-
chamber at the further end. To the right were the
windows looking in the court; the sashes bad all been
blown out. To the left was a solid well, which
was but little • damaged, although the stove in
which the dynamite was placed had rested against
it. The floor for nearly the whole length and
breadth of the apartment, as well as in the cor-
ridor outside, leading to the rooms occupied by
Captain Hague, had been destroyed, though composed
of solid concrete two feet thick. Workmen were
nailing down boarding, and had almost covered the
cellars below. Three square pillars in the middle of
the guard-room supported the floor of the apartment
above, and had the explosive material been placed
against one of them the ceiling must have come down.
As It is, in one place the plaster and brick-work have
fallen, and this gave rise to the report of a hole in the
floor of the dining-room, but the parquet is intact.

The St. Petersburg correspondent of the Kolnische
Zeitung gives further particulars of the eiplosion.
When the explosion occurred and everybody said it
was gas, the Czar exclaimed, " No, no I I know what
It was. Oh, my God !" Shortly afterwards, accom-
panied by a number of officers and servants, he paid
a visit to the wounded, whom he assured of his
sympathy and his intention to care for them. The
wives and children of those who were killed or have
since died (the number is now 14) are to be provided
for out of the Imperial funds. Everybody in St,
Petersburg seems to expect the Czar will abdicate on
the 25th anniversary of his accession to the throne.
As regards the Empress, on the f2Oth inst. she had not
yet been informed of the truth: She had been told
that merely a gas explosion bad occurred, but as the
medical bulletins were henceforth less satisfactory,
she may have suspected the facts of the case,

The Times' correspondent at St. Petersburg, writing
something
yesolstmeoebwheiilndlgisanpepwoitnotehdis
on the 22nd, says :—"With regard to the state of
feeling in S. Petersburg, it may safely he asserted that
there is more excitement abroad on the subject of the
recent attempt than there is here on the spot. There
is
,a
asnedneewboifleintbseerceu.riistyr, °eat-
is certainly an uneasiness,
servable in every direction
happen before the
of the accession, there is ahio atbsaettttlbeed
fear v
e thatrBsr y
people
most important fact connected
passing through
inEwlnimet :11; be theardera °t waililenac latter l
tds eV' r:Peor.celba r.'ln iexpectation
(t)lif e Fourth Section
Stbtearperdesoscuimnetnbtes Vinin.tipthgeocffiocuersoef
of his Mhjesty's private Cuancellery. A certain
number of trustworthy men have been working at
these important papers for the last three weeks. The
n order that nothing
contents of the papers which are being printed are
in
kept a profound secret, and,
should eke out, the printers are i
keptn the charge of an
officer, under lock and key, They are thus
kept in
charge at night, and have to work under strict sur-
veillance all day. This proves that something unusual
is being prepared, but, as it was begun Prior to the
dastardly attempt of Tuesday, this event may have
changed somewhat the good intentions a the Czar."

A telegram from St. Petersburg contradicts the
report report of the indisposition of the Czar. His INS6j
is said to be in excellent health. He paid a vitlit
on Monday in an open sleigh to the Paulowski
tary School. On leaving, the students drew his sleigh
as far as the Nicholas Bridge amid incessant cheering,
in which the crowd on the quays joined. It is
stated that his Majesty was visibly pleased by this
demonstration.

A Wolverhampton Correspondent, quoting from a
private communication from a leading Ironmastar at Pitts-
burg, states that American ironworkers are receiving extra-
ordinary wages, even when consideration is allowed for the
fact that iron has advanced in price to the extent of 125 per
cent. during the past few months. Rollers are stated to be
earning as much as from £25 to £3O per week clear, and
puddler' £1 Si. per ton ;whereas the Staffordshire puddiers
are earning bUI Si. W., per On: 1;3