The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-03-08 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

In the House of Lords, March 3, Lord Stratheden moved
an addreu to her Majesty, praying that Treaties or Conven-
tions, referring disputed queatione between Great Britain
and a Foreign Power to arbitration, might be labl upon the
table of each Rouse ,of Earns:Bent six weeks before they
were definitively retitled.

Lord Granville maintained that the greatest possible prac-
tical inconvenience might result from the adoption of such a
[notion, for It must necessarily occasion delay in the con-
clusion of Treaties, and the opportunity of arriving at •
satisfactory result might be lost for years, and, perhaps, for
ever. If Parliament undertook the duty of reviewing
Treaties before their conclusions, it must examine in detail
all the provisions contained In them, and then, possibly, one
House might arrive at one conclusion, and the other House
come to a totally different one. Al to the Washington
Treaty. which Lord Stratbeden had attacked, that document,
at any rate, was laid before Parliament before ratification.

Lord saltsbufy thought the subject so grave that he de-
precated any dectsion upon It being come to in so thin a
House, but he could not admit that there wee no ground for
the motion. As for the Washington Treaty, he remarked
that when the House was Invited to discuss It, the Queen's
honour was found to be pledged to its ratification, or the
Treaty would have been condemned, he believed, on Lord
Russell's motion.

--The Lord Chancellor was surprised to hear It Intimated
that the House had no opportunity of expressing an
opinion on the Washington Ireaty. It was true that it
would not have been consistent with the honour of the Go-
vernment, alter having sent out Commissioners to negotiate
on the subject, to refuse to ratify the Treaty; but if both
11011.35 Of Parliament had withdrawn their confidence from
the Governmi lit, neither the hon cur of the Crown nor that
of the country was pledged to the ratification. Ile objected
to the motion, because It proposed to make Parliament a
portion of the Treaty-making power, and because, in case of
necessity, Parliament could always obtain Built:lent Informa-
tion, during the progress of negotiations for a Treisfy, to
enable it to Intervene by:to address to the Crown.

Eventually, after some words In explanation from Lord
Granville, the Lord Chancellor, and Lord Salisbury, the
motion of Lord Stratheden was negatived.

The Bastardy Laws Amendment inland the Epping Forest
Bill %ere read a second time ; and th‘ rolling Districts (Ire-
land) Bill haring passed through Committee, the Roue ad-
journed.

In the House of COMMOrill, the opening of the debate on
the Irish University Bill attracted a large audience. before
It commenced Mr. hi, Henry gave notice of a third resolution
to be moved at this stage, if circumstances permit, asking
for • Royal Commission to inquire into the causes which
have Impeded the full success of University Education in
Ireland.

At the time of questions, Lord Enfield, In replying to Mr.
Whitwell, stated that, in the opinion of tier aislesty's Go.
vernment, no Government has yet been constituted in Spain
which admits of recognition.

In moving the second reading of the bill,

Mr. Gladstone took the opportunity of describing several
minor changes which he prop.ises to make in the bill, on the
recommendation of persons of authority interested in Uni.
versity matters. At the suggestion of Queen's College, Cork,
the power of affiliating new Colleges will be vested in the
Crown, acting on the inquiries and recommendation of the
Governing Body. Complaints had been made of the in-
sufficient provisions for vested interests, but on this point
Mr. Gladstone said the Government, and no doubt the
House, would be disposed to act liberally both as to
money and status. He described also changes intro.
duced Into the definition of persons is statts pupillari,
and also in the powers of the counsel to divide students
In Arts into ditfereut branches for the purposes of
examination, and then proceeded to reply by anticipation
to the amendment about to be moved by Mr. Bourke.
Admitting that the anxiety of the House to learn the con-
stitution of the Governing Body was excusable, he asserted
that what Mr. Bourke asked was impossible. It was con-
trary to all precedents—to the course taken on the English
University Bills. on the Reform Bill of 1507, and the
Irish Church Bill of 1;70. It would be the wish of the
Government to select men of the greatest weight, o
serve on the Council without refers. ce to their political
opinions or to the course they might have taken In
regard to this bill, but it would be impossible to ask such
men to undertake the duty until the bill had made some
way in Committee. In truth, it they were willing to serve
before they knew what shape the bill would take they would
not be fit for the position. That the refusal of the Govern-
ment to take this course should be made the subject of Is
vote of censure was a fact worthy of commemoration in
Parliamentary history.
Mr. Bourke then moved as an amendment to the Second
Reading a Resolution expressing the regret of the House
that the Government has not stated to the House the
mimes of the 2s Ordinary Members of the Council. It
was on the constitution of this Council, Mr. Bourke argued,
that it depended entirely whether the University should
hereafter flourish or decay. Before handing over to this
new body tne power which had been exercised for three
centuries by the I. niversity authorities, the House ought
to know how that body was to be constituted. The pre-
cedents, he maintained, were entirely in his favour. The
duties to be performed by the Government Body were of the
essence of the measure, and looking to some of the clauses
of the bill, it might easily be imagined that there would be
• difficulty in finding the "eminent men" spoken of by
Mr. Gladstone to serve on the Council. So that if
Parliament did not proceed with caution it would
turn out that the direction of iiiiiversicy education would
fall Into the hands of men of inferior calibre. Tile House,
he insisted, ought to know on what principle the Council was
to be formed—whether it was to be friendly to denomi-
national or to mixed education —because these two forces
could Sot possibly combine.

Lord K Fitzmaurice, in seconding the Resolution. canvassed
first the leading provisions of the measure, showing how in-
consistent It was in many points with hi r. Gladstent's speech
In introducing it, and taking exception to Mr. Gladstone's
description of the grievance and the facts and figures by
which he supportea it. the statements Be to the Queen
University and the Galway college seemed to be taken
from Cardinal (alien's Pastoral. The destruction of
the Galway College stamped the character of the bill. Os
the 'Gagging clauses" he passed a severe condemnation and
predicted that their Effect would be to drive all that innoblest
Intellectually In Ireland to Oxford and Cambridge. Of the
bill as a whole, he maintained that it would destroy Pro-
testant separate education, and the mixed system of educa-
tion, in order ultimately to give the Roman Catholics the
monopoly of a second-rate article.

The discussion was continued by Mr. C. E. Lewis Mr. 0
Morgan, The 0 Donoghue, Lord 11. Montague, and Mr.
Far cote and
The Marquis of Harlington, speaking to the amendment
repeated that it was impossible to name the Council at this
moment, and derided the notion of passing a vote of censure
on a Government or defeating a great measure on such
a pretext. In drawing the bill, which the Marquis
next proceeded to discuss, the Government had adhered
to the great principle of religious equality, and they
had kept in view teens other principles—that it was
the province of Cu University, and not of a College,
to grant degrees, and to impart the higher branches or
education , aml that the University should be perfectly In-
dependent. To this there were only two exceptions—the
naminated Ciuncil at the out-set and the exclusion of
certain subjects from University Pucation. As to
the last, the Government did not hold it out as an
ornament to the scheme, but it had been put forward
as one of the inoucements to the Roman Catholics
to accept the bill. No doubt the expressions of
opinion in regard to the bill were not altogether
favourable ; but he denied that any condemnation had been
passed on the bill by the Irish people. The chief difficulties
of the question, Lord Hartington thought, proceeded from the
exaggerated views taken by the different parties to the con-
troversy. The Romm Catholics could not shake off the impres-
sion that sooner or later e ey would get an endowment from
She State, and Trinity College thought She ought to retain the
entire control of University E location In Ireland. Here
the Irish secretary travelled through and answsred the Re-
solutions of the Senate of llunlin University, and pointed
out to each of the parties concerned what they have to
lose by rejecting the bill, and what they have to gain by
suing it.
Eventually, on the n»tion of Mr. liorStaall, the debate was
adjourned until Thursday.
The other Orders were disposed of, and the House ad-
journed at a quarter to I o'clock.

In the if ouse of Lords, March 4, the report on amendments
of the Polling Districts (Ireland) Bill was brought up and
agreed to without discussion.
The Earl of Malmesbury, on rising to move for certain
returns relating to the supply of game sa food, said he had
been induced to do so in consequence of the public interest
namillested during the last recess in the question of the
Game Laws, There could be no doubt that the prLie of food
In this country had risen immensely within the last two
years. butchers' meat had gone up about 21 per pound,
and the price of other articles of food land increased In the
same ratio. Among the accusations made against the
Game Laws was that they had been the cause of this in-
crease. It was said also that the Game Laws had descended
from the feudal times, and bore the character of those days.
Now, as for the first accusation, he thought that if the re-
turns he was about to ask for were granted they would show
it to be unfounded ; and as to the second, he did not know
that it was a very severe accusation against the Game
Laws to say that they had c ,me down from feudal time
tecause the common law of this country was even more
ancient than those days. This was an objection which was
stalely worth being met by argument. But there was
something more plausible In the statement that game de-
stroyed a certain quantity of food which would be valuable
for the support of the people. Adopting the principle
which seemed to kayo guided Mr. Simmer when he was
considering the Indirect Claims, some of the oppo-
nents of the Game Laws calculated that, as in a given time
a hare would destroy what would have fed a sheep, the loss
of human food so ceased by the hare must be estimated by
not only the loss of one sheep but all the descendants of
one sheep. (A laugh.) Now, in respect of game, ho was for
the right thing lathe right place. of course there would be
a great loss of human food generally it large tracts of land
suitable for tillage were kept as game preserves. To show
their lordships the character of some of the speeches made
against the Game Laws, he would refer to what was stated
to the Home Secretary on the occasion of the reception of a
deputation. Mr. Macard, one of the deputation, said the
Game Laws interfered with the food production of the
country, assd if the land now used for game prezerving
were cultivated the supply of food would be one-fourth
more. Itabb.ts had been solemnly condemned and ex-
communicated as vermin . but the persoos who pronounced
the condemnation and excommuoication did not, per-
haps, know that with many thousands of the people of
this country rabbits were a staple foot. Ile hail walked
down High street, Muylebone, isomet.mes on a Saturday
evening, and it appeared to him that on these occasiona it
was a street of rabbits. With large numbers of the people
tither rabbits or hares were • favourite Sunday dinner.
This was solo London, and he would quote returns to show
it was so in the provinces. Mr. Brookes, the great salesman
In Leadenhall .Market, received 1,500 cases of rabbits, each
care containing 103 rabbits, every week from Ostend. De
might observe that the fact that such a supply of foreign
rabbits to our London dealers showed that the English sup.
ply was insunic,ent. From Birmingham he had been unable
to obtain returns, but a gentleman who hail an estate in
Somerset was applied to from that town, fer 10,1010 rabbits a
week. lire alacrity with which as a rule dealers had fur-
nished him with returns, some of them having even volun•
leered returns, showed they felt that if toe Game Laws were
destroyed their business would be destroyed with them. to
Wolverhampton market 3 00) rabbits wore supplied weekly.
The year's supply was worth about £O,OOO, that of other
game being £l,OOO annually. in Nottingham 2,1A10 rabbits were
send and consumed weekly, those who purchased them being
principally working people. In Newoury, the population
being between 0,00 and 7,000, the value of the game sold
was about £ZOO a year. The round numbers of the game
brought into Southampton from the 12411 of August, 1071, to
the same date In 1372, were ,—ltabblts, 90,000; hares, .36,000.
Pheasants, 16,040; partridges, 27,000 ; grouse. 18,000; wild
docks, 18,000—tot5l, 207,000 In kiristol there were sold by
the licensed dealers from the Ist of September to the Ist of
April last —Grouse, 1,160 ; partridges, 4,10 0; phoasants,
4,072; black game, 93. teal, ; snipe, 1,200; wild ducks,
1.201 plovers, 919 ; woodcocks, 451 ; widgeons, 100; hares,
2,191 ; rabbits, 89,471—t0ta1, 51,119. The returns froui
licensed dealers nird not give an)thing like the total
supply of game brought into the market as food. tits
attention has been called by competent authority
to the fact that in towns and villages thousands of
wild fowls and rabbits were sold by the shopkeepers and
others who were not licensed to deal in game, but to whom
Die working classes principally applied Cu consequence of
ankh shopkeepers generally selling a little cheaper than
the game dealers. The Board of Trade returns on the
subject of the importation of game did not seem to be very
accurate, any more than they had recently been said to be
on the subject of the exportation of horses ; but there dhl
appear to have been au increase of 217,512 in the number
of game, rabbits included, imported in the mouth of De-
cember, 1872, as compared with the corresponding mouth
In 1671. This and the return of the number of rabbits MI
ported by Mr. 'smokes showed that our Indigenous game
did not satisfy the home demand. In the face of
those facts how could Parliament refuse to probed by
law the Indigenous game, and, at the same time, pernut
unlimited importation 1 tie ought, perhaps, to have
mentioned that Ostend rabbits weighed about Sill each, and
sold at 74. per lb. A gentleman had written to him stating
that he had often to pass through that part of London or
which Leadenball Market was the centre and he saw di's seed
owe advertised, not only in the windows of the larger eat.
ing-bouses, but of late in those of a meaner character. The
announcements ran in some each tams as •• BOYS hare, eal
lugged hart and Idly, 7d." This showed that tlis pow*

persons employed in the City were able to obtain game as
load when the supply was plentiful. If the Game
laws were aboli•hed to morrow three consequences
would follow the abolition. First, there must be a Trespass
L tw. in 1541 Sir Robert Peel said he was not prepared
t • deiend the Game Laws in the abstract ; but if the
C mntry desired their abolition it must be borne in mind
that Parliament would have to pass a very stringent Tres-
pass Act, unless It was prepared to see the country, by day
end by night, overrun by bands of armed marauder. The
second consequence of the abolition would be a revaluation,
which would probably send up the rents of tenant farmws
very considerably. The third consequence would be an in-
crease of rural constabulary to the number of from 10,000 t •
15,000 men, lie would say no more on the subject, but
would move for a return of the numbers of game, wild fowl,
and hares and rabbits sold by the licensed game dealers in
Eogland, Wales, and Scotland during the year 1572, and also
the numbers of the same imported and exported into and
from the toiled Kingdom during that year. .

E trl Granville appreciated the rabbit, but he must dissent
entirely from the view of his noble friend that a general pre-
servation of rabbits throughout the country would tend to
augment the quantity of food for the population. He bed
made inquiries both at the Customs and the Inland Revenue
Departments The former had not the means of knowing
the number of rabbits imported, as they did not pay duty.
The Inland Revenue Department did not think there would
be any great difficulty in getting the proposed returns from
the London dealers, whose books were kept so admirably.
There was a doubt, however, as to whether such satisfactory
returns could be got from the country dealers He would,
fiiwever, do the best he could to put the louse In possession
of the statistics asked for by his noble friend.
After a few words from the Earl of Courtown the motion
was agreed to, and their lordships adjourned.
In the Douse of Ce,mnions, Mr. C. Reed presented it petb
Mans from public meetings In various parts of Limion
, against the opening of museum' on Sundays.
Several petitions were also presented in favour of a com•
mission for inquiring Into the condition of the mereauttle
marine.
- -

Sir .1. Ogilvy asked the Home Secretary whether he pro
posevto introduce a measure for providing superannuation
alloa anew; for the police force throughout the kingdom.
;met)
SA'r.
factory.

Mr. Bruce said the state of the superannuation allowances
to the police force of England and Wales was by no means
satisfactory, lie much wished that he had been able to deal
with the matter this session, but with the subject of local
taxation before the House he would have but little chance
of having it considered on its merits. He would therefore
hold out no hope as regarded England and Wales. As re-
garded the metropolis, however, he had under consideration
a scheme which he hoped soon to bring into force.

Mr. J. B. Smith asked the President of the Board of Trade
whether the London and North. Western, or any other rail-
way company, could legally refuse to carry coals for other
persons than coal dealers, designated by the railway cc m-
pany as registered traders."

Mr. Chichester Forteacue sald he could hardly give an an.
thoritative answer to this question, but he believed that if •
railway canted coals for one class of perfume it would carry
them for all others. It did not fallow they would thrso
upon identical terms in all cues, but as to any refusal to
carry he did not believe that to be the law.
Mr. Eykyn asked whether the right hon. gentleman would
state whether there att, any restriction as to carrying coals
between Rugby and Loudon. . . .

,
M. Chichester Fortescue saki he had no official notice on
the subject.
' "

Mr. James rose to move a resolution declaring that the
application of the Treasury Minute of June 12, 1872, to county
court judges appointed prior to September 17, 1870, would be
unjust anti equitable. Uudeesttmding that the Chancellor
of the Exchequer was willing to accept this resolution,
Mr. James sought to make terms with the right hon.
gentleman, which would save him from having to trouble
the House with any speech on this matter (which related
to the allowance of travelling expenses to county court
judges).
•

The Chancellor of the Exchequer agreed to accept the re-
solution, but refused to enter upon any farther agreement.
Mr. Plimsoll brought forward his motion for the ap-
pointment of a Royal Commission to inquire into the condi-
tion of and certain practices connected with the Commercial
Manna. In the first place, after assuring the House that
the shipowners whom he accused of these practices were
a very small portion indeed of the class, he dwelt on
the nefective state of the law, and especially on its
failure to prevent overloading, undermannlng, inade-
quate strength of construction, dec. Along with the
principal statistics of recent losses he read to the House a
certain number of heartrenoing case, of total loss incurred
from some of these preventable causes The Royal Com-
mission he proposed should inquire into all these varions
causes, and suggest a remedy ; but without waiting for its
report he intended to briog In &bill to prevent overloading,
and to provide for the better repairing of ships.
Sir John Pakington, iii seconding the motion, expressed his
warm appreciation of the service Mr. Plimsoll had done the
country in taking uo the subject so vigorously. Ile htmself
had made • similar motion three years ego, and from the In-
vestigations he had then made into the losses, be was of
opinion that the chief causes were overloading and the weak
construction of ships.
Mr. Clay moved as an amendment that a bill be Introduced
by the Government to constitute a Statutory Commission
with power to administer oaths, which was seconded by Mr.
Samuda.
Mr. Chichester Fortescue, after signifying the assent of
the Government to the inquiry in a mo.lilled form, proceeded
to criticise Mr. Plimsoll's nook, of which lie expressed much
admiration, though there were many exaggerated state-
ments in It, anti it conveyed a false idea of the extent of
the criminal practices of which he complained. He
pointed out to him how he had made errors in some
of his principal statistics, and attributed to unseaworthl.
nese and other preventable causes losses and calami-
ties which no legislation Could avert. These erroneous
statistics Mr. lortescue corrected, and described tl e
powers already possessed by the Board if Trade. To
Mr. Plimsoll's fundamental argument—that the British
sailors were the most neglected class of the community
--Mr. Fortescue took decided exception, enumerating
the various Measures which have been passed for their
b neat in Isle years Heartily hoping that the result
of the inquiry might no to diminish the number of acel-
der ts, he sugamted a en digs in the order of reference, which,
instead of the vague language, "certain practices connected
with the Mercantile Nina Me." would point Its attention to the
various causes of shipwrecks, and would enable it to suggest
remedies. As to Mr. Clay's idea of a Statutory Commission,
he could not assent to it, as he did not wish that the Com-
mission should take the turn of an inquiry into the conduct
of Individuals.

Sir S. Northcote, speaking from his experience as Chair-
man of the Friendly Societies Commthslon, strongly advised
that the Commission should have the power of taking evi-
dence on oath, and of compelling the attendance of wit-
nesses.
• • -

•
Ultimately, Mr. Plimsoll withdrew his motion in order to
confer with Mr. Forteacue on the altered form of reference.
Mr. Clay at first declined to take the same course with his
amendment, but ultimately gave way to tile representations
of Mr. Gladstone, who agreed with the view taken by Sir if
Selwin-lbbetson, and repeated the assurances given by Mr.
Feel, and the motion and amendment were both withdrawn.
To this there followed a short di•cussion on the "half peat
12 o'clock Resolution," which forbids the commencement of
any new opposed business after that boor. It was opposed
by Sir 1. Goldamid, Mr. Charley, Mr. W. Fowler, and Mr.
Dill-ye as entirely excluding private members from all share
In legialati..n, while Mr. Gladstone and Colonel Wilson
Patten, thomrh admitting that there was something to be
said on both sides, were of opinion that ou the whole it had
worked well.
On a division the Resolution was carried by 191 to 37, and
the House adjourned.

In the Ilona° of Commons, March 5, Mr. Rathbone moved
the second readieg of the Municipal Officers Superannuation
Bill.
Mr. Joshua Fielden, in moving the rejection of the bill,
contrasted the old term " pension " with the modern one of :
"superannuation allowance," and contended that it was a
system which had long been condemned by all writers on the
subject. The flouse ought rather to seek to abolish the pension
system in State Offices than to extend it to municipal institu-
tions. He called attention to the large increase there had been
in pensions to State officers, owing to the tendency of every
Government to flnil places for their supporters by the recon-
struction of offices. This system of superannuation
I already threw upod the labouring taxpayers of the country
a gigantic burden of t ication. This bill would, he con-
tended, add to local rates, and would, by its tending to a
reduction of salaries, tend to the injury of the municipal
officers themselves.
Mr. Mellor seconded the amendment, and expressed a be-
lief that this bill would result in an increase of one-third to
the local rates. tie showed what great sums were already
paid by the country for those in the Civil Service, who were
non-effective,
After remarks from several other hon. members,
Mr. Bruce said he regarded this bill as having been
brought forward in order to meet a public want, and he did
not think it would increase local burdens. There was no
economy more spurious or misdirected than that which in-
terfered with the efficient performance of duties by
officers. The system of superannuation had received
the sanction of Parliament. yet doubtless the com-
mittee on Civil Service expenditure would he able
to suggest improvements. From the police in every
part of the country there was a strong demand on the Go-
vernment to improve the system. In many employments a
man's pay was regulated (Foul time to time according to his
efficiency, but it would be impossible to reduce the salaries
of public officers after long service, because they were no
longer in the prime of life. Be heartily supported the second
reading of the bill.
A lengthened discussion followed, and on a division, the
second reading of the bill was carried by 101 votes to 44
Mr. DIP wyn moved the second reading of his Salmon
Fisheries Bill, which I ounded cn the report of a committee
which sat in 1,69. Ile explained the various interests that
were c,-ncerned and the several bills which hail been brought
forward, but not passed, for the settlement of the diffi-
culties. llis bill, which he had brought for ward at the in-
stance of salmon fliheries conservators, bad passed last year
before a select committee. Ile regretted that this year the
Goverment had not taken the matter in band. The other
bill int,duced by the lion member for Stockton (Mr. Dodds)
had been postponed w ith a view to an arrangement of their
diltererroos by amendments which would not be vital to the
principle of the bitL
- After expressions of opinion from several hon. members,
Mr. Bruce congratulated the hon, member for Swansea
; (Mr. Diliwynj on the unanimity which at last seemed to pre-
"veil on a subject winch had been before Parliament as long
as he (Mr. Bruce) had sat ill this House. The Government
would give its assistance in forwarding this measure.
The bill was then read a second time.
, Toe Railways Provisional Certificate Bill W.,3 read a second

time. --
-
The Marriages (Ireland) Bill ',allied through committee,
and the noun adjourned.

THE SOUTH WALES STRIKE AS BAD
AS A FAMINE.
(From weilnesday's Tinva)
There in a ei iminent frequently made upon great
casualties and disasters which appears, very reasonaliiy,
to be thought the beet measure of their magnitude and
severity. If a Mill has been burnt or a pit flooded, if
any Works have been ruined by exploeion or stopped
by bankruptcy, it is added significantly and sadly that
five hundred or a thousand persons will be thrown out
of employment. The reader immediately thinks of
famished households, silent streets, scattered families,
blighted prospects, burdened rates, decaying towns,
and here and there the weaker and more shiftless of
the multitude actually dying of famine and neglect.
Two years ago we had the grim reality of all this on
a very large scale at our oen East-end, chiefly because
the great shipbuilding works at Millwall were stopped.
It is the melancholy fact that now for a quarter of a
year more than a hundred thousand persons have in.
If eil this disaster upon themselves by a euicidal effort
to arrogate the position of their employers in addition
to their own. 'rhe figures will shortly be better known,
but there is hardly any recent calamity that can have
inflicted so noeth material hardship and distress as the
voluntary act and dee I of the South Wale; Ironworkers
and Colliers. Plungieginto itwithbutscant preparation,
and trusting to promises which, whether made in
sincerity or not, could not be fulfilled, they threw them-
selves into a position from which they could only
emerge to surrender. In the annals of revolts by dis
affected masses it is often related that their first step
was in fact their last step, for it was to betake them-
selves to a barren desert or inhospitable mountain
top, some island of mud or sand, or some town without
a single week's store of provision& The sense of
liberty for a few days and the opportunity of de-
fying their masters without immediate rebuke seem
to be felt a pleasure worth any consequences. For
some months these poor people in South Wales have
enjoyed a position in which they could lit in judgment

ever their old employers, calculate profits with all the
pride of ideal partnership, listen to the inspiring
eloquence of paid agitators, and feel themselves on the
very threshold of an industrial Millennium. It never
occurred to them that eo. ery step they took in the
direction to which the Union had invited them they
would have to retrace, and that the longer tlamberration
the more painful would be the return. T lie, reater part
of mankind are so gregarious, and so incapable of doing
more than follow their leaders, that one must pity the
moos of these people, even though that pity cannot carry
with it much respect. Even that pity, however, will not
easily be accorded to the stubborn leaders and
organisers—the men who to the very last hold out
against all reasen, and facts they can no longer shut
their eyes to. While hondreds and thousands are re-
turning to work at the outlying collieries, and the iron.
works are only waiting for a supply of coal, the Union
men are still meeting with closed doors and diminished
numbers, bent only on saving their pride by senseless
resolutions not to work on the terms offered by the
masters, though undeniably a sort of compromise.
Such a Strike as that now almost at an end is really
in some degree, and so far as it goes, as had as a famine.
The instigators probably think they are as justified in
causing a few incidental miseries as nations are when
they go to war for a boundary line or a point of honour.
It is beat, indeed, to keep in view that a Strike has
such consequences. That it actually destroys life
to any perceptible extent is, perhaps, doubtful. Some-
times, indeed, the Registrars have noticed the paradox of
fewer deaths during a Strike, diminished food beingfi.
dently more than counterbalanced by diminished drink-
ing and profligacy. It is probable, indeed, that even
the Siege of Paris gave a longer lease of life to
some who were thereby debarred from their usual
indulgences. The worst consequence of a long
Strike is that the chief sufferers are those who
least deserve it. The little children, the invalids, the
hardworked and perhaps ailing mothers, do not get
enough of the simple and nutritious food best suited to
them. They suffer, of course, from want of sufficient
fuel, warm clothing, and the little stimulants that may
be necessary. It is no uncommon thing for an infant
or a child to be so reduced or thrown back,
and brought to so low a vitality as never quite
to get over it. Even old people will talk of
the very bad years, fifty or sixty years ago, when their
health was ruined by the bad bread of bad harvests,
and the utter want of comfort in a household where
the months were many and the pence few. They trace
this or that weakness, this first touch of rheumatism or
that affection of the lungs, to a period of low condition,
when nature required generous treatment and could not
have it. Nay, it is not too much to say that the condi-
tion of our working people, at their respective ages, con-
tains a record of long past vicissitudes. Half a century
hence there will probably be not a few in South \Vales
who will have reason to remember what they suffered
in the great Strike as the innocent victims of a self -in-
flicted blockade. There could not be a more instruc-
tive history than a plain, unvarnished tale of the first
outbreak, the measures of the Union, the visionary
promises made and believed, the scanty nature of the
supdlies, the actual condition of the workpeople, the
tradesmen, and the whole community, and the final
necessity of surrender. The story might not be very
welcome at first, for few people like to have it forced
upon their notice that they have been making great
fools of themselves ; but in a few years it might be
read with less sense of mortification, and might prevent
worse follies.
Let us not be supposed to be chuckling over the
defeat of the workpeople as if it were an object
of general exultation that Coalowners and Iron-
master.have carried the day. Justly or unjustly,
it really does so happen that there is no close in
the world so little loved as Coalowners and Iron.
masters. Somehow or other it is always assumed
that their hearts must be as hard as the rock
from which their riches are won. All the circum.
stances of their condition are adverse to sympathy.
They have to impose very hard and disagreeable
lab our on their workpeople they have the credit of
being very rich, and they are commonly suspected of
an immense amount of combination or conspiracy
against the public interest. Even at this moment there
creeps about a queer suspicion that they have made
fortunes by the rise in coal and iron consequent upon
the stoppage of production. Possibly we may have
some day a secret history of the Strike, as well as a
full statement of all that meets the eye, but the
world cannot fail to observe already that the men are
the only sufferers. line great difficulty in the way of
getting at the true state of the case arises from the
national elements of character mixed with it. The
population of Merthyr and its neighbourhood consists
chiefly of Irish and Welsh, both fanatical in their
way, both credulous, both very much at the mercy
of those who would trade on their moral softness or
their mental infirmities. All that both want is to be
told something in a perfectly unhesitating, unflinch-
ing manner, with that sternness of utterance and that
fixedness of expression which are supposed to indicate
sincerity and truth. What they are in religion they are
also in common affair-, and, indeed, are poor,
hat creatures if they cannot find so motody so
good as to command their allegiance, and save
them all further trouble of thinking for themselves.
The population, it must be added, is as newly
agglomerated as that of an Australian or American
city, and hitherto without a corresponding growth
of the instituti nos and the social classes generally
thought necessary to the welfare and good government
of a town. hlertbyr is, indeed, a huge child, an
infant Hercules, gigantic and strong, but not come to
the power of controlling its own instincts and putting
its strength into proper form. The hard lesson it
has just set itself, and learnt, will help it to do this in
future.