The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-10-31 00:00:00

Attri)palitan oossip.
orR OWN (NOIRISNI4,SPINT.

' ^marks under this head are to he regarded es the es.
r• Independent opinion, front the pelt od a gent tontan
,•llvie have the greatest CoOlenco, lAA for sakidi
'eanotoss do Lott hold ourselves reSpoliablo./

As we approach the period for the General Electioo,
which will be a thing of the past in about another
month, the interest of the several constituencies in
their own contests increases; but looking at the contest
as a whole, the amount of public interest which it
excites, is less than what was generally expected.
The conviction appears to gain ground that the ensuing
Parliament will not be Si) different from that which
is about to he dissolved as it was at first thought would
be the case. 'rhe Liberal in ijority will in all pro-
bability he slightly increased, and there may be a
working man or two sent to Parliament, but that
perhaps a ill I e the extent of the result of the great
isditical change which WM effected last Fietotion.
Parliaments, after all, are very much alike, and even
the great increase in the constituencies is not a eon-
Mite* halal change, but the mere development of an
existing principle. And what is true of Parliaments
is true of Governments They are very much alike.
,Xt least so thought the late Sir Robert Peel.
" Governments," he said, "in one respect bear out the
truth of the Indian creed; they inherit the qualities
of the men they kill."
As Royal Commissioners are so common, perhaps it
might be weldto have a Royal Commission to ascertain
the expense of Royal Commiasions— say from the own-
incement a the present century; the work they
have accomplished, and the proportion of suggestions
or reoommenclations that have been carried out, Cons-
pared with those which have not been carried out
Sei !
iously, if .such an in.:juin/ were mesle, the enormous
expense and the little benefit—so much for sack and
so little fix bread—accruing from it would rather
startle the public. Take, AA one instance, in proof of
this, the last report of a Royal Commi&sion that has
been issued—that on International Coinage, which has
just appeared. The report is very long, and shows
that the commiasioners have at least done their duty
141 far as heaping up facts is concerned ; hut practically
we are now no nearer to a scheme of interna-
tional coinage *an ever we were. The commissioners
suggest that the first thing to be done will be to in-
quire into what extent of inconvenience each country
will be likely to submit to ! Why this is about the
whole question, and it may be answered by anticipa-
tion, that no country is prepared to submit to any in.
couvenienee. The commissioners also propose that
there shied(' be an international conference, to debate
the various questions, interests, sod conflicting views
of the several nations. Supposing this has to be done,
what, it may be asked, have those International
Coinage Commissioners done Perhaps all they have
done is this— to show that uniform international coin-
age must, be deferred to the Greek Kalends or the
:Millennium. One fart and one recommendation iter-
taialy tend to prove this. The fact is, that the com-
missioners decide against the proposal of the Paris
conference to lower the British sovereign to 25 francs,
and the recommendation is that our sovereign shall be
taken as the basis of international coinage. The
French say : "We are very well satisfied with our
system, make yours like ours ;" and the English Com-
mimioners, and probably the English people say to the
French : "We like our system very well, change yours."
So that, after all this bother and expense, we are as
we were.

...--..-.-v-••-`--
Mnsatis iantandis, the same remarks apply to some
persons offering employment at the homes of the
applicants. All this sort of thing is beyond the pro-
vince of the Legislature. They cannot deal with all
the intricacies of cheater", and seem almost powerless
to deal with "obtaining money under false pretences,"
the least easily-defined crime on Our statute-books.
The remedy lies with the public themselves, and too
much publicity cannot be given to any successful
attempt to bring home punbliment to the guilty.
There is great depression in trade here-the dog's
meat trade ! Great ref• Tins always produce little
grievances. It was so with free trade, free newspapers,
and other matters, and it is so with dog's meat ! In
the course of a case just tried at one of our police
\ courts, it was stated that in consequence of recent
legislation and the vigour with which it has been
carried out, the dog's meat trade has been almost
ruined. Anti no wonder, ,lien some 3,000 dogs have
reeently been slaughtered by "Moyne force."
_...-...-.....----

ADDRESS OF THE CHANCELLOR OF
THE EXCHEQUER.
On Saturday the Chancellor id the Linhequer issued an
address to the constituency of North Northamptonshire, In
which he says:—
Since the last occasion of my addressing you the '
question of how to deal with the ecclesiastical settle-
ment of Ireland lute a.ssuilitel a prominent importance.
The proposition which has bees made to disestablish
and disendow the Church in that part of the United
Kingdom appears to me to be a rash and violent ex.
pedient, unjust to the members of that communion,
and not likely to be accepted as final by the Roman
Catholic population of that country. I am strongly
opposed to such a volution of the difficulty. To leave
any part of the kingdom without any provision for
the maintenance of public worship would be, to my
mind, a grave dereliction of duty on the part of the
State, and a proclamation of its indifference to the
religious interests of the people. I see in the proposal
a step towards the entire disruption of the connection
between Church and State, which I consider an essen-
tial part of the constitution of the kingdom.
• Since my entrance upon public life, in 185'2, I have I
always declared my willingness to entertain the guts. I
tion of an extension if the franchise ; and I trust that
the measures for the amendment of the representation
of the people in Parliament, which have been passed
under the auspices of the present Government, will
be considered by all moderate men as both liberal and
sound, and calculated to prevent further agitation
upon the subject. I shall be much disappointed it the
corruption which has .0 long degraded the exercise of
the franchise in maay of our boroughs is not consider-
ably diminished by the operation of the Act passed in
the last session, with that object.
The depression of trade, and the want of confidence
which has been for some time felt in commercial enter-
prises, has made the administration of the finances of
the country a task of more than usual anxiety. I feel
assured, however, that the darkest hour has already
passed away, and that we may look forward to the
future with confidence anti hope. It hiss been the
endeavour 14 her Majesty's Government to keep down
the expenditure of the country to the lowest limit com-
patible with the efficiency of the public service, and
such endeavours will still be persevered in. To 0410ant1er
public money upon objects of secondary importance is, I
in my opinion, much to be reprehended; while, on the I
other hand, to decline the responsibility of sanctioning
expenditure. proved to be necessary for the highest
purposes of State, is to exhibit a moral cowardice de-
serving of grave reprobation.
Since my secession to my present office, I have
, devoted much of my time to a scheme for placing in
, the bands of the Postmaster-General the telegraphic
comunication of the country, which will, I am per-
' m
suaded, be of enduring advantage to the community.