The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-07-24 00:00:00

IMPRRIAL PAIMIAMENT.

In
IrthS TIOLSE (4P IttlimS, July 19, the Royal Assent was
an by Commistdon tq neveral Bills, and others were
a vanced a stage. ThAir lordships a,djourned, alter a brief
' Sitting, at twenty-five iiiinutea to six o'clock.
In Ma $91:15 E OP 00.1=1.18, between forty and fifty cluAg'
tions on a variety of Subjects were addressed to the Govern-
rnent, and this portion of the business lasted until a quarter
to SIX o'clock. Quite a fourth of the questions were ad-
dressed to Mr Forster, and related to details of Irish
administration, the eviction statistics, and the progress of
relief measures.
Lord B. Churchill gave notice that on the motion for
leave to introduce the Ballot Act Continuance Bill, he would
Move "that in consideration of the evidence taken by and
the recommendations cf the Select Committee on the Ballot
Act it is inexpedient to renew the Ballot Act in the form of
a mere continuance Bill."
_ Mr. I3iddell gave notice of his intention to ask the Prime
Annister whether he would consider the propriety of limiting
Speeches to seven minutes—(laughter)—for the remainder
of the Session, the limitation not to apply to members of the
Governinetit—(" Oh, oh ")—or to members making motions.
L. Stanley gave notice of his intentiqn to ask whether
~,tue Government would Consent to the appointment of a
ilelect Committee to report upon the whole subject of co-
bPerative trading, and whether they would make any
change in the Treasury minute of 1849 as to the liability of
Civil servants in the employment of their leisure time.
In answer to Sir W. Lawson, Mr. Gladstone said he was
1,111 unable to give any decided answer as to the recall of
Frere, as the despatches relating to the Confederation
Scheme had not yet arrived.
In answer to questions fro.ni Mr. Schreiber and Lord R.
Churchill as to the effect of the unseating of Mr. Dodson on
ppiding legislation, Mr. Gladstone said that the Employers'
-4,lability woUld be *taken on Wednesday, but he could
KIT no answer as to the Vaccination Bill. The Budget
~ lie said, would be taken on Tuesday both at the
Rn°l"l, ng and Evtaing Sitting. He announced, also, that the
Fylnga Bank Bill is to be divided into two parts, and that
tee freco-i4-part, containinv the extension of the total and
evestaonn.nnal amounts of deposits, will not be pressed this
Sir. Hussey Vivian asked the First Lord of the Treasury
Whether, in view of the fact that the Bill for prohibiting the
'lsle of intoxicating liquors on Sunday in Wales had reached.
.ho stage of Committee, and commanded the almost unani-
acrraous support of the inhabitants of Wales, as well as of their
Presentatives in Parliament, he would afford the requisite
ilities for passing the Bill this Session; and whether the
tight hon, gentleman would make arrangements to have the
'4ll Proceeded with at a Saturday sitting,
t To which Mr. Gladstone replied: I am not at all disposed
:intimate any unfavourable opinion of the measure in
niY hon, friend is so much interested; but I regret to
r2_ll3' that on inquiry I learn that a considerable opposition
rotild be offered to that measure, although not by the inha-
Vtants of Wales or by the representatives of Wales—(hear,
teM--and I am afraid that the plan of a Saturday sitting
aoaid not be by any means efficient for the purpose of passing
tue Measure. Moreover, whatever be the feeling of Wales
hatrespect to the measure, I think it will be admitted
w
of )„ „e are too far advanced in the year to have any hope
--vtlig an impartial discussion of the subject such as hon.
mllnbera would desire. I think, therefore, in view of the
FiZe_,°_,f Public business, and with every disposition to meet
~
fro "'znes of my hon. friend, that no benefit would arise
15m making arrangements for a single sitting. At the open-
of the next Session I hope my hon. friend and those
miterested in the subject will speedily bring the question
Wider the consideration of the House.
Ole House then went into Committee on the Compensa-
tion for Disturbance (Ireland) Bill, giving rise to consider-
able discussion, which was protracted until a late hour.
4ventually the Bill was passed through Committee, and
aeveral other Bills having been advanced a stage, the House
adjourned at twenty-five minutes after three o'clock.

lu the HOUSE OF LORDS, July 20, Lord Granville, replying
Lord Brabourne, said he was informed that the German
!iovernment did not intend to send officers to Constant!.
t°Me this year, and that there was a disinclination on the
art of German officers to go there. Their going there
therto had been voluntary, but for fifty years the German
Government had been in the habit of sending them, on the
around that there was good training to be acquired by it.
The Irish and Scotch Census Bills were read a second time,
!silt' several Irish Returns granted. A number of Bills were
4140 advanced their lordships adjourning at ten minutes to
niX o'clock.

i.,111 the HotTSE OF COMMONS, at the Morning Sitting,
7,7e,rePlY to Mr. Arnold, Mr. Mundella said the Go-
ant Proposed to lay before Parliament some further
tr•—lxunbunieencations respecting cattle diseases in America which
received since the report of the Veterinary
laidOfl rilsent for 1879 was issued. Those papers would be
the table and printed as soon as possible.
Biddell having asked whether the Government would
~ayourablv
- consider a suggestion to limit speeches to ten
mB,l*. Gladstone said the Government was not prepared
anY motion of the sort, but he took the question as an
;Vl_o. cation of a growing opinion that there were obstacles,
to f
.ree discussion, but to the transaction of business,
.i„ might require serious attention if they continued to
-crease.
going into Committee on the Custom and Inland
:evenue Bill, Mr. Hubbard made some general remarks on
?'stem of taxation, contending that taxes were un-
noMar solely because they were mismanaged and ill-
r;nnainistered. Adverting to the income-tax, he maintained
rat it could not and ought not to be got rid of, because it
,748 the only means of making large masses of property
rable to taxation ; but from this he drew the conclusion that
tt: Provisions ought to be amended so as to correct its
seqUalities and he concluded by moving a resolution to
lits effect.
Cantain Aylmer, in seconding the amendment, insisted
.hat there iyas no exigency in the present year to justify an
addition to the income-tax.
-,Lord G. Hamilton, Mr. A. Balfour, Mr. Anderson, Sir W.
fart, telot, Mr. Williamson, Lord it. Churchill, Mr. Hermon,
Maclver, Mr. Biddell, and Mr. It. Paget having spoken,
• fGladstone, replying first to Mr. Hubbard's amendment,
ointed out that, although there had always been a strong
Deeeling against the inequalities of the tax, no responsible
, tl,ss :aon had ever yet been found to produce a plan to re-
hem; and them
and in fact, the idea, however commendable,
Were
quite utopian. He himself admitted that there
periottrioeng objections to the tax, but though at a former
ad given some four or live months to the con-
sideration of the subject, he had never been able to see his
way to a .
amwernx;attical mode of dealing with these difficulties.
Which he p an invitation to state what was the mode in
had traveliZlll,l„ in 1874 to get rid of the tax, lie said we
Ire, and he had ,"g Way from the point at which we then
ered the addl.
d e argument ih ProPosal to make now. With regard to
at the changes in his original plan ren-
the total effe tti°44l Penny 'unnecessary, he showed that
Other of thee of the changes on one side and the
:41111ereejtstrihnitInl account merely gave him £50,000 more,
only with a surplus of £431,000. lie
duty, an_, Yto his estimate of the produce of the beer
to part aintain .t i
WY:he Inth tamed, therefore, that I was impossible
etr additional income-tax. If ever its aug-
rnentation justifiable, it was for the purpose of liberat-
ing indus were
would be Y, and the change in the malt-tax, he maintained,
Ills, . for the benefit of the trader. Among other bene-
D0,,,pt,d.1n answer to the menace of foreign competition. he
,vo;_? to the possibility that uew materials for brewing
nun be found in our root crops-potatoes, for instance.
S. Northcote agreed very much with Mr. Gladstone's
. s .
Ifobis) °D.
ard not to the inequalities of the income-tax, and urged .Er.
Put the House to the trouble of a division.
eta.to the abolition of the malt-tax, he thought that its pro-
advantage had been exaggerated, though he admitted
Popular with the farmers, not because they expected
get much from it, but because "they liked the attention.'
' oPPortuneness of paying an additional penny on the
`-"corne-tax for it would be raised, he said, by Lord G.
Ramilton's amendment in Committee.
r 111% Nowdegate uttered a few words of warning as to the
'ailure of our home-grown food supplies, Mr. Storer corn-
. Pained generally of the over-taxation of the agricultural
snterest, and Mr. Walton spoke against the proposed in-
crease of the licence duties. •
The House then divided. and Mr. Hubbard's motion was
negatived by 217 to 23. The House then went into Com-
tnittee, but progress was immediately reported.
The Savings Banks Bill was read a second time.
At the Evening Sitting, after an ineffectual attempt at a
"count out," the House went into Committee on the Budget
On Clause 4, Mr. Storer moved an amendment, the effect
Of which was to subject foreign malt to a duty of five
Shillings, but on a division it was negatived by 79 to 10.
On Clause 10, Mr. Hicks moved an amendment with a view
i2i excepting from the private brewing license agricultural
labourers living in houses rated under £6 per annum, and
brewing only small quantities. Mr. Gladstone opposed it, on
Ple ground that the duty would be no burden at all on the
'Labourer as he would obtain more than an equivalent from
the abolition of the malt-tax, and, after a long discussion, it
Was negatived by 172 to 52.
Mr. Biddell next moved to reduce the duty in such cases
Lo two shillings, but this was also objected to and not
Dressed.
•
On Clause 11, Mr. Watuey moved to vary the specific
isl'avity at which the beer duty is to be charged from 57 to 60,
:Td went minutely into the statistics of his own operations
r Show that the standard of the Bill would inflict serious
ZrlillrY on the brewers. At present the duty payable
oluited to 225. per quarter, but under the Bill it would
Z,f!L„otint to 245. 6d. He objected also to the constant super-
'won of the exciseman. •
FLllle amendment was supported by Mr. Moss and Mr.
I,;f_n4ter, while Mr. Anderson thought Mr. Gladstone had
,7„elttlY taken too much trouble to obtain an exact equivalent the malt-tax.
ailir_._,Gl_adstone pointed out that the specific gravity had
th"'el been raised from 55' to 57, at a cost of 4250,000 to
cost venue, and to raise it still further, as proposed, would
and would turn the profit which the Revenue
-Th'eti2-I..ftpt to expect from the operation into an actual loss.
to 2it!!!'est Pains, as he showed in detail, had been taken
of ru-`B7t":c aan exact estimate of the yield of a quarter
favour
the
could not consent to make any further
alteratioift t r. Whitbread and Mr. M. A. Bass spoke in
ttlmstten,
Which azesndment. hnd Mr. Watney made a sug-
difference between tisluPP
be referred to som orted by Sir S. Northcote, that the
however, ridicule e Government and the brewers should
d this idea and
e independent authority. Mr. Gladstone,
ra_e.n.t was negatived by 188 to 151. The furtherdiv
on a
of the clauses was then adjourned until Wednesday.
sdivision
consideration
de amend.r
ati on
. Some othe.r.business having being disposed of, the House
adjourned at half-past two o'clock.

CUTTINGS FROM AMERICAN PAPERS.
~Ahe census man will get two cents for enumerating e" Person in his division, which is not a high price on the
nverage, though there are a number of persons who are not
o w rth the two cents spent to count them.
h (3rie to lier.—" The moon is always just the same,"
.Ild. languidly, "and yet I find some liew beauty in it."
s Just s 0 With the theatre," she answered. He took the
"
wut, and brought tickets for two.
ca Marriage with a tinge of romance" is what they
n it in Kansas when the old man rides after the couple'
Vld shoots the hat off the bridegroom's head with a bullet
&rein
army carbine.

THE TIRED IDED WOMAN.
11,, ere Was an old woman who always was tired,
tr)...4e lived in a house where no help was hired;
.f!..er last words on earth were, "Dear friends I am going
lk"here sweeping ain't done, nor churning, nor sewing;
,nd everything there will be just to my wishes,
4or where they don't eat there's no washing of dishes.
.nd Mc.' there the anthems are constantly ringing,
,Lhaving no voice, will get rid of the singing
i.-!on't mourn for me now, don't mourn for me never.
i'or I am going to do nothing for ever and ever."
It Was a West Hill man painted a ferocious-looking
"Look out for the dog !' and put it up in the front
Yard to scare away tramps. The next morning a tramp with
a bad snaile, shouldering like a load of hay a club with death
ling out of every knot of it, rapped at the front door,
etnanded some hot biscuit, meat, potatoes, and a cup of
coffee, and asked pleasantly, "How is the dog?"
, The Big foot feud continues to rage; this is the
tateet wrathful paragraph :—" Great excitement was created
4,,t Burlington a few days since, by the supposed discovery
1:1°t13, a sea serpent's skeleton. The wonder turned out to be
hing but an old striped stocking, which a Troy girl had
eft there du.ringta late visit."
A clergyman in . Illinois, who had been marrying
several Parties of young folks, was asked by a brother who
fl-e4lled on him hoNic ho was getting along. "Oh, finely,
he replied. "I'm sailing rizht along a the rate of
mw4rseen knots an hoUr."
/,;- 37°12rag Connecticut lady was taken aback when
'iflgot upon his knees before her and read a doelaiatiou
0: lcrVe which he had nicely written off.
Churcb-Workers in Now England, however humble,
;eeLtaiilly obtaiU due appreciation from their clergy, for a
ie“ain Yankee mipister when lately holding a farewell her-
_ oe, warmly e'voked the Wyllie blegsito
_•••• upon everyone con-
[tatted the Church, and tally i.utisrceded RT'ath"ne
itt4 alunough bidden from 44, ytt oirtribc tp rauS4
autiut w' ' ehn,ing, "1 ni,:an tin
o

, THE HARVEST.

Mr. .1, J. lviechi writes from Tiptreerharl, Relvetkon,
tssex:—
: Sir,—l fear that our exp,eptation of an abundant
wheat harvest must be considerably moderated.
All promised well until an undue continuance of
wet and dull weather. An examination of the
heads and their kernels shows that damage ha been
done, and there is a tendency towards root-falling
in the stems. These remarks apply mete especially
to the autumn and early-sown wheats. Those sown
in January bloomed later and are more perfect and
free from blight. Our oats are particularly good, and
so are barleys, although the latter have been some-
what twisted and laid by the storms. Mangles are
imperfectly planted, but are improving; Kohl rabi
are better; second growth of clovers very rapid. Our
pasture grass, just cut, is a close, vood crop. jtalian
rye grass luxuriant even in its third growth. Sheep
healthy. Cottage-gardens well filled with vegetables,
and potatoes at present uninjured,
Harvest, delayed a week by the weather, will pro-
bably commence here the second week in August.