The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-12-26 00:00:00

Rlctropolitan 6ossip

NT OUR OWN CONKESPONDF.pr.

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(The remarks 111111 Or thia head are to be regarded a 4
expresiaon of independent eolith..., from the pen of a gentle-
nit tin whom we have the greatest confidence, hilt tor whiOr
Pc novertbeleas do not hold ourseh on responsible.]

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The moat important public topic "at these presents,"
s the renewal of that Eastern question which has so '
long been threatening and which has now culminated
into impending, if not actual, hostilities between
Turkey and Greece. It does not appear to be
generally thought, however, that the peace of Europe
is likely to be long disturbed, for the European nations
seem pretty much of a mind as to which Power is In
the wrong, and Greece will, in all probability, soon
have to "cave in." As one of our journals well expresses
it, "The great Powers, and England not less strenu•
ously, will act as the police of Europe, and will no
suffer diplomatic wrangling to develope into war."
_ . .

Whether under the re'yinte of the new Ministry we
shall have any important reductions in our national
expenilitare is perhaps more than any of us can say,
but certainly there is a pretty general expectation in
this direction. There are rumours of reductions in
the army and marines, and of reduced expenditure, by
reform, in the Admiralty; and it is a noteworthy fact
that Gm virulent bee just repaid the loan of a million,
which was raised under the late administration. This
looks as if there would he money to spare. Moreover,
the Hon. Captain Vivian, the newly-appointed War
Lord of the Treasury, speaking, the other day, of the
views of the present Government, gave us reason to
hope for reduced national burdens. Alluding to this
new office, the gallant Captain said, "The duties of
that office are to supervise the whole finance of the
army. I am to watch the estimates, to watch the
accounts, and to diminish both one and the other, if I
possibly can." The task sif reduction, whether in the
army, the navy, or in civil departments, will be a her
culean one, but it is said that the Government have
determined on such a course. If it can be done with-
out impairing the efficiency of the services, there is one
gentleman who will not have the least objection —Mr.
John Bull.
Every now and again the public mind is directed to
mars of alleged lunacy where there is grave room for
suspicion that the lunacy is only alleged, and nearly all
such cases have in them much that is deeply interest-
ing in reference to the laws of mind and to the liberty
of the subject. The last case of the kind must in its
result be some relief to the public mind. At first there
was the probability that the plaintiff had been un-
justly confined as a lunatic. There was some ground
for the thought that members of his family may have
had indirect and illegitimate reasons for confining the
father in a lunatic asylum; but, happily for all,
except the unhappy man himself, the jury decided that
the defendants had good ground for acting as they did.
The constant recurrence of these cases, however, sug-
gests the thought whether our lunacy laws are quite
what they ought to be; whether a person's liberty
ought to be taken away on the mere certificate of two
niedical men who may be incompetent, interested, or
culpably careless; whether private lunatic asylums
ought to be allowed to mat at all; and whether the
lunacy commissioners can, if they are ever so much ,
disposed to do so, pay sufficient attention to each in-
dividual case, during their hasty visits, to ensure
justice to all. The public have very little confidence j
in these private lunatic asylums, and the public no
doubt are quite right.
That innocent men have been hanged, and that j
when it is too late their innocence has been made !
manifest, is matter of history. It has comparatively ,
seldom happened, of course, but it has happened,
and this in itself is a strong argument for the abolition
of capital punishment. A case has just transpired
that shows what terrible risks we run in carrying out
an irrevocable penalty. Two men were lying in
Somerset gaol under sentence of death, and one of
them has now conf eased that he alone was guilty, and
that the other had nothing to do with the crime.
Supposing that the confession is substantiated by
correlative facts, the innocent man will receive "a
free pardon" for a crime he never committed! Justice
halts here. A free pardon under such circumstances
is sr snomaly and a contradiction. In such a case,
surely, an innocent man ought to be entitla to some ,
compensation.
We have had another batch of tradesmen in South
London fined for false weights and measures. It is I
just the sante thing over and over again. The
publicans, as usual, head the list, and the tines are
ridiculously small, in some cases being only five I
shillings. May we not expect reform in this matter
from the new House of Commons ? There is a general
concurrence of opinion on the subject. The whole
system of petty fines is a mockery and a sham. It I
doss not prevent cheating; for cheating pays well,
and the infinitesimal penalties are but a paltry de-
duction from unjust profits. We shall never put a
stop to false weights and measures till we have heavier .
penalties, including the posting up of the names of
roguish tradesmen at the police-offices, and, in the
case soy of a third offence, a term of imprisonment. I
Now that the will of the late Baron James de 1
Rothschild has been made public, it turns out that he
must have been the richest man that ever lived. Sup-
peeing that the legacies which he left included the
whole of the fortune he died possessed of--and this is
by no means certain—that fortune amounted to
upwards of forty four millions. Why it is beyond the
power of the human mind to conceive what is the exact
meaning of this sum. We may cover a sheet of paper .
with calculations of what it would do, and even then
our mind will not fully grasp the idea. The eldest
son of the deceased comes into a comfortable little
property of twenty millions ; the widow gets eight
millions, with two splendid mansions filled with
treasure ; the second son obtains eight millions; and
Isis third son six millions ; while his grandson has been
bequeathed two millions. The thought will, amongst
others, occur to most persons who read of this
enormous wealth— that the late Baron has left all his
money to his family, thus endeavouring to maintain
the .name of Rothschild in connection with the idea of
immense riches ; and that not a single legacy has been
Wt to the cause of charity. Perhaps, however, we
are not in possession of the full fact,,. What immense
benefit, however, might the deceased baron have
done to his fellow creatures had he founded hospitals,
orphanages, asylums, &c. He might have "scattered
plenty o'er a smiling land."
Politics are, for the moment, almost a dead letter
With Parliament scattered to country homes or town
mansions, and with no political question pressing on
the public attention, people appear willing to abandon
for a time all legislative and political questions, and
turn their attention to the more congenial topics
connected with Christmas holidays and amusements.
There is but little general business now being done,
and the only departments of trade that seem brisk are
those connected with the festivities, the jollities, the
amenities, and the charities of the season. And on the
whole Christmas this year will, apparently, be observed
with quite as mach gusto as ever. Never were the
shops more brilliantly stocked with articles which, by
any stretch of imagination, can be regarded as adapted
for Christians presents, and never were these shops
more keenly examined by curious and sometimes
longing eyes, than they are this year. Ido Ind think
It can with justice be said that never was charity more
bountiful at Clarietruastide than it now is, for there has
been wanting that which more than anything else calls
forth charity at this time of the year,—bitter, biting,
cold and frost. Perhaps it is solely owing to this that
there has been in the metropolis this year leas demon-
strative distress than we have had many former years
at Christmas time, and, therefore, a less bounteous
flow of charity. But distress, nevertheless, we have to j
a !serious extent, and benevolence to a heart-refreshing
extent. Many a widow's heart is made to sing for
joy through the bounty of benefactors; many an other-
wise neglected, ragged, hungry child is specially
fed and clothed at this season of the year. "Charity
never faileth," and thank God that it is so, even taking
charity in ite restricted sense of pecuniarybounty ; but
I do not think there is either 80 much of it or so much
occasion for it this year as many a Christmas-time
before has been the case. If this be so, the latter fact
s one to be deeply rejoiced at. But, on the other
hand, there is, unhappily, ample scope for the Makit am
employment if far more charity than is forthcoming
Poverty and distress are too wide-spread ansl too deep
for charity to counteract, but Christmas-title is, never-
theless., made a far more happy and joyous time than it
would otherwise be were it not for the subscriptions iii
the rich and the hard-working benevolence of mu Good
Samaritans, who are. Heaven be praised, so numerous.
If Christmas be not hailed with song and gladness for
any other reason, surely here is cause enough for re-
joicing - that it calls out charity, mercy, sympathy,
and help. "Christmas comes but once a year, and
when it comes it brings good cheer" to those who have
little enough of good cheer at any other time. It is
pleasant to read, by-the-bye, that the Queen always
keep. up Christmas at Osborne. The royal baniu if
beef has been roasted at Wintheir and sent to her
Majesty's island home, to grace the sideboard at
Christmas, together with the far-famed boar's head
and the monster game-pie, which annually form com-
ponent parts of the Christiusa royal fare. In the
palace, as in many a country mansion and town house
the motto is

At uhriAmaa kr merry and than kW withal.
C. And tent your poor neighbours, the great with the small.
And now I cannot well conclude without heartily
wishing your renders, in the time-honoured phrsaeology
which we ell by- the more because it is dl -
" • =AM cezusnws AND A EArrx yr..; yraa."