The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-02-22 00:00:00

Our onbon 6orrtsporboit.

• (Wc, dont It r.t_tht to state *al wed, not at alt tttne,,
ounalv,, with our correspondent's okinious.l

At the commencement of the Seseion--and the re-as.
.embliag of Parliament last week Wa3 virtually the
,inencement of the Parliamentary camp:Cot—the
. . .

ointrauit between the activity of the Commons and the
inaction of tha Lords is altasys more remarkabtelhan
at any other time. At the end of a Session it some-
times happens that their Lordships are harder worked
ban her Majesty's faithful Commons ; but, through.
out a Session, the Lords, as a rule, take it much easier
than the Commons. There is Vont legidation com-
pared with talk in the Upper Chainber than in the
I.ower, but at present their Lordships have really done
clothing. Had there been any. important business on
hand, the absence of the Premier would have been
more felt than it has been. Everyone ivill regret to
!oar that his lordship continues very weak from the
sdfects of his resent severe attack of gout, but
it is to be hoped that he will soon take slits place
once more at the post of honour in the Chamber
of Peers. As to the Commons, they have com-
uenced the political campaign with spirit. Pity
that one of their first acts WM to continue the.
suspenaiun of the Habeas Corpus Act in Ireland, but
▪ is generally admitted that there is no help for it,
:aid even the Irish members did not make a stand
,sgainst the Government proposal. May we soon see
•• danger's troubled night depart, ;cud the star f peace
return ;" and may Ireland, freed from the blighting
curse of Fenianisni, soon enter on a new career of
onsiperity. A very gratifying announcement has been
made by Mr. I /Israeli, that a measure with respect to
rrimary education will be introduced by the Govern.
Ilia in the course of the Session. It. remains to be
sssi whether Ministers will propose so large and
lberal a scheme that the Liberal party can give it its
support. Meanwhile the Public Schools Bill has been
read a second time. The effect of this measure will be
to revise the statutes and charters relating to I.*.
Rugby, Harrow, Winchester, Westminster, Shrews-
bury, and the Charter-llouse schools, and to aim at
moving all obstacles to their expansion in accordance
,th the spirit of the times; but it is worth remark
;that the measure will only apply to these seven schools.
t will not touch lit. Paul's Merchant Taylors', the
toevat School, Queen Elizabcth'ii grammar-schools,
many others which to all intents and purposes are
• public; schools." If, however, the seven leading
sahib: schools referred to are reformed in the interest
of the community this will be an immense boon in
doff, and it will infallibly lead the way for further
s•efin m.
Her Majesty's " diurnal in the highlands" con.
tunics to sell largely, and by t!iis thne moat be pretty
well Inown, thrmigh reviews and extracts, to the
majority .1 her subjects—leaving out of count those
who foolishly refrain from reading newspapers. But
it is, on dit, to be translated into French by blaclaine
loceSici formerly French governess to the l'rincesses
Reatrice, Louise, and Helena. The simple, chaste,
und unpretentious style of the book will. how.
see, render it difficult to translate it into the
!anionic.: of our next-door neighbours, who delight in
i.:011M a roundabout way to express the simplest idea.
I her Majesty, it is stated, has presented a copy to the
I t..yal Free I lospital. What is to be done with it!
Who is to read it aloud, if any? Will the patients
ever have an opportunity of reading it as they lie on
their lonely, cheerless beds in those startlingly clean
.ind painfully proper wards ? And how is it that this
hospital did not get a copy from amongst those that
Dr. denner was commissioned to distribute among the
London hospitals? To all of which questions, I, like
'lndus, pause fcr a reply.
As yet there is no confirmation of the startling state-
mat by the Washingtoncorrespondent of the Standard
at week, that President Johnson had decided on
saisting on payment of the Atalausa claims or else on
•;sing, to war—or at least on suspending diplomatic
relations, which is a preliminary to it. We may
remonably conclude, therefore, that this was—we will
say, a , misapprehension. But still the sooner this
horrid Atabanta question is settled somehow or other
Ihe better. At present it is a continued source of
feeling. There is another claim which we can afford
ai laugh at. Mr. George Francis Train claims
100,000 for a day's imprisonment, c rather did claim
1, for his bombast seems to have died away. This
gentleman has a very high opinion of himself, and if
this country had to buy him up at his own estimate
:e should want another penny of income-tax to buy
im. But he is very kind and good to refrain from
reusing his claims—in fact he WM very considerate in
.'ie first instance. Ile might just as well have said
million, and he would have been just as likely to
f et it.

.

Atft time when both capital and labour are from

~rions causes comparatively idle in this country a
vainphlet by Mr. Kitt°, the Government mining
urveyor of the colony of Victoria, deserves attention.
Ic shows that immense areas of unoccupied auriferous
•,,entry exist throughout Victoria, and points out that
„',ousantis of miners in Great Britain, who are corn-

1101 to live in idleness, might be profitably employed
working the Victoria mine& If this view of the
• cltier be true, and his facts appear unimpeachable,
:t. k remarkable, as showing how wonderfully correct
Li Sir Roderick Murchison, the eminent geologist,
../ho twenty-two years ago was so impressed with the
islief that gold would he found in that part of the world
d he advised the tin miners of Cornwall to emi-
t to Australia, and mine for gold as they mine
in in their own country.. It was fully three years
_ . _ _

this advice that gold was found about 100
Is from Melbourne, and many of us must remember
.• excitement that ensued, and the streams f mi.

ton that flowed to Australia from all parts of the
I. Thousands of these persons were from various
...00ns unfitted for the labour of gobl-mining, and

„bandoned the work, and now it seems that there is a

:Teat want of labour. Mr. Smyth, the Secretary of
1: nes for the colony of Victoria, stated a few months
"we have room for four times the number of
...Maas now actually engaged in mining." This is a
.;.,,einent which should induce enquiry among that
~.tion of tile working classes who are employed---
vim they can get employment—in this department of
Num. Front the capitalist's point of view the Victoria
”Id-mines must possess a charm, seeing that several ,d
diem pay as high as 1,5140 r)er cent, per annum, an
amount which is almost incredible, but some curious
tads am mentioned in illustration. Mr. Kitto, in ad-
suing the Australian United (bad Mining Company
to purchase and work the Central gold-mine in
titc colony for which he is Government Mining
:iurveyor, says the result will be at least 70 to 80 per
iwolit for many years. But realised facts are
.so .re curious still. The Sir William Don mine since
Ist March has made a profit of 5,000 per cent, on its
paid-up capital ; while the Band of Hope mine has
I.l,sluced a profit of 4:240,000 per annum, nearly equal
•, the whole of the profits of the metallic mines of
mat Britain and treland for 1567. This is suggestive.
If gold is to be discovered in such startling ratios as
:les.", and its purchasing power is to decrease as of
~,te years, must not salaries be " riz ? But lam not
lig into currency theories, and make a sudden halt.
Archimedes, we have been often told, said that he
.o.l* move the world if he could find fulcrum.
i tat his lever was to be is not stated. May we not

_
however, that we have a lever which moves the

that lever being the Press? What a gigantic
ower, fur instance, is the Press of Groat Britain!
rout the "Newspaper Press Directory" for In6B it
:ipears that there are now published in the United
legless 1,32 l newspapers, thus distributed: in

~udou, 2'3; in the provinces, 7.1 ; in Wake, 49; in
,sotland, 132; in Ireland, 124 ; in the British Isles,
There are no less than Si daily papers in the
58 in England ; 1 in Wales ; 12 in Scotland;
I:, in Ireland; and 1 in the British lake. The ad-
..tllCO in ten yea's; is remarkable, and of special Mk-
. .

~rtance, seeing that this shows how the cheap,
taxed people's Pre isi has taken root in the 'United

•:ingdoni. in losa there were only aliti journals, the
verwhehning majority of these being dear, and
,othing near so good as the cheap Press of to-day. But
,vho will venture to say that the Press has reached ita

!ink M the contrary, there must still be many
;.-rotips of villages totally unrepresented by the l'ress,
10 say nothing of towns where there is room for more
,wspapers than those which now exist. But the fact
. it stands is " a great fact ; " and when we add to it
her, that there are no less than fi2l magazines and
views, there is room for any amount of speculation
• the immense influence that must thus be exerted on
; popular mind, and this influence will extend as
• location opens up an ever-widening field for news.
, ...per enterprise.
While people are talking about horseflesh as food,
, ould it not be well to endeavour to get a little more
'el and mutton. "Mighty roast beef is an English-
food," says the .Id song ; "it accounts for the
'"l'm that runs in his blood." And the same old
.. it Cy assures Us— though I don't wholly believe it—that
tuir•hithersof old were robust, stout, anti strong
Sot they kept i'pen house with good cheer all day 1,,c
which made their plump tenants rejoice Is the ,cing
i,h the roast beef of 01(1 England '
ut oh the ~1,1 l'oglish roast Ise(
Now it seens that in "me parts of Australia beef and
mutton are being dd for 1 lid. a lb., and that, naturally
001, our colonial kinsfolk lash been turning their
:,ttention to the best modes of preserving it. It is
that in 'Melbourne beef has been preserved in tins
ii mouths, and when opened, after several months'
inearceration, was found to be very good and even to
1... Le as &aid as fresh meat. The latter statement is