The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-01-15 00:00:00

THE NEW COLONIAL SECRETARY.

The Press Association, in a despatch of Tuesday
morning, says :—We are enabled to state positively
that Sir Henry Holland has been offered and has ac-
cepted the position of Secretary of State for tbe Co-
lonies. On Tuesday afternoon, Sir Henry Holland
paid a visit to the Colonial Office, where, in company
with Lord Dunraven, the Under-Secretary, he pro-
ceeded to the offices of the Secretary of State for the
Department, and saw Sir R. Herbert, the Permanent
Under-Secretary. Sir Henry Holland is no stranger
to the Colonial Office. He was legal adviser at the
Colonial Office from January, 1867, to February, 1870,
and Assistant Under-Secretary of State for the
Colonies from March, 1870, to August, 1874, when he
resigned to enter Parliament.

Speaking at Ashton on Tuesday night, Viscount
Cross referred briefly to the resignation of Lord R.
Churchill, but observed that it was impossible to allude
to the differences which had led to it. No explana-
tion could be given till Parliament met. Referring
to Mr. Goschen's accession to the Ministry, his lotd-
ship observed that it was with the consent of Lord
Hartington and his followers, and that the union of
Unionists was now stronger than ever.
Sir C. Russell, speaking at St. Helen's on Tuesday
night, said when the Irish difficulty was solved people
would be surprised that the solution had ever been
beset with so much prejudice. This and ignorance
were the great obstacles in the path of the Liberal
party; but they were entitled to be hopeful of the
ultimate issue.

LORD RANDOLPH CHURCHILL'S RESIGNA-
TION.

Mr. Gladstone has sent the following reply to a
correspondent: "Dear Sir,—Want not of will but of
time prevents my answering more than a part of my
innnmerable letters. It is reported that Lord Ran-
dolph Churchill's resignation was due to his opinion
that more economy ought to be practised in our
Estimates for Army and Navy. If this be true, I for
one shall be very slow, as a Liberal to condemn him.
Your faithful and obedient, W. E. G., Jan. 8, 1887."
Replying to a letter of condolence from the St.
Stephen's (Wallingford) Habitation of the Primrose
League, Lord It. Churchill writes :—"My dear Sir,—
I desire to express to you my deep gratification with
the communication which you have made to me.
The working men of Wallingford have certainly
shown themselves to be more generous and more
reserved in their political judgment than many
Conservative members of Parliament, who have
been prompt, not to say precipitate, in pro-
nouncing unqualified condemnation on my recent•
action. Although, as regards the nature and causes
of that action, they are almost entirely without infor-
mation, I am not without some amount of confidence
that when that action becomes a matter of public per-
sonal explanation, the opportunity for which at the
present moment is rigorously denied to me, much of
the hasty, adverse criticism may be modified. But
whether that be so or not I care little. The approval
of such persons as I allude to is as worthless an
article as their disapproval. lan perfectly and fully
conscious of having sought for nothing but the publio
interest, and I have elso a very considerable expecta-
tion that before long the public interest will by no
means suffer from the increased activity of criticism
which Parliament may be tempted to bestow on the
proposals of the Executive as regards finance and ex-
penditure. I am, yours faithfully, BaNnoLen S.
Clluecnnt.."
LETTER FROM THE EARL OF IDDESLEIGH.
The Earl of Iddesleigh on Tuesday afternoon ad-
dressed a letter to the Secretary of the Exeter Cons
servative Working Men's Union in acknowledgment
of a resolution passed by that body on peevious
nip,ht. The resolution, carried amid much enthusiasm,
was : " That, while this meeting recognises the self-
sacrificing spirit which animated Lord Iddesleigh in
proffering his resignation in order to allow of the ad-
mittance to the Cabinet of members of the Liberal
Unionist party, and the difficulty that Lord Salisbury
has been thrust in, in his endeavour to strengthen the
position of the Government, this meeting desires to
place upon record its deep sense of the obligations
under which the Earl of Iddesleigh has led the Con-
servative party, and takes this opportunity of express-
ing its high appreciation of the services rendered by
the noble lord to his country, and its unabated con-
fidence in him as a true.; representative of British
Constitutional principles." The Earl of Iddesleigh's
reply, is as follows:
" Pynes, Jan. 11,1887.
"My dear Sir,—Pray accept for yourself, and
convey to the members of the Exeter Conservative
Working Men's Union, my warm thanks for the
kind resolution of which you have sent me a copy.
While I regret that circumstances have rendered it,
in my opinion, necessary far me to resign the office of
Foreign Secretary which I have held since the for-
mation of the Cabinet, I can assure my friends that
my retirement is not due to any political differences
with my colleagues, and that I bold as heartily as
ever to the great Conservative cause in which we—
the men of Exeter—have so long been fellow
labourers—