The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-10-18 00:00:00

ebt tourtritge Otscrber.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER IS, 1873.

CURRENT TOPICS.

Henry Rate, clerk to Mr. G. J. Evcaon, coal
me Thant, of thi.i town, who was committed for
trial t the Suesions; on a eharge of embezzling
vari sis sums of mew the p...operty of his em-
ployer. was sentenced at %V..- -ster, on Wednes-
day last, to nine months' imprisonment, with hard
labour—Louisa Lavender, a domestic servant,
who was accused of stealing a gold ring, the
property of her former mistress, at Clent, was dis-
charged.

The Prison Visitors' Report which was read at
the Worcester Sessions, stated that her Majesty s
Inspector of Pr son, Dr. Briscoe, suggested the
desirability of employing prisoners at remuneta-
e labour instead of on the troadwheel, and ex-
pressed his readiness to certify the looms at
labour. In accordance with his suggestions, the
visitors have applied for and obtained the sanction
of the Secretary of State to employ prisoners at
first-class hard labour at mat-making on looms.
It also stated that the Secretary of State had
sanctioned the use of Australian beef in the
prisoners' soup. No English meat was now used
in the prison except for sick prisoners. In the
course of the disettesion which followed, the Earl
of Dudley in commenting upon Dr. Briscoe's
having suggested the desirability of employing
prisoners at remnnerative labour instead of on
the treadwheel, deprecated these frequent changes
in the system of hard 'shoes. After very mature
consideration and discussi. 41, that Court had come
to the conclusion that the treadwheel was the
only satisfactory sytent of hard labour. He looked
ilson the wheel as the only deterrent, and that was
what they really required, and that was also the
way in which it was retuunenitive. He could not
listen with anything like patience to the constant
changes recommended by the inspectors, and he
hoped the Committee of Visitors wonld well con-
sider the matter before they came to the conclusion
to change the present system. The Rev. J.
Pearson and others differed from his lordship, and
eventually the report was adopted. We are glad 1
of this change. The system of making prison
labour remunerative has long been carried on in
the United States, with the best possible results
—both from an economical and crime-deterrent
point of view—and we know of no reason why it ,
should not equally beneficial iu this country. It
will, at all events, help to make our prisons less
costly; and that alone, is a matter of some im-
portance.

In his charge to the Grand Jury at the Stafford
Sessions, Mr. Twemlow (the chairman), said he
thought they would be surprised and amazed at
the number of committals for drunkenness.
Between twelve and thirteenhunared persons had
been committed during the past year for dninken-
ness. That, of course, was exclusive of those who
were fined and paid their tines. That was a
lamentable state of things, because it showed
that, up to the present time, neither Legislation
nor education had been able to repress that most
odious rice and (1-makenness which, as people
attended courts of justice were aware, was the
source of a very great proportion of the more
serious crime and caused nothing else but nwsery
and wretchedness. He also went on to say that
" With regard to the felony cases, a great many
arose from public-houses and beerhouses. One
illustrated the proverb, "A fool and his money
soon parted." They found a collier enter Npublie,
house, and then, according to his own account,

display on the table 42 so;ereigns, for no other
reason, he said, than that he wanted the company
to know ho was not short of money. He then
put £2O in one pocket and £2O in another, and
was afterwards robbed." The foregoing israther
strong language; but we think even the most
ardent supporters of the liquor traffic, will admit
that the above facts show a" lamentable state of
things,' and that a remedy for the wide-spread
evil of intemperance is sorely needed.

The award of Mr. Rupert Kettle—the arbitrator
elected to settle the dispute between the masters
and the men in the North of England Iron Trade
—was awaited with some anxiety by both parties.
When at length a decision was made known, it
was received with joy by the workmen, who were
profuse in their praises of the arbitrator, and
blessings innumerable were invoked upon him by
mothers of families and others, who saw in it a
means of avoiding that dreaded thing a strike
which might have been protracted during the
winter months which are fast approaching. We
do not suppose that the masters were equally well
pleased, as the decision was against them ; but, to
their honour be it said, they accepted it at once
frankly, and without a murmur. After a
lengthened and careful survey of the whole aspects
of the trade, Mr. Kettle concludes by saying
I have not revived, nor attempted to revive,
what is called the sliding scale. The workmen
well know that if that scale was still in existence
their wages would be higher than those they are
now receiving; but I feel confident that, all
things considered, their wages are as high as they
are entitled to ; or, as it is prudentia them to re-
quire. And I feel sure that under the most
favourable circumstances, for reasons which are
easily gathered from my foregoing observations,
that there are some finished iron makers who can
barely afford to pay the present rates. It is the
duty, under such trying circumstances, of the
workmen more than ever to strive to give fair
value in good steady work for the wages they
receive, and to consider that by promoting the
employers' interest in the course of their labour
they are taking the most effectual and most direct
means of saving themselves from a drop in wages.
My desire has always been, and is now, to promote
steadiness of trade. The masters have not satis-
fied me that it is either economically right or.,eoni-
mereially expedient to reduce wages at present;
and, therefore, my award is that present prices be
continued over the current quarter."

We often hear persons draw a parallel between
the police of the present day and what were known
as the " Chnrleys," of a century ago, anything
but complimentary to the intelligence and useful-
ness of the latter. Doubtless, in the main they
are right in doing this, and our police of to-day
are, as a rule, very efficient officers. But, as every
rule has an exception, there are some notable
specimens of stupidity 'yen now amongst our
present guardians of the peace. Pythagoras, who
taught the doctrine of the transmigration of souls,
is said to have believed that his own soul had been
in several other human bodies before he himself
possessed it; and in like manner the answers of a
policeman at the Old Hill Petty Sessions, on
Wednesday last, were so Dogberry-like in their
unreasoning stupidity as to wake us believe that
Shakespeare's chief of stupid watchmen had been
revivified, or rather transferred from his pages
real life. The name of this phenomenon is Board,
and he laid an information against Edward
Palmer, landlord of the Swan Inn, Rowley, for
permitting drunkenness in his house, for being
drunk himself, and for allowing ale to be sold
during prohibited hours. Mr. Stokes appeared
for the defendant, and in the course of cross-
examination the following colloquy took place
between hire and the officer, "Mr. Stokes How
do you know he was drunk? Witness : 'Cause he
was. Me. Stokes : Bow long have you been in the
force 1 Witness : Fifteen years, sir. Mr. Stokes :
Well, I'm aivazed."—Not being quite satisfied
with this answer, Mr. Stokes pressed the witness
further for the reasons upon which he based his
aesertion that defendant was drunk, when Beard
at length made the following remarkable state-
ment " He was in his shirt sleeves, and therefore
he was drunk." We do not suppose that the
otrcer meant to show by this that "his shirt
sleeves ' were the only articles of wearing npparel
which defendant had on at the time. If this was
the eatw, and the landlord was disporting himself
in a scantiness of attire something akin to that
of the savage princess who considered herself to
b., in full dress when she had a ring through her
nose and a necklace round herthroat, there would
have been some grvunds for the sespicion. But
It is evident from the facts that what the astute
pol e :man wishe 1 to o9nvey was simply that
the man was divested eE his coat. We wonder
whether he would cousider any man who had not
that article of wearing apparel upon him to be in-
toxicated; or whether it is only landlords whom
he would class under that head. One cannot feel
surprised that the magistrates failel to be con-
vinced even aftes hearing such a weighty argu-
ment as this, and !hat hey dienissed the charge
of drunkenness which had been brought upon
these grounds arinst the defendant.