The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-09-04 00:00:00

E NEW FOREST.

A more than usually interesting Parliamentary Blue,
book, just issued, contains the Report of the Select
Committee of the House of Commons, appointed in
March last to inquire into the present condition of that
district, particularly with reference to the elercise and
effect of the powers of enclosure given by the Deer
Removal Act of 1851 (remarks The Times). The Re-
port contains a variety of curious information as to the
extent, soil, products, and early history of the New
Forest, which is here styled deservedly "a valuable
relic of the wild primmval woods which formerly filled
England with beautifuland picturesque scenery ; ' and
those Artists, poets, and men of letters who have
petitioned for the retention of it as a forest, will
be glad to learn that, in the opinion of the Select
Committee, "If the New Forest should be dis-•
afforested or lose its especial character of wildness
.by being transformed into a mass of regular
and formal plantations, the loss to the nation.
would be irreparable." It-appears that the entire ex-
tent of the forest is about 63,000 acres, nearly half of
which is heath land, worth about is. 6d. per acre an-
nually, the other and slightly larger half being worth
from ss. to 10s. per acre. The whole of this acreage
appears to have been open and unenclosed till 1698,
, the trees, which the forest up to that time supplied for
the use of the Royal dockyards, growing naturally ;
but in that year it was thought necessary to take mea-
sures for repairing the destruction of trees which had
occurred during the confusion consequent on the civil
wars, and for providing a nursery for the growth of
timber for the Royal Navy. Accordingly, an Act was
passed in the reign of William lIL, authorizing en-
closures to the extent of 6,000 acres out of the waste
of the forest. Sundry other enclosures were authorized
by an Act passed 48 George 111., and the Deer Re-
moval Act of 1851 authorized the addition of 10,000
acres more to the enclosures. Under these Acts about
19,590 acres have been enclosed, and the Chief Com-
missioner of Woods and Forests is of opinion that
hitherto the:Crowu has been authorized by the spirit,
if not by the letter, of these Acts to extend the enclo-
sures over the entire forest. Such being the cafes the
public at large will be glad to learn that the " Resolu-
tions " embodied in the Report of the Select Com-
mittee run as follows :—" That the New Forest shall
remain open and unenelosed except to the extent to
which it is expedient to maintain the existing right of
the Crown to plant trees. That the ancient orna-
mental woods shall be carefully preserved and the
character of the scenery shall be maintained. That
powers of enclosure conferred by Statute shall be
exercised only on that area which has hitherto been
taken at various times and been either kept or thrown
out by the Acts of Parliament mentioned above. That
the Crown shall retain the power of keeping 16,000
acres of growing timber and trees planted under the
Acts of 'William 111. and of 1851 at all times under
enclosure and that the Crown be entitled to enclose and
throw out at will any portion of the area over which
the powers of planting are to be exercised, with a view
to its unrestricted use in such mar.ner as may be deemed
expedient for the most profitable growth of timber
and trees; but that the rolling power over the open
portion of the forest not now planted or enclosed
under the above Acts shall cease. The Report goes on
further to recommend "that a nominal quit rent shall
be charged by the Crown to the commoners for the
exercise of the right of commonage during fence month
and winter heyning, provision being made, if possible,
for the payment of such quit-rent by some body repre-
sentative of the commoners. That the Verderers'
Court be reconstructed, so as better to represent the
commoners, and to have the power to regulate the
exercise of the commoners' rights over the forest, and
to appoint officers in order to prevent-encroachments
upon them. That all th.e rights of the Crown reserved
under the Acts ot Parliament already mentioned shall
be maintained, except only a few modifications specified
in the Report. Lastly, that provision be made that,
in the event of any future severance of interests in the
forest between the Crown and the commoners, the
limitations now proposed to be placed on the exercise
of the rights of the Crown shall in no way prejudice
the claims of the Crown." The Report is followed by
a digest of the proceedings of the Committee, the
minutes of evidence, and an appendix, and has
appended to it a map of the entire New Forest district
on a scale of about an inch to a mile.

Peaches are so abundant in Paris that the whole-
sale price last week fell to 3fr. 76c. the hundred for fine fruit,
and 71r. to Bfr. for the most choice descriptions.
- -

The duty levied on pawnbrokers in the year ended
the 31st of March produced £31,920.
At the half-yearly meeting of the Great Western
Railway on Tuesday the chairman said the company had
been tiying experiments with new brakes. It was well
known that a Royal Commission had been instituting a very
elaborate series of experiments, and it would be very un-
wise to embark in any large outlay until they had an efficient
brake. He had seen none of the recent inventions to which
there were not grave objections. He did not believe that
any of the mechanical contrivances which had been !ingested
could be applied to the trains without a great risk of in-
creasing the number of accidents.

lA. STRANGE OUTBREAK IN
MONTREAL.

The Canadian Correspondent of The Times writes :7

An extraordinary outbreak of ignorance and super-
stition has just occurred in Montreal. The death-rate
-EWA city is very higlTautta-stringent health
was a few days ago intrpfinced ;and discussed at the
City Council Board. The provisions in the by-law
rendering vaccination compulsory and enforcing the
removal of smallpox patients to the hospitals roused
the strongest antagonism in the minds of the more
ignorant and superstitious of the populace, and
some most disgraceful rioting followed. On the
10th inst. it culminated in a violent interrup-
tion of the meeting of the Council. Every window
pane of the Council Chamber was smashed, and
the police were unable to quell the mob which hari
assembled round the City-hall to the number of 4,000.
On attempting to arrest one of the rioters, a constable
was severely wounded by a large stone striking him
on the forehead. King Mob proved the victor, for the
' City Councillors became intimidated, and after un-
"successful efforts to postpone action on the by-law
' till the next meeting, the whole thing was abandoned. •
On this being communicated to the mob, they left
the City-hall and proceeded to the residence of a
' Dr. Larocque, a prominent supporter of the health
by-law, who is strongly in favour of compulsory
vaccination. The windows of his house were broken
and the contents of his drug shop demolished.'
The rioters consisted of French-Canadians from the
east-end of the city, the very class who suffer most
• from the ravages of the disease which the by-law sought
to stamp out. The French Canadian population of
Montieal numbers 58,000; Irish Catholics, 28,700;
Protestants, 33,000. Last year the deaths were in these
classes respectively 827,127, and 71—a percentage per
,thousand of 14'3, 44, and 2'4. Speaking of the sani-
4-tory condition of these east-end inhabitants of Mori..
%real who oppose the health by-law, a Canadian journg
•
says :
"The very people who could be inflamed into rioters by
the dread of vaccination could be made maniacs by the pros-
pect of being forced to be clean."

by-Irr i