The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1873-11-18 00:00:00

THE DORSET COUNTY

Poet emit! Ewen.

TIIIIBDAY, NOVIIIIIIRR l& 184

NOTES OF TFIE
_WEEK.

It has been arranged that the Dean of West-
minster is to go to fit. Petersburg to perform the
Protestant service at the marriage of his Royal
Highness the Duke of Itclinbur to her Imperial
Highness the Grand Duchess Mario, in January
next. Viscount Sydney (the Lord Chamberlain)
and Lady Augusta Stanley (one of Her Majesty's
Women of the Bedchamber) have been directed
by the Queen to be present on the occasion.
Of the two latest Ministerial appointments,
one will be taken almost as • matter of course,
while the other will In most quarters excite
some surprise. Mr. Vernon liszeourt's name
had (so long
.been named in connection with
the Solicitor-Generalship that most people) will
be quite prepared for hie appointment to the
post ; but the name of Dr. Lyon Playfair ham
scarcely been mentioned as that of • candidate
for Ministerial office, and few people will
recognise in him any special Moses as successor
to Mr. Monsen at the Post-cifics. But perhaps
he la appointed rather for general merles
than for any special departmental ability ex-
pected from him. At all events, he is as likely
to understand the working of the Poet-offioe as
any other gentleman would be who could be
named as suitable for the place, and there is no
doubt of his general capacity. The significant
aspect of both these appointments is that the
new Ministers have both been independent
Liberals of a somewhat advanced type, and we
may therefore expect that Mr. Gladstone intends
to rest more for support upon the Radical wing
of his party than be has done heretofore. This
doubtless implies modification of the Education
Act and the Electoral Law— imposerss upon which
we may expect fierce Parliamentary caskets.
Although nobody knows whether the general
election will take place next autumn or in that
of 1875 (when the present Parliament would
expire), election movements still continuo in
various parts of the country. Amongst these
movements, some:special interest will be attached
to the invitation conveyed by a deputation fro.
the Liberals of Peterborough to Mr. Thomson
Mulkey, to offer himself in the Liberal interest
at the next election. Perhaps the Peterborough
electors are getting tired at Mr. Whalley's
eccentricities, mous* as they are, or they may
be anxious to 'give the hon. gentleman mono
leisure to attend to the interests of his friend
the Claimant, who will again, after • brief
respite, come forward to occupy public attention.
The comparative relief which we have had from
the Tichborne case during the past fortnight
shows the beneficial effects as regards public
tranquility of the restrictions imposed by the
Court of Queena's Bench upon the Claimant and
his friends, even if there restrictions were not
neeassary in the interests of justice.
Our learned societies will not leave the
Government alone -until • NOW Artie expedi-
tion ham been sent out. These societies probably
made up their minds that they had nothing to
expect. from Mr. Lowe in regard to providing
funds for inch • purpom ; but now that he has
been removed from the Treasury, they are en-
couraged to bring forward their request ono,
more. The Council of the Royal Society, we are
told, has resolved officially to join the Royal
Geographical Society in urging upon the Govern-
ment the importance of the results to be derived
from the despatch of an Arctic expedition in
1874; and we are also informed that the British
Association barn appointed • committee foe the
same purpose. One fails to see what are the
practical advantages to be derived from such an
expedition luntll we learn that the Dundee
Chamber of Commerce, representing the ',bairn;
interest, as well as the general maritime interest
of the west coast of Scotland, has also resolved
to present • memorial to the Government urging
the practical value of the results of Artie ex-
ploration. The expedition might possibly prove
a useful pioneer for the whale ths& : but most
people will think we have quite enough on
hand in the torrid regions of Africa just now,
without spending more money, and perhaps
losing more lives, on an attempt to penetrate
further Into the unknown realms of kw and
snow.

We have just a scrap of comfort with regard
to the coal question. The Durham miners &few
weeks ago made a demand for an increase of 20
per cent. in their wages, but this was refused by
the masters. The men determined to persist in
their demand, and it haa just been presented
afresh to the masters, who have again refused
it, on the same grounds as before—"that the
value of coal is tending downwards, and the
generally depressed condition of affairs In the
oommeroial world." Commercial depression is
not a thing to rejoice at under any circum-
stances; but if it will only help to bring coal
down to something like a reasonable prioe once
more, it will not be an unmixed evil. But it is
to be feared the poor of England will never
again have their household fuel at its former
price even in a time of commercial depression.
After years of anticipation, threatening, and
uncertainty in the various quarters affected, it
seems at last as if the United States were about
to seize a convenient excuse for annexing Cuba.
The summary execution by the Cuban authori-
ties of American citizens accused of taking part
in a filibustering expedition against Spanish
authority in Cuba, affords the long-desired op-
portunity for annexation. The Spaniards may
have been justified in their =duet according to
the law of nations, but there can be no doubt
that they were in a precipitate and unnecessary
hurry, and paid no attention to remonstrances
from the Consular representative of the United
States. The men executed may have bees no
better than pirates, but there was not eves
sufficient time allowed to prove them so. And
the people and press of the United States, if not
also the Government, appear inclined to reenlist,
upon the Spanish authorities of Cuba, with the
lattei's own precipitancy. Declare war against
Spain and.selse Cuba, is the popular cry in the
'tot

_
great Republic. A great deal ,r`bnuctombe and
pseudo-sentimentality Is talked about the tall of
of the American eagle having been trodden upon
and Uncle Samuel having Wee kicked but it
all amounts to this—that Spain, or the persons
who are supposed to represent Spain In Cube,
have given the Americana • good excuse for
carrying out • long-cherished scheme of annex-
ation. We cannot sympathise with the Spaniards
of Cuba or the Spaniards of Spain if it be Ihe
fate of the island to be annexed to the Atomises
Union. As for the Cuban Sp•aiards, they have
shown so little vigour in patting down the
retellion ia the interior of the island, which has I
now existed for years, and they have manlfeeted-
too much disposition to make • profit out of the
movement against the mother country, for no to
have touch feeling for there. The slightest rips:
on the part of the ao-called loyal Cubans ht
long ago, with the assistance rendered
Spanish home Government, have 'appraised the
rebellion; but these oraven-hearted patriots
have been content to see the mother country
fighting almost unsupported against the Insur-
gents, while they themselves profited by the
additional expenditure caused by the military
operations.
The first school board re-elections, at Man-
chester, have ended in, the victory of the repre-
sentatives of religion, that is, PrinotPellY of the
Church candidates, the "Seven Champions of
Christendom," as the Churchmen were called,
and three Romius Catholics heading the poll.
The League men were nowhere, and although
five "National unaectarian" candidates were
returned, the Leaguers were lowest on the poll
This is the Manchester answer to the I segue;
and it is all the more significant, because at
Manchester just now there is • deficiency of
school accommodation for 8,006 children, and
the Leaguers proposed to cover this by building
schools out of the rates, at an expense of
£62,000, and making these schools unsectarian.
l'he Times says it is a conclusive proof that the
free opinion of a City like Manchester approves
the optional promisees of education allowed by
the Education Act, and rejects the prohibitory
exclusiveness of the Birmingham League. The
result leads to • strong presumption that if the
people of England were left to declare their
trilbies° 1 judgment, they would pronounce
strenuously in favour of maintaining the present
eompromise, and that the tactics of the organisa-
tion which advisee Parliamentary electors to
refuse to vote for any oanditate who will not
pronouno their Shibboleth are nothing more
than the attempt of • minority to coerce the
majority.
It would seem that Mr. Edward Miall, M.P.,
the champion of Dieeetablishment, is about to
present himself as a consummate illustration of
the healthful blessings of • severe and painful
kind of stimulant. The other day he announced
his retiremeot from the representatioa of Brad-
ford on the plea of failing health, and much
sympathy was expressed on the one hand, and
on the other some incredulity concerning the
hon. gentleman's health and strong convictions
about the failure of his mimic"). Under the
smart of these unkindness" Mr. Miall has
revived I Hs ham mid-se viganos apes& In