The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-04-30 00:00:00

JIAGLEY.

STOCK SAL.—On Monday last, was held the
second sale after the reopening (it having been
closed 13 weeks, on account of the prevalence of
foot mid-mouth disease). There was a moderate
supply of sheep; a very full yard of cattle, and a
fair entry of calves and pigs. Mutton made fair
market rates ; beef as high as 8d per lb; pigs and
calves sold dear. There was a very large attend-
ance.

AFFAIRS AT THE TRA.NSVAAL
CAPE TOWN, April 5 (via Plymouth).

Several meetings have been held in Natal and
elsewhere to protest against the settlement of the
Transvaal war. These meetings have been largely
attended, but have at the same time been
characterised by an entire absence of the leading
men in the various towns. Their absence, however
is nst attributed to their entire disapproval of the
proceedings, but rather ts a feeling th it the restora-
tion of peace is in itself so great a blessing that the
means by which it was gained must not be too
closely criticised. In Cape Town the demonstration
took the form of burning an effigy of Mr. Glad-
stone, and after these proceedings had closed in a
comparatively orderly manner, some of the more
turbulent visited the offices of the papers which are
supposed to represent the Dutch party and did
some damage to their windows. Not serious dis—
turbance occurred, and the whole damage may be
covered by .£l.O. In the House of Assembly last
week Mr. Hoffmeyer, member for Stellenbosch, and
proprietor of Zind Africaan, proposed the following
resolution:—" That a Select Committee be ap-
pointed to draw up an address to her most gracious
Majesty the Queen, expressive of the humble
thanks of this House for the gracious terms of peace
which have been accorded to the people of the
Transvaal lately in arms, and to declare its con-
viction that these terms will be received in the same
spirit of moderation and wisdom as that in which
they have been dictated, and that they will tEnd to
permanent peace and ultimate union of the com-
munities of South Africa ; and, fuather, to express
the unabated loyalty of this House to her Majesty's
Throne and person." Mr. Fleming, member for
Graaf Reinet, another Dutch constituency, proposed
the following amendment " That th!s louse
desires to convey to her most gracious Majesty the
Queen its appreciation of the gracious and mag-
nanimous spirit in which the terms of peace
accorded to the people of the Transvaal have been
conceived, and also to express its hope that they
will rend to the permanent peace and prosperity of
South Africa."—Almostimmsdiately after, on the
motion of the Premier, the debate was adjourned
mai yesterday. The discussion is proceeding to-
day, and it is considered probable that a further
amendment proposed by Mr. Watermeyer will be
carried, namely, "That tbis House, without dis-
cussing the terms of peace which are not before it,
desires to record its satisfaction at the cessation of
hostilities in the Transvaal." The principal
arguments of tt e opponents of the original reso-
lution and of the first amendment ar‘ that the
terms of peace are not before the House, and that,
therefore, it would be premature to discuss them;
that a permanent peace is by no means certain in
the Transvaal ; and that the proffered terms are
not such as to warrant expressions magnanimous
or gracious, seeing that they were estortad by the
Boers in the hour of defeat, rather than granted
spontaneously by the English Government. On the
other hand, it is urged that the granting of terms
by co powerful a nation as England to a weaker
people in the hour of their triumph is a fine inst ince
of moral courage, deserving of every pr.:ise, and
that there can be nothing unusual or peculiar in
the leading of a party whose loyalty has been
impugned seeking to place on record an expression
of his unabated affection for her Majesty's rule and
the Crown.

The en-uing week will probably determine the
fate of the present Ministry, for Mr. Scanlan, an
lndependant but vcry influential member of the
Opposition, has given notice of the following re-
solution, "That this House is of opinion that the
conduct of the business of the country by the pre-
sent administration, especially in regard to
Basutoland and the T, anskeiau territories before
and after the outbreak of hostilities, has been sucll
as to imperil its best interests." This will raise the
whole quesion of the policy of Mr. Sprigg's
Ministry, and by it they are expected to stand
fall. On the 29th ult, the Treasurer-General, in
replying to a question, said the unauthorised war
expenditure to March 31st was estimated at
.21,250,000. The Opposition maintain that. this
cannot cover all expenditure which they assert will,
together with accounts coming forward, amount to
quite £2,000,000. Colonel Buller has beat ap-
pointed administrator of Natal. General Wood has
left for Pretoria. Refugees from Oat, Traolsvaal,
who after the declaration of peace went to their
h mes, have again returned to Newcastle, declaring
that they cannot live in the Transvaal. A largo.:
number of them have signed an address to Earl
Kimberley on the subject.
There is no news from Basutoland. The state
of the country from rain renders any movements
impoNslble. Colonel Carrington and Captain
Gordon, who were wounded in the last patrol, are
doing well. Reinforcement are daily entering
B isutoland. Rumours are current that the Pondos
have agala attacked the Xesibes and killed two
petty chiefs. The Government deny that Umblenhlo
has offered to surrender.
The banquet to volunteers who have returned
from the war was a great success. The Mayor of
Cape Town presided, and the members of the
Ministry were also present. The customs returns
last month reached £116,000. This amount is
almost 50 per; cent, above the returns for this time
last year.