The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-10-04 00:00:00

Mr. G. DIXON and Mr. P. H. MIINTZ,

M.P., on the ASHANTEE WAR.
A public meeting was held en Monday at Birming-
ham, to consider the wabject of the Ashantee war.
The Rector of Birmingham presided, and Messrs. G.
Dixon, M.P , and I'. H. Munjz my., were present.
Mr. Dixon confessed that he was very ignorant as to
the facts of the case, which was owing to the circum-
stance that in all our foreign ware and in moat of our
dealings with foreign nations the Government of the
ountry, whether Liberal or Conservative, had not
been in the habit of
.taking into their counsels either
large of the House of Commons in
tar, Rei believed that they ought to Desk
C—orange 'this custom. He was inclined to think
that there was a great deal of truth in what
had been FISH by certain Conserva,ives, that her
Majeaty's Government ought to call Parliament
together in order that they might know what
kind of a war Government was engAging in before the
necessary supplies were voted. lie hail, however,
very great faith In Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Bright.
He was ante they would not have entered into the war
without the greatest possible letxrmination that it
should be as small in extent as possible consistent with
the English interest involve 1. Mr. Dixon deprecated
the system of political treaties, and condemned among
others the treaty protecting the neutrality of Belgium.
He believed that we had no other right to establish
ourselves on the African coast but that ef carrying on
trade. He WOO af raid the cost of the war would be
water than any results we could gem.
_ _

Mi. ?junta also condemned the treaty system, and
sepecially Ole Belgian and Luxemburg Treaties. We
had undertaken to defend, in the latter cane, a small
territory not no barge as Warwickshire against all the
powers of Europe. He hoped that the time would
awn come when no treaties of a political nature would
he entered into without the sane:don of the Houses of
raellarcent, and that war should not be declared with-
out the great council' of the natb an being first con.
stilted. He, however, wou'd be very much surprised
ti any war would arise if Mr. Gladstone could poeeibly
avoid it. (Applause.)
A petition was adopted, praying the Government to
use all reasonable means to settle existing difference's
before sending an army into the interior of Aahantee.

From the report of the Regietrar•General on thie
year's crops and live stock In Ireland, It appears that, com-
pared with 172, the land under cultlvatinn with wheat
shows a decrease of 56.820 sews ; osio, 01 114,622 acres : and
potatoes, of 84,580 acres. In barley VI,. I, ao Increase f
11,175 acre', and meadow and clover, 87,216 acres.

It is mid that an old bullet has been found on one of
the battle.thlds so incrusted in a bit of an American Sews.
paper that it cond not be detached from thee el, and had
assumed all the characteristics of that metal. Tots bullet is
the toughest pirsgraph ever found in a Yankee paper.
A private letter from Homburg mentions a fact
worth recording relative to the effect on the vidtors to that
place at the gaming Lantos The number of visitors in the
town on the 16th of September last year was 1,257 ; this year
Cattle lame day it was but 8,647. But while the total falling
off lath.. shown to be comiderably more than 60 per cent.,
It is stated that the English and American Melton have nct
tlinththited by more than 26 per cent.