The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-02-06 00:00:00

Our frinbog Corrtsponbtat

[We deem it right V., state that we do not at all tiale
iiantify ourselves rlsh our Correspondent's opbalcma.l

The change of Administration has been the
main topic of public conversation during the
past few days, and naturally it should be in a
country governed like ours. But although it is
provocative of much discussion, and means a
great deal not only politically but personally to
a number of eminent personages in both Lords
and Commons; it does not interfere with the
general business of the country, or with the
livelihood of ordinary individuals in anything
like the degree such a change does in some other
countries. For while the chiefs of the public
departments are altered, the permanent officials
—from under-secretaries down to the most
humble clerks—pursue the even tenons of their
work, and preserve that spirit of continuity
which is one of the marked characteristics of
English official life. It is far different in the
United States, where, when one party had
displaced another, it has been the cus-
tom to sweep the offices fr®m top to
bottom of those who had come in under the
old regime and to replace them with adherents of
the new. President Cleveland, although follow-
ing as a Democrat after a long list of Republican
Administrations, has shown himself commendably
free from the desire to push the "victors and
spoils" theory to its old extreme; but the danger
exists nevertheless, and England is happy in being
free from it.
A statement has been circulated from a quarter
which may be taken to be well-informed, that
the City Lands Committee of the Corpor4tion of
London have perfected plans for Inteimprove-
ment of the Central Criminal Court. This is a
matter which off..ets not only the dwelkrs within
the metropolitan area, but the whole population,
for cases are often tried at this court from long
distances, and prosecutor and witnesees have to
come from all parts of the coentry. The com-
plaint that the pressnt bei'ding is in-
adequate to the continually increasing de-
mands which are being made upon it, has
grown louder of late, and judges have joined
with counsel, and both with members of the
general public, to protest against the existing
state of things, and to demand a remedy. Mr.
Poland—a name unpleasantly familiar to the
ears of a great many criminals as that of the
leading counsel for the Treasury—has more than
once within the past twelve months called atten-
tion to the matter; and the influence of his
voice has evidently by this time had its effect
upon those who are responsible for the building
in which the Central Criminal Court is held. It
is not improbable, too, that the process of reform
has been accelerated by a recent letter to the
public press of Mr. Harry Furniss, the well-
known comic artist, who, having been summoned
as a juryman, suffered many woes while waiting
to be called into the box. The fact has at length
been officially admitted that the accommodation
provided for witnesses, and jurymen, and others
who are forced to attend the court, is deficient;
and it will be welcome news to all such that
steps are to be taken to extend and improve it.
Unpleasant associations attach to the Central
Criminal Court, or the Old Bailey, as it is fre-
quently and, perhaps, most commonly called,
and whatever alterations may be made in the
structural arrangements, these will not disap-
pear. The most notorious offenders of modern
times have stood in the dock of what is known
as the "Old Court," and have pssiel thence,
with the dread words of the capital sentence
ringing in their ears, to suffer their doom in the
neighbouring prison. Newgate still stands black
and grim opposite to the church of St.
Sepulchre, whose bell has often tolled a living
man's knell; but in these days it is used only as
a place of detention for prisoners during the
sessions of the Central Criminal Ceurt, and of
execution should any be condemned to (Fe
within the county of Middlesex. Propositions
are often Made for its removal, for it occupie3
much valuable ground, and the service it now
renders is altogether disproportionate to the
space it fills. Further—and sentiment cannot
be excluded from the consideration of
such a point as this —it is a stand-
ing eyesore in a busy part of the City, the
existence of which can only be justified by stern
necessity. But there is sentiment on the other
side, strange as it may seem, and many defend
its retention as being a historical relic of value,
to which is attached a number of recollections,
reflection on which may prove profitable to
growing youth. But at a time when certain _
other of our metropolitan prisons are being de-
stroyed to make room for brighter and better
dwellings, the retention of Newgate upon senti-
mental grounds is not likely to be of long dura-
tion.

One of the " hardy annuals" which spring
always brings with it is the University Boat-race;
and these who are interested in athletics, and
more particularly the aquatic branch of them, are
already engaged in studying the practice of the
crews. The general public will be content to
wait imtirmuch nearer the time fixed for the
event before they give attention to the careful
details which are published as to how "No. 5"
feathers his oar, or as to the exact weight of
"stroke." Curiously enough, it is not only in
regard to those outside the Universith: 3 that the
interest in the race appears to be diminishing,
but it is inside as well. It has been asserted,
with the bated breath due to such a sorrowful
revelation, that one undergraduate, who is fitted
by Nature and Art to take a place in a boat, has
declined on the ground that he would rather
figure as a football than a boating "blue." This
is an announcement calculated to strike dismay
into the breasts of those who consider a boating
" blue " to be one of the highest honours a
University can bestow' and it is only one sign of
the decay in general estimation of what was
once the most striking event in the aquatic
year.
Perhaps it is not altogether a disadvantage,
even to the oarsmen themselves that the old
enthusiasm over the race should fiax e somewhat
died away. About 10 years ago it had reached
a height which was much too great for the im-
portance of the contest, and which temporarily
elevated the competitors to a position in the
public eye which could scarcely fail to be in-
jurious to such young men, who had nothing but
the strength of their arms and skill in oarsman-
ship to ristitY it. The period referred to was
that at wlaiXethe crowds, which used annually
to-gather on -the banks of the Thames to witness
the struggle, were so enormous' that threats
were occasionally thrown out by the University
authorities that the competition would be taken
to some less frequented spot, there to be con-
ducted in quietness and comparative privacy.
We hear nothing of such threats in these days,
for the sufficient reason that the crowds which
line the banks are far from as great as they
were. The real value of the contest lies
in the fact that it stimulates the cultiva-
tion of the principle, that a sound
body should be coupled with a sound
mind, and athleticism in moderation is
likely to offend nobody. But a great many who
IA ere prepared to praise the eompetitora no long
as the underlying idea of the race was a friendly
struggle between eight lads of each university,
looked upon the matter in a different light when
it was made the excuse for publishing daily
columns describing the preparations for the
contest as if something worthy of the whole
world's admiration was atrout to be done.
When the Law Courts were opened, three
years ago, there was an outcry raised as to the
draughts which swept through the corridors,
under the doors, and into the sacred homes of
English justice. Those who are always ready to
jump to a very large conclusion from a very
small premiss, were eager to assert that the great
undertaking of Mr. Street was a failure, and that
the fact of a judge taking cold while sitting on
the bench was sufficient condemnation of the

......
plan. Less has been heard in this strain of late,
for many of the early and, after all, minor
deficiencies in the construction of the courts have

been corrected. The present, tlierefore;-,Zei;
the small grievances have been swept away, is 4
fitting period for the erection in the Central
Hall of the Royal Palace of Justice (to give it its
official title) of a Memorial to Mr. Street. That
great architect passed away before he could se9
the completion of his most noted work, and it A
only right that, in a striking position in that
edifice with which his name will always be identi.
fled, a monument should be placed to tell to
suture generations what they owe' to his con.
ltructive skill. It is easy to criticise so large
,vork, but it should not be forgotten that, as it
elands, it is not a complete realisation of thif
tlesign of the architect. The plans as originally
drawn and accepted were of a more striking-4
may be said a more complete—building, but the
exigencies. of the Treasury stood in the way of
their being carried out in their entirety, andi
greatly to his grief, Mr. Street had to cut thent
down to the required standard. But even whaz
rera,ains is a worthy testimony to his architectural
genius, and no visitor to London can fail to be
impressed by a sight of it.
A movement is on foot to broaden thcp
thoroughfare which passes the eastern end of
St. Paul's; not only on grounds of public con-

venienee, and not only even on those of pro-
viding a better opportunity for displaying the
fine proportions of the metropelitan cathedral,
but also on that of the increased safety of the
buildings. The opportunity for such a widening
as is contemplated, is thought to have been pro-
vided by the demolition of St. Paul's school-
house, which stood opposite the eastern end,
and the place of which is to ho filled by some
tall warehouses, devoted to the wholesale dis-
posal of drapery goods. It is pointed out by the
supporters of the movement that if these are
allowed to remain, not only will the roadway con-
tinue to be singularly narrow for such an im-
portant thoroughfare, but that, if a fire should
break out in the new buildings, the danger of it
spreading to the Cathedral would be very great.
What a calamity it would be if Wren's master-
piece were to be sacrificed to the flames no words
are needed to describe, and this view of the case
is likely to find many adherents. But the ques-
tion of cost is the rock upon which the project
is not unlikely to be wrecked. The value of land
is so enormous in the City of London that the
price of such a piece of property as that which
would have to be purchased is to be calculated not
in tens but in hundreds of thousands; and the
question of who is to provide the requisite funds
stares the promoters of the movement awkwardly
in the face.

In discussing such a question as this, the yes-
thetic consideration of how much the appearance
of St. Paul's would be improved by an enlarge-
ment of the open area surrounding it, cannot be
left out of sight. But it is one which has less
effect upon English officials than upon
French ones. No one can have visited
Paris without noticing what a large
amount of open space is allowed to
each of the great public buildings in the city.
The genius of the French nation is spectacular,
and all their public buildings are accordingly
off to the best advantage. They are not crowdei I
into back streets, or allowed to be surrounclytl
by structures which shall dwarf them or render
them unpicturesque. Whether the money that
has been spent in opening out the various areas
has been well laid out is a question for Pariiab
ratepayers to decide; but however it may be
answered, none can doubt that the aupearance
of the buildings referred to has been improve t
by the outlay. In London we have not the samc
ideas, and perhaps, of all our edifices of Sta.te,
the only one which has plenty of room in which
to be viewed is the Palace of Westminster. And,
whether looked at from river or from road, this
is one of the most picturesque public buildinF
we possess. A. F. R.