The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-10-31 00:00:00

MR. FORSTER "INTERVIEWED."

The following is from the Nese York Herald of Oct. 12:—
The Right Hon. W. E. Forster, member of Perna
meet for Bradford, England, and, under the Gladstone
Administration, one of her Majesty's Ministers, is
now on a visit to this country. At the Fifth Avenue
Hotel, last evening, a representative of the Herald
met Mr. Forster and his nephew, Sir Thomas Fowell
Buxton, grandson of "the Buxton" of anti-slavery
fame. In course of conversation several questions
were commented upon of public interest, and a sum-
mary of that commentary is given below. Mr. Forster
stated that this was his first visit to America, and
that the visit had to him a peculiar interest. His
father, he said, was a Quaker preacher, receiving of
course no emoluments for his preaching, who had all
his lifebeen more or less deeply interested in the slavery
question, and some years ago he came to America to
talk quietly and without any demonstration, par-
ticularly with the planters in the south, about theslaves
and their relati; ;nehip to their masters. He had been
received very kindly, and during the progress of this
work he died in Tennessee, and it was to attach some
memorial of respect to his grave that had been one of
the motives that had prompted his (Mr. Forster's)
visit.
"You," said the Herald reporter, "Mr. Forster,
were among the faithful band who in England stood
by the North in the great civil war."
"Yes, I had never any doubt as to the ultimate re-
sult of that war. It is to be regretted that there was,
and is now I suppose, In America, a mistaken feeling
that England sympathised with the South. That mis-
take arose from taking the opinion of London society
as the exponent of the English feeling."
, "Does the present condition of the South cause you
I any disappointment, Mr. Foster?"
"1 scarcely know what to say about that. At
present I have to take the newspaper accounts of the
trouble, and we are led to believe in England that
your way of giving the news is so sensational that we
are in lined to think the rep srts may be exaggerated.
I am, however, going to travel South and judge for
myself what the effects of emancipation are upon the
people. lam watching the progress of the Southern
trouble with the greatest interest, and, whatever may
be the State difficulties, there can be no doubt in my
mind that President Grant is right in maintaining the
law as against armed, discontents. I know that our
experiment in the direction of the abolition of slavery
in the West Indies had proved eminently successful in
the way of counnercial prosperity. The South showed
;so wondrous a devotion to their cause in your great
conflict that I should be very sorry to find them not
making the best of what to them must be the inevitable
situation."
On allusion to Mr. Forster's share in introducing the
ballot into England that gentleman replied—" Yes, I
succeeded in getting the Ballot Bill tlaiseigh the House,
and it is now law. I think, too, our ballot is really
secret, which, as far as I can make out, I don't think
yours is."
"You have also identified your name with the
school question in England, Mr. Forster, and you
have done there what we have only attempted here—
given the people a compulsory education?
"Substantially we have compulsory elucation. If
there is any part of the Education Act of England for
whib I am specially responsible it was the intrdnetion
of the provisions with regard to compuleion, and at
the time they were introduced in the House I do believe
I had more faith in the principle than the large ma-
jority of those who heard me. It has been received in
the country better even than I anticipated. There
have been eeveral convictions of parents for not sending
their children, and in Liverpooltwo parents; have been
Bent to prison. Public opinion seems to endorse it.
It 'em, however, an optional law; compulsory by-laws
may or may not be passed by a town."
"The religions question has been and is a difficult
in England in connection with I.IIOOIS, tOO, is it not?"
but that is much too large a question to go
into now—we have not time for it. but I am re-
minded, thinking of it here in America, of what I
once read your Mr. Beecher had said about this. He,
in one of his public addresses, substantially said Let
the public sebools take care of the secular educltion,
and let the Church take care of the religions. Now
that to sue is in effect saying that only the priest
can teach religion, and that religion is something
separate from all other knowledge. That is a position
I am always ready to controvert. As far as England
is concerned, I believe it would be wrong for the State,
as a State, to declare that religion should not be taught
in the common day schools. I believe it would have
a most serious; and deplorable effect on the whole
legislation of the country if we declared, by Act of
Parliament, that the one subject that we would not
allow to be taught to children in England is the subject
of religion."
"Have you seen any of mar public schools, Mr.
Forster ?"
" Yes ; I have seen two—a boys' and a girls'—all
that I have had time for before we go West. When
we return I intend to visit the public schools more
thoroughly. So far as I have seen the American
schools I have been surprieed at their size and the
readiness with which all ClatiFteS of children mix to-
gether. I want so to observe your school system that
I may form some judgment as to the practicability of
a son of mine sitting beside the son of my coachman,
and both graduating together from the primary school
to the university. At present I don't quite compre-
hend that I must confess."
"Is England getting more Conservative, or is it get-
lug Republican, Mr. Forster?"
"It is certainly not getting Republican. Republi-
canism in England has very little life behind it. In
some respects I think, however, we are more Republi-
can than you are. It is certain we can get a change of
Gevernment more quickly, and the Legislature feels
the action of the people more promptly than the
American system of government enables you to
do. England is, however, I think, not more Con-
servative than she has always been. We went out
of power when there was no more that we could do.
In some things I think we had been a little in advance
of the pe pie. But Mr. Disraeli will have to ask his
Cabinet to do some things; that probably it will not
like to do. Then there will be a reaction and possibly
a change of government. There is no reason to sup-
pose that the English people were afraid of Mr. Glad-
stone becoming too radicaL"
"Have you any anxiety as to the struggle between
capital and labour?"
I think that is likely to be a rock ahead. But
I think the ballot will enable us to get over that
trouble. I am a large employer of labour myself,
though I am unable to give any practical or personal
attention to the business. I think that the werking
men in England are, as a rule, better paid than they
ever were. It is true that the purchasing power of
wages, consequent on the increased price of pro-
visions is not so great as it was, but then the men
get higher wages, and upon the whole the working-
man is better off now than he ever was before."
After a few minutes' further eonversatien on other
topics the Herald reporter left these distinguished
English gentlemen to the quietude of a Sunday even-
ing in one of the parlours of the hotel.