The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-11-20 00:00:00

ear Fanboil CorrtspoOtnt.

[We deem it right to state that wo do not at all lbws
Identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.

Advantage is taken of the presence of the Cabinet
Ministers in London to bring before then suoh

questions as are likely to form the basis of legislation
next session. At the series of councils always held in
November, the subjects are discussed that are held to
be more immediately preAsing ; and one of those, to

which the attention of the Local Government Board

has been drawn, is how to prevent the enormous
damage wrought by floods in the agricultural districts
at the time of heavy rainfalls. There can be
}tale doubt that Beene* in this respect has done
mush to create the mischief complained of.
When it became generally recognized that a
system of arterial drainage, by drawing off the
superfluous water from the land would add to its
value, and render it more productive, no adequate
provision was made for the disposal of the water.
True, it in net brought on to the highways, but a walk
through the low•lying byways of many an agricultural
district is quite enough to convince the spectator that
the most complete arrangements have not been made
for conducting the surface water into the proper
channels. Consequently, in times of excessive rain-
fall, country lanes are converted into gullies and
rivulets, valleys become inland seas, hedges are invisible,
and the tree tops often peep gently above the mass of

waters. The evil is that the surplus moisture, after its

. ..- . -
removal from the fields, is too frequently allowed to take
care of itself. The matter has become so urgent, and
one of such constant recurrence, that the deputation

to the Loeal Government Board, eonsisting of peers
and members of the House of Commons, including the

Speaker himself, and owners and occupiers of land in
many parts of the country, was no of the most
numerous and inflaential that lias been seen in

Whitehall fora long time; and it was Tery clear that
something must be done. After all, the country,
taken as a whole, is of far larger proportions than the
town; and the prosperity of the rural districts is one
in which the whole population is interested.
Private legislation also promises to figure in the
work of next session no less than Bills for the carry-

ing out of public objects. About this time of the
year—namely, on the last three Saturdays in No-
vember—the Parliamentary notices appear. These
are advertisements of portentous length, setting forth
the intentions of promoters of railways and other
enterprises to apply to Parliament for the necessary
powers in the ensuing session. They are studded with
figures, and the most scrupulous care is taken that
these shall be correct, for a mistake in any of the par-
ticulars, although it might not vitiate the notice, would
be likely to be troublesome if the opponents of the
scheme cared to make a fight over it before the exaini-
nen of private Bills, who have to certify that the stand-
ing orders have been complied with before the measure
can enter upon the Parliamentary stage. It is always a
good sign when the number of these private bills is
considerable, for this is an indication that enterprise
is abroad, and that people who have money to lay out

are desirous of doing something better with it than
locking it up in the Three Per Cents.
When Parliament rose on the 7th September, it
was prorogued to the 24th November, "then to meet
for the dispatch of business." The inclusion of these
words, however, is a mere matter of form, as Parlia-
ment inn never be prorogued longer than three
months together; and when the stipulated time has
run out it can be renewed at the discretion
of the Government of the day. The Legislature does
not meet in November except in cases of national
ernervency, or to vote warlike supplies, such as those
for the Abyssinian expedition in November, 1867, and
for the Afghan war in December 1878. The truth is
it cannot easily be got together at this time of the
year. Members are dispersed over every part of the
habitable globe, and many have made engagements
extending over several months in foreign lands. They
have gone away on the understanding that they
will not be wanted until February; and whether
travelling in Texas or Turconiania do not care to be
disturbed.
The French, Belgian, and Italian Chambers are at

work in these dark days, so that the members of those

_
legislative bodies are enabled to take holiday when the
brighter times of summer come. The British Parlia-
ment is the only one in Europe which sits from February
into August or September; and strangely enough it
is not as though this were an immemorial custom, so
venerable in its associations that change was impos-
sible. Long after Queen Victoria came to the Throne
Parliament was accustomed to meet in November;
indeed, it was the custom up to a quarter of
a century ago. But the practice was fond to
be an inconvenient one, not altogether because it
brought Lords and Commons to London for a month
or sa before Christmas, and then sent them away
again; but from the fact that it did not give time for
Ministers properly to consider their measures before
submiting them to the consideration of the legislature.
Practically there was nothing gained by it except a
vast amount of additional talk; for Parliament was
prorogued little, if anything, earlier than at present;
and ministers found that between August and Novem-
ber they had no sooner got rid of one session than they
were called upon to prepare fer another.
There is no one who his not heard of Temple Bar,
and few who have not heard something of the Memorial
erectei by the City authorities to mark the site
whereon the old civic gateway stood. Now that the
structure has been uncovered, people have an oppor-
_

_
tunity of judging for themselves of the value of all
that has been said respecting it. But whatever differ-
ence of opinion there may be concerning the Memorial,
there is none as to the beauty ef the Gardens hard by.
South-east of Child's handsome new bank is one of
the entrances to the Temple Gardens, where in
a aouple of minutes the wayfarer seems to find
himself centuries removed from the bustle and
turmoil of crowded Fleet-street and the Strand.
The Gardens are just new rich in all the
glory of the best chrysanthemums that can be pro-
duced in this country. Very proud are the Templars
of today of these Gardens, and well-appreciated is
the privilege of admission. Such a place as this in
the very heart of London may well be called one of
the, lu'igs of the city. Lying between one of the
greatest arteries of traffic and the river, it is a welcome
retreat from the noisy clamour of the town; and so
far as quietude is concerned, when one gazes upon the
tomb of Oliver Goldsmith, close to the Temple
Church, an imaginative mind can almost fancy itself
in the less degenerate times in which lihat gifted man
lived, when one was "passing rich with forty pounds
a year."

The King of the Hellenes, who was absent from his-
country several months whilst taking tour through
the principal lands of Europe, has shown, upon his
return to Athens, that he is not unmindful of the
attention paidito him whilst in London in the summer.
His Majesty, whilst making himself thoroughly
acquainted with the state of foreign opinion respect-
ing the claims of Greece under the Treaty of Berlin,
has retained a vivid and appreciative recollection of the
welcome he received in the City, and has sent to the
late Lord Mayor, to his predecessor in office, and to
the mover and seconder of the address presented to
him the Order of St. Saviour as a token of his
esteem and regard. The splendid hospitality of the
City of London meets with recognition in various
ways; and it was only a few days previously to the
conferring of the Greek order upon Sir F. Truseott,
that the President of the Municipal Council of Paris
sent to the Lady Mayoress a very handsome lsonquet,
to convey his sense of the way in which he had been
entertained at the Mansion House. London, as the
richest city in the world, never fails to impress the
foreigner with the extent of her wealth as embodied in
the hospitality which is dispensed at the civic palace,
no matter who may be the civic king.
An ardent admirer of Irish scenery and Irish sports
is the Empress of Austria. Scarcely a year passes
but what her Majesty spends several weeks in Ireland,
and thoroughly enjoys the hunting to be found there.
This winter forms no exception to the general
custom, and for six weeks the Empress will appreciate
all the advantages which the change of air and scene
is likely to afford. Public attention has just been
directed to some intelligence from Austria which
has commanded more notice than the pieces of news
which ordinarily come from the centre of Europe. It is
not the first time that we in these latitudes have been
startled by descriptions of the abnormal breaking
loose of the forces of nature in some parts of the
.A.ustrian'empire. Two or three years ago the popu-
lous town of Szegedin was swept away by a flood;
and now the city of Agram has been wrecked by an
earthquake. Standing upon volcanic soil, the inhabit-
ants have often experienced slight shocks of earth-
quake ; but none of them seem to have realised the
instability of theloundation upon which their abiding-
place rested. Of all the visitations which from time
to time ravage the solid globe, tempest, fire, and flood
all give way to earthqualcr in the horror of the situa-
tion, in the panic engendered, and in the impression
produced upon the mind. Its unaccountable nature
inspires an awe which is indescribable—a terror which
becomes all the greater when associated with ignorance
and superstition.

The celebration of another birthday of the Prince
of Wales has brought his Royal Highness into his
fortieth year. The last Prince of Wales was' however
fifty-eight when he came to the throne; so that in
comparison the Heir-Apparent of to-day is yet a young
man. The Queen, now in the forty-fourth year of her
rtign, will in a few months have been on the throne s.s
long as Queen Elizabeth. Her Majesty, who emains
in the enjoyment ef excellent health, bids fair to
witness a Julailee celebration. It seexas nothing

to look back half-a-dozen years, for instance, to
1874, when the Czar raid us a visit, and less
than that time will now find Queen Victoria in
the fiftieth year of her reign. The Jubilee of her
Majesty's grandfather was commemorated in 1810;
but of the millions who took part in it, how few
remain! The school-boy of ten would be eighty now,
his hair white with age, and his long life's work nearly
done.