The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-06-19 00:00:00

THE MOUNT VESUVIUS RAILWAY.

The Correspondent of The Times, writing from
Naples respecting the railway up Mount Vesuvius,
says :—" That it is safe there cane little doubt, but
that it is pleasant few will admit. On going up one
looks at the bare sides of the mountain and is less
conscious of the elevation, but on coming down the
feeling one has, only much intensified, is that of driving
down the Splugen, on the Swiss side, in a diligence. The
Press, of course, sings a " Jubilate ' on the accomplish-
ment of another act of engineering skill, and so it must
be regarded; but in an Eesthetical point of view I still
hold to my opinion that it is odious. Shareholders
rejoice with trembling in the hope of some small re-
turns. The entire cost of making the road does not
exceed a million and a half of lire, or about £60,000,
which sum has been supplied principally by French
capitalists. As you are aware, the conception of the
idea originated with the Commendatore Obleight,
and the execution of it has been carried out by
Signor Olivieri and Signor Luigi Dall' Ongaro. The
road is, of course, for the exclusive use of the pas-
sengers of the company ; so that all others who
may desire to enjoy the enterprising freedom of
other days must scramble up by different paths.
The ascent does not occupy more than eight minutes,
and then a short walk of ten minutes brings the visitor
to the crater. Already a handsome restaurant has
been built at the foot of the cone, where persons may
obtain refreshment, and where a large party were
feted on Sunday. There is a telegraph-office at the
station, and a post-office has been established for the
benefit of the colony expected to settle in the imme-
diate neighbourhood. Curiosity will no doubt attract
large numbers, if not by highways at all events by
byways; for the expense of the expedition, though I
am far from saying it is too great,
twit,lliklkig th
certainly t
ertoaisnpolenyrad a
act
as a deterrent to the multitude fronni taking
way. There are many who will o
napoleon for the day's sport, and Paterfamilias, with
his better half and four or five children, will hesitate
a little at opening his purse to the patent of six or
seven napoleons. • • •

Marking the game of billiards by means of electri-
city is one of the latest novelties and triumphs of science.
The Queen lan,der has news from Townsville that
Mr. Hall, lessee of one of the ferries, recently shot one of
the alligators which frequent the creek too close to hi l 3 place
tO De Pleasant. The animal iy OYeX 14ft. long.
____3

MR. FAWCETT ON THE NEW POSTAL
ORDER BILL.
In London, on Tuesday evening, a grand soiree took place
in the Shoreditch Town Hall, under the auspices of the
Borough of Hackney Liberal Association and the Borough of
Hackney Advanced Liberal Association, to celebrate the
triumphant return of the Right Hon. H. Fawcett, M. P., and
Mr. John Holms, M.P., at the recent election. Mr. Fawcett,
after referring with considerable emphasis to the com-
paratively small cost of the election of himself and Mr.
Holms, said that nothing in his short official life had struck
him so much as the ability, the zeal, and the devotion with
which a Minister is served by the permanent officials in his
department. He then proceeded to speak on the New
Postal Order Bill, and said :

That measure is a very simple one; it is a measure
for facilitating the transmission of small sums of
money. lam told that in this simple measure there
is a covert design to introduce a small paper currdncy
and to infringe the Bank Charter Act. Now Ido not
think I am at all likely to enter upon any wild enter-
prise of currency reform. If ever I should wish to
introduce a paper currency in England, the public
shall have fair notice of it. The sole reason which
has prompted me to introduce this measure is this—
that if a poor person or any person wishes to send from
one part of the country to another a small sum of
money; if a son, for instance, located in
London, wishes to send the first half-crown
which he has saved to his mother in the
country, there is no way of doing so at the present
time which is not cumbrous and costly. So great is
the demand for the transmission of small sums of
money, that I find that last year no less than
95,000 Post Office money orders were taken for the
sum of a single shilling, although in order to trans-
mit a shilling through the Pot Office, it is neces-
sary to pay twopence for the order and a penny for
the postage, in other words, the commission
amounts to no less than 25 per cent. When there
is this desire amongst the poor to transmit the
smallest sums by means of money orders, when the
desire is so strong that many will submit to pay a
commission of 25 per cent. to gratify it, I cannot
help thinking that although a small, it will be a
useful piece of legislation to render the transmission of
money more ready, less cumbrous, and cheaper. And
therefore I have proposed to enable sums of one
shilling to be sent for a halfpenny, sums of
half-a-crown, five shillings, and seven-and-sixpence
for a penny, and sums of from ten shillings up to a
pound twopence, to be sent in a much easier way than
they can be by means of money-orders at the present
time. Those who think that the Bank Charter Act
is about to be infringed, and that a paper currency is
going to be introduced, should remember this fact—
that not one of these Post-office orders can be issued
until money, hard money, real coin, has been paid
across the counter for the order. If £20,000 of these
orders were sent in any one day from London
to the provinces, before that could be done £20,000
must have been paid in shillings, half-crowns and
sovereigns, for the orders received, and this is a some-
what different arrangement from what is usually
known as an indefinite issue of paper-money, the
paper representing no cash, but simply representing
the power of the printing machine to print the notes
which are issued. Let me now make this further
statement in reference to this measure. If any
amendments can be introduced into it which would
not interfere with the facilities I desire to offer for the
transmission of money I would most gladly accept
them, but when it cannot be denied that nearly
100,000 orders have been taken out in a single year
even for as small a sum as a shilling, I feel that there
is a great demand in this country for the transmission
of small sums of money, and if greater facilities can be
offered without throwing the slightest pecuniary
burden upon the country, then I say that is a service
which the Government ought to render to the people,
and I shall not be deterred by the opposition of the
banking interest from doing my best to carry out that
object. (Cheers.)
After referring to the condition of India, Mr.
Fawcett said :—Mr. Gladstone has been in certain
quarters bitterly attacked because he has made Lord
/Ripon, a Catholic, Viceroy of India. (Cheers.) Well,
now, as I am a member of the Government over
which Mr. Gladstone presides, I feel, to say the very
least, I should be wanting in courage and wanting in
loyalty to him, if I did not frankly tell you what my
opinions are upon this question. One-sixth of the
population of this United Kingdom are Catholics.
Mr. Gladstone, in forming his Government, had to
fill up some forty or fifty offices, and, one-sixth of the
population being Catholics, lie gave two places out
of forty or fifty to Catholics. (Hear, hear.) And
there is an outcry about what he has done, and
those by whom this outcry is made are, forsooth, the
very persons who would shout with enthusiasm in
favour of the principles of religious equality. (Cheers.)
Well, now, let me tell them this. If they say that
Lord Ripon and Lord Kenmare were appointed to
important political offices by Mr. Gladstone when he
could have appointed more capable men to the same
office, then I say that is a legitimate subject for
political comment and for adverse remark • but so far
as I have been able to gather—and I think I have
read every speech that has been delivered on the
subject—no single person who has objected to Lord
Ripon and Lord Kenmare being admitted to Mr.
Gladstone's Government has based his objection upon
the political incapacity of these two noblemen.
No ; their solo objection is that they happen to
hold the Catholic religion. ("Shame.") Now let me
unhesitatingly say this—l wish to be distinctly under-
stood on the subject. We may abolish every religious
test, we may sweep away every religious disability
that Parliament has ever imposed—nay, we may even
destroy every Church and carry out the very prin-
ciple of disestablishment to the uttermost, and when
we have done all this we shall never have breathed
the breath of religious equality if we are so reli-
giously intolerant that we say, We would do away
with all legal disabilities; but social intolerance,
religious bigotry shall remain supreme, and we
will enact that no Catholic, whatever his ability,
shall hold high office in the State, or shall have an
opportunity of nerving his Queen or his country."
(Cheers.) Oh, you may depend upon it that you
might cast seed upon the barren rock and expect it to
take root and flourish, and that would be no more
vain than it would be to expect that religious equality
can exist in a nation unless it is based upon the great
and sacred principle of complete religious toleration.
(Cheers.) Mr. Fawcett concluded amid loud cheers
by expressing his unabated devotion to Liberal prin-
ciples.
Mr. Holms and Mr. Ayrton afterwards addressed
the meeting.
A cordial vote of thanks to the chairman having

been proposed by the two members,
Mr. Fawcett, sen., who is in his 88th year, came
forward and was received with loud cheers. He con-
gratulated the borough upon the great and dis-
tinguished victory which it attained during the last
election. It not only gained a great victory for itself,
buti t set a good example to the rest of the country at
large, and he was pleased to say that the country fol-
lowed in the wake of that great borough. (Hear,
hear.) He took that opportunity of thanking them
most sincerely, not only for the great victory in re-
turning their two old members, but for the dis-
tinguished honour which that borough had done to his
son, and which, so long as life should last and
"memory shall hold its seat," he should remember
with great gratitude. (Loud cheers.)