The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-07-23 00:00:00

TERRIBLE RAILWAY - COLLISION IN

CANADA:

A. terrible accident has occurred, says a Toronto
correspondent, at St, Thomas, where an excursion
train from Port Stanley dashed into a freight train.
Almost immediately afterwards two cars forming
part of the latter, which were laden with petroleum,
became ignited, enveloping the wreckage in a mass of
flame. The warehouses, buildings, and sheds along
the line caught fire, and the whole neighbourhood
was soon ablaze. The forward car of the excursion
train was filled with passengers, who made frantic
efforts to escape from the burning wreok. But
although there were many rescuers the flames wbre
so fierce that it was sometime before anything could
be accomplished. Just, however, as the fire was
being got under control, an oil tank exploded with a
terrible report, killing several persons in the crowd,
scorching many, and causing a fearful panic. Nine
bodies burned ton cinder were immediately afterwards
recovered. The accident was caused by the failure of an
air-brake at the critical moment. The engine and the
two forward cars of the excursion train were smashed
to atoms. The fir- was, in the course of a few hours,
got under. Body biter body was extricated from the
debris, all being past recognition. The accounts of the
disaster are very conflicting, but all agree in describ-
ing the scene which followed the explosion as simply
awful. The oil exploded in the midst of an immense
crowd which bad assembled eager to render assistance
to the sufferers from the collision. For a moment all
was still as death. Then the air was rent with cries
of agony; men and women rushing headlong forward,
and trampling children and the weaker under foot.
In every direction people were to be seen with burned
arms and faces, some being most horribly injured.
A large number of horses attached to vehicles
standing close by became maddened with fright
and galloped wildly through the eriowd, maiming and
injuring the fugitives. All the doctor: houses and
chemists' shops in St. Thomas were converted into
temporary hospitals. The flames from the burning
oil, which seemed to reach to the heavens, assumed
such dimensions at one time that the city itself was
believed to be in danger, but the efforts of the firemen
and citizens succeeded in preventing the spread of the
conflaeration. The excursicn train was a Grand
Trunk train for London, Ontario, and the freight train
belonged to the Michigan Central Railway. The
latter was just crossing the track in the heart of the
City of St. Thomas, when the excursion train ran into
the goods trucks at right angles and cut a petroleum
tank in two, the oil being set ablaze in a moment by
the fire from the engines. Telegraphic communica-
tion was interrupted owing to the poles and wires in
the vicinity of the explosion having been burned.

Queen Kapiolani of Uawaii, accompanied by Princess
Liliuokalani. arrived at San Francisco on Tuesday.
Her Majesty was to sail for Honolulu immediately,
without waiting for the steamer which the ',United States
Government offered to place at her disposal.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
ON THE SITTJATION,

On Saturday afternoon 'a Conservative demonstra-
tion was held under the auspices of the Metropolitan
Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associa-
tions, at the Alexandra Palace, in honour of the
50th year of her Majesty's reign. Sir Albert Rollitt,
M.P., presided, and among those who took part in
the proceedings were Mr. Goschen, M.P. (Chancellor
of the Exchequer), Mr. Ashmead-Bartlett, M P.,
Mr. Cochrane-Baillie, M.P., Mr. Bartley, M.P.,
Colonel Duncan, M.P., Mr. C. Lambert, M.P., Mr.
Whitmore, M.P., Mr. R. G. Webster, M.P., and Mr.
Stephens, Conservative candidate for Hornsey.
The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, said the
Conservative Union had met at a place where the
Chancellor of the Exchequer could address the
masses, for Conservatives did not approve of the
modern Liberal system of holding a private dinner
meeting in order that the speakers might address the
classes and the waiters. (Cheers.) The Conserva-
tives of the North would welcome Mr. Gosehen not
personally only, but as the representative of Lord
Salisbury, and a Government that had saved the em-
pire from the axe of that woodman who spared no
trees, however venerable they might be---(hisses)—
and who were doing their best to restore to the order-
loving and law-abiding people of Ireland the blessings
of peace and prosperity. (Cheers.)

Colonel Duncan then moved the following resole-
tion : "That this meeting expresses its unabated con-
fidence in her Majesty's Government."
This having been seconded by Mr. Whitmore, and
supported by Mr. Stephens,
Mr. Goschen, who was received with loud and pro-
longed cheers, said that he was glad to find from the
tone of both speakers and audience that the despon-
dency which was ascribed to the Unionist party in
some quarters did not prevail there. (Cheers.) He
deprecated anything in the nature of despondency, for
the Unionists had accomplished a great deal more
during the present session than their opponents at
one time believed to be possible, and they did not
intend now to lose heart in the contest. (Cheers.)
At the commencement of the session they were told
that it would be impossible to beat down obstruction
and to pass a bill for maintaining law and order in
Ireland. If, however, they had not succeeded in
actually baffling obstruction, they had made Parlia-
ment master of its own time, while with regard to
the Crimes Bill they had accomplished the feat
that was declared to be impossible. (Cheers.) Such
achievements, he hoped, would be continued in
the future. (Hear, hear.) The Government felt the
immense responsibility of the present situation fully
enough to make them determined not to allow any
difficulties to defeat them in their coarse. It was
interesting to observe some incipient symptoms of
premature elation amongst their opponents the other
night. (Laughter.) They thought that difficulties
were closing in around the Government, and they
showed those symptoms according to the idiosyncracy
of their particular natures. (Renewed laughter.)
There were some who adopted a more sober tone
than usual, and abandoned some of their bombast
under the mellowing influence of the hopes of
approaching office. There were others who assumed
an air of almost expecting soon to he crowned. There
were others who contented themselves with what
they considered to be an exasperating chuckle over
the difficulties by which they thought their opponents
would be overwhelmed. (Cheers and laughter.)
But time would show whether or not the Govern-
ment would be able to cut their way through the
difficulties which confronted them. These difficulties
arose mainly out of tke Irish question, and were of
two kinds—one inherited from previous Administra-
tions, and the other arising from the perversion of
facts by their opponents. No doubt both had to be
faced, but the greater part of the two was the latter,
for the subject was so difficult that it lent itself
peculiarly well to what might be called the mal-
practices of perversion, and the Government looked
to those outside the House of Commons to exert their
influence to dispel the cloud of prejudices which were
so constantly raised. It was said that the object of
the Government in endeavouring to stop evictions in
Ireland was merely to avoid the scandal, but a more
atrocious misrepresentation never disgraced even a
bitter political campaign. (Cheers.) There was a
clause in the land bill the object of which was to tide
over the difficulty until they could achieve that which
was the main feature of their policy—viz., to put the
honest and industrious tenant in the undisputed pos-
session of his own farm, and yet their opponents ac-
cused them of not desiring to stop evictions. But
there had been countless cases of evictions which had
been distinctly the work of the National League.
(Cheers.) Tenants had been ready to pay rent and
to pay instalments, and an agreement had frequently
enough been come to between the landlords and the
tenants; but the tenants had to be sacrificed for the
general plan of campaign, and in pursuance of a dis-
tinct policy a barbarous policy those evictions
were encouraged, and then they were laid at the door
of the Executise Government and the Unionist party.
(Hear, hear.) There had been the distinct object to
prejudice the Unionist cause by multiplying the in-
stances of evictions which the Government, on the
contrary, were desirous of arresting. Again, they
were not content to see these collisions between the
police and the people which had in many cases been
threatened, and which in some cases had actually
occurred where evictions had taken place. They
were prepared for much abuse, they were prepared
for many attacks on their bill, but they were not pre-
pared to be attacked because they endeavoured to
limit, as far as possible, the number of evictions,
which in every phase, and looked at from every point
of view, were so deeply to be regretted. (Hear,
bear.) Another prejudice was raised against the
Government because they had refused a general
revision of judicial rents; but such a revision would
be incompatible with that permanency which should
characterise purchase—(hear, hear)—and would be
fatal to the adoption of the principle of purchase.
But it had been said that the objection raised by the
Government was because they desired to keep rents
high, in order to afford a basis for purchase at high
prices against the tenants. The Chief Secretary for
Ireland declared in his opening statement that pur-
chase would be grounded, not on a revision of rents,
but on a re-valuation of farms, and that statement
was repeated by himself (Mr. Goschen) and the First
Lord of the Treasury, and yet it was stated by influ-
ential organs two days afterwards that the Govern-
ment plan was to maintain rents in order to influence
the terms of purchase. Could misrepresentation go
further? (Cries of No. no, and cheers.) But, not-
withstanding the frequent denials of Ministers, he had
but little hope that so useful an element in elec-
tioneering manceuvres would be abandoned by their
opponents. Another misrepresentation was that
while they had freed trades unions in England, they
resisted similar combinations to the tenants of
Ireland. It had been denied repeatedly, and it had
been shown over and over again that it was a libel
upon the trades unions of England to establish an
analogy between their action and that of the Irish
tenants; but, notwithstanding all that, the cry
would doubtless be repeated at every election.
It was an insidious charge, made for the pur-
pose of identifying the Unionist party with what
their opponents would call the worst forms of land-
lordism. They wished to raise the prejudice that as
regarded evictions, rents, purchase, and combina-
tions, the Government had taken the landlords' view.
They thought it would be an excellent cry, if they
could once dub " Unionism " as " Landlordism " in
borough and county constituencies, for they could
then condemn the Unionist cause, and thus level a
blow at it which could not be overcome. But even if
the charge were true, had the Unionists any particular
interest in nailing their colours to the cause of land-
lordism? The party did not derive its strength from
the landlords alone. The fact that London sent 50
members of the Unionist party to Parliament, and
that all the great centres of industry were sending
large contingents to support the Unionist cause, was
a practical refutation of the absurd and deliberate
libel. (Cheers.) Their object was to do justice to
landlord and tenant alike, and to legislate for the
pacification and prosperity of Ireland as a
whole. With that object in view they had passed
a bill which would enable them to maintain law
and order until their remedial measures could take
effect. (Cheers.) They believed the road would now
cbencsle f eaorfor English and Scotch legislation and for the
a
administrative
reform, and they would go
forward with the measures which were ready, and
which they were anxious to press. But suppose the
hopes of the Gladstonians should revive, and they
should find themselves once more in power. (Never.)
I But suppose such a thing were possible, what would
be the course of the next few sessions if Home Rule,
which they believed they had killed, should come to
life again, and become once more a pressing and an
immediate question? It would certainly be more
dangerous than it was in the past, because while the
Gladstonian Liberals would have lost authority, their
Parnellite allies would have gained strength. The
Gladstonians would be weaker for resistance the
Parnellites would be stronger for dictation, and so if
once again those questions should loom in the future,
they would be in a more dangerous form than they
were two years ago. (Hear, hear.) What would
become of the prospects of remedial legislation
for England and Scotland and Wales—(hear, hear)
—were Irish questions once again to take up every
session? The ascendency of that party again to
power would mean the postponement of all those
arrears of legislation which were already so much in
srrear that they were weighing us down as the
arrears of the Irish tenants weighed them down. If
such a revulsion of feeling were to take place, it
would be looked upon as a sign of decadence on the
part of the people, not only as indicative of the in-
stability of England, but also as a sign of her weak-
ness. Instability meant insecurity, while stability
meant prosperity and confidence. Stability was as
Important and essential to the toiling artisan as to
the nnillionnaire. It was not a question between the
classes and the masses. It was more important
to the artisan than to the millionnaire, because
he would feel hunger sooner than the other would
feel poverty. From the Gladstonian party the
net in could not expect stability; but the great
Unionist party go forward steadily on its
course, resolved to uphold the stability of our institu-
tions and the stability of the Executive Government,
which was not inconsistent with the steady and satis•
factory progress of the Empire, and if they wire true
to that they would still be able to maintain that
which was essential to this ceuntry—viz., the credit
for strength throughout all parts cf her Majesty's
dominioes, (Loud and prolonged encoring.)

£3 * -

,44

- On the motion of Mr. Ashmead-Bartlett, the fol-
lowing resolution was unanimously adopted: "That
this meeting is of opinion that the present position of
public affairs demands the hearty co-operation of all
loyal and patriptic citizens for the defence of the
Union, the maintenance of the Empire, and the fur-
therance of true national progress."
It was further resolved to send copies of the fore-
going resolutions to the Marquis of Salisbury, Mr.
W. H. Smith, M.P., and the Marquis of Hartington.

,
The proceedings closed with a vote of thanke-to Sir
A. K. Ro:lit for presiding.