The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1872-07-09 00:00:00

„ 34.
orbtt exprto.
TUESDAY. JULY 9, 1872.

•
NOTES OF THE WEEK.
There was a grand gathering of rk.yalty at the
Aldenhot review on Thursday. The Q leen,
accompacied by Prince Leopold and Princes.
Beatrice, drove over from Windsor, and the
Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh.
Prince Arthur, and the Duke of Cambridge were
also present.

--
Both Houses of Parliament have teen fairly
industrious in the work of practical legislation.
The Commons have been ovAlisuling the
Mines Bill assiduously in committee, will the
Lords have read a second time the Education
Bill for Scotland. The Licensing Bill, the
Lower House will have to dispose of when it hail
got the Mines liill out of hand. But however
useful these Bills may be, the tension will not be
a success for the Ministry unless the two
Houses aro brought to accord on the sub-
ject of the Ballot. Tao accoptauce by the
Government of the amendinont by the Lords
providing for a possible scrutiny made the loss
of the measure unlikely, while it did the Bill no
serious mischief, for ample safeguards against
abuse have been provided. Not only is the
number of the ballot-paper to be on its back,
but the elounterfoils are to be sealed up before
the voting begins; the votes are to be counted
without the back being displayed, and any
agent striving to obtain during the counting of
the votes information as to the manner in which
the voter has voted, is to be liable to a personal
penalty. With these precautions the machinery
for • scrutiny may be established so as to pre-
vent the voter having any fear of his vote being
known. His safety does nut, however, lie in
the fact that it is only by order of a tribunal
that the voting-papers and the counterfoils will
be examined, lie must have been pronounced
guilty of personation before the mode in which
he has voted will be inquired into, and the real
voter could have nothing to fear from the
scrutiny itself. The danger to which he was
exposed lay in the risk of an agent who dis-
trusted him being enabled, by abuse of the
machinery designed for • scrutiny, to asoortsin
how he had voted. This danger as the Bill
came from the Lords was • real and serious one;
but so many safeguards against it have been in-
troduced that the voter practically will run no
risk at all. It is possible he may think he will
run a risk ; for agents and officials, if they acted
together and evaded the law, could find out how
he voted; and he may be prompted by too deep
a distrust of a class above him to think that if
they could do • wrong they would be sure to
do it. Some electors will therefore possibly not
be quite as much at their ease when they vote
as if a scrutiny had been rendered impossible;
but the advantage of doing something to check
personation largely outweighs the disadvantage
of a few timid and distrustful men being pre-
vented by imaginary fears from exercising the
right of voting.
Party politicians are everywhere preparing for
an approaching general election. Perhaps the
carrying of the Ballot Bill will make • dissolution
of Parliament quite as expedient as its loss
would, in order that the neer machinery may be
tried. At all events, a dissolution is generally
anticipated in quarters where we may expect
shrewd judgment if not absolute information
upon such a matter. At four years of age dia-
solution will not come very prematurely upon
the present House of Commons.
AU. Whalley afforded the Lower House some
amusement on Friday evening (as he often
obligingly does). The Speaker put the motion
for going into Committee of Supply, and, no
member rising, the motion was at once carried.
Scarcely had Mr. Grant Dull; however, replaced
Mr. Brand in the chair, when Mr. Whalley rues
to order, and asked if he was to understand that
the Speaker had left the chair, NI he hada motion
on the paper by way of amendment to that for
going into committee. The motion referred to
the Tichbarne case, being of course in the ,
interest of that ." Claimant" of whom the hon.
member fur Peterborough has become so devoted
an adherent. But, fortunately for the patience
of the House, and much to its amusement, Mr.
Whalley was too late. He might as well have
tried to roll back the stream of time as to get
the Speaker in the chair again to listen to his
grievance, or that of his corpulent friend. Once
more the Claimant was non-suited.

Lord Shaftesbury is asking for signatures to
an address to the Archbishops, praying them to
make the use of the Athanaidan Creed optional
instead of compulsory. He has obtained so far
about 7,000 si comprising men of all
rank, from Peers to cuurchwardens—about 150
Peers and 3L P.'s, 140 military and naval officers,
180 Justicks of the Pesos, 13 Mayors of cities
and boroughs, 52 masters and assistant masters
of public schools, 29 bankers, 266 barristers and
solicitors, 129 medical men, and 101 church-
wardens. The churchwardens do not come out
very strongly, for there must be at least 30,000
of these gentlemen within the four seas, and 101
Is not a very powerful representation of the
clam But the signatures, taken in the mass,
represent nearly double the number of those
appended to the petitions t 6 Convocation this
session praying for the maintenance of the creed
as it stand,.

The Alabama arbitratioa sleeps well at last ;
and the only fresh contrioution to its literature
this week takes the form of a vote of thanks
from Lord Granville to Lord Tenterden for kis
able servioes, an expression of her Majesty's
appreciation of the assistance which Sir Bounden
Palmer has been good enough to afford at no
small personal sacrifice, and an acknowledgment
on the part of the Government of the oonailia-
tory spirit of the American representatives and
of the thoughtfulness and wisdom of the
Arbitrators. All that we have to do now is to
wait for the verdict.

There seems to be a general disposition to
accept Mr. Stanley's story of his interview with
Dr. Livingstone as true ; bet it will be prudent
to welt until Dr. Livingstone', own letters,
which are said to be on the way, arrive, before
placing implicit confidence in his remarkable
narrative. It is possible Mr. Stanley may have
seen Livingstone ; but it is odd that he should
have found it so easy to gat to and from Ujqi
and to send on letters, and that Livingstone
himself should have found no means of com-
municating with his friends for several years. If
he actually saw Liviugstone, it would appear
that Livingstone had no confidence in him, and
told him as little as possible, and did not allow
him to read the letters with which he entrusted
him. The greater part of his account of Living-
stone's adventures in the interior ia only a con-
fused and blundering reproduction of the
Doctor's own despatches t 3 the Geographical
Society before he disappeared, and his geogra-
phical information is • hopeless muddle. There
is nothing improbable in the meeting between
Mr. Stanley and Dr. Livingstone ; but unless
Mr. Stanley ia very different from the general
run of Correspondents for the Herald, it is quite
conceivable that he may have made up the whole
thing out of his own head.

e -
The haltyoar has clearly been one of tamp-
timed couinierciAl ctciy. Wbother there be
proportionate protita upon business done to what
was usual in former tunes is another question.
Probably there is not, but capital is turned over
so rapidly bow business is conducted by steam
and electiicity, that the capitalist is satisfied
with closer terms. the general return of profit
is not necessarily as much larger as the gross
figures of the Board of Trade might suggest,'but
the public purse reaps direct advantage from
increased commercial facilities, and that the
Customs returns demonstrate. Last year's
returns were so exceptionally good that the
Chancellor of the Exchequer found he did not
want the taxes he had levied. This year, of
which the first ivarter haa run, promises greater
things. One million and a half sterling beyond
the receipts of the same quarter of the previous
year has already poured ID, Mowing an increase
under almost every head. Custema, exam,
stamps, taxes, property tax, post-office and
telegraph e-'''.s h see all yielded handsomely
beyond re.:.tira of 1871. And
there are other iodisation& of the same preeperity.
The railway companies' revenues are oonaider-
ably higher. 'the Bankers' Clearing Heine
Mows the largest total it ever registered in the
statement for the past half-year. New mediums
for investments are presented daily and seem to
be wonderfully well supported, while Europe
!Qs of lauding a trifle of one hundred and
tWebtv millions to the French Government, not
merely. without anxiety, but as a fortunate open-
ing for the iziveatment of a large quantity of
stored savings.
The London builder" strike haa had the wind
taken out of it. A compromise his been
entered into between the mmons and the master
builders. While failing to secure the actual
nine hours at 94., the luon have some within a
fraction of their demands. On the whole year ,
they have an average of lk hamperweek'
and the pay is to be 8• uliaaad of Pd.' the I
masters and men "splitting the difference." '
This is likely to end the Wife ; **wide imam'

work mu ut perforce be local, tat of cardeatere
can to • large degree be imported half done
from abroad.

It must be expensive oxperi.uouting t act one
iron-clad ship to batter another with 600-
pound shot from • 2:i-ton gun, at a range of
some 200 yards, as was done with LIM. ships
Hotspur and Glatton at Portland on Friday ;
but we have one gratification in return for tau
expenditure incurred—namely, that the turrets
of our later iron-clads woul I stand anythin4
but our own 600-pound shut, and that the let ter
would send to the bottom of the sea any veasel
but our own iron-clads. We are keeping suited
of the world, as we ought to do, in naval arma-
ments, and thus we are doing our best to keep
out of war. In our present mood we shall net
provoke hostilities, Si tha patient nez,etiatione
with the United States have ju.t alluwu ;aJ if
we maintaiu our twill aujiceutacy, nobody is
likely to attack us.

DOROLIF.STER A MILLIARY CENTILE.

We are gratified to learn by a telegram from
Col. Napier &um M. P., that Dorchester is to be
made a brig...a:lethal/a:it under DI-. Cardweli's army
organisation scheme. A new district comprising
Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall, is to be formed,
with our county town as head quarters. lu
such districts of England and Wales as consist
of more than one county, it proposed to attscii
to the depdt of any brigade district the Militia
battalion of the county in which the deo); is
situated, leaving the Militia battalions of tho
remaining counties at their present hesdiluartera
It is then proposed to train the recruits of the
Militia battalion attached to the brigade depU:.
at that depot either for three mouths on enrol-
ment, or for two or three mouths immediately
before the tramin; of the battalion. moo at a
of detached Aliilll4 b&LtaliOUS WhOSO
quarters coincide with a Line station will Lie
placed under the immediate couunaul of tie
senior Line officer at such station, but only for
the purposes of discipline. By these regulations
It is hoped to further that Inflated union and
practical co-operation of the Militia and Line
which have been always kept in view through-
out the recent changes, without doing violence
to the feeling of independence in which the
Militia force has grown up.