The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-27 00:00:00

ent fanbau Corrtspoubent.

[ll,:.deeni it right to state that we do not at all times
identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.

The dissolution of the Parliament called in 1874 re-
calls many a political vicissitude; and the fact is as
interesting as it is noteworthy that only once since the
_ _

passing ol the Reform Act of 1832 has a Parliament
been dissolved by the Minister who called it. The
record is not a long one, and it is easily run over. The
Parliament of 1832 was summoned by Earl Grey, and
dissolved by Sir Robert Peel; that of 1835 was called
by Sir Robert Peel, and dissolved by Lord Melbourne;
that of 1837 was summoned by Lord Melbourne and
by him dissolved; that of 1841 was called by Lord
Melbourne, and dissolved by Lord John Russell ; that
of 1847 was summoned by Lord John Russell, and dis-
solved by Lord Derby ; that of 1852 was called by Lord
Derby, and dissolved by Lord Palmerston; that of
1857 was called by Lord Palmerston, and dissolved
by Lord Derby; that of 1859 was summoned by
Lord Derby, and dissolved by Lord Palmer-
ston; that of 1865 was called by Lord Palmerston,
and dissolved by Mr. Disraeli; that of 1868 was sum-
moned by Mr. Disraeli and dissolved by Mr. Glad-
stone; that of 1874 was called by Mr. Gladstone, and
dissolved by Lord Beaconsfield. The only occasion,

therefore, in which the existence of a Parliament was

terminated by the Minister under whose auspices it
assembled was the first of Her Majesty's reign, brought
together by Lord Melbourne in 1837, and dissolved by
him in 1841.

Connected with the approaching elections there is a
point worth mentioning. The polls in most of the
boroughs will be taken in Easter week, a holiday time,
and the result will probably be that a very large pro-
portion of voters will exercise the franchise. In the
metropolitan 6onstituencies the polls are likely to be
the heaviest ever recorded; for since the last election
the hours of voting have been extended from four in
the afternoon to eight in the 'evening. Thus far this
enactment refers to London alone; but it is more than
probable that it will soon be applied to the large pro-
vincial towns. Birmingham, Liverpool, and Man-
chester will see no reason why they should not be
placed on the same footing as Finsbury, Lambeth, and

karylebone. The additional four hours to the time

_
allowed for voting will more especially enable a large
number of the working men of London to go to the
poll. It is scarcely likely that with an eight o'clock
election the votes can be counted the same night, so
that the metropolitan public will have a little longer
to wait for the announcement of the verdict of those

vast constituencies ; but this is a trifling matter corn.
pared with the enormous convenience of four hours of
extra time.
A great deal of misunderstanding exists as to the
meaning of the term "plumper," so far as the pend-
ing elections are concerned, and it has been caused
through the working of the system introduced into the
School Board contests. An elector for a School Board
has as many votes as there are members to be returned,

and he may concentrate
_them,
.or distribute them

amongst the candidates as he thinks fit. For instance
the Birmingham School Board consists of fifteen mem-
bers; and an elector may, if he pleases, give the

whole of his fifteen votes to one candidate but the
cumulative vote does not apply to Parliamentary
elections. The elector, except in what are called the

. _
" three-cornered " constituencies has as many votes as
there are members to be returned, but there can be no

,
concentration of these upon any particular candidate.
One vote to one man is all that can be given.
For example, if there are two members to be chosen,
and the elector, on glancing down the ballot paper,

finds only one name that he cares to support, he cannot
give him both his votes; he can give him only one,
and practically throws the other away. It is import-
ant that this should be borne in mind; because the
Scliool Board elections have been so recent that to
some the difference in the system of voting is not
apparent, and many are under the impression that it
is exactly the same.
The decision to hold the Volunteer Review on
Easter Monday has given great satisfaction to our
citizen soldiers all over the kingdom. The military
regulations which prescribed that there should be no
assemblage of volunteers between the issue of a writ
and the close of an election, were not like the laws of
the Medes and Persians, which altered not; for the
same power which framed them could order their
suspension. It was not a case of an Act of Parlia-
ment which required to be repealed. A remarkable
instance in which these regulations were departed from
took place in 1861, when Lord Palmerston, then Prime
Minister, on accepting the Wardership of the Cinque
Ports, had to be re-elected by his constituents at
Tiverton. It was a mere matter of form, for there
was no opposition; still it had to be done. When
Lord Palmerston arrived at Tiverton he found a
volunteer guard of honour drawn up at the railway
station. It was a compliment to the distinguished
position which he held in the councils of the Sovereign.
Attention was, however, drawn to it in the House of

Commons, when the Prime Minister explained that he
was well aware of the existence of the military regula-
tions; but he thought it would have been an act of
political prudery on his part to have objected to the
presence of volunteers under such circumstances.
When Easter-Monday comes a few days over thirteen
weeks will have elapsed since the last Bank Holiday;
but under the bright sunshine of March a much longer
time seems to have rolled away. From the north a
wind came down in December that seemed black, for
it darkened all the scene. The sky was dark, the
fields were dark, the leaves at last blown from the
trees left them dark; there was nothing but gloom and
an icy cutting blast under which the earth had become
as iron. At night, by the silent Thames, the road-
way was clearly defined by the crystals of snow which

. _
thinly covered it. Walking by the shore you could
hear a low grinding, splintering sound, then a broad

white spot appeared, floating on the black surface. It
VIM an ice-floe; after it came another and another;
And with irregular intervals these ghastly formations
followed each other in slow procession through the
silence and the darkness. Calm, still, black, and
repellant, the river flowed on, coming out of night,
and going into night again and only made visible by
its chilly burdens. By day the piles of ice might be seen
lying high above the water, the pieces varying from
one to three feet in diameter, rotating slowly as they
floated, now swept down and now up the river by the
current. The roughly-rounded floes collected between
barges and wherever there was any impediment; and
thus at times and in certain places very nearly pre-
sented the appearance of a stream frozen right across.
It did not seem to signify from what quarter the wind

came, for it was bitterly cold. Happily we have now
got into longer and brighter days; and with such good
weather as has lately passed over the land the forth-
coming Easter Monday holiday will be enjoyed all the
incore from the gloom which enshrouded its prede-
cesqof.

The aceldent which recently befel one of the vast
pieces of ordnAnce on board the Duilio reminds us that
the Italians are taking great pains with the equipment
of their naval armament. The gun to which the mis-
hap occurred was of the enormous calibre of 100 tons,
being heavier by twenty tons than any cannon
previously cast in this country. It is only of late
years that Italy has been admitted as a first-class
European power, a fact at length recognized
by its sending an Ambassador to the various
courts. The Italians, having a considerable extent of
coast upon the Mediterranean have sought to be a
naval as well as a military Power, and have en-
deavoured to construct far more powerful ironcla.ds
than even Great Britain possesses. The Italian press
has therefore strongly insisted upon an impartial and
fiearching, inquiry into the relative merits and demerits
of tnuzzle and breech-loading ordnance. Italy claims
to posess at this moment the largest, fastest, and
most heass,'.ily-armoured ironclads afloat.
The Queen, fforn her quiet retreat upon the Conti-
nent, will be enabled to watch the political cOnflict
going on at home; and such is her Majesty's interest
in public affairs that it may be safely relied upon that
she will be kept daily apprised of the most important
results of the elections. The iirst of the London polls
will be taken on Wednesday, the 31st instant, when
the city of Westminster will pronounce its judgment ;
and thereafter in rapid succession towns large and
mall will deliver their verdicts. Bo far as the
Queen's journey to the Continent is concerned, there
Is no doubt that in London there is every disposi-
tion to sympathise with her ,lajesty's wish for a
few weeks of rest. The Court has given Society
in the metropolis a very lively time of late. The
Sovereign has herself presided at both leree,s and
drawing-rooms, and the recent ball at Marlborough
House was a great success. In short the fine spring
weather and the brightening prospects of Court
festivities have satisfied Regent-street, Bond-street,
and Piccadilly, and have bidden these fashionable
thoroughfares look forward to happier and more
prosperous days.
Her Majesty having given her consent to a con-
tract of marriage between the Princess Frederica
of Hanover, and the Baron von Tawel Rammingen,
a few particulars respecting these distinguished
persons may be of some in -erest. The Princess was
the second child and the eldel of the daughters of the
late King George of Hanover, who died
nearly two years ago, and was buried at
IVindsor. She is a sister of the present Duke
of Cumberland, who married the youngest daughter
of the King of Denmark, and a sister of the Princess
of Wales. The Princess Frederica was thirty-two
years of age last January, and possesses the amia.
bility which characterises most of the members of
the House of Hanover, When the Prussians annexe 4

her father's Idng,dom in 1866, the bridegroom was one
of the most faithful adherents of the fallen House.
Just as the Duke of Cumberland is an English peer,
his eldest sister is an English princess; and one of the
last acts of the Parliament was to pass a bill natural-
ising the baron as an EnAls subject. The Baron and
Baroness on Rammingen, after their marriage, are
expected to take up their residence in this country.
A sing,ular incident occurred at the last business sit-
ting of the House of Commons illustrative of the
punctilio which surrounds Parliamentary forms and
ceremonies. The Royal Assent was to be given
to several bills in the House of Lords, and Black
Rod, entering the Commons in the usual way,
said—" Mr. Speaker, the Lords Commissioners require
the immediate attendance of this honourable House
in the House of Peers." After the Speaker's return,
his attention was called by two members to the use of
the word "require" on the part of Black Rod as being
inconsistent with the dignity of the House. It ap-
pears that the expression usually employed is " desire, '
so that the use of a more peremptory phrase at once
attracted attention. This was almost the last incident
of interest in the lifetime of the six year old Parlia-
ment; for almost immediately afterwards the House
was counted out, not to meet again until the day of
prorogation, which itself preceded by only a few hours
the proclamation of dissolution.