The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-09-11 00:00:00

Our ronbon Cortespoubent.

(We deem it right to state that we do not at all times
Identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.

The prorogation of Parliament for the autumn and
winter recess is always a solemn ceremonial. In the
earlier years of the Queen's reign, her Majesty invariably
prorogued as well as opened Parliament in person;
but, for the last twenty years or so the closing cere-
mony has generally been performed by commission.
The Houses meet at two o'clock in the afternoon, when
Black Rod summons the Commons to appear at the
bar of the Lords to hear the Royal Commission read.
The Lord Chancellor sits on a bench in front of the
Throne, with two commissioners on either side of him;
and the Queen's. assent having been given by the Clerk
of the Pa.rtiments to the several bills waiting to be
passed C:nto law, the Royal message is read which
reler-ses Parliament from its legislative duties. Lords
P.nd Commons are dismissed to their respective counties
with an assurance that they have still important
duties to perform. The Speaker gravely bows three
times to the Lord Chancellor, who, with an equally
courteous gravity, returns the salutation. When all
is over a form is observed, singularly illustrative of the
value attached to the use of ancient symbols. The
Speaker has been summoned to the Lords with all
customary ceremonial, the Sergeant-at-Arms preceding
him with the mace upon his shoulder. But, with the
delivery of the Royal Message, the functions of Par-
liament come to an end; and no more prayers are
offered for it in the churches until it has again assem-
bled. The Sergeant-at-Arms therefore leaves the
Speaker to find his way back to the House of Commons
by himself; and, with the mace under his arm, carries
it way to be carefully wrapped in chamois leather
until next session.

Of the solemnity of the entire proceedings there can-
not be the slightest doubt. Bills have been placed
upon the statute-book affecting the interests of hun-
dreds of millions of the human race. The wide-
sweeping territories of the British Empire involve
greater respon;Abilities than those under which Rome
fell. But there is all the difference between the vast
cities which represent the centres of the two Imperial
systems. The Tiber, as it flowed through ancient
Rome, intersected a city which with the increase of
wealth gradualqy gave itself up to luxury, and at last
it sank beneath the weight of its own magnificence.
There is no parallel between this and the passing
of the Thames by the homes of the millions of
London. Religion is not extinct amongst us, as it
was in ancie at Rome; and there are no hordes of
fierce barbarians, as there were in those far-off days, to
come down upon us from the centre of Eu‘ope.
Thoughts of the responsibility of ruling the British
empire might well flit through the mind on Proroga-

tion Day. More than that, in all human probability,
the assembled Lords and Commons, as they are then,
will never meet again wholly and entire. Death
makes changes in the composition of each House in
the recess as well as in the session, and when Parlia-
ment meets next-year new Peers as well as new Com-
moners will take their seats.
Before leaving Parliament for several months to
come, an improvement is to be noted, upon which the
retiring Chief Commissioner of Works, who has just
been appointed to the Governorship of Madras, may
well be congratulated. Visitors to the House who have
had occasion to wait for admission to the Gallery
have been provided with seats truly; but seats upon
hard and cold stone benches, which were not very
comfortable. There was not much difference, there-
fore, between waiting in a workhouse before business
could be transacted with a Board of Guardians, and
waiting in the splendid Palace of Westminster. This
was the more incongruous inasmuch as the visitor to

the legislative pile,- albeit denominated by the two
Houses as a "stranger," really represented the people
of England—the übiquitous taxpayer—who had been
called upon to find the money for the sumptuous
structure. In future, however, through the thought-
fulness of Mr. Adam, these seats will be provided
with cushions. Considering that within the House
of Commons every accommodation is supplied to dis-
tinguished strangers, peers, and foreign ambassadors,
and that the people are thrust into a place where they
suffer every possible discomfort, this concession to
them in the lobbies will be well appreciated.
The Germans have celebrated with great demonstra-
tions the tenth anniversary of the surrender of the
French army at Sedan ; but the commemoration on
such a scale will be confined to decades, of which this
is the first. The German people do not think it either
wise or politic to revive annually the memories of even
this great victory. Time has already healed much of
the bitterness felt in France against the Germans at

the conclusion of the war, when upon the walls of
many of the public buildings and in the printsellers'
windows appeared the menacing word "Revanche I"
',lnt a docadc has waned away, and in that
period France has not entirely devoted her ener-
gies to the purposes of revenge. For years she has
been one of the most prosperous countries in Europe
and the fine of two hundred millions sterling,
which the Germans imposed, instead of crippling the
French, has caused them to put forward greater
energy in the arts of industry, and has thus raised the
nation to an even higher position than it previously
occupied. The celebration of the first decade is all
very well, but by the time 1890 appears upon the
scene, a vast number of those who took part in the
conflict of 1870 will be in their graves; the recollec-
tions of the mightiest political convulsion of the
century will have become dim and indistinct;
other things will have • happened to occupy public
attention; and it is possible that the first com-
memoration of Sedan will also be the last.
Parliamentary reporting for the provincial press

will in future be placed upon a much more satisfac-

tory basis than it has hitherto occupied. The
Appropriation Act, always the final measure of the
Session, contained a vote for making the necessary
alterations in the galleries of both Houses. Without
absolutely curtailing the privileges of the London
journals, the facilities granted by the Legislature to
the country papers are a strong testimony to the
position which the provincial press has made for
itself since the transfer of the telegraphs to the
States. The London Press has long had exclusive
possession of the galleries in both Houses; but at the
-same time the provinchl newspaper has been making
rapid strides in the early supply of information of the
utmost importance to men engaged in business, in
its full and ample local reports, and in its special
opportunities for accurately gauging public opinion.
Blue-books are proverbially dull reading, but there
can be no doubt that the annual report of the Post-
master-General is a document of great national

interest. Forty years have elapsed since the intro-
duction by Sir Rowland Hill of the system of Penny
Postage, which will always be associated with the
name of that eminent social reformer; and every year
testifies to its enormous value in facilitating the
means of communication between land and land, and
between the various classes of a busy community. The
statistics are amazing. Altogether, during the last
financial year, the number of letters delivered through
the post-offices of the United Kingdom was over one
thousand one hundred and twenty-seven millions. Post-
cards, which have not been introduced amongst us
more than ten years, were delivered to the number of
a hundred and fourteen millions; while book packets
and circulars figure for two hundrrd and thirteen
millions. In all these items, but especially the last,
there has been an increase as compared with previous
years. What the returns are likely to be ten years
hence, when the jubilee of postal reform should be
celebrated, it is difficult to say. It is not likely to pass
over without substantial notice being taken of it.
The introduction of a system by whi ch the Post
office virtually becomes a Penny Bank, is another
illustration of the uses to which a great State depart-
ment can be put. The building of a new and splendid
pile in St. Martin's-le-Grand for the use of the telegraphs
was a testimony to the enterprise which had taken over
to the State a gigantic and growing busi'ness. The money
order system has long been recognised as a most conve-
nient means of transmitting small sums, and additional
facilities in this direction have lately been granted by
the issue of Postal Notes. Its insurances and annui-
ties have been found most useful, and the penny bank
principle is a direct encouragement to the practice of
thrift on the part of those who have hitherto been un-
able to open an account at a Post-office Savings' Bank
because no sum of less than a shilling could be taken
as deposit. The Post-office is becoming every year
more and more a huge organization for meeting the
convenience of the public ; and its constantly-in-
creasing efficiency, whilst a credit to the departments
of State, is a source of pride to the taxpayers, whose
work it does so well.

The splendid summer weather of the past month
has effected a marvellous change in the position and
prospects of our trade and agriculture. Had the
weather of July been continued through August, the
harvest would have been no better than that of last
year. Happily the atmospheric currents have this
time turned out in our favour. The unclouded sun-
shine speedily lifted up the wheat which had been
beaten down by storms of .wind and rain ; and the
fields grew white unto the harvest as in the days of
New Testament story. Harvest thanksgiving has
accordingly this year been much more of a, reality
than it was twelve months ago. In 1879, by the
end of August, more rain had fallen than
was due to us for a whole year, and it was
impossible for crops to ripen under weeping
skies and in sodden ground. Now, however, the
beneficent sunshine has been a blessing alike
to country and to town. The agriculturist, having
reed the reward of months of hard and anxious

labour, will now have more money to spend with the
tradesman, upon whom business from other sources,
stimulated by the fine weather, now pours in. The
shopkeeper, in his turn, can better afford a holiday;
and thus it comes to pass that the coast watering
places are crowded, and that a month of sunlight
becomes as the gift of untold gold to the nation.
The men of science have once more dispersed, well
pleased with their annual outing, and are now looking
forward to that gathering at York next year, which
shall celebrate the fiftieth anniversary meeting of
the British Association. Meanwhile, the Social
Scientists are preparing for their annUal congress, and
there will be the Church Congress in October, and
gatherings of the Congregational and Baptist Unions.
Secular as well as religious bodies also meet in Con-
gress during the autumnal months, and it will have
been noted that this form of gathering has become
more and more popular during the last quarter of a
century. By assembling in the recess, there is one
great advantage. The proceedings get reported in
the newspapers, for Parliament is not sitting; but
when the two Mouses are in full session, matters of
the utmost importance, which, upon their merits,
ought to occupy a column, have necessarily to be con-
densed into fifty or sixty lines.