The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-02-13 00:00:00

Our Sonton Corresponbatt.

[We deem it right rA, state that we dr) rot at all times
Identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.)

' The lull in political affairs which always takes
place between the formation of a Ministry and
the assembling of Parliament after the necessary
re-elections affords an opportunity for corn-
paring to advantage the ease and smoothness
with which our constitutional system works to
the friction which is often exhibited in foreign
countries when A Ministerial crisis occurs. This
is certainly not because there are no deep differ-
ences of political opinion in our own country, for
public affairs are discussed hero with an eager-
ness and vigour which are the distinguishing
attribute of a free nation. But greatly as we
may differ, we agree to differ, and men of both
parties can recognise :that divergencies may
honestly exist. Politics, therefcre, do not make
the deep chasm between those of various views
which they do in France, for instance. The con-
sequence to the country at large is of almost un-
told value. Were we once to find the belief
prevailed that one party or the other were
actuated by merely selfish or factious views,
and that nothing of honesty or virtue could be
found in those to whom we happened to be
oppo`sed, politics would degenerate into merely
personal squabbles with a consequent lowering
in parliamentary tone which would be in every
way disastrous. There are some things which
they may manage better abroad, but Ministerial
crises are not among them.
As a consequence of the feeling to which re-
ference has been made, the most distinguished
men of both parties can meet on neutral grounds,
whether in social life or in the promotion of
public or philanthropic movements. Such a
spectacle as was presented a few nights ago at
Marlborough House was one of which Eng-
land might fairly be proud. In the midst
of a Ministerial crisis, the Princes of Wales
could gather around his t,He -the outgoing
and the incoming Prime Minister, and t leading
members of the old and the mw A dminir,tration.
The imagination could scarcely pictnre such an
assembly in France, and this not only because
ours is a system of Government by party while
theirs is one of Government by dynasty, but that
politics are so much mixed with religion there
that personalities are more intermingled with
public movements. The only comparison which
can fairly be made with the Marlborough House
gathering is that which occasionally takes place
during the session of the German Reichstrath, in
Berlin, when Prince Bismarck entertains the
leading members to a "beer party." The Im-
perial Chancellor is a hard hitter in debate, as
his political opponents have the best reason to
know, but he makes an .excellent host, and his
beer parties are a striking feature of parliamen-
tary life in Berlin.
The demonstration in Trafalgar-square of the
London unemployed has called public attention
in a striking fashion to the distress which un-
doubtedly exists in the east of tile metropolis
This may or may not be more severe than
it has been in previous years, for that is a
matter which experts alone can decide. But
the fact stands that many thousands of honest
men who are eager for work are not able to
obtain it, and that the distress of themselves
and their families is consequently extreme. The
remedies for such a state of things are un-
doubtedly difficult to find, and many persons
will comfort themselves with the idea that there
must always be a large amount of misery in the
world, and that it is of little use to struggle against
it. Very small consolation, however, can be
extracted from this by those who are starving,
and as politics in these days are more and more
tending to the consideration of social con-
cerns, it may be expected that this ques-
tion of the deserving unemployed will occupy
the attention of statesmen in a greater degree
in the future than in the past. All kinds
of remedies are always being suggested at a
moment when such a question is to the fore, and
these are certain to provoke a great deal of dis-
cussion. But the main point for consideration,
after all, is whether anything can be done, and
when the attention of our greatest statesmen is
once more called to the matter, we may he
assured that some good will result from their
consideration.

Dogs are still being actively pursued by the
Metropolitan Police, and collisions between their
owners and the constables are frequent. There
was a rumour two or three weeks ago, and it
apparently came from a good source, that the
authorities had made up their minds to with-
draw the revelations, which commanded that all
floes should celthee bo mu77lorl
joy which this brought to the hearts of their
owners was speedily dashed by the renewal for a
further period of the rules which had been laid
down. Opinion continues to differ as to the value
of the precautions the police have taken, and
will probably continue to differ as long as they are
in existence. The main fact to be considered is
that hydrophobia had been greatly on the in-
crease, and that public opinion undoubtedly de-
manded that something should be done. If the
muzzling and chaining is followed by a decrease
in the number of deaths from this terrible
malady, the action of Sir Edmund Henderson,
the Chief Commissioner of the metropolitan
police, will be held to be justified; but, if the
total remain the same, and more especially if it
increases, there will be an outcry which will grow
sufficiently loud to cause the withdrawal of the
obnoxious regulations. One can quite understand
the annoyance they cause to those who have been
accustomed to take their degs for a walk without
hindrance, but we must wait awhile
before we can fairly judge of whether the an-
noyance is really justifiable.
The knighthood which has been awarded to
Colonel Fraser, the head of the City Police, has
been hailed with general approval by those who
live within the territories governed by the Cor-
poration of London. Sir James Fraser will now
rank with Sir Edmund Henderson, who has con-
trol of the constabulary in the remainder of the
metropolitan area, and it will be agreed by those
who know the value of his work and the efficiency
of the force over which he presides, that the
honour is well-deserved. It is no light task that I
of perfecting and keeping perfect the organisation
of a body of men charged with such important
and often delicate duties as the City force. The
police have to guard some of the greatest
treasure repositories of the world, and they are
. scanned every action by eager critics who do
not hesitate to publish to all and sundry
any defects which may meet their eye.
Seeing the multitude of duties which have
to be performed, and the difficulties which
surround their complete performance, it is
wonderful that so little fault can be found with
those responsible for them. It is easy to blame
the police, and there is no sabject for satiric
comment so obvious as the average constable,
but a very little consideration will show how
much is due to his general sagacity and faithful-
ness to duty; and any who will give the matter
serious thought will be little likely to join in
the cry which is often thoughtlessly raised
against the whole force because of the misde-
meanours of one or two.
It will not be long before cricket again usurps
the-place in athletic thought, which just now is
being given to football. The latter game has
become much more popular than it was a few
years ago, notwithstanding the manifest dangers
which surround itrbut it is never likely to fill the
same space in the public imagination as cricket.
There is an element aroughness in the pastime
which repels ladies, and any game which cannot
command the sympathy of the larger half of the
population is certain to deter from its pursuit
many of their brothers and sweethearts and sons.
With cricket the case is different. What mother
is there who has a son at Eton or at Harrow and
does not love to see him take a place in his
school eleven? Ladies grace the field at Lori's
whenever. the time-honoured match is played,
and the light of their presence lends an attrac-
tion to the
its
which has no small part in
..maintaining. its popularity. There are, of course,
risks in cricket as in every outdoor game; but
they are not so many, and accidents from them I
are not so frequent, as in football. The latter is
a fine healthy pastime, and it is one from whieh
much enjoyment can be derived, but cricket is
the king of outdoor games, and it is likely to be
long before it is deposed from that proud posi-
tion.
The event of this year's cricket season will be
the renewed advent of an Australian team.
There is a certain order of plants which bears
the name of "hardy annuals," and the term has
been applied to events which come with regu-
larity in every year; but tile Australian visit is
a "hardy biennial," for, since the first coming, in
1878, every second year has welcomed the
Colonial cricketers to our shores. Whatever
else may be said on the matter, this much will
be admitted by all who have watched English
cricket—that it has been stimulated to greater
activity and rendered more popular by. the long
series of contests in which the Australians have
been engaged. Some ten years ago it was found
that the general public were growing somewhat
tired of the ever-recurring county Matches, and
that even the two between " gentlemen " and
ig players " were beginning to lose their piterest

for thoqe outside a comparatively limited
circle. The first visit of the Australians changed
all that. The general public had heard little of
their intended advent, and it might have been
expected that they would have cared less ; but
the sensational performance in which, on their
earliest day on an English ground, the visitors
defeated the Marylebone Club in the hollowest
fashion, drew all eyes towards them. From that
tine the popular interest has continued. The
international character of which the matches
have partaken has added to their charm, and the
Australian eleven will receive as hearty a wel-
come as ever when, in May, they once more
appear among us.
Another outdoor amusement which shows ex-
traordinary vitality with the spring is that for
which the word " 'cycling " has been coined.
The inveterate 'cyclist, it is true, will brave the
winter's rain and mud in pursuit of his favourite
enjoyment, but the general Indy, who take
their pleasures in moderation, and, per-
haps, enjoy it the more truly because of
that, prefer to wait until the weather is com-
paratively settled and the roads are fairly firm.
No one could have prophesied when the old-
fashioned velocipede—or, as irreverent youths now
call it, the "bono-shaker"—first came into use
some eighteen or twenty .years ago, that the
pursuit of pleasure upon wheels would have
grown to its present proportions. But the im-
provements effected in the machine—the lessen-
ing of the hinder wheel with the heightening of
the front one, and above all the employment of
steel instead of wood in its manufacture—h:ve
given a popularity to the pastime which none
would have dreamt, and that popularity appears
to increase. The sport has afforded opportunities
to thousands of young men to see parts of the
country they could never otherwise have visited,
and, as travel is an important element in educa-
tion, this is a consideration not to be despised.
A. F. IL