The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-12-04 00:00:00

Our gonbat 6orusponlnnt,

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

The Cabinet, after mature deliberation, has decided
that there is nothing in the political circumstances of
the time which demands a pre-Christmas sitting of
Parliament; so that Lords and Commons may, at all
events until January, enjoy what remains of the
recess. Even as it is, the legislative holiday will be
much shorter than usual, seeing that the prorogation
did not take place until the 7th September. It is not
improbable that this experience will be an exceptional
one. Year by year the work of Parliament
increases; and, in the face of an enormous augmenta-
tion of labour, the High Court of the Nation picks
up the pin whilst it rends the political oak.
The same assembly which practically rules the vast
population of India still keeps in its own hands
the decidon as to whether the smallest town in the
kingdom shall be supplied with gas. Suggestions have
from time to time been made for relieving the Legisla-
ture of some portion of its routine work; but the only
step in this direction which has been made of late
years is the transfer to the judges of the jurisdiction
formerly exercised by the House of Commons in the
.matter of election petitions. These were accustomed
to be decided by Parliamentary Committees; now
they are heard by her Majesty's judges of the Superior
Courts. If the House could consent to part with its
power in a matter so essential to its personnel, it has
been argued that the representatives of the people
might as well hand over to an independent tribunal
the dealing with the large number of private bills
annnally brought before it, a course which would
leave this great and historic assembly free to deal

with Imperial questions.
Whatever else may occupy the attention of Parlia-
ment next session, there is the promise of the head of
the Local Government Board that a bill shall be intro-
duced for the better prevention of the floods which
the rainstorms of winter produce in these islands. It
is now impossible to recede from such an improved
system of husbandry as that which speedily removes
the water from the surface of the soil. There is how-
ever, a direction in which practical relief can
be sought. The rivers remain for the most part
in the same condition as of old. Many kinds
of obstruction still exist. The courses of some
rivers are unduly tortuous, their beds are need-
lessly silted up with deposits of mud, and the sluggish
flow of their streams is still impeded by a rank growth
of weeds. These defects are in practice easy of re-
moval; the river beds require to be deepened and en-
larged, the banks strengthened, obstacles swept
away, and the channels straightened. Herein lies the
great field for improvement. How far it may be ex-
pedient or practicable to employ the auxiliary aid of
storage reservoirs, is a matter of detail that may be
left to the decision of the experts in each parti-
ular case. The financial question presents some
possible complications, but far greater difficulties
have been overcome in other instances, and there
seems to be no valid reason why the conserva-
tion of rivers and arterial land drainage should
not be satisfactorily dealt with by the collective

wisdom of the people.
The Electric Light is gradually making its way as a
means of illuminating the public ways of the capital.
A little more than twelve months ago it was applied to
Waterloo Bridge and the Thames Embankment,
where upon dark winter nights when there is no moon
it makes a very effective appearance. On the
Embankment more especially the long line of
white lights form a very conspicious spectacle
when seen from Blackfriars Bridge, and by the pas-
sengers entering London by the London Chatham
and Dover Railway. The Court of Common Council
has determined to extend the electric light to all the
principal thoroughfares in the City, and to carry it
across Blackfriars, Southwark, and London Bridges,
these structures being within the jurisdiction of the
Corporation. The City will be bright with elec-
tricity from Fleet-street to the civic boundaries at
Aldgate, and from the Bank of England to the Royal
Courts of Justice. At the same the vacant pedestals
• north and south of Blackfrjars Bridge are to be
crowned with statuary, which will add very materially
to the architectural features of a structure which,

_
although somewhat steep in its gradients, has contri-
buted immensely to augment the traffic over the river
at that point.
- - -

It is not often that a vacancy through death occurs
in the High and distinguished office of Lord Chief
Justice of England. Previously to the decease of Sir
Alexander Cockburn, nearly half a century had
elapsed since such a circumstance took place, v;iien
Lord Chief Justice Tenterden was called upon to obey
the stern mandamus 'afore which all, whether high or
low, must bow. His successor, Lord Denman, retired
four years before he died; and Lord Campbell,
who succeeded him, left the Queen's Bench for
the wookack. The office is one which has practi-
cally been in existence for a thousand years, since
the days of King Alfred, and in the long roll
of its occupants there is many an illustrious name.
It represents the head of the legal profession
more accurately even than the Chancellorship itself,
for its holder devotes himself entirely to the dignity
of the law; while the Chancellor, as a Cabinet
Minister, occupies in ogle sense a political post.
Formerly it was the custom for the Lord Chief Justice
of England to be a member of the Cabinet as well as
the Lord Chancellor, the idea being that the chief
members of the Government should have the best
possible advice upon the important questions which
came before them. Lord Ellenborough was the last
of the Chief Justices who acted in this capacity; but
upon withdrawing from the Cabinet he expressed his
disapprobation of the practice, and since its day it has
not been renewed.
An Act of Parlian ent comes into operation on the
Ist of January which is of very general interest. It
repeals the three existing Acts on the Protection of
Wild Birds, and provides that all wild birds will be
protected from being killed or captured in Great
Britain during the months of March, April, May,
June, and July. The new statute provides that any
persca on conviction shall for the firs offence be repri-
manded and discharged on payment of costs, and for
every subsequent offence shall pay a fine of ss. for
every bird killed or taken, in addition to the costs.
This will not apply to any owner or occupier of land
or by any person authorised by him to kill or take
wild birds, Attached to the Act is a schedule of
birds which it will be illegal for any one to kill or take
during the months already named, under a penalty of
20s. for each bird. Eighty-five names of birds are
given in the schedule comprising 56 distinct species.
Of the owls there are eleven varieties, of the wood-
pecker six, and of the gulls and terns between thirty
and forty varieties known in Great Britain.
The present has often been called an age of cele-
brations—centenaries, bi-centenaries, and at times
ter-centenaries being commemorated amongst us with
more or less of enthusiasm. The Shakespeare Ter-
centenary of 1864 has not yet been forgotten, although
no such organisation was necessary te perpetuate the
name of an author which will live as long as the
English language lasts. A movement is now on foot
for a Ter-centenary of another worthy who lived in
Queen Elizabeth's reign, and who at a momentous epoch
in our history took a very prominent part in saving
this country from a very deliberately-planned invasion.
The hero in question was Sir Francis Drake, who
waited at Plymouth for the Spanish Armada well-
nigh three hundred years ago, and assisted by Ad-
mirals Hawkins and Frobisher scattered the mighty
galleons which King Philip had sent against these
shores. It is a tradition that when the Spanish Ad-
miral was off Mount Edgcumbe, the seat of the earl
of that title, he so much adngred the beautiful slopes
of that demesne, stretching down to the very water's
edge, that he declared that this would be the place
where he himself would dwell after the conquest
of England had been effected. Alas for the insta-
bility of human hopes! Drake and his coadjutors,
aided by the fierce winds of Heaven, scattered the
vast armada, so that but a miserable remnant
alone reached Spain in the end. It is suggested that
a national memorial should be raised to Drake, whose
services ought never to bedforgotten. It is noteworthy
that Queen Elizabeth, however, did not ascribe all the
credit to the skill of her commanders and to the
bravery of her men. She regarded the storm as a
Providential interposition, and in the commemorative
medal struck for the occasion was placed the inscrip-
tion, "He blew with his winds, and they were
scattered."

One of the first acts of her Majesty on returning
from Balmoral to Windsor, was to summon General
Sir Frederick Roberts to the Castle, where the Grand
Cross of the Bath was conferred upon him for his
services in Afghanistan. There are two divisions
of this order, the military and the civil, both being
conferred for distinguished services to the State.
General Roberts of course had the military Grand
Cross, the civil division being reserved for such work
as that performed by the late Lord Chief Justice
Cockburn in the international arbitration at Geneva.
The honour paid to General Roberts by his Sovereign
will be generally appreciated; and this is to be fol-
lowed up by the freedom of the City of London, in
addition to a sword of the value of 200 guineas.
The "dull December light" of which Thomas
Hood once wrote is once more upon the land; and
Christmas with its associations is not now far off.
The same writer who described the dull light of
December once exclaimed, "Alas for the rarity of
Christian charity under the sun!" But the co1umn3
of the London papers in this month speak of the
existence of 3 great detsl of charity. The Christmas
appeals occupy a considerable portion of their space,