The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1873-03-23

nIsCELLANEoUs FOREIGN NEWS.
GREAT BRITAIN.

more promising than any which has ye
been proposed. 1t was rendered all thu
more acceptable by the " mastery lucidi
ty" with which, as Lord Cairns acknowl
edged, it was stated to the House. The
Lord Chancellor acknowledges his obliga
lions to Sir Alexander Cock burns scheme
which he has in great part adopted, and ne
has had the wisdom to retain all these bis
torcal applications and memories so val.
ued by reformers of the. English type, and
| so often.t thrown away as worthless, by the
inventors of brapd-n systems on the
Continent. Thus the High Court of Jus
tce of England. and of the Common Pleas,
the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer,
and the Master of the Rolls, each division
taking it's own class of cases, but admins
tering law and equity indiscriminately,
with the provision that, where there is a
conflict between the two, the rules of equi-
| ty are to prevail. The Appellate Court,
the decision of which is to be final, is to
he presided over by the Lord Chancellor, and
is to be composed of the four Presidents OF
the High Court just named, the four paid
judges of the Judicial Com mittee of Privy
Council, two Lord Justices in Chancery, and
three other judges from the High Court, four
law lords who have held judicial office, and
any passed judges who may be nominated by
tho Crown. Appeals from Scotland aud
Ireland are left as they are for the present,
as Scotland has expressed n preference for
the present system, and Ireland has not
asked for a change; appeals from India
and the Colonies, will still be decided in
the Queens name-a most wise provision
though on the advise of the Appellate
Court; and ecclesiastical appeals will be
left to so to the Privy Council. The courts
are to be entrusted with the power of
drawing up rules of procedure-another
step in the right direction-so That we
shall thus have in every case TIVE courts,
one of first instance and one of final APP
peal, in each of which both law and equity
will be administered reform which, if
he succeeds in carrying it through, will
make Lord Selborne's name an iIustrious
one in the line of English Chapcellors.
The Juries BM.-The Juries bill of last
session, as amended by the Select Commit
tee, was introduced by the Attorney Cen
eral on the 18th. Its principal features
are the classification Of special aud COM
mon jurymen according to rating-those
who pay moro than a fixed sum in rates
be onging to tho former class, those who
pay less to the latter-and tMe reduction
of the number of jurymen, excepting in
cases OF high treason, treason, felony, and
murder, from twelve to seven, This is the
Bill as it left the Select Committee, but the
Attorney-General proposes to upset the |
of the latter in two re-
spects. He urges the adoption of the
principle of mixed juries, taken from both
classes of Jurymen, SO as to avoid the ne
cessity of too frequent resort to special |
juries; and he demands that except in the
case of the crimes already mentioned rs |
reserved, nnanimity in the jury shall be no
longer required, though he prefers not to
specify as yet the exact majority which
should be necessary for q verdict 1t is
further proposed that, in case os death, ILL
hess, or default of attendance of any juror
during the course of a trial, the Judge may
direct, except in the cases already reserved
that the trial shall proceed with the re-
luced number of jurors, provided al
ways that there be not less than five.
The Strike in the Ogmorc VaUey and at
MerMyr.-Ihe strike in Sonth Wales has
entered upon new phase. The Iron Com
''any IN the ogmore Valley represented by
slr. Brogden, NJ. r., have made an offer to
heir men, consisting of temporary re.
'uctlon OF only five per cent, to be follow
ID by return to the old rate of wages.
md snhst Iuent conference with a view
o definite settlement, and the men have
accepted 1t, with the approval of Mr.. Hal
lday ahd two other Union delegates who
we're present, the speeches on both sides
'elnS most conciliatory in tone. Blu. the .
iethyr and Dowlas masters have insisted :
n the men returning to work on the terms ,
Ireany oHered, trusting to the generosity :
their employers, who might DO relied ,
pom to put an end to the reduced scale, -
ven soouei Ihhu Chey asked or expected /
nat they should. 1t seemed ms though :
9th sides were on the point of agreeing, G
men the local agent of the Union inter
erred, and told the men that thew must u
ave something "more tangible, than .
entleman's word of honor as a guaranteed, !,
nd that it would DC better g. to starve in d
he streets than to starve undergreundn 9
N February 10Th, Mr.. Crawshay Who said s
rat he was unable to offer as good terms a
Mr.. BroGden, offered to meet tho men !.
alfway, by limiting the reduction of ten .
or cent to six weeks, after which the old y
ltc of wages should be restored. Tbis n
as also refused. The result ia. that p
hereas in one district the contest is at an y
I'D, in another-and the most Important
lere is as little chance of a settlement as ?
yer. The golfers prefer starvation to an +
sreement which leaves them at the mercy i 4
their employers, and the masters are u
Id to I've prepared for two years. strike .
necessary. In the meantime the local "
stress is appalling, and the coal famine is =,
illng on the poor in London, and the J."
rye towns. The only comfort is tha. the az
cess of the evil may possibly bring ont 10
own remedy. The coalmasters, as Mr.. ~,
ogden do |