The Wolverhampton and Midland Counties Advertiser. — 1876-04-22 (Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England)

ELECTORAL APATHY.  The Saturday Reeiete regards it as an increasing danger in our constitutional situation, that we are turning up more and more subjects on which the constituencies do not care to decide, either wrongly or rightly—do not, in fact, care to decide at all: and further, that these are often subjects on which a good deal depends. This, no doubt, is one chief reason why the stops and keys of the new House of Commons seem so much more difficult to find than those of the old—namely, that instead of these being determined by the opinions of the constituencies, the constituencies have no real opinion of their own at all upon six (say) out of every ten questions which come before the House, so that there is a quite new opening for caprice and arbitrariness about the tone of the House—the House being itself not chosen, we must remember, from any caste marked by such olear traditions of its own as to supplement the de, ficiences of the constituencies in this respect. The truth is that the representatives of large democratic constituencies are probably more nearly unfettered, on a great many of the most important questions of the day, than the representatives of very limited constituencies ever were, but yet that, most unfortunately, they are much less competent to form valuable opinions of their own on these questions, and much more likely to be actuated by extraneous considerations of no real value, than were formerly those representatives of more limited constituencies who used, to feel themselves very seriously fettered. Democracies are, indeed, very exigent on what they do care about. On such matters they insist on having delegates rather than representatives. And they choose persons often better fitted to be delegates than to be representatives. But then they leave them a great deal more accidental freedom on matters of high importance than more select constituencies ever choose to leave. And so it too often happens that we get a representative body which does know the people's mind on great affairs, because the people have no mind on those affairs, and which is not itself sufficiently high-minded to abide by its own true judgment on any point on which it is not important to its relation with its maters that it should abide by it. Vacant-minded constituencies too often choose men who would be free to decide great questions for themselves, if they only had the spirit and the nerve; but who have learnt to lean so much on their constituencies, and to care so little for exercising a fine political discretion, that they have not the spirit and the nerve to act strongly in any matter on which they are not controlled.  J'l cry L•lifltso 1.1,11 T  CHILD MURDER IN OLGUOESTERSHIIta On Saturday afternoon an inrit was, hold at' Plough Inn, Dymock, near ewent, before 1.. Darter, the divisional coroner of Gloucestershire, on view of the body of a newly-born male child, alleged to be the offspring of Abia IbeU, a domestic servant in the employ of Mr. Pitman, of Hockington farm. It appeared from the evidence that on the 11th instant, from marks of blood on the floor of the bedroom in which the girl slept, the suspicions of Mrs. Pitman were aroused, and she questioned the girl. Ibell replied that she had been unwell throughout the night. Not being satisfied, Mrs. Pitman oommunicated her suspicions to her husband, who I gave information to the police, and, together with I Police-constable Ilowkett, searched the closet, where 1, they found the body of a child wrapped. in an old petticoat, which was identified as belonging to Ibell. Dr. Marshall, a medical practitioner, of Newent, was I called, and stated that he made a post mortem examinatien, applying the usual tests, and had come to the conclusion that the child was born alive, and that the death was caused by deprivation of air by being wrapped in the petticoat in which it was found. The coroner having explained the law as bearing upon the case, the jury, after a few minutee' deliberation, found the girl Ibell guilty of wilful murder.