Welsh Newspapers

Search 15 million Welsh newspaper articles

Hide Articles List

3 articles on this Page

'" fflnton CflrrtspraDtitl.

News
Cite
Share

fflnton CflrrtspraDtitl. fqy, jl^grptt rlght to state that we do not at all times identify ^BseH'SS; rfitb our correspondent's opinion*. 1 The aspects of public opinion in relation to the in- creasingly important question of Reform, demand reference, not as a foundation for advocacy, but merely as a recognition of one of the most prominent features of the time. On the one hand we see meeting after meeting held in which manhood suffrage and the ballot are advocated, and at which resolutions are passed in favour of these political ideas; and on the other we have almost every day the utterance of some more or less distinguished member of the Liberal party who announces himself as quite op- posed to those extreme views, though in favour of an extension of the suffrage. As a representative man, I extract a remark from Mr. Bruce's letter in reply to an invitation from the Merthyr Tydvil Reform League. He says, "I think I shall best advance the cause of moderate reform, which alone in my opinion is either practicable or desirable, if I abstain from attending a meeting and taking part in the 'demonstration' of an association which assumes as the fundamental principle of acting that nothing less than manhood, suffrage can be accepted." I regard Mr. Bruce, as I have said, as a representa- tive man," to use Emerson's phrase. I feel certain that he represents an increasing feeling and opinion—that manhood suffrage and the ballot are impracticable, even if they be theoretically sound as a future policy. We have then these two great ideas in conflict-an organic change on the one hand, and a partial change or gradual reform on the other and these two ideas will perhaps have a strife for the mastery from the present time till the meeting of Parliament. There is a third idea which many entertain, though I have not noticed its expression anywhere lately—that no reform is needed. The present is not a fitting time to give expression to such an idea; in fact it is just one of those ideas which people cherish in secret and give effect to by a vote. We must wait till next Session to see due weight given to this idea, during the struggle which I, for one, think is inevitable. The signs of the times indicate that next Session will be a most exciting one, and I look forward to the spectacle being repeated that we saw last Session—the fate of a Ministry turning on a Reform Bill. It has frequently been remarked of late that all the agitation and all the meetings on the subject of Reform have been on one side, and it has been asked, why do not the Conservatives organize a counter-agitation ? There is a probability of something of this kind being done. A Conservative Association for London is talked of, the intention being to have branches throughout the country. It remains to be seen whether the same spirit of organization will animate them as has stirred the Reformers. There is a rumour, I see, of a complimentary banquet to the Right Hon. Robert Lowe. I should like to see it take place, if only as a set-off against an unlimited quantity of abuse which has been heaped upon him lately. Everybody knows that he unfor- tunately gave utterance to some words which showed that his opinion of the working classes, in the matter of electoral purity, was a very poor one. Whether there was any or no truth in these remarks, or whether it is that they have given special offence on account of their containing unpalatable truth, I will not essay to determine; but true or false, exaggerated or not, no good can come of having these words posted up in every factory in the kingdom, as Mr. Bright would wish. "Let bygones be bygones." Lord Cowley, it is said, has been prevailed upon to continue his position as Ambassador in Paris for a few months longer. He will be in his fitting place if he occupy the Embassy during the Paris Exhibition. On dit that the Prince and Princess of Wales will pay a visit to this exhibition in the spring or summer of next year, and that then they will be the guests of Lord Cowley. Better late than never, and the royal visit to France will not be an exception to the adage, but still one cannot help thinking that it is a great pity that their Royal Highnesses could not make it eonvenient to pay a visit before this. The Emperor of the French, there is no denying, is no great friend of the Queen's. He is regarded as a parvenu and a usurper and whatever success may have attended his policy, and good government accompanied it, still the fact remains that the Emperor of the French is not one of the old original" legitimate governing families of royalty. The Prince and Princess will, it is to be presumed, pay a visit to the imperial family, and thus something like a rapprochement between the two families may be arrived at. But had there been any wish for this there would have long since been visits to and fro. It is now a long time since The Times, evidently on authority, announced that the Prince of Wales would probably, in his character as prince, pay a visit to the Emperor and Empress, but no approach to anything of the kind has yet taken place. An association has been formed here called the Evicted Tenants' Aid Association, and they have opened a free registry of lodgings suitable to those persons who have been cdinpelled to remove for the best of all possible reasons—because their houses were being pulled down. This association may be of great benefit to evicted tenants, but this free registry is a very poor affair it merely does for the evicted poor what they could easily do for themselves-find out what lodgings are to be let. What is wanted is more lodgings and houses. This want is gradually being met to a certain extent, but the chief evil is that it is the wrong description of houses that are being built, and in the wrong places. What the poor want is lodging in London, near their work, and this can only be accomplished on the system already adopted by Alderman Waterlow and the promoters of workmen's houses on a large scale. I had a chat the other day with an old Greenwich pensioner—not at Greenwich, and it matters not 1 where. He tells me that the new system of paying the men their pensions out of the hospital is liked by many and disliked by others, which is natural enough. The principal ground of complaint, however, is simply a confession of weakness on the part of some of the recipients. Sailors are proverbially improvident, and Greenwich pensioners are no exception to the rule. The consequence is that some of them spend their pensions almost as soon as they get them, and suffer by their foolish carelessness. There is no help for this, I suppose; such things always have been and will be. By the way, there was a talk some time ago of making Greenwich Hospital available for the merchant service, but nothing appears to have been done. Such a reform would be an invaluable boon to the sailors in the mercantile service, and in some respects they are en- r, titled to it, for they subscribe to the institution, a small sum being stopped out of their pay. The press of England may be favourably compared, or rather contrasted, with the press of the world, but the very lowest depth of cheapness has been discovered in Austria. A daily paper has just made its appear- ance in Vienna at a cost of less than a farthing, or about a fifth of one penny. But then this apparent cheapness is easily accounted for by one fact, that the new journal is to support the Government. This explains how eight quarto pages, neatly printed (for Germany) can be given for this ridiculous price. In i our own country a Government paper could scarcely find support at any price; in fact, we could not under- stand such a thing. Here we advocate parties, not governments, and the only Government paper that exists is exclusively confined to official announcements, the Gazette never containing a word of comment. Preparations are being made for the Lord Mayor's show. There's an important fact for you! Does any- y body out of London take the slightest interest in this i Billy Cockney exhibition ? I think not. People laugh at it, sneer at it, ridicule it, bnt nobody out of the sound of Bow bells considers it a matter of the slightest importance. And Londoners, except, perhaps, the lowest class, look upon it in much the same light. Here it is regarded as a nuisance business is stopped, and a great portion of the streets blocked up in order that a ridiculous piece of tomfoolery may be perpe- trated, which has not one redeeming point. But the Guildhall banquet is quite another affair. There the art of dining is carried to a climax, and the after- dinner speeches of Ambassadors, Ministers, and distin- guished guests afford food for comment in the news- papers of the world. Will Lord Derby this year have anything to say about Reform? I trow not. Will Lord Stanley have anything to tell us that we do not already know about our foreign policy? I doubt it. But still the speeches will be significant and in- teresting if they be what speeches at this banquet always have been. The office of Lord Mayor is strangely over-rated and under-rated. Abroad he is regarded as a greater man than the Prime Minister; at home, narrow-minded people think his leading characteristic is a on ess for turtle soup. It is not worth while to combat such "illy prejudices, as everybody who knows anything of civic life. knows that, notwithstanding ste- reotyped jokes which have lost their truth, the Court of Aldermen numbers amongst it many men of high cultivation and refinement. Civic functionaries have in fact improved of late years, and with this improve- ment there has been a corresponding higher apprecia- tion of the office of Lord Mayor. The gentleman who now goes out of office has won golden opinions from all sorts of men, and has just been decorated by the King of the Belgians, though there is seme doubt whether Mr. Phillips can legally receive this honour. A Jew, he has banquetized the clergy, and in his official capacity has attended church a Liberal, he has been unusually "■ oourteous to the Conservatives; and his private libe- rality has, I am told, been worthy ef the highest praise. It has been stated that his successor, Alderman Gabriel, is also a Jew. This is a pardonable error. He might be called a muscular Christian. The poor boy has become a very rich man, hut the intermediate stages have not been characterised by that penurious- ness whioh sometimes marks life's journey in such cases.

lItistdlanrans Intelligent,…

EPITOME OF NEWS.