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Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 26, 23 September 1893, Page 7

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BIRMINGHAM AND ITS INSTITUTIONS. (By W. H. Mathieson.) The city of Birmingham is decidedly pretty. The business portion is built on several small hills; the shops are well built —most of them in the best bricks I have ever seen. They would delight the heart of Buxton himself if he saw them. The town hall and post office, in fact all her public buildings, are far ahead of any town of the size I have been in. Her free public library is the best I have seen, and it has this special recommendation that it is patronised by the very class that a public library is specially of use to —namely, the working classes. Their report was courteously supplied to me by the librarian. 1 find out by it that their income last year was was £11,114 9s Id, made up chiefly by a city rate of P37d in the pound; that it is under the management of the Mayor and Aldermen ; that they lent nearly one million books last year; that their reference library possesses 114,956 volumes; that the Shakespeare memorial library was founded on April 23rd, 1864, on the tercentenary of Shakespeare’s birth ; that it was destroyed by fire on January, 1879; re-opened June, 1882; that the institution has no less than 9,274 copies of Shakespeare’s works in every language worthy of the name, and contains the largest collection known ; that they are lendingbooks to about 11,406 tradesmen of all kinds ; that they have on an average 600 pei sons every day in the reading- room. I was in three or four times, and was delighted to see how well they behaved themselves; that they take nearly every paper of any consequence in the world (send them the Southern Cross) ; that they have even got the Wairarapa Daily—all the way from New Zealand; that they have six branches, with 40,000 more books, and that in short they are doing a noble work, and deserve the thanks of all lovers of their race. 1 also had business inside the general post office, and found it a magnificent building, lined internally with pure white glazed bricks, with terracotta outside, perfectly fire-proof. This magnificent building- took three years to build. It is lighted by electricity, generated on the premises. I saw the plant working, which, by the by, reminded me of the stoke-hole of the Valletta in the Red Sea. Why they use steam, when they have plenty of gas, I could not find out. They also have the distinguished honour of having bred the man who was the inventor and patentee of rotary printing—John Raskinnell; that he died and was buried in his garden, and that his remains were lately disinterred, and buried in Christ Church, and recently a tablet was erected to his memory. I visited their art gallery, and was so taken with one picture that I bought a photograph of it. It is entitled “ A Martyr of the 16th Century.” The clock on this building is the second largest in the world. The school of art is another magnificent building that they have started to erect. A general hospital to cost £200,000 is to be built. It will be the best in existence. Better still, over half the money is already subscribed. Birmingham possesses some beautiful hotels. “Ye Old Royal” is one. The city has steam, electric, and horse tramways. They possess one lovely street called Corporation street. Their streets are paved with wood and they are extra wide —like a city I know in New Zealand ; and last, but not least, their law courts are worthy of any town in England. They are built in the Gothic style. They have a square in the centre of the town, where there is a beautiful fountain playing, and their monuments, of which they possess a good many, have nice flowers growing on their pedestals —a decided improvement on any I have seen. I was luckily in Birmingham when

the Right Hon. Randolph Churchill, M.P., addressed an audience of the free and independent at the Birmingham town hall. Unfortunately while in London I was so busy that I had no time to hear the debates in the House of Commons, so I eagerly availed myself of—as it happened —the only opportunity I had forbearing a political address while in England. I was anxious also to hear and see for myself how a political meeting here would tieat one of Britain’s great men, and I came away from that meeting feeling- that we have yet a great deal to learn. But to my story. I got a ticket which admitted me to a good position. The proceedings opern-d by an organ solo on the largest organ I saw in England. To give one an idea of the size of the instrument, a man could stand inside the five front pipes. After this was over the organist introduced a number of wellknown airs. Then one of their popular singers sang “ Where are the Bo} 7 S of the old Brigade?” and “The Death of Nelson.” All this time the audience was crowding in. The hall was supposed to hold 3,000, but by taking out the seats in the body of the hall it must have held at least a thousand more, and all were packed like sardines in a box. There was a pause in the proceedings, and then a number of well-known public men came on to the platform, and wei-8 greeted with cheers. After these had subsided, Mr Smallwood sang “ Rule Britannia,” and the audience the chorus, which they did all standing, with the addition of two new verses never sung in public before, composed by a local journalist in honour of the occasion, which are worthy to be inserted here. Though faction, fed with foreign gold, Conspire to rend this ancient realm, Britons —united, loyal, bold— The traitor’s plots will overwhelm. Still with the Thistle and the Rose The Irish Shamrock shall bo borne ; Still whereso’er our navy goes The Union Jack shall float untorn. This had the effect intended. It roused the audience to a high state of enthusiasm. While this was at its height, God Save the Queen was sung, and the speaker of the evening, the Right Honourable Lord Randolph Churchill, and Lady Churchill, accompanied by the Earl and Countess of Dudley, the Earl of Dartmouth, Viscount Curzon, M.P., and Lady Curzon, and a host of lesser lights, came in amidst a perfect storm of applause, the vast audience repeating the last verse of the anthem. The chairman, Mr Low, opened the proceedings with a long speech (bad form). On Lord Randolph rising- to address us, he w r as accorded a reception that I have never seen equalled. The audience rose to their feet and '•fleered and cheered again. Then they took off their hats, and the ladies, of whom there were a great number present in the galleries, waved their lace handkerchiefs and cheered again. It must have been fully five minutes before the speaker could get a hearing. His features are well known to readers of Punch. He appeared a man in about the prime of life, prematurely old and careworn. TVhen he began he halted, stammered, and evidently forced himself on under considerable effort. After his introductory remarks he warmed up. His text was the Home Rule Bill. He sketched the history of Ireland from the time the Irish lost their Parliament to the time that Mr Gladstone brought in his Home Rule Bill in 1886, and then dealt with the new one of this year. His command of appropriate lang-uage was remarkable. He appeared perfectly at home during- interruptions, which in justice to the audience, I must say were very few, and turned opposition remarks with which he was sometimes greeted with admirable tact. I could fill columns with his speech, but must forbear. When he sat down Viscount Curzon rose to propose the first resolution. I actually rubbed my eyes. Here was the living image of our PostmasterGeneral —I beg pardon, the Colonial Treasurer. He not only bears a wonderful' likeness to him, but he

has the exact tone of his voice. This was still more remai’kable. His speech was well received, and I predict a high position in the House of Commons for this young nobleman. The Earl of Dudley, another young man who was also very popular, was received with loud and continued cheering. I came away very much struck wdth the orderliness of this great gathering - . Of course it could not be

expected that there wouJd not be one or two obstructionists, as black sheep will be found in ever}?- flock. What 1 particularly noticed was the fact that while quick to take up any point in favour and show by their cheers that they appreciated it, they-were equally as ready to howl down what seemed to them any unfair advantage the speaker took of his position to attribute dishonourable motives to Mr Gladstone. This occurred once. A perfect howl of indignation arose when Lord Randolph Churchill was stopped in the middle of a sentence (the Hon. John Bryce episode) w’hich, when finished, put quite a different construction on the words. I must do Lord Randolph the justice to say that while doing’ all he could to throw' discredit on Mr Gladstone’s actions he held the very highest opinion of the honourableness of the motives that prompted them. This he in fact stated at the close of his reply to a vote of thanks for his address. 1 got an insight into public life in England by my attending this meeting that I am not likely to forget in a hurry.