Mr. Bass's Bill making it obligatory on organ-grinders to move
on if desired by a householder has passed its second reading. Sir George Grey opposed it of course, but we cannot say we antici- pated Mr. Gladstone's resistance. The Chancellor of the Exche- quer was as savage as if he intended to tax organs, and called the Bill "an unwarrantable interference with the amusements of the people." We sincerely trust the grinders will recognize his advo- cacy, and acknowledge it by maintaining a serenade say for eight and forty hours consecutively. The result will probably be a conviction on Mr. Gladstone's part that he does not belong to the people. The House passed the second reading of course by a ma- jority of 37, but nineteen members were found to vote that a gang of Italians should continue to keep slaves through whom to levy black mail on decent people.
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