said, that on the Third Reading of this Bill he should limit his observations to Clause 24. He did not object to any other part of the Bill. Clause 24 dealt with stipendiary magistrates. The present law in Scotland, with regard to stipendiary magistrates, was contained in two public Acts—the Sheriff-Substitutes Act, 1875, which dealt with the appointment of stipendiary magistrates at Glasgow; and the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act, 1892, which dealt with the appointment of stipendiary magistrates for all burghs, with the exception of the five exempted burghs which had power conferred upon them to adopt the section with regard to stipendiary magistrates, so that the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act, 1892, applied or, at the will of the corporation, might be made applicable to to the case of stipendiary magistrates in every burgh in Scotland. Thus the Act of 1892 brought the Act of 1875 up to date. The Burgh Police Act of 1892 was a Government measure, brought in under the full responsibility of the Government. It had been bequeathed to the Government by its predecessors in Office, was carefully considered by a Select Committee, and afterwards by a Committee of the Whole House. The Burgh Police Bill as brought in made provision as to the appointment of stipendiary magistrates. But it was only to apply to burghs of over 50,000 inhabitants. Owing, however, to the extension of municipal legislation in Scotland, and the fact that many cases arose in which the corporations were personally interested, it became daily more necessary and expedient to have a stipendiary magistrate in the interest of the impartial and effective administration of the law. Hence the Act of 1892 applied to all burghs without limit of population, giving power to five larger burghs to adopt the Act, and making the law uniform in all the burghs in Scotland. It provided that the appointment of stipendiary magistrates should be made by the Crown; that the person appointed should hold the qualification of Sheriff Substitute, and have the same tenure of office and retiring allowance as the Sheriff-Substitute. When the Glasgow Corporation Bill was introduced into the House it ought to regulate, by private Bill, what had been, a matter of public statute law, and to place the appointment and initiative of dismissal in the hands of the Corporation, and provided for other powers of control by the Corporation not in the Acts of 1892 or 1875. The Lord Advocate, on behalf of the Crown, interfered with regard to the appointment and dismissal, but the Bill still contained, as part of the scheme, other powers of control and interference by the Corporation. As the Bill contained police and sanitary clauses it was referred to the Police and Sanitary Committee instead of to an ordinary Committee, and the duty of the Committee was to examine and compare the Bill with the existing public statutes on the subject, and make a report to the House in what respect, if any, there were changes in the existing policy and public law of the country. But the Committee did not appear to have had before them the Act of 1892 or have compared it with the Bill to see to what extent it was a departure from or modification of the statutes of 1875 and 1892. The Lord Advocate only stated that the clauses having been adjusted, as regarded the appointment and dismissal of the magistrate, the Crown had no objection, to the Bill. One thing was clear—the Committee did not report to the House in what respect the Bill differed from the statute law of 1892. It merely stated that it had sent for the Lord Advocate, who had expressed his satisfaction with the Bill. Without any intimation from the Police and Sanitary Committee the House amended the clauses in two important particulars. The chairman of the Police and Sanitary Committee stated that, in the case of England, he had received assistance officially from the Local Government Board, who advised him in matters of public law connected with England, but there was no such officer or official from the Scotch Office. That was an important matter requiring serious attention. If public statutes were to be embodied in private Bill legislation passing before the Police and Sanitary Committee, it was necessary there should be an official connected with the Scotch Office to advise the Committee in matters of Scotch law. The effect of no inquiry being made by the Committee was, that the House was asked to make changes for which no adequate reason whatever had been assigned. It was proposed, for instance, that the Corporation should have power to change the stipendiary from one court to another. The reason assigned by the Lord Advocate was, it was not unreasonable that provision should be made for the stipendiary to take charge of a court, the bailie presiding over which happened to be absent. He mentioned also that there were nine courts in Glasgow, and there were occasions when prisoners were awaiting trial in one part of the city with no magistrate to try them. But under this Bill the Corporation would have the honour of requesting the stipendiary magistrate to attend when he had concluded the work in his own court, and try these persons, who otherwise might have to wait for a day or perhaps more. There were nine magistrates' courts in Glasgow. The stipendiary sat at the Central Police Court and at St. Rollox, and the unpaid magistrates sat at the other seven. For these seven courts there were 15 bailies and 20 ex-bailies—35 in all, or a reserve of 28 magistrates, to take the place of any magistrate who might be absent. No magistrate knew how long his Court would sit, and, therefore, it was impossible to arrange business of that kind in such a manner as would enable one magistrate on the same day to do the work of another. It was, in his opinion, quite competent in Glasgow to send cases to the Stipendiary Court. If there were any doubt about that, a clause could be put in the Bill empowering the Corporation to do it. His contention was that they were dealing in a private Bill with matters which up to now had been dealt with by means of a public Bill. The Bill made important changes in the public statutes. The House had not been made acquainted, in the Committee's Report, with the changes in the public law of Scotland, which the Bill would make, or with the reasons for those changes. The Corporation of Glasgow might by simple resolution have adopted the provisions of the General Burgh Police Act. His contention was that it was not expedient when they were dealing with a case of what undoubtedly ought to be a question of public law, and what, moreover, was a matter affecting the administration of justice, that the House should in a private Bill introduce matters which were contrary to the principle of public law. It was quite true that the Bill only applied to Glasgow, but it had an application much wider than its promoters attached to it. The proper course in this case when they were proposing to alter the public law would have been for the Government of the day to bring in a Bill on their own responsibility so that, as in the case of 1892, the change in the law affected by the measure would apply to every burgh in Scotland.

regretted very much that so much of the time of the House had been wasted over this Bill. He did not exactly know who was to blame for it, but he could not altogether free the Corporation of Glasgow from that blame. Parliament had spent a great deal of time for the benefit of Glasgow when the Burgh Police Bill was before the House. The stipendiary and other clauses had been put in for the benefit of the city Yet, after all that had been done, Glasgow came forward and asked for worse powers than were given in the Police Act, which gave them, if they had cared to adopt the section of the Act relating to the subject, powers to appoint stipendiaries on the same conditions as those under which the Sheriff-Substitutes were appointed. They could have adopted the section by a simple resolution; but instead of doing so the Corporation had brought in this private Bill, and they had wasted all this time over it. He rose simply to protest against that waste of time. He did not wish to waste more time; still, he thought that some power should exist to prevent corporations from coming to Parliament with private Bills, the object of which was to make changes in the public law.

, as the Chairman of the Police and Sanitary Regulations Committee, entirely agreed with the hon. Gentleman opposite that this discussion was merely a waste of the time of the House. The hon. Member for Mid Lanark was entirely wrong in his assumption that the Committee were called upon to report to the House in what way private Bill provisions differed from public law. The Committee were called upon to report that powers were sought which deviated or differed from the general law, but they were not called upon to specify the manner in which those provisions did differ. If the hon. Member for Mid Lanark would look at the Committee's Report on the Bill, he would see that it contained schedules which gave the number of clauses which differed from the general law, and the local reasons which were given why the powers were desirable and which were sufficient for the Committee.

said, that there was nothing proposed by Clause 24 which was in the smallest degree contrary to the law of the land. It did not provide pensions, but neither the Sheriff-Substitutes Act of 1875, nor the Municipal Corporations Act of England, provided pensions. He did not see, therefore, why the Corporation of Glasgow should be abused for not making an innovation, and he thought that the matter might very well have been allowed to rest after what took place on the Report Stage of the Bill.

I beg to ask the Civil Lord of the Admiralty—(1) whether he is aware that in the Naval Ordnance Department at Woolwich the present system of checking the workmen's hours and wages is giving rise to much dissatisfaction; (2) whether he is aware that if any workman, by accident or any other cause, loses an afternoon's work he only receives the sum of 1s. 8d. for the morning worked on the same day, which is only equivalent to 4d. per hour, whereas the average for the 48 hours per week is 5d. per hour; and that if a workman loses his morning's employment from circumstances over which he has no control, he only receives for 3 hours and 40 minutes the sum of 10d. instead of 1s. 6d., which means a loss for the half-day's work of 8d.; and (3) whether he will cause an inquiry into this system of checking with a view of giving satisfaction to the workmen employed?

I find that the system of checking is correctly described in the second paragraph of the hon. Member's question. I am obliged to him for calling my attention to it, and I have caused the inquiry which he suggests to be set on foot.

I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture if he can inform the House what precautionary measures, if any, are adopted by Holland, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, or other foreign or colonial countries for the disinfecting of dairy produce imported into this country; and what security this country has for immunity from disease from receiving such produce?

I have no information that any measures of disinfection are applied to dairy produce either in any of the countries specified or in this country, nor am I aware how disinfection could be applied to many articles of dairy produce. In some countries, however, milk is at times sterilised before distribution and use.

asked whether the right hon. Gentleman proposed to make inquiries into this important matter, and whether the Government proposed to introduce any measure upon the subject?

said, that the Government had no present intention of introducing such a measure as the hon. Gentleman suggested.

asked whether the Government would not extend the same protection to the people of this country which was given to the countries mentioned in the question on the Paper?

said, that that was a matter of argument.

I beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland, whether the use of the Galleries on the Mound, in Edinburgh, can be given for an Exhibition by the Society of Scottish Artists this autumn, or in the course of next year?

I am informed by the Board of Manufactures that they kept the whole of this summer and autumn free as regards the use of the Royal Scottish Academy Galleries, in order to enable the North British Railway Commissioners to carry out the repairs of the damages to the National Gallery buildings caused by the recent tunnelling operations under the Mound, and also to enable the Board to reorganise and re-arrange the interior of the National Gallery proper. The arrangement, however, which the Board has just concluded with the North British Railway Commissioners to postpone further operations until after 1st October next, leaves the Royal Scottish Academy Galleries free during the months of July, August, and September this year, and the Board would be in a position, if application is made to them, to consider whether they should exercise their power of permitting the Society of Scottish Artists to hold an exhibition in their Galleries during these months. I hope no time will be lost in making the application.

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India, whether he is aware that an intimation has been conveyed to a representative of the Indian Press to the effect that the proceedings of the Royal Commission on Indian Financial Expenditure will be private; whether this decision has been arrived at by the Commissioners themselves, or has been imposed upon them by Her Majesty's Government; whether he is aware that the principal Indian newspapers have already made arrangements for publishing full reports of the proceedings; whether there exists any special reason why the Press should not be admitted, as has been done in the case of the Anglo-Irish Financial Relations Commission, the Welsh Land Commission, the Labour Commission, and the Opium Commission; and whether, in view of the great interest taken in India in the proceedings of the Commission on Indian Financial Expenditure, Her Majesty's Government will take steps to secure that the Press should be admitted?

The question as to the publicity of the proceedings of the Royal Commission on Indian Expenditure is one for the Commissioners themselves to decide. The Secretary of State is informed that as yet no decision has been arrived at. Any intimation on the subject must, therefore, have been made without authority. The first meeting of the Commission will be held on the 26th instant.

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland what are the charges upon which the Government have ordered the prosecution of certain tenants on the Massereene estate in Ireland?

The proceedings in question have been directed against four persons for unlawfully preventing other persons from dealing with and purchasing cattle in the ordinary course of their trade; endeavouring to injure certain persons in their trade and business; and unlawfully using threats and intimidation.

asked if these proceedings were taken under the famous statute of Edward III.?

said, these proceedings were taken partly under the statute of Edward III. and partly also under the ordinary commission of the peace.

asked, if the right hon. Gentleman was aware that the President of the Local Government Board visited this Massereene estate, and advised the tenants to stick by their organisation and the Plan of Campaign.

I was not aware that the organisation or the Plan of Campaign had anything to do with the proceedings now before the magistrate.

asked, if the right hon. Gentleman would discontinue the proceedings under the statute of Edward III., in view of the fact that the right hon. Gentleman and his friends denounced the late Government for using the statute.

No; I cannot divest myself of any legal weapon because of any language used against it.

asked if a Bill was presented to the Grand Jury and thrown out?

said, this was a different case.

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland when the Return granted regarding Irish magistrates will be printed?

I am in communication with the Lord Chancellor's Department in reference to this Return, and have requested that it be completed with the least possible delay.

I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether his attention has been called to the case of Richard Parkman, who was the subject of a violent assault committed by one Donald Fletcher, of Tobermory, on the 29th of January last; whether he is aware that Parkman, in consequence of this assault, was confined to bed for several days under medical treatment; whether Parkman lodged a charge with the inspector of police, who reported the case to Mr. Sproat, the procurator fiscal; and if he can state why that official has not prosecuted Fletcher?

My attention has been called to the case referred to by my hon. Friend, and I have caused inquiry to be made. I am informed that the case was not reported to Mr. Sproat, the procurator fiscal, as that official does not take up burgh cases, except where a sentence of more than sixty days' imprisonment might be pronounced. The case was, however, reported to the burgh fiscal, and I am informed that the reason why no proceedings were taken was—that it appeared from the evidence of the witnesses that Parkman was the aggressor. I understand that Parkman, having got a black eye in the scuffle, confined himself to his house for three or four days.

I beg to ask the Postmaster General (1) whether any accounts are kept of the fines, varying from a few pence up to several shillings, levied upon the recipients in this country of insufficiently stamped letters and postcards coming from abroad; (2) whether the amount of such fines is retained by the British Post Office, or whether any payment on account of them is made to the Post Offices of the countries of origin; and (3) whether he will lay upon the Table, or furnish orally, a statement of the amounts received for such fines during the past financial year?

No separate account is kept of the amount collected on the delivery of insufficiently stamped letters and postcards received from abroad. No payment is made on account of them to the Post Offices of the countries of origin, it being one of the primary principles of the Postal Union that each country shall retain the sums it collects. With regard to the last paragraph of the question, I beg leave to state that, as I informed the hon. Member on the 26th of February, it is not possible to give these figures.

I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether he is aware that much inconvenience is caused by the want of some conspicuous notice of the existence of a post office at each of the numerous shops where postal and telegraphic business is conducted, it being frequently necessary to search on both sides of the street for the zinc-covered letter-box which is the only indication afforded; and whether he will direct that a projecting notice board, painted with the words "Post Office" (and "Telegraph Office" if required) in white letters on a scarlet ground, shall be affixed on every post office so as to be visible to passengers, and that every letter box on a shop front shall be painted scarlet, with the words "Post Office" or "Telegraph Office" in white, so as to be seen from the opposite side of the way?

I am not aware, nor do the records of the Department show, that much inconvenience is felt through the absence of conspicuous notices to indicate the position of town sub-post offices. In many cases projecting indicators are already in use. To make it compulsory to exhibit such indicators, and to have the letter boxes painted and lettered as suggested, would add to the expense which a sub-postmaster has to incur on taking office, and which, in the absence of any real necessity, I am unwilling to increase.

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether the complaints which have reached the War Office since the year 1892 in respect of the rations served out to the troops at Home are such as to show that the food has not been so good as before that date; whether there has been, under successive Governments, in recent years, any difference in the arrangement as to food and messing of the troops; and whether it is the duty of the officer in command to prevent any food which is not good from being served out to the messes of the men?

No complaints as to the quality of the rations supplied to the troops at Home have reached the War Office, and there is every reason, judging by the ration inspectors' reports, to believe that the rations are of very good quality. Since 1888 there has been a steady progressive improvement in the food of the soldier. This is due partly to a better quality being supplied, owing to a system of surprise visits by export ration inspectors having been adopted, and partly to the instruction which has been given to regimental officers in the inspection of meat in the Army Service Corps School of Instruction at Aldershot. Greater care is also now taken in cooking and in utilising all portions of rations according to a system which was begun in Ireland by Colonel Burnett, and afterwards brought to perfection at the Army School of Cookery at Aldershot. It is the duty of the officer in command to prevent food which is not good from being served out to the men. There has certainly been no difference under successive Governments in respect of the food arrangements beyond the steady improvement to which I have referred.

asked if it was not the case that last week or the week before a very large quantity of refrigerated meat had to be destroyed in Dublin.

said he could not answer that question.

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been drawn to a letter recently published by Mr. Donald Mackenzie, addressed to the Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce of Liverpool, relating to affairs in South Africa; whether his attention has been drawn to the statement therein that, out of a population of 400,000 persons in the two islands of Pemba and Zanzibar, 268,000 are slaves; that all labour in Zanzibar is done by slaves, as free labour does not exist, though solemn engagements were made between England and the Sultan of Zanzibar from 1873 to 1890 for the abolition of the slave trade, while in Aden and Port Said, where labour is free, there is no lack of men; whether the British Agent and Consul General is the official who directs the Sultan and the Zanzibar Government, and is responsible to the British Government for Zanzibar, Pemba, and East Africa; and whether it is with the sanction of Her Majesty's Government that such grave evils continue to exist?

I have not seen the letter, but full reports on the position of slavery in Zanzibar were laid in No. 6 Africa, 1895, and they deal with the points raised in the question. The whole question is now under consideration.

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps the Government propose to take upon Mr. Hardinge's report to do away with Her Majesty's servants administering laws which acknowledge the legal status of slavery in the Island of Zanzibar?

I must point out to the hon. Member that the laws of Zanzibar are not administered by Her Majesty's servants. It was not found possible to come to a decision on Mr. Hardinge's reports till the position as to the future of the mainland had been settled. There will be as little further delay as possible in deciding what steps are to be taken.

I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade if the Ohio steamer, of Hull, lately called Egyptian Monarch, has a Board of Trade certificate for carrying passengers, or were the Belleville boilers, with which she is fitted, with their feed pumps, constructed under the supervision of, and were approved by, the surveyors to the Board of Trade; has his attention been called to the bursting of two boiler tubes of this steamer on her first voyage, to the injury to a fireman from scalding in consequence thereof, to the leakage of the boilers and the breakdown of the feed pumps, leading to the necessity of ceasing to use two of the boilers; and will he cause an official inquiry to be made into the circumstances attending the use of the boilers of this steamer?

The steamer Ohio (lately Egyptian Monarch) does not hold a Board of Trade passenger certificate; but her boilers were constructed under the inspection of the Board's staff with a view to such a certificate. As, however, the boilers were regarded as experimental, and the Board's surveyors were not entirely satisfied with the feed pump arrangements, the declaration was withheld pending the result of a trial voyage. I am informed that during this trial one of the tubes burst, that certain other defects developed themselves, and that a fireman was slightly burnt. Further inquiries are being made into the matter with regard to which the Board of Trade are in communication with the owners, but, as at present advised, I do not think the case is one calling for formal investigation under the Merchant Shipping Act.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, under Sections 239 and 240 of the Merchant Shipping Acts, it was not necessary that report should be made to the Board of Trade Surveyor, and an entry made in the official log; and, whether it was the fact that no such entry was made on the present occasion.

said, that he had not the Merchant Shipping Acts at hand for reference, and the question had better be put down as a separate one.

asked whether the right hon. Gentleman was aware that it was an impossibility that these boilers could be in an experimental stage, as they had been told lately that they had been used in the French service for some years.

thought this was rather a matter of argument than of fact.

asked if he was correct in understanding that the Board of Trade had so much doubt about these boilers that they declined to give the usual certificate before she had made her voyage.

said, he had said nothing at all about the Belleville boilers generally; but in this particular case the Board of Trade Surveyor thought that before the certificate could be given a preliminary voyage should be made to test the machinery.

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been drawn to the trial of the master, mate, and part of the crew of the William Manson, for forcibly carrying off some natives from the Solomon Group in the Pacific; whether he is aware that it was shown that seven native women, without husbands, were taken on board, and provided with husbands picked up at other islands to elude the regulation which forbids women being recruited, except married women who volunteer to accompany their husbands; and whether Her Majesty's Government will adopt adequate measures to suppress such evils in connection with the Queensland labour traffic?

The report of the trial of the captain, Government agent, and others on board the William Manson has now been received from the Governor of Queensland. The charge upon which these men were tried was the taking by force from an island of the Solomon Group of three natives and carrying them on board the vessel, and on this charge, after a careful trial, they were acquitted by the jury, who had been locked up all night. It is stated that the prisoners have been remanded on other charges. Hon. Members will shortly have the opportunity of judging for themselves as regards the conduct of the case, as it is proposed to present papers on the subject. The Government agent has, however, been dismissed by the Queensland Government, and, with the others concerned, debarred from ever taking part in the labour traffic again. The traffic is being carefully watched, and it will be seen by the prompt action taken by the Queensland Government that they are as fully alive as Her Majesty's Government to the importance of preventing abuses.

I beg to ask the First Commissioner of Works if the military bands will now be paid for the special duties performed in the Royal Parks.

There are certain technical difficulties which have not yet been settled, and I am not able for the present to give a definite answer. But an arrangement is being made, which I hope and think will be satisfactory to the Guards' bands concerned.

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether, with reference to his reply to a deputation of the East of Scotland Tactical Society in Edinburgh on 2nd February 1894, he has it in contemplation to prepare and introduce a Bill revising and codifying the 18 or more Statutes at present regulating Volunteers.

It is obviously desirable to consolidate these Statutes, but I fear it is equally obvious that there is no time to do it this Session. The Committee which last year considered the question of the working of the Volunteer Acts made no recommendation on the subject.

I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether his attention has been called to the great inconvenience which at present exists in connection with the condition of the Naas Post Office, and to the resolution on this subject recently passed by the Town Commissioners of that town; and whether he can promise to make better provision for the needs of the public in this matter?

Attention has for some time past been directed to the need for a better post office at Naas, and the resolution of the Town Commissioners on the subject, which the hon. Member mentions, has been brought to my notice. It is now being considered how improved accommodation can best be provided, and I hope to be able to come to a decision before long.

I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education whether notice of dismissal has been given to the inspectors of drawing in elementary schools who are over 45 years of age, stationed in the districts of Cumberland, Westmorland, and North Lancashire; whether this is part of a general notice to all inspectors of drawing over 45 years of age throughout the country, or whether it is personal to the inspectors in the districts mentioned, and, if general, what is the reason for the adoption of so low a figure as 45 for the age of superannuation; and to how many individuals does such notice apply?

In the district referred to notice has been given to one temporary local inspector, who is 47 years of age, that his appointment, which is from year to year, will not be renewed after August next. This is part of a general arrangement by which the temporary local inspectors are being replaced by a permanent inspectorate, most of the local inspectors who are under 45 years of age being put on the new permanent staff if they wish it. The notice of non-renewal of the local inspectorships after August next applies to 21 gentlemen, of whom 8 will be offered sub-inspectorships. The remaining 17 local inspectors will not have their appointments renewed after August 1896. It has always been made clear to all these gentlemen that their appointments were only for 12 months, renewable each year. They have been thanked by the Department for their work, but it is not possible to continue them consistently with the arrangements now being carried out.

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Treaty of Shimonoseki has now been officially communicated to Her Majesty's Government; whether it can be formally laid upon the Table of the House; and, whether the subsequent arrangement between China and Japan relating to the Liao Tung Peninsula and other matters can be similarly communicated; and, whether it is the intention of the Foreign Office to publish a general Blue Book dealing with British interests in the Japanese and Chinese war, which has just come to a conclusion?

No, Sir; I cannot make any promise as to when the Blue Books will be published. A despatch has just been received from Her Majesty's Chargé d' Affaires at Tokio forwarding copies of the Treaty and of an Imperial Proclamation, which announces the arrangement made with the French, German, and Russian Governments as to the Liao Tung Peninsula.

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland—(1) whether he is aware that the cattle belonging to a man named Larkin, on the Templemore Estate, were seized and placed in the Arthurstown pound before One o'clock a.m on the 23rd May (Ascension Morning); (2) whether it is legal to make seizures in the night; (3) whether he is aware that 200 police, drafted from other counties, were present at the auction of the tenants' cattle; and that the police of Wexford town and the surrounding baronies have little or nothing to do owing to the almost crimeless state of the county and (4), whether some of these surplus police could be spared to the Templemore Estate, thereby saving expense to the county?

The fact is as stated in the first paragraph. The seizure was made under a writ of fi. fa., directed to the Sheriff, and in the absence of police. It is legal to carry out a seizure under such a writ at any hour. There were two sales of cattle on the 24th May, one at Arthurstown and the other at Saltmills, and the number of police present on each occasion was 50. The assembling of this force will not, however, entail any expense to the county, as the men were not drawn from outside the county. The police of Wexford town and surrounding baronies perform the ordinary duties, and there is no extra force chargeable to the county.

I beg to ask whether it is not the fact that seizures under Civil Bill decrees cannot by statute be carried out at at night, and whether it is not the practice of the Government to discountenance seizures at night as being calculated to lead to disturbance?

said, that as the hon. and learned Member would probably remember, he got into some trouble in the Queen's Bench in reference to a matter of the kind.

Very honourable trouble.

said, he was aware that a Civil Bill was a very different thing from a writ of fi. fa.

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether a memorial has been received from the Parliamentary representatives of the central division of Queensland affirming the urgent necessity for the creation of that portion of Queensland into a separate Colony, and citing evidence to show that the inhabitants are practically unanimous in that desire; whether consideration has been given to their representations, and, if so, whether any decision has been, arrived at; and, whether the Governor of Queensland has forwarded a despatch respecting an interview he had on the subject with an influential deputation that waited upon him at Rockhampton on 1st April?

A memorial affirming the necessity for the creation of the central division of Queensland into a separate Colony, and signed by the members for the electoral districts of Central Queensland, was received in February last, and the representations of the memorialists have been duly considered. A despatch has now been received from the Governor enclosing a copy of an address on this subject presented to him on the occasion referred to, which has also received the Secretary of State's consideration. Her Majesty's Government, however, remain of opinion that the present is an inopportune moment for dealing with the separation question, and a reply to this effect has been addressed to the Governor in both cases.

I beg to ask the Secretary of State, for War—(1) whether his attention has been called to the destitute condition of the widow of Thomas Donnelly, of Moyne, county Tipperary; (2) whether he is aware that Donnelly served in the 86th Foot for 21 years and 112 days, was engaged in the suppression of the Indian Mutiny, took part in 14 engagements, received three good conduct badges, medal and clasp, and was invalided on a pension of 11d. per day; and (3) whether, in view of this record, it is possible to afford some pecuniary relief to his widow?

Pensioner Thomas Donnelly died on 4th June 1893, after having been in receipt of a pension of 11d. a day for 30 years. It is not known whether he was in 14 engagements; and he was not invalided, but went to pension at his own request; in all other respects paragraph 2 appears to be correct. The widow now asks to be treated as the widows of men killed in the Crimea, whereas her husband drew his pension for 30 years. I am afraid there is no Regulation under which anything can be done for her from Army Funds.

I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty if he can give the names of the Haul-bowline Inquiry Committee?

The gentlemen who have been invited to serve on the Committee have not all signified their assent, and the hon. and gallant Gentleman will, perhaps, repeat his question on Monday.

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can give the House any information as to the Russian Religious Mission to Abyssinia; whether the head of that mission was a Russian colonel; whether it is true that an Abyssinian Embassy has gone to St. Petersburg to ask for the Czar's protection against the Italians; and whether several Russian retired officers have gone to take service with the Abyssinian Army?

I have to say, in addition to the information given to the hon. Member on the subject on the 28th of February, that the expedition arrived at Obokh on the 22nd of January, and consisted of a colonel, a captain, a doctor, and a priest, with two servants. After staying there a few days they went to Jibuti, and eventually proceeded with a native escort to Harrar, which they reached in a fortnight. From an account by one of the members of the Mission, published in the Russian newspaper Novoe Vremya early in March, there seems to have been a question of sending a Mission of Abyssinian Priests to St. Petersburg to establish regular relations with the Russian Church, but Her Majesty's Government have no definite information on the subject, nor have they heard of retired Russian officers taking service with the Abyssinian army.

I beg to ask the Postmaster General—(1) whether he is aware that on the 6th instant a large number of letters, each bearing a United States two cent stamp, which had arrived from New York, were delivered in London, a fine of 8d. being exacted from the recipient in each case, being twice the amount of deficient postage, and that on being opened each envelope was found to contain circulars of an offensive description; (2) whether the fine for an inland letter of the same weight on which no postage whatever had been paid would have been 2d. only; and (3) whether he will endeavour to arrange with the other Governments belonging to the Postal Union that in the case of the posting of a large number in identical terms from one country to another the deficient postage should be recoverable from the sender instead of the innocent addressee?

The facts are as stated in the first and second paragraphs of the hon. Member's questions. The letters arrived in this country marked in America as insufficiently paid, and it was the duty of this Department to double the deficiency and to collect the amount. There would be practical difficulties in making any such arrangement as that suggested in the last paragraph; but in the present case, which is one of a very exceptional nature, representations will be made to the Postmaster General of the United States.

I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether he is aware that the Government of Ceylon has introduced a reply letter-card for the inland service of the island, so that a person writing a letter to another may enclose a letter-card for a reply; whether the French Government supplies a similar reply letter-card for inland use; whether the Ceylonese Government was the first British Government to adopt an international postcard and an inland cash on delivery parcel post; and whether he will direct that a reply letter-card, similar to the French and Ceylonese, shall be sold for the inland service of the United Kingdom, or, in the alternative, that two sizes of letter-card shall be issued, one of which can be enclosed in the other?

It is the fact, that the Government of Ceylon has introduced a reply letter-card for the inland service of the island, and that a similar reply letter-card for inland use is supplied by the French Post Office. In this country letter-cards do not find much favour with the public, and lately there has been no increase in the demand for them. I do not think, therefore, that there would be such a demand for a reply letter-card as would warrant its issue by the Department. The public are, of course, at liberty to use privately manufactured letter-cards with a penny adhesive stamp. I do not know whether Ceylon was the first British Possession to adopt an international postcard and an inland cash-on-delivery parcel post.

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether Article 9, Article 33, and Article 42 of the Berlin Treaty 1878, whereby the Powers Signatory of the Treaty enacted that Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Servia should each bear a portion of the public debt of Turkey, to be fixed by the Powers, in proportion to the territory obtained by each, have been carried into execution; what portion of the public debt of Turkey was fixed by the Powers to be borne respectively by Bulgaria, by Montenegro, and by Servia; and has such portion, or any portion, of the debt been borne, and is it still borne, by those three countries?

The articles referred to have not been carried into execution, owing to the fact that the Powers have been unable to come to an agreement.

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether any, and what changes are contemplated in the entry examinations for the Royal Military Academy and the Royal Military College; and, if so, when it is proposed to bring them into force?

The changes contemplated are—in the Royal Military Academy, to make "chemistry and heat" an obligatory subject, and to make "Latin" a voluntary subject; to divide "higher mathematics" into two subjects (and include the calculus), and to increase the number of marks given for colloquial knowledge of French and German. In the Royal Military College the only change proposed is to increase the number of marks given for colloquial knowledge of modern languages. For both the Royal Military Academy and the Royal Military College, to revise the regulations concerning the medical examination in the direction recommended by the Committee on Entrance Examinations which reported last year. The regulations necessary to give effect to the proposed changes are now in course of preparation, and those changes which affect the programme of examination will not be given effect to without due and sufficient notice.

asked whether the preponderance of evidence before the Departmental Committee recently appointed by him was hostile to the first of these changes; whether the present regulations to which the public schools had had to adapt themselves were only of two years' standing; and whether he had received a protest from the Head Masters' Conference, representing 85 public schools of the first grade, against the change.

said, he was not aware that a formal protest had been received, but, no doubt, one would be received of the kind referred to. The only change of importance was the introduction of scientific subjects in regard to the Academy; the other changes were of comparatively little importance. He did not know that the preponderance of the evidence before the Committee told against the change referred to; he thought the evidence was much in favour of it.

asked whether each Paper could not in future be considered by two examiners instead of one. Such an arrangement would be more satisfactory.

said that was a matter of administration under the Civil Service Commissioners, but he would give attention to the point. ["Hear, hear."]

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been called to the terms of a resolution, purporting to have been signed by the British Ambassador to the United States, which asserts that the American steamship St. Louis had demonstrated the inauguration, under American auspices, of a new era in the history of ocean traffic; whether he is aware that extracts from this resolution, together with the statement that it bears his signature, have been published in the London newspapers; and whether, in view of the fact that such action on the part of a Minister may be utilised to advertise a foreign company at the expense of British liners, which have invariably proved their superiority both on the outward and homeward passages between this country and New York, he will request Sir Julian Pauncefote either to substantiate the assertions contained in this document or to withdraw his name from it?

The resolution referred to by the hon. Member was only the usual expression of thanks to the captain at the close of a successful voyage, which Sir Julian Pauncefote was invited to sign in his private capacity in common with the other passengers. The statement in the resolution of thanks that the St. Louis has inaugurated, under American auspices, a new era in the history of ocean traffic is substantially correct, and is under stood to mean no more than that the St. Louis is the first American-built liner designed to take part in the passenger traffic between Great Britain and the United States, under the auspices of an American Company. There is nothing in that statement reflecting upon any British shipping interest.

asked who paid the expenses of the passage of Her Majesty's Representatives when they travelled in vessels other than British vessels, and whether Her Majesty's Government provided that the British ships conveying our Ambassadors were equal in character to the St. Louis?

replied that the expenses of the passage of Her Majesty's Representatives were paid by the British taxpayer.

Am I to understand that the statement of the hon. Member is merely intended to convey in diplomatic language that the Ambassador had a pleasant voyage?

The words of the Resolution in question were not drawn up by the Ambassador himself.

I beg to ask the Civil Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that the appointments made in reference to the dispute existing in the Dockyards between the fitters, boiler makers, joiners, and blacksmiths, in regard to the proposed arbitration to lay down lines of demarcation between the said trades, is not giving satisfaction to the workmen concerned; will he explain why, although the First Lord of the Admiralty promised certain deputations that the arbitrators should be independent experts, the arbitrators who have been appointed belong to the official staff of the Government, and no one has been appointed from the ranks of the workmen; whether he is aware that the workmen have already made protests against the present composition of this Board of Arbitrators; and if he is able to extend the appointment of these arbitrators so as to include two representatives from the workmen interested in this arbitration.

We have reason to believe that the scheme suggested and adopted by the Admiralty has given general satisfaction, although some details have been adversely criticised by certain trades. According to the plan (which was originally suggested by representatives of the two principal trades) the question of demarcation is to be settled by the Director of Dockyards, who is to be assisted by four independent experts as assessors. Not one of the four assessors can be described as belonging to the official staff of the Government. Two have been, but are no longer, and will never again be, in the service of the Government; and they were selected on account of their long experience of dockyard business and in response to representations from the dockyards. The other two have never been in the service of the Government. All four are competent and independent experts. It has never been suggested that the assessors should be chosen from the ranks of the workmen, but they will have every opportunity of stating their case before the arbitrator and his assessors.

I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, whether he is aware that there is a strong feeling in Ireland in Government printing departments that the terms of reference in respect to the Select Committee to be appointed to inquire into Government printing contracts should extend to Ireland as well as England; and, whether he would be prepared to extend the scope of reference for such a purpose?

The terms of the reference to the Select Committee already include all Stationery Office printing contracts, whether in England or Ireland. I may add that I have received through my hon. Friend the Member for the St. Patrick's Division of Dublin a request from the Dublin branch of the Bookbinders' and Machine Rulers' Consolidated Union that, the printing contract of the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland should be included in the forthcoming Inquiry, and I have replied that there is no objection to this proposal.

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, if he is now of a position to state if the Chinese or Japanese Government admit liability in the loss of British lives in the Kowshing; if either of these Governments will give compensation for such loss; and what amount of compensation has been demanded?

No claim has yet been preferred on account of the loss of British lives in the Kowshing. The Indo-China Steam Navigation Company were requested to furnish evidence with regard to each of the cases, and communications for the adjustment of these personal claims are now in progress between Her Majesty's Minister at Peking and the Shanghai agents of the company.

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can state if the advantages of commerce, navigation, and industry, stipulated to be extended by China to Japan under Article VI. of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, will also be enjoyed under existing treaties by Great Britain; and, if not, in what respect the situation of Great Britain will differ from that of Japan in regard to those advantages?

The hon. Member will find the answer to this question in an answer given to the hon. Member for Kingston on the 24th of April.

I would remind the hon. Baronet that at that time he had not the terms of the treaty, but that they are now in his hands. Do they confirm that answer?

Yes.

I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether he has now, in conjunction with the Home Secretary, been able to formulate regulations to prevent the distribution, through the Post Office, of touting circulars from foreign countries, inviting people to take tickets in foreign lotteries, whilst it is illegal to do so in this country?

I have given instructions for stopping such circulars as the hon. Member describes when received from abroad in open covers and for returning them to the country where they were posted.

I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government will extend to Great Britain the advantages enjoyed by Ireland under the Ashbourne Acts, and so offer British tenants the opportunity of becoming owners of their holdings upon the same easy terms as Irish tenants have been afforded under the said Acts?

No, Sir, the Government have no such Bill in contemplation.

I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if the site on which it was intended by the Government to erect the statue to Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, will be granted to a Committee of Members of Parliament and others who desire, by private subscriptions, to raise a statue to his memory?

May I also ask the right hon. Gentleman whether, if a number of admirers of Henry VIII. [laughter] should subscribe a sufficient sum for the erection of a statue to the memory of that monarch, he will grant a site for it in or near the Houses of Parliament, and whether he will make the space large enough to hold statuettes of his wives? [Loud laughter.]

Will the House have an opportunity of pronouncing an opinion on this question of site?

In answer to the question on the Paper, the Government will take the matter into consideration.

May I ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer to show the House sufficient courtesy to answer the other question of the hon. Member for South Roscommon. [Cries of "Order!"]

asked the First Commissioner of Works whether an opportunity would be given to pass an opinion on the site for the statue of Oliver Cromwell.

The hon. Member has already asked that question of one Minister, who has declined to answer; he cannot ask it of another Minister.

Having regard to the assurance we received from him the other night, that the Departments concerned would see what Papers they could lay upon the Table, upon the strength of which I withdrew my Motion for a Select Committee, I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when we shall receive the Papers, and when the opportunity will be afforded to us to look at them, before the discussion on the Bill is resumed.

I am not able to answer the question with reference to the Papers, but certainly I have undertaken that there shall be a time fixed when there can be a discussion on the Bill.

asked the Home Secretary whether he would order a reprint of the Established Church (Wales) Bill?

I hope that substantial progress will justify a reprint of the Bill.

inquired when the Army Estimates would be taken.

desired to know when the War Office Vote would be taken.

There was an understanding that some hon. Members who desired to address themselves to the general question, had not an opportunity of doing so on the last occasion, and that another occasion would be afforded them. It was for this purpose that I propose to put down the War Office Vote as the first Vote to be taken. This will be followed by the Works Vote, as to which there is always pressure of time, the money being required with a view of taking advantage of the good building time in the summer.

pointed out that the proposed order of taking the Votes did not tally with the order in which the Amendments appeared upon the Paper.

That is rather a matter for the Chairman of Committees than for me. One Member may desire to devote his eloquence to one subject and another to another subject, but the War Office Vote enables anything connected with the military administration to be discussed, because it is open to any hon. Member who is dissatisfied with that administration to move a reduction of my salary. [Laughter.]

stated that he lived in an agricultural district—his hon. Friend did not—and in his parish the tithes came to several pounds per head, so that personally he would lose very much if his proposal were carried.

said, that though he represented a city constituency he believed that the fate of cities in the long run would be decided by the fate of the country districts. The Home Secretary would reply that he did not accept the view of the Members for Merthyr Tydfil and Bradford, but all the arguments against centralisation proposed by these hon. Gentlemen applied to the scheme of the Home Secretary. A central county fund would be as oppressive, though only on a smaller scale, to the poorer districts as a national fund. It happened that in every county in Wales there was some industry apart from agriculture. That industry was flourishing, and paid no tithe. Why should the people engaged in it share the tithe with the unfortunate agriculturists who had to contribute the whole amount. The Leader of the Opposition said that when the Bill came into operation some of the parishes would come into their inheritance immediately, others would have to wait 10, 20, or even 50 years. He did not think that would be a great or serious disadvantage. Those who came into their inheritance at once would make experiments, and if mistakes occurred the parishes which came in afterwards would benefit by this experience. But if the House regarded this as an evil, it might be disposed of in a moment. Any insurance company would undertake the collection of tithes for 14 years and the payment of a certain amount to each parish at once, handing over to them the whole tithe of the parish at some subsequent period. There was a suggestion that the parishes did not know what to do with or might waste the fund. All that could be said on that point was that it should rather be put that hon. Members did not know what the Parish Councils would do with the fund. There was no parish in England or Wales in which a good use could not be made of this money. He was in favour of taking every precaution against waste, and would be prepared to say that the money should be allotted to the parishes on the understanding that its disposal should be subject to the approval of the County Council. Then it was said that if the tithes were kept in the parish the landlord would seize them. This bogey of the landlord was always trotted out on the Liberal side. But let them take precautions against the landlord, and in any case the parish would suffer less by risking the action of the landlord than by taking the tithe out of the parish altogether. It was said that good use could be made of the money for national purposes, and the Welsh members suggested that a museum and a university should be provided with the money. But why should the agricultural interest pay for these institutions? They ought to be founded on a broad national basis, and not out of a fund which pressed particularly on a single industry. Summing up the objections, he said he found there was nothing in them. He would give one or two substantive reasons for his proposal. In the first place the allocation of the funds which he suggested had regard to the historic growth of the tithe, and also to the development of modern local institutions. The funds had always been and now were separate, and they formed the best local income. He believed this allocation would be best for the Church. When the act of disestablishment was complete, the chief part of the funds of the disestablished Church must come from the people, and if the parishes were impoverished there was no institution at which they would strike a more deadly blow than the Church, which would be one of the leading institutions in these parishes. The hon. Member for Preston only four or five days ago had a similar Amendment on the Paper, and he believed that other Conservatives sympathised with it.

said, that under the proposal of the hon. Member the funds would fall into the hands of the parish even during the life of the incumbent. In his Amendment he specially guarded against that.

granted that there was a little difference between the two Amendments. But when they were dealing with an institution that would last for centuries the question of a few years was not very material. Why had the hon. Member abandoned his proposal? His belief was that the Tory Party had been sitting on the fence with regard to this, and had now come down on the wrong side. They would best consult the interests of the Church by supporting his proposal. Hon. Members from Wales declared that they had a mandate for the disestablishment of the Church. Ho would like to know whether they had any mandate from their constitutents for the disestablishment of the parish. His Amendment would avoid absenteeism, and absenteeism was just as great an evil in the country districts of England and Wales as it was in Ireland. There was no antagonism between the parish and the county, for the county was made up of parishes, and whatever benefited each benefited the whole; and on that ground, also, the Amendment should be agreed to. A difficult point was the question of lay impropriators, but he saw no reason why more consideration should be shown for tithe in the hands of laymen than for that devoted to the Church. Such tithe must be dealt with by purchase and compensation of the owners, and in that way the benefit of the tithe now in the hands of laymen might be secured for the parishes as well as those now devoted to the Church. The Home Secretary admitted the primary claim of the parish to funds it had hitherto enjoyed, but he did not think this primary claim was recognised in the Bill as it stood, and he appealed to him to make it clear. He closed as he commenced. They were coming now to the structural part of the Bill. If they employed these funds in order to strengthen and build up the parishes, and to confer benefits broadly on their inhabitants, they would make a use of these funds of which they should not be ashamed in the future.

said, his hon. Friend, in the course of his speech, had dealt severe and impartial justice to every Party in the House—the Welsh Party, the Church Party, the Government, find the Opposition. A curious circumstance about the Amendment was that it was not fathered by a single representative from Wales, and, so far as he was aware, there was not a single representative from Wales who was prepared to give it his support. That was a striking indication of what Welsh opinion on the subject was. Now, the Committee had already decided that the tithe rent-charge should not be vested in the central body. It was already decided—at least by implication—that it ought not to go to the Representative Body. The only question, therefore, now open to discuss was, whether or not it should be vested in each case in the Parish Councils, or, as the Bill proposed, in the County Councils. Reference had been made to the heavy tax which tithe imposes on the suffering farmer or landowner, and now, of course, it was paid directly by the landowner. But it did not make the least difference to the landowner qua landowner, the person who paid the tithe, whether he paid it to the parson, or to the County Council, or Parish Council. It might make a difference according to whether the tithe was to be expended entirely in the parish or not. If, for instance, the tithe was to be expended on relief of rates, he agreed it would make a difference to the person who held land in the parish, but that affected the question of the ultimate disposition of the tithe. There was something to be said for the proposal of the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydvil the other night, and there was a great deal more to be said for such distribution of the money as would primarily recognise the claim of the locality out of which it arose. But what his hon. Friend proposed was that whatever might be the circumstances of a parish, however large the tithe or small the population, however varied the conditions of adjacent parishes, every parish should for all time to come be stereotyped in the exclusive management of that part of the tithe which it at present enjoyed. In certain parishes in Wales the tithe was as little as £50, while in others it was as much as £350, and in some instances considerably more. The local distribution of tithe at present, whatever might be the historical causes of it, was an entirely capricious thing. Under these circumstances, he could not think it would be wise to establish what had been called a chess-board system. The parish of £350 might have a smaller population than the one of £50. Was it not more rational to look at the question from a wider point of view than an individual parish; and, always putting in the forefront the primary claim of the parish, yet to give to the system such elasticity as would take account of local varieties and incongruities and prevent the jealousies and inconveniences which would otherwise arise. He was most anxious to introduce such safeguards as were necessary, in order to compel the County Council to have regard to the interests of the parishes concerned; and he thought that when they came to the discussion of the 9th Clause he would be able to satisfy his hon. Friend that the Government proposed to do that effectually. But he must repeat that, in his opinion, it was a much more convenient and much less expensive machinery for the collection of tithe to put the collection of tithe for the whole county in the hands of the County Council. It avoided the multiplication of officials, it avoided the throwing on Parish Councils duties for which they were not well fitted, not having legal advice or a staff or resources of their own necessary for the purpose, and in a very large number of cases where there was no Parish Council at all they would almost have to call into existence a Parish Council whose sole or main function would be the collection of the tithe. He was confident an immense quantity of the funds would be frittered away under a system of that kind.

congratulated the Committee on the fact that now, having despoiled the Church, they came to the natural and inevitable stage of quarrelling over the plunder. [Laughter.] The hon. Member said a good deal about the depressed state of agriculture. The Opposition had been endeavouring on various occasions throughout the Session to impress upon this House how grave and serious that depression was. He did not remember that they had ever had either the voice or the vote of the hon. Member in their aid. He was glad, however, to think in future that voice and that vote would be on their side. The hon. Member said a great deal about the burden the tithe was upon agriculture. Then, again, he entirely agreed with him, and he hoped when they came to the point in this Bill at which it might be possible to suggest to the House some means of alleviating that pressure of the tithe upon agriculture, with regard to the tithe with which this Bill dealt, that there again they should have the hon Member on their side. He thought it was a matter of great congratulation that, at any rate, one Member on the other side of the House should have shown such an intelligent interest in, and attention to, this subject, as had been displayed by the hon. Member, for what had the hon. Member ascertained? He, had ascertained that the tithe rentcharge, which formed a main part of the endowments of the Church in Wales, was a very small pittance indeed, amounting, on an average, to something like 7s. 6d. per head of the population of a parish, and that the parishes were very poor. Those were the very facts that the Opposition had been endeavouring to impress upon the House as a reason against the of the Church, their contention being that if despoiled of these endowments the Church would not be in a position to do the good work she was now doing. The hon. Member had frankly admitted that through many centuries these funds with which they were now dealing had been devoted to a fine and noble object, which had conferred infinite advantage on the country in which the Church existed. He wished the hon. Member had given a little more attention to that consideration in previous Debates and Divisions, and especially on the Second Reading of the Bill. What did the hon. Member propose with reference to the future of the tithe rent-charge? He thought that about two years ago they had passed a new Magna Charta for the country parishes, that the tyranny of the squire and the parson was to be done away with, and a new era opened, under which the fields were to wave with golden grain and all the rest of it. But what were they now told by the hon. Member? That unless they placed this tithe rent-charge in their hands, the Parish Councils in a good many parishes in Wales could not be brought into existence, and would not have any means of subsistence at all. The, whole speech of the hon. Member was a revelation of a complete change in the convictions on more than one political subject which he had entertained during the last few years. ["Hear, hear!" and Mr. T. LOUGH: "Not at all."] The Home Secretary, referring to the suggestion of the hon. Member—that the landowners would not be affected by the change proposed by the Bill—had, he thought, said that it would be the same thing to the landowners whether the tithe remained in the parish or whether it was devoted to the purposes of the County Council.

was understood to say that what he stated was—that it was the same thing whether it was paid to the Parish Council or the County Council so far as regarded its ultimate disposition.

said, that the right hon. Gentleman was not willing to do anything in this Bill which could possibly benefit those who owned the land in the parish. He was bound to say, looked at from his point of view, that, as he was strongly in favour of a central fund which might be applied for the benefit of the whole of Wales rather than the method proposed in this Bill, he was disposed to think that the proposal of the hon. Member was somewhat a move in the wrong direction, and that if the Bill proposed, as he thought it did, to fritter away this money, the hon. Member, by his proposal, went even further in the direction of waste than did the Government. He himself had always preferred a central to a parochial fund in this matter. The Government were halting between two opinions. They would neither devote the tithe rent-charge, which was practically the bulk of the endowments of the Church of Wales, to the benefit of the parish from which it issued, nor yet would they allow it to be devoted to a central fund for the benefit of the whole of Wales. They thought they could, in some way or other, through the machinery of the county councils, in whom the tithe rent-charge was in future to be vested, secure that it should go both to the benefit of the parish individually, and also to the benefit of the whole of Wales. He believed that to be an absolutely impracticable proposition. He had no doubt that when they went a little further on with this Bill they should have a full and ample discussion on this matter. But if the Government adhered to their plan, and declined to devote the property taken away from the Church to the benefit of the whole of Wales, then he confessed he would infinitely sooner see it devoted to the interests of the parishes from which it issued than dealt with in the manner proposed by the Bill. He believed, at any rate, this might relieve a very considerable number of persons interested in individual parishes, although it would not do good to the whole country; for in these parishes the effect of the Bill must be to cast a very heavy charge for the maintenance of the Church upon the landowners who now paid this tithe, which the Government were about to take away from them and devote to other purposes. That was a very strong reason, no doubt, in favour of the proposal of the hon. Gentleman, but, as at present advised, he must say his own opinion was that a central fund was a better and a more useful plan, therefore, he could not himself support the Amendment. The hon. Member had stated that, in some way or other, the allocation of the Church funds in Ireland to a central fund had been a source of very grave hardship to Ireland. He did not himself believe that the Disendowment of the Irish Church had done any good to Ireland whatever. But the only point the hon. Member really brought forward to substantiate that argument was that, even while Parliament was disendowing the Irish Church, it was relieving the British Exchequer of the cost of certain grants, such as those to the Presbyterians, and placing them upon the funds of the disendowed Irish Church, and that, therefore, the taxpayers of the United Kingdom were practically relieved of the burdens previously cast upon them. But, of course, that was part of the scheme of the Irish Church Act—that was the bribe to the English taxpayer for passing that Act. He agreed that from the Irish point of view, arguments might have been brought forward with considerable force, both against these proposals and against the subsequent burden cast upon the Irish Church funds, instead of upon the National Exchequer for the benefit of Ireland. But it was part of the policy of Parliament by which the Irish Church Bill was allowed to pass, and it was now somewhat too late to complain of it. So far as this Amendment went, he thought that at any rate it had been of service, for the reasons he stated at the commencement of his remarks, and he trusted that the Government would even yet reconsider the unfortunate proposals—as they seemed to him—as to the allocation of these funds, which were embodied in the Bill.

, as an agricultural Member, desired to offer an opinion on the principle of the Amendment. To many of them, tithes appeared to be one of the greatest agricultural questions they had, and especially to those of them who lived in the eastern part of England. The county in which he resided paid nearly as much as the whole amount paid in Wales, and hoping, as he did, that what they were doing now with regard to Wales was a precedent, and what would hereafter be done in England, he naturally watched with great jealousy the proposals of the Bill. Hitherto the tithes had been appropriated in the main to the use of the villages in which they arose. They were the outcome of the toil of the people, and they had been devoted to pious and charitable uses. After this Bill became an Act, tithe would still be collected, and the same amount that was paid to-day would still be to pay. The uses and necessities to which the tithes were now assigned would also still remain, and somebody would have to pay for the maintenance of religion in the parish and for the support of charities, &c. They knew that as a matter of fact before the Reformation the glebe and tithe in substance covered the whole of the poor law expenditure of the country, and the education of the country, in addition to the maintenance of the fabrics of the church and the ministry in the churches——

, interposing, expressed the opinion that the hon. Member was wandering beyond the Amendment. The question was—What was to be done with the tithes?

observed that it was to the point he was about to address his remarks. He was showing that the uses of the tithe, and the necessities for the use of the tithe, would still remain in the parishes, and to take it away would be to make the last condition of the parishes much worse than it was to-day. It would be equivalent to imposing a second tithe. He paid no heed to the cry of robbery and spoliation which had been raised against the secular use of tithe, for tithe was the property of the community, and they were merely transferring tithe from one use to another use for the benefit of the same community. But if they handed over the tithe to a National Council, or to the County Council, instead of to parishes, they would be robbing and spoliating the parishes in which the tithe originated; they would be taking the tithe from the poor agricultural parishes in which it was raised, and distributing it among the large and rich centres of population which had borne none of the burden of producing it. He wanted the parishes to retain a tight hold on property which originated in those parishes. Nothing had surprised him more than the line taken on this question by hon. Gentlemen opposite. They had been accustomed to look to the Tory Party as the Agricultural Party, as the friends of the country folk, and yet that Party had voted the other evening for taking the tithe from the villages and handing it over to the towns. He was perfectly amazed at such action. How the Tory Party could defend it, it was for them and not for him to say, but he was sure that if they went down to the villages and told the people that they proposed to take from the villages the tithe the villages had produced and hand a large part of it over to the towns, they would find that the people would have something to say on the matter. The Home Secretary had said that if the tithe were left to the parish it would be frittered away. He could not agree with the right hon. Gentleman. He lived in a parish in which there was a common; the people jealously guarded their rights to that common; and if the tithe were turned to the use of the parish he was sure the people would watch the gathering and expenditure of every sixpence of it—aye, of every farthing of it—with the, same jealous care. Knowing, as he did, the many ways in which the funds could be used for the benefit of the villages, he thought it would be monstrous to rob the poor agricultural villages of the fruits of the burden they had borne for centuries, but also partaken of, and to distribute them among the rich centres of population. He was surprised beyond expression, how hon. Members opposite, who were so fond of declaring that they were the friends of agriculture—who so frequently complained of the burdens of agriculture and wanted them diminished—could join with the many enemies of the land in this House, and say to them: "Strip us of a large portion of those tithe funds which are the property of our agricultural villages." Possession was nine points of the law, and he desired to give the parishes these nine points by handing the tithes over to their custody, and to their care.

thought the Home Secretary was wrong in saying the choice of the Committee was restricted to the proposal of the hon. Member for West Islington and the proposal of the Government, which came on at a later stage of the Bill.

The right hon. Gentleman has slightly misunderstood me. What I said was, that two alternative proposals had been made and rejected—to hand the tithes over to a Central Council or to the representative body; and that only two others remained—this one, or the one of the Government.

said, the Committee still retained its right to deliberate on the proposal of the Government when the proper time arrived; and if it were found to be non-satisfactory some other plan would have to be devised. If the Committee had only the alternative of handing the tithe over to the Parish Councils, or to the County Council, he should vote unhesitatingly for the Amendment of the hon. Member for Islington. He did not think the hope of the Home Secretary—that, though the bulk of the funds might fall to the County Council, they would be spent for the benefit of the parishes—was well founded; for knowing something of country life, he had not found that County Councils attached much importance at any rate to to the wishes of the smaller parishes. There was usually an attempt to centralise the county round the larger villages, and this attempt was resented by the smaller villages. The hon. Member who moved the Amendment appealed to those on the Opposition side not to hastily reject that Amendment. If the hon. Member had listened to the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Bristol he would know that there was no desire on their part hastily to reject the Amendment. In his judgment the matter presented the nicest appeal to the Parliamentary conscience which he had ever come across in his experience of the House. If they compared the proposal of the hon. Member for Islington with their own proposal to leave the tithes to the Church they were bound to regret it; but if they compared it with the proposal in the Bill they were bound to vote for it. There were four plans for the disposal of the tithes—to retain them for the use of the Church; or to give them to Wales as a Nation; or to hand them over to the County Council; or to the parishes. He would remind the Committee that when the proposal was made to retain the tithes for the use of the Church, it was overruled on the plea that tithe was national property and ought to be given over to a national body. That was definitely stated over and over again in the most explicit terms. It was stated most explicitly, by the right hon. Gentleman the Secretary for Scotland, who said—:

"Beyond all question tithes were devoted to religious purposes, but by whom and for whom? They were given by the whole community to the whole community."

If that really represented the view of the Government, it was clear that if they looked to the origin of tithe, it ought to be handed over to some national council. But he admitted there was a good deal to be said historically for the hon. Member for Islington's plan. One of the most interesting speeches on the Second Reading of the Bill was by the hon. Member for Eccles(Mr. Roby) who was an authority to whom everyone would bow on historical questions, and he hoped that if tithes were not private benefactions, such as they (the Opposition) contended, they were a kind of income tax, of 10 per cent. on the income and industry of all persons in the parish. He believed that tithe was an antiquated equivalent for a perpetual rent charge on land; and that that perpetual rent charge had tended to diminish rent, to diminish profits and to diminish wages in those localities from which it was derived. Therefore, there was a good case for saying that as the tithe had been a charge on the property and industry of the parish, if it should go anywhere it should go to the parish. There remained the question whether it ought not to be handed over to a national council for national purposes. He would prefer that plan to the plan of handing it over to the parish. He should wait and listen to the rest of the Debate before finally deciding, but holding that view he was justified in voting for the Amendment.

said, he could not agree that tithe was a tax upon agriculture. In his view tithe was part of the rent of the land and had hitherto been devoted to certain special purposes. They had now to determine to what other purposes it should be applied. If this were the moment for examining that question, he confessed he thought there was much to be said for the conclusion at which the hon. Member for Islington had arrived. The purposes to which tithe had been devoted were parochial—they were in relief and supposed assistance of what would otherwise be a common want of the parish, and it might be plausibly said that if they were going to take away funds which had hitherto been applied in relief of common wants of the parish and to devote them to some other purpose, the purpose to which they were devoted in future should be parochial. But the especial reason why he rose at this time was to inquire whether all this argument was not, in relation to this clause, entirely misapplied. They were now considering the vesting of the property in this or that body. They were not at all dealing with what should be the use of the property when it became vested in the persons in whom it was proposed to vest it; all that was to be reserved until Clause 9 or some other clause. Until they got to that clause it was premature to discuss the question.

desired to associate himself with what had fallen from his right hon. Friend as to the period at which the discussion, on its merits, really ought to be taken, but he did not at all criticise the course adopted by the hon. Member for Islington. He pointed out on a previous occasion it was almost impossible, in discussing the question of in what body the property should be vested, altogether to leave out of sight the uses to which the property was to be put. He thought the hon. Gentleman, and any other hon. Gentleman was quite justified in giving his views on that subject, even on the sixth clause, but it was on the ninth clause that the question would really arise; and what in strictness they ought to confine themselves to at the present moment was, not the uses to which the property was to be put, but in what body it was convenient to vest the property which was to be transferred from the disestablished Church. He confessed that upon that branch of the question he had not a very strong opinion, but he was rather disposed to agree with the Home Secretary. The right hon. Gentleman the Member for Bodmin had told them that in his view tithe was not a tax upon agriculture, but part of the rent. That in certain cases was perfectly true, but it must be remembered it was undoubtedly the fact that by imposing a certain kind of burden in the shape of rent they might compel a change in agriculture from a form which employed largely to a form which employed it much less. It was quite conceivable that in some cases the effect of tithe had been either to throw land out of cultivation or to alter the manner in which it was cultivated. Having entered that caveat against a too stringent application of the theory the right hon. Gentleman had advanced, he wished to take note that the hon. Member for Suffolk had expressed the view that to tax the landlords was to inflict injury upon the whole agricultural community. That was a perfectly sound view; he wished it prevailed generally on the other side of the House, for there were gentlemen who had no better notion of improving the general condition of the farmer or labourer than that which consisted in robbing the landlord. ["Hear, hear!"] After all, the question they would have to decide when they came to the ninth clause was, which of the three plans they would adopt. The plan he and his hon. Friends desired was a central fund. If they were defeated in their desire to get a central fund they would have to consider the alternative of a parochial fund in the full sense of the term, which the hon. Gentleman desired, or a parochial fund in the qualified sense of that term, which the Government suggested. Of the two alternatives he was distinctly in favour of the plan of the hon. Gentleman, and if the Government succeeded in preventing them carrying out their plan of a central fund he would certainly do his best to see the policy of the hon. Member for Islington carried into effect. He wished, however, to impress upon the hon. Member the fact that a vote on this Amendment would not at all represent the views of the Committee upon his scheme, first, because the vote would be taken on a question of machinery, and, secondly, because he might find arrayed against him in the Lobby many of those whom it was not absolutely impossible might be found on his side on the real question.

said, he had carefully considered what the Home Secretary said in reply to the arguments he addressed to the Committee. The point on which the right hon. Gentleman laid great stress, the most suitable body to make the collection, was really not the point which he emphasised at all. He had not very carefully considered it, but he believed that, so far as he did allude to it, he said he did not care who collected the money, so long as the principle of the return to the parish of what was paid by the parish was conceded. The right hon. Gentleman had asked whether he objected to parishes being united. He certainly did not where two or three parishes had equal interests. He only wished to secure that the contribution of each parish should be returned to it. He must accept the authorities that Clause 9 was the point at which to take a Division on this point, and he would ask leave to withdraw his Amendment.

On a point of Order, Sir. As I understand it, the Committee have already decided on Sub-section A, subject to the pledge which I have given, that the burial grounds are not to pass to the representative body. Is it in order for the hon. Member to argue now that they are to be retained by the representative body? My contention is that he can only argue that they ought to pass to the County Councils, or to some other body—not the representative body.

Yes, I think that is so.

said, that he was unable to suggest any other body than the representative body, and, therefore, he would not proceed with his Amendment. But he should like to ask the Home Secretary what steps he proposed to take in order to carry out his pledge with respect to disused burial grounds.

said, that the noble Lord the Member for Rochester had an Amendment on the Paper dealing with that question; but the Amendment went much beyond the pledge which he had given. He would suggest that the more convenient place for discussing this matter would be at the end of the clause of which he had given notice dealing with the regulation of burial grounds.

suggested that he should move the first part of his Amendment first, to which the right hon. Gentleman would be able to assent, and should move the other part afterwards.

said, that he should much prefer the question to be postponed, but if the noble Lord insisted on pressing his Amendment now it would, no doubt, be more convenient to divide it into two parts.

thought it would he better to settle the question at once, while the clause was under discussion. The original suggestion of the right hon. Gentleman was that the Amendment should come at this very place.

suggested that the noble Lord should move the controversial part of his Amendment at once, and leave the rest.

adopted the suggestion, and rose to move, after the words "burial ground," in Sub-section "b," the addition of the words—"Until it shall have become closed under the provisions of any Act of Parliament."

said, that if those words were carried they would exclude all burial grounds already closed.

said, that in that case he must move his Amendment as it appeared on the Paper; and he would first move the part to which the right hon. Gentleman assented. He therefore moved, after the words "burial ground" in Subsection (b), to add:—

"Of any ecclesiastical parish where it has been closed under the provisions of any Act of Parliament."

said, that he had no objection to that Amendment. But the words "or Order in Council" must be added, as many grounds were closed by Order in Council. Again, the noble Lord's Amendment left it doubtful whether grounds closed before the passing of the Act were not alone referred to. The Amendment should be extended to include grounds closed betweeen the passing of the Act and the date of Disestablishment.

pointed out that in the numerous cases where an old burial ground had been extended, the new ground, coming within the definition of a private benefaction, would be in the hands of the representative body, while the old ground, which generally lay immediately round the church, would vest in the Parish Council. So that they had, as it seemed to him, reached a conclusion exactly opposite to that which it was wished to arrive at. They would vest the open part of a burial ground in the representative body, and leave the part in which there could be no more interments in the hands of the parish council, which was the exact reverse of what they were striving to do.

said, the hon. Member had put a case which was not likely to be one of common occurrence, and which did not arise on this Amendment; but he would undertake to consider it.

suggested that it would be necessary, to meet the case of burial grounds that were partly closed by inserting the words "wholly or partly." There were cases in which interments might be made in family vaults, and where a donor had reserved the right of sepulture for himself.

said, that such cases were met by exceptions in the Orders in Council, and the words suggested would apply to a burial ground of which the old part was disused and the new part still in use.

said, he was obliged to the Home Secretary for pointing out the defects in the drafting of the Amendment; and he proposed to move it in this form:—

"Of any ecclesiastical parish where, before the date of Disestablishment, it has been closed in pursuance of the provisions of any Act of Parliament or of any Order in Council made thereunder."

said, he could not accept the argument that the concession asked for would only be the logical conclusion of other concessions that had been made. The ground on which the concessions referred to were made was that the Government thought that when handing over churches to the representative body it would be a gracious thing to treat as part of the curtilage of a church handed over the disused and closed burial grounds which might surround it. But circumstances hereafter might be different. The effect of the Amendment would be that whenever, at any distance of time, or in any change of circumstances, the churchyard ceased to be actively used, it would be passed over to a representative body which might not require it. The church itself might be disused for the purpose of public worship, local conditions might have wholly changed, and by common consent it might be undesirable that the transfer should take place. The noble Lord wished the representative body to do what they had no power to do.

pointed out that where part of the churchyard was needed for extension of the fabric of the church, a faculty was necessary, and the law prevented the erection of buildings where interments had taken place. He agreed that the churchyards, which would be in the position the noble Lord had referred to, should belong to the representative Church body. There would be no difficulty in framing an Amendment to provide for this.

said, the more the noble Lord got the more he wanted. There was less reason for vesting disused than churchyards still used in the representative Church body. Under 19 and 20 Vict., c. 128, sect. 18, disused churchyards were kept in repair at the cost of the ratepayers. Not only were such churchyards the property of the parish, but the parishioners were liable to maintain them. He therefore did not see why they should vest in an ecclesiastical body.

said, this matter was fully discussed in Committee on the Parish Councils Act, when it was provided that the parish councils should not touch disused burial grounds without notice served on them by the churchwardens. The Amendment might be looked at from the practical and sentimental point of view. Why on earth did the parish councils want these disused burial-grounds unless it was for grazing purposes? They could not use them for any of the purposes mentioned in the schedule of the Bill—for the erection of convalescent homes, training nurses for the sick poor, the provision of labourers' dwellings and allotments. It was impossible to conceive the purposes to which disused burial grounds could be put by the parish councils. It was said that the opponents of the Bill only clung to these disused burial grounds from sentiment. Well, there was a great deal of sentiment attaching to the burial ground of even the smallest country church. It had been said—

"Some mute, inglorious Milton here may rest, Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood."

Of such as Cromwell no one would disturb the rest. The opponents of the Bill were actuated by the sentiment which moved the man who fell among thieves to complain of their conduct; by the sentiment which prompted the Chinese to worship their ancestors; by sentiments of respect for the resting-places of bygone generations. The Parish Councils might claim these burial grounds from sentiment, but it was not sentiment so respectable as theirs; it was sectarian sentiment—a quarrel over some petty point of Church discipline which actuated them against the Church. From the point of view of utility and sentiment he contended that these disused burial grounds should remain in the hands of the Church.

said, it had been remarked that if burial grounds when closed were to pass from the parish council to the representative body, it would be necessary to have a legal conveyance to effect the transfer; but that was not the case, because it might be provided that the order for closing a burial ground should operate as a transfer to the representative body. Another point which had been dealt with by previous speakers, was, that the church authorities should have power to extend their church if they desired to do so, by taking in a portion of the churchyard.

said, that perhaps the best mode of proceeding would be to leave the burial grounds which were not closed vested in the Commissioners, on the understanding that when closed they were to pass to the representative body.

said, that there was not a parish council in Wales who would be willing to sell a disused burial ground to a brewery, as the Ecclesiastical Commissioners had done in the case of All Hallows Church in the City of London.

said, that he had had an Amendment to the same effect standing in his name, but had withdrawn it under the apprehension that it was out of order. He quite agreed with the arguments of the hon. Member for Tunbridge. Experience had shown that in many cases, even where the population remained the same, the enlargement of the church was thought desirable. It was often necessary for the due performance of public worship. In many cases, too, it was desirable that the chancel should be increased in size. If the Amendment of his hon. Friend was carried, enlargement could take place, but if the burial-ground was in the hands of a separate authority, enlargement would become impossible, He believed that would be a great hardship on the Church, and would do no good whatever to other people. He hoped the Committee would follow the precedent of the Irish Act and accept the Amendment.

said, that they were now practically rearguing a question which was settled two days ago, and in the circumstances he hardly thought it necessary to re-argue it. He would, however, just say, as the case of Ireland had been referred to, that the Government conceived that there was a remarkable distinction between the case of Ireland and the case of Wales. In Ireland the burial-grounds were used by Protestants only, but in Wales they were used by all religious bodies; in fact, the whole population used them. There was, therefore, a broad distinction between the two cases. Then, as regarded the difficulties about enlarging and repairing the church that had been referred to, he quite admitted that they might arise; but the clause which his right hon. Friend had put down would give an opportunity for discussing that matter, and if it did not sufficiently provide for it, the Government would approach the discussion of the clause with a perfectly open mind. There could not be any desire to prevent anything else being done, that could be done, for making provision for repairs and enlargement, but he submitted that this was not the proper point for the discussion of the matter, and for the reasons he had given he was afraid the Government could not accept the Amendment.

said, that if the Church of England did not get the power to acquire adjacent land, she would be in a different position to all other denominations, and it was absurd and unfair that that should be the case. The resistance to this Amendment was prompted by the old feeling of suspicion that in the matter of burial-grounds some clergymen of the Established Church would be unreasonable, and deal unfairly with Nonconformists. If there had been bad clergymen in the Church, it was due to the bad patronage law. That the patronage law was bad was not the fault of the Church party, and if this Bill became law the whole of it would be swept away, and a different method of electing clergymen would be set up.

remarked that, owing to the crude form in which the Bill was drawn, they were placed in great difficulty, for they had to discuss a matter 40 pages a head on the Amendment Paper, which really ought to be settled at this point. The right hon. Gentleman the President of the Board of Trade used the curious form of argument that there was a great distinction between Wales and Ireland, because in Ireland only the Prostestants used the burial-grounds. What on earth had that to do with the question of adjacent churchyards? The right hon. Gentleman did not treat the Amendment with the respect it deserved. He could not have given it any consideration before he got up to speak upon it. There were only three logical courses to pursue, either that the representative body should have all the churchyards, or that they should have none, or that they should have those churchyards which were adjacent to the churches; and if there was one class of burial-grounds which it was peculiarly proper and convenient that the representative body should possess, it was those which were adjacent to the building. It was true that the Home Secretary had said that he would put down words later on which would remove the obvious disadvantages that had been referred to, but he was not at all sure that it would be in the right hon. Gentleman's power to get over a very large number of difficulties which would arise. He supposed that the right hon. and learned Gentlemen now on the Front Bench had not the power themselves to give way in this matter, but he was sure that the Government would be well advised to consider this point. It would give great satisfaction to the Church party, and also to the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Midlothian, who, it was perfectly well known, was not satisfied with this part of the Bill. It was on this very matter of burial-grounds that the right hon. Gentleman had lost confidence in Her Majesty's Ministers.

hoped that the speeches addressed to the Government on the present occasion might produce an effect upon a distant clause when the notices of Motion were published tomorrow. He wished to impress on the President of the Board of Trade that no answer had been given to the extremely practical difficulty which had been pointed out in regard to enlargements in churches. If the clause were passed in its present form, it would be practically impossible in the case of a country church for a vestry to be erected, or an organ chamber built, or some other little addition to be made to the church, because it would be impossible for the representative body to obtain the land. Clause 14, to which reference had been made, contained nothing to remedy that.

said, that he had pointed out that that clause ought to remedy it.

asked whether the right hon. Gentleman would undertake that it should be made to do so.

said, that the Government had very carefully considered that question, and he would see how it could be covered, because he agreed that it ought to be. ["Hear, hear!" from the Opposition.]

Under those circumstances I have nothing more to say.

thought this a very important matter. He supported the Amendment mainly on the sentimental ground, being not ashamed of owning that sentiment ought to have very great influence in this matter. And, if there was a sentiment attaching to the church, there was perhaps an even greater sentiment attaching to the churchyard. He did not think that the Home Secretary's answer, in which the right hon. Gentleman, attempted to discriminate between the Irish and Welsh Churches was satisfactory, and he did not consider that the right hon. Gentleman's statement in regard to Ireland was strictly accurate. He also contested the argument which the right hon. Gentleman advanced, that ecclesiastical differences were so acute that it did not do to leave these burial grounds in the hands of one religious body. The Member for Denbigh (Sir G. Osborne Morgan) took paternal pride in the Burials Act. but it had not been of much practical effect. It was a singular fact, that, in Wales, that Act, which was supposed to free the churchyards for ever from the tyranny of the clergy of the Established Church, had done nothing of the kind, and the clergy were frequently called upon to officiate at the funerals of Nonconformists. This showed that the differences as to burial-grounds were not so acute as they had been represented to be, and proved, in his view, that Nonconformists were willing to merge their differences at the graveside. ["Hear, hear!"] The Government now proposed to produce a new element of discord at this period of disruption and difficulty. The taking away of these graveyards was not the way to promote peace and harmony in the future, and he hoped that his hon. Friend would perseveres with his Amendment.

desired to urge upon the Government that it was never too late for a Committee of sensible men to do a sensible thing. Who could doubt that it would be sensible for them now to recognise the practical impossibility of preserving the rights of the Church, and at the same time to take away the churchyards? The Government had put down 42 lines of amendments to this section with the view of safeguarding the rights of the Church in respect of the churchyards, and they would have to add another 10 lines. He urged the Government to give way. It would not be any defeat for them to do so. Was it not better to leave the graveyards as they now were—namely, in the hands of the body most intimately associated with them, especially in view of the fact that those graveyards could not be protected without cumbrous machinery covering nearly a whole page of their Bill?

said, that the subject before the Committee raised another question. The reverential up-keep of the churchyard in connection with the church was a matter of importance to everybody in the parish. This was a growing feeling and one which ought to be encouraged. But the financial aspect of the case was important. The up-keep of a churchyard cost a good bit, and it was often largely looked after by the vicar, who was especially interested in it. But, if this Amendment were not carried, the churchyard would pass to the Parish Council, and those connected with the Church would not be entitled to keep in order the churchyard adjacent to the church. In some villages of small rateable value, a penny in the £ only produced about £5 a year, and, as there was a limit of 6d. in the amount which the Parish Council could raise for the whole parish, a large proportion of that limit would he necessary in future to keep the churchyard in proper order. Even a small churchyard involved considerable expenditure, but the vicar would not be able to undertake it in future, and the result in the poorer parishes would be that the churchyard would not be kept up at all. From a religious point of view, and a general reverence for the churchyards, a result such as that was very seriously to be regretted. He believed the great bulk of Nonconformists would admit in their hearts that it was desirable that those portions of the churchyards which were adjacent to the church, and were really part and parcel of it, should remain in the keeping and care of the Church, in order that there might be no uncertainty as to their being kept in proper order.

also believed it was better that the yards adjacent to the church should remain in possession of the body that had always held and properly kept them than that they should be transferred to any other authority. Certainly sufficient reason had not been shown for dividing the yards from the church.

moved, line 24 after "and," insert "such part of this." He said the object of this and a consequential Amendment was to secure that only "such part of the glebe of any ecclesiastical parish as may not be vested in the representative body under the provisions of this Act" should be vested in the Parish Council. His objection broadly went to the vesting of the whole of the glebe in Parish Councils. Having regard to the condition of things in Wales, the provision in the Bill was most unreasonable. There must be some discrimination in this matter. Nothing like a hard and fast rule could be applied. A Return was moved for on the 27th July 1894 by Mr. David Thomas and granted, which gave most valuable information on this matter. It would have been more useful for practical purposes if there had been a column of population.

said, there was such a column in his Motion in its original form.

said, he was about to supplement the information contained in the Return by taking some instances which certainly were most striking, and to which the attention of the House ought to be directed. In a large number of these parishes there were very considerable amounts of glebe and a comparatively small population, while in other districts there were large populations and no glebe at all. He would give a few instances. There was the parish of Bodewryd, with Rhosbeirio, in the county of Anglesey, with a population of 60, where the glebe was 188 acres in extent, and was of the annual value of £123. In the same county there was another parish—the parish of Llansadwrn—with a population of 390, where the glebe was only six acres, two roods, of the value of £8 a year. Then in the county of Brecknock there was one parish—Capel Coelbren—with a population of 146, where the glebe was 150 acres, of the value of £100 a year; and in the same county there was another parish—Llandefalley, with Crickadarn—with six times the population—827—and the total value of the glebe was only £31. It was absolutely impossible to understand why, if the Bill had been conceived with anything like foresight and regard to the rural arrangements of the localities, such a principle could be adopted. The parishes with larger populations also brought into relief what a careful study of Mr. Thomas's Return disclosed on almost every page. There, was in Glamorgan the parish of Llangyfelach, with 27,500 people, which had not a single acre of glebe; and the parish of St. Peter, Llandaff, with a population of 2,747, was in the same position.

said, the Committee had never yet decided that the glebe was to go to the Parish Council as distinguished from the County Council, or a general council, or some other body. He held that the Parish Council was not a proper body to receive the glebe, and it seemed to him that the House ought to express its opinion as to whether or not the whole of the glebe in populous and unpopulous parishes was to be carried over to the Parish Council. When the right hon. Gentleman rose he was pointing out that in Glamorgan there were parishes with thousands and tens of thousands of inhabitants which did not possess a single acre of glebe. No one who had had an opportunity of studying the return, could come to any other conclusion than that the vesting in every case of the glebe in the Parish Council would often result in the frittering away of the property. In many cases it would produce those very evils which had been so largely mitigated by the action of those who were officially concerned in the administration of charities in the United Kingdom. Where there was a large amount of money available, and only a small population, there was always a danger of the grant of doles and charities, which were not such as were likely to improve the condition of the people in any true sense. Anything like the vesting of the glebe in parish councils without discrimination and without any arrangement for the distribution of the money among various parishes, ought not to be approved by the council. If the property was to be preserved for national purposes, surely some scheme of allocation, as between different parishes, ought to be agreed upon, so that malappropriation—he would not use the word misappropriation—of the income of the glebe, might be prevented. The other night the hon. Member for Islington had spoken of this property as belonging to the parish as a parish. He denied that that was correct, either legally or historically. As long as there was an established fund which was supposed to produce the endowments or salary of the parson of the parish, it might perhaps be proper to speak of it as a parochial fund out of which parochial services were paid. The glebe which produced the endowment might be regarded as the property of the parish, for the, purpose of supplying the salary of the minister. As soon, however, as the object to which the money was originally appropriated was destroyed, the glebe, ceased to be parochial property. It then became property to be preserved for national purposes and aims. To provide that in every case the whole of this property should vest in the parish council, would be to adopt a scheme which would be most detrimental not only to the church but to parochial bodies themselves. He trusted, therefore, that his amendment would be favourably received by the Government.

said, that he was still in the dark as to the desire of the hon. and learned Member. This Amendment, which was originally put down as a drafting Amendment, turned out to be a very substantial Amendment. It would be impossible for him to argue the question which the hon. and learned Gentleman had put before them until he should know what was the hon. and learned Gentleman's alternative proposal. His Amendment at present merely went to negative the idea that, the whole of the glebe must necessarily be vested in the Parish Council. There was no alternative proposal. If the hon. and learned Gentleman should wish at a future time to bring up a new clause or a fuller Amendment on this subject he would not be prejudiced by the withdrawal of the present Amendment, because there were saving words in the clause, namely—

"The Welsh Commissioners shall, save as otherwise provided by this Act, by order vest the property transferred to them," &c.

He could not accept the hon. and learned Gentleman's Amendment now, and suggested its withdrawal.

feared that the case of the supporters of the Amendment would be prejudiced by its withdral.

observed that he had endeavoured to explain that their case would not be prejudiced.

said, they wished to make it quite clear that they could not assent to the proposal that the glebe should go to the Parish Council in every case. There were alternative proposals.

explained again that the question could be reopened.

said, that he was willing to withdraw the Amendment on the understanding that the question could be discussed on a future occasion.

said, that personally he entertained no doubt that a clause or Amendment on this subject could be brought up hereafter; but, of course, it was for the Chairman to say whether he was right in holding that opinion.

intimated that the course suggested would be in order.

had the following Amendment on the Paper:—

"Clause 6, page 3, line 25, after 'parish,' insert,— 'Subject to a right of way in the Representative Body, and the clergy and congregation attending the church, and such other persons as may resort thereto for the purpose of divine worship, or for the purpose of repairing the church, or for any other lawful purpose, and such council or chairman and overseers of the parish, as the ease may be, shall not allow any funeral to take place during the time of services in the said church, and shall make such other regulations as may be found necessary from time to time to prevent any interference by persons attending funerals with the clergy or congregations attending the said church, and shall keep the wall or other fence, and the gates or doors of, and any road or path through such burial ground to the church situate therein in good and sufficient repair.'"

said, that since this Amendment had been put down a new clause had been put on the Paper by the Home Secretary, embodying it, and, in these circumstances, the hon. Member for Wigan had asked him to explain to the Committee that he desired to withdraw this proposal.

moved:—

"Page 3, line 27, after the first 'parish,' insert in which it is situated.'"

The object of the Amendment, he explained, was to provide that the glebe should, in all cases, be vested, not in the parish of the benefice to which it was attached, but in the parish in which it was locally situated. As he understood the principle of the Bill, which had been enunciated time after time by Members of the Government and their supporters, they were to have regard in all cases to the place from which the property was derived. It had been laid down that the locality from which the property was derived was to have the benefit of the property now taken from the Church. That being so, he utterly failed to see why a glebe should not at once go to the parish in which it happened to be situated, and that that parish should not have to pay for it. Not only was that the principle of the Bill, but it was the principle of the supporters of the Bill. The hon. Member for Islington, who made a long and interesting speech that afternoon, also made an interesting speech on the previous day, in which he told them that the tithe rent-charge did not fall like manna from Heaven, but was locally derived from certain localities, and that these localities ought to have it. The glebe did not fall like manna from Heaven either. The glebe was most undoubtedly locally derived and situated, and he could not for the life of him see why, in the case of a parish A, in which the glebe was locally situated, it should be taken from that parish and should go to parish B, in which it was not situated. This ought not to be the case either from the point of view of principle or convenience. Take the case of two parishes; one parish possessed the glebe but it was situated in another parish. The object of vesting the glebe in the Parish Council was to enable it to be used for those many and most interesting purposes mentioned in the second schedule. There was the question of allotments. What could be the sense of giving a glebe to one Parish Council to be used for allotments in a parish which was situated 20 miles from the glebe? The Welsh workmen, after a long day' s toil, would have to walk twenty miles over the mountains for the purpose of cultivating their allotments. There was the actual case of a parish with which he was acquainted, in Denbighshire, which possessed a glebe 15 miles off, and separated from the parish by three ranges of mountains, and yet as the Bill was now drawn the glebe would be vested in the Parish Council of the parish which possessed the glebe instead of its being vested in the parish in which it was locally situated. It might be asked what would happen, if his Amendment were carried, in the case of glebe located in England, but belonging to a Welsh ecclesiastical parish? The answer to that objection was that an Amendment should be inserted providing that where property was situated in England it ought not to pass under the Act. He did not move the Amendment in the slightest degree from the standpoint of the Church. It was in the interest of order and common sense, and in accordance with the principle of the Bill, that the locality should enjoy the property derived from it, that he moved that the glebe should be vested in the parish in which it was situated, and not in the parish to which it was attached.

said, the hon. Gentleman in his opening observations very fairly admitted that he was really repeating the arguments which had been made use of by the hon. Member for Islington in moving an Amendment earlier in the evening, and that he was really pleading on behalf of the parishes, though in regard to a different matter, like the hon. Member for Islington. The hon. Member would not, therefore, say he was wanting in courtesy when he said the answer he had to make on behalf of the Government in this matter was practically the answer given by his right hon. Friend the Home Secretary in reply to the very interesting speech of the hon. Member for Islington. The hon. Member pointed out that there were cases in which the proceeds of glebe land situated in one parish went to swell the endowments of another parish; and he asked that those proceeds should be given to the parish in which the glebe land was situated. To do that would be to act contrary to the principle underlying the Bill, and to which the Government adhered, as set forth in Clause 9, which was that in the application of the property regard should be paid to the wants of the parish in which the property is situated, or from which it has been derived, and to the general circumstances of each particular case. Those words gave the Parish Council the widest discretion in dealing with each particular case.

said, he could not help saying that the Solicitor General had entirely failed to appreciate the point of the Amendment. It was not a question of beneficial enjoyment at all. It was a question merely of vesting. The question of enjoyment would come up on Clause 9. The Amendment related only to the very small class of cases in which glebe, that belongs to one parish is geographically situated in another parish; and the question to be decided was in which of the two Parish Councils was it the more convenient that the glebe should be vested, in the Parish Council of the parish in which it was geographically situated, or in the Parish Council of the parish, 15 miles distant perhaps, to which it was attached? Surely the Parish Council of the parish in which the glebe was situated could best manage it, as they were on the spot, as trustees, for the purposes which would be decided on Clause 9. It seemed to him the Amendment was designed in the interest of the Bill. It would make the clause more workable and rational; and he thought his hon. Friend, in drafting the Amendment, had shown a kindness to the Government which the Solicitor General had not appreciated.

pointed out that although he spoke of enjoyment, he had been perfectly well aware that the Amendment dealt more with the question of vesting.

said, the hon. and learned Gentleman was not correct in saying that the arguments which applied to the Amendment of the hon. Member for Islington applied also to this Amendment. In that case they dealt with tithe not vested in the parish, while in this they were dealing with glebe that was vested in the parish.

said, he was glad to find in the person of the Solicitor General an occupant of the Treasury Bench who knew the principle on which property was allocated under the Bill. He had asked the Home Secretary several times to tell him what the principle was, and on each occasion the right hon. Gentleman told him the scheme of allocation, with which he was perfectly well acquainted, and not the principle on which the scheme was based. He would, therefore, ask the Solicitor General, who had said he understood the principle of the Bill thoroughly, on what principle it was that the revenue from the glebe in one parish would go to the parish from which it was derived, while in an adjoining parish it would go to form a central fund for the administration of the Act?

said, the answer he had to give to his hon. Friend was that the principle that had actuated the Government in this portion of the Bill was to benefit primarily the locality to which the glebe was attached. His hon. Friend had shown unlimited confidence in his knowledge of the subject, for which he could not be too grateful, but he begged to say that the rest of the hon. Gentleman's conundrum would be answered when the proper time came.

was afraid the hon. and learned Gentleman had not given the conundrum the attention it deserved. At any rate, the Solicitor-General had not answered the case put by the hon. and learned Member for Cambridge University—that was the case of a glebe which might be in England, but at the same time belong to some parish in Wales. How in the world was a Parish Council say, in Montgomeryshire, to manage a glebe, say, in Gloucestershire? They could not decide what buildings were required, what arrangements should be made for letting it out in allotments, or what should be done with regard to devoting part of it for sites For cottages. They would be utterly incapable of managing the property, however well qualified they were to manage property in their own parish. His hon. and learned Friend suggested that in such a case the glebe ought to be vested in the Parish Council of the parish in which it was situate, but he saw some difficulty there. If they did that, unquestionably they would cause in the minds of the parishioners of the parish where the glebe was situate a very bitter feeling, because they would think the land belonged to them, and yet they were deprived of any benefit from it. If, as he thought, there were objections both to vesting the glebe in the Parish Council of the parish in which it was situate, and also in that of the parish to which it belonged, surely they ought not to vest it in any Parish Council at all, but allow it to remain in the hands of the Commissioners, to become part of a central fund to be devoted to such purposes as they thought fit.

understood that the glebe of Merthyr was to go to Merthyr, but the glebe of Aberdeen was not to go to Aberdeen, but to go elsewhere. When they came to consider the Bill in detail, they found it was not in any way equal to the burden put upon it. This was a matter of detail, yet it was one of larger extent than some hon. Members seemed to suppose. It happened that the parish in which he lived had a glebe about 10 miles off, and that the parish in England in which he used to live had a glebe in Wales. What he suggested was, that the whole of these clauses should be redrafted. [Laughter.] Surely, that was not a large demand. Take the case of Anglesey, which the Home Secretary had taken as an example of matters in Wales. The other day the right hon. Gentleman told him, in answer to a question, that in Anglesey there were no less than 15 parishes which had no parish council at all. Therefore, in those 15 parishes, which doubtless had glebes out side their boundaries, there would only be the chairman of the parish meeting to deal with these difficult questions far away. In three or four of the 15 parishes there wore two or three houses, and in one parish there was only one house. See the absurdity of the position of the Government. In the occupant of one house might be vested the whole of the glebe, and this was what the Solicitor General called assisting the local inhabitants. Again and again they had complained that the Government had put forward one principle when they were arguing one point, and had put forward another principle when they were arguing another point. They now said their desire was to help the inhabitants of the parish, but when they were dealing with the question the hon. Member for Islington raised they said, "No, no, it is not the parish we want but the county." He beseeched the Government to stick to one principle. If they could only fasten on some principle and carry it through, the Committee might come to some proper conclusion.

said, that putting the question of principle aside for the moment, he was anxious to know what the words used meant. The glebe of any ecclesiastical parish was, in the case of a rural parish, to be vested in the Parish Council of the parish. He would like to know in the first place the object and meaning of the words "of the parish." Did they convey any further meaning than the words, "in the Parish Council," and if so, what meaning in words did they convey? Was there a difference between "the Parish Council" and "the Parish Council of the parish?" If the words "the Parish Council" or "the Parish Council of the parish" meant the Parish Council of a parish which might be the locally situate parish or a parish situate outside, it was obvious that either the Amendment must be accepted or some other words must be introduced in order to make the true meaning of the clause apparent to an ordinary reader. Let them see whether the Amendment proposed did not really meet what was intended. As he had said, the words might mean a Parish Council in the locality where the glebe was situate, or they might mean a Parish Council of a parish where the glebe was not situate. Which was intended by the Government? He rather thought the view the Government took was, that in some cases it would be better to follow the locality, and in other places better to follow the property.

said that if the words proposed by the hon. Member for Tunbridge were introduced, they would have no meaning. The section would then read:—"They shall vest the burial ground and glebe of any ecclesiastical parish "—both the burial ground and the glebe were the subject matter of this sub-section—"in the case of a rural parish, in the Parish Council of the parish in which it is situate." What was the meaning of the word "it"? might refer to parish, or to Parish Council, or to rural parish, or to ecclesiastical parish, or to glebe and burial ground. It certainly could not refer to glebe alone. But that was a verbal question. On that principle, he should like to adopt the reasoning of the right hon. Member for West Bristol. Was it not better that the persons who had the administration of the funds should be the persons in whom the property was vested?

complimented the Solicitor General—whom he admired in every capacity—in his new capacity as adviser to a ministry in search of a principle. The hon. and learned Gentleman had been asked to say whether the principle on which the Government scheme was based was that the glebe should be vested in the Parish Council of the parish in which it was situate, or should be vested in the parish council of the parish which enjoyed the proceeds of the glebe. The Solicitor General's answer was that the glebe was to be vested in the Parish Council of the parish to which the glebe was attached. What did that mean? Would the Government answer the simple question, which had been addressed to them? The hon. and learned Member for Monmouthshire had enlightened the Committee considerably and elucidated the application of the principle. When the answer had been given, he and his hon. Friends would endeavour to assist in finding language to express the meaning of the Government.

said, that nothing controversial arose in this Amendment, and the Government were beholden to hon. and right hon. Gentlemen opposite for helping to make the Bill as clear as possible. It was simply a question between parish and parish, and a question so comparatively small could be discussed without friction. There were a few cases where the glebe belonging to one parish as a part of its endowments, was situate in another parish. The words of the section did not present any difficulty to him. He took the same interpretation as the hon. Member for Kent. He understood that where a parish in which the glebe was situate was not the parish to which the glebe belonged, the vesting of that glebe should be, not in the Parish Council or the parish to which the glebe belonged, but in the Parish Council of the parish in which the glebe was situate. That was the obvious construction. What was the real difficulty? He would adopt the reasoning of the right hon. Gentleman the Member for West Bristol, who pointed out that if the Amendment were accepted, expectations which could not be realised would be raised in the parish in which the glebe was vested, but to which it did not belong. Therefore the Government could not accept the Amendment. Besides, the Parish Council of the parish which derived no benefit from the glebe, would be very likely not to be the best and most active administration of the property. He was quite sensible of the difficulties which the case presented. It was undesirable that a glebe should be managed and enjoyed by the Parish Council of a distant parish. These questions deserved consideration, and the Government were now considering whether they could not bring up a clause later which would deal with these few cases. Probably they would endeavour to provide means by which the glebe situate in the parish to which it did not belong, should be transferred to the parish in which it was situate, upon the payment of a sum of money to the parish to which it belonged.

said that, although the right hon. Gentleman was good enough to say that he adopted his reasoning, he had not appreciated its point. While putting the difficulties of vesting the glebe in the Parish Council of the parish to which the glebe did not belong, he (the speaker) had pointed out the practical impossibility of any scheme which would give the management of the glebe to the Parish Council of a parish at a distance from the glebe. He suggested that in such a case the Government should not direct the vesting of the glebe by the Commismissioners in anyone else, but that the glebe should be kept by them to be used for purposes to be decided upon by a subsequent clause. If the Government adopted the Amendment, they would only be dealing with the burial-grounds and glebes situate in the parish to which they belonged. The question, of the glebes situate in the parishes to which they did not belong would thus be left open.

said, that he did not think the plan suggested by the right hon. Gentleman would be the best way of dealing with the matter. By passing the clause in its present form the Committee would not be concluding the question. The words "save as is otherwise provided in this Act," made it quite possible to introduce a subsequent provision to meet these special cases.

pressed for an answer to his question about the meaning of the words "of the parish." What did "Parish Council of the parish" mean?

said, that he had answered the question.

said, that no one had heard the answer to the question; and in order that there might be no misunderstanding, he asked that the answer should be repeated. The question was—what was the meaning of the words "of the parish." Did they add anything to the meaning of the subsection; and, if they did, what was it that they added?

said, the obvious meaning of the words "the Parish Council of the parish" was that parish to which the glebe belonged; and the insertion of the Amendment would change the obvious meaning.