I beg to ask the noble Marquess the Secretary of State for War a question of which I have given him private notice—namely,, whether he can give the House any information as to the extent to which warm clothing has been supplied to the troops in South Africa in view of the coming winter.

I think the best answer I can give to the question of my noble friend is to read the following telegram, which I have received from Lord Roberts—

"From Lord Roberts to Secretary of State for War.—Bloemfontein, April 28th.—There is no necessity for appeal for warm clothing. Some corps have received more than they require, and all will be amply provided as soon as the numerous cases containing clothing and [here conies an undeciphered word] various description can be brought here from the base."

I think that shows conclusively that the large demand which has been made for clothing of this description is in a fair way of being overtaken.

My Lords, I rise to ask your Lordships to read a second time a Bill promoted by the Trustees of the British Museum in the interests, I hope, of that great institution. Its object is twofold. The first is to enable the Trustees to deposit copies of local newspapers with local authorities, and the second object is to enable them to destroy matter which is practically of no value and absolutely useless. I may say that the pressure on space in the British Museum has long been a source of great anxiety to the Trustees and authorities of the Museum. In 1882 it was calculated that the space available would be sufficient for thirty-three years, but since then there has been such an enormous accumulation of what are called copyright newspapers that the pressure on the space is becoming extremely inconvenient. Some time ago a great addition was made to the accommodation by the provision of space in the basement and new buildings, but that is being rapidly filled up. Such is the increase in copyright newspapers—those which the British Museum is obliged to receive under the Copyright Acts—that since 1882 they have doubled in number, reducing therefore the estimated period of thirty-throe years by half. In 1882 the number of copyright newspapers upon which the calculation of space was made was 1,673; in 1896–7 that number was double—namely, 3,343. The Bill asks that all newspapers issued since 1837 may be deposited with local authorities. It has been asked outside this House why the year 1837 has been chosen. That limit was fixed because up to 1837 the accumulation of newspapers was almost insignificant. The great and rapid increase has taken place from the year 1837 down to the present day, In 1837 the British newspapers occupied only about forty presses, as they are called—receptacles for books—whereas now the lineal measurement of British newspapers sent in under the Copyright Acts, taking three rows of volumes, extends to two and a quarter miles. The newspapers, therefore, issued before 1837 may practically be disregarded. Besides the newspapers which the Trustees are obliged to receive, a large number of colonial, foreign, and American newspapers also come in. These the Trustees do not propose to deal with. They will be kept in the same way as heretofore. Some objection has been taken to the British Museum parting with newspapers which may in course of time contain a vast amount of available historical and antiquarian data; but it is proposed in the Bill that the British Museum should retain possession of the newspapers deposited with the local authorities, and not part with its property in them. The newspapers, when they reach a certain number, will be very strongly and handsomely bound, and will be deposited with such local authorities as choose to receive them, but the British Museum will retain the right of inspecting them and of seeing that provision is made for their care and proper preservation. If such provision is not made the Museum will reclaim their property. The proposal to deposit them with local authorities arose, I believe, out of a suggestion made in 1880 or 1881 by Lord Lingen, the then Secretary to the Treasury. The idea has long been in the minds of the Trustees, and has been adopted by them as the best solution of the difficulty. I need not remind your Lordships that since that suggestion was made great local institutions have been set up. County councils have been established in every county, and these bodies are exceedingly anxious to have preserved under their own care and in their own locality the papers which refer to their own districts. British newspapers alone are now increasing in lineal measurement at the rate of over one hun- dred yards a year, and if this rate of increase continues the prospect of clogging the space available at the British Museum becomes positively alarming. The second object of the Bill is to enable the Trustees to destroy matter which is practically of no value. I have myself seen the kind of matter which it is proposed to destroy, and I need hardly say that this is a power which requires to be jealously guarded on behalf of the public, so as to see that nothing is destroyed which possesses any value whatever. I will give your Lordships an idea of the class of matter to which the power to destroy would apply, and it will be seen that it is such matter as can be of no conceivable value to anybody or to any institution. The following is a description of the classes of useless printed matter which it is proposed to destroy—

1. Wall diaries and books of blank forms, such as washing books, household and trade account books, etc.

2. Wall-sheets of texts, alphabets, or elementary instruction, and blank register and other forms for use in elementary schools.

3. Trade advertisements (excepting those which are well illustrated or which may be useful as showing the progress of manufactures, machinery, etc.).

4. Christmas, birthday, and similar cards and coloured texts. (Some publishers supply these mounted in bound volumes, which will sufficiently show the nature of these cards and the progress of printing in colours, etc.)

5. Children's toy books, packets of games, boxes of alphabets, etc. (The larger and better coloured children's books are catalogued and placed on the shelves.)

6. Single sheet and small miscellaneous religious tracts. (All tracts issued in series which can be catalogued together and bound in volumes are kept.)

7. Single sheet songs, ballads and hymns. (All those by known writers or of any interest, historical, political, or literary, are catalogued and placed on the shelves.)

8. Duplicates of single volumes, odd parts of periodicals or broken sets, together with duplicates of books complete but so valueless that no library would accept them as a gift.

Some trade advertisements would illustrate the trade of the day, and be a valuable record, perhaps, for some future historian in dealing with that particular item of history. Of course, those advertisements would be preserved. The Bill provides that in the case of matter to be destroyed the same rule and process should be followed as is followed in the Public Record Office Act, 1877, as amended by the Public Record Office Act, 1898. It is proposed that the rules should be laid before Parliament for nine weeks; and when the schedules of printed matter proposed to be destroyed have been pre- pared they are to be laid on the Table of both Houses of Parliament for another four weeks. With that precaution I cannot conceive that there can be much danger of the destruction of any printed matter. The question will not be left to any single authority in the British Museum. The chief librarian will not be able from time to time to destroy any printed matter. It will all be done methodically and regularly, say once a year. The chief librarian would schedule in a list the matter which it was proposed to destroy, and if the sanction of the Trustees was obtained to this destruction the schedule of these papers would have to be laid on the Table of Parliament for four weeks. I have explained the two objects of this Bill, and if it is passed into law Parliament will be doing three very good deeds—it will be encouraging local antiquarian and historical research, it will be paying a proper compliment to those great institutions the county councils and the municipal corporations, and it will, at the same time, prevent the British Museum from being suffocated by the accumulation of its own material.

Some two or three years ago, in my capacity as a Trustee of the British Museum, I was asked to introduce a similar Bill. I thought that the measure then proposed would rather rashly imperil some things which might be of great historical importance hereafter, but I am happy to say that I think every one of the objections which I then made have been met by the present Bill, which has my entire concurrence.

I had intended saying a few words in respect to this Bill, of which I highly approve, but my noble friend has put the matter so lucidly before the House, and has so clearly shown the advantages to be found in the Bill, that I am sure your Lordships will at once see the necessity of passing it into law. In depositing copies of local newspapers with local authorities we shall be placing them where they are most wanted, and not only will the space of the British Museum be relieved by the transfer, but the time will also be saved of persons who desire to search for any particular matter of importance, and who now have to wade through a mass of rubbish.

My Lords, this Bill deals with the case of those Reservists who have been called out and who were members of the different police forces in the country. The Bill proposes to authorise the authorities to grant out of the police funds certain allowances and gratuities to those Reservists and their families. The discretion with regard to this is left to the police authorities, but there are certain limits which the Bill imposes with regard to the amounts that may be given. With regard to a married man, it is laid down that the total sum which shall be granted to his family should be a sum which, together with the weekly amount of any separation or other allowance required to be paid out of military funds in pursuance of any Royal Warrant, and the weekly amount of any compulsory deductions from the man's pay as a soldier, shall not exceed the total weekly amount which he was receiving from police funds when called out. In the case of a man who is not married it is laid down that the allowance granted shall not exceed in the aggregate 8s. a week. There is also a power given to the police authorities to grant a gratuity in the case of a man who dies or is disabled while employed on Army service, in the same way as they would be able to do if he were still a member of the police force. I do not think it is at all necessary to adduce any argument in favour of this proposal. The obligation to support the wives and families of Reservists has been so generally admitted all over the country that I feel confident your Lordships will readily assent to this Bill. It is, of course, understood that this is merely permissive. There are, no doubt, certain police authorities who will not find it necessary to put the provisions of this Bill into force. In certain counties, one of which I am aware of, provision has been made by voluntary contributions not only for Reservists in the employment of private individuals, but also for Reservists who are employed by the police and by large companies. At the same time there are a considerable number of authorities who have asked the Home Office to give them this power, and who are, in fact, already giving gratuities which will be legalised by this Bill. It is in conformity with a promise which has been given by the Home Secretary that this Bill, which has passed through the other House of Parliament, has been introduced.

My Lords, this is another small Bill which, if not necessary, is at all events desirable in consequence of the war in South Africa. The Bill is for the purpose of removing the electoral disabilities which may arise in the case of those who have volunteered to go to the front. It deals with the case of members of the Reserve who have been called out with members of the Militia, the Yeomanry, and the Volunteer force, and also with any other Volunteers who may have been accepted for active service; and it lays down that they shall not be deprived of their qualification merely by reason of the fact that they are absent from home. I think your Lordships will agree that it is only fair that men who have shown such public spirit and patriotism as to volunteer for service in South Africa in this emergency should be protected, as far as possible, in their civil rights, and that their absence from home on active service should not deprive them of the qualification to vote which they would otherwise possess. The Bill only refers to the period of the present war in South Africa, and, as was pointed out in the other House, does not deal with the case of the Regular forces. That would be a much larger matter. The Regular forces of the Crown are enlisted for the purpose of service in different parts of the world when they are so called upon. This Bill only deals with those who in the natural course of their profession would not be called out of the country, and, as was pointed out by the Home Secretary in the other House, it would be quite outside the scope of the Bill to include in it the Regular forces. I have explained to your Lordships the provisions of the Bill, and I beg to move that it be read a second time.

The object of this Bill is to remove the existing restrictions in the way of the investment in the Post Office Savings Bank of moneys temporarily deposited in the County Court, especially for compensation to widows and infants under the Employers' Liability Act. The Bill enacts that the provisions of Section 39 of the County Officers and Courts (Ireland) Act, 1877, and of Section 71 of the County Courts Act, 1888 (which relate to the investment in the Post Office Savings Bank of money paid into court in equitable proceedings), shall respectively extend to all money paid into a County Court (whether before or after the passing of this Act) in any proceeding and ordered by the Judge to be invested. Whatever may have been the reason why the limitation was originally made, it is obvious that the power ought not to be so confined for the future.