said, he wished to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Why the evidence taken by the Durham University Commissioners was not laid before Parliament on July 22, 1862, when the ordinances framed by the Commissioners, and dated June 30, were presented; whether he will forthwith lay a copy of such evidence before Parliament; and whether, as the Durham University Act, 1861, allows Parliament a period of forty days for the consideration of the ordinances before Her Majesty can be advised to declare her approval of the same, he will undertake that full and sufficient time shall be allowed to Parliament for the consideration of the evidence before Her Majesty shall be advised to signify her approval of the ordinances?

replied, that it was required by the Act of Parliament that the ordinances framed by the Commissioners should be laid before Parliament, but it was not so as to the evidence. In the cases of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the evidence was not laid before Parliament. The Government had no direct control over the proceedings of the Commissioners, some of whom were Members of that House, but he did not apprehend that the Commissioners would have the slightest objection to afford the information the right hon. Gentleman desired. They had in fact, as he was informed, sent the evidence last year to the authorities of the University. The ordinances were laid upon the table on the 22nd of July last, and therefore twenty-four of the forty days during which they must be before Parliament before confirmation were unexpired at the beginning of this Session. Petitions had been presented against the ordinances, which would be referred to a Committee of the Privy Council, and ample time would be given for the consideration of the objections raised by the Petitioners.

said, he wished to put a question to the noble Lord at the head of the Government, of which he had given private notice—namely, Whether any intimation has been given to the Atlantic Steam Navigation Company that the subsidy formerly granted was about to be restored; and if so, whether that intimation has been coupled with the condition that a certain sliding scale of prices was to be attached varying according to the speed of the vessels employed?

A communication has recently been made from the Treasury to the Galway Company, in accordance with previous intimations, to the effect that if the Admiralty shall report that the company are in a condition, as to vessels, to perform the duty which they propose to undertake, Her Majesty's Government will be prepared to recommend to this Mouse the renewal of the contract, the details of the arrangements being reserved for settlement between the company and the Government. The Government have not attached to that communication the condition that there shall be a sliding scale of payments, depending upon the rapidity or slowness of the vessels.

said, he wished to ask the Secretary for India, What progress has been made in the construction of the Pier and improvement of the Harbour of Sedasheghur, and in the opening of the roads from the cotton districts thereto? The right hon. Baronet had recently, in the course of a public statement, referred, among other subjects, to the works going on in the harbour of Sedasheghur, and had then entered into a statement of the number of persons employed and the progress that had been made. Since then he understood that the statement of the right hon. Gentleman had been directly and bluntly contradicted by a person professing to have accurate information. He therefore wished to know whether the right hon. Gentleman, in consequence of that contradiction, was now prepared to modify or retract what he recently stated; and whether he would lay all the papers relating to the subject before the House?

said, that before the right hon. Gentleman answered the question, he wished to know whether he could now furnish the information respecting the Bengal army for which he had applied in 1861?

With regard to the last Question addressed to me by the hon. Member, I am afraid I must ask him to repeat the Question on some other evening, as I cannot answer it without inquiry in my office. I am happy to have an opportunity of answering the inquiry made by the noble Lord. On the occasion to which he refers, I read an extract from a letter which I had received from Dr. Forbes, the superintendent of the factory at Darwah, giving an account of works in progress on which, as he understood, nearly 7,000 men were employed. I have no reason to believe that he was materially wrong in the statement which he then made; but I have received a public despatch on the subject since that time, and I think the best answer which I can give to the noble Lord's question will be to read an extract from that despatch. I am sorry to say that on one portion of the works a check has occurred in their progress, but this is due to one of those circumstances over which no control can be exercised, and which cannot be foreseen or prevented—namely, the influence of the climate upon the health of the men employed. Some of my hon. Friends, who are impatient for the acceleration of works in India, I hope will see, that although labour may be abundant in some parts of India, it is impossible at all times and all places to command it. Colonel Kennedy, Superintending Engineer of the Southern Circuit, writes, under date of the 30th of September—

"Belgaum, Dec. 20, 1862.

"I have just returned from an inspection of the Canara works. The Kyga Ghaut and its approaches, both above and below, to the head of the Kala-Nuddee navigation, are open to a minimum width of twelve feet, and are quite practicable for laden carts, though not yet prepared to receive a heavy traffic. Arrangements were made this year for prosecuting the works with great vigour, but those arrangements have been entirely frustrated by the unusually unhealthy state of the country through which the road passes. Fever has broken out with such virulence that the imported working parties have been broken up and dispersed, and the small amount of local labour is prostrated. Officers and subordinates have not escaped, and the executive engineer himself is so ill that he cannot remain in the district. Of 2,000 men lately employed on the works, within the space of a few days 900 were stricken with sickness. Several died, and the rest cleared off the work in 48 hours, carrying with them reports which deterred the advance of others who were on their way to the ghaut. Under these circumstances it is very difficult to say when the ghaut will be entirely completed; with this year's experience, which has, however, been unprecedentedly unfavourable, it will be very difficult again to collect workpeople; and, in fact, unless the malaria abates to a very material extent, it will he fruitless to do so, for men cannot and will not work when suffering from disease, nor will they consent to remain to die. The completion of the Kyga to the head of the navigation, though desirable, is not essential for the trade, provided the other road is available; and no preparations have yet been made by any persons to receive cotton at the termination of the former on the banks of the Kala-Nuddee. Too much stress has, I think, been laid on the Kyga Ghaut approach, owing, I believe, to the discussion about it having arisen before the alternative line was suggested and settled on. The question has not yet been cleared of the consideration that it first involved—namely, that the Kyga was the only approach to Sedashegur. It cannot matter to the houses concerned by what route they get their goods to the place where they require them, provided the one actually available possesses no marked disadvantages in respect to any other; and this is clearly the case as regards the Arbyle and Kyga lines. I believe amongst those who have any local knowledge of the circumstances there is no difference of opinion in the matter. The Arbyle and Ankola line is already opened out to full width to within fourteen miles of Beitkul, and a considerable portion of it is well provided with surface and drainage works. Of the incomplete fourteen miles nine are cut to twelve feet minimum width, and five on level ground have just been commenced. In addition to this there is a branch road on a less convenient line over a high range of hills, which is opened the whole way to a minimum width of twelve feet, and by which cart communication with Beitkul is now opened throughout. On the Arbyle approach we have a heavy force engaged (two companies of Sappers and Miners, 500 convicts, and 2,500 labourers), which will, I trust, now increase day by day; and I think there is every prospect that the road will he ready to the full width by March or April next. On the transfer of North Canara to Bombay, on the 1st of February, 1862, it was determined to abandon for the present at least the idea of wharves in the situation selected by Sir William Denison, and in place of them to construct at once a quay or landing-place on the eastern shore of Beitkul Cove. A plan and estimate for a screw pile pier were called for. A commencement was made during my late visit with the wharf wall. Before I left Sedashegur it had begun to show above low-water mark; and by March next, before it is wanted, I expect that a length of at least 300 feet will be ready for landing and shipping goods. This wharf is being laid in three to four feet water at low tide, and will be accessible to cargo boats except at low water. It was originally intended to erect a pier on the western side of the Cove, but it has now been determined by the common consent of the representatives of the mercantile houses and the Government officers to place the pier on the eastern side. However, though it is most desirable to have a pier, one is not immediately and absolutely essential; for, when the wharf wall now in progress is ready, goods can be landed and shipped in cargo boats without difficulty. When the following works are completed, the absolutely essential and immediate requirements of the port will have been supplied:—The Arbyle Ghaut approach; the road from Beitkul to Konay; the wharf wall. It is confidently hoped that they will be finished to a sufficient extent to render them effectual by March or April next. Every possible effort is being made to secure this. The following works, not absolutely essential, but highly desirable, will be completed with as little delay as is practicable, under the peculiar circumstances of the districts:—The Kyga Ghaut line; the pier; the lighthouse. When all these works have been finished, sufficient will probably have been done until the port develops itself more fully, and it is ascertained what steps are necessary for improving or preserving the harbour, or to meet the increased requirements of the trade."

said, he rose to move for leave to bring in a Bill to amend and continue the Law relating to Corrupt Practices at Elections. The Bill he proposed to introduce was in substance, though not in form, similar to a measure which had already been twice before the House. While the Bill proposed to continue much of the existing law, it would at the same time embody certain recommendations of the Select Committee which had inquired into the subject. In a former Act of Parliament there was a provision that paid agents should not be allowed to vote at elections. That provision was not contained in the existing law. But evidence had been brought before the Committee to show that a number of persons who were electors were usually employed as messengers, and were paid at a rate which amounted to a remuneration for their votes. It was therefore proposed, not in the precise terms, but in substance, to re-enact that provision of the 7 & 8 Geo. IV, which prevented those persons from voting at any election, or struck off their votes if they had been taken. The next part of the Bill would involve the repeal of the existing clauses with respect to election auditors, which appeared to the Committee to be ineffectual for their purpose, while they caused some expense to candidates. It was proposed to substitute for those clauses provisions that all expenses of candidates, except their own personal expenses, should be paid through agents to be selected by themselves, their names being published by the returning officer before the nomination. No demand would be permitted to be enforced after a limited time subsequent to the election, and all bills would have to be paid within a month after the election. In three months from the settlement of the accounts the agent would be required, under penalties, to make to the returning officer a correct statement of all the expenses, which would be published, and every voter would have an opportunity of investigating the accounts. The next provision would extend to Election Committees the power possessed by a Commission of Inquiry to compel witnesses to give evidence, subject to an indemnity to be given to them, which would in some cases enable a Committee to elicit the facts without a subsequent Commission. There was another provision, which, when extensive bribery or corruption was reported by a Commission, would give the sanction of Parliament to a Resolution of the House of Commons to suspend for a period of five years the power of returning Members to that House. There were some provisions as to indictments and proceedings of Committees which he need not now specify. He had stated the principal provisions of the Bill, which he begged now to be permitted to introduce.

said, he wished to call attention to the fact that under the present state of the law the accounts of the election auditor might be kept back until after the petition against a return had been presented. That was a great blot on the law. It would be highly proper that the accounts should be published by such a time as the election inquiry might take place, so that the Committee might be able to go thoroughly into the accounts. He regretted that the right hon. Gentleman had not announced it his intention to go into the whole question of election petitions. Last Session petitions had been presented merely for the purpose of causing other peti- tions to be withdrawn. He thought that every discouragement should be given to presenting petitions upon frivolous grounds, and that none should be presented without having its grounds thoroughly sifted. It seemed to be thought by many that an election petition was a sort of private affair between the respective candidates, but such an opinion should not be allowed to prevail. He thought that no petition should be withdrawn until the reasons for the withdrawal had been sifted by the Committee; and that if the defeated candidate could show that corruption had existed, it was for the House to take up the prosecution, and not for the disappointed candidate. The charges made on the candidates by the sheriffs of counties and the returning officers in boroughs at present varied very much, and he thought those charge sought to be defined and scheduled.

said, he approved of the Bill, as he thought the recommendations of the Select Committee were deserving of being incorporated into the Act. Still they only touched the fringe of the evil. In three cases out of four bribery took place in the afternoon. He by no moans meant to say that bribery was never committed early in the day, and when candidates were in a large majority; but the time when it was generally committed was between two and three o'clock, when there was a very close run in the voting, and five or ten votes on either side might determine the election. The cause, in his opinion, was the publication of the half-hour states of the poll, and if any mode could be devised by which such publication could be prevented, one very great encouragement to bribery would be done away. In that matter they might take a leaf out of the Reform Bill proposed by the Earl of Derby's Government, which admitted the principle of rendering the state of the poll uncertain; for it allowed the votes of persons who lived at a distance to be recorded by means of voting-papers, the result of which could not be ascertained until later. He would propose that votes should be taken by means of voting papers filled up in the polling booth, but published after the declaration of the poll. Such a plan would not be open to the objections which some hon. Members had to the practice of secret voting, and at the same time it would have all the effect of secret voting in preventing bribery, as under such an arrangement the agents would not have sufficient know- ledge of the state of the poll to induce a resort to afternoon bribery. That would do more to put an end to bribery than the additions to the present law proposed by the present Bill.

said, he was of opinion, that if the publication of the state of the poll was to be suppressed, the voting must be earned on entirely by means of papers. If an endeavour were made to conceal the votes of the electors as they went to the poll, the course of proceeding would be, that agents would be stationed near each polling-booth to ask the voters as they returned from recording their votes how they had voted, and Englishmen, not being afraid that their conduct should be known, would generally answer the queries, and the state of the poll would in that way be known. If they adopted the system of voting by papers or registered letters, the hour by hour publication of the poll would be impossible. He assumed that bribery generally took place within the last hour of the polling, but he did not think that the difficult question how it was to be put down would find a solution, except through the instrumentality of voting papers.

said, he was of opinion that voting papers would facilitate rather than deter from the commission of bribery.

said, that all the proposals made by hon. Members were only applicable to small constituencies. He preresented a large constituency, and he did not believe that any one in it was suspected of bribery. It was only in small constituencies that the electors were open to undue influences. He thought this was a powerful argument in favour of the redistribution of seats, and of divesting small burghs of their representatives and of giving them to the large towns, which were free from any such suspicion.

said, he was in favour of giving the seat vacated through bribery to the innocent candidate, however small might be the number of his supporters, and however large that of the peccant and unseated member. Such a course would be a real security against bribery, as it would render all the previous preparations of the buying candidate of no avail. If it were suggested that it would be unfair to the constituents, he submitted that it would be a very proper penalty for permitting themselves to be bribed.

, in moving for leave to bring in a Bill for the Registration of Births and Deaths in Ireland, said, Sir, although there can be no question of the value and importance of a national system of registration, there is such a variety of interests involved in this question that I feel it is desirable I should make a few remarks. It is undoubtedly a great deficiency that in a country like Ireland, having a population amounting to nearly six millions, there should be no systematic collection of the statistics of human life. As a scientific record, a system of registration would be of immense utility in many respects. It would be very beneficial, for instance, in promoting sanitary reforms. In Ireland there is at present a great want of information as to any increase of sickness or disease, especially in populous towns or in remote country places. If correct data could be obtained as to the health of the people, measures would be more promptly and effectually taken to mitigate the intensity of disease or circumscribe its limits. This is a subject which has excited considerable interest in Ireland. In December last a resolution declaring the necessity for and the probable benefits of a system of registration was carried on the motion of the President of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland at a meeting in Limerick. I have also had the honour of receiving deputations who urged the importance of legislation on the matter. I received deputations from the Royal College of Surgeons, the Royal Medical Council, the Statistical Society, and the Social Science Association. I asked them to put their views in writing, in order that the Government, in framing a Bill, might meet their wishes as far as possible. They complied with my request, and in the document which they forwarded to me they expressed the hope that the dispensary districts would be adopted, and the registration of births and deaths be made compulsory. It is not necessary to say that the measure which I am now seeking to introduce is not in any way affected by political considerations. All classes will be benefited by its adoption in Ireland, not as a mere registration of births and deaths, but as a plan for bringing annually before the public, as in England and Scotland, the causes affecting the health of the community. Ireland is almost the only civilized country in the world where no such system of civil registration of births and deaths exists. We frequently hear of great losses incurred by poor persons from their inability to prove their heirship or connection with rich parties dying intestate in the colonies or in foreign countries. It is, therefore, a matter of the first importance that we should pass a measure for obviating those difficulties. The English Act was passed in 1836. It caused a good deal of agitation at the time, but it has worked admirably. The passing of the Scotch Act was even more strongly opposed, and it was not until 1854, after an agitation of twenty years, that the opposition was overcome. The Scotch Act is au improvement upon the English one. I have carefully compared, in conjunction with Registrar General Donnelly and Registrar General Dundas, the Scotch and English systems, and there can he no doubt that the Scotch system is far superior to the one in force in England. Allow me to mention the differences which exist between the two Acts. In a Report published by Registrar General Graham it is stated that the English system should be compulsory instead of permissive; that the number of informants qualified to sign the register is too limited; that more time should be allowed for registration; and that medical men should be compelled to state the cause of death. All these points, in which, according to Mr. Graham, the English system is defective, have been included in the Scotch Act. The Scotch system of registration is compulsory; the number of informants qualified to sign the register is greater than in England; informants are compelled to attend personally and state the particulars to be recorded; the time for gratuitous registration of births is three months instead of forty-two days, as in England; and medical practitioners are required to send in a written certificate of the cause of death. When preparing the Bill which I am about to introduce, it became my duty to consider whether I should not embrace in it those provisions of the Scotch Act which were not to be found in the English one, which, nevertheless, have worked well in Scotland, and which Registrar General Graham thinks ought now to be adopted in England. To show the superiority of the Scotch system, I may mention that it has been ascertained, upon a six years' average of the registration of births, that the average gives in Scotland a proportion of 347 in every 10,000 of the population per annum, being rather a higher average than that of England, which is only 343 in every 10,000 of the population. I need not say that the principal points to be considered in the construction of such a Bill are the machinery, the size of the districts, and the expense to be entailed. I have thought, that if upon those three points I could meet the views of Irish Members generally, I might be able to pass a Bill during the present Session. Last year I proposed a plan which had been originally submitted by the noble Lord the Member for Cockermouth (Lord Naas). Its object was to make the constabulary the registrars and superintendent registrars. If that plan had been adopted, the districts would have coincided with the areas in which the constabulary act. I think, however, the noble Lord the Member for Cockermouth will agree with me that, whatever might be the plan adopted, the general feeling in this House was not in favour of using the constabulary for that purpose. I have considered the matter carefully during the recess, and my firm conviction now is that it would be impossible, with the concurrence of this House or of the country, to work a system of registration by the action of the constabulary. The constabulary are fully occupied with the duties which they now perform, and which, I am hound to say they discharge most efficiently; and I think it would be injudicious to burden them with the work which would devolve upon them as registrars and superintendent registrars. In the Bill which I have now the honour to propose, therefore, I have adopted a system in conformity with that in operation in England—that is to say, I have adopted what I may call the Pool-Law system, so that the areas or districts will be the areas of the unions, the dispensing medical officers of the unions will he the registrars, and the clerks of the unions will be the superintendent registrars. I believe that is the scheme which, on the whole, will meet with the greatest amount of support from the Irish Members, and I believe it is the scheme which is likely to work best for the social and sanitary improvement of the people of Ireland. The Poor Law districts are well known, whereas considerable inconvenience would have resulted in that respect from the employment of the constabulary. We have, therefore, followed the Poor Law system, and I think the districts will be found very suitable for the purposes of the registration. In Scotland there is a great disparity between the extent of the areas. I am informed by Registrar General Dundas, from whom I have received valuable assistance in this matter, that in Scotland, while some of the registration districts contain 30,000, 40,000 and even 50,000 inhabitants, others contain not more than 400 or 500. There are 1,000 districts altogether in that country, but the great variation in their extent, coupled with the compulsory principle of registration, works rather prejudicially for the interests of the poor. The area of Scotland and Ireland as hon. Members know, is very nearly the same; but in Ireland we propose to have the system much better arranged. The districts will be very much of one size, the average population of each being 7,400. Besides 163 unions we have 718 dispensary districts with 777 dispensary medical officers—thus forming an admirable machinery ready to our hand. These dispensary medical officers are superior to the village doctors in England; many of them have professional connections extending over large tracts of country, and I believe they will be able to furnish most valuable returns. We next come to the question of expense. The deputations I had the honour to receive at Dublin from the College of Surgeons, the Statistical Society, and the Social Science Association, all recommended that the remuneration of the registrars should be defrayed from the local rates, but that the superintendent registrars should be paid out of the Consolidated Fund. I gave the best attention I could to these suggestions, and the proposal I have now to make is, that the registrars should be paid, as in England, out of the rates, but that the superintendent registrars should receive their fees out of the Consolidated Fund. Considering the advantage that will be derived by all classes from this measure, the total burden that will be thrown upon the public will be comparatively very trifling—namely, £16,000 a year, or just upon five-sixteenths of a penny in the pound on the whole rateable valuation of Ireland. We propose, then, to pay the registrars 1s. for each entry, and the superintendent registrars 2d. The stationery and boxes will be supplied by the Government as in England and Scotland. There will be no other outlay attending the scheme except the salary of the Registrar General, which we propose to increase to £1,000 a year, in consideration of the additional duties to be devolved upon him. This subject has already been before Parliament two or three times. The Registrar General of England formerly received £1,000 a year, and now receives £1,200; but it must be recollected that he has charge of three times the population of Ireland, and has three times the amount of registration to attend to. In Ireland 130 union-houses out of the whole number, namely 163, are built upon a uniform plan, and consequently the office of the clerk of the union, who will be the superintendent registrar, will be very convenient for this purpose. Moreover, the union houses are generally in a central situation, and thus every facility will be afforded for the registration. After the most careful consideration of the subject, I think that no better plan than this can be devised. It brings us in Ireland into harmony with the system pursued in England, and also, to a great extent, into conformity with the system adopted in Scotland. We require by this Bill the compulsory attendance of the parties. This is absolutely necessary; and Registrar General Graham says the want of it is one of the chief blots in the English system. The only other point on which I need trespass on the time of the House is a very important one, namely, the medical certificates. We wish to make our scheme as complete as possible, in order to obtain not a mere registration of births and deaths, but a scientific record of vital statistics, and with that view we have introduced into our Bill a provision which we think will meet the approval of the medical officers. We have not desired, as is done in Scotland, to make it binding on them penally to give the return. From the opportunities I have had of conversing with the President of the Royal College of Surgeons, and judging also from other sources of information, I believe that the medical officers generally will be prepared to co-operate with the State, and to furnish it with the requisite particulars as to the deaths of persons whom they may have attended professionally with greater readiness if it is left to them to do it freely, instead of its being made compulsory on them by the insertion of a penal clause. I have nothing further to add, except that I shall be glad to reply, as far as I am able, to any remarks which hon. Gentlemen may offer on the measure, a brief outline of the main features and provisions of which I have now given. The Bill has been conceived in a most liberal and impartial spirit, with a desire as much as possible to conciliate all classes of the community; and as I feel quite certain that by its adoption a great work of national improvement will he promoted, I hope that it will not only receive the favourable consideration of this House, but that the present Session will not close without seeing it passed into law. I beg, therefore, now to move for leave to bring in the Bill.

said, be was glad that his right hon. Friend had thus early in the Session called the attention of the House to that important subject. It was really a disgrace to the country that any portion of the United Kingdom should be left for so many years without an efficient system of registration of births, deaths, and he would add, of marriages. With the exception of Turkey, he believed his hon. Friend was justified in saying that Ireland was the only country in Europe without such a system. At the same time, he could not congratulate his right hon. Friend upon the result of the experience he had gained during the recess, as to the means by which he proposed to supply the desideratum. He was afraid that his hon. Friend had got into the hands of the doctors, and his opinion was that there were few men who were much better for that. Of all the methods which had been proposed for obtaining these very important statistics that which called in the aid of the doctors was perhaps the worst. [Mr. BRADY: Oh!] His hon. Friend had a professional sympathy, but he (Lord Naas) had none, and therefore he repeated that they were about the very worst machinery that could be used. It appeared by his right hon. Friend's Bill that it was proposed to limit the choice of boards of guardians to the dispensary doctors, who were to have a primâ facie right to these appointments, wholly irrespective of their qualifications, their leisure, place of residence, or any other consideration. That, to his mind, was a very grave objection to the Bill. Now, that was not the case in England; for although it was perfectly true that in England a great number of medical men held the appointments, yet the choice of the appointing bodies was not limited, and, in point of fact, it was found that some of the most efficient registrars in this country were not medical men, nor in any way connected with the medical profession. Then, again, many of the medical men in Ireland were in very large practice, and their time very valuable. By the Bill they made the registration of the birth or death compulsory upon the person, who would have to go many miles to give the information to the registrar, and in nine cases out of ten the person would find the registrar away from home. That was an inevitable result, and therefore it was that he contended that the doctor in Ireland, from his high position, his large practice, and the demands upon his time, was of all others the most unsuitable man for the post. The duties were such that they could be performed quite as well by a clerk as by the highest surgeon, and therefore he thought the imposing of them upon medical men was a great mistake. Then, with regard to the size of the dispensary districts. The size of them was very great indeed; and if they made the registration compulsory, they would find great inconvenience and hardship the consequence, causing people to travel, perhaps fifteen or twenty miles, to register the birth or death of a particular member of their family. Such were a few of the objections he had to urge against the Bill. He thought it would be much better to leave it to the discretion of boards of guardians to appoint such parties as they might think fit. There was one important omission in the Bill, which he much regretted. It made no provision for the accurate registration of marriages, a matter so materially bound up with the question of property. Indeed, with regard to that subject, the register of the marriage was of primary importance, as determining the right of succession, legitimacy, and other questions upon which the possession of property turned. An admirable scheme of marriage registration had been laid before the Committee, which there was every reason to believe would receive the assent of a large majority of the community. He knew the question was a very delicate one; but it was perfectly possible to avoid the main difficulty by showing that the registration was in no way connected with the law of marriage. He still hoped his right hon. Friend would be induced to devote his attention to this part of the question. There was ample information at his disposal, as all the leaders of the different political and religious parties in Ireland had publicly expressed their opinions on the question, and his right hon. Friend had nothing to do but to take those opinions and adopt the best plan recommended by them. He did not mean to offer any serious opposition to this measure, but he reserved to himself the power, if he should think fit, not only to offer amendments as regarded the registration of births and deaths, but also to extend its provisions to the registration of marriages in Ireland.

said, it was a disgrace to the nineteenth century that any portion of the kingdom should be without a proper registration of births, deaths, and marriages. He regarded an efficient system of registration of births and deaths as most important, not only in a statistical and social, but also in a moral point of view. But to make it effective there must be a proper staff; and, apart from his professional predilections, he maintained that medical men were of all classes the best qualified to act as registrars. In England butchers and bakers were appointed registrars, who, in copying the cause of death from the medical certificate, were often totally at a loss, being ignorant of the professional meaning of the terms employed. It was true, no doubt, that dispensary doctors in Ireland were in full employment, but there was on that very account no difficulty in handing to them the particulars for registration, as they were almost always engaged in the houses where either deaths or births took place. He saw no necessity, however, for the appointment of superintendent registrars, as the medical men who were to act as registrars were better educated and a superior class of men in many respects to the clerks of the unions whom it was proposed to place over them. He therefore would suggest that that provision of the Bill should be withdrawn. Upon the whole, however, he thanked the right hon. Baronet for having introduced the Bill, which, after some alterations had been introduced, would, no doubt, be likely to produce a beneficial result.

said, he congratulated the right hon. Baronet in getting out of the hands of Sir Henry Browning and the police of Ireland. He was amazed when Sir Henry Browning stated in the Committee that in order to make the Bill popular it should be placed in the hands of the police, and that any village constable could make an entry of a birth, death, or marriage as well as a clergyman of any religious denomination in Ireland. He was glad that the right hon. Baronet had given up so unpopular a scheme as that, because nothing could be more unpopular than to commit these duties to the Irish constabulary. He thought the doctors were the right men to whom they should be intrusted, and he was glad the right hon. Baronet had saved the Bill from what would have endangered it in that House, or, if passed, would have destroyed its working in Ireland. The alleged difficulty of getting dispensing doctors who had lucrative practices to act as registrars for a trifling remuneration could be met, if it existed, by giving the board of guardians power in such cases to appoint some other persons to act as registrars. Some observations had been made respecting the clerks to the boards of guardians, but from his experience he believed those gentlemen were well qualified to collect the statistics in the manner prescribed by the Bill.

said, he was also glad that the right hon. Baronet had avoided the introduction of the police in the Bill. He should, however, find it his duty to oppose it, for reasons which he believed were largely shared in by the community in Ireland. The measure would entail upon the people of Ireland an expense of £16,000 a year at a time when all complained of being overtaxed for local purposes, and they naturally desired to know what return they would get. Social science might find some advantage in the statistics, but he believed the Bill would be of no real value unless it incorporated a provision for registering marriages. The right hon. Baronet said the Bill would be of great advantage in enabling persons to establish heirships, but what would be the use of proving a birth or death unless they also proved the marriage? He believed the timidity to introduce such a system arose from the unwillingness to repeal the penal enactment against Catholic priests who celebrated mixed marriages. If the right hon. Baronet would make up his mind to repeal that enactment, so opposed to the spirit of the present time, and would introduce a system of registration of marriages, he would entitle himself to the gratitude of the great bulk of the people of that country.

said, he must express his surprise, after so long a time had elapsed since the subject was first under discussion, that the right hon. Baronet had not thought proper to bring in a Bill relating to marriages as well as births and deaths. The Committee appointed by the right hon. Gentleman's predecessor which sat two years ago, and was composed of men of every creed and denomination, came to an almost unanimous resolution that there ought to be registration of marriages in Ireland, and that such a registration might be easily effected by the clergy of different denominations, who should receive a small fee, and send the registers to a chief office in Dublin. From the spirit manifested before that Committee, he did not anticipate there would be any difficulty in getting rid of the obnoxious Act of the 19th Geo. II., and of establishing a perfect system of registration for marriages as well as births and deaths. He thought that bugbear Act might be swept away with perfect safety to the Protestant religion, and without producing bad feeling on the part of any other denomination, if the subject were dealt with in a comprehensive spirit. In his opinion the Government had done wisely in dropping the plan of employing the constabulary, against which there were many grave and constitutional objections, but he hoped a wide discretion would be left to the Government or the boards of guardians, as a precaution against the possible inefficiency of the doctors in carrying out the provisions of the Bill, because it was not to be forgotten that doctors were not necessarily present at all deaths, and were only present at a proportionate number of births. As to the clerks of unions acting as superintendent registrars, they had no time to spare for duties extraneous to their office, and he doubted the propriety of giving them the appointment. He did not understand whether the registrars were to be paid out of the poor rate or county rate.

The superintendent registrars will be paid out of the Consolidated Fund, and the registrars out of the poor rate.

said, it would be a greater boon to Ireland if the whole ex- pense were borne by the Consolidated Fund. He did not think it was the part of a wise statesman to increase the local burdens in that country at a time when those burdens were too heavy for a large portion of the ratepayers, and when a very large amount of distress existed amongst the small tillage farmers of Ireland.

said, in his opinion the right hon. Baronet had acted wisely in bringing in a Bill for the registration of births and deaths, and omitting marriages. The reason was obvious. Births and deaths were matters of fact, but questions of marriages involved other subjects of a far more difficult and delicate character, especially in a country like Ireland, where there were different religious denominations who celebrated marriages in a different way and on a different principle. In accordance with the highest authority among Roman Catholics in Ireland, he could state that the present marriage law was satisfactory to the largest portion of the population, and he would advise the Government not to get into hot water by interfering with it. On principle, the law as to mixed marriages was undesirable, because it was a penal law and produced no good effects, but he did not think that the grievance was at all felt in Ireland. No doubt marriages ought to be registered, and he was far from saying that a Bill for the purpose could not be concocted, but it ought to be dealt with as a separate question, and perfectly distinct from the registration of births and deaths. He was very glad, therefore, that it was not included in the Bill; and if the subject were referred to a Committee, he should be happy to give all the assistance which it was in his power to afford towards producing a satisfactory measure.

said, he agreed with the hon. Baronet (Sir George Bowyer) that it would be most difficult to deal with the marriage question in the same Bill that related to births and deaths. As regarded the charge upon the counties, it would only be five-sixteenths of a penny in the pound, and the total valuation of Ireland being £12,400,000, the charge imposed by the Bill would be a little more than £16,000. The charge, he thought, was too small to be the subject of serious objection ou the part of the Irish Members.

said, he rose to move the reappointment of the Select Committee to inquire into the present state of the Ecclesiastical Commission, and to report to the House whether the Ecclesiastical Revenues could not be more advantageously administered for the interests of the Church than at present. The Committee sat last year, and before the close of its labours collected a large amount of evidence; and not having time to complete their investigation, had agreed to a Report recommending the reappointment of the Committee this Session. There was further evidence which it was desirable should be taken before the Committee made its Report, but he did not apprehend that the inquiry would be of a protracted nature.