asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether he has caused inquiry to be made into the conduct of the police and magistrates with regard to an outrage committed on Sunday, the 8th ultimo, at Drumcliffe, in the county Sligo, where five young men, members of the Orange Lodge of Sligo, having first indulged in liquor at the house of a publican named Adams, marched along the highway, wearing Orange sashes, shouted abuse of "Papists" in front of the Catholic Chapel, cursed the Pope, and pursued and fired at a young man named Denis Tighe, a Catholic; why the police allowed, or have not sought to punish, the breach of the Sunday Closing Act which led to this disorder and violence; why Constable Craig, the Constable in charge of the locality, omitted to report the facts to his superiors until after they had been published in the "Sligo Champion" of the 14th instant, six days after the occurrence, when it was no longer possible to conceal them; why Constable Craig, in the summons, charged the act of firing off a revolver at a person as merely a Road Nuisance Offence; why, instead of summoning the five offenders as defendants he summoned two of them as witnesses; why he summoned the man fired at as a defendant, not as a witness; and, why he refrained from summoning several eye-witnesses who could have given conclusive evidence; what notice will be taken of the conduct of Constable Craig; whether the three magistrates who heard the case at Sligo, on the 20th ultimo, dismissed it without prejudice, although several witnesses directly identified the defendants, though the only evidence for the defence was that of two men who had been themselves abettors of the disorderly proceedings, and though the Chairman characterised the "whole affair" as "disgraceful;" and, whether, considering the nature of the evidence, as well as the manner in which the case was managed and presented by Constable Craig, the Government will now order the arrest of all the offenders, and the renewal of proceedings against them?

I am informed that a party of young men returning from an Orange meeting at Drumcliffe entered a public-house and had some refreshment. There was no breach of the Licensing Laws, as they were bonâ fide travellers. They subsequently met on the road another party, and a row ensued. Two shots were fired, the Orange party allege from behind a hedge, while the Roman Catholic party allege that they were fired by the Orangemen. The constable followed the usual course of reporting the matter to the district Resident Magistrate and taking his directions. All the parties were summoned, and the evidence was so contradictory that the magistrates could come to no decision, and dismissed both sides without prejudice. [Laughter from the Irish Members.] I assure the hon. Members that both sides swore extremely determined. I will not say there was hard swearing, as it would imply that one side have sworn truly and the other side untruly. Every effort is being made to obtain further evidence, and if the charge of firing shots or carrying firearms can be brought home to anyone, they will be made amenable.

Will the right hon. Gentleman say why the men were not arrested and searched to see whether they had firearms in their possession?

I wish to ask whether the houses of these parties were searched for firearms?

said, the houses of the Orange party had been searched, but no firearms found.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is true that a tenant named Thady Timlin, of Culleens, near Ballina, county Sligo, was lately ejected from his holdings for a debt of thirty shillings, one year's rent; whether the ejectment was enforced by the landlord, a person named Henigan, accompanied by a bailiff and two policemen, without the presence of the sheriff; whether they seized, in satisfaction of the debt of thirty shillings, the bedclothes belonging to the old couple who lived in the house, and a crop worth about ten pounds; and, whether the proceeding was legal, and what redress is open to the evicted tenant?

I have received a telegram stating that Timlin was evicted for non-payment of two years' rent, amounting to £3. The eviction was carried out by a bailiff named Farmer, acting under a deputation from the Sheriff. He was not accompanied by police; but a police patrol happened to pass while the eviction was going on. The bailiff told Timlin that he might regard all his effects as seized; but it does not appear that anything was carried away. If there is any suggestion of illegality in the proceedings it is not for me to decide the point, as the Courts are open to persons feeling aggrieved.

asked the Vice President of the Council, Whether any arrangement has been concluded between the Department of Science and Art, South Kensington, and the Board of National Education in Ireland, to ensure to the Irish science teachers payment on the results of the May examinations at an earlier period than heretofore; whether the Department will endeavour to make such payments before the new classes are formed in the beginning of October; whether it is still considered necessary that claims from schools not in connection with the Commissioners of National Education should be referred to their Board for the purpose of being supervised by the Board's inspector before payment can be made by the Department; and, whether the delay in paying the Irish claims has not been due principally to the time occupied by the Returns passing through the hands of the Marlborough Street officials?

The arrangement which I promised the hon. Member last year has already been made, and we hope to make all payments duly claimed before the end of September. No claims from any schools will in future be sent to the National Board. But in cases of doubt, where Returns are inaccurately filled up, we shall avail ourselves of the assistance of the Board. The delay in the past has been largely due to the complex arrangement which has now been superseded, and to the late date at which the schools sent in their claims, and too often to their inaccuracy when they are filled up. I hope we shall secure much greater accuracy and despatch in the future.

asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether the proposed conversion of perpetual annuities held by the Paymaster General of the Court of Chancery will involve any alteration in the accounts kept by him with the suitors of such Court, or in the orders dealing with the funds to which they are entitled, or whether such suitors will be credited as heretofore with sums of £3 Per Cent. Consolidated Bank Annuities in the books of such Paymaster General?

In reply to the hon. Member, I have to state that the conversion of a portion of Government Stocks held by the Paymaster General of the Court of Chancery on behalf of suitors into Terminable Annuities will not involve any alteration in the accounts kept by him with the suitors, or in the orders dealing with the funds to which they are entitled. The suitors will be credited as heretofore with the Stock to which they are entitled, and with the interest upon such Stock as it accrues due.

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty, What course they propose to adopt with the present acting leading men of shipwrights in the event of the proposed organization being carried out?

All acting leading men of shipwrights will become acting inspectors.

asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government to confer a medal for long service on the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates of Her Majesty's Volunteer service; and, if so, when it is proposed to carry that intention into effect?

As this Question has been already twice answered, I would refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply on the 20th of April last to the hon. Member for Aylesbury (Mr. George Russell), to the effect that the issue of medals should be restricted to war services, long and meritorious Army service, and the saving of life?

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether, in hearing evidence in "Driscoll v. Hall," the Land Commissioners heard any witness as to value, or confined themselves to hearing evidence as to a legal point; whether they sent a court valuer; in how many cases have they given decisions in which neither they nor the Sub-Commissioners sent a court valuer, and is it an invariable rule not to give judgment unless they or the Sub-Commissioners have sent a court valuer, or heard evidence as to value; and, is it the fact that the rent fixed is greater than what the middleman pays his own landlord for his tenant's land, and for twice as much land in addition, which is in his own possession?

, in reply, said, that he had referred to the Land Commission on the subject, but had not yet received any reply.

asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether he can give the House any information respecting the negotiations with China about opium, which have been proceeding since 1876?

The only information that I am at present able to give my hon. Friend is, that the negotiations, as I stated in this House on April 3, are proceeding, and being carried on; and that proposals have been made by the Chinese Government, to which Her Majesty's Government have signified their readiness, under certain conditions, to agree.

asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether he had read Colonel Stanton's despatch of the 14th of September 1872, in which he states, with regard to M. de Lesseps' claim to the exclusive right of ship communication between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea—

"A pretension which the Khedive is, however, by no means prepared to admit, as he maintains, and I imagine justly, that no such construction can he attached to the terms of M. de Lesseps' Concession, and that there can he no doubt as to his own right to make canals or carry out any other public work within Egyptian Territory,"

"We (the Government) came to the conclusion that M. de Lesseps, or his Company, had an exclusive right by water through the Isthmus to the Gulf of Suez;"

Yes, Sir. When I met a deputation of shipowners in July last, I was cognizant of the Correspondence in 1872, which related to a claim supposed to have been set up by M. de Lesseps for a monopoly of all waterways between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, both as against the Khedive and any Company. The question discussed with the deputation was not the power of the Khedive to make Government Canals in Egypt, but his power to grant a Concession to an English Company for a parallel Canal through the Isthmus, as urged by several deputations and Memorials of shipowners. It was with reference to this proposal that I used words to the effect—but not the exact words—quoted by the hon. Member, and I see no reason to depart from that statement.

asked the President of the Local Government Board, Whether the rate of mortality in the ten cities and boroughs of the Metropolis is not many degrees less than in several of the large provincial towns of the United Kingdom, whose supply of water is drawn in from other than riverine sources, and the sale of which, to consumers, is altogether in the hands of the Municipal Corporations?

The facts, according to the best information I can obtain at so short a Notice, are these. Taking the towns in the United Kingdom with a population above 100,000, and excluding those where the supply is furnished by Companies, or where the supply is partly or wholly from rivers, there are, I think, nine towns where, according to the last published Quarterly Return of the Registrar General, the death rate was higher than in London, and four where it was lower.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If he will communicate to the House, on the Motion for Second Reading of the Tramways and Public Companies (Ireland) Bill, a statement giving particulars of the sums (if any) advanced by the Irish Land Commission, for the purpose of promoting emigration from Ireland, under Clause 32 of "The Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881; "also of the advances made for the like purpose to Irish boards of guardians by the Commissioners of Public Works, under Clause 18 of "The Arrears of Rent (Ireland) Act, 1882," and of the grants under Clause 20 of the same Act for the like purpose, showing the date and amount of each payment, and the person or persons to whom the same was made?

I will communicate substantially to the House what the hon. Member asks for; but I may not be able in the course of a speech to give full details as to dates and particulars of every payment; but I will give a general view and abstract of what has been done. I can see no objection to the hon. Member having the information in the shape of a Return.

asked if the Return would be furnished before the second reading of the Tramways and Public Companies (Ireland) Bill?

said, he could not pledge himself to that; but it would be given as soon as possible.

Would the right hon. Gentleman say when the second reading of the Tramways and Public Companies (Ireland) Bill will be taken?

I fear no positive information can be given.

Will it be next week?

Oh, certainly.

asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether, if it prove to be the fact that Cetewayo has been compelled to seek British protection in the Reserved Territory, Her Majesty's Government will direct that measures shall be taken to prevent him or his adherents from recommencing war, or using the Reserved Territory as a basis for fresh agitation or military operations in Zulu-land? The right hon. Gentleman added:—I should like to say that I hope this will not be treated as a hypothetical Question. The suggestions I make are only too probable; and I trust we may hear that Her Majesty's Government do not intend to incur the responsibility of doing nothing to prevent the recurrence of bloodshed in Zululand.

Whether the right hon. Gentleman regards this Question as a hypothetical one or not, it does not alter the fact that it is hypothetical, and that it is put in a hypothetical form. Events in Zululand have, no doubt, taken a new and unexpected turn during the last few days. As the right hon. Gentleman knows, we only had information recently; and it is impossible at three hours' Notice, and in the absence of positive information as to Cetewayo's movements, to say what will be the action of the Government beyond the maintenance of order in the Re-serve.

I feel that three hours' Notice is not long, and I shall repeat the Question another day; but I may remind the hon. Member that prompt action is needed if anything is to be done.

asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether he will communicate to the House the text or substance of the Vote of Censure lately passed by the Transvaal Volksraad upon Her Majesty's Ministers; whether it is a fact that the Transvaal Budget of the year shows a deficit of £200,000; whether he can obtain a summary of the Transvaal Budget; and, whether any time has been fixed for the payment of the £450,000 owing by the Boers to Her Majesty's Exchequer, or any portion of that sum?

Sir, the substance of the Resolution adopted by the Transvaal Volksraad, which the hon. Member, with rare wit, calls a Vote of Censure on Her Majesty's Ministers, was to the effect that the Raad, having seen that the Imperial Government had resolved to take into its own hands the Government of Basutoland under certain conditions, and considering that such a step requires the confirmation of the Cape Parliament, now in Session, resolves that the said step is considered injurious to the peace, welfare, and future union of South Africa, and that this Resolution should be communicated, among others, to the Cape Parliament and the Imperial Government. The Governor at the Cape asked for instructions as to what he should do with the Resolution; and the Secretary of State, on the 26th of July, directed him to inform the Transvaal Government that, in the absence of any explanation of the reasons for which they adopted the Resolution and sent it to the Imperial Government, they must decline to discuss with the Government of the Transvaal a matter which lies altogether beyond the functions of that Government. As to the second Question, I cannot say what deficit, if any, the Transvaal Budget of the year shows. We have not the figures; and, although we could obtain a summary of it, there would be no advantage in doing it. As to the last Question, I must refer the hon. Member to a Return which I laid on the Table of the House three weeks ago, from which he will see that the Debt is £380,000, and not £450,000. No time has been fixed for the payment of this sum, as by the terms of the Convention—which the hon. Member should consult—it is to be paid by an Annuity for 25 years of £6 0s. 9d. per cent.

asked whether one of the conditions of the Convention was not that £100,000 should be repaid last August; and, whether the Resolution of Censure was communicated to the Government through the British Resident in the Transvaal?

Yes, Sir; the Resolution was communicated through the British Resident. As to the £100,000, I have so often explained the matter in this House that I really cannot repeat it.

asked, Whether Her Majesty's Government will make any further representations to the Government of Spain in reference to the liberation of Colonel Maceo, who was illegally arrested on British territory, and handed over to the Spanish Government; whether Her Majesty's Government is aware that Colonel Maceo is kept locked up in his room almost constantly, and that, during the four months he has been a prisoner in Pampeluna, he has not been further than fifteen or twenty paces from his cell; whether his family, during their daily visit, are locked up with Colonel Maceo in the cell in which he is confined; whether anyone is allowed to visit Colonel Maceo without the special permission of the Governor of the Citadel; whether the Spanish Government grant only an allowance of six reales (about one shilling and three-ponce per day) to Colonel Maceo to enable him to live; and, whether this treatment of Colonel Maceo is in accordance with the promises made to Her Majesty's Government by the Govern- ment of Spain to treat Colonel Maceo with the consideration due to his rank?

It is not, at present, the intention of Her Majesty's Government to make any further representation in the case of Colonel Maceo. The Papers presented to Parliament will show that Her Majesty's Government have made every effort to secure him treatment in a manner according to the promises made, and that they have received on this subject satisfactory assurances from the Spanish Government. Her Majesty's Minister at Madrid will, however, continue to watch the case.

Will the noble Lord say whether any Representatives of Her Majesty's Legation at Madrid have visited Maceo in prison to find out how he is treated; or do they simply depend upon the representations of the Spanish officials? Time after time I have received letters from Maceo denying the statements.

called the hon. Member to Order for introducing controversial matter into a Question.

Well, Sir, I wish to ask whether the Legation at Madrid has taken the trouble to send someone to find out how Maceo is treated?

The principal complaint, I believe, relates to the fact that the prison at Pampeluna is an exceedingly cold place. That is a proper complaint. With regard to the other Question, I may mention that Maceo's representations have been forwarded to Her Majesty's Government; and, if the hon. Member wishes it, I will lay them on the Table.

Will the noble Lord inform us whether Colonel Maceo has been living on 1s. 3d. a-day for the last nine months; and, whether such treatment was in accordance with the agreement made by the Spanish Government?

I really do not know whether he is living on 1s. 3d. a-day or not.

But will the noble Lord answer the hon. Member for Rescommon as to whether the Representatives of the British Government at Madrid communicated with Maceo himself?

I am not aware whether one of the Legation at Madrid has personally been to the prison or not. I do not suppose the hon. Member thinks that Maceo ought to be visited week by week and day by day; and I do not suppose that a single visit would be any guarantee that during a certain period of time the promises of the Spanish Government would be carried out. We have obtained assurances from the Spanish Government, and we have every reason to believe that the Spanish Government are loyally carrying out their promises.

But will the noble Lord take pains to get from Maceo himself an account of how be has been treated? That is the question—not whether he will ask any Minister to ask the Spanish Government their opinion.

We have already done so, and that communication I have already offered to lay before Parliament.

But the House has not been informed whether the statement as to 1s. 3d. a-day is correct?

I should also like to ask the noble Lord whether from this 1s. 3d. a-day Maceo has not to maintain his family?

I will forward the Question containing these allegations to Her Majesty's Minister at Madrid, and call his attention to it.

Perhaps the noble Lord can inform the House whether the Foreign Office has any information as to the insurrection which has broken out in Spain?

It is a military rebellion; and I should like to know whether the Government intend to send out, as they did to Egypt, Forces to put down that rebellion?

In reply to the Question, Her Majesty's Government have been informed by the Minister at Madrid of the outbreak, of which accounts have appeared in the newspapers, in the South of Spain towards the Portuguese Frontier. It appears also that there is a military movement in the extreme North of Spain on the Frontier of France; but beyond that little is known.

asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, If his attention has been called to a telegram in The Standard of to-day, which purports to contain the words of a Proclamation from the Superior Commandant at Tamatave, signed Billard, and to the following effect:—

"Considering the attempts of certain officers of Her Majesty's corvette Dryad to impede the course of justice, and to obstruct the action of the authorities by substituting themselves for private persons in questions which do not concern them personally; considering the interference which Commander Johnstone, of Her Majesty's corvette Dryad, believed himself authorized to exercise in requiring the military authorities to render an account of the execution of their orders—Decrees that access to Tamatave is forbidden to all foreign sailors, soldiers, and officers."

asked, If any further information could be given with reference to the important despatches which arrived at the Admiralty yesterday?

No, Sir; it is not in my power to make any addition to the short statement I made yesterday upon the subject of the despatches. With regard to the Question of the right hon. Gentleman, I may remind him that, so far as I recollect, yesterday I undertook, upon Notice from the hon. Member for Eye (Mr. Ashmead-Bartlett), that I would give an answer on an early day as to the appointment of a successor to Consul Pakenham. I propose to answer that Question when the hon. Member puts it down. But I must remind the right hon. Gentleman that a Consul is never accredited. He is not like a diplomatist, he receives an exequatur, but be is not accredited; and therefore the successor of Consul Pakenham will have a Consular and not a diplomatic position, and will not be accredited to anybody. A more important Question which the right hon. Gentleman asks me is whether we have observed this Proclamation by a gentleman named Billard. In the first place, there is some uncertainty as to this, because The Times contains two Proclamations by some Commandant or gentleman occupying some position in Tamatave, and relating to entirely different matters; and this question is so mixed up with the question mentioned by the hon. Member for Salford (Mr. Arnold) that I think it would be better to reserve any answer to it until the Prime Minister, myself, or someone else on behalf of the Foreign Office, gives a reply.

appealed to the Prime Minister to say whether he could give any indication when time was likely to be found for the Local Government Board (Scotland) Bill, and especially whether any Irish Bills were to be given precedence over it; because he knew that the Representatives from Ireland had been bad boys, while the Scotch Members had been on their good behaviour.

said, he was very sorry that comparisons of that kind, which tended to provoke feelings of retaliation, should be introduced into a Question of this sort with regard to the order of Public Business. He could not at that moment say anything about the Local Government Board (Scotland) Bill; but he hoped on Monday some arrangement would be made with reference to it. With regard to the Evening Sitting, he hoped they might be allowed to take it, and make all the progress possible with the Parliamentary Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Practices) Bill, and the Parliamentary Registration (Ireland) Bill. Yesterday there was only one Motion down on the Paper—that of the hon. Member for Salford (Mr. Arnold), who kindly offered to withdraw it in favour of Government Business. Since then, however, a crop of five others had sprung up; and he would appeal to hon. Members in whose names those Motions stood to give way in deference to the general sense of the House and the necessities of the case. Should they not be able to finish the Parliamentary Registration (Ireland) Bill to-night they would be precluded from taking it to-morrow, other Business having been appointed. On Monday they were bound to apply themselves to the Business of Supply, and the first day at disposal would be Tuesday, when it would be made the first Order.

announced that he should not proceed with his Motion, which stood second on the Paper.

appealed to the hon. Members for Eye (Mr. Ashmead-Bartlett), for Westminster (Lord Algernon Percy), and for Preston (Mr. Tomlinson), who had Motions on the Paper for the Evening Sitting, to withdraw them.

asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, If his attention had been called to the serious news published in The Standard of that morning, to the effect that the Canal system in Lower Egypt having been allowed to fall into a ruinous state, it was doubly difficult to combat the inroads of the Nile; and, further, that the utter worth lessness of the whole Governmental machinery in Egypt was fully known?

I have already answered this Question. I have reminded the House that the Egyptian Government had at its disposal the skill of a distinguished engineering officer, Colonel Moncrieff, who was specially charged with this matter.

asked the President of the Board of Trade, What were his intentions with regard to the Bankruptcy Bill, which was set down for Saturday? If the clauses relating to Ireland were not added the course of the Bill would be perfectly simple; but if they were introduced they would unquestionably lead to controversy. They would hardly get through it at the Saturday Sitting, and a day next week—perhaps more than one—would have to be devoted to it. He expressed a hope that the Bill would be relieved from the incubus now placed upon it.

said, he had heard a rumour that it was under the consideration of the President of the Board of Trade to make some modification in the Irish clauses to the extent of applying the local bankruptcy system to Ireland, and of not going on with the other Irish clauses. He mentioned the matter in case the right hon. Gentleman might wish to say something about it.

It will be in the recollection of the House that originally we proposed that the clauses relating to Ireland should be taken on the Report stage. But objection, deserving of weight, was taken to that, on the ground that it would be a strong measure to ask the House to extend the scope of the Bill in an important respect without having those clauses considered in Committee. Yielding to that objection, what I propose to do is, when the Bill is called on to-morrow, immediately to move that it be re-committed for the purpose of receiving the Irish clauses; and, no doubt, upon that Motion it would be perfectly legitimate for any Gentleman who objects to the extension of the Bill to Ireland to discuss that as a question of principle. I would venture, with the permission of the House, to go a step further, and to make an appeal to hon. Members who take that view, while they should state fully, as they are entitled to do, their objections to the principle, yet, if the decision of the House is against them, and if it should appear, as I think it will, that there is an almost universal concurrence of opinion amongst the representatives of commercial classes in Ireland that this Bill should be extended as proposed, that, at all events, their subsequent opposition on the stage of Committee will be confined to as narrow statement as is consistent with anything like fair discussion. [Mr. HEALY: Hear, hear!] I find to-day that there are 30 pages of Amendments on the Paper, and that 255 of these Amendments stand in the names of six Members from Ireland. Now, there is no doubt, if these Amendments are to be pressed with all the pertinacity of which hon. Members from Ireland are capable, at this stage of the Session, it clearly will be almost impossible for the Government to do what they are anxious to do—namely, to give effect to what they believe to be the wishes of the people of Ireland. If so, the whole responsibility must rest with the hon. Members who bring about that result. I hope there is no such intention; and that, the principle having once been decided, the discussion of the details will be confined within very moderate limits.

Mr. Speaker, in one of the morning papers to-day I observe the statement put into my mouth that I had pledged the Government to withdraw from Egypt at a definite time—namely, in the month of November next; and on turning to the report of my words contained in that newspaper, I find a sentence upon which the misrepresentation of my words is based. I need hardly say, in the presence of many who heard my statement, that I used no words of the kind. The sentence, which has been mis-reported in two newspapers, but which in all the other newspapers I have seen is correctly reported, is as follows:—I said—

"That Sir Evelyn "Wood had expressed the opinion that in the month of November next he would, with one regiment of Cavalry, one battery of Artillery, and eight battalions of Infantry, he able to answer for the tranquillity of the capital."

said, that he had at hand no detailed figures respecting the quality of the London water supply; but there was no doubt that the analysis had shown different degrees of purity in the water of the different Companies.

said, that the Chairman of Committees had, at the instance partly of the Local Government Board and partly of the local authorities of the districts through which this Canal passes, induced the Canal Company, he believed, either to introduce a clause in this Bill, or to make independent provision with regard to the purity of the Canal.

said, there was a semiofficial statement in The Daily News of this morning that the Government intended to proceed with this Bill on Saturday. It would be interesting to the Medical Bodies in Ireland if the Vice President of the Council would state whether that was correct?

, in reply, said, that the paragraph spoken of was not semi-official, and he knew nothing of it. The Government, he added, should require to see their way before they proceeded with any of the Bills that had come down from the House of Lords.

, referring to the statement of the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs that he had already answered the Question respecting the state of the Canals in Egypt, said, that the noble Lord had not done so; and he wished, therefore, to repeat the Question.

I have answered the Question.