asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether the attention of the Land Commission has been called to a resolution of the Kildysart Board of Guardians, complaining of the inconvenience and expense to fifty-six suitors in that union, who were obliged to travel distances of twelve to seventeen miles to have their land claims heard at the late sittings of the Sub-Commission at Kilrush; whether, in consequence of the complaint of inadequate accommodation at the Kildysart Courthouse, the guardians of the Kildysart Union have placed their board-room at the disposal of the Sub-Commissioners; and, whether they will be requested to arrange for the future to bring their court within easier reach of poor suitors?

The Chairman of the County Clare Sub-Commission reports as follows:—

"Last September we sat at Kildysart, to save the tenants the journey to Kilrush, and found the Petty Sessions House there quite insufficient for the accommodation of the Court. We received no intimation that the Guardians had placed their Board room at the disposal of the Sub-Commission. The Kildysart Union is of large area; accordingly, with a view to the convenience of the parties, and with the approval of the solicitors on both sides, we arranged that the cases nearer Kilrush should be taken up there, whilst those nearer Ennis should be heard at that town. The tenants all received notice of the time their cases would be heard at Kilrush, and they were, in fact, not delayed an hour from the time mentioned in the notice. None of the tenants expressed the slightest dissatisfaction at having to come into Kilrush."

Do I understand the right hon. Gentleman to state that the arrangement of the Sub-Commissioners was made entirely to suit the convenience of the tenants?

Relative to the answer of the right hon. Gentleman, may I ask whether, at this season, Kilrush being within easy drive of Kilkee, a well-known seaside resort, if the convenience of the Sub-Commissioners, for the purposes of personal enjoyment, is of greater importance than the convenience of the tenant farmers of the county Clare; and if he is aware that this arrangement is come to annually by the Court?

I will answer that Question with Notice. In reply to the hon. Member for Mallow, I may say that I have given him all the information I have on the subject.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If a man named Gardiner, of Kilmoon, Lisdoonvarna, county Clare, was sentenced, on June 19th last, at the Ballyvaughan Sessions, to a week's imprisonment for waylaying and assaulting a man named Edward Mulqueeney; if Gardiner has been for some considerable time under police protection, having a police hut and five policemen stationed near his house, on his own representation that he was in personal danger; if Gardiner is also permitted to carry arms; and, if it is the intention of the Government to continue police protection to him?

It is not a fact that Gardiner was sentenced to a week's imprisonment for waylaying and assaulting Edward Mulqueeney; but he was fined 2s. 6d. for a trifling assault. Gardiner has for some time been under police protection, but not, as stated in the Question, on his own representation. On the contrary, he rather objects to it. But the police authorities consider it necessary for his safety, as his house has been fired into, and he has been the object of other outrages. He is licensed to carry arms.

Is it not a fact that this man Gardiner only got the option of a fine, and that he really was sentenced to a week's imprisonment?

I am not informed.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, With what object did Major Blair, R. M., recently visit one of the Crossmaglen prisoners in Chatham Prison?

Major Blair visited the prison, and saw one of the convicts, not by direction of the Executive, but because he expressed a wish to see him. I understand that he desired to learn something about his wife and neighbours, and endeavoured to have himself transferred to some Irish prison.

Are we, then, to understand that this visit was undertaken purely at the man's own wish, and not at the instigation of the Government?

It was, Sir.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether the assistant divisional magistrates of Athlone overlook and open letters received in Athlone; whether they have their residence over the post office; and, whether they are so acting in accordance with the instructions of the Executive?

A Constabulary officer has private apartments over the Post Office at Athlone. He lives there to suit his own convenience, and not by direction of the Government. He enters the house by a private door, and his rooms are quite separate from the Post Office, with the business of which he never interferes in any way.

asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, What reply has been sent to the Petition addressed to Lord Derby by the taxpayers of the Island of Grenada against the vote of £260 by the Legislative Council for the repair of an Anglican parsonage at St. George; and, is it the fact that three-fourths of the Islanders are Catholics; that the Protestant Church there has been disestablished; that the vote was carried against a majority of the unofficial members of the Council; that the Petitioners cite the local Act of 1874 against the validity of the vote; that, although the Anglicans form only a fourth of the population, they comprise amongst their number some of the wealthiest inhabitants; and that they have hitherto had a monopoly of all religious endowments?

We have only received a copy of the Petition referred to. The original, which must come through the Governor of the Windward Islands, has not yet reached us. We have, however, already sent a despatch to the Governor asking for information as to the obligation of the Colonial Government to undertake the repair of this parsonage. We have further directed him not to allow any part of the money to be expended without further instructions. But we are not yet in a position to give a final decision. The statements contained in the second part of the Question are, in the main, correct; but we have no official knowledge of the relative wealth of the different communities.

Would the hon. Gentleman kindly state how soon the Government can give their definite decision?

was understood to say that it would be given in about a week.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury, The name of the person in receipt of the pension of £436 at page 545 of the Estimates of 1883–4; and, if he can say whether it is or is not the fact that Mr. Corry Connellan receives any sum out of the public purse?

, in reply, said, the name of the person referred to was Corry Connellan, and he was in the receipt of the annual pension stated.

Then I beg to give Notice that I shall call attention to this subject as a public scandal. I shall ask the Government, whether it is a fact that this person, who was hunted out of Ireland for being guilty of a disgraceful offence, which cannot be mentioned, is at the present moment receiving from Her Majesty's Government a pension of £436 per annum?

asked the Postmaster General, Whether his attention has been called to the unsatisfactory state of the postal arrangements now existing in the district of Partry, Ballinrobe, county Mayo; whether it is a fact that there are only two sub-offices in the vicinity of Ballinrobe, one of them being four miles from the last-named place, and the other seven miles further on, viz. at Tourmakeady; whether it is a fact that there is no office between Tourmakeady and Maam, a distance of twenty to twenty-five miles; whether all the inhabitants of Maamtrasna, Derrypark, and the Partry Mountains, including the police of at least a dozen barracks, huts, and "protection posts," are compelled by the absence of postal accommodation to drive to the Tourmakeady office; whether it is a fact that there is no money order office at Tourmakeady, and that the poor people in that district, and to the west of it, who desire to change money orders are obliged to go into Ballinrobe, a distance in some instances of at least thirty Irish miles; whether it is a fact that only one postboy, at a salary of 18s. a-week, is employed in the delivery of letters and parcels between Ballinrobe and Tourmakeady, and is compelled to travel twenty-two Irish miles every day, on some days carrying a weight of nearly 56 pounds; whether the smallness of his salary precludes such postboy from obtaining assistance in the carry- ing of heavy parcels; whether the Postmaster General is aware of the inconvenience resulting to the inhabitants of the district of Partry, Ballinrobe, from the non-existence of a Sunday post, while Sunday postal services are in existence in the rural districts surrounding Partry; and, whether he will inquire into the grievances set forth in this Question, and will take steps to insure the speedy removal of such grievances?

I have received no complaints as to the unsatisfactory state of the postal arrangements in the district of Partry, county Mayo. It is true there are only two sub-offices in the vicinity referred to—namely, at Partry and Tourmakeady; but the vicinity is very sparsely populated, and the amount of correspondence is very limited. It is a fact that there is no office between Tourmakeady and Maam in a direct line; still the sub-offices at Aasleagle, Leenane, Clonbur, and Curnamona supply parts of the district lying between the two places. As regards the want of postal accommodation felt by the inhabitants and the police at Maamtrasna, Derrypark, and the Partry Mountains, I must ask the hon. Member to be good enough to supply me with more definite information on this subject. A money order office has been authorized at Tourmakeady, which will be opened on the 1st of August. The wages of the rural postman between Ballinrobe and Tourmakeady have been raised to £1 a-week, and as he uses a horse the weight carried is not beyond his ability. In regard to the absence of a Sunday post to Tourmakeady, if a Memorial on the subject be forwarded, and it should be found that the Memorialists receive as much as two-thirds of the correspondence, the proportion required by the rule affecting the establishment of Sunday posts, I shall be happy to comply with their request.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If he is aware that a labourer on the estate of Earl Fitzwilliam, named Bryan Merriman, was evicted from his dwelling on the 16th instant, at Newcastle, county Wicklow, with wife and eight children; whether Merriman Look an active part in getting up a requisition to the sanitary authorities for building labourers' cottages under the Act; whether Earl Fitzwilliam opposed the project on the ground that additional cottages are not wanted; whether Merriman was proceeded against by means of the Sanitary Act; whether the sanitary authority refused to evict him; and, whether there are any vacant cottages in the district for labourers of the class to which Merriman belongs?

Merriman was not a tenant of Earl Fitzwilliam's; nor, indeed, was he a tenant of anybody. He lived in the gate lodge of a widow lady, who is a tenant on Earl Fitzwilliam's estate. He had no legal right to this lodge, and he refused to pay rent for it. Although he had no claim on Earl Fitzwilliam, he has, through that nobleman's agency, been provided with another house, which he occupies as caretaker at 1d. a-week, until such time as one can be built for him. I am not aware that Merriman took an active part in getting up a representation under the Labourers' Act, beyond the facts which I mentioned in replying to a former Question—namely, that he took some steps to obtain the benefits of the Labourers' Act himself, but that his application did not fulfil the requirements of the Act, and could not be complied with. As to Earl Fitzwilliam's action with regard to the proposed schemes under the Act in that district, I am informed that he dissented from the taking of his lands; but having undertaken to build himself, the Sanitary Authority accepted his proposals, and did not proceed with those cases in which they had intended erecting cottages on his property. On a previous occasion I stated that several months ago proceedings were taken against Merriman under the Public Health Act, and an order was made for the closing of his house on sanitary grounds; but that subsequently the Sanitary Authority did not desire that the order should be carried out, and the matters complained of having been abated, the man was not at the time disturbed. Though I have no positive information, I think it unlikely that there are many vacant cottages in the district; but it appears that one was made available for this man, and I hope that through the operation of the La- bourers' Act other deficiencies are in course of being supplied.

asked Mr. Solicitor General for Ireland, Whether it is a fact that at the Spring Assizes for the county of Longford, in this year, the Grand Jury of that county granted a guarantee of five per cent to the Promoters of the Granard Junction Tramway Company, on a certain small portion of the barony of Granard, without giving previous notice to the occupiers of said small portion that this large guarantee would be imposed upon them; that, inasmuch as the presentment was thrown out by the Privy Council for informality, and a new application will be before the same Grand Jury, on next Friday, for a new guarantee in respect of same, and the public notion again not specifying any portion of the barony to be charged, whether the Lord Lieutenant will issue instructions to said Grand Jury that some notice should be given to the occupiers of the portions of the barony proposed to be charged with this heavy responsibility; and, further, that, inasmuch as the only substantial means of profit to pay the said Promoters five per cent on the paid-up capital of said Company will be the carriage of goods from the proposed station on the Midland Great Western Railway Company's Line to the town of Granard, he will ascertain, for the information of the cesspayers, what has been the average delivery, either by freight or tonnage, of goods out of Ballywillan (the present station on said Railway for Granard goods) per month, or for the last three or any three months?

, in reply, said, that this Question only appeared on the Paper to-day, and he was unable to make a full statement on the matter. He might say, however, that it was not the province of the Lord Lieutenant to issue instructions to the Grand Jury under the Act. With regard to the 3rd paragraph of the Question, the information sought for could only be got on application to the Railway Companies, and the Government had no means of obtaining it.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is true that some eighty families are to be evicted this week on the Olphert, Nixon, and Stewart estates, in the parish of Gweedore, county Donegal; whether the greater number of these families are excessively poor, and were preserved from starvation by charitable relief during the summer of last year; whether one of the landlords is Chairman of the Dunfanaghy Board of Guardians, and the son of another Vice Chairman; and, whether, in view of these facts, and of the repeated refusal of the Dunfanaghy Board of Guardians to give out-door relief, the Government will take steps to insure that out-door relief shall be available for the evicted families during the month following the evictions, according to the power vested in the Guardians by the 11th and 12th Vic. c. 47?

Evictions are, I understand, about to take place, as stated. The district is a very poor one, and a number of the people received a good deal of charitable assistance last year. Mr. Olphert is Chairman of the Dunfanaghy Board of Guardians. I am not aware whether either of the other landlords mentioned is a son of the Vice Chairman. The power to give out-door relief, to which the hon. Member refers, is expressly vested in the Guardians, "if they see fit." The decision rests absolutely with them, and the Local Government Board cannot interfere.

asked, was it not a fact that the Sub-Commissioners have made very large reductions in the rents on the farms of the persons to be evicted; and, whether, as it was in order to deprive the poor people of the benefit of these reductions they were now being evicted, the right hon. Gentleman would not think fit to interfere in the matter?

I am not aware about the question of redistribution; and I have no means of interposing in the matter, except by extra official advice.

asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether, having regard to the commer- cial interests of England in China, and to the fact that hostilities have been renewed between French and Chinese troops, Her Majesty's Government will use their best endeavours, as an intermediary between the two Powers, to bring about an understanding, and thereby to prevent bloodshed, and the international complications which may follow, should it be in contemplation (as reported in The Observer of Sunday last) to subject a Chinese Port to bombardment in retaliation for the attack on the French convoy at Langson?

The French and Chinese Governments are aware that our good offices would always be at their service; but to offer mediation, unless at a time when Her Majesty's Government had some reason to suppose that it would be acceptable to both Governments, would do harm, and not good.

asked whether the noble Lord could give the House any information as to what had recently taken place in Tonquin between France and China?

said, he did not think it would be at present desirable to enter into that matter. The Notice of the Question strictly referred to mediation.

asked Mr. Attorney General, Whether it will not still be possible to make further arrangements for the trial of Admiralty and Probate cases in the County Palatine of Lancaster?

, in reply, said, he had already answered this Question. If there had been sufficient judicial strength a Judge would have been appointed for the purpose, because it was felt that Lancashire had great claims.

asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether it is true that a credit has been proposed by the French Government for the blockade of Madagascar and for the permanent occupa- tion of Tamatave. Majunga, Vohemar, and other Malagasy ports; and, what steps Her Majesty's Ministers are taking to protect British commerce and to obtain compensation for the serious injury inflicted upon British subjects by the French invasion of Madagascar?

Her Majesty's Government are not aware that such a credit has been proposed. At the same time, I am not wishing to throw any doubt on the report to which the hon. Member refers. As regards the second part of the hon. Member's Question, I have nothing to add to the reply which I made to his similar Question on the 10th of June—namely, that an efficient Consular staff is watching over the interests of British subjects, and that claims for compensation cannot be settled till the conclusion of hostilities. If the hon. Member desires any information respecting Her Majesty's ships on the station, my hon. Friend the Secretary to the Admiralty will be able to supply it?

I understand from the answer of the noble Lord that it may be taken as a fact that a credit has been proposed by the French Government for the permanent occupation of what practically amounts to the East Sea Coast of Madagascar. I would, therefore, ask the noble Lord whether Her Majesty's Government acquiesces in this occupation of Malagasy territory by the French?

No, Sir; what I said was, that the Foreign Office had not received any information on the subject. At the same time, I wish to point out to the hon. Member that the Foreign Office is not necessarily obliged to have information as to every subject of which the hon. Member reads an account in the newspapers.

Then I beg to give Notice that when Her Majesty's Government introduce their proposal for the neutralization of Egypt and the Suez Canal, I shall move to add the words, "Madagascar, Tonquin, and Tunis."

asked the Chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works, Why the public highway on Hampstead Heath, described in section forty-one of "The Hampstead Heath Act, 1871" (34 and 35 Vic. c. 77), as the "road or public way on the Heath leading from Telegraph Hill to Golder's Hill," has been in part converted into a bridle road and closed to carriages, and in another part is so badly kept as to be useless or dangerous; and, whether there is any reason why the right of user, reserved by the same section of the Act to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and to Sir Spencer Wells, should not be extended to the general public, if such right did not previously exist?

I beg to inform the hon. Member, in reply to his Question, that although the words "road or public way" are used in "The Hampstead Heath Act, 1871," the road to which he refers never was anything but a rough bridle or cart track across the turf of the Heath, and it still exists in the state it always has been in, except that a portion of it, which was utilized by the Board when they made a ride for the use of equestrians, was improved, and this is, of course, in a better condition than the part which the Board did not utilize. No vehicular right of way exists over the Heath, except, perhaps, as regards certain vehicles going to Sir Spencer Wells's or the Ecclesiastical Commissioners' property; and the Board do not consider it to the public advantage to allow vehicles generally to be driven over the Heath.

asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether it is true that the Great Kabbalish Tribe have joined the Mahdi, and that the 46th Regiment have been ordered to Keneh?

No information of the kind referred to has boon received. The General Officer Commanding has not reported any actual orders to the 2nd Battalion Cornwall Light Infantry; but the following telegram received from him on the 22nd June shows that such a step was in contemplation: —

"Cairo, 22nd June, 1884, 5.40 P.M. Tribes in front become troublesome. Sussex Battalion leaves Assiout for Assouan, Wednesday, to support Egyptian troops and give confidence to Natives. Shall send, if necessary, another battalion to Kench, where tracks from Eastern Soudan abut. Rumours current of tribes threatening Korosko, Assouan, Keneh. Friendly tribes in desert east of these places watching enemy, and behaving well up to last accounts."

asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether he can inform the House what steps Her Majesty's Government will take to prevent cruel injustice in Egypt, and especially cruelty in Egyptian prisons and the imprisonment of innocent people, while Her Majesty's troops kept the Egyptian Government in power?

Before the Prime Minister answers that Question, I wish to ask him whether it is a fact that the alleged cruel injustice rests solely on the statements of Mr. Clifford Lloyd? I wish to point out that these alleged cruelties must be things not unknown to Mr. Clifford Lloyd from his experience of Ireland, where many persons were imprisoned without trial, and where Her Majesty's troops enabled Mr. Clifford Lloyd to carry on a system by which men were imprisoned without any charges having been made against them.

I do not think I should advance the knowledge we possess with regard to this question by mixing with it either any reference to Irish transactions, or, indeed, any reference to Mr. Clifford Lloyd. The Question does not refer to Mr. Clifford Lloyd; and I think in my answer I had better not bring in the controversies with which that gentleman's name has, unfortunately, been connected in Egypt. My right hon. Friend is quite aware that he must be content with a summary answer to the important point he has put. At the close of his Question he refers to the presence of Her Majesty's troops in Egypt, and we entirely agree with him in what he appears to suggest —namely, that the effect of a military occupation is to impose upon us a very heavy responsibility with regard to Egypt. What I have to say is that really the substance of the description of what we shall do to prevent cruel injustice in Egypt is that we shall continue to do what we have been doing. [Mr. ASHMEAD-BARTLETT: Oh, oh!] I am very sorry to hear that an hon. Gentleman who is totally ignorant of the question meets my declaration with marks of mockery. If he will permit me, I will continue what I have got to say—that we shall continue to do what we have been doing, and that we have no reason to be dissatisfied up to the present time with these results. The information conveyed to us, upon what we think very responsible and most sufficient authority, is that very great and beneficial changes have been made in the management of Egyptian prisons, and great improvements introduced, although, undoubtedly, they are, as everyone would expect, still far behind the practice and condition of prisons in civilized countries in the West. [Mr. HEALY: No, no!] With regard to unjust imprisonment and oppressive imprisonment, this great difference has been introduced into Egypt—that is, that no such imprisonment can take place, and no such oppression can be practised, without its constituting a legal offence, liable to prosecution before the Courts. Beyond this, I have to say two things. First of all, there is an important discussion now going on, and a scheme in preparation, with respect to the action of the police in Egypt, upon which we shall shortly be in communication with the Egyptian Government. Further, my noble Friend (Earl Granville) informs me, that as we have had occasion to refer to Sir Evelyn Baring recently upon the general progress made in the matter of reform in Egypt since our occupation, he hopes to be able to communicate in a short time some information rather more detailed than what I have now given to the House.

With reference to the reply of the Prime Minister, I wish to ask whether Her Majesty's Government consider that the steps they are now taking are adequate and effectual for preventing this cruel injustice in Egypt?

I thought I had stated that we thought, with respect to the condition of the prisons, which was the question immediately put forward by my right hon. Friend, that the Reports show that the changes which have been effected, considering the time, and considering the difficulties, were quite as much, or even beyond, what could reasonably be expected; and as to the amount of practical good that has been effected, speaking generally, the impression made upon our mind is that the progress of these reforms has been far from unsatisfactory.

Perhaps my right hon. Friend will allow me to ask him whether the Government will continue to take care that the reforms which they have introduced shall be carried out under the supervision of some Englishman, and not left entirely to Native officials?

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether, under the present state of Egyptian law, it is possible to imprison 1,000 men for a considerable length of time without trial, as was the case in Ireland under the right hon. Member for Bradford (Mr. W. E. Forster)?

I have stated that false imprisonment or oppressive treatment is now a criminal offence in Egypt, and may, like other criminal offences, be brought before the Courts. With respect to the Question of my right hon. Friend, I think I can give no answer to it, which is really more effective than the statement that we recognize our responsibility in the matter; and that our duty is, therefore, to promote the adoption in Egypt of those measures which, on the whole, we think best calculated to attain the end we have in view. Of course, we must look, in a material degree, to the assistance which Englishmen and the Natives of European countries are peculiarly competent to render; but it would not be right for me to lay down any general rule, which would tend very much to discourage all practical improvements among the Egyptians themselves.

I should like to ask whether, when the Prime Minister says the Government is sensible of its responsibility, he includes the duty of using their influence to secure that high officials, such as Zebehr Pasha, who were guilty of cruelty, are adequately punished?

I do not see how that can be done; but, at the same time, if the hon. and learned Member has in view any particular case of cruelty, I should be much obliged to him if he will kindly state the particulars of the case to us, so that we may be able to give him a more direct answer.

I am very sorry to be obliged to press the right hon. Gentleman; but what the House of Com- mons wants to know is, whether the Prime Minister will hold out any hope to Parliament that the Government will take steps more effectual than those they have taken up to the present for the prevention of the cruelties which have been described by Mr. Clifford Lloyd, and which, I undertake to say, have sent a thrill of horror through the country?

I think the hon. Gentleman will do well to withhold his judgment a little until he is in possession of fuller information on this subject. What I have to say is, that we shall persevere in the course which we have already pursued; and I believe that the results of that course have been quite as favourable — indeed, in the opinion of competent judges, more favourable—than, in all the difficulties of the case, we had reason to expect they would be.

In consequence of the extremely unsatisfactory reply of the right hon. Gentleman, I shall take the earliest opportunity I can obtain to call attention to the horrible cruelties which are now being practised in Egypt under the responsibility of the English Government, as described by Mr. Clifford Lloyd. The accuracy of that gentleman's account not having been impugned, I shall move a Resolution on, the subject.

gave Notice that when the hon. Member for Mid Lincolnshire moved his Resolution on this subject he would call attention to the cruelties committed in Ireland by Mr. Clifford Lloyd, and would ask whether a person guilty of such cruelties as he had committed in Ireland was not totally unworthy of credence?

said, that all vessels from France were subject to quarantine in Spain, as were also all vessels from England; but the Foreign Office were not aware of the precise number of days. Seven days' quarantine was imposed on all persons arriving in Spain by railway.

asked whether, in the judgment of the noble Lord, quarantine in the case of vessels arriving from England at Spanish ports was neces- sary; and, whether he would communicate with, the Spanish authorities on the subject with the object of removing a restriction so prejudicial to British shipping?

It is well-known that the Spanish authorities have accepted the principles of quarantine, and therefore any general remonstrances with regard to it would be perfectly useless. When any instance of the abuse of the quarantine regulations is brought under the notice of the Foreign Office it will be examined on its merits, and representations made to the Spanish or other Government.

asked the Prime Minister, Whether, having regard to the backward state of Supply, he would state that Supply would be the first Order of the Day on Thursday?

Arrangements have already been made for taking the second reading of the London Government Bill on Thursday; and in the event of the debate not being concluded on Thursday evening we should propose to continue it at a Morning Sitting on Friday. Whether we can get on with Supply on Friday evening or not, we propose to take it on Monday. I quite agree with my hon. Friend that it is necessary that progress should be made with Supply.

asked what class of Estimates would be taken on Monday?

The Army Estimates.

asked the Prime Minister if he could state whether the Municipal Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Practices) Bill would be proceeded with on Thursday?

was understood to reply in the negative.

asked whether it was the intention of the Government to take Morning Sittings on Tuesdays and Fridays?

If it had been intended to take Morning Sittings on Tuesdays and Fridays a Motion would have been made to that effect. The Morning Sitting on Friday next, if there be one, will be without prejudice to any future proceedings, and will only be taken in case of it being necessary for the purpose of carrying forward the debate on the London Government Bill. If the debate on that Bill is concluded on Thursday, the Government will not ask for a Morning Sitting on Friday.

said, that the debate on the second reading of the London Government Bill could not, under any possible circumstances, be concluded in one night.

That is the reason why I have proposed to provide a means for continuing the debate.