:I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that, in the United Kingdom, the number of accidents reported monthly by certifying surgeons in factories and workshops averages 700, in mines nearly 300, and on railways upwards of 200; whether he is also aware that serious results frequently occur from shock to the system and loss of blood before the arrival of surgical assistance; and whether, by the co-operation of the Inspectors of Factories, Mines, and Railways, and the Education Department, it is practicable to extend a knowledge of first aids to the injured among managers, superintendents, and foremen, so as to diminish the proportion of deaths, and alleviate the sufferings of the injured?

(who replied) said: The figures given by my hon. Friend are, I am informed, fairly correct. I am well aware of the results which so frequently occur in these cases. Much is done by Ambulance Associations, and the Education Department approves of lectures being given on this subject in continuation schools. As to whether it is possible to take any further steps in this matter, the question will receive careful attention.

:I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether, in view of the facts that the total deficiency of Telegraph Revenue to meet expenditure and interest amounted to £4,929,257 up to the 31st of March, 1893, that the deficiency for the year ending on that date was £465,570, and appeared to be rapidly rising, he can explain the reason for this grave state of things; whether his attention has been drawn to the paragraph, page 6, of the Report from the Select Committee of 1888, as to the causes then operating to make Post Office Telegraphs unprofitable; and what steps have been since taken to deal with those causes?

:In addition to the reasons given in the paragraph of the Report of the Select Committee of 1888 quoted by my hon. Friend, which still operates to a great extent to cause the deficiency, I may state that there has been a general improvement in the wages of the telegraphists, trade has been much depressed, and there has also been the competition of telephones. As I have stated on a previous occasion, steps have been taken, with the concurrence of the Directors, to limit the services performed gratuitously for certain Railway Companies, and negotiations are proceeding with the remaining Companies. Economies in the service have been effected where possible, but no change has been made in the tariff tinder which news messages are sent, and there is no doubt that the loss from this cause is largely increasing. On this point I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to a question on the 27th of November last. The House is also aware that, if interest on capital expenditure be taken into account, nothing approaching to an equilibrium between telegraph revenue and expenditure has been attained since the decision was taken to prepare for the introduction of 6d. telegrams.

^* :I presume we may rely upon my right hon. Friend doing his utmost to bring this system of gratuitous service for the Companies to an end?

:I have taken all the steps in my power. I am still in negotiation with some of the Companies, and hope soon to bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion.

:I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the amount of salary and what of fees annually received by the Clerk of the Peace for the County of Herts; what part of that sum is payable out of the rates; and by whom and when was he appointed?

said: The Clerk of the Peace informs me that his salary, which was fixed in 1875, is £950. That the gross amount of fees received during the past year, which were somewhat in excess of the usual amount, was £266. That of this sum £109 was payable out of the rates. That he was appointed in 1865 by the Earl of Verulam, the then Lord Lieutenant of the County.

:I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Lord Chancellor would ascertain the opinion of the Judges and of the legal profession whether the sittings of the High Court of Justice at Guildhall have been found sufficiently advantageous to justify the continued withdrawal of Judges from the Royal Courts for the purpose; and will the Government take steps to give effect thereto?

(who replied) said: The Lord Chancellor is aware that many of the Judges are of opinion that the experiment which has been tried of having sittings for London causes at the Guildhall has not been successful, and that this view finds considerable support in the legal profession. He hopes that arrangements are now in progress, pursuant to the recommendations of the Council of Judges, for definite and continuous sittings of an adequate number of Courts at the Royal Courts of Justice, with satisfactory provision for taking a list of commercial causes, which will render it necessary to continue the Guildhall sittings.

:I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury if the attention of the Treasury has been drawn to the Bill now before Parliament intituled " The Southern Railway Bill"; whether, under the agreement proposed to be confirmed by the Bill, the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland have agreed to the payment to the Great Southern and Western Railway Company of the perpetual rent of £917 a year as receivers over the Southern Railway for the right to run over one and a-quarter miles of the former Company's line into Thurles, and as rent for Thurles Railway Station; could the Government construct a new line into Thurles with a station there for a smaller amount than that represented by the capital value of this annual sum; and whether he is aware that the effect of the agreement will be to secure for ever to the Great Southern and Western Railway Company the power to send by Dublin all cross-channel traffic not specially consigned by Waterford?

:A Select Committee of the House will shortly consider the Kill referred to, and will, no doubt, hear all parties concerned. It would, therefore, be inconvenient that I should make any statement at the present time in anticipation of the proceedings before the Committee.

:I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland will he explain why, although a Local Government inquiry into the erection of labourers' cottages in Dunshaughlin Union was held early in December last, and nearly all the representations were sanctioned by the Inspector, nothing has been heard of the matter since?

:The Local Government Board inform me that in February they informed the Guardians of the Union that they were prepared to confirm schemes for the erection of 56 of the 72 cottages proposed, subject to the Guardians supplying the written consents of the persons interested to the changes recommended in the sites of the cottages. The Provisional Order will be issued as soon as these documents are received from the Guardians.

:Is it in consequence of the delay in not sending out the legal documents, and for that reason alone, that the matter has not been proceeded with?

:Yes; that is what I have been given to understand.

:I beg to ask the First Commissioner of Works whether he can state what amount of gas was consumed in the various Government Departments under the control of the Board of Works during 1893, and what was the total cost of the same; whether the gas supplied by the Gaslight and Coke Company at 3s. 1d. per 1,000 cubic feet is of the same quality as the gas for which they are charging 2s. 5d. per 1,000 cubic feet on the south side of Vauxhall Bridge; and whether cannel gas is supplied to the Government Departments; and, if not, when was it discontinued?

^* :The quantity may approximately be taken at 150,000,000 cubic feet, of which about 143,000,000 were supplied by the Gas Light and Coke Company. The total cost was about £22,717, exclusive of meter rents. The whole of the gas now paid for by the Office of Works is "common" gas; and as the illuminating power is subject to the Board of Trade test, I have no doubt that the quality in the north and south of London is the same. I find that the supply of cannel gas to the Public Departments was discontinued in September, 1892.

:I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that during the period covered by the inquiry of the Evicted Tenants' Commission a number of evictions have taken place upon the Annaly property in Rathcline, County Longford; that the holdings are now occupied by what are known as bogus tenants, some of whom have only recently been put in possession; and that the property has recently been offered for sale by the Court of Chancery; and whether, pending the passage of the Evicted Tenants Bill, steps will be taken to prevent the advance of public money to those bogus tenants, so that the former tenants may be enabled to purchase upon fair terms?

:The facts are generally as stated in the first paragraph, except that I have no information bearing cut the statement that some of the tenants are what the hon. Gentleman describes as "bogus." With regard to the second paragraph, the Government have no means of interfering with the sales to the tenants as suggested.

:May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether, should any of these supposed tenants apply for an advance of the purchase-money to the Purchase Commissioners, the Inspector sent down to make inquiries will take particular steps to ascertain whether the tenants are solvent people or not?

:Before an answer is given to the last question, I should like to ask whether it is not a fact that these estates are under the direction of the Landed Estates Court in Ireland?

:In answer to the hon. and learned Gentleman who put the last question, it is true that this estate is in Chancery and that the Land Judges have ordered the sale of it. In answer to the first question, I am not quite sure what Inspector my hon. Friend means, but whoever he may be, the Executive Government have no legal right to interfere with any of the transactions of the Land Commissioners' Department.

:Will the right hon. Gentleman inquire of the Commissioners whether the Inspector, when making his investigations as to how far the holding is or is not a proper security for the whole amount of the purchase-money, will examine into the limit of the security offered, and also whether the tenant is or is not a person having a practical knowledge of agriculture?

:I am afraid I can only promise that I will call the attention of the Laud Commissioners to what has been said on the subject this evening.

:I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether he can state the amount of the subsidy offered by his predecessor in Office to the Cork, Bandon, and South Coast Railway Company, provided they would give an additional daily train to West Cork, also the amount required by the Cork, Bandon, and South Coast Railway Company?

:I am assured that no such offer has been made within recent years by any Postmaster General. The payment required by the Railway Company at the present time is £1,500 a year—a sum which it would obviously be impossible to pay for an additional service in a district where the postal revenues are already insufficient to meet the expenditure.

:Does the right hon. Gentleman say there was no promise of a subsidy to this railway?

:I have inquired, and I feel sure that no such promise has been made.

:Will the right hon. Gentleman allow me to say that the late Postmaster General himself told me he would give a subsidy in consideration of the additional services.

:I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the clerk of the Poor Law Union of Tuam rejected the nomination of Mr. Thomas Higgins, of Ryhill, for the position of Poor Law Guardian for a district of that Union; could he explain on what grounds; and whether he is aware that Mr. Higgins is a tenant of a farm, the annual Poor Law valuation of which is upwards of £30, and that he has been in occupation of it and liable for the poor rates since May, 1892?

:The fact is as stated in the first paragraph. It appears that Mr. Higgins is in possession of two grazing farms neither of which is separately valued, being included with other property for which another person is rated. The returning officer rejected, therefore, the nomination of Mr. Higgins, on the ground that he did not possess the necessary rating qualification for the office of Guardian.

:I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware of the large proportion of counterparts stamped in Ireland which come from Belfast, and of the great inconvenience of not being able to get them stamped with the original deeds at Belfast; whether there is anything in the Stamp Act of 1891 to prevent the counterparts from being stamped there; whether he is aware that no matter how high may be the duty on the original deed, the duty on the counterpart does not exceed 5s.; and whether, considering the convenience of the public and the absence of risk to the Revenue, he will make inquiry into the matter and have this accommodation provided at Belfast?

:I am not able to ascertain what proportion of counterparts stamped in Ireland come from Belfast, as in many cases they are presented at the Dublin office through Dublin agents. I have already stated that it is considered necessary for the protection of the Revenue that the comparison of the original and counterpart should be made by the solicitors to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue in Dublin or their trained assistants. The deeds can, however, be lodged with the collector of Inland Revenue at Belfast, who will transmit them to Dublin.

:How can it be inconsistent to do this at Belfast? It is done in other places.

:I can only say the authorities tell me they cannot see their way to alter present arrangements. I am informed that it is done entirely with a view of protecting the Revenue, and that no doubt it is necessary.

:I shall put' a , further question on this subject.

:Will the right hon. Gentleman make inquiries into the matter, as it is one in which solicitors in the North of Ireland are very deeply interested.

^* :Order, order!

:On behalf of the hon. Member for York (Mr. Butcher), I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether it has been brought to his knowledge that Mr. Deeney, of Rathmullen, in the County of Donegal, who was appointed to the Commission of the Peace for County Donegal in January, 1893, was the holder of a retail licence for the sale of intoxicating liquors in Rathmullen, and that he transferred his licence to his wife; and whether, under these circumstances, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland proposes to take any steps to revoke such appointment?

:I understand that the Lord Chancellor has not yet completed his inquiries into this case, and I will, therefore, ask my hon. Friend to repeat the question on Monday.

:I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state the total amount at any time received in fees by the Patent Office on the 121,242 patents, voided at one stage or another, by renewal fees between 1st July, 1852, and 31st December, 1893; and the total amount of the aggregate surplus income or balance of account from 1st October, 1852, to the end of the year 1893, no mention of which has appeared in the official Patent Reports since 1880; and whether he will give instructions that this item, together with the total number of patents voided since 1st July, 1852, and the fees at any time paid thereon to the Patent Office, shall be printed, in close proximity, in the forthcoming and following yearly Reports of the Commissioner General of Patents?

:During the period of 41 years referred to fees amounting to about £3,000,000 were received in respect of voided patents; about £2,200,000 being initial fees covering three or four years' protection, and £800,000 renewal fees. It is not possible to give precisely the aggregate surplus income for the period named, and for this reason I am unable to comply with the request made in the second paragraph of the hon. Member's question. The House will remember that a considerable reduction was made in 1892 in the scale of renewal fees, and also that a heavy expenditure is being incurred in respect of the construction of the new Patent Office.

:Is that the sole reason for not giving what I ask for in the second part of my question?

:I am told it is not possible to give the statement the hon. Member asks for.

:I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that, on the 5th March, the skipper of a small vessel named the Chance, owned by Mr. James Woods, which was lying in Lough Ryan, was compelled by stress of weather to drive her on to the beach; that, after the vessel had been thus beached, the Receiver of Wrecks at Stranraer claimed payment of £1 13s. for deposition fees and personal expenses, and compelled payment by taking away the mainsail of the vessel, subjecting the owner to the expense of 10s. further charge, being the cost of recovering and taking back the mainsail from Stranraer to Lough Ryan; whether these proceedings are sanctioned by the Board of Trade; and what action is contemplated in reference thereto?

:I have made inquiry into the circumstances of the case to which my hon. Friend refers, and find that they are substantially as stated in the question. The Receiver of Wrecks at Stranraer acted strictly in accordance with the law and with his instructions, but as £1 13s. is a heavy tax on a vessel like the Chance, I have decided to remit the fee of £1.

:I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether, in consequence of the failure of the potato crop in the Arran Islands, owing to the drought of last year, the inhabitants of those islands are now for the most part destitute of the means of subsistence, and consequently unable to provide themselves with seed for the cultivation of their farms this year; and whether, under the extraordinary circumstances of the case, he will recommend a grant of moderate amount, either directly for the purpose of supplying seed, or indirectly to secure that object, by establishing relief works, such as the construction of a road and two or three boat slips, the provision of which would also permanently assist in securing the means of living, and enable the people to tide over seasons of agricultural disaster?

:May I urge the right hon. Gentleman to give the question of the grant his most favourable consideration? I have no, objection to assist.

:I am quite sure of that. Official inquiries show that, owing to a failure in the potato crop last year and the interruption of the early spring fishing, the Arran islanders have been embarrassed and impoverished. It had been hoped that a supply of seed potatoes could have been provided through the Congested Districts Board, but it has been found that their powers in this respect are confined to dealings for cash payment only. So far as the information before me shows, the condition of the islanders is not at present such as would justify the Government in asking Parliament for a special Vote. It appears that a private fund is being formed, which it is hoped will enable a good supply of seed to be provided. I hope the publicity given to it by the hon. Member will accelerate its growth. Meanwhile, the state of things will be carefully watched.

:Has the right hon. Gentleman taken into consideration the fact that unless seed is sown within the next fortnight the potato crop this year will be lost? Will he undertake, in case the private fund should not meet the necessities of the case in the next fortnight, to consider the question of a small grant which would be acceptable to all parties in the House? I wish to thank the hon. Member for Belfast for his kind support.

:I am quite aware that time is pressing for the reason stated. The question is receiving most serious consideration, and not a day would be lost.

asked if the Inspector had reported to the right hon. Gentleman the condition of the people in one of the small villages, where they were dependent on small crops, and were now totally destitute and in need of immediate aid?

:I cannot at this moment recall passages relating to specific villages or hamlets, but I will look into the matter.

:I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, with reference to a claim by Richard Reynolds, of Ballykeale, Kilfenora, County Clare, for compensation for alleged malicious injury by the burning of a haystack, whether Terence Reynolds, son of the claimant, stands committed for trial at the next Assizes on a charge of setting fire to the hay for which his father claims compensation; whether other alleged outrages on the farm held by Reynolds have also been made the subject of claims for compensation for him; and whether the consideration of these claims will be postponed till after the conclusion of the trial of Terence Reynolds?

:The facts mentioned in the first two paragraphs of the question of my hon. Friend are substantially correct. As to the suggested postponement of the hearing of the claims for compensation, the matter, I understand, is one for consideration by the Grand Jury. It is obviously important that pending the trial of the son of the claimant on the criminal charge nothing should be done calculated to prejudice a fair trial; and though I am not sure that the police will have a locus standi on the hearing of the claims for compensation, yet I will cause instructions to he issued requiring them to endeavour to secure the postponement of the claims until after the trial at next Assizes.

:I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if his attention has been called to the recent enormous takes of mackerel in the Dingle district; and, whether, in view of the importance of this fishing ground, he will use his influence with the Congested Districts Board to establish a fish-curing station at Dingle?

:The Congested Districts Board inform me that the estab- lishment of fish-curing stations by the Board on the Kerry and Cork coast is considered unnecessary, as a good market already exists there for both fresh and pickled mackerel.

:I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether he would direct the officer commanding at Shoeburyness to inform the inhabitants of Foulness Island when gun practice is to take place over the Maplins, as projectiles have fallen dangerously close to the road across the sands to the island?

^* :No reports of any inconvenience or danger at the place named have been received, but the Commandant at Shoeburyness has been requested to see that full notice is given on all occasions of intended practice over the Maplin Sands, and that when necessary a danger flag is hoisted at the point referred to.

:On behalf of the hon. Member for Waterford, I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland when the Royal Commission on the Financial Relations between Great Britain and Ireland will be issued; and whether he can now state the names of the Commissioners?

:I greatly regret the delay which has taken place in the constitution of the Commission; but hon. Members will understand the difficulties of balancing and properly representing the various interests. I hope to be able to submit the names for Her Majesty's approval in the course of the next three or four days, and immediately after that they will be laid before the House.

:I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he can state what the intentions of the Canadian Government are with reference to the alteration of the Tea Duties; whether teas blended in bond in Great Britain will be subject to any and what duty in the new tariff; and whether the Canadian Government can legally differentiate against this country and home labour in favour of China and other tea-exporting countries? At the same time, on behalf of the hon. Baronet the Member for the City of London, I will ask that hon. Gentleman whether he can state if, under the new Canadian Tariff, teas in their original packages, and not blended with other teas, are to be subject to a tax; and whether Her Majesty's Government will use its influence with the Canadian Government to admit duty free from Great Britain all teas passed as pure for Home consumption by Her Majesty's Customs, and for which certificates of origin can be granted by Her Majesty's Customs, which certificates could also state that the said teas had been passed for home consumption and not for exportation only, thus protecting Canada from impure teas from the English market?

:I regret we have not yet heard from the Governor General. If we do not do so this evening I will telegraph again. I must therefore ask that the question be postponed till Monday.

:I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that under the New Code the method employed for calculating the required amount of staff in public elementary schools, by substituting "number of names on the register" for "average attendance," will have the effect of reckoning for that purpose a large number of infants under five, who practically for many months in the winter do not come to the school to be taught; and whether he can see his way to alter Article 73 of the New Code, so that the computation may be made "on average attendance," and not "on number of children on the Register," or of reviving Rule 4, page 168, of Blue Book, 1883–4, by which, after six weeks' absence, the names of children unable to attend were allowed to be withdrawn from the Register?

^* :I laid a Minute amending Article 73 of the new Code on the Table on Monday, and it was circulated yesterday. I hope it may meet the objections which the hon. Baronet and others had to the Article in its original form.

:I beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland, with regard to the fact that in a recent case considered by the Sheriff of the Lothians and Peebles, the Sheriff having, on the evidence before him, awarded to the County of Edinburgh a higher road subvention from the City of Edinburgh than that hitherto paid, the Secretary for Scotland disallowed the increase on the ground that the evidence adduced did not warrant it, would he kindly state the grounds on which he arrived at a different decision from the judicial officer dealing with the case on evidence laid before him?

:Upon the Petitions presented to me by the Town Council of the City of Edinburgh and the Midlothian County Council, the Sheriff of the Lothians and Peebles was directed by me to hold a local inquiry under the provisions of Section 9 of the Roads and Bridges Act, 1878, in order to enable me to determine whether I should bring in a Provisional Order modifying the amount of the subvention, and I am glad to bear testimony to the able manner in which he conducted the inquiry. I must, however, point out that the Secretary for Scotland, while he is bound to grant the inquiry on application, is in no ways bound to follow the Report of his Commissioner; and that after serious consideration of that Report, in conjunction with all matters relative to the case, I arrived at the decision which has already been announced, and which I consider, in all the circumstances of the case, is a fair and equitable decision as between the parties concerned.

:I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether he will place upon the Table of the House a copy of a recent Minute by the late Viceroy of India, in which he recommends certain reforms in the Land Revenue of India, especially the extension of the system of advances to cultivators, the introduction of greater elasticity into the Revenue system, and the restriction of the right of land transfer?

:I am not sure that I have been able to identify the document referred to by my hon. Friend; but, if he refers to a Report furnished by the Government of India in consequence of a question asked in this House by my hon. Friend the Member for North Manchester, I shall be happy to place the Correspondence upon the Table of the House if he will move for it.

:I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to a statement in The Daily Telegraph, and other newspapers of the 11th of April, to the effect that the Canadian Government have forwarded a Despatch to the British Colonial Office notifying the Imperial Authorities that, after the next Session of the Dominion Parliament, the collection by the Dominion Customs of a royalty of 12½ per cent. on foreign reprints of British copyright works for the benefit of copyright holders will cease; and that the Colonial Authorities have been induced to take this action in view of the expected changes in the Imperial Copyright Laws as applicable to Canada; and, if so, whether any, and if any what, changes in the Imperial Copyright Law are contemplated?

:The Colonial Office informs me that no such Despatch has been received, but Her Majesty's Government is aware that the new Tariff Bill does contain a proposal that the duty of 12½ per cent. on foreign reprints will only be collected up to a given date in 1895. Canada wishes to be released from the Imperial Copyright Law, and a Departmental Committee under Lord Balfour of Burleigh was appointed last year to consider the subject. The reply of the Canadian Government to the Report of that Committee has recently been received and is under consideration.

:On behalf of the hon. Member for the Ramsey Division of Hants, I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he is aware that, in carrying out the Swine Fever Regulations, there is sometimes great delay between the giving notice by the police and the declaration of the disease by the Board's Inspectors; and, as this delay causes great danger of infection and inconvenience, whether he can see his way either to employ the local Veterinary Inspectors at the first notice of an outbreak, or to make other arrangements to prevent delay?

:Under the Orders issued on the subject of swine fever it is the duty of the Local Authority to apply the necessary restrictions immediately upon their receiving information as to the existence, or supposed existence, of the disease, without waiting for the result of any examination of the viscera made by the veterinary officers of the Department, upon whose verdict the payment of compensation for swine compulsorily slaughtered must necessarily rest. It is, doubtless, the case that in some districts the local organisation was at first defective, but a gradual improvement has been effected, and there is now no reason to suppose that any very serious spread of the disease occurs owing to delay in dealing with the outbreaks reported.

:I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade what portion of the £40,000 granted in aid of the Mercantile Marine Fund, Civil Service Estimates, Class II., Vote 9, is given to the Board of Irish Lights Commissioners; and when this Vote will come before the Committee of the House of Commons?

:No portion of this £40,000 is given to the Board of Irish Lights Commissioners. It is granted in respect of certain extra charges which were placed on the Mercantile Marine Fund by the Act of 1882. The principal of these were expenses of survey staff and relief of distressed seamen.

:Then will there be no opportunity of discussing the action of the Board of Irish Lights on this Vote?

:None, Sir.

:But did not the right hon. Gentleman himself tell us we would be able to discuss the constitution of the Board on this Vote?

:If I did I made a mistake.

:I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether the holders of the service franchise in Scotland, although on the roll for Parliamentary elections, are in a vast number of cases held disqualified for voting for School Board elections; and whether the Government have considered the possibility of providing an early remedy for this inequality?

:Before the right hon. Gentleman answers that question, will be allow me to ask him whether he himself did not introduce a Bill on this very subject in the last Parliament? As the matter is fairly non-contentious, could he not now re-introduce that Bill?

^* :I did introduce such a Bill, I think more than once, in the last Parliament, and if there was a fair prospect of its being passed I would be glad to re-introduce it. The persons entitled to vote at School Board elections are those whose names are entered on the Valuation Roll as owners or occupiers of lands or heritages of the annual value of not less than £4. No value was entered against the names of holders of the service franchise till 1889. Now, in counties, the value of the premises which they occupy is entered against their names, and I consider that where that value is not less than £4, they are entitled to vote at School Board elections, but that where a less value than £4 is entered, they are not so entitled. In burghs a value is not entered against the names of the holders of the service franchise, and consequently they are not, in my opinion, entitled to vote at School Board elections. I may say that several years ago I introduced a Bill to confer the School Board Franchise upon all who possessed the Parliamentary Franchise. The question whether the matter can be dealt with will be considered.

^* :Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the difficulty is not confined to Scotland, but that it exists in England also?

:I am not aware of that.

:Will the right hon. Gentleman not consider, in connection with the new Local Government Bill for Scotland, whether a qualification of less than £4 can be introduced?

^* :I am afraid that this topic, important as it is, is scarcely germane to the objects of the Bill.

:I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture when it is intended to introduce the Bill dealing with importation of foreign meat, of which notice was given by a Member of the Government in the House of Lords on the 16th instant; and in which House the Bill will be introduced?

:I beg, at the same time, to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in accordance with the statements of Lord Playfair, the Government will introduce a Bill giving powers to the Board of Agriculture to deal with cases of fraudulent misrepresentation in regard to the sale of meat; and, if so, whether such Bill will be introduced at an early date and proceeded with forthwith?

:In reply to the hon. Baronet and to the hon. Member for Chester, I would say that a Bill for the purpose of giving to the Board of Agriculture, in cases affecting the general interests of agriculture, similar powers to those conferred upon the Board of Trade under Section 2 of the Merchandise Marks Act, 1891, is now under consideration, and I hope to be in a position to introduce it at an early date. If, as I hope will be the case, the Bill commends itself to the general approval of the House, there is no reason why it should not be proceeded with forthwith.

:I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Government are in possession of any information which enables him to state or estimate the number of electors who, being entitled to vote under 2 Will. 4, c 45, s. 27, and also under 30 & 31 Vic. c. 102, or under 48 & 49 Vic. c 3, will be affected in respect of their right to vote by the provisions of the Bill introduced by him on Friday last?

:Section 27 of 2 and 3 Will. IV., c. 45, so far as it confers a right to vote, has been repealed. There is no means of estimating the number of £10 occupiers who will be affected by the Bill. As regards persons who vote as inhabitant occupiers, the number of inhabited "houses," according to the Census of 1891, is 5,450,000; the number of inhabited "tenements" is 6,130,000. According to this enumeration—the precise accuracy of which is qualified in the Census Report—there are nearly 700,000 more inhabited tenements than houses, the difference arising from those houses which are let out in separate tenements being treated as one inhabited house. If the occupier of each tenement was a man who resided for the three months' qualifying period he would be entitled to a vote, but there must be a considerable deduction made from the number of tenements for empties, for women, and for persons otherwise disqualified. Deduction must also be made for those occupiers of tenements who are in law lodgers, and for occupiers who vote in another capacity— e.g., as owners or freemen; but probably it may be taken roughly that the number of electors could not exceed the number of tenements. The question of several tenements to one house is practically limited to London, Newcastle, Sunderland, and two or three other large towns.

:I am not asking about uninhabited houses. Can the right hon. Gentleman give us any information as to the number of voters under Section 27 that will be affected by this Bill?

:I believe this is very much the same point as the right hon. Gentleman embodied in a question he addressed to me on a previous occasion.

:I can assure the right hon. Gentleman I have never put this question before in any shape or form.

:I will inquire further into it.

subsequently said: The Chief Secretary stated that the franchise clause in the Reform Act of 1832 had been repealed. But is it not the fact that the statute repealing the sections also re-enacts them?

:Of course my right hon. Friend is aware that in. a matter of this kind I am in the hands of my legal advisers. I will inquire further.

:I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether his attention has been drawn to the Return just issued by the Cunard Company as to the relative time occupied by the British boats, viâ Queenstown, and those of the American line from Southampton in delivering the mails at New York during the past 12 mouths, which shows a saving of time in favour of the British liners of over 41 days, while the time saved on the homeward voyage during the same period was over 23 days, or an aggregate saving of over 64 days; and whether, in view of these facts, he will take the necessary steps still further to advance the Queenstown Mail Service by accelerating the transport between Dublin and London?

:I have not had an opportunity of analyzing the Return referred to, and indeed I scarcely think it would be necessary to do so, having recently furnished the House with a Return for the year 1893 relating to the mail service between this country and the United States. The question of accelerating the transport between Dublin and London is engaging my serious attention.

:Arising out of the latter part of the answer, may I ask whether the right hon. Gentleman is aware that the rate of speed of mail trains on the London and North-Western Railway between London and Scotland is considerably greater than the same Company's mail trains between London and Holyhead, notwithstanding the steeper gradients on the former route; and whether he is aware that the speed between London and Holyhead is little better now than it was in 1884, whereas on the Scotch route it has been increased 13 per cent.?

:I think the allegations of the hon. Member are inaccurate except in one particular. The difference between the pace of the mail trains on the two routes is infinitesimal, that between London and Holyhead being 42¶12 miles per hour, and between London and Glasgow 43¶16 miles per hour.

:As my information is from a very good source, will the right hon. Gentleman make further inquiry?

:Yes.

^* :When is the right hon. Gentleman going to give notice to terminate the present contract?

An hon. MEMBER: Is it not the fact that the present mail train service is incomparably slower than the day express trains?

:Undoubtedly there is a difference in pace, as the mail train has to perform a service which the other trains do not.

:When may we expect an answer in regard to this question, in which everybody in Ireland is interested?

:A definite answer may be expected on the subject as soon as a definite conclusion has been arrived at.

:I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education whether a Rule is now in operation prohibiting or limiting the giving of prizes by School Boards for regular attendance; whether he will state the terms of any such Rule, and the date when and by whom it was made; whether he is aware that among members of School Boards and managers and teachers of Board schools a strong feeling exists that prizes for regular attendance have produced most beneficial results; and whether the Education Department will cause inquiries to be made with a view of retaining the power to give such prizes?

:The Rule regulating the giving of prizes by School Boards for regular attendance at school may be shortly stated as follows:—Such prizes are legal only when they are given to the children whose attendance has been best, and not when they are given to all children whose attendances have reached a prescribed minimum number. This is also the Rule of the Local Government Board, acting through the district auditors, when dealing with (he accounts of School Boards. The Rule as it now exists was made early in 1892. Before that date no attendance prizes whatever were allowed. No change on this matter has been made since the present Government came into Office. I will gladly consider any further information on the subject, but I believe most School Boards find that the existing Rule gives them all reasonable liberty.

:I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether any agreement was submitted to or entered into with Lord Massereene as to the use of the deer park of Antrim Castle for a. camp of exercise; whether he will state the terms of the agreement; and, if made, why it has not been carried out; whether this deer park has been reported suitable for the purpose; and if any recent communication has been made to Lord Massereene with the view of having an arrangement arrived at?

^* :The terms insisted upon by Lord Massereene were not such as the War Department could accept, and no recent communications have taken place relative to the acquisition of the deer park as a training camp. The deer park is considered suitable on the whole as a camping and exercising ground, although there are some drawbacks to its use as a rifle range.

:I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether Heads of Departments in the Civil Service have power to recommend that Second Division clerks be promoted to clerkships of the Upper Division without their being called upon to pass the open competitive examination for such posts; and whether he will consider the advisability of extending this principle to clerks of grades inferior to the Second Division, and thus provide a means of rewarding conspicuous merit in the lower grades of the Civil Service?

:The answer to the first question is in the affirmative, but I cannot admit any analogy such as my hon. Friend wishes to draw. The standard of the competition for the Second Division, unlike that for the Upper Division, is moderate, and, now that the position of the Second Division has been so much improved in accordance with the recommendations of the Ridley Commission, I cannot contemplate the lowering of the standard of the Second Division by admitting into it persons from the lower grades who have passed a merely rudimentary examination.

:I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can state the present position of affairs in regard to the extradition of Mr. Jabez Balfour; whether any fresh obstacles have arisen to retard such extradition; and whether he can give the House the probable date of Mr. Jabez Balfour's arrival in this country?

:The case is still under examination by the Argentine Federal Judge at Salta, and Her Majesty's Government have forwarded all documents and taken every legal precaution necessary to the progress of the case. A certain amount of delay has, of course, been caused by the distance and the difficulties of communication, Salta being about 1,000 miles from Buenos Ayres. No fresh obstacles have arisen to retard the extradition, though, as the hon. Member is no doubt aware, some obstacles have been removed since the extradition was first applied for. It is not yet possible to say when the legal proceedings will have come to an end.

:I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether the halfpenny postal rate extends to the transmission of private letters enclosed in unfastened envelopes?

:No, Sir. The halfpenny postal rates does not extend to the transmission of private letters enclosed in unfastened envelopes. Any person so sending private letters is infringing the law, and the letters so sent become liable to twice the deficient postage.

:I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he has caused inquiries to be made into the charges that have been preferred against Mr. Mathew Weld O'Connor, a Magistrate of the County Meath; and, if so, with what result?

:The Lord Chancellor informs me that he has been in communication with the Receiver Judge with regard to the action of Mr. O'Connor as Receiver, and that he is not aware of any reasons sufficient to justify his removal from the Commission of the Peace.

:I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether, in view of the decision of the Queen's Bench that colourable transfers of retail licences are illegal, any steps will be taken in the case of Mr. Hegarty, J.P., Millstreet, County Cork?

:Before the question is answered, I should like to ask the Chief Secretary whether Mr. Hegarty did not complain, on a former occasion, that his life was in danger in consequence of questions asked by the hon. Member?

:I am not aware whether that formidable consequence followed any question of the hon. Member. I am informed that the gentleman referred to was appointed to the Commission of the Peace in 1887, and that the then Lord Chancellor was satisfied he had, prior to his appointment, made a honâ fide assignment of his licensed premises to his son, and had given up all connection with the business.

:Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the son only came of age on the 8th of last month, and that Mr. Hegarty lived on premises which communicated with the licensed premises?

:I was not aware of those facts.

:Seeing that in several cases the Lord Chancellor has put pressure on gentlemen to transfer the licences before they received the Commission of the Peace during the last 12 months, what action, supposing the transfers to be illegal, does the right hon. Gentleman propose to take with regard to them?

:The Lord Chancellor now has this matter under his consideration, and is deciding what course he shall take.

:Will the right hon. Gentleman inquire into the question I have put as to the age of Mr. Hegarty's son, and as to the connection of Mr. Hegarty's residence with the licensed premises?

:I will call the attention of the Lord Chancellor to these statements.

:I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, with reference to the attack made by an Orange assembly on the meeting of Presbyterian farmers at Ballynure, County Antrim, whether he can state why the extra police were sent for to Larne; whether a request was made by the constabulary that the meeting should not break up before the arrival of the extra police; whether he is aware that, after the windows were broken, the Rev. Mr. Lyttle, Unitarian minister, was struck with a stone, and the Rev. Mr. Armour, Presbyterian minister, was struck on the hat with a lump of hard clay, when leaving the Presbyterian Lecture Hall; and whether, considering that the chief object of the meeting was to prepare evidence for the Committee proposed to be appointed by Parliament to inquire into the administration of the Irish Land Laws, some steps will be taken to discover the ringleaders of the mob, with the view of bringing them to justice?

:(1.) The extra police were sent for on the occasion referred to by the sergeant on duty at Ballynure because of the unexpected arrival in the village of a band accompanied by a crowd numbering about 200, whose object apparently was to cause annoyance to the meeting. He considered it safer, therefore, to have more men on the spot, but their services were not required on arrival at Ballynure. As to paragraph 2, what took place, I understand, was this. The sergeant informed the chairman that he had sent for additional police and suggested that, if the chairman considered it advisable, the meeting need not break up until their arrival. The crowd, however, dispersed before the meeting was over. As to the third paragraph, in consequence of the representations made by my hon. Friend the Member for North Kerry, when I replied to a question on this subject on the 12th instant, further inquiries were at once directed to be made into the matter of the alleged stoning of these clergymen. The Divisional Commissioner, who proceeded to the locality, now states that the chairman of the meeting told him that missiles were thrown at the clergymen after the meeting, and that Mr. Lyttle was struck on the leg and Mr. Armour on the hat, but that neither of them was in any way injured. In explanation of the first Report made by the police that the clergymen were not stoned on the occasion, the Divisional Commissioner states that no complaint was made to the police, who were patrolling the village, by either of the rev. gentlemen, and that these gentlemen did not even mention the occurrence to the chairman, in whose company they were after the meeting. Under these circumstances, and as both clergymen live at a considerable distance from Ballynure, I think my hon. Friend will acquit the police of any intention to wilfully mislead in their first Report. With reference to the fourth paragraph, the police are making every effort to trace the persons who assaulted the two clergymen who smashed the windows of the Lecture Hall.

:Arising out of this matter, may I ask the right hon. Gentleman if he is aware that the house referred to in the question was built by private subscription and is held under a trust deed containing a covenant that it should only be used for Sunday schools and meetings of a religious or educational character connected with the Presbyterian Church, and were the gentlemen named in the question using it for other and different purposes, and were they the same two clergymen who got up the Presbyterian Home Rule Address to the right hon. Member for Midlothian?

:Is it the view of the Irish Government that if Presbyterian ministers please to hold a meeting in a house intended for private purposes such iniquity entitles an Orange mob to stone them with impunity?

:I have no means of either testing or answering the question of the hon. and learned Member for Fermanagh As to the question of the hon. Member for Roscommon, I may say it is not usual for Ministers to express their views on abstract propositions.

:Will the right hon. Gentleman intimate to the Commissioner of Police the undesirability of the police committing themselves to conclusive Reports affecting individuals without investigating the circumstances?

:I am quite sure that the Divisional Commissioner has already made a communication to that effect.

:I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether, having regard to the fact that the only trains run in Great Britain without third-class accommodation at 1d. per mile (except the Irish and Continental mail trains) are those of the Brighton Company; that the number of such Brighton trains is 15 daily; that the legal maxima per mile on the London, Tilbury, and Southend Railway are first class 1d., second class ¾d., third class ½d., as against first class 2¼d., second class 1¾d., third class 1d., on the Brighton Railway; and that the first and second class maxima on the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway were raised ¼d. per mile in 1868, on account, as stated in the preamble of the Act, of the poverty of the Company, a poverty which does not now exist, he will direct the attention of the Committee about to consider the Company's Bill to these inequalities of charge, with a view to securing lower rates over the proposed new line?

:With the exception of the London, Tilbury, and Southend, upon which the fares are low—presumably because the cost of construction was comparatively small — the fares of the Brighton Company compare favourably with those of other southern lines, and no complaint has been received by me of insufficiency of third-class trains. There does not appear to be any case for the intervention of the Board of Trade.

:I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he has received any further information about the loss of the Blair Athole last summer; and whether the Admiralty intend taking further steps to ascertain whether any survivors of the crew might have landed on Warren Hastings Island or some other island in the vicinity, and are still alive?

:The Admiralty received no information of the loss of any particular ship. A Report has been furnished by the owners of the ship British General that that ship was boarded by natives from Warren Hastings Island on the 4th of December last, who stated that 10 moons ago a large ship was wrecked and all hands drowned. H.M.S. Pallas is about to leave Hong Kong to make inquiries and ascertain if there are any survivors on the island.

:I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether he is aware that at Liverpool certain telegraphists were, on Monday, the 16th of April, withdrawn from their ordinary morning attendances and told to attend in the evening to deal with the Press reports of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget Speech, this course being adopted instead of employing overtime clerks, as hitherto, for special work; and whether, inasmuch as such a course of action subjects the ordinary business traffic to delay, and imposes upon the clerks the excessive duty of attending late at night and early the next morning, he will take steps to prevent a recurrence of such extra employment?

:I will make inquiry on the subject of the hon. Member's question, and let him know the result.

:I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he intends to appoint a Committee or Commission to consider the question of prison accommodation in the Metropolis?

:It is my intention to appoint a Departmental Committee to consider several questions, one of which is the subject of prison accommodation in the Metropolis.

:I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether contracting out of Employers' Liability Act is legal in Scotland?

^* :Contracting out is not prohibited by the Employers' Liability Act of 1880, and it has repeatedly been held by the Courts in Scotland that workmen have debarred themselves from the benefits of the Act by contracts with their employers. It might be made a question whether such contracts would, under the existing law of Scotland, exclude a claim at the instance of the widow or children of a workman who had been killed through the fault of an employer, or of someone for whom he was responsible, but I am not aware that this question has ever been decided or even raised in the Scottish Courts.

^* :Did not the right hon. Gentleman, on the 30th October, 1880, give it as his opinion that contracts in Scotland cannot be sustained to the effect of excluding the claims of widows and children, and that, consequently, contracting out of an Employers Liability Act is practically impossible in Scotland?

^* :I see it stated in the newspapers, and I have no reason to doubt the statement, that I did give an opinion that such a contract would not exclude the claims of a widow or children, on the ground that these claims were not derivative but original, and it still seems to me that, on the principles of the existing Scotch Law, this view is sound. A decision to a different effect has, however, since been pronounced in the English Law Courts, and I am told by those who have had more to do with such cases than I have had for a number of years past, that it is not improbable that it would be followed in the Scotch Courts.

asked if the Employers' Liability Bill of last Session would not have improved the position of Scotland in regard to non-contracting out?

:Very materially.

:I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will communicate to the House the steps already taken to secure the liberation of the Archbishops of Marash and Zeitoun, the Bishops of Hadjin and Arabgir, and other Armenians detained in prisons in Asiatic Turkey (or in exile), who, it is alleged, have not had fair trials, and some of whom have not had any trial, and upon whose behalf representations have been repeatedly made to the Foreign Office during the past two years?

^* :Her Majesty's Government have already stated that there would, in their opinion, be no advantage in publishing Papers regarding the Armenian question. Unofficial re- presentations were made on behalf of the Archbishops mentioned, whose sentences were confirmed by the Court of Cassation in March, 1893. In September last Her Majesty's Chargé d' Affaires at Constantinople spoke to the Grand Vizier in the hope of obtaining some mitigation of the sentences passed on them and their companions. Her Majesty's Ambassador was instructed last week to ascertain whether it would be possible to do anything for them. The Bishops of Arabgir and Hadjin are not in prison, but exiled from their sees, and it would serve no good purpose to make any representation on their behalf.

:What about the other Armenian prisoners?

^* :It would only be possible to deal with all these cases by publishing Papers. We have made some unofficial representations.

:Are there any hopes of their being brought to trial? I have received letters from persons who have been in prison a year without a chance of being tried.

^* :There is often great delay, and when that is so, we urge the desirability of bringing prisoners to trial soon.

:I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he can state, or will agree to a Return stating, in detail the names and nature of the Stationery Office Publications, which caused an expenditure in the year ending 31st March, 1893, of £22,352 I3s. 4d., and the stock on hand of which, on the 31st March, 1893, was represented by so large a sum as £117,563 0s. 5d.; and whether he anticipates that this latter sum will be actually realised by the disposal of these publications?

^* :The Return could certainly be made out, but the labour and cost would be so great that I do not think I should be justified in agreeing to it. I should explain that it is the practice to class as "Stationery Office Publications" every book or paper printed by the Stationery Office (except Parliamentary Papers) of which any copies are placed on sale, and the cost of printing these books is divided between the Sub-heads E, F, H, and K of the Stationery Office Vote. The sum of £117,563 0s. 5d. represents the net selling price of the papers on stock, but there is no chance of this sum being realised by sales. I hold in my hand a Return of the publications, which will perhaps assist the hon. Member to obtain the information he asks for. I will let him have it.

:Do the publications include the Journals?

:Yes.

:Is there a separate column showing the cost of each publication?

:Yes.

:I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, his attention having been called to the matter, he intends to take any steps to prevent the Commissioners of Inland Revenue construing the Act 26 & 27 Vic. c. 73, s. 20, according to what they consider its spirit, but against its wording, by granting occasional licences permitting the sale of drink after 10 p.m. for any entertainments or amusements other than a public dinner or ball?

:I have called the attention of the Inland Revenue to the strict letter of the law, which I have no doubt will be observed in the future; but I do not consider that the action of the Magistrates, in extending to smoking concerts given in the Town Hall the exemption allowed in the case of public dinners and balls, is one calling for serious animadversion.

:Is not the action of the Magistrates against the law?

:I do not regard the matter as being of sufficient importance to call for any interference.

:I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Uganda Estimate, laid upon the Table on Tuesday, will be in the hands of Members; and to what date is the Debate to be postponed?

:At the same time that the right hon. Gentleman answers that question perhaps he would find it convenient to give the House a general idea of the course of business for next week.

:I propose on Monday next to take the remaining Budget Resolutions, and to make progress with the financial proposals of the Government. That is the main business that I can fix at present. In answer to the question of my right hon. Friend the Member for the Forest of Dean, I have to state that the Uganda Estimate will be distributed at once. The prolongation of the discussion on the Scotch Grand Committee has necessarily postponed the Debate, which was fixed for to-morrow, on Uganda. The fixing of the date for the Uganda Vote must now depend upon the progress of public business.

^* :I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can state how much of the increased receipts estimated by him for the present and future years from the proposed increase in the Death Duties is due to the changes in the Succession Duty; to the graduation of the new Estate Duty personalty; to the imposition of the new Estate Duty on realty; and whether he proposes to increase the Stamp Duty now payable on the property of Bodies Corporate and unincorporate to an extent corresponding with the increased Death Duties on the property of individuals?

:Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman will at the same time say whether the proposals for the increased duties on spirits and beer will be permanent, or will only apply to the current financial year?

:Does the right hon. Gentleman propose to lay upon the Table any explanatory statement with reference to the Budget?

:I will make a statement upon those points in the discussion on the Resolution relating to the Death Duties, which I propose to fix for Monday next. I have directed an explanatory paper on the subject of the proposed changes in the Death Duties to be prepared, and I hope it will be in the hands of Members to-night. But I must point out that no really accurate information on this subject, which is of a highly technical character, can be furnished, except in the Customs and In- land Revenue Bill, which can only be introduced when the Resolutions are passed; and I would observe that the Paper laid on the Table by Mr. Childers was explanatory of the Budget Bill and not of the Resolution, the Resolution having been passed on the first night without opposition. I may take this opportunity of stating, in reply to a question which was put to me on Tuesday last by the hon. Member for North Kerry, that, having regard to the impending inquiries as to the relative incidence of taxation in the several parts of the United Kingdom, I think it is a fair demand, and it is only right that the proposals in the Budget for au increase of duties and upon spirits should take effect only for the present financial year.

:May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether the Resolution on the Succession Duty will be taken first on Monday, or the Resolution on the Income Tax? Considering how very intricate and complicated the change in Death Duties is, cannot the right hon. Gentleman give the House longer time to consider both the explanatory statement which is to be circulated and the whole question generally?

:The usual and convenient course is to take the Resolutions, and then to have the Bill and discuss the proposals on that. That was the course taken by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Midlothian with reference to Mr. Childers's Budget. It is the proper way; and, indeed, the only possible way is to get on to the Customs and Inland Revenue Bill as soon as may be; because the House will find in that Bill what they cannot know otherwise—the details of the method by which we propose to deal with this intricate subject. We propose to take the Death Duty Resolution first on Monday and then the other Resolutions.

:Do the Government propose to introduce the Welsh Disestablishment Bill next week?

:I hope that we may be able to do that; but I would rather reserve a definite statement until the Home Secretary returns to town. I hope we shall find an opportunity of introducing the Bill next week.

:I beg to ask the right hon. Gentleman whether he does not think that the duty on whisky is high enough already; and whether that duty is not out of all proportion to the duty on the Englishman's beer?

^* :That question can scarcely arise at the present moment.

:May I ask the President of the Local Government Board whether, as there is no intention on this side of the House to oppose the Parochial Electors (Registration Acceleration) Bill, he will give the House sufficient time to consider the provisions before the Second Reading is taken?

:Yes, Sir; if the House will allow me to introduce the Bill to-night, I will postpone the Second Reading for at least a week.

:I wish to ask the Chief Secretary a question of which I have been unable to give him notice, but which he will, I think, be able to answer. Yesterday, by a large majority, the House of Commons passed the Second Reading of a Bill for repealing the Irish Coercion Act. I ask him if he will confer with the Leader of the House and his colleagues in the Government to see whether it is possible, consistently with the due progress of other business, to give facilities for the further stages of the Bill?

:I will consult my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House.

:I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Committee appointed by the House of Lords on the 17th instant will be empowered to consider the Marking of Foreign and Colonial Meat (No. 2) Bill, and also the other Bills on the same and kindred subjects, which have been introduced in the House of Commons?

:My right hon. Friend has requested me to answer this question. As I understand, the inquiries of the Committee of the House of Lords which was appointed last Session, and has now been re-appointed, are complete so far as meat is concerned, and inasmuch as the Committee had before them the Bill introduced by the hon. Member for the Altrincham Division last Session, which is closely analogous to the Bill to which the hon. Member refers, I should scarcely suppose that the Committee would consider it necessary to re-open that portion of the subject committed to them. But the matter is scarcely one with regard to which it is for me to express an opinion, and if the Committee decided to re-consider the proposals embodied in the Bills now before the House, there is nothing to prevent them from doing so.

:I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state the number of vessels reported to his Department as missing during each of the last three years for which the accounts have been made up, and the number of inquiries into cases of missing ships which have been held in each of those three years respectively?

:The number of vessels belonging to the United Kingdom which were reported to the Board of Trade as missing during the last three years for which the accounts have been made up—namely, years ended June, 1891, 1892, and 1893, were 69, 59, and 32 respectively. The corresponding numbers for the years 1881, 1882, and 1883 were 126, 172, and 152. Inquiry was made by officers of the Board of Trade in every case, but formal inquiries were held in only six cases in 1891, two cases in 1892, and three cases in 1893. Since June last inquiries have been ordered in 14 cases. Each case is carefully considered, and inquiry is ordered in any case in which it is thought that it can be usefully held.

:I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India if he would grant a Return showing the yearly increase of the military expenditure of India, in that country and in England, from 1875 to 1893?

:There is no objection to granting such a Return. I will confer with my hon. Friend as to its form.

:I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he could state to the House what number of slaves have been freed since 1888 within the territory of the British East Africa Company, and what number during the game period on the neighbouring station by Her Majesty's Naval Forces, and as to the latter at what cost; whether, in the event of the administration of the coast reverting to the Sultan of Zanzibar by the surrender of the Company's concession, provision will be made that the arrangements and treaties concluded by the Company for the protection of aboriginal tribes from slavery and for facilitating the redemption of slaves will continue in effective operation; and whether, in view of the Imperial grants recommended by Sir Gerald Portal towards the cost of administration in Uganda and British East Africa, any aid for the same purpose has at any time been granted, or proposed to be granted, to the British East Africa Company while it continued responsible for occupation and administration; if not, what resources were available for purposes of administration by the Company?

^* :The number of slaves said by the British East Africa Company to have been freed by them since 1888 is 3,015. The number freed by Her Majesty's Naval Forces during the same period is 1,287. The cost is mainly that of all Her Majesty's ships engaged in the suppression of the Slave Trade, and I cannot give a separate estimate of this particular portion of it. No such arrangements or treaties as those referred to could properly be made by the Company within the territory covered by the concession of the Sultan of Zanzibar, nor have they been made. The only grant made to the Company was the sum of £10,000 voted last year for the prolongation of the occupation of Uganda; and with regard to the resources of the Company, I must ask the hon. Baronet to refer to the Reports of the Directors.

:I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that Mr. Bomford, who is now acting as valuer for the Land Commission in County Cavan, was formerly agent to a large landlord in the county; that he is related to that landlord, and to several other landlords in the county, and to Mr. Barnes, the principal valuer for the landlords in the county in fair rent cases; that he was formerly a member of a Sub-Commission in the county, and removed to another county on account of his close connection with the landed interest there; and whether these facts were known to Mr. Wrench and other members of the Commission when Mr. Bomford was sent as valuer to Cavan?

:The Land Commissioners have not yet fully replied to the inquiries which I have addressed to them on this subject, and I must ask my hon. Friend, therefore, to be good enough to again postpone the question.

:I should like to call the right hon. Gentleman's attention to the fact I put this question down two days ago?

:Yes; but the reply I have received is not sufficiently full.

:I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland how many Catholic Magistrates are resident in the Petty Sessions district of Toome, County Antrim; whether, owing to the want of Magistrates resident in the district, Magistrates from another district had to attend recently in order to hold Petty Sessions; and whether steps will be taken to remove the present grievance?

:I am informed that there are no Roman Catholic Magistrates resident in this district. There has been, however, no want of a Court of Petty Sessions at Toome by reason of the absence of Magistrates resident in the district. As to the last paragraph, the Lord Chancellor some time since made selections for the County Antrim Bench of Magistrates which will meet, amongst others, the case of the Toome District.

:I beg to ask the Postmaster General, with reference to Clause 10 of Treasury Order of the loth of August, 1890, in how many cases of postal or telegraph employés in Ireland has this order been put in force since the date of its issue; how many surveyors, assistant surveyors, and postmasters of head post offices are now over the age limit; and, if any, what are the particular circumstances that exist in each case for the suspension of this Order; and whether he would now consider it expedient in the interests of the greater efficiency of the Public Service to enforce its provisions in every instance in which it is applicable?

:In Ireland the clause to which the hon. Member refers has been put in force in every case. In reply to the second paragraph, there are not any of the officers named to whom the clause applies and who are over the age limit. The hon. Member is possibly not aware that the Order in Council to which he refers applies only to officers who are placed on Scales or drawing Salaries in excess of those of the Second Division.

:I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether Her Majesty's Government are unable to carry out the arrangement entered into with the South African Republic for the transfer of Swaziland to that Republic; whether it is true that many of the indunas favourable to the arrangement have been murdered at the instigation of the Queen Regent; and whether, as stated, the condition of affairs is dangerous and a massacre is apprehended?

:The position at the present moment is this: A Convention was negotiated between Her Majesty's Government and the South African Republic under which the latter were to be at liberty to negotiate an Organic Proclamation with the Swazi people for taking over the administration of the country, without, however, incorporating it into the Republic. This Organic Proclamation has been submitted to Her Majesty's Government. The South African Republic are now in negotiation with the Swazis in order to obtain their assent to the Organic Proclamation. As regards the last two questions, we have no confirmation of the rumours, but are in communication with the Officer Administering the Government on the whole subject.