To call attention to the system of Enlistment and the Treatment of Recruits prevailing in the British Army; and to move a Resolution.—[Tuesday, 13th April.]

To call attention to the subject of Reserve and Discharged Soldiers; and to move a Resolution.—[Tuesday, 13th April.]

I beg to ask the hon. Member for the Thirsk Division, as a Charity Commissioner, whether the work in connection with the Charity Commissioners' Office, especially in relation to the schemes, is in arrear, and whether the delay arises because of the insufficient staff at the office; and, if so, what steps it is proposed shall be taken in order to increase the staff?

The work of drafting orders and other formal documents in the office of the Charity Commissioners has of late fallen into arrear, in consequence partly of the general increase of the business of the office, and partly of the special pressure of work arising under the Local Government Act 1894. The Charity Commissioners have accordingly applied for the sanction of the Treasury for a permanent increase of staff, and pending the consideration of this application they have sought and obtained from the Treasury permission to procure temporary assistance in the work of drafting, with the result that the arrears in question are steadily decreasing. ["Hear, hear!"]

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War with reference to the statement that every battery of Horse Artillery in the First Army Corps is fully equipped in every respect, what is meant by fully-equipped batteries; and whether such batteries possess six wagons horsed?

When it was stated that each Horse Artillery battery of the First Army Corps was fully equipped it was meant that the battery had in its possession its complete equipment in guns, limbers, and wagons. The wagons are not all horsed during peace; but the guns are. ["Hear, hear?"]

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War how many horses are required for the war strength of 45 Field and 10 Horse Artillery batteries provided for, and how many are actually maintained for these batteries at the present time; what proportion of the ammunition wagons required for service with these Field and Horse batteries are horse in time of peace; and how many horses over 6 and under 14 years of age there are in the Horse and Field batteries of Royal Artillery stationed in the United Kingdom, and how many horses over five years old are attached to such batteries?

The horses required for the 45 Field and 10 Horse Artillery batteries on a war footing would be 7,805. The number maintained on the peace establishment is 3,946. Twelve Field batteries have each six wagons horsed in time of peace and five Horse Artillery batteries have each four wagons horsed. The other batteries have each only one ammunition wagon horsed. The Field and Horse batteries at home have 2,148 horses over six and under 14 years of age; and there are 1,136 horses over five but under six years old. ["Hear, hear."]

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether the Horse and Field Batteries on the Home establishment are up to their complement of men; and, if not, by what number are they short of the regulation strength?

By the latest return the deficiency in men was 587; but, as I pointed out a few days ago, these batteries are necessarily below their establishment after they have supplied the batteries abroad with drafts.

I beg to ask the Secretary to the Local Government Board whether his attention has been called to the correspondence between the Board and the Battlesden and Potsgrove United District School Board, in the county of Bedford, regarding the Agricultural Rates Act 1896; whether he is aware that, while the School Board rate of the current year amounts to £52 10s., the School Board will receive relief under the Act on a basis of a rate amounting to £5 10s. only; and whether, having regard to this hardship, the Board will take the case into favourable consideration under the powers given to them by Article III. of their Prescribing Regulations, dated 28th July 1896?

I have no reason to doubt that the facts are as stated by the hon. Member. It was intended that the grants to spending authorities should be based upon the rates raised during the year ended the 31st March 1896. In the case of the parish in question, no such rates were raised for the expenses of the School Board. The Local Government Board have, however, taken into account the rates raised by the School Attendance Committee, who were the predecessors of the School Board. The question will be considered by the Board, whether the circumstances in the present case are such that any additional grant can be made.

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his attention has been called to the observation made in the last report of the medical officer of Aldershot Military Prison that crank labour is worse than useless, being detrimental to the mental and physical condition of the prisoners; and whether he will state in how many local and convict prisons respectively crank labour continues to be used?

I have seen this remark of the medical officer of Aldershot Prison. Productive crank labour is in use in nine local prisons; unproductive crank labour, which is being discontinued altogether, as other forms of hard labour can be found to take its place, still remains in eleven. Crank labour is a form of hard labour, and, therefore, not in use as labour in the convict prisons; it is occasionally resorted to, however, as a form of punishment.

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state the number of processes for rent issued and decrees granted at the October 1896 and January 1897 quarter sessions held at Tuam and Galway, with amount of decree in each case; whether the County Court Judge granted a stay of execution in any case, if so, in how many, and what were the conditions of payment; and whether he will give the same particulars in connection with the same quarter sessions in the previous year?

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state the number of processes for rent issued and decrees granted at the October 1896 and January 1897 quarter sessions held at Clifden and Oughterard, with amount of decree in each case; whether the County Court Judge granted a stay of execution in any case; if so, in how many, and what were the conditions of payment; and whether he will give the same particulars in connection with the same quarter sessions in the previous year?

The information I have received from the Clerk of the Peace will not enable me to reply to-day to this question and the similar question of the hon. Member for the Connemara Division of Galway, and I must ask, therefore, that both questions be postponed till Thursday next.

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state the number of inmates in the Tuam, Glenamaddy and Galway Poor Law Union workhouses on 1st March 1897, the number on outdoor relief, with amount so expended in these Unions on same date; and whether be will give the same particulars respectively for 1st March 1896?

The Official Returns are made up at the close of each week, and do not enable me to give the particulars sought in respect of the 1st March. For the week ended 27th February 1897, however, the number of persons in receipt of indoor relief in the three Unions named was 649, and the cost of such relief was £111 15s. 3d. For the corresponding week of 1896, the figures under this head were 678 and £109 16s. 0d. respectively. As regards outdoor relief, there were 929 persons receiving this form of relief in the week ended 27th February 1897, at a cost of £60 7s. 10d., and 961 in the corresponding week of 1896, at a cost of £57 14s. 8d.

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state the number of inmates in the Clifden and Oughterard Poor Law Union workhouses on 1st March 1897, the number on outdoor relief, with amount so expended in these Unions on same date; and whether he will give the same particulars respectively for 1st March 1896?

I have already explained to the hon. Member for North Galway that the Official Returns do not give the information indicated in respect of 1st March, But for the week ended 27th February, 204 persons were in receipt of indoor relief in the two Unions mentioned at a cost of £31 2s. 9d., as compared with 199 persons in the corresponding period of 1896 at a cost of £30 13s. 3d. There were 395 persons receiving outdoor relief in these Unions in the former week at a cost of £14 14s. 6d., as compared with 139 persons in the corresponding week of 1896 at a cost of £6 10s. 0d.

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, if he can state the number of applications to have a fair rent fixed at present listed from that portion of the unions of Granard, Cavan, and Bawnboy in the division of West Cavan; when and where did the last Sub-Commission sit in County Cavan; is he aware that a considerable time elapsed from the hearing of the cases till the decisions were given; and, when and where will the next Sub-Commission sit?

The number of fair-rent applications listed from the districts referred to is 124, nearly all of which are now dealt with. A Sub-Commission Court has been at work continuously at various places in the County Cavan since the 30th September last—for instance, at Cavan on the 1st October, 5th and 14th January, and 3rd and 4th February; at Kells on the 3rd October; and at Bailieborough on the 2nd October. Arrangements have been made to announce the decisions in a number of cases heard in January and February on the 17th instant, and in the remainder of the cases heard early next month. A list for the Union of Cootehill was commenced so recently as the 11th instant, and will occupy several sittings on different dates to be notified by the Chairman of the Sub-Commission.

I beg to ask the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether, in August or September 1896, a sworn declaration was made by Joseph Deniston, late of the 11th Foot, detailing the circumstances and causes which led to his being permanently disabled by rheumatism contracted whilst serving at Portsmouth and South Africa; and whether the Commissioners of Chelsea Hospital have yet considered that declaration; and if so with what result?

I must refer the hon. Member to my reply to him on the 17th April last, in which I said that if further medical or other evidence, proving that Deniston's physical disability was attributable to his Army service could be produced, his case would be reconsidered by the Commissioners of Chelsea Hospital. The man's own declaration has been received, but it only repeats his former statements, and as it is not supported by any medical or other evidence there has not been any case for reconsideration.

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether the recent Return of discharged soldiers chargeable on the poor rates of the United kingdom, showing that in May 1896 there were 1,464 pensioners in receipt of relief, was accompanied by any explanations of the reasons why such pensioners had become inmates of workhouses or in receipt of outdoor relief; and, if so, whether such explanations can be communicated to the House?

In no case were the reasons for Army Pensioners being in unions or in receipt of relief stated in the returns made to the War Office.

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War if he will consider the advisability of extending the joining allowance, now given to officers of the Volunteer Forces, to the medical officers?

The question raised by my hon. Friend has been carefully considered and it has not been thought necessary to extend the allowance to medical officers.

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if he can state why so much delay has taken place in the giving of decisions in land cases heard fully six weeks ago by Sub-Commissioners at Omagh, and why no visits have been made to the farms which were the subject of investigation at the Omagh sittings referred to; and, can he state when the farms will be visited and the decisions made to the farmers concerned?

There has been no unnecessary delay in anouncing the decisions in the cases referred to, nor is it correct to say that no visits have been made to the holdings, sixty of which have been inspected by the Assistant Commissioners. The decisions will be announced in the present week.

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department upon what classes of labour at Dartmoor are prisoners convicted of felony and prisoners convicted of misdemeanour respectively employed; are prisoners of the latter class employed out of doors, and away from the prison; and is there anything, and if so what, in their dress or otherwise, to distinguish their appearance from that of felons?

There is only one prisoner convicted of misdemeanour at Dartmoor. He is undergoing his period of separate confinement, and on completing it will be sent to Parkhurst. Misdemeanants are never employed out of doors at Dartmoor. There is nothing to distinguish misdemeanants in appearance from felons.

I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, what is the amount of money paid as royalty by the National Telephone Company for each of the following years, 1893, 1894, 1895, and 1896: and whether he is aware that no particulars of these receipts are specifically given to Parliament in the Postmaster General's Annual Report, or in any other public document?

The royalty is 10 per cent., and the amounts received during the past four financial years were:—1892–3, £57,620; 1893–4, £65,443; 1894–5, £72,693; 1895–6, £81,530. The Postmaster General is aware that no particulars of these receipts are specifically given to Parliament in his annual report or in any other public document, and he does not think it necessary to select this particular item for separate publication.

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether, seeing that the Viceroy has stated that the whole course of operations in relief of famine must depend largely on the course of prices, he would arrange with the Indian Government to give in its weekly telegram the prices of different grains in two or three chief towns in the worst part of the famine districts, e.g. for Bengal, Mohkhari and Durbhanga, for Central Provinces, Jabalphur and Raipur; whether he would state the nature of the special measures to aid private trade which the Government of Bengal have been authorised to take in Behar; and, what action has been already taken to carry them out?

I have asked the Government of India to add to its weekly telegram a statement of the price of the commonest food grain at one or two places in each famine-stricken province. A general account of special measures the Bengal Government proposed for stimulating grain trade in a few remote localities will be found in the famine papers which, I hope, will be presented within the next ten days. The authority for special measures was only to take effect in case of probable failure of supplies. I have learned from TheBengal Gazette, received to-day, that one case of emergency has been reported in Chota Nagpur, but I am not yet able to state the precise procedure adopted by the Government to supplement the food supplies in this district.

I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether any, and, if any, what, special provision will be made for the relatives of the two stokers (William Cotter and Daniel Yeates) who have died from injuries caused by the recent explosion on board the guardship at Queenstown?

The Court of Inquiry reported that the death of those men was due to an explosion caused by a naked light carried by William Cotter (stoker 2nd class) contrary to the standing orders of the fleet engineer; and further, that although Daniel Yeates (the chief stoker) carried a safety lamp himself, he did not compel Cotter to do the same. Yeates being fully aware of the fleet engineer's orders, the Board of Admiralty concur in the finding of the Court. The Regulations do not permit pensions or gratuities to widows or dependent relatives of men whose death is caused by accident due to their own culpable action or negligence.

I beg to ask the First Commissioner of Works (1) whether he intends, in accordance with the Report of the Select Committee on Government Offices, presented at the end of the last Session, to propose the reappointment of that Committee; and (2) if he can inform the House what progress has been made in the acquisition of the properties lying between Parliament Street and King Street, the purchase of which has been sanctioned by the Acts passed in 1895 and 1896?

In reply to the right hon. Gentleman's Question I have to say that I propose to move for the reappointment of the Select Committee on Government Offices at an early date. In answer to the second portion of his Question I may say that considerable progress has been made in the acquisition of the site named, arrangements to the amount of over one-third of the sum fixed in the Act of 1895 having been agreed upon between the Government and the parties interested. There will be certain arbitrations under the Lands Clauses Acts in cases where it has been found impossible to arrive at an amicable understanding.

I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, why there has been no examination of female telegraph learners since 1895; have several vacancies occurred since the last examination, and have those vacancies been filled up in accordance with the rules of the Civil Service; and will an examination for female telegraph learners be ordered for an early date?

I presume the hon. Member refers to Dublin. There has been no competition there for female telegraph learners since December 1895, because the number of candidates then taken has proved sufficient for all vacancies up to the present time. The competitions are held in anticipation of vacancies, and the number of vacancies likely to occur during the six months after December 1895 was unfortunately over-estimated. There have been 17 vacancies since December 1895; 14 have been filled by the appointment of learners, 2 by transfer, and 1 by the appointment of a skilled telegraphist. These were all in accordance with the rules of the Civil Service. Although there are no vacancies at present, another competition will probably be held in the course of the next few months.

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can say if the Votes for the Salary of the Chief Secretary or of the Lord Chancellor of Ireland are likely to be taken before a County Court Judge, in room of Judge Roche, is appointed for County Down?

The salary of the Lord Chancellor of Ireland is not on the Votes. I think it is more than probable that an appointment to the County Court Judgeship for Down will be made before the Vote for my salary is taken.

Will the right hon. Gentleman say whether Mr. Walter Craig has not been appointed?

No, Sir; but in due course of time, when the appointment is made, the hon. Member will be acquainted.

Has not Mr. Craig made the announcement himself that he has been appointed? [No answer was given.]

On behalf of the hon. Member for Dublin, St. Patrick (Mr. W. FIELD), I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware of the dangerous condition of Wicklow Pier and the bad state of the Harbour; and that, in consequence thereof, several cargoes were lately landed in Dublin; and whether the Government intend to give a free grant of £5,000 immediately, and lend on security £60,000 at 2¾ per cent., which was the rate at which it was lent to the Egyptian Government?

I have no information as to the cargoes mentioned by the hon. Member. Wicklow Pier and Breakwater are quite recent works built entirely under the direction of the local Harbour Board, without any intervention by the Board of Works. Both are already in the dangerous condition described by the hon. Member, and the cost of repair is estimated at about £29,000. The Government lent the Harbour Board £6,000 in 1870, and no instalments of capital and no interest have since been paid. In 1881 and 1885 they lent a further £40,000 to construct the Pier and Breakwater in question. Early in 1895 the Treasury, while refusing a free grant, offered to wipe out the old loan of £6,000 with all its arrears, to reduce the interest on the new loan to 4 per cent., and to lend £35,000 also at 4 per cent., if the town and local Baronies would guarantee it at an average cost to the rates of 2½d. in the £. In 1896 the Treasury offered a consolidated loan of £65,000 on the same guarantee, and to ask Parliament to sanction by legislation the wholly exceptional rate of 3½ per cent. interest, and to wipe out the old loan of £6,000. The Grand Jury were still not satisfied, and asked for 3⅛th instead of 3½ per cent., and there the case stands. The rate of 2¾ per cent., mentioned by the hon. Member is, he will see, not that proposed by the local authorities themselves.

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War if he is aware that bandsmen connected with the regiment accept engagements at theatres and other places of amusement; and whether accepting such engagements is permissible according to the Army Regulations?

Bandsmen are allowed to accept private engagements as musicians, provided their military duties are not interfered with in consequence.

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the decision given in the Queen's Bench in the case of Hawke v. Dunn; and whether instructions will be given to the police that the law in relation to bookmakers on racecourses as now declared shall be properly enforced?

My attention has been called to this decision. Whether it will be necessary for any instructions to be issued to the Metropolitan Police in reference to it I am unable at present to say, but I shall, of course, confer with the Chief Commissioner on the subject. I have no power to issue instructions to other police forces.

I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether the Local Government Board have authorised the Middlesex County Council to borrow moneys for technical education purposes to the extent of £3,150, when there is still a balance of over £11,000 unexpended of the sum received under the Customs and Excise Act for the current year for technical education purposes?

The Local Government Board in September last authorised the borrowing by the Middlesex County Council, under the Local Government Act, 1888, and the Technical Instruction Act, 1889, of a sum of £3,150, repayable in 30 years, for the purchase of the freehold of certain buildings to be used for purposes of technical education. I am informed that the County Council authorised their Committee to carry out the work of technical education for the current year subject to the total expenditure not being more than £10,785, and that after the other claims for technical education for the year have been satisfied there would not be nearly sufficient of the £10,785 to pay the £3,150 for the Technical Institute. Independently of this, the County Council are not required to pay out of current income expenditure which is of the nature of capital expenditure, and the repayment of which can reasonably and properly be spread over a period of years. I am not aware what is the unexpended balance of the sum received under the Customs and Excise Act, but the County Council are not under any obligation to apply the whole sum received by them to technical education.

I beg to ask the Financial Secretary to the War Office when an answer will be given to the memorial as to pensions sent in by the operatives of the Ordnance Factories in April 1895; and if he will state the reason of such delay?

May I refer the hon. Member to the reply I made yesterday to the hon. Member for West Newington, to the effect that the inquiry into this matter was still proceeding, but that a Report as regards the operatives under the War Office was expected very shortly?

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, having regard to the fact that in the year 1895, out of 1,825 prisoners who came for trial before the Courts in Scotland only two were detained waiting for trial for more than 14 weeks as against 199 in England, and that the longest detention before trial in Scotland was only 17 weeks against 31 weeks in England, the Government can see their way to effect such changes in the criminal procedure in England as will effectively reduce such periods of detention in the latter country with a view, if possible, to put England on a level with Scotland in that respect?

The question will certainly engage the serious attention of the Government. It is not possible, however, to lay stress on the comparison instituted by the hon. Member in the question between Scotland and England. The 199 cases in England were cases of prisoners awaiting trial at assizes, and to make the comparison between the two countries complete—a comparison which is impossible with the figures at present available—it would be necessary to take into account the cases dealt with by Quarter Sessions, and also most of the indictable cases disposed of in Courts of summary jurisdiction in England.

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been drawn to the statement in the Report on Judicial Statistics 1895, that, out of a total of 358 sentences of imprisonment to be followed by police supervision passed during the year, only 13 were passed by the Judges at Assizes, while no fewer than 345 were passed by Courts of Quarter Sessions; and whether, seeing that this form of sentence increases the difficulty of discharged prisoners obtaining employment, that it also increases the class of habitual criminals, and that it is but sparingly made use of by the Judges, he will issue a circular to the Courts of Quarter Sessions, drawing their attention to the proportion of these sentences passed by them, and recommending a considerable reduction of their number in the future?

Yes, Sir, my attention has been called to the point, and also to the explanation given—namely, that the offences for which this sentence is appropriate—e.g., offences against property—are for the most part tried at Quarter Sessions. I do not think that any such circular as the Question suggests is necessary. The sentence of police supervision cannot increase the number of habitual criminals, since it can only be passed on persons who have already shown that they belong to that class, and no doubt it frequently enables a Judge to mitigate the severity of the sentence of penal servitude or imprisonment that he would otherwise pass.

I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether a circular was recently issued to Parish Councils instructing them to assess all Board Schools; and, if so, why such schools were previously exempt from the payment of local rates?

It is the fact that in October last the Local Government Board issued a circular to the Parish Councils bringing to their notice the state of the law in regard to exemption from assessments. In this circular it was, among other matters, pointed out that Board Schools which had in some cases been erroneously exempted were not entitled to that exemption. As the hon. Member will observe, no change has been made; and the erroneous practice was confined to some particular localities.

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can give the House any information regarding the present condition of Northern Syria and South Eastern Asia Minor, regions in which it has been recently stated that there exists a danger of fresh massacres, and that serious alarm prevails among the Christian population?

As I before stated in reply to a Question from the right hon. Member, Her Majestys's Vice-Consul at Adana reported in a Dispatch the existence of a very distressing state of affairs in the district of Payas; and this report was brought by Her Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople under the notice of the Turkish Government. At the suggestion of the Ambassador a British ship of war will be sent to the coast near Alexandretta, to enable the Vice-Consul to visit the different ports of the district and to distribute relief.

Has the right hon. Gentleman no more recent information with regard to affairs in the interior? My Question was really directed to that.

No, Sir. The report of which I am speaking came from Vice-Consul Massey, is dated February 6, and refers to the whole district of Payas, the sufferings of which I have described.

I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that considerable dissent was expressed at the conference of Metropolitan Poor Law Guardians, held to consider the Draft Order of the proposed Sick Children's Asylum Board, from the proposed constitution of that Board; whether he has received a resolution from the London County Council recording emphatic condemnation of the proposed establishment of a new and distinct Metropolitan central authority; and whether, in view of the public expressions of opinion thus evinced, he will consent to postpone the official promulgation of a permanent order until an opportunity of discussing it has been given to the House?

I understand from the report of the proceedings at the conference referred to that the voting on the resolution to the effect that it was desirable that separate provision, such as is indicated in the draft order, should be made for special classes of children was 63 for and 15 against, and that the resolution to the effect that the Local Government Board before constituting a new board should consider whether the duties created by the new order could not be carried out by some existing authority or authorities was carried by a majority of 42 votes, 56 voting for and 14 against the resolution. The Local Government Board have been informed of the resolution which has been passed by the London County Council to the effect "that, while recognising the necessity for alteration in the present mode of dealing with the class of children referred to, the Council are of opinion that the establishment of a new and distinct metropolitan central authority for the care of a section of Poor Law children is undesirable and calculated to lead to needless expense." The Board have also received a copy of a report of the General Purposes Committee of the Metropolitan Asylums Board (which report was adopted by the managers on Saturday last) expressing their willingness to undertake the care of all or any of the classes of children referred to. The representations which have been made in favour of the managers of the Asylums District undertaking the duty in preference to the constitution of a new board of managers will receive the careful consideration of the Board. I cannot, however, give any undertaking such as that which my hon. Friend suggests.

I beg to ask the Attorney-General whether he can state under which Section of the Coal Mines Regulation Act 1887, a checkweigher is prohibited from bringing an action in a court of summary jurisdiction; and under which section he is permitted to bring such action in a county court for the recovery of wages due to him?

Section 61 of the Act mentioned limits the jurisdiction of the court of summary jurisdiction to fines and moneys and costs directed to be recovered as fines. This section does not give the court jurisdiction in the matter of checkweigher's wages. The right of the check-weigher to recover wages in the county court depends upon the general law.

I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether the Government propose to deal with the question of secondary education this year, seeing that that matter was included in the Education Bill withdrawn last year, and has been omitted from the Bill now before the House?

In answer to my hon. and gallant Friend I have to say that, as he is aware, we are engaged in one Education Bill, and have in immediate prospect another dealing with primary education. Under these circumstances there is no great hope that we shall be able to deal with the matters to which he refers in the course of the present Session.

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any authentic information has been received as to alleged murders and mutilations of loyal inhabitants, including many women and children, by Christians in Crete: and whether a searching inquiry into such atrocities will be instituted?

Before the right hon. Gentleman answers perhaps he will allow me to ask him a Question on the same subject, of which I have given him notice, whether the attention of the Secretary for Foreign Affairs has been called to the account in The Times, Daily News, and Standard of the barbarous massacre by Cretan insurgents of a large number of Mussulmans, including many women and children, in the Sitia district of Crete, and especially the burning of Moslems in the mosques; and whether her Majesty's Government will arrange for the appointment of a competent international commission to inquire into and report upon these atrocities?

Massacres would appear to have taken place on both sides. The only mention we have received of mutilation was in a telegram from the British Admiral on February 27, to the effect that several wounded or mutilated Mahomedan children had arrived at Canea. Inquiries have been made by the Consuls and naval commanders so far as circumstances permitted, and their reports will eventually be presented to Parliament. In answer to the supplementary question of my hon. Friend below the Gangway, I have read in more than one newspaper accounts of the alleged massacres in the neighbourhood of Sitia. We have not had any official confirmation of the report, but have telegraphed to Her Majesty's Consul to ask. As regards the constitution of a commission of inquiry it would, I think, be premature to state our opinion until we have received the reply of Her Majesty's Consul. But in any case the Consuls of the Powers are practically already in the position of a commission, instructed by their Governments to inquire into and report upon any events of that character.

asked whether the statement that many mutilated Mahomedan children had been brought into Canea, was made on the personal responsibility of the British Consul in Canea, or was it only made on hearsay from what someone had reported to him?

It was not made by the British Consul at all, but the British Admiral, and I think we may be certain that he satisfied himself as to its accuracy.

thought that such a terrible statement as he had referred to should not go forth to the public without the authority on which it was made being given. [Ministerial cries of "Order" and "Oh!"] He was perfectly in order. [Opposition cheers.] Was the statement made on the authority of the British Admiral in Canea in reference to events in Candia, and if so, from whom did he hear the news?

My words and the words of the Admiral are perfectly clear. He reported to us—and no doubt he was perfectly conscious of his responsibility for the statement—that wounded and mutilated Mahomedan children had arrived at Canea.

On behalf of the hon. Member for North Cork (Mr. FLYNN), I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can state what steps the Admirals of the Allied Fleet have taken to make known to the inhabitants of Crete generally the offer of administrative autonomy; and will care be taken to provide that the full meaning and signification of the concession shall be understood by the Cretans?

I answered this question yesterday.

On behalf of the hon. Member for North Cork (Mr. FLYNN), I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Greek Admiral Reineck emphatically denies having failed to transmit to the insurgents the warning of the Admirals of the Allied Fleet, and further states that the Greek Consulate also transmitted the warning to the chiefs of the insurgents; and, under these circumstances, can the Foreign Office give an explanation of the communication sent by the British Admiral?

I know nothing beyond what has appeared in the papers as to the denial by Commodore Reineck. No explanation is needed of the communication sent by the British Admiral, which explains itself. The Admiral reported to us what he had been told by the insurgent chiefs. There has evidently been a mistake or misapprehension somewhere, but where I have no means of saying.

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the attention of the Foreign Office has been directed to a telegram from The Times correspondent at Canea, dated the 10th instant, containing the statement that the information relative to the alleged failure of Commodore Reineck to keep his engagement to convey a message to the insurgents was sent to The Times at the particular wish of the British Admiral; whether the intelligence contained in the telegram was correct; and whether it is in accordance with the Admiralty regulations that an Officer commanding British forces on active service should communicate information affecting the conduct of an Officer in the service of a friendly Power to a newspaper correspondent?

I have seen the statement in The Times, but have no other knowledge that the information was sent to that paper at the particular wish of the British Admiral. I have previously communicated to the House the Admiral's telegram on the same subject. A question as to the Admiralty regulations does not appear to have any connection with the Foreign Office.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether Admiral Harris can speak Greek, or French, or Italian? [Laughter.] [No answer was given.]

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether there is any police force now in Canea; if there is, what is its constitution, and who controls it; and whether the foreign forces in Canea are being used for the protection of life and property and the maintenance of order?

We understand that the Gendarmerie Commission, consisting of English, French, and Italian members, paid off the new Gendarmerie on the 11th instant. There still remain in Canea the Mussulman Gendarmes of the old organisation, numbering 49 officers and 535 men. The object for which the foreign forces have been landed is correctly described in the second paragraph of the Question.

The right hon. Gentleman has not answered the first paragraph of my Question, in which I ask whether there is any police force now in Canea, and under whose control it is now placed?

Yes, I have answered that Question. I said the old Gendarmerie still remains in Canea, and is under the command of its own officers.

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Whether a censorship of telegrams has been established at Canea; and, if so, by whose authority it has been done?

No, Sir, we have heard of no such censorship.

I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether he is now prepared to make a statement of the policy of Her Majesty's Government on the affairs of Crete?

I have no statement to make to the House on the subject of the policy of the Government in regard to Crete supplementary to the facts which, I think, they already know. We have this day directed a communication to all the Powers of Europe, and, of course, it would be impossible and improper, and not to the public interest, that I should either state the terms of the communication or encourage its being debated.

I beg to ask the Home Secretary a Question which gravely concerns the administration of justice in cases arising out of the Employers' Liability Act, viz., whether his attention has been called to a case which occurred in the Bury County Court yesterday, and reported in the Manchester papers of this morning, where it was stated (1) that on February 8 last, a youth employed by the East Lancashire Paper Mill Company, in the town of Radcliffe, had been awarded £108 damages in the Bury County Court for the loss of a hand; and (2) that the three men, servants of the company who gave evidence on subpœna on behalf of the plaintiff had all, within three weeks after the trial, been summarily dismissed from the company's service, without cause assigned, although one of them had worked for the company over 20 years, and another over 12 years; and (3) that no other servant of the company was so dismissed at the time except one—a girl of 15, a sister of the plaintiff and whether, in an amended Employers' Liability Bill, the right hon. Gentleman could introduce a clause protecting workmen, by indemnity or otherwise, who are called upon to give evidence in a Court of law in questions arising between employers and employed? [Cheers.]

My attention had not previously been called to this case. If the facts are correctly stated in the documents which the hon. Member has shown me, a great injustice seems to have been done—[cheers]— and I will make inquiries into the circumstances. It is, however, very doubtful, I am afraid, whether I shall have power to take any action in the matter. As the hon. and gallant Member is, no doubt, aware, the protection of the Witnesses' Protection Act does not extend to witnesses in Courts of law.

rose in his place, and asked leave to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent public importance, namely,

"the Order of the War Office for the disbandment of the 5th Volunteer Battalion—the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)—with headquarters at Airdrie, and the refusal of the War Office either to recall that Order or to grant an inquiry into the whole circumstances."

asked whether it was the pleasure of the House that leave be given. [Opposition cries of "Yes" and Ministerial "No."]

called on those Members who supported the Motion to rise in their places, and not less than 40 Members having accordingly risen,

said that before entering upon the recent events in connection with the very extreme, and what he might call peremptory step of disbanding and thus disgracing a battalion of between 700 and 800 volunteers, he would give a brief review of the history of the Battalion. The Volunteer movement, which in the year 1859 aroused so much enthusiasm throughout this country, was joined in enthusiastically at Airdrie and the district around, and four Companies were formed, and a fifth Company was raised in 1861. These five Companies in 1862 became the 4th Adminstrative Battalion, with Airdrie as its headquarters and Sir William Hozier its first commanding officer. The Battalion continued to increase under that title till 1873, when, with 12 Companies on the strength, the title became the 29th L. R. V. The 12 Companies were reduced to eight in 1877, and at tins number they had continued since the Right Hon. the Earl of Home was appointed Hon. Colonel in 1866. The Battalion had the honour to attend the following:—Royal Review by Her Majesty the Queen in 1860 and in 1881; and sham fights at Polloch in 1861, Capellie in 1864–5–7, and Edinburgh in 1868; all the Brigade drills at Hamilton; regimental camp at Plains, 1888, Brigade Camp at Gailes, 1891 and 1893. The 5th V. B. Scottish Rifles had on these occasions generally the largest per centage on parade of the battalions present, and at the Brigade drills at Hamilton the Inspecting Officer specially noted that the 5th had actually, though one of the smallest battalions, the largest turn out at the Royal Review at Edinburgh in 1881. The Battalion was complimented by H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge on their dress and physique. The Battalion had always earned and been paid the capitation grants, and as an instance of that he gave the total sum earned and paid during the 12 years ending 1895, and amounting in all to £20,268, or an average of £1,689 per annum. The number of efficients returned in 12 years amounted to 9,258, or an average of 771 per annum; and of proficients 797, or an average of 66 per annum. In fact the Battalion had, throughout that long period of almost 40 years, had a first-rate record, and it was only within the last two years that any friction had taken place or any fault found. This was admitted by the Adjutant-General on January 7th 1895. What was the reason of this astounding charge of front? First there was the question of ammunition. As in the case of almost all Volunteer corps, there was in connection with the 5th Vol. Battn. of the Scottish Rifles an association for rifle practice, composed entirely of members of the regiment, and established solely for the purpose of encouraging rifle shooting. Its office bearers were the officers of the regiment. The practice had been for members to obtain ammunition at a certain fixed rate to enable men to get all the practice they desired, and as many as 20,000 rounds were annually purchased in addition to the amount allowed by the Government for class firing. So long as the class firing ammunition lasted this was given to the men, and the money obtained for that was applied to the purchase of the other ammunition required. This system was not by any means confined to the Battalion, but was well known to exist in very many other battalions where attention was paid to shooting. Up to the advent of Captain Blewitt no complaint had ever been made as to the manner in which the ammunition was used. Then, however, the Sergeant Instructor, acting under his advice, refused to give out ammunition except for class firing. The result of this action was that correspondence took place between the commanding officer and the War Office authorities, ending in Captain Blewitt being withdrawn and returning to his regiment. It was thought that matters would now go on more smoothly, but intimation was sent by the War Office that Colonel Forrest, the commanding officer, should send in his resignation. He did resign, although he had been an officer universally respected, who had served from 1878 to 1887, and 1893 to 1896. The officers being asked to nominate another commanding officer made the mistake of nominating Colonel Forrest again. That, however, he thought was a pardonable mistake, because Colonel Forrest had been a much esteemed officer, and it might well have been overlooked by the War Office. The War Office insisted upon the appointment being immediately filled up. The officer next in command did his best to get a man not only of capability but of means, but failed. The reason was the sympathy that all the officers in the district had in Colonel Forrest. Major Black was nominated on the 19th October 1896, unanimously, but up to the present time that nomination had not been confirmed by the War Office, although he understood no fault had been found with Major Black, and he had even been told that in the event of the Volunteer corps being reorganised Major Black would be again appointed. The Adjutant General, he understood, founded his reasons for not appointing Major Black more especially on a letter which was written by him on the 15th February last, in which the latter said that he could not in the meantime nominate anyone who could adequately fill the position rendered vacant by the resignation of Colonel Forrest. It had been said by the Under Secretary to the War Office that there were other circumstances which had come to light, ranging over two years, which pointed to a lack of discipline and efficiency in the corps. The War Office unfortunately did not allow its Reports to be made public, but he had seen some of them, and he had not seen anything in those Reports warranting such an extreme step as the disbandment of a battalion of seven or eight hundred men. The War Office said that the Battalion was in a bad state of discipline, badly turned out, and unsteady on parade, that the majority of the officers took little or no interest in their duties, and were unfit for their position. That was a very remarkable change in two years—all since that Adjutant came into the field. It would appear that the inspecting officer, Colonel Lynch, said one thing to the officers and another thing to the War Office. In his Report of the last inspection on the 20th June 1896, he said that "summing up, he would be very glad to report favourably on this inspection," and yet he reported to the War Office that the Battalion was unsteady, and the officers ignorant of drill and duty. The hon. Member then quoted passages from the Inspecting Officer's speech at the inspection. Was there any reason, he asked, why such a slur and disgrace should be perpetrated on 700 or 800 respectable working men in this the 60th year of Her Majesty's reign. He assured the House great indignation had been aroused throughout Lanarkshire by this affair. A great meeting was held at Airdrie the other night, and the Provost, the magistrates, and Town Council, and over 1,000 people were present, when there was universal sympathy expressed with the officers and men of the Battalion. The War Office, no doubt, was paramount in matters of discipline, but what he asked was whether Parliament was going to homologate the action of the War Office in issuing a peremptory order for the disbandment of this regiment without reason given. The fatal step was to come into force upon the 1st of April—[laughter]—a very appropriate day for such a foolish step on the part of the Government. He would ask the Under Secretary for War whether it was too late to withdraw the Order, or, if it was, whether he would not see that an inquiry should be held into the whole circumstances of the case. He begged to move the Motion.

Will the hon. Member give me the date of the Order which he mentions?

I will, Sir.

seconded the motion. What the regiment desired was, that Parliament should see that, ere they were so ignominiously dismissed, after having maintained an honourable career as a regiment for so many years, they should have that meed of justice accorded to them that the humblest private in the Army had a right to claim. They asked a public inquiry into the charges brought against them; and, as they were prepared to refute those charges, he could not conceive that the House would deal unfairly with a Volunteer regiment of forty years' honourable standing. He did not approach the question in any Party spirit, but it seemed to him that the Government could not take any step more damaging to their popularity in Lanarkshire than that of permitting a regiment of 700 or 800 men to be arbitrarily dismissed without a full and complete inquiry into the charges brought against them. It ought to be remembered that, up till two years ago, this regiment had repeatedly excellent reports; but immediately on the occurrence of a private dispute between the then colonel of the regiment, Colonel Forrest—who for more than 30 years had done honour to the Volunteer service and was an enthusiastic supporter of the present Government—and the Adjutant, Colonel Forrest was called upon to resign; but so slight were the grounds upon which the War Office conceived it their duty to call upon him to resign, that he was allowed to retain his uniform. Colonel Forrest also seemed to have incurred the wrath of the inspecting officer, Colonel Lynch, and so he had not only to suffer himself, but the regiment had been called upon to share in the affront. The other senior officer who ought to have been called upon to fill the place of Colonel Forrest was a man of excellent character, of good social position, in every respect an officer and a gentleman who would do credit to any Volunteer battalion; but his appoint- ment was refused by the War Office, and thus a further affront was, as we believe, done to the regiment as a whole. He was not there to say that the regiment was free from imperfections, or deserving of a character for excellent discipline, but as citizen soldiery they would compare favourably with any other Volunteer battalion, not only in Lanarkshire, but in Scotland. The question for the House was, whether Her Majesty's Government was so completely in the hands of one of the Departments of State that, notwithstanding the enormous majority they enjoyed in this House, they were powerless to resist the red tape and the permanent officialism of the War Office, who could condemn, without public trial, 800 men, and so put a lasting stigma upon those men and upon the district from which they came. The four parishes from which the regiment was recruited formed a very considerable portion of what might be called the black country of Scotland, and they did not feel that they were the least important of the industrial centres of the Empire. If they were to be so dealt with, there was no guarantee for any other part of the country; and in that way a great blow might be dealt at Volunteering in Scotland, and also south of the Border. He hoped the House, with its usual desire for fair play, would give to this regiment what the War Office could not refuse to the youngest drummer-boy in the Army—that was, a full inquiry, by which the men and officers would stand or fall.

said he could not help feeling some regret that his hon. Friend had thought it necessary to bring this matter before the House. Any man speaking from that Bench must be reluctant to refer to any Volunteer corps in terms other than those of praise. It had been his good fortune to express on several occasions in this House the high opinion which the Military authorities entertained of the Volunteer forces of the country. ["Hear, hear!"] But this case was one which, in the opinion of the Department, was a crushing case for the disbandment of the Volunteer corps concerned; and if it became his duty to use expressions reflecting on that corps the blame must rest, not on the War Office, who were undesirous to say anything reflecting on individuals, but on his hon. Friend who thought it necessary to bring the matter before the House. ["Hear, hear!"] On the other hand, although he was most reluctant to go into the subject, he should confess he was not sorry to have the opportunity of brushing away some misapprehensions and some misstatements which had accompanied the disbandment of this corps. His hon. Friend had circulated privately amongst some Members of the House a statement on behalf of the corps, which was full of such mistakes. The hon. Member's general case was, that here was a corps which had been in existence for nearly 40 years, which had been carried on with satisfaction to all concerned up to the last inspection, as to which the capitation grant had been fully earned, and which, the hon. Gentleman insinuated, was now the victim of a sort of conspiracy between the inspecting officer, Colonel Lynch, and the War Office. With regard to Colonel Lynch, he should say at the outset that the whole of the somewhat amusing speech which the hon. Member had read to the House and attributed to that officer was repudiated in every respect by Colonel Lynch himself, and was in variance with every account Colonel Lynch had laid before the War Office. Colonel Lynch's account of the matter was this—that, having the unpleasant task of informing this Battalion that it was inefficient and quite unfit to take its position on parade, he did not wish to censure the officers before the men, and so he called them aside to a corner of the parade ground, where he believed there was not a single reporter present, and there informed them of his opinion of the battalion. His hon. Friend read a report which appeared to have been furnished from notes taken at the time, but which were amplified afterwards according to the writer's own desires. It contained such statements as that the rifles, with the exception of one, were found clean. If Colonel Lynch were examined he would say that his remarks had been more in the direction of stating that, with one exception, the rifles were not clean. [Laughter.] Then, as to the salutes, it was said that Colonel Lynch had described how salutes should be done, and that he had stated it was a simple matter that required practice. Colonel Lynch reported that he could not remember his exact words, but he told the officers that if they only went before a looking-glass and saw the antics they performed in saluting they would never attempt to salute again. [Renewed laughter.] The following was the statement furnished by Colonel Lynch in reference to the report of his speech given in the Airdrie paper:—

"Naval and Military Club, March 8, 1897.

"Sir,—I have the honour to report for your information that my opinion of the 5th Volunteer Battalion Scottish Rifles, on parade at my inspection on June 20, 1896, was, that the Battalion was unsteady, and the men's accoutrements and arms were dirty, and the officers ignorant of drill and duty.

"I fell out the officers at a distance from the men in order that the men should not hear the censure I felt bound to express.

"The report of my remarks, as published in the papers, is very incorrect, as it conveys the impression that I was satisfied with the Battalion, when my remarks were exactly in the opposite sense. I took steps to avoid the attendance of any reporters, and to the best of my belief none were present. I stated that there was an improvement in one or two companies, but as regards the whole Battalion my remarks conveyed censure and not praise.

"I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,

"Alfred Lynch, Colonel, 26–71 Regimental District.

"To the Inspector General of Auxiliary Forces, War Office."

He did not deny for a moment that the early history of the corps was very favourable. When it was commanded by the father of his hon. Friend the Member for South Lanark it had a very high reputation. But this was one of the cases in which the character of the residents of a district had a great deal changed. It was now a mining centre, and the men had changed.

I beg your pardon; it is less a mining centre than it used to be.

said that, at all events, the class of men, and the class also from whom officers could be drawn, had greatly changed. The men were, to a large extent, miners. Their physique was good; but they had neither the time nor the discipline, nor apparently the desire, for Volunteering. This was shown to some extent from the Adjutant's inspection. For the purposes of that inspection the Adjutant went round to the companies to see how they were drilled. Two successive Adjutants found great difficulty in that respect in regard to the present corps. The Adjutant informed the War Office that he gave 14 days' notice of his intention to inspect on parade, and yet it frequently happened that no officer was present, and that of the men only enough were brought together to form a squad, not a company, and that squad had to stand for company drill. It was hard to penalise those who attended because of those who did not come, but these small drills were insufficient to enable the men to learn their full drill, although they counted towards efficiency. The consequence was, that when the battalion came to inspection it was found unfit for battalion movement. In 1895 the inspection report of Colonel Lynch was:—

"The men of this Battalion are of good physique. They were very badly turned out on parade, dirty, unsteady, and wanting in discipline; their accoutrements were badly put on, and very dirty. Last year I reported the commanding officer as very good; since last inspection various matters have come under my notice causing me to change my opinion. I consider him quite unfit to command a battalion. The arms of this Battalion I do not consider to be in good order."

In 1896 Colonel Lynch reported:—

"The men of this Battalion are of good physique but very badly turned out on parade, dirty and unsteady; the majority of company officers take little or no interest in their companies. The arms of the Battalion are not in good order, being very dirty. I called upon the adjutant for a report on the different companies, which I enclose."

That report of the Adjutant showed that throughout the whole year the sole object aimed at was to get a sufficient number of men to attend the minimum number of drills necessary to earn the capitation grant. The difficulty of the War Office was this—that the men of the Battalion did not know their drill, and did not care to learn it; and to maintain a battalion in that condition would only be possible, with a hope of amendment, if there were good officers. Unfortunately the officers were the weakest part of the whole business. There was no colonel at present, and there had not been for 15 months. The last colonel was, unfortunately, connected with serious irregularities in regard to ammunition. Ammunition was issued free by the War Office on condition that it was not sold by the corps. It turned out that in the year in which the irregularity was discovered by the Adjutant the late colonel had sold on behalf of the corps 18,000 rounds to a rifle club. The club, no doubt, contained some of the richer members of the battalion, to the exclusion of the poorer, who ought to have shared equally in the distribution of the ammunition. [Cheers.] But what was worse, after doing this for two years, the colonel had no hesitation in signing the ordinary War Office form stating that none of the free ammunition had been sold. [Laughter.]

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that that is quite a common practice? [Laughter.]

said that he certainly knew nothing of the sort. [Cheers.] A variety of very intemperate letters were written by Colonel Forrest, and especially in connection with the inspection of 1895, when he wrote to a Member of the House of Commons asking him to put questions about the inspection. Yet, in the circular which had been sent round, there was the statement that a private letter had been made known to the War Office. They were asked why the second in command, Major Black, had not been appointed Colonel. It took Major Black a good many months to decide that he would take over the regiment if he were asked. He knew perfectly well, what was notorious to every one in the district, that a very strong officer was required to make anything of the regiment, and Major Black, however otherwise meritorious, was not pronounced to be equal to the post. As to the other officers, some of them did their duty; but the majority of them had no conception of their duty. Three of these officers—two being in command of companies—were publicans, who had public houses in the very towns or villages where the companies were raised.

said that the officers were hotel-keepers. [Laughter.]

said that his hon. Friend seemed to think that a man who kept an hotel at which a large number of the privates in his company were habitual customers was a proper person to command that company on parade. These officers were not only publicans, but they took turns to supply liquors on the ranges when shooting was going on. [Laughter.] Moreover, their reputations on parade were unfortunately not equal to their reputations as successful hotel-keepers. [Laughter.] They were very indifferent in drill. One of them failed to pass a very moderate examination for his present position; and having been given a second opportunity of passing, this officer telegraphed at the last moment before the last inspection to say that he was detained by urgent private affairs. [Laughter.] That accounted for three of the officers. The next who commanded a company was a plumber, who did work on payment in connection with the range, and his bills were paid by the corps. He had been noticed by the Adjutant because of his familiarity with the men on parade. He called non-commissioned officers by their Christian names. [Laughter.] The next officer was an architect, whose name appeared in the accounts of the corps in connection with the payment for a pavilion which he designed for the range. [Laughter.] This officer was not good at drill. The captain of the next company was most indifferent to drill. His company was reported to be one of the worst. The commanding officer was asked to get rid of him, but declined on the ground that he provided entertainments for the men. [Laughter.] That officer was detained by urgent private affairs from the last inspection. [Laughter.] The next company was without a captain, and the lieutenant was pronounced incompetent for the duty. The next company was commanded by a captain of three years' service. When the Adjutant inspected this company at various times during the year the captain never found it convenient to be present. The company was wretchedly turned out. When the captain was called out to drill, the inspecting officer said to him, "There is the battalion. Manœuvre them any way you please. Give any word of command you like." The captain replied, "I cannot do it, Sir, for I know no words of command." [Laughter.] The lieutenant of the company was not able to rescue his captain on that occasion, because he had taken leave for the whole year. [Laughter.] The position, then, was this. The regiment had no colonel, and could not get one. The War Office had done its best, but no one would take the corps Neither the men nor the officers knew their drill. The great majority of the officers avoided the Adjutant's inspection. When they could, they got leave. When the Colonel took the officers round the ranks at the last inspection, he pointed out the dirt and rust on the accoutrements, and asked the officers whether they saw anything amiss. They said that they did not. [Laughter.] The Colonel stopped at one man who had come to parade with slippers on. [Laughter.] He asked the officer in command whether he saw anything remarkable about that man. The officer said that he saw nothing remarkable. [Laughter.] In some cases the officers called the men by their Christian names on parade, and in other cases the men called the officers by their Christian names on parade. [Laughter.] At the 1895 inspection, when the men marched off, presumably under the control of their officers, they amused themselves, according to a newspaper report, by firing blank cartridges as they went through the streets at the passers-by. [Laughter.] When they got into the train they signalised their arrival at each station by similar discharges. [Laughter.] With all these facts before the War Office—[cheers]—every chance of reinstating the regiment was tried. First the Adjutant was changed, because the Colonel could not get on with him. But the new Adjutant found that he could do nothing with the regiment. For 15 months there was no colonel; and in the last resort the War Office tried to get some of the neighbouring battalions to take over some of the companies. But none of them would have anything to do with the companies. [Laughter.] The War Office was now asked for an inquiry in this case, which had been gone into by the Colonel commanding the regimental district—a man of proved honour, absolute integrity, and implicitly to be trusted in his military Report. It had also been inquired into by the General Officer commanding in Scotland, whose Report was,

"I consider it absolutely necessary, in the interests of the Volunteer Forces in Scotland, that this battalion should be disbanded."

It was also gone into by the Inspector General of Auxiliary Forces, Sir Francis Grenfell, who visited the headquarters; and it had been carefully considered by the Adjutant General and the Com- mander-in-Chief; and Lord Lansdowne was now asked to start an inquiry as to whether all these officers, in the discharge of their responsibilities, were fit to decide on this question. The War Office, through the Government, had not hesitated to come to Parliament to ask for large additional sums for the Volunteers. They had done so in confidence that they would be voted cheerfully; but there had been one sentiment in the whole House of Commons on this matter, and that was that in giving larger sums to place the Volunteers on a better footing in regard to mobilisation, they should ask rather for more than for less efficiency. [Cheers.] It was a grave responsibility to come before the House to ask for a capitation grant or other payments for a corps which all their military advisers declared to be inefficient. But there was a point far graver than that, and that was to ask the War Office to keep on its legs, and, therefore, to keep ready for mobilisation, and to mobilise with excellent Volunteer battalions, which were to be found in that part of the country, a battalion which did not know its drill and whose officers could not give the word of command, and which, therefore, could not fulfil its functions in line with other battalions. [Cheers.] From that point of view he should like to reverse the Motion submitted by his hon. Friend, and to ask the House to declare that in disbanding this Volunteer corps it would be taking care that an injury and an injustice were not done to the whole Volunteer force in Scotland. [Cheers.]

wished to say a word for the men of this corps apart from the officers. The Under Secretary had read reports of the conduct of the corps during the inspection of 1895. On that occasion the men stood two hours in a perfect downpour of rain. They had their overcoats strapped on their backs, and were not allowed to put them on—[laughter]—and they naturally asked, "Why are overcoats sent out at all." It was true some blank cartridge was fired at a few wayside stations, but it was because of the state of feeling which had been aroused among the men. ["Oh!"] It had been said that an Englishman would turn if trampled on, and so would a Scotchman. And, with regard to the officers he would point out that some of them had been officers in the regiment for 20 years, one of them, he believed, for even a longer period. If they were so very regardless of order and discipline, why had they been allowed to continue so long? ["Hear, hear!"] Why had the question never come up till now—till friction arose between the adjutant and the commanding officer, and then between the inspecting officer and the commanding officer? An allegation had been made against one of the officers, a plumber, for running up an account against the regiment. Now this officer erected the targets at the request of all the rest of his brother officers, because it was cheaper for the corps. The officer in question simply charged his men's working time, whereas other employers required something more. He had no hesitation in saying that so far as that particular officer was concerned there could be no stigma cast upon his integrity. Among the men of the corps a very strong feeling had been aroused because there was no fault alleged against them. The question, however, after all was not the petty squabble between Colonel Lynch and Colonel Forrest, but what was now to be done with this fine body of 800 men? [Laughter.] Yes, a fine body of 800 men. They could not be surpassed in any Volunteer regiment in Great Britain. He submitted that the House could not be too cautious about taking any steps which might discourage men from joining the Volunteer movement, and, in any case, if there was any fault calling for such a drastic measur as was threatened by the War Office, it should be preceded by some form of inquiry in which the public would have confidence.

asked, as a point of order, whether this Amendment would preclude that of the hon. Member for East Somerset from being moved? The Amendment was to the effect that "in the case of any association the Department, in view of the special circumstances of the schools of that association, or the majority of them," ——might "fix a different rate for that association."

said it would preclude the hon. Member from raising the same question again.

said he could not support the Amendment of the hon. Member for East Mayo, because, in their Amendments to the Bill, he and his hon. Friends took exactly the opposite view, which was that all schools ought to be treated alike. But the hon. Member for East Mayo went beyond the principle of the Bill. The associations were really not advisory boards; they were initiatory boards for the purpose of distinguishing between one school and another. The hon. Member, however, wished to distinguish, not merely between one school and another, but between one association and another. His Amendment would enable the Education Department and the associations to give a larger proportion of this grant to one district, or to one diocese, rather than to another. Districts where the voluntary subscriptions were particularly low would be benefited at the expense of districts where voluntary subscriptions happened to be high. Take the case of London and Manchester. In London the subscriptions were above the average; but in Lancashire, the home of the Voluntary Schools, the voluntary subscriptions did not amount to one-third of the average throughout the country. The result of the Amendment would be that the Catholic or Anglican Voluntary Schools in London would be deprived of a fair proportion of the money which now must be allocated to them under the Bill for the purpose of making up the deficiency created by the neglect or failure of the subscribers in Lancashire to do their duty towards their schools. The Amendment was also unfair as between one denomination and another. How, for instance would it affect Wesleyan schools? The Roman Catholics would bring pressure to bear upon the Education Department. They would point to those schools as supported by rich churches, and attended by the children of the middle classes, and would say that their friends could afford to keep them up. On the other hand they would point to the poor population who supported Catholic schools, and would therefore insist, if these words were imported into the Bill, that the Wesleyan Association should be deprived of its share for the purpose of making up the deficiency with the Roman Catholic Association. That was perfectly unfair. ["Hear, hear!"] The Bill as it stood was bad enough as between one parish and another, between one area and another; it was simply a reward to subscribers who had failed to do their duty. The hon. Member for Mayo proposed further to reward them, not merely by robbing another area, but by robbing another creed. They had too much inequality as between creeds; he did not think it ought to be perpetuated or aggravated. The whole Bill was tainted with unfairness as between denominations and creeds. This proposal simply aggravated and intensified it, and because it was unjust he objected to it.

thought the present Amendment was unacceptable because the effect would be to strike out all reference to what he might call the normal rate of aid, and to leave the Education Department without any guide whatever in the matter. Those who had been contending for the liberty of action of the Department would hesitate to go quite as far as that. It was clear that the Department must have some guide, and they must retain the reference to the standard of 5s. If they did that there were still three courses open to them. They might fix that rate as the universal rate, and there was a good deal to be said for that course, which would remove great difficulties in the way of the Education Department, and give to a school joining an association a sense of assurance that it would at once have a right to the standard rate of aid. But he gathered that it was the view of the Government that there should be some power of discrimination in the Education Department so as to fit their administration to the needs of the different parts of the country. They, however, proposed only to give a very limited power of discrimination—namely, between town and country. Such a rule must work unfairly as between different parts of the country. It was quite true that many town schools were more expensive than country schools, but, on the other hand, it was equally true that many small country schools required a larger amount of money to work them properly than would be required for the education of the same number of children in a more crowded area. That principle had been already recognised in the existing Code. It would not be fair, for instance, to fix the same rate of aid for an association in the wealthier part of the West End of London and for one in the poorer parts of the East End. Nor would it be at all equitable to give the same rate to schools in the poor country districts of Cumberland and Wales and to the wealthy districts of Surrey. He therefore put forward the view which he had embodied in his Amendment—that, if there was to be discrimination at all in the Education Department, it must be a much wider discrimination, and must turn on the special circumstances of the different associations in the different localities. If the Government said it was impossible to carry out such a form of discrimination, they would be driven, in argument at all events, to have no discrimination at all. It would be difficult to maintain that the towns had such a superior claim to aid that it would be fair and equitable to fix different rates for them as against the country. He suggested to the Committee that, if they wanted to avoid the difficulty of discrimination, they should not give the Department power to distinguish between different associations, but should allow the discrimination to take place within the somewhat narrow confines of the associations themselves.

said he gathered his hon. Friend's view to be that there ought to be no discrimination exercised by the Department as between association and association.

said he had embodied his views in an Amendment on the Paper giving wide power of discrimination; but he said that, if the Department could not carry out such a power, they would be driven to have no discrimination at all.

observed that, in his judgment, it would not be proper or possible to give the Education Department the discrimination proposed either in the Amendment under discussion or in the much better, but still unacceptable, Amendment standing in the name of his hon. Friend. The responsibility of requiring the Education Department to distinguish between the needs of associations in bulk was so onerous, the pressure put upon them would be of so formidable a kind, that he did not think it would be fair to subject them or any other Government Department to the sort of influences with which they would have to deal. Therefore, though he thought there might be some automatic discrimination as between association and association on the lines suggested at the end of paragraph (b), he did not think any further form of discrimination ought to be entertained.

said he could not understand the view adopted by the First Lord of the Treasury. Throughout the discussions the right hon. Gentleman had maintained the advantage of being vague; but here was an occasion when the right hon. Gentleman was precise when he ought to have been vague. The Leader of the House had argued that relief should be varied according to the needs of the schools. If he would take as the unit for relief not the school, but the association, every argument which he had used was applicable to the Amendment. Why should not the association instead of the school be the unit? The right hon. Gentleman maintained that it was impossible to give greater relief to the more necessitous associations than to the less necessitous schools. This was not a question affecting the Catholic schools, but it would affect all the Voluntary Schools in the Division of Monmouthshire which he represented. There were there no less than 60 small Voluntary Schools, and all required special relief when compared with the Voluntary Schools of a larger character, but under the Bill as it stood they would be restricted to the 5s. grant. It had been suggested by the hon. Member for East Somerset that it would be difficult to carry out the terms of this Amendment. Under Sub-clause 4 the share was to be allotted to each association, and was to be distributed by the Education Department according to a scheme laid down by that association. If the Amendment of the hon. Member for East Mayo were carried the association would still present to the Education Department a scheme under which the money was to be distributed, but they would not have as a right a claim to the total amount to be given to the association in accordance with the scheme. There might be an excess or a diminished amount allotted, and the only thing that would happen would be that the particular amount allotted to each school would be raised or diminished in proportion to the total amount allotted by the Education Department to the particular association. There was absolutely no difficulty in practice in making the discrimination between the associations.

said the word "necessitous" was very vague, and there was great danger of apathetic managers being rewarded under the provisions of this Bill, and therefore this money should be divided among the associations as fairly as possible. In Northumberland and Durham they were in a somewhat different position from that of any other portion of the United Kingdom. There about 606 Voluntary Schools, and 27 per cent. of them were schools in which no dogma whatever was taught. These were schools other than Church of England and Roman Catholic schools. Now whether there was any ground for this belief or not, it certainly existed in the North of England, namely, that the Government were proposing to give this aid grant to Voluntary Schools, not so much for the promotion of the efficiency of education as to endow religion. That being so, it was only natural that the managers of the Voluntary Schools he was alluding to—the 160 schools where no dogma was taught—anticipated that they were likely to receive a very little share of this aid grant, although many of these schools were very necessitous. On that ground he felt that he would be obliged to vote against this Amendment. There ought to be, he thought also, no increased latitude given to the Education Department with regard to the distribution of this grant. The Committee had arranged that Parliament should not control the Education Department with regard to its discretion in the spending of this money, and therefore that was another ground why they should not extend to the Education Department further elasticity and power in regard to the distribution of the grant. ["Hear, hear!"]

confessed to feeling a good deal of sympathy with Mr. Dillon's Amendment, although he should have preferred that in the name of the hon. Member for East Somerset (Mr. Hobhouse) which put matter a little more definitely. The hon. Member's proposal was that the general rule should be that associations should receive a 5s. grant all round, but that certain exceptions should be permitted in the discretion of the Education Department. The Amendment they were discussing left the whole thing entirely open, and laid down no formal rule at all. Still a good deal might be said for it. As they were giving this money, it ought to go to the most deserving schools, and the schools that would be most likely to benefit if the Amendment were carried would be those of the smaller Nonconformist bodies and of the Roman Catholics. He had a good deal of sympathy with both of these classes. In the first place, unlike some other schools, both rested upon the support of the small subscriber. They were not schools run by a wealthy person, or by a few wealthy persons. Nobody could say of them—"This is my school." Nobody could manage them or control the teachers in them, as was done where schools were practically owned by a few individuals or by one. In the next place, the schools the smaller Nonconformist bodies virtually served in the districts where they existed as Board Schools. That was to say that in many districts where there was no School Board or Board School these schools served the needs of all the Nonconformist population, as they taught no definite dogma, and were very open and liberal in their organisation. Then, as to the Catholic schools, the money was found, in almost all cases, with much difficulty, and they served a need which all recognised. Judged by the real test as to whether a Voluntary School was demanded by the people—the test as to whether the people using it were willing to subscribe to maintain it—it would be found in every case that the Catholic schools were needed. He believed they would exist in almost every case if no grant whatsoever were given, and they had to be supported entirely by voluntary subscriptions. ["Hear, hear!"] Therefore, both because they rested on a popular basis and because they served a really important public need, these two classes of schools deserved their sympathy, and he hoped a certain amount of favour would be extended to them by the Bill. The Leader of the House, while opposing the Amendment, had pointed to paragraph (b) of Clause 1, and he appeared to indicate that the money which might be available under it—

said he desired to explain that he had inadvertently referred to Sub-section (b)—"a corresponding share" to be allotted to associations "of any sum which may be available out of the aid grant after distribution has been made to unassociated schools"—whereas he had meant to refer to the last part of paragraph (a).

accepted the correction, but said the remarks of the right hon. Gentleman were so extremely relevant to paragraph (b) that he would ask a question in regard to it. In paragraph (b) it was provided that the money which was not allotted to schools on the ground that they did not associate where they ought to have associated, should be at the disposal of the Education Department for further distribution after the 5s. grant. He did not observe in that paragraph any restriction to the particular association from which the money might be derived. In paragraph (a), on the other hand, it was stated definitely that the money should be distributed within that association. It therefore seemed as if what might be called the fine-money under paragraph (b) would be available for distribution among the other associations. That, no doubt, would make the fine very much more bitter and much more effective, and he asked the First Lord to state whether it would be possible to distribute the money so available to necessitous associations other than the associations from which the fines were collected.

said this proposal had been repudiated on behalf of the English Catholics by the noble Lord opposite and by the hon. Member for Donegal, E., and under these circumstances he saw no reason for a variation from the principle proposed by the Government. The Wesleyans had carefully thought out the matter and come to the conclusion that there was no other rational and equitable means of dealing with the question than an equal division all round of the 5s. aid grant to every child.

, who was received with Ministerial cries of "Divide!" thought that if they could not give on the merits of the individual school, they should give on the merits of the association. Therefore, he should support the Amendment. No doubt money might be taken away from Protestant schools and given to Catholic schools, but they were unable to discriminate, and if money were taken away from Nonconformist schools he would rather give it to the Catholics than to the so-called Church of England, whose doctrines were undistinguishable from those of the other.

moved, in paragraph (a) Sub-section (3) to leave out the word "five" and to insert the word "four." He said he recollected that the Committee had already decided that there should be a grant of 5s. per scholar, but the present sub-section dealt with the allotment of the money to the associations, and he thought that before the Committee decided to allot the sum of 5s. per scholar they ought to have some explanation of the necessity for this allotment at all. The distribution was to be made by the Education Department under the advice of the associations, and he failed to see what was the object of this proposed allotment. So far as he could see, there was no reason why any association under the Bill should have any kind of vested right or interest in the money voted. If only 4s., or about £480,000 were allotted, one-fifth of the money, or about £120,000, would be left in the hands of the Education Department for them to distribute themselves, in the words of the Bill, "in such manner and in such areas as they approve." The result of the adoption of his Amendment would be that the associations would have an absolute right to four-fifths of the money, and there would remain to the Education Department one-fifth, as to the distribution of which the Department would have some kind of discretion. The ultimate destination of the money would be the same.

said he could hardly believe that the hon. Gentleman was serious in moving the Amendment. The House had determined by large majorities that the grant was to be 5s. To leave to the discretion of the Education Department the distri- bution of one-fifth of the money would compel them to go through each one of the Voluntary Schools in the country in precisely the manner which the whole scheme of associations was designed to meet.

What is the meaning of allotment?

said that the associations were not to have the power of distributing the money. They were to have allotted to them a fixed sum for the purpose of recommendation.

supported the Amendment. He believed that once a scheme had been formulated it would remain unchanged, and so the associations would be able, practically, to carry out their own policy. It was very desirable that the Education Department should have the hold on the associations which the power of the purse would confer.

asked leave to withdraw his Amendment.

called on

, who rose to move in paragraph (a) Sub-section (3) to leave out from the word "scholar" to the end of the paragraph.

—in whose name an Amendment stood on the Paper, before that in Mr. Roberts's name, namely, to leave out the words "five shillings per scholar," and to insert the words "the sum per scholar contributed by voluntary subscriptions in each year"—asked whether he could not proceed?

said he rather thought that the question raised by the Amendment had practically been already decided by the Committee.

considered that the Amendment could not be in order because, if carried, it might have the effect of increasing the amount of the grant agreed upon.

said that the objection taken by the hon. Member for west Ham was fatal to the Amendment.

moved his Amendment. He wished to recall to hon. Members' minds the intention, of the Government as to the use to be made of the provision referred to in the words which he proposed to strike out of the Bill. The Leader of the House, when introducing the Measure, said, "It is manifest that the educational needs of urban districts and the expense of satisfying them must, on the whole, be greater than the corresponding needs in rural societies." The right hon. Gentleman proceeded to say that each association was to receive an amount of money corresponding to the average attendance in the schools, subject only to the condition that if there should be many urban schools in the district they might get more than 5s. The object of that reservation was to enable the Education Department, at the suggestion of associations, to increase the amount of the contributions to Voluntary Schools in towns, and to decrease the amount of the contribution to Voluntary Schools in the country. He objected to giving this power to the Education Department, a power which was to be exercised upon the representatives of irresponsible and non-representative associations. It would be said that the Department knew the educational needs of the country, and to that proposition he assented to a certain extent. While, however, the Department might be perfectly qualified to discriminate between the educational needs of different schools and of different associations, it was not similarly qualified, and ought not to be empowered to fix one rate of contribution for towns and another rate for country districts. The provision in the Bill was unjust to schools in the country. In the speech to which he had already referred, the First Lord of the Treasury stated that the cost of elementary education in towns was greater than in the country, and that ratepayers in towns were more oppressed with taxes than ratepayers in the country. That, he might observe in passing, was a strange commentary upon the policy of the Government in passing the Rating Act of last year. But they ought to ask themselves not only whether too much, money was spent in education in towns, having regard to the burdens upon the ratepayers, but also, whether the schools in the country had enough money to enable them to satisfy the educational needs of the districts in which they were. Which class of schools then—the rural schools or the urban schools—deserved to receive the larger amount under this Bill? It was notorious that many of the rural schools were in a very unsatisfactory condition; they were undermanned and ill-equipped. In London, the average amount of money spent upon each child, taking Board Schools and Voluntary Schools together, was £3 17s. 11d. In Cornwall the average was £1 17s. 5d., in Cambridgeshire£1 18s. 9d., and in Bedfordshire £1 18s. 11d. Cases of that kind showed what difference there was between towns and country districts. Then in London 70 per cent. of the teachers in Voluntary Schools were qualified adults, but in country districts the percentage was comparatively low. In Cambridgeshire, for example, only 25 per cent. of the teachers in Voluntary Schools were certificated adults, and in Cambridgeshire the ratio was only 17 per cent. These facts showed that if a larger contribution was to be given to any one class of schools it ought to be given, not to the town schools, but to the country schools. It might be urged that the ratepayers in towns had to make greater sacrifices in the cause of education then people residing in the country; he would ask those who were inclined to use that argument to consider the following cases. In Ashton-under-Lyne the subscribers to the Voluntary Schools provided only 1–17th of the whole cost of education in the town. In Bristol there was one Church school; it received a Parliamentary grant of £1,200, while its supporters contributed only £9 per annum. In Stockport the Parliamentary grant to Church schools was £2,858, and the voluntary contributions did not exceed £7 5s. It could hardly he maintained that town schools of that kind deserved better treatment than rural schools. He would point out also that the taxable capacity of towns was far greater than the taxable capacity of rural districts. The Income Tax Returns went some way to prove this. If they took the assessments under Schedule B., relating to agricultural land in a county, and compared them with the assessments under Schedule D. relating to rents and profits in towns, they would see that that was so. Take Lancashire, for example. In 1894–1895, the agricultural land assessed under Schedule B. only reached the value of £1,600,000, while the assessments under Schedule D. amounted to more than £40,000,000, or more than 20 times the assessed value of the land in the county. And yet, under this Bill, it would be possible for an urban school in Lancashire to receive a far higher rate of contribution than a school in a rural district. In the last place, he moved to omit these words because he thought the provision was unjust to the schools themselves. Under the provision as it stood, what would be the position of schools in the neighbourhood of large towns? In every group of associations there must be a large urban population, and in most of the associations the town population must dominate the county population. In other words, in most cases the rural schools must be under the control of the urban element in the association. Take the case of Liverpool. There were 63,000 children in average attendance in Voluntary Schools, and they would receive something like £15,000 under this Bill. It seemed to him that when the association was formed for Liverpool and neighbourhood, it was bound to take up a large number of rural schools in the neighbourhood of the town; but it was equally plain that the schools in the rural districts about Liverpool would be entirely at the feet of the urban schools and the managers of urban schools in the city of Liverpool itself. He would like to ask the right hon. Gentleman, would a rural school be obliged to join an association for whom a scheme was prepared; and if, having so joined, and having found out that the scheme suggested and approved by the Education Department provided for a higher rate to the town compared with the county schools, would that be considered a reasonable cause for the rural schools to be allowed to sever their connection with the associations? In the interests of efficient education in the rural schools, and in the interests of bare justice to the county schools, he begged to move the Amendment.

admitted the importance of the question raised by the Amendment. It had been argued, however, by the hon. Member that the Bill laid down that country schools were to be paid less than urban schools, or rather that the associations with a preponderating number of rural schools were to obtain less than the associations with a preponderating number of Urban schools. That was not in the Bill, and there was nothing to fetter the Education Department as to whether such a distinction should be drawn at all, or whether, if drawn, it should be in favour of the towns or the country. ["Hear, hear!"] At the same time he admitted the hon. Member had justification for arguing on the lines he did, because in the very first speech he himself delivered on the subject he had not concealed the fact that, in the judgment of the Education Department the needs of associations in Which there would be a preponderating number of urban schools were greater than the needs of association in Which there would be a preponderating number of rural schools. Therefore, in all probability, if discretion were left to the Department—as he trusted it would be—they would use that discretion to give to the preponderating urban association more in proportion to the number of scholars than they would give to the preponderating rural association. He would remind the Committee of what they were aware was constantly forgotten by outside critics—namely, that there was nothing in the Bill, or in any possible action of the Education Department under the Bill, to indicate that the rural school because it was a rural school, was to get less than the urban school because it was an urban school. On the contrary, he believed there was probably a larger proportion of rural schools which were either not in need of assistance or had less need of assistance than urban schools. He admitted there were a number of rural schools whose needs were as great as any they would find in the urban schools, and there was nothing in the Bill to require or suggest that, in cases of the kind, the needs of rural schools were not to be as amply satisfied by the associations as the amount of the resources of the associations would permit. ["Hear, hear!"] He would give the broad grounds—and he thought they were adequate—upon which the Department had come to the conclusion that the needs of the urban districts were greater than those of the rural districts. In the first place, strange as it might seem at first sight, the rate- able value in rural districts in proportion to the number of children was far greater than the rateable value in proportion to the number of children in the urban districts, taking the country as a whole. That was not a fact by itself conclusive, but it had its significance, which ought not to be left out of account by anybody dealing with this question. In the second place, it was manifest that there were expenses thrown upon urban schools which must be in excess of the corresponding expenses thrown upon rural schools. As a striking instance of that, he might mention the necessary cost of teachers' residences in the towns as compared with teachers' residences in the country. ["Hear, hear!"] In addition, there was the cost of living in towns as compared with the cost of living in the country. In both those respects the charge was thrown upon the teacher first, but ultimately it fell upon the employers of the teachers—namely, the managers of schools—which charge was more onerous in the case of the town districts than in the case of the country districts ["Hear, hear!"] In the next place, from causes familiar to everybody, the amount of education required—by which he meant the number of subjects taught—was greater in the town than in the rural schools. The urban schools required to have teachers competent to teach in a decidedly larger number of subjects than was, as a rule, required in the country schools; and without discussing whether that ought to be so or not, or giving reasons why it was so, the broad fact was admitted that such was the case. It arose partly from the smaller variety of employment in the country districts than existed in the towns. If anybody wanted an indication of the comparative cost of education in the town and country, after all, the simplest and easiest course was to look at what education did cost in those cases where the rates applied to educational bodies in both cases. There could be no doubt that the cost of education in towns was enormously greater than in country districts, and the result of that education costing so much more in towns than in the country was that a special burdens was thrown upon Voluntary Schools in towns which was known in their Debates as the competition between the Voluntary and School Board systems in their urban districts, and which weighed with extreme severity upon the managers of Voluntary Schools. ["Hear, hear!"] Nobody who knew anything of the working of the two systems could doubt that that competition was far severer in the case of the urban than of the rural districts, and that of a large part of their rural districts it was not inaccurate to say that the competition could hardly be said to exist at all. The competition was in the urban districts, and it was with that competition that the Bill was introduced and this large amount of money taken from the Exchequer. ["Hear, hear!"] There was only one further point in connection with this that he need mention, but it was not unimportant. It was that rural schools had already obtained an advantage, which in many districts of the country their urban brethren did not receive, from the fee grant established by the Act of 1892. In Lancashire, for example, the establishment of free education had cost the urban Voluntary Schools a great deal per scholar, whilst it had given a great deal per scholar to schools in many of their rural districts. He had not got the figures before him, but his recollection was, that in Cornwall free education amounted not only to free education but to a gift of more than 2s. per head to the schools in which those children were educated. ["Hear, hear!"] In Herefordshire the gain per scholar was about 3s. 6d. per head of the scholars in average attendance. While such schools had gained largely, the managers of Voluntary Schools in some big towns were deprived of sources of revenue upon which they had confidently counted in the past. These were the broad reasons for justifying the Department in using the power of differentiation in favour of towns as against the country. But this was not what they were now discussing—whether the power should or should not be given to the Department, and for this, he thought, there were conclusive reasons. They had considered plans for some kind of differentiation in favour of more necessitous as against less necessitous schools. If the Government could find a plan by which a system of differentiation, which would be equitable on the whole, might be obtained, they would eagerly grasp it as carrying out the spirit that had animated all these discussions—of making the money they had at their disposal go as far as they could in relief of the more necessitous as distinguished from the less necessitous schools. This was the reason which made it extremely important that the House should give this opportunity of differentiation to the Department. The Committee should recollect that the Department had unlimited power of differentiation themselves in these particular schemes, and of creating a scheme even of association as regarded the special amount to be given to each school. Surely, having given the Department that great power and responsibility, they might without hesitation or fear of results hand over to them the far smaller responsibility which was conferred upon them by the last words of the sub-section, and he trusted the Committee would support the Government in retaining the proposals of the Bill.

maintained that the contention of the First Lord of the Treasury that town schools were by their very nature more expensive than country schools was capable of almost entire disproof. It might be contended that where there was a Board School rate there was severe competition between Board and Voluntary Schools, and for this reason the latter should receive more, but it could not be contended with any ground of substantial justice that in towns where there was no School Board rate Voluntary Schools had a right to more money than schools in the vast proportion of country districts. He defied any one to prove that in places like Preston or Wigan there was more need for money to aid the Voluntary Schools than in country districts. A small school, by its very smallness, had a greater difficulty in getting on than a large school, which was invariably a school in a town district. On the same principle a large business might often be conducted in many respects more cheaply than a small one. Schools of 400 or 500 scholars in populous towns were carried on much cheaper than schools one-third of the size in country districts. On the first Reading of the Bill the First Lord of the Treasury gave as a reason why town schools should receive special favour that, in the north of England especially, they suffered very much by the Free Education Act. He himself maintained that this could not be proved. Before the Free Education Act in many towns were certain Church schools and an immense number of Catholic schools which did not suffer by the Act, because the managers would not charge the poor parents of certain children anything beyond the 3d. fee. On the contrary, they only charged 1d. These schools, so far from suffering, gained by the Free Education Act. But in town districts, where there was a 5d. or 6d. fee, no doubt when the schools became free there was a certain falling off of contributions. Before the Free Education Act was passed, throughout the country districts the squires, clergymen, and farmers bore the burden of country schools. They did not think the agricultural labourers could afford to pay more than 1d., 2d., or 3d. a week for the education of their children. The squires, the clergy, and the farmers, had gained nothing by the Free Education Act, although they deserved to for their sacrifices in the past in the interests of the poor populations of agricultural districts. In town populations, where the artisans were paying fees up to 9d. for their children's education, the subscribers for years before the Free Education Act made no sacrifices corresponding to the sacrifices of the squires, clergy, and farmers. He submitted that town subscribers had no right to complain. If they wanted their schools to be on a par with country schools where sacrifices had been made let them raise their contributions that they might be equal with those made in the country. The late Lord Selborne and the late Archbishop of Canterbury often said,

"We cannot understand the claim of the North of England to as much or more than we claim because they say they are poorer. We in the South are subscribing at the rate of 8s., 9s., and 10s. per scholar, while in Lancashire, which is a much wealthier part of the country, they are only subscribing 3s., 4s., and 5s., per child."

The explanation of the whole thing was contained in the simple fact that before the Free Education Act the parents contributed the large bulk of the expense of the town schools, but that since the Act the urban power of raising subscriptions had not kept pace with the requirements of the Education Acts. The argument that town schools had suffered from the Free Education Act had no foundation whatever and should not be brought into this question in any way, for it had no bearing upon it. As to the country schools, he would refer to what the Vice President had said. The right, hon. Gentleman made a special appeal to him when he said:—

"It is impossible that there can be efficient education in any school in which the teacher is entirely single-handed, and yet there are all over the country numbers of small schools in which the teacher is entirely single-handed. I am sure that if hon. Members would visit one of these schools they would be astonished that any person could conduct the school under the circumstances in which he was placed. Well, the association may prescribe that in every school there shall be an assistant teacher, or at least one or more pupil teachers."

If the money was to go largely to help the schools where there was a single teacher, it must clearly go entirely to the country schools, because there were practically no town schools where there was only one teacher. The distinction between town and country was a very serious distinction to put into the Bill as a guide. ["Hear, hear!"] There were a great many town schools which could inevitably be run cheaper than country schools because of their size. The associations would make their claim on the basis not only of the right hon. Gentleman's speeches, but on the words of the Bill, that there ought to be some special claim for town schools, apart from the question of whether they were in a School Board district or not. He thought that was a dangerous claim for them to make, and there was no foundation for it. [Cheers.]

said it was quite refreshing to hear a speech from the other side of the House in support of the country districts. [Laughter.] He was very glad that he found himself in perfect agreement with the speech of the right hon. Gentleman, and he intended to support this Amendment, because he thought the words in the Bill were perfectly unnecessary. He thought they would bring before the associations the necessity of differentiating between town and country schools. He found from experience that the towns generally got the best of these things—[cries of "Oh!"]—at any rate, they did very often, and he did not want to give them the chance. He thought all our schools ought to be dealt with equally if they were necessitous. His right hon. friend had said that the rateable value in towns per number of children was less than the rateable value in the country districts; but he contended the rateable value was no test of the wealth of the two communities. ["Hear, hear!"] In the towns there were wealthy people who could very well support the schools, and did; but what seemed to be forgotten was the great difficulty which many people in the country districts had in supporting their schools, the only way in which they could do so being by great self denial. There were, for instance, the country clergy, who, as a class, were very poor indeed, many of whom had undergone great privations in order to keep up the subscriptions. When this grant was distributed he was afraid that in regard to some of the schools the liberal men would be punished for their liberality, and in regard to others the mean men would be rewarded for their meanness. [Opposition cheers.] The wording of the Bill as to this was a direct invitation to the associations to make a difference. He was very sorry to have to vote against his right hon. Friend, but he felt so convinced that these words were unnecessary, and that there would be very great unfairness in making any difference between town and country schools, that he should be obliged to do so.

said there was in the West Riding of Yorkshire an area which was very much on the same lines as the one set before them by the Vice President of the Council, embracing villages and towns of varying descriptions. The Committee which took in hand the technical instruction of that area had endeavoured to work on the lines of treating all schools alike, and similar grants were given in all cases, whatever was the condition of the classes earning the grants, but they found after a short time that this was not sufficient to meet the wants of the country schools, and the Council had diminished the grants for the town schools in order that the country schools might be able to compete with them. ["Hear, hear!"] The reason why the grant to children was less in the towns than in the country districts was obvious, because without doubt the education of children in the towns could be carried on more cheaply. The country districts were sometimes badly situated as regarded railways, and a special allowance had to be made for the carriage of the children—their fares, etc. The consequence was that these grants had been reduced in the large towns and kept up in the small villages. The country districts were the feeders of the large towns, and it was necessary for industrial purposes that efficient education should be kept up in the country districts. He regretted to see that the line taken up in the clause was that our country schools should be treated less favourably than our town schools.

said the importance of this Amendment had been shown by the lengthy reply of the First Lord of the Treasury, and he trusted that the Committee would not regret the few moments they might spend in discussing what he considered one of the most important Amendments which appeared on the Paper. He could not allow this occasion to pass without making an urgent and earnest appeal on behalf of the village schools of the country. Surely the sole justification for the Bill was the necessity throughout the country to improve the level of the education in their Voluntary Schools, and if that was needed in any one set of schools more than another it was in the village schools. If the words in the Bill did not, as they suspected, give an absolute direction to the Education Department they must be altogether unnecessary, and should be omitted from the Bill. But it appeared to him that the whole statement of the First Lord was founded on the assumption that there was a distinct direction in the clause.

explained that he was simply giving the views of the Education Department, and that the Department would act with equity as between the two classes of schools.

said he ventured to submit that the Education Department was in this matter altogether in the wrong. It had placed before them the financial position of the Voluntary Schools, but it had not placed before them what the Department would like to see, as the state of efficiency in rural schools. If there was to be any differentiation in treatment as between town schools and country schools, clearly the preference should be given to the country as against the towns. The operation of the Free Education Act had been referred to in connection with this matter. Now, in that case, it was not a question as between town and country. It was rather a question as between localities—between the North and South. Fees were charged both in town and rural day schools in the North, but they were not charged as a rule to so great an extent in the South. The question there was between localities, and was not a question as between urban and rural schools. The question of competition had also been referred to, and he was glad to see that this phrase was somewhat dying out of the Debate, for he believed it never had been fully realised what it meant. It meant that School Boards in the urban districts had been able to meet the requirements of the Education Department, and, therefore, they gave education at a higher level of efficiency. The Voluntary Schools in the towns had struggled to keep pace with them, and if they had done so it had been with great difficulty. In rural districts, the level of education had never been so high as in the urban districts, and the very object of this Bill was to level up education in those small rural schools; and how could they be raised, how could they be lifted up unless the necessary funds were at the disposal of the associations for distribution among the rural schools? Of necessity, the rural associations must include a large number of these very small schools, and those were the very schools that needed State aid more than any other class of schools in the country. He would give one very sufficient reason which should influence all friends of education in giving preference, if preference was to be given at all, to the rural schools. The Education Department would calculate the grant for separate schools upon the average attendance. Now it was much more difficult to secure a high average attendance in country schools than it was in urban schools. If they took two populations exactly alike, one in a rural district and the other in an urban district, they would find that the children in the urban district, who had lived under the shadow of the school they might say, would make a good attendance, and that attendance was not much affected by the state of the weather. But in a country school, where they had half the children, perhaps, coming from a distance of three miles, a bad winter would reduce the attendance to such an extent that it would spoil the average attendance for the whole year, and thus would reduce the grant to very narrow limits. Surely the object of this Bill should not be to accentuate those difficulties which already existed? Surely a lead should not be given to the Education Department against the rural school, or, if the words were not a lead, then remove them altogether from the Bill. It was argued by the First Lord that the words would have no such effect, but they said that it would be injurious if the Department acted upon them. The examination he had been able to make in the last few mouths had convinced hint that the needs of the small village schools had not been exaggerated. The Vice President had stated that one of the first objects he should propose in the distribution of the money would be the addition of a second teacher in the schools that had only one. The needs of the rural schools in this respect were indeed great, and the expenses were exceptionally heavy. He pleaded most earnestly that if any differentiation was made, it should be in favour of the rural schools, or, at any rate, that there should not be this line of demarcation in the Bill, which appeared to him unjustifiable, and might be provocative of great injury. At the present moment the children in these rural schools started life heavily handicapped in competition with the children of the urban districts. They started worse equipped in every respect, and surely this could not be justified, for the children had a claim to start upon an equal footing in villages as in urban districts. He trusted that even now, or at a later stage, the First Lord would reconsider his determination, and see his way to omit the words which, if they were not altogether worthless, would be likely, from his point of view, to do a considerable amount of harm.

said the consensus of opinion seemed to be that the words in the Bill placed in the hands of the Education Department a discretion which the Department should not exercise. There seemed to be a strong feeling in favour of omitting these words. As a London Member he recognised that the words might be of advantage to London where rates and subscriptions were heavy, but from such knowledge as he had he knew that the strain upon Voluntary Schools and the need for assistance was greater in the rural districts. The words in the Bill did not sufficiently define what the Department was to do, but there was no doubt that they conveyed the impression that, in the distribution of the grant, the Department were to favour the schools in the towns more than the schools in the country districts. Town and country certainly formed no proper basis for discrimination. He trusted there would be no discrimination; but if there was to be discrimination, he thought it should be in favour of the country districts rather than of the towns.

said it was almost certain that this Amendment would raise a certain amount of rivalry between town and country, and that certain country Members on the Government side would support the Amendment. He was a country Member, but he most emphatically supported the Bill as it stood, because it simply left the matter to the Education Department. The Bill did not lay down that the town schools were to get more and the country schools to get less, but, the object of the Bill being to give aid to the Voluntary Schools according as aid was needed, it said that the Department might have a discretion to give more relief to one class of schools than to another. But even if the Bill did lay down that the town schools were to get more and the country schools less, he would still support it; because the town schools were infinitely more necessitous than the country schools; and Members would take a very narrow view if they looked merely to the needs of the schools in the constituencies they represented, when the object of the Bill was to preserve the Voluntary Schools all over the country, and to distribute the grant according to the needs of the schools. It was practically only in the towns that there existed that competition between Voluntary Schools and Board Schools which was the serious and intolerable strain that had broken the backs, or nearly broken the backs, of many of the Voluntary Schools. In the towns the cost of education in Board Schools was far higher than in Voluntary Schools, the difference in London being no less than 22s. per child. How then were the Voluntary Schools to continue to compete with the Board Schools unless they got considerably more than 5s. per child? And they could not get more than that unless the broad principle were laid down that the town schools suffering from this competition should, on an average, get a higher rate than the country schools. It seemed to him, therefore, that the proposal in the Bill was perfectly fair and sensible. Very probably it would work out that certain associations in the north of England—in Lancashire, for instance—would get more money per child than associations in the south. It might happen, for instance, that Lancashire might get more than Kent. That would be a perfectly fair result, because Lancashire would want more than Kent. The schools were not to be paid so much all round, which would be a wasteful process, but were simply to be paid according to their necessities.

said it did not follow that Kent would not receive more than Lancashire, because the amount depended on the area of the associations, and the relative proportion of town and country schools within such area. The Borough which constituted the centre of the hon. Gentleman's constituency contained no less than 17 Voluntary Schools, all of which, with two exceptions, were Church of England schools. He supported the Amendment as the representative of a large rural constituency, which would suffer very materially if the principle which was laid down by the First Lord of the Treasury as representing the views of the Education Department in the allocation of the grant were adopted. In the county of Lincoln there were 600 schools, of which 450, or thereabouts, were denominational schools. Of those 450 denominational schools 100 were situated in the 10 towns and 350 in the villages of Lancashire. How then could the provisions of the Bill be defended in Lincolnshire, when it would have to be pointed out that there would be a very small allowance for the villages of Lincoln, and that for the towns of Lincoln there would probably be a grant far in excess of the grant for the village schools. There was a very small average attendance in those village schools. Take, for instance, the village of Tathwell. There were 160 children on the books of that school, but the average attendance was only 84. In another village on the wolds of Lincolnshire where there was accommodation for 80 scholars, and where the number on the books were 45, the average attendance was only 20. Those village schools were, therefore, already punished sufficiently enough, even if there was an equitable division of the grant at 5s. per scholar. Why then should there be this unjust differentiation between the schools in the town of Louth and the schools in the neighbourhood of that town? Why should it be said that when they got out of the confines of Louth they were to punish the little village schools because they were in the country and not in the towns? There was no doubt that these small village schools were suffering in a most distressing way. The sanitary conditions of many of these schools were vile in the extreme. The conditions under which the children were housed were disreputable and disgraceful. He was not saying whose fault it was. It frequently arose from the small number of children in these village schools. He ventured to say that a very strong case had been made out for an equitable distribution of this aid grant equally among, the village and the town schools, at all events of Lincolnshire, and, having in view the interpretsion put upon this clause by the First Lord of the Treasury, it became really necessary that they should not permit these words to continue in the Bill.

thought the course of this Debate eminently proved the wisdom of the Government proposal. The hon. Member opposite had strongly urged the case of the rural districts; other hon. Members had advocated the case of the town districts, and he thought the result of the interchange of opinion was, that there were some cases where a preference ought to be given to the towns and others where a like preference ought to be given to the country. He represented a manufacturing district, and he naturally and necessarily desired that if any preference was given it should be given in favour of the towns. There was great truth in the remark of the First Lord that the cost of education was greater in the towns. No one could be acquainted with the vast masses of their urban populations without feeling that they involved great difficulties; and that to provide them with, education must be a more laborious and also a more costly, operation than to provide the same education in the country districts. It was very probable that in a town they found a large school cheaper than a small school; but the comparison was not between large schools and small schools in the same town, but between the towns as a whole and the country as a whole. In Lancashire they had to deal not only with these vast masses of population, but also with a poor population. In the Roman Catholic schools in that county there was poverty which would excite the visitor's sympathy, and, at the same time, a quickness of intelligence which would excite his admiration. It was quite true that in Wigan, at least, the Roman Catholic schools were in a large degree free schools before the passing of the Free Education Act. The condition of those schools was such as to make one feel surprised at the exertions made under very great difficulties, and, at the same time, to desire that these difficulties should be removed and that they should be rendered more efficient and complete in their appliances. He felt that they had very strong claims, and he hoped they would not be refused. Accusations had been made in the course of their Debates of negligence and penuriousness in Lancashire, and reference was made by his right hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham to the case of Wigan. In view of that fact, he thought he might be permitted to say that, in the last Report of the Education Department, the exertions made in Wigan were the subject of special commendation, and it was pointed out that, largely owing to the liberality of Churchmen, the accommodation was considerably in excess of the requirements. There could be no doubt that free education had pressed more heavily on the towns than on the country. In Lancashire, particularly, great difficulties had been caused. The income from the fees had gone, and a sudden strain had thereby been put on the Lancashire schools in addition to the strain put upon them by the demands of the Education Department—demands which might have been perfectly right and admirable in themselves, but which had increased the strain until it had nearly reached the breaking point. He believed the difficulties of the towns were greater than those of the country, and he ventured to say that they had a just claim for special consideration.

appealed to the Committee to come to a decision upon this question as soon as possible. He might point out to the Committee that the only persons who ought to vote against the Bill as it stood were those who believed that town and country were precisely equal, neither more nor less. Anybody who thought the country required more money than the towns ought to vote against the Amendment, because the Bill enabled such cases to be met by the Education Department.

asked whether the right hon. Gentleman would consider the desirability of cutting out the words "town and country schools," thus reserving to the Education Department the power of differentiation according to necessity and not locality, if it pleased?

was understood to dissent.

said he should like to point out that, though the right hon. Gentleman was quite correct in stating that the words in the Bill would not enact any preference to one class of schools against another, it was impossible to separate the words in the Bill from the speech of the right hon. Gentleman, in which he spoke of the necessity of giving a preferential payment to the town schools over the country schools. He stood there as the representative of a large urban population, but at the same time he could not withhold from himself the conviction that the rural school was the worst off in this country, and most needed help—help in the matter of teachers, of equipment, and, in fact, of everything that went to make a school efficient. He knew from experience that there was no class in the community which had made so large a sacrifice for the maintenance of Voluntary Schools as the clergy in the rural districts. In many cases they had involved themselves in pecuniary difficulties, by pledging their incomes and credit to maintain their schools. They felt the "intolerable strain." But if the right hon. Gentleman would visit those schools he would find them miserably equipped, and the teachers greatly overworked. Why were the Lancashire towns so far behind these rural schools in subscriptions? The fact was that the children used to be sent to work young in Lancashire, and as soon as they began to work large fees were demanded of them. The schools had depended on these fees, and the Free Education Act had involved them in difficulties. But were those difficulties to be met by taking from the poor clergy in the rural districts their share of this grant, and giving it to the rich manufacturing districts? Lancashire was the one part of England which had not done its duty by education. In 1894 the subscriptions in Wigan were only 2s. 3d. per head, and what had been done in recent years had been done under great pressure. Compare any agricultural county with the manufacturing districts of Lancashire, and it would be found that the subscriptions in the former were double those of the latter. It was said that the schools were much cheaper in the country. Were they? Education might be cheaper in the country, but not where it was equal to the education in the towns. Where the quality was the same, the cost in the country was far greater. He knew some model rural schools which cost over £3 per head, and there was no extravagance.

said that he had hitherto supported the Government in every division on this Bill, but he found himself in a difficulty on this Amendment. The Department was empowered to discriminate between town and country schools, in favour of either the one class or the other. But the Department had no power to discriminate between one part of the country and another, and their decision, whichever class of school it favoured, must hold for the whole country equally. If the Department had discretion, he should be willing to leave the schools in his constituency in the Department's hands; but it was evident that the needs of each class of school, as opposed to those of the other class, varied with the various parts of the country. Great pressure would be brought to bear on the Department to get it to favour one class or the other, and the result must be that the Department would not take the responsibility of differentiating at all. He knew the difficulties of the Parliamentary situation for the Government, and he would not press for a modification of the clause at another stage; but he did hope that some Amendment would be introduced in another place to relieve the Department of the onerous and invidious choice which they were now left to make. The House of Commons was a more competent body to decide which should be preferred—the town or country schools, if any differentiation was to be made. Not only in his own constituency, but in others, great injury might be done to the rural schools if the Department differentiated in favour of urban schools as a class.

failed to find in the speech of the right hon. Gentleman any indication of what in the view of the Government was a country school and what was a town school. So far as he was aware the words "town" and "country" had never before been used in an Act of Parliament to describe various districts. There was no definition at all in the Bill of what was a town and what a country school. Yet the decision of the Education Department on the question was to be final. But in discussing an Amendment it was most important that the House and the country should be informed what the view of the Government or the Department was. It was quite true that according to the way the Bill was framed the discretion given to the Department was an absolute one, but the opinion had been clearly expressed by those responsible for the Bill that differentiation must be exercised in favour of the town school over the country school. There were great difficulties even in this. Were the associations to cover not only one class of schools, but two classes of schools? Were they to have rural schools with one rate, and town schools with a differential rate in the same association? He wanted to know whether they could allot money to the same association at two different rates. [The FIRST LORD of the TREASURY: "Certainly."] He was much obliged for a courteous answer across the floor of the House, but they had not been informed of that before. That, however, showed the difficulty of the work to be intrusted to the Department. They would actually have one association for what up to now had been considered an association for one class of schools, but what appeared now to be possibly an association which might represent both classes of schools—an association which would have to administer money at two different rates. As the First Lord of the Treasury said there might be the two classes of rates, he should like to know further whether the Department in one district of the country could decide in favour of the town schools, and in another district in favour of the country schools? The hon. Member for East Ham did not care for denominational schools because they were denominational schools, but where there were such schools he wanted them to be made efficient. The standpoint of the hon. Member for Tunbridge and the noble Lord the Member for Rochester, was a totally different one. They were in favour of denominational schools because they were denominational. [Mr. GRIFFITH-BOSCAWEN: "And because they are efficient!"] Not at all. The hon. Member knew perfectly well that the most inefficient schools were denominational schools, and that was because of the poverty of the country districts in which they were situate. He was not afraid of those, but in boroughs where there were School Boards he was afraid of the disappearance of the denominational schools entirely, and, therefore, he wanted this preference to be given by the Department to the schools which were in the boroughs. He had said consistently all along—while objecting to the grant in aid altogether—that if given at all it should be so allocated and distributed as to secure the efficiency of education in the schools. Was it fair that the supporters of the schools, who had made sacrifices to keep up the voluntary contributions, to pay their teachers in necessitous and poor districts, that these, schools should be put into the background with a smaller rate per child, whereas the schools in a town, with much more capacity for maintaining them, much more wealth, because those schools had not been properly maintained, were therefore to have preferential treatment? That was not a principle which ought to be accepted at all. He warned the Government that, though it would have been very convenient to produce a skeleton Measure, under which the Department and associations might do almost what they pleased, nevertheless, in the practical working of the Measure they would find themselves placed in very great difficulty. The Committee was to be told that the Department were to have indicated to them by Churchmen, like the hon. Member for the Tunbridge Division, that their care was not to look after the interests of education, but that they must give a preferential rate to the towns over the rate given to the country, simply because the denominational schools in the towns might be swamped. If the Government and their supporters voted against this Amendment, then they would indicate to the country that their wish was not to promote the interests of education—["Oh, oh!"and cheers]—not to encourage local effort, not to put a premium on sacrifice, but to put a premium on lethargy, carelessness, the utter want of any local effort, and to show that their desire was to preserve the denominational schools.

claimed to move "That the Question be now put."[Opposition cries of "Oh, oh!" and Ministerial cheers.]

proposed, paragraph (a), Sub-section (3), to leave out the words "town and country schools," and insert the words "districts in which rates for School Boards are levied, and those in which no such rates are levied, and for." He said his object was to provide that more consideration should be shown to a district in which there was, in addition to the support of Voluntary Schools, a School Board rate levied. They had been told that the Bill was introduced in order to relieve "an intolerable strain," and the intolerable strain was felt most in those districts which had to support both Voluntary and School Board schools. They had a substantial grievance, which ought to be taken into account by the Education Department. This was a matter in which the Committee ought to give the Education Department specific instructions. He would give the Committee one or two examples. In Reading and Stockport the number of children in the schools was 10,000. In Reading there were Board Schools, but in Stockport there were none. In Reading the School Board rate amounted to £11,750, and the voluntary subscriptions to £1,900. In Stockport the voluntary subscriptions were only £816. The inhabitants of Reading therefore contributed in rates and subscriptions about £14,000, while the people in Stockport contributed only £816. That showed a tremendous difference in the circumstances of the two towns, which ought to be taken into account. He would also compare Preston and Birmingham. The number of children in the schools in Preston was 17,000, and in Birmingham 72,000. No rate was levied in Preston, but in Birmingham the School Board rate amounted to £103,000. Preston subscribed £4,200, and Birmingham £4,900. Thus Birmingham, educating four times as many children, contributed £107,000, and Preston only £4,200. The object of the Amendment was to instruct the Education Department to take such facts as those into account.

said it was not possible to adopt the Amendment. The hon. Member had only referred to one kind of strain—namely, that which occurred in places where there was a School Board rate; but, as had been pointed out over and over again, that was not by any means the only strain to be removed. But the Amendment would not meet the evil to which the hon. Member had referred. In order to meet that evil it must be assumed that an association was confined to places in which School Board rates were levied, or to places in which they were not levied. It was not possible for anything of the kind to occur throughout the Kingdom. There must be many cases in which the association would embrace both School Board and non-School Board districts, and therefore it was not possible to make the differentiation suggested in the Amendment. Why should scholars, who happened to be in a school which was situate in a district where there was a School Board, command a higher rate of capitation than those in schools in places where there were no School Boards? Whatever might be the object of the Amendment, it would be unworkable, and would give an indication to the Education Department which could not practically be carried into effect.

said the hon. and learned Gentleman had gone upon the assumption that the terms "town and country" could be used; but those terms were extremely vague, and once the Department had given a meaning to them it would be bound by its own ruling, and therefore whatever objection the hon. and learned Gentleman might make to the Amendment the very same arguments would apply to the discrimination made in the Bill between town and country. If such vague terms were to be used, why should not the terms "x and y" schools be used, leaving it to the Department to decide what they meant, as it was declared by Sub-section 7 that it was to decide what was the meaning of "town and country?" He admitted that there was a certain adumbration or semi-concept of an idea in those terms, but in construing as Act of Parliament the exact meaning of the words used ought to be determined. What did "town" schools mean? Did it mean schools in a district under a Town Council? Was it to exclude urban districts? If so, the Bill would work intolerable unfairness in many parts of the country. In Monmouthshire, for instance, there were no towns to speak of. They were all urban districts, under urban district councils which included the very poorest part of the population. If this Amendment were accepted it would have this advantage, that they would know the particular cases in which the advance of this extra money was to be given. Why should the Committee be kept out of the secret as to the meaning of these words? He appealed to the Vice President, who was responsible for the Education Department, and would be responsible for the definition of these vague terms, to tell the Committee their meaning. He considered the answer given by the Attorney General to his hon. Friend entirely inadequate. Until the Education Department finally determined what should be the meaning of these words it would be besieged by school managers anxious for an interpretation favourable to their own particular schools.

thought the Government had not dealt very frankly with the Committee, who wanted an interpretation of words which were now introduced for the first time into a Bill. He did not believe there was any precedent for this use of the words "town" and "country." The Government were asking the Committee to give the Education Department arbitrary power to discriminate between town and country, and yet refused to define the meaning of those words. The learned Attorney General had referred to the case of Wigan, where practically there was no School Board. There was, therefore, no distinction between Wigan and an ordinary Voluntary School district. He would compare with Wigan the town of Bangor, which was a School Board district, and where there were Voluntary Schools as well. There were four Vountary Schools in the town, the subscriptions amounting to 17s. per child, and the School Board rate amounted to 24s. per child; so that if there ever was a case of intolerable strain Bangor's was a case of that kind. In Wigan there was St. Thomas's school, to which the voluntary contribution was only 3d. per child; another school to which the contribution was 5½d. per child, and yet another, to which the contribution was only 2¼d. per child. But under this Bill Wigan would actually get a larger share of relief than Bangor, with its contribution of 17s. and its School Board rate of 24s. There was no strain in the case of Wigan; but in Bangor there was a heavy strain upon the liberality and munificence of the ratepayers, and therefore something ought to be done to relieve it. They ought to be told plainly what the Government intended to do, and what class of towns they proposed to subsidise to the detriment of other places. It ought also to be made clear whether the expression "town" was to include urban districts, or whether it was to mean boroughs exclusively.

said that the settlement of this question was apparently to be left to the right hon. Gentleman opposite, who appeared to be in a state of coma. [A laugh.] He appealed to the right hon. Gentleman, notwithstanding the condition in which he found himself at present, to emerge for a moment from his shell, and to give the Committee the benefit of his views upon this important question—a question which he himself would have to decide outside the House of Commons at a future time. What reason was there why there should not be a full and frank interchange of ideas with the right hon. Gentleman upon this subject? They were asked to leave it entirely to his judgment to decide what was to be town and what was to be country. However highly they might respect the right hon. Gentleman—and they regarded and respected him very highly on the Opposition side of the House—they would like to know, before parting with this money, what, in his opinion, was town, and what, in his opinion, country. All that they wanted was a little light and leading on this subject from the one man most competent to give it, and the one man into whose hands they were committing very largely the destinies of the urban and rural communities respectively in this country. The question of town and country would not be decided separately as between association and association, but for the country as a whole. There should be some definite plan before them, so that they might know what they were committing themselves to. The Amendment proposed a definite and intelligible plan, and if it was accepted they should know how the money was going to be expended.

remarked that in the royal county in which he resided they should be under peculiar difficulties in respect to the definitions given them in this Bill. In the county of Norfolk he thought there were only three or four incorporated towns, but there were nearly a dozen under urban district governments, and it would be a great advantage to that county, to say nothing of others, if they could have some other definition offered them than that which had been given by the Attorney General. The hon. and learned Gentleman had endeavoured to enlighten their minds, but in doing so he seemed himself to be in more doubt than the hon. Member who had moved the Amendment. The hon. and learned Gentleman gave them no clue whatever to the definition of what was to be town and what country. Indeed it appeared to him they should have to ask the Department to issue a new dictionary when the Bill became law, to know what were the meanings to be applied to the different expressions. A new "Webster" would be necessary. [Laughter.] The Attorney General had failed to give them any definition, and he would invite the Leader of the House or the Solicitor General to elucidate the subject the Member for the Isle of Wight had failed to throw any light upon. He should also like to see the Vice President—with whom he had the greatest sympathy—take a more active part in the discussions, because the right hon. Gentleman would be left in the autumn with a vast amount of definition work on his hands, while some of his more fortunate colleagues might be pleasantly occupied in open-air pursuits.

thought the line ought to be drawn, not between School Board and non-School Board districts, and not between town and country, except insomuch as country schools, as a rule, were small schools, and the town schools large. The real difficulty arose with the small school. This Bill proposed to give to schools a sum in aid on the number of scholars in attendance at the schools as a rule. It was obvious that they could not run a small concern at as low a cost per unit as they could run a large concern, and the small schools were proportionately more expensive to carry on than the large schools. He was not in favour of this Amendment, neither was he in favour of town and country, and if it was any use moving further Amendments he should move, in place of "town and country," to substitute "large and small." He recognised. however, the uselessness of moving Amendments against the words used in the Bill, and he should content himself by making the suggestion that the line ought to be drawn between large and small schools.

observed that all the discussions on the question of differentiating had proved conclusively the absolute impossibility of doing anything fair all round in any system of differentiation. It seemed to him to have been shown that all systems of differentiation would lead to confusion and bitterness, and the only solution was to give the five shillings all round to all schools.

said he was entirely opposed to the Amendment, the real father of which was not his hon. and learned Friend who had moved it, but the hon. Member for Poplar. He was opposed to inserting words differentiating between districts in which rates for School Boards were levied and those in which no such rates were levied. He desired to point out what the effect of the adoption of the Amendment would be. The object of the Bill was not to relieve ratepayers at all, but to help necessitous schools, and he did not see how that object could be gained at all by the adoption of the Amendment. On the contrary, if carried it would create one great difficulty which he was sure his hon. Friend did not want to create, namely, it would put a premium upon the-erection of constitutional School Boards and Board Schools.

proposed, to leave out from the word "rates," in paragraph (a) to the end of paragraph (b), Sub-section (3). His object was, he said, to call the attention of the Committee to the very serious character of the proposal made in Sub-section (b). There might be a surplus left in the hands of the Education Department for distribution dependent upon the number of unassociated schools. The result of this Sub-section would be that the share which was left in the hands of the Education Department would go entirely to the Voluntary Schools which were in the association. He contended that this surplus ought not wholly to go to the Voluntary Schools in the association, but ought to be distributed fairly between those which were within the association and the others which were outside. In short his argument was this, that whatever surplus remained by reason of the exclusion of non-associated schools from the benefit of the grant, ought to go, not to associated schools only, but should be fairly divided between associated schools and non-associated schools which had not unreasonably refused to associate. He moved the omission of the words from the word "rates" to the end of Sub-section (b).

thought that the hon. Gentleman would see that his suggestion was not practicable. He stated hypothetically that after the distribution there remained a sum of money over. The Education Board would require all that for the needs of the unassociated schools, but the Bill must also contemplate the possibility of the money not being required for that purpose, and, surely, there was nothing unreasonable in saying that it should be distributed among the associations in proportion to the other grant? ["Hear!"]

said the Government had no right to assume that the unassociated schools should receive less than their fair share of the grant. The treatment should be equal for associated and unassociated schools, and there was no justification for the penalising of an unassociated school by the sub-section. The distribution should be impartially made as between associated and unassociated schools.

thought the right hon. Gentleman had somewhat cavalierly answered his hon. Friend who had raised a point worthy of consideration. These unassociated schools which were to receive a portion of the sum distributed among associated and unassociated schools were unassociated not from any unreasonable conduct on their part, and why, therefore, should they not be treated on absolutely the same basis, with the same liberality, the same generosity as the associated schools? Unless the right hon. Gentleman awarded this equal treatment he laid himself open to the criticism that he was bribing schools to enter associations, or exercising compulsion to that end. The schools which had not entered associations having reasonable grounds for not doing so, should take their share of the surplus.

said there was an obvious answer. There was the total amount of the aid grant, and of that the associations took a certain amount, calculated at the rate of 5s. per child in attendance. From what remained the Department would deal with the claims of the unassociated schools, and each school would get what it wanted. What more could they desire? There were a certain number of unassociated schools which had unreasonably refused to join associations and forfeited their claim to the grant, but the schools entitled to a share, having received their share for the promotion of efficiency in education, what more did they want?

could not see how the distinction came in. It seemed to be part of the policy to starve and penalise schools that remained out of the association. After the bare needs of schools had been supplied the balance should be given to the Exchequer, or if any balance was to be devoted to educational luxuries, that should be shared alike by associated and unassociated schools. If there was to be a possibility by association of receiving a sum over the 5s. a head, the finances of these schools would be in a state of flux and uncertainty, and there would have to be a second distribution, but surely the Department would have more than enough to do in working the complex machinery of this Bill. In the interest of fair play between the two classes of schools he regretted that the Government had not accepted the Amendment.

said that if the view taken by the Solicitor General was correct, and that all the unassociated schools were to get all they wanted, the subsection might very well be left out, because the unassociated schools would absorb all that there was, and a great deal more, if they got all they wanted.

The hon. Gentleman has misunderstood me. I did not say they would get all they wanted in the sense of all they might claim, but all they really needed.

thought there would be some advantage to the schools in remaining out of the associations, because while the associated schools would only get 5s. per head at the outside, the non-associated schools would, according to the Solicitor General, get all that they reasonably wanted, which might mean more than 5s. per head.

said it was perfectly obvious from the Sub-section that the Government thought that the bulk of the schools would go into the associations. The Department would have to judge whether the excuse offered by a, school for not joining an association was reasonable or unreasonable; and, besides, the associated schools would have, as a sort of additional bribe, this division of the surplus fund amongst them.

said that, attaching, as he did, importance to the inducements offered by the Bill, as he thought to join associations, he was astonished and alarmed at the statement of the Solicitor General. As he understood the hon. and learned Gentleman, the associated schools would have a grant of 5s. per head, and the unassociated schools which had reasonably refused to associate were to have their reasonable needs supplied, which might conceivably be not 5s. but 10s. per head, after which the surplus, if any, was to go to the associated schools. If that were so, the non-associated schools would be in a better position than the associated schools. [Ministerial cries of "No!"] That, at least, was how he and other Members understood the statement of the Solicitor General, and he earnestly asked the hon. and learned Gentleman to give the Committee a clearer explanation of the matter. It seemed to him that this would offer a premium to schools to remain outside the associations. The Department would have no power to give more than 5s. per head to associated schools, while they might give more to non-associated schools.

said that when he read the words he took exactly the same view as the hon. Member who had just spoken—that the surplus was going to be distributed fairly among the unassociated schools. He now gathered from the Solicitor General that that was not going to be the case. They must take some figure. Let them assume the surplus amounted to £50,000 or £100,000. The result would be that the associated schools would get 6s. per child, whereas the unassociated schools would only get 4s. per child. It was perfectly clear under the sub-sections they had already passed, that they must allot 5s. per scholar to the associated schools. If they were going to distribute the surplus which was not derived from that 5s. per scholar, it must be over 5s. What he wanted to point out to the Solicitor General was, that if this Sub-section was going to be brought into operation at all, the only possible effect of it would be that they would differentiate between the associated schools and the unassociated schools, and that in favour of the associated schools. He thought they were entitled to ask the Solicitor General again upon what ground the Government proposed to discriminate between the associated and the unassociated schools, where the unassociated schools had not remained out of the association for any reason which the Education Department could condemn? He could understand the attitude of the Government being this. They might say that they considered that this principle of association was a very important one, and that they were going to offer every inducement to schools to become embodied in those association. In order to do that, where there was a school which declined to become a member of the association for insufficient reasons, they would fine it by depriving it of its share of the 5s. grant. That was a perfectly appreciable policy. But take the case of a school where the Education Department admitted there was good ground for refusing to become a member of the association, and let them assume it was a necessitous school. Upon what principle of common justice could the Government pay 6s. to a schools which was in the association and refuse to distribute any portion of the surplus to the other school, which was equally as necessitous and equally as deserving? He would ask the Government this question. Take the Voluntary Schools in various parts of the country which did not belong to any denomination. Would they force all these undenominational schools, one possibly at Land's End, and the other at Berwick-on-tweed, to form one association? It was simply ridiculous

thought there could be no difficulty in appreciating this, when it was understood what the Solicitor General said.[Loud laughter.] With a few exceptions, there was no misunderstanding on that side of the House. The first fallacy which the hon. Member opposite had fallen into was this. Whether they were dealing with schools in associations or not, they were only going to give assistance to necessitous schools. As regarded the amount which they were to divide amongst necessitous schools, they limited it by 5s., distributed over all those schools whether necessitous or not. As regarded the amount which they could distribute amongst the schools which were not in the associations, there was no such limit at all; and, therefore, the Education Department, in dealing with necessitous schools outside the association could, if they thought it was right and proper, give a somewhat larger amount than the 5s. a head for these schools would come to in the aggregate. There was no unfair treatment in that as between associated and non-associated schools. Probably after that there might be an insignificant surplus. [AN HON. MEMBER: "Why insignificant?"] The surplus could only arise in respect of schools which unreasonably refused to join the association, and, therefore, it must be very small. All the Bill proposed to do was to put the associated and the non-associated schools on exactly the same footing, because in the former case there was a limit of 5s. per head all round, and in the latter case there might not be that limit. But in either case, the amount given to the necessitous school depended on the Education Department alone. In the one case the discretion of the Department was fettered, in the other case it was unfettered; and if there was a surplus where the discretion was unfettered it must go to be divided among the necessitous associated schools. That there was nothing unfair in this was proved by the fact that there were two contradictory views of the effect of the sub-section. The hon. Member who moved the Amendment said that the words favoured the unassociated schools, and another hon. Member had urged that they favoured the associated schools.

said it was a fortunate thing for the Committee that the Solicitor General carried the hon. and learned Member for Stroud about as a sort of glossary on his utterances. But to him the question had not been made clear by the hon. and learned Member's interposition. There was another class of schools from which a surplus could be derived—the non-necessitous schools. The original allotment to the associations was to be distributed according to a scheme. After this had been done, the surplus would be discovered; therefore, the surplus would have to be devoted to works of supererogation in the associated schools.

thought that the Committee had had a great deal of discussion about a very small matter. There would be a number of associations, and there would be so many children in each. The Education Department would allot them a total sum equal to 5s. per head of the total number of children. The Department would then allot a corresponding sum to the non-associated schools, which might, for the purposes of argument, be regarded as forming one large body. There was no limit to the sum to be given to any particular school, and therefore if a balance remained in hand it could not be wanted for any of these non-associated schools, as to give it to them would stultify the Department's action. But this surplus must be dealt with. The Bill gave it to the associations for schools which had not received enough. This was fair, and as it was best for the work of the Department and for education that schools should join associations, there could be no objection to give them this small additional inducement to do so.

said it was quite evident that the hon. Member for Walsall had read into the Bill words which were not to be found in the Bill, and it was precisely for the reason that there was no sum definitely allotted to the reasonably unassociated schools that the matter was so important. They might search the Bill from beginning to end, and they would not find in it any statement of the amount which was to be assigned to the unassociated schools. It was left entirely to the discretion of the Department. Therefore, it was perfectly plain that there was no guarantee that the average 5s. a head was to be given to the unassociated schools. Now what did that mean? They were told that schools were not bound to associate. A very large number would not associate, and, therefore, they would have a very large number of schools with no guarantee whatever of the amount they were to receive.

expressed the hope that the Committee would bring a not very profitable discussion to a speedy determination. There was no difficulty in the matter. This sub-clause was introduced in order to find a method of dealing with any surplus that might remain after the associations had been dealt with under the fixed 5s.-a-head grant. It was evident that that surplus must be dealt with somehow, and the sub-clause simply gave directions to the Department how to deal with it as among the associations. It was evident that, whatever part of that money was due to the associations ought to be distributed among the associations on exactly the same principles as the principal sum had been distributed, and all that the sub-clause did was to say that that available money should be so distributed among them. He trusted the Committee would bring the discussion to a close.

said the question would not affect either the Wesleyan or the Roman Catholic schools, because they would form their own associations, and there would be no residue left from those schools. The British schools would also probably form their own associations, so that the residue which was to go to the aid of the associated schools would come from the Church of England schools which did not join the federations. There were 12,000 Church of England schools in this country, of which 8,000 were in the rural districts. The First Lord of the Treasury said that the Education Department would give higher grants to the town than to the rural schools, and consequently the residuum which was to be handed to the associated schools, and not distributed in assisting the unassociated schools, would be largely taken from the Church of England schools in the rural districts who failed to join the associations.

rose to continue the dission, when

claimed to move "That the Question be put."

I beg to move "That the Question 'That the words of the clause down to the word "The," in page 2, line 4, stand part of the clause' be now put." [Ministerial cheers.]

appealed to the First Lord of the Treasury to allow progress to be reported. [Ministerial cries of "No, no!" and "hear, hear!"] It would not be unreasonable now to break off the discussion, seeing that the Committee were approaching one of the most important clauses of the Bill, containing the provision that made association compulsory, and this clause would require a searching discussion. He reminded the right hon. Gentleman that last night when he announced the Motion for the suspension of the Twelve o'clock Rule he said there was no desire to keep the Committee sitting to an unreasonable hour, and it must be admitted the Committee had made good progress, the discussion having been to an almost unprecedented degree participated in by the hon. Gentlemen on the other side of the House. The hour which had been occupied with another matter entirely at the earlier part of the sitting arose on a Motion moved from the other side of the House. He moved "That the Chairman do report progress, and ask leave to sit again."

thought if the right hon. Gentleman would cast his mind back over the incidents of this and the preceding night he would see that his Motion, moved in terms to which he did not in the least object, was not a reasonable one to press.[Ministerial cries of "Hear, hear!"] The House decide after 5 o'clock, by a large majority, to continue the discussion after Twelve o'clock, and surely it was not worth while to occupy some 20 minutes beyond the usual time. ["Hear, hear!"] The House would stultify itself by such a proceeding. [Ministerial cries of "Hear, hear!"] The Motion moved earlier in the evening was moved from the Ministerial side of the House, it was true; but three-fourths of the Gentlemen whose support made the Motion possible were on the opposite side of the House, and of those not a small section were Members who took an active part in the discussion of the Education Bill. However that might be, they would stultify themselves—having determined that it was necessary to put their shoulders to the wheel—[cheers]—and hurry on this Bill faster than it had been going during the nine or ten days it had already been in Committee—if they were at 20 minutes past Twelve o'clock to decide it was time to go to bed, when at Four o'clock they had decided that midnight was not the proper hour at which to adjourn. [Ministerial cheers.] He therefore trusted that the right hon. Gentleman would not press his Motion.

said the right hon. Gentleman could hardly have anticipated when about Five o'clock the House came to the decision to suspend the Twelve o'clock Rule that such progress would have been made with the Bill. He looked back somewhat wistfully to the time when those who were now in Opposition were responsible for the conduct of Government business; and he could honestly say that he never remembered an instance of the same progress having been made with a Government Bill as was made with this Bill to-night. [Opposition cheers.] The right hon. Gentleman had tried to suggest that the fault of an hour having been—he would not say wasted, but —expended early in the evening was mainly due to the intervention of Members on the Opposition side, but if they had eyes in the back of their heads they would have seen—

Thirty-three Members rose on your side and only nine on ours. [Cheers.]

said the Motion would not have been made possible had not an adequate number of Gentlemen on the Government side risen to declare that in their opinion the discussion of the subject was necessary. Therefore, the responsibility for that discussion must be shared by both sides of the House. But he was sure that no one outside the Treasury Bench would dispute that, in regard to the Voluntary Schools Bill they had been engaged that evening in discussing two or three of the most important questions that could arise, and that that discussion had been fairly and equitably shared by both sides of the House. Now they were approaching the discussion of a sub-section which was the kernel of this part of the Bill. So long as the associations were not to be compulsory, there was very little difference of opinion between both sides of the House, but they had now reached the question whether the associations were to be compulsory or not, and they felt that that vital topic could not be adequately discussed at half-past Twelve o'clock in an attenuated House—[Ministerial cries of "No, no!"]—and without any possibility of an adequate report of the proceedings going forth to those who were interested in the Bill. [Cheers.]

said the First Lord of the Treasury seemed to have forgotten that to-day was Wednesday and that Members would have to be back in their places in less than 12 hours [Opposition cries of "Hear, hear!"] In view of that fact he thought the Government ought to assent to the Motion and allow them to retire to their homes at a decent hour. [Laughter.] The First Lord's own side was thoroughly wearied out—[Ministerial laughter]—for he never remembered a night when he had so often been asked to pair. [Renewed laughter.]

My memory goes back to the time before the Twelve o'clock Rule was invented, and I have not myself so much regard for that Rule, as I think it often acts as a preventive to doing business. And the singular way in which Members of this House refuse to go on after Twelve o'clock strikes me as another proof of the degeneracy of the age. [Laughter and Ministerial cries of "Divide!"] We used to go on until One and Two o'clock with very good temper and very good dispatch of business. But I cannot disconnect the position at present from the question which is immediately before us. If we were going to discuss such questions as we have been discussing for the last few hours, I should be quite ready to go on, and go on merrily; but we have immediately before us now what is one of the most important questions on this part of the Bill. [Renewed Ministerial cries of "Divide!"] My memory also extends to another characteristic of this House, and that is that immediately below the Gangway, on the Ministerial side, you will find a number of Gentlemen who are bound to remain here because the Whips will not let them go—[Opposition laughter, and Ministerial cries of"Divide!"]—and who have no political instinct. [Loud Opposition cheers, and continued Ministerial cries of "Divide!"] Their desire to suppress discussion has prevailed, whether a Liberal or a Conservative Government is in office. [Cries of "Divide!"] Having relieved myself of that little memory, I recur again to what is the question before us. Does my right hon. Friend at the head of the Government think he is going to settle this question to-night? I do not believe the right hon. Gentleman thinks he can. [Cries of "Yes!"] I am asking my right hon. Friend at the head of the Government, and he has not said he thinks he can; and I would ask further, whether he thinks it is a question which ought to be settled to-night? [Opposition cheers.]

was understood to say "Yes."

I would ask my right hon. Friend whether it is a question which he, if he were in Opposition, would consent to have settled to-night? [Opposition cheers.] This is the question on which the supporters of the Bill are most divided. The clergy interested in this grant are of very diverse opinions. The protests against compulsory association are manifold; and to have the discussion of the proposal at a time when our discussions are in vacuo—when they have no echo in the outer world; when they are not reported; when the limitations of newspaper production do not allow our utterances to meet our constituents—[Ministerial cries of "Divide!"]—those are considerations which may well cause a Leader of the House to hesitate before carrying the discussion to a conclusion. If we cannot conclude the discussion to-night, is it well to begin? In former days time was occupied with Motions to Report Progress, and that the Chairman do leave the Chair; and in the end the Leader of the House had to give way. Such Motions were made an abuse of the Rules of the House, but they did compel Leaders of the House to be reasonable. [Opposition cheers.] I appeal to my right hon. Friend to be reasonable without any compulsion. [Ministerial cries of "No!"] I appeal to him not to begin a discussion which cannot be conducted in a proper and becoming manner, and which cannot lead to a definite conclusion this evening. [Cries of "Yes!"] If my right hon. Friend is convinced of that he will not begin a scene which will reflect no credit upon us, and not assist the progress of the Bill. [Ministerial cries of "Divide!"] I have voted for all the Closure Motions this evening. I want to get the Bill on. But I respect Parliament even more than the Bill. [Loud Opposition cheers.] In the interests of the House of Commons I appeal to my right hon. Friend to lend a reasonable ear to the appeal which has been made to him. [Ministerial cries of "No!"]

My right hon. Friend has made an appeal to me, and it would be discourteous to disregard an appeal made by one who has occupied such a distinguished position in this House. But I must inform the right hon. Gentleman plainly, that his interposition to-night, though no doubt meant in the interests of the dignity of this House, does not conduce to the objects which I believe he has in view. [Loud Ministerial cheers.] The right hon. Gentleman has recalled days when we were both Members of this House, and when the hour at which we have arrived would have been regarded as comparatively early for dealing even with more important business than that now before us. The House have had full warning of the intention of the Government, and by a large majority have declared that they approve of that intention. [Ministerial cheers.] And it appears to me that we should be stultifying ourselves and the decision at which we have arrived if we now refused to deal with the question which lies immediately before us. My right hon. Friend has told us that if we begin the discussion it will be impossible to conclude it. Sir, I cannot agree with my right hon. Friend. [Ministerial cheers.] It appears to me that if the scale on which he and hon. Gentlemen opposite desire to discuss the clauses, sub-clauses, lines, words, and commas of the Bill—[Opposition cries of "No!"]—that if that scale is to be the scale on which our discussions are to be pursued, I do not see how legislation is to be carried on at all in this House. [Ministerial cheers.] But it is sufficient for me to remind my right hon. Friend that if the Opposition, as he thinks, and as I think, improperly throws us upon this course, this end of the evening, for the discussion of this question, it is they who are to blame, and not we—[cheers]—and though we have to submit, as we may have to submit, to a certain amount of physical and mental fatigue, and though we are to be deprived of the glory and encouragement which I understand some hon. Members of the House derive from seeing their words reported at full length in the papers—[laughter]—those losses, though not inconsiderable, are not, in my opinion, sufficient to make us go back upon the course which we deliberately entered upon early in the evening, and reverse a policy deliberately adopted by a full House on the very day on which we adopted it. Sir, I join with my right hon. Friend in the desire that our proceedings should be dignified and orderly, and should conduce to the proper elucidation of the questions under debate; but I cannot agree with him that the course which he presses upon the Government is the one most likely to carry those great ends into effect. [Cheers.]

, who spoke amid Ministerial cries of "Divide," appealed to the Leader of the House not to persist in his Motion, especially having regard to his declaration the previous night that he would not consider it necessary to ask the House to sit to a late hour. Besides that, it was now Wednesday morning, and the House had to meet at Twelve o'clock noon; though they were still at the beginning of the Session the right hon. Gentleman had appropriated four days of the week to this Bill, and, moreover, he had stated it was not necessary to carry the Bill before the 31st of March.

rose to continue the discussion, when

claimed to move, "That the Question be now put."

moved to leave out Sub-section (5). He said that the object of the Sub-section was to give power to the Education Department to exclude a school from any share of the aid grant if, in the the opinion of the Department, it unreasonably refused or failed to join an association. To that extent, he contended the clause was compulsory, as it would have the effect of compelling schools to join an association. The Leader of the House was reported in The Times to have said the other day, in reply to the hon. Member for East Mayo, that these associations were voluntary associations in the fullest sense of the word. If, however, schools were to be compelled to join, he could not see how the associations could be voluntary associations in the fullest sense of the word. It might be said that the Department would not put the sub-section in force, and that it would be a dead letter; but the Vice President of the Council had said that the Department would have to see that no school remained out of an association without a valid cause. Therefore it was the intention of the Government that this sub-section should be used, and that schools should be compelled to join these associations against their will. Who wanted compulsion, and whom would it benefit? Would it benefit the Roman Catholics? He thought not; and the Roman Catholics could do all that they wanted to do by means of voluntary association. Did the Wesleyans want compulsion, or the supporters of British schools? He thought not. As to the Church of England, the right hon. Member for Bodmin had said just now that there was a great division of opinion among its members as to whether these compulsory powers should be put in force or not. The evidence was by no means clear that there was an overwhelming desire among members of the Church of England that this sub-section should stand part of the Bill. The Bishop of Hereford was reported to have said at the meeting of convocation, at Church House—

"There is another course we took, and that was, with an equally light heart and very little discussion we voted compulsory federation. Well, my Lord Archbishop, I doubt if there are half-a-dozen persons in this room who have thought out the result of that. You are proposing to set up a compulsory ecclesiastical local authority everywhere to administer the funds of the State. I am not sufficiently sanguine to believe, or even to hope, that the country will accept that; and, if they do not, where are we?"

Archdeacon Wilson and others had also spoken against these compulsory associations; but he was aware, of course, that there was a considerable body in the Church who were favourable to them. The noble Lord the Member for Rochester had said that, in his opinion, these associations ought to be compulsory upon two grounds. In the first place the noble Lord said that it was to expect too much of human nature—even clerical human nature—to expect it to be entirely unselfish in these matters. He took a more favourable view of clerical human nature, and thought that the managers of denominational schools, without compulsion, would be willing to form voluntary associations and to help their weaker brethren. There was sufficient public spirit and zeal among managers of schools of the same denomination to enable them to arrive at voluntary equitable settlements. The second argument of the noble Lord was that he was not at all sure that if he were a manager he would feel inclined to enter into a voluntary federation, and that he should hold his position as a trustee. If that was going to be the attitude of the managers of all the efficient Voluntary Schools, he did not think that the scheme of compulsory association would work well. A vast amount of friction and discontent would be created if these trustees were compelled to join associations against their sense of right. Parliament, he knew, was, technically speaking, supreme, and, of course, any school that had been hardly treated under a scheme of association would be able to appeal to that House. Although Parliament was supreme on this subject, he thought it would be utterly impossible for Parliament to re-examine in every detail the plans which they had passed as a whole. He did not think it would be possible for any Education Department to undertake that task. The second alternative would be that any managers discontented with the scheme of association could retire from the association, and lose the whole of the 5s. grant which the Bill proposed to give them, and he thought the sense of injustice, which would be strongly felt, would compel the managers of Voluntary Schools to adopt that course. The third alternative would be that they might remain in the association and grumble and suffer under their injuries, whether fancied or real. That was a result which the supporters of this system of compulsory federation viewed with equanimity and gratification. He could not believe that associations based upon a system of compulsion and containing within themselves elements of such discontent would prove a permanent blessing or assist the voluntary system. He thought, moreover, that by the institution of compulsory associations they were really setting up a premium on bad management. If they compelled efficient and non-efficient schools to join the associations they would seriously interfere with that individual enterprise which had caused Voluntary Schools to be a success in many places in this country. They would have managers of efficient schools saying that, after all, it was no good keeping their schools in a state of efficiency, when their zeal and care for education were so badly rewarded, and they received less money than their neighbours who took no pains with the schools, and no pride in education. On the other hand, the managers of inefficient schools would say they had been compelled to join the associations, they would find they got more money for their inefficient schools than was given to the efficient schools and they would say, "After all, we think our course in keeping the schools inefficient has not been altogether amiss." He should like to ask who was going to pay the expenses connected with the associations? The expenses of the Diocesan Association in London amounted to 2s. 3d. per child, and he could not help thinking that associations extending over a wide area and including a large number of schools must have more expenses attached to them than a London one. He should like to know whether the expenses of the voluntary associations were to come from the aid grant, or from the voluntary subscriptions? He thought it was extremely unfair to force those who did not wish to do so to join in the associations and incur this expenditure and loss for what they believed to be a very doubtful benefit indeed. He should also like to call the Committee's attention to the final words of this clause.

"But the refusal or failure" (to join an association) "shall not be deemed unreasonable if the majority of the schools in the association belong to a religious denomination to which the school in question does not itself belong."

It seemed to him that the associations would be denominational as well as compulsory associations. It was the first time the State had authorised its money to be used for the endowment of denominational education. He readily admitted that he did not think associations could be successfully formed on any other than a denominational basis. Wesleyans would form their associations by joining together several circuits; the Church of England associations would probably be diocesan. But there were no words in the Bill to show how the schools were to be represented on the associations. Would each school send a representative? If so, almost invariably he would be the clergyman of the parish, or the minister of the congregation to which the school belonged. If, however, these associations were to be formed on a different basis, and to elect representatives in proportion to the number of scholars in average attendance, even then there would be a preponderance of the ecclesiastical element in the associations. The head of the Church of England associations would be the Bishop, of the Wesleyan associations one of the leaders of the Circuit, and the Catholics would adopt a similar principle. The 5s. grant was raised from every sect in the State, every class in the community irrespective of creed.

I think the hon. Member is wandering considerably from the Amendment. [Ministerial cheers.]

said he bowed loyally to that ruling, but this was, he believed, the first time public money had been spent to compel schools to join associations founded on such lines. It would tend to increase sectarian bitterness, and to raise up old animosities between creed and creed. What was the First Lord of the Treasury's interpretation of the word "reasonable" in the clause, relating to the case where a school "unreasonably refuses or fails" to join an association? The interpretation of the word unreasonable was placing a wide discretion in the hands of the Education Department, and the Committee ought to have a definite explanation of what would be deemed "reasonable" or unreasonable. Supposing they had an area embracing 100 schools, and 60 schools voted for an association and 40 against. If the association was formed would the refusal of the large minority of 40 be held to be "unreasonable" or not. In the alternative, if 60 schools voted against forming an association and 40 for, could the minority of 40 form an association, and, if so, would the 60 schools be compelled to join the association or lose the 5s. grant? He thought they were entitled to have some sort of interpretation as to the lines on which the Education Department would consider action in regard to this matter to be reasonable or unreasonable. He thought the Government would be taking up a more reasonable position if they permitted the associations to be merely voluntary. He thought they would be able to see in two years how the associations would work. He hoped the Amendment would receive consideration at the hands of the Government. He begged to move the Amendment.

said it had been the practice of hon. Gentlemen opposite to describe the associations as compulsory, but they were not compulsory. There was no power in the Bill to require schools to form associations. When hon. Gentlemen were driven out of that position they complained that when the associations were formed it would be compulsory on schools to join them. Even that statement, however, should be greatly modified before it could be accepted as accurate. In the first place, they had carefully provided that no schools should ever be compelled to join an association of schools the majority of which did not belong to the same denomination as itself. In the second place, dealing only with those associations which were of the same denomination as the school which had refused to join, and which reasonably ought to have joined, even then the word compulsion was really rather a strong word to use. The worst that could happen to any school that refused to join an association was to be left exactly where hon. Gentlemen wanted to leave every Voluntary School in the country. The worst that could happen to the Voluntary School was not to have that grant from the Exchequer which hon. Gentlemen had been striving to withdraw, not merely from the schools which refused to join an association, but from every school. [Opposition cries of "No!"] He did not call that compulsion—it was a penalty which hon. Gentlemen would desire to be universal. [Renewed cries of "No!"] If the votes of hon. Members on the day when the Bill was introduced into Committee had any meaning, they intended it to be universal. [Ministerial cheers.] If imposed at all it was a penalty not likely to be imposed on any school in need of the grant the Government desired to give. In the judgment of the Government—and it had even been admitted by hon. Members opposite in their more candid moments—the work of distribution would work with incomparably more smoothness if carried on through associations. Under any circumstances a large weight of responsibility would be thrown on the Education Department, and in the earlier stages of these discussions two Members moved Amendments to make the allocation of the grant absolutely automatic as between all schools. He considered that the two sides of the House were agreed on this fundamental principle, and was it asking too much to say that schools who refused to co-operate should not have the benefit of the grant? It appeared to him a most reasonable and moderate condition. A large sum of money was going to be given; whether it was adequate or not it certainly was not small, and it was not too much to ask, as a condition of the grant, that managers of schools who refused to lend themselves to the machinery provided for the distribution of the grant should be deprived of the privilege of receiving the grant, that is if they unreasonably refused. In his judgment the Bill would be seriously impaired if they were not to imply on the very face of the Bill that it was regarded as a duty for schools having at their door an association of other schools by hypothesis belonging to their own denomination to associate with these schools for the distribution of the funds. The request was reasonable, the penalty was not severe, and he hoped the Committee would adhere, to the Sub-section. ["Hear, hear!"]