coachman, for gross cruelty to a horse; | the inhabitants; whether he is aware and, whether he is aware that, although that the districts consists almost entirely the cruelty was fully proved against both of private houses inhabited by people in defendents, the bench of magistrates a good position of life, and of such a dismissed both cases; and, if so, whe-class as is likely to be seriously deprether there are any means by which such failures of justice can be remedied? SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT, in reply, said, he had received a letter from the magistrates on this case, in which they said that, after full consideration, they decided that the charge had not been proved against the clergyman, and accordingly they dismissed it. The summons against the coachman was withdrawn by the prosecuting parties. Looking at the circumstances, he could not see any proof that there had been a failure of justice. LAW AND POLICE-THE LATE CALA MITY AT SUNDERLAND. MR. BIGGAR asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, How many policemen were told off on Saturday last to keep order at the performance at Sunderland where so many lives were lost? The hon. Member said, that the following words had apparently been left out of his Question by the printer-namely, Whether on the same day a number of policemen were set apart to keep order at a pigeon-shooting match, and whether the Home Secretary did not consider that the exhibition at Sunderland was an occasion to which the attention of the police ought to have been directed rather than to a pigeon match? SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT: Sir, this is a matter, as the House knows, that I can give no information upon. I have said over and over again that I have no control or authority over local police. As to the number of police that were on duty at the performance at Sunderland, that, no doubt, will be brought out in the course of the investigation which is to take place. ciated in value by the erection of the proposed school; whether the statistics that have been furnished to the Education Department show any want of school accommodation in the district; and, whether, assuming a deficiency to exist, it is not possible to obtain a site in the neighbourhood which will not be open to the objections raised against the one chosen? MR. MUNDELLA: Sir, the Education Department has consented to the erection of a School in Coborn Street, Bow. The site was scheduled in a Provisional Order, which passed through Parliament last year without opposition. Remonstrances were addressed to the Department by some of the inhabitants, who complained that Coborn Street was inhabited by persons not likely to use an elementary school, and that it would but both to the east and west of Coborn depreciate the value of their property; Street there are large populations of the elementary school class. Statistics were furnished to the Department showing a want of school accommodation in the district, and before the Provisional Order was authorized an inquiry under the Statute was held by the Inspector, who supported the proposal of the Board. In order to meet, if possible, the objections of the inhabitants of Coborn Street, the Department required the School Board, before issuing notices, to endeavour to obtain some other site. The School Board, accordingly, last autumn, scheduled two other sites; but the local objections to both were as strong as those against Coborn Street, and on the same ground. After consultation with Board, we allowed the erection of the Her Majesty's Inspector and the School school in Coborn Street. ARMY HOSPITAL SERVICES INQUIRY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT BOARD SCHOOL IN COBORN STREET, BOW. MR. RITCHIE asked the Vice Pre-cretary of State for War, with resident of the Council, Whether the Education Department have given their consent to the London School Board to erect a school in Coborn Street, Bow, notwithstanding the remonstrances which have been made by large numbers of VOL. CCLXXX. [THIRD SERIES.] ference to Appendix No. 33, in the Army Hospital Services Inquiry Blue Book, Whether the list of medical comforts there given, as received at Ismailia, and used on board H.M.S. "Malabar during the voyage to Portsmouth, re 2 Z Ma. 73HEA asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Whether he will now introduce and have printed the Bill dealing with the higher ranks of the Royal Irish Constabulary and abolishing the Special Resident Magistrates, so that the House may have an opportunity of studying the detalls of that important measure before the concluding days at the end of the Session? MR. TREVELYAN: Sir, when I see any fair hope of getting time for the discussion of this measure I will lay it on the Table of the House. On that Onnsion I will make a statement on the subjoot, and I will see that the House Mr. Guy Dawnay ensize x I THE NEW NOVELLE OF THE EXCEEDe 1. lams Sir, in reply to the first lestion of the hon. Mamber, save o say that if statements afectnga Lalini Reverte cer are made In his absence, he is vays given an opportunity of contradicting or explaining them, either verbally or in writing. If, after such opportunity has been given, a charge is fully substantiated against an Inland Revenue officer. censure or other punishment would naturally follow. The answer to the third Question is "No." Censure stands against an officer for one or two years only. The answer to the fourth Question is "No." I do not consider that the system, as false I have described it, facilitates charges against subordinates; nor have I reason to believe that officers are intimidated in the manner suggested in the last Question. MR. ARTHUR O'CONNOR asked whether the right hon. Gentleman would give an assurance that, in the case of proved injustice done under the existing system to any officer, that officer would MR. T. P. O'CONNOR: Is one of be saved from any consequence not fairly these gentlemen (Captain Hill) a memdue to his conduct? ber of the Gweedore Board of Guardians? THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. CHILDERS) said, that in the case of proved injustice it would, of course, be his duty to endeavour to have right done. NAVY-WRECK OF H.M.S. "LIVELY." DR. CAMERON asked the Secretary to the Admiralty, Whether the rock on which H.M.S. "Lively" was wrecked is visible at all states of the tide; or, if not, whether it is marked or buoyed? MR. O'BRIEN: The Chairman. INDIA (PALCONDA). MR. O'DONNELL asked the Under Secretary of State for India, If the Government have recently received any representations on behalf of the exZemindar of Palconda; on what charge a child of eleven years, the present exZemindar of Palconda, was condemned, in 1832, by the British authorities in India to imprisonment for life; if it is MR. CHAMBERLAIN: Sir, I have been asked by my hon. Friend the Secretary to the Admiralty to answer this Question, because it concerns the ad-true that the prisoner was only released ministration of Trinity House. The Hen and Chickens rocks, on which Her Majesty's ship Lively was wrecked, are visible at all states of the tide, except near high water at ordinary spring tides, when, according to the most recent Admiralty survey, there is about half-afoot of water over them. The rocks are not buoyed because the Elder Brethren of the Trinity House, when consulted in 1869, were of opinion that a good clearing-mark for the rocks is given in the Admiralty sailing directions for the Hebrides, and since 1869 no further representations have been made on the subject. ARREARS OF RENT (IRELAND) ACT, 1882 -TENANTRY NEAR GWEEDORE. MR. JUSTIN M'CARTHY asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether legal proceedings for the recovery of rent just accrued due are being taken against the tenantry of Capt. A. B. Hill, and of Mr. Wybrant Olpherts, near Gweedore; and, whether it is a fact that these tenants paid a year's rent last winter to qualify under the Arrears Act, and have since been dependent principally upon charity for their support? MR. TREVELYAN: I am informed, Sir, that legal proceedings have been taken against some tenants by Mr. Olpherts and Captain Hill to recover rent due. Some of the tenants concerned paid a year's rent last winter to qualify under the Arrears Act. They have not been since principally dependent on charity, but some of them got seed, potatoes, and oats. in 1869, after suffering an imprisonment MR. J. K. CROSS: Sir, firstly, Viziaram, half-brother of the last Zemindar of Palconda, has submitted to the Secretary of State two Petitions for the restoration of the estate forfeited for rebellion by the last Zemindar in 1832; secondly, Viziaram, with other members of his family, was ordered, under Regulation 11 of 1819, to reside at the Fort of Vellore, because it was deemed necessary for the peace of the country to remove the family from the neighbourhood of the Zemindary of Palconda; thirdly, he was permitted to leave Vellore in 1869; fourthly, the then Governor of Madras, Sir Frederick Adam, reviewed the case in 1839; fifthly, the High Court of Madras, on a suit brought by Viziaram in 1879 to recover the estate, decided that his detention at Vellore did not deprive him of his power to institute proceedings; sixthly, no compensation is due to Viziaram, who receives a pension of 250 rupees a-month; seventhly, I must refer the hon. Member for Dungarvan to a Return presented and printed on the 26th of April last, which | removal; but he (Sir Charles W. Dilke) shows that there are 47 State prisoners should like to read to the House some in India, and which also gives the authority for the confinement of each. extracts from the letter from the Vestry of St. Giles's, because that seemed to show that ample powers already existed. POST OFFICE-OVERHEAD TELEGRAPH The letter stated WIRES. MR. STUART-WORTLEY asked the President of the Local Government Board, Whether it is the fact that overhead telegraph and telephone wires are in some cases stretched across streets, not only by Her Majesty's Post Office, but also by persons not empowered to do so, either by Act of Parliament or by licence from the public bodies in whom is vested the soil of the street across which such wires are stretched; whether there exist any means of ascertaining the number of overhead wires in the Metropolis which belong to private owners or companies which have ceased to use them, or for other reasons have ceased to keep them in repair; and, whether it may not be the case that there is an increasing number of overhead wires, of which the owners cannot be identified, which are practically abandoned, and which are daily falling more and more out of repair, and becoming more dangerous to the public? SIR CHARLES W. DILKE, in reply, said, that the first and third branches of the Question referred rather to the general question than to that relating to the Metropolis. The second part referred to the Metropolis alone. He had received a deputation to-day on the subject with the Secretary of State for the Home Department, as representing the two Departments concerned. The matter had also been referred by the Home Office to the Metropolitan Vestries for information. As to the first of the hon. Member's Questions, his answer would be in the affirmative, though some of the Vestries seemed to dispute the extent of their powers. In reply to the second Question, many of the Vestries which had been communicated with stated that there were many such lines in the district, others said there were none; but the greater portion had replied that they were without information. In the City and certain parts of Westminster, no doubt there were a certain number of abandoned lines. The Vestry of St. Mary, Newington, stated that if any such existed in their district they would immediately take steps for their Mr. J. K. Cross "Overhead telegraph and telephone wires had been stretched across the streets by persons not empowered to do so; but in all such cases where the owners had been found the Board had taken steps to obtain the removal of such wires, or had permitted them to remain under proper conditions and supervision. Where private wires had ceased to be used or to be kept the Board's inspector. The increase in overhead in repair, the owners had been ascertained by wires is constantly watched and dealt with." In other portions of the Metropolis he believed the erection of overhead wires was disregarded. The whole of the legal points at issue were about to be raised in actions to be brought by the Local Board of Wandsworth. hon. Gentleman has not stated whether MR. STUART-WORTLEY: The right the Local Boards dispute their liability to any person injured by the fall of such a wire into the street? SIR CHARLES W. DILKE: That is a wholly different Question; but I may erected the wires. Of course, if there say the liability is on the person who was no owner to be found that would be another matter; that is a question, however, which has not up the present time been raised. MR. STUART-WORTLEY: Will the right hon. Gentleman consider whether there is any such liability? SIR CHARLES W. DILKE: As I have already stated, one of the Vestries say they have power to take their wires down. It will be better to have this point cleared up by a legal decision before any other matter is entered upon. LAW AND JUSTICE (SCOTLAND)— PETITION PROCESSES IN COURT OF SESSION. DR. CAMERON asked the Lord Advocate, Whether his attention has been called to the state of confusion into which the curatory, factory, and entail petition processes in the Court of Session have fallen; whether representations have been made to Government of the inconvenience and risk involved in the present state of things, and of the urgent necessity for the re-arrangement and re-indexing of the whole petition processes, and for their safe custody; and, whether there is any prospect of such a re-arrangement of the office entrusted with their charge as will enable the reindexing to be overtaken, and the delays and inconveniences complained of to be avoided? THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. B. BALFOUR): I believe, Sir, that some difficulty in the arrangement of the papers referred to exists, owing to the unequal distribution of the work of the clerks of Court, which, unfortunately, can only be fully remedied by Act of Parliament. Some time ago, a temporary assistant was appointed to the clerks of the Office of the Junior Lord Ordinary, before whom these processes come, and I shall endeavour to get such further temporary arrangement made as may remedy the inconvenience. LAND LAW (IRELAND) ACT, 1881 COTTAGES. MR. O'SULLIVAN asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether the Government are taking any steps for enforcing the orders of the Land Commissioners for the building of labourers' cottages in cases where such orders have not been complied with? MR. TREVELYAN: Sir, the Act of Parliament does not give the Government any authority to take steps for enforcing the orders of the Land Commissioners for the building of labourers' cottages. I am afraid we cannot undertake to bring in an amending Act. A Bill is now before the House dealing with this question on a larger scale. MR. KENNY asked how many of these houses were erected under the Land Act? MR. TREVELYAN: I cannot say from memory, but I stated the number in answer to a Question the other day. It is something very small. MR. O'SULLIVAN asked whether the Land Act could not be amended in this respect? MR. TREVELYAN: I daresay the hon. Member feels very strongly on this matter, and in that case, perhaps, he would bring in a clause himself. EVICTIONS (IRELAND)—CASE OF WIDOW DRISCOLL. MR. O'BRIEN asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether, and for what reason, the police have prevented Widow Driscoll, an evicted tenant, from taking possession of a wooden hut provided for the shelter of herself and her family at Keelkemane, near Skull; and, whether two of Widow Driscoll's grandchildren have died from exposure owing to the miserable condition of the hut in which they were obliged to take shelter after eviction? MR. TREVELYAN: Sir, Mrs. Driscoll was evicted in April last, owing four years' rent, which it is believed she could have paid if she wished. It was proposed to erect a hut for her on a passage leading from the high road to the evicted house and farm. The object was believed to be intimidation, and informations were sworn to that effect. It was for this reason that the persons concerned were warned to desist. It is the case that two of Mrs. Driscoll's grandchildren died soon after the eviction. I am informed that the family are quite as well sheltered in the outhouse to which they removed after the eviction as they would have been in the wooden hut, and that the children had been dead more than a month before the erection of the latter was proposed. LUNACY COMMISSIONERS' REPORTS FOR 1882. MR. W. J. CORBET asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, When the Report of the Lunacy Commissioners, England, for the year ended 31st December 1882 will be laid upon the Table, and also the Report of the Scotch Commissioners for the same period? SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT: This Report is in type, and will soon be presented to the House. MR. ARTHUR O'CONNOR asked whether under an Act of Parliament these Papers ought not to be laid on the Table within three weeks of the meeting of Parliament; and whether the right hon. and learned Gentleman had not previously promised, in reply to a Question of his own, that there should be no unnecessary delay? SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT: I cannot answer that Question off-hand. MR. W. J. CORBET asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, When the Report of the Inspectors of Lunatics, Ireland, for 1882 will be laid upon the Table? |