House will be placed in possession of | pay, and employment of specially trained the views of Her Majesty's Government, Royal Naval Officers for this work, since as they propose laying on the Table approved by the Admiralty, is to be the despatch which will be sent in reply adopted? to that of the Governor of Queensland. SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH: The telegram from the Governor of Queensland on the subject was received as long ago as the 10th of April; and Her Majesty's Government have been, therefore, some little time in making up their minds. I hope we may know next week what they propose to do. NAVY-OFFICERS OF THE STEAM RESERVE. MR. J. K. CROSS: In reply to the second part of the Question of the noble Lord, I have to state that the proposals contained in the Report of the then Director of Indian Marine, dated May 18, 1882, have been generally accepted by the Government of India, and, having been concurred in by the Lords of the Admiralty, have been approved by the Secretary of State in Council, except as regards two minor points-the precise disciplinary regulations under which the naval officers to Indian Government offiInvestigator sails, and the relation of the cials, on which, at the desire of the Admiralty, the Government of India have been asked for more definite information. As regards the first part of the Question, the recommendations of the Director-which have been approvedMR. CAMPBELL - BANNERMAN: were that systematic surveys of the Lodging money is payable only to offi-coasts of India should be carried on by cers unprovided with accommodation on board ship, and is, therefore, not issuable to officers of the Steam Reserve, SIR H. DRUMMOND WOLFF asked the Secretary to the Admiralty, Whether Her Majesty's Government will consider the propriety of giving to the Officers of the Steam Reserve at naval stations either lodgings or lodging money as was formerly done? who are entitled to such accommodation. Upwards of 10 years ago, by an oversight, this allowance was drawn by some officers of the Steam Reserve; but as soon as attention was called to the circumstance orders were given that its issue to them should cease. SIR H. DRUMMOND WOLFF: Is the hon. Gentleman aware that though there are over 100 officers of the Steam Reserve at Portsmouth, lodgings are only provided on board the Asia for four? MR. CAMPBELL - BANNERMAN: I am not aware what the accommodation is; at the same time, I know of no case of an officer having applied for accommodation and of its being refused. INDIA-MARINE SURVEY OF INDIA. LORD GEORGE HAMILTON asked the Under Secretary of State for India, If it is the intention of the Indian Government to continue the Marine Survey or charting of their coasts on a scientific basis, as afforded by the data of the Grand Trigonometrical Survey; and, whether a report, dated May 18th, 1882, made by a Post Captain in the Royal Navy, at that time the Director of Indian Marine, relative to the position, the Marine Survey of India, and that they should make use, when available, of the points already fixed by the Grand Trigonometrical Survey; but that the preparation of the charts from the surveys of the Department should, for the future, be undertaken in the Hydrographer's Department at the Admiralty, the preparation of charts at Calcutta being discontinued. INDIA-THE LATE MAHARAJAH OF TANJORE. MR. MACFARLANE asked the Un der Secretary of State for India, If it is true that the mother of the late Maharajah of Tanjore enjoyed during her life an hereditary pension of 16,800 rupees per annum, and that, upon the death of that lady, Mr. Kavanagh, as counsel for her surviving relative, memorialized the Government of India for the continuance of the said hereditary pension to the said relative, and that the Government rejected this Petition without assigning any reason? MR. J. K. CROSS: The facts of the case to which it is believed the Question of the hon. Member refers are as follows. The mother of the late Maharajah of Tanjore enjoyed a pension of 1,400 rupees a month. No portion of this pension was heritable as a matter of course; but one-half of it might, in ANNAM-FRENCH MILITARY EXPEDI TION. certain circumstances and at the discre- | fact that children played there, and that tion of Government, be continued after they did make a noise; but he had not the death of the original grantee to her the power-and he was not sure that he surviving relatives. The lady died in had the wish-to deprive the children of 1864, and no question was raised as to a playground which fortune might have continuance of any part of the pension thrown in their way. to anybody until 1877, when her sole surviving daughter, herself in receipt of a pension of 281 rupees a month, preferred a claim to a moiety of it. This claim was, in the first instance, under a misapprehension of the rules applicable to the case, admitted by the Government of Madras; but it was disallowed by the Government of India, who eventually sanctioned the grant of a lump sum of 30,000 rupees, and an increase of 350 rupees a month to the pension previously enjoyed by this lady. A Memorial from her against this decision was, in 1881, sent home by the Government of India to the Secretary of State in Council, by whom it was rejected after full consideration. The case having thus been finally disposed of, the Government of India would, no doubt, decline to consider any further Memorials in regard to it; but I am not aware whether, in fact, their action has been as stated in the hon. Member's Question. OPEN SPACES (METROPOLIS)-WASTE LAND AT WEST BROMPTON. MR. ST. AUBYN asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If he is aware that there is a large triangular-shaped piece of land lying waste between the lines of the West London and District Railways, bounded on the west by the West London Railway, and the other two sides by the back of Philbeach Gardens and Eardley Crescent, terminating at West Brompton Railway Station, on which games and many kinds of noisy nuisances take place every Sunday; and, whether, inasmuch as the land is the property of the District Railway Company, and not under police control, he will take steps to ensure the decent observance of the Sabbath, and the comfort of the people living in the immediate neighbourhood? SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT, in reply, said, this seemed to be a piece of private ground; and, of course, it was impossible to interfere with private owners. He had inquired of the police, and from what he had heard he did not think there was anything seriously amiss at the place in question. Probably it was the Mr. J. K. Cross BARON HENRY DE WORMS asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether Her Majesty's Government have received any confirmation of the statement, made by the Paris correspondent of the "Times." that M. Tricou, the new French Minister to China, had told the Viceroy at Shanghai that the French officers "have had instructions to shoot any Chinaman taken in arms in the Annamite ranks ;" and, whether, seeing that Annam is under the protectorate of China, such a proceeding would not be a violation of International Law; and, if so, whether friendly representations have been or will be made by Her Majesty's Government to France in the interest of peace between that Power and China, with a view to the withdrawal of the instructions referred to ? LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICE: No, Sir; no confirmation of the statement has reached Her Majesty's Government, and there has been no question of making representations to France on the subject. CROWN LANDS BILL COMMONRIGHTS IN THE NEW FOREST. MR. STORY-MASKELYNE asked the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether he will state what grounds exist for a limitation to particular portions of the New Forest of the area for supplying wood to satisfy the fuel-rights of the Commoners; whether, if the satisfying those fuel-rights by cutting the 376 cords of wood needed for the purpose from that limited area could be shown to be injurious, the immense amount of thinnings from the more recently planted portions of the 25,000 acres of plantations in the Forest might not be made available without touching the 5,000 acres of ornamental timber; whether the Committee to which the Crown Lands Bill was referred were informed that the compulsory powers contained in that Bill had not been communicated, and were a surprise to the Commoners NATIONAL EDUCATION (IRELAND)— RETIREMENTS. MR. BIGGAR asked the Chief Secre interested, that the Commoners were almost unanimously opposed to those powers and were not prepared from the shortness of notice to state their case fully before the Committee; and, whe-tary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, ther, therefore, he will consent to the Bill being re-committed to the said Committee? MR. COURTNEY: A succession of Acts have declared that the Crown reserves in the New Forest are not liable to fuel or other common-rights, and this is embodied in the awards of the Commissioners of 1857, and in the Act of 1877. These rights are, therefore, confined to the parts of the Forest outside the Crown inclosures. The thinnings of the Crown plantations are the property of the nation, and it would be a pure gift to divert them to the uses of a few local gentry. As regards the latter part of the Question, I have to say that the compulsory powers contained in the Bill were duly advertised as required by the Standing Orders of this House, and that there was a considerable time before the Bill went to the Committee. I have reason to know that it is not true that the Commoners almost unanimously, or even the major part of the interests affected, are opposed to the scheme of compulsory commutation. I do not think that any useful purpose could be served by recommitting the Bill to the Select Committee. INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS AND REFORMA TORIES-THE REPORTS. SIR EARDLEY WILMOT asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, When the Report of the Managers of Reformatory and Industrial Schools will be laid upon the Table of the House? SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT, in reply, said, that this Report had been for some time in the hands of the printers. He did not know why it had not yet been presented to Parliament. MR. BUXTON (for Mr. RICHARDSON) asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If he is in a position to state when the Report of the Royal Commission upon Industrial Schools and Reformatories will be presented to Parliament? SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT: This Report will, I hope, be presented before the end of the Session. Whether there are in the direct service of the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland any persons of sixty-five years of age or upwards; and, if so, how many of these are in the Education Office, Marlborough Street; how many are head or district inspectors of National Schools; and, whether there is any rule that such officials should retire at a stated age, as in the case of the school teachers connected with the same Board? MR. TREVELYAN: The Commissioners of National Education inform me that there at present 13 persons in their direct employment who are 65 years of age, or upwards. Of these, one is a clerk in their Office; two are District Inspectors; one is a Head Inspector; and the remaining nine are male teachers. There are also 14 female teachers above the age of 60. There is no rule that the officials of the Board, such as Inspectors or clerks, shall retire at 65 years of age. As a matter of course, they would not be continued in the service at that or any other age, if unfit for duty. A teacher also may be continued beyond the age of 65, if he makes a claim to that effect, and if the Commissioners are of opinion that his continuance would serve the interests of education. INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS (IRELAND)— GRANTS. MR. BUXTON (for Mr. RICHARDSON) asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If he will state how many grants have been made to Industrial Schools in Ireland since the 1st of January last; and, whether grants are made to suitable institutions according to priority of application; and, if not, upon what principle are such grants awarded? MR. TREVELYAN: No fresh certificates have been granted since the 1st of January last. In one case, an extension of the number of inmates has been allowed in fulfilment of a promise previously made. Grants to suitable institutions are not made according to priority of application. All the circumstances of each case are considered before a decision is arrived at. THE CENSUS, 1881 (SCOTLAND). MR. BUCHANAN asked the Lord Advocate, When the concluding volume of the Census of Scotland will be published; and, whether the delay that has taken place has been due to the deficiency of the Scottish Staff as compared with that employed on the compilation of the Census of other parts of the United Kingdom? THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. B. BALFOUR): The concluding volume of the Census of Scotland will probably be completed by the end of next month, and it will then have been completed in a much shorter time than the Census of 1871 or the Census of 1861. I cannot say that delay has taken place owing to the deficiency of the Scotch staff, who have discharged their duties with zeal and ability. I understand that the Register Office would not accommodate a larger staff. whether Her Majesty's Government still decline to take any steps to restore order in that country? MR. EVELYN ASHLEY: The only information which we have about the murder of a Missionary is the following telegram received from Sir Henry Bulwer on the 17th instant : dered, but by whom it is uncertain.” "The Missionary Schröeder has been murAs to Mr. Herbert Nunn, he is what you may call one of the White aides-decamp, which the different Chiefs usually have with them. He is with the Chief Oham; but we have no official information as to his being murdered. As to the second part of the Question, I would point out to the right hon. Gentleman that the principal cause of the disturbances at this moment in Zululand is the refusal of Oham either to come into the reserve territory or to submit to Cetewayo, he being in the territory of Cetewayo, and lawfully subject to him. CHILI AND PERU-ALLEGED TREATY Her Majesty's Government have never OF PEACE. MR. BOURKE asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether the Government of Chili have avowed the intention of annexing the Peruvian province of Tarapaca; and, if so, what steps Her Majesty's Government will take to secure the deposits of guano and nitrate, which have been mortgaged by Peru to British subjects ? LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICE: The terms of the agreement stated to have been concluded between the Chi lians and General Yglesias have not been officially reported to Her Majesty's Government; but it is understood that it includes the cession of Tarapaca, as well as an arrangement between Chili and the foreign holders of Peruvian Bonds, under which 50 per cent of the net produce of the sale of guano is to be assigned to the latter. This arrangement, it is stated, will form one of the Articles of the Treaty of Peace, so as to guarantee its faithful execution. claimed or sought to enforce a protection over Zululand and their proper, policy in that respect remains unaltered; but they will be ready to take all measures necessary for the security of the Colony and the peace of the Frontier. LORD RANDOLPH CHURCHILL asked whether the hon. Gentleman now unreservedly withdrew the statement made by him some time ago, that the disturbances were owing to the action of Cetewayo? MR. EVELYN ASHLEY said, the noble Lord was under a misapprehension. He was referring at that time to Usiebebu, but now to the Chief Oham. SIR MICHAEL HICKS - BEACH: Can the hon. Gentleman say if Mr. Flynn is still with Cetewayo, or whether a successor has been appointed? MR. EVELYN ASHLEY: He is still with Cetewayo; and Sir Henry Bulwer has sent a gentleman named Davey to assist him while the appointment of a successor is being considered. SOUTH AFRICA-ZULULAND-MURDER TRUSTEES IN BANKRUPTCY-STATEOF A MISSIONARY. SIR HENRY HOLLAND asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether he can give the House any information as to the alleged murder of a missionary in Zululand and the disappearance of Mr. Herbert Nunn; and, MENT OF MR. DANIEL, Q.C., COUNTY COURT JUDGE, LEEDS DISTRICT. MR. COLERIDGE KENNARD asked the President of the Board of Trade, Whether his attention has been called to a statement of Mr. Daniel, Q.C., Judge of the Leeds County Court, that the alle gation of the Right honourable Gentle- | trial of European offenders; and, wheman, that "the great majority of bank- ther any complaints have been made ruptcy trustees appointed heretofore were against the exercise of full magisterial little better than swindlers" was a powers by Natives in Ceylon? calumnious libel," so far at least as the three important courts over which that judge presides are concerned; and, whether, in view of such a statement from the Bench, he will offer any explanation of his severe strictures upon bankruptcy trustees? MR. CHAMBERLAIN: My attention has been called to the statement made by the Judge of the County Court of Leeds; and I must express my regret that any person occupying a judicial capacity should have thought it his duty to use such very strong language on the faith of a report which he had not taken the trouble to verify. The only explanation I have to give is that the report is altogether inaccurate, and that I said nothing of the kind. What I have said, both in the Committee and elsewhere, is that the Reports of the Controller General in Bankruptcy show that many of the persons who accept the office of trustee in Bankruptcy have been little better than swindlers, and that if they were called upon to pay up they would probably have to leave the country. That is a statement which I have made on the authority of the Controller General in Bankruptcy; and that is a statement which anybody who knows anything of the subject can easily confirm. POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANK-THE NEW BUILDING. MR. COLERIDGE KENNARD asked the Postmaster General, Whether the new premises, which it was stated would be ready for occupation by the Post Office Savings Banks in April, are yet open; and, if not, whether he can specify the causes which occasion delay? MR. FAWCETT, in reply, said, there had been some unexpected legal difficulties in obtaining possession of this property. The workmen were now engaged on it, and he hoped it would soon be ready for occupation-perhaps at the end of a month. CEYLON-NATIVE MAGISTRATES. MR. O'DONNELL asked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether Native magistrates in Ceylon are subject to any disqualification in the case of the MR. EVELYN ASHLEY asked to be allowed to answer this Question, as it concerned the Colonial Office. He said: The answer to both the Questions is in the negative. I may add that in Ceylon there is a Native Judge of the Supreme Court, and Native Magistrates who judge all cases of Europeans as well as Natives-the Criminal Law recognizing no distinction of race. INDIAN POSSESSIONS OF FRANCE DISQUALIFICATION OF NATIVES. MR. O'DONNELL asked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether Natives of the Indian possessions of France are under any disqualifications in consequence of race as compared with other French citizens? MR. J. K. CROSS: For a reply to this Question, I can only refer the hon. Member for Dungarvan to the French Colonial Minister. MR. O'DONNELL: Might I ask the hon. Member whether, before I do that, he will be so kind as to consult the Foreign Department of the English Government? [No reply was given.] MR. O'DONNELL said, he should put the Question again. COOLIES (INDIA)—LICENCES ON MR. O'DONNELL asked the Under Secretary of State for India, If the Home Government has approved the imposition of a licence upon Indian workers for hire and labourers by the job, such as porters, charwomen, &c. as a condition of their being allowed to earn their living? MR. J. K. CROSS: The Question of the hon. Member may, perhaps, refer to an Act recently passed by the Council of the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, for the registration and control of porters and " Dandywallahs" in the Darjeeling and Kurseong Municipalities. The object of the Bill is to regulate the conditions under which porters and carriers may work for hire in these hill towns, in which ordinary carts and carriages are not available. The Governor General has given his assent to the |