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Whether any communications passing will provide for the disposal of the funds between Mr. Errington and the Foreign for the benefit of discharged prisoners. Office will be printed for the information of the House?

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CHARITY COMMISSIONERS THE
GRIFFITH AMERIDETH EXETER
CHARITY.

MR. H. S. NORTHCOTE asked the Vice President of the Council, If it is the fact that the Charity Commissioners have for some time past withheld from the Trustees of the Griffith Amerideth Exeter Charity the dividends from Stock invested in the names of the Official Trustees of that Charity; and, if so, under what statute, and with what ultimate intention, have the Charity Commissioners thus acted?

MR. MUNDELLA: It appears that in 1556 the Founder of this Charity bequeathed the profits of his lands for the purchase of shrouds for prisoners who should suffer death in the city of Exeter. By orders of the Court of Chancery and of the Charity Commissioners, the trust is now administered by municipal trustees, the Stock being held by "the official trustees of charitable funds." The demand for shrouds having happily declined, the income has been applied, without authority, to the purchase of petticoats for old women. The Commissioners have repeatedly suggested to the trustees that they ought to apply for a scheme for the legitimate distribution of the funds; but the trustees have positively refused compliance. The Commissioners, accordingly, under their general powers conferred by Statute, have directed the official trustees to retain the dividends, and they have since received an application from the Home Secretary for a scheme under the Prisons Acts, which

VOL. CCLXXX. [THIRD SERIES.]

ARMY-VISITATION OF ARMY

HOSPITALS.

MR. ROUNDELL asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether, under the Army Regulations, adequate provision is made for the regular visitation of hospitals by responsible officers other than those belonging to the Medical Staff whilst the Army is in the field; and, if not, whether Her Majesty's Government will cause such provision to be made?

THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON:

The Queen's Regulations explicitly hold General Officers responsible for seeing that hospitals are frequently visited, either by themselves, or by other officers under their direction.

SOUTH AFRICA-BECHUANALAND.

MR. A. M'ARTHUR asked the Under

Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether his attention has been called to a letter published in the "Daily News" of the 11th instant, headed "Freebooters in Bechuanaland," in which it is alleged that a boundary has been beaconed out by freebooters that would enable them to stop British trade with the natives of the interior; and, if the statement be true, what steps the Government will take to protect British interests?

MR. EVELYN ASHLEY: We have no official information of a boundary having been beaconed out by freebooters in Bechuanaland; but it would appear, by looking at the map, that the roads to the interior must pass through the territory which has been lately occupied by them. However, this question of trade concerns more immediately the Cape Government; and we shall await till we hear from them in order to concert with them what action should be taken in view of any stoppage of trade.

AFRICA (WEST COAST)-BRITISH

SHERBRO.

MR. A. M'ARTHUR asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether his attention has been called to the continuance of disturbances in British Sherbro, and especially to Reuter's telegram reporting the roasting alive of fifty persons charged with witch

T

ITALY-COMMERCIAL TREATY.

craft; and, if he is able to say whether the persons thus said to have been murdered were slaves, prisoners of war, or British subjects; and, what steps Her Majesty's Government intend to take to re-establish British authority in the Country?

MR. EVELYN ASHLEY: No Report has been received at the Colonial Office as to the alleged roasting alive of persons in British Sherbro. And as to the disturbances generally, I may say that, having consulted Mr. Havelock, the Governor of Sierra Leone, who happens at present to be at home, I think that the rumours and statements which have arrived are certainly exaggerated. We know, however, that Mr. Pinkett, the officer administering the Government, has arrived at the disturbed district with an adequate force of police and troops, and I hope that next mail may bring us news of the entire re-establishment of order.

PREVENTION OF CRIME (IRELAND) ACT, 1882-POLICE AT KILMALLOCK. MR. O'SULLIVAN asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If it is true that the number of police allowed for the Kilmallock Station, according to regulation order, is insufficient for the ordinary duties of that district; and, if it is the fact that the additional number of men required to perform such duties have been sent there under the provisions of the Crimes Act, and the cost of the same charged to the ratepayers of that district?

MR. TREVELYAN: The regular police force allowed for the Kilmallock Station is sufficient for the ordinary duties of the district. The additional force quartered there under the Crimes Act, and for which the inhabitants have to pay, is required for a special purpose, which I have already more than once stated in reply to former Questions.

MR. O'SULLIVAN : May I ask what are the special duties in the town of Kilmallock for which an extra force of police is required?

MR. TREVELYAN: I am very unwilling to be discourteous to the hon. Member; but I explained the matter very fully the last time I was questioned about it. There is an extremely perilous case for which some people in Kilmallock are of opinion the authorities are responsible.

Mr. A. M'Arthur

MR. MONK asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether he is able to confirm the statements which have appeared in the public Press respecting the negotiation of a Treaty of Commerce with Italy for a term of years?

LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICE: The terms of a new Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Great Britain and Italy have been agreed upon, and the Treaty will be signed forthwith. It will closely resemble the Treaty now in force, which expires on the 30th instant; and its general effect will be to secure to Great Britain absolute and unconditional "most favoured nation" treatment. The coasting trade in Italy will, however, be no longer guaranteed to British subjects on the same terms as to Natives. The Treaty will contain a stipulation reserving the power to the self-governing British Colonies to accede to the Treaty in case they desire to do so; and a separate Instrument will be signed agreeing to refer to arbitration any questions arising under the new Treaty, which cannot be settled by correspondence between the two Governments. The Treaty will not be terminable, at the earliest, until the 1st of January, 1888, and, unless then denounced, will remain in force until 1892.

POST OFFICE-SORTERS.

MR. D. GRANT asked the Postmaster General, Whether in the recent notices posted in the Metropolitan district offices for second class sorters to apply for transfer to the General Post Office, it is intended that they shall carry their seniority with them?

MR. FAWCETT: In reply to my hon. Friend, I have to state that on transfer to the General Post Office the

sorters of the Metropolitan District will rank below those who are sorters there already; but that relatively among themselves they will rank according to seniority, and will carry with them their present pay.

CIVIL SERVICE (INDIA)-MR.

BANERJEA.

MR. O'DONNELL asked the Under Secretary of State for India, What was

the precise charge on which Mr. Baner- | MR. J. K. CROSS asked the hon. jea was removed from the Indian Civil Member to give Notice of the Question. Service?

MR. J. K. CROSS: Mr. Banerjea, as Assistant Magistrate, had to submit periodically a record of the state of business in his Court. In order to prevent this record showing the extent of the arrears into which, through sheer neglect of duty, he had allowed the cause list to fall, he was guilty, in the words of the Governor General in Council (the Earl of Northbrook), of "dishonest fabrication of his judicial records; " of "palpable abuse of his judicial powers; and of "the infliction of injustice upon innocent persons." In other words, he had grossly neglected his duty, and excused himself by repeated prevarications. The charges against Mr. Banerjea were investigated by a Special Commission, appointed for the purpose, under Act 37 of 1850. The Commissioners were unanimous in finding him guilty, and the Viceroy concurred in their decision. The charges are 14 in number, referring, for the most part, to a single case. They are lengthy, complicated, and technical that nothing would be gained by giving them in detail. But I shall be happy to show the Papers to any hon. Member who may wish to see them.

SO

MR. O'KELLY asked how many Natives were on the Commission?

MR. O'DONNELL asked whether Mr. Banerjea had not always maintained that the evidence against him had been misrepresented by the Court; and whether it was not the fact that he had been raised to the position of honorary magistrate by Mr. Rivers-Thompson, the present Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, although that gentleman was opposed to the Native Jurisdiction Bill?

MR. J. K. CROSS said, that Mr. Banerjea had been appointed an honorary magistrate because he had achieved considerable municipal distinction in Calcutta, and the general practice was to appoint to honorary magistracies people who had attained that position. He was not in a position to answer the first portion of the Question.

MR. O'DONNELL asked whether it was in accordance with the rules of the Government of India to place a man who had been found guilty of fraudulent conduct in the position of an honorary magistrate?

PRISONS (IRELAND)-NEW PRISON RULES.

MR. PARNELL asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether any opportunity will be given for discussing the new Rule relating to the visits of untried prisoners before the expiry of the 40 days required by Law for it to lie upon the Table of the House?

MR. TREVELYAN: It is not usual for the Government to assist private Members in finding an opportunity to discuss Rules or Schemes that lie on the Table of the House. I remember myself often balloting by certain methods for opportunities to discuss matters on Tuesdays and Fridays, and staying up a whole month for the chance generally of being able to speak at half-past 2 o'clock in the morning. Of course, there are occasions on which the Government may willingly assist private Members, and perhaps they have done I do not know that Notice is on the Paper with regard to this Rule in the past month; but, in any case, I do not think that the circumstances of Public Business are such as to enable the Government to assist in obtaining an opportunity for the discussion.

So.

MR. PARNELL: I wish to know whether the Prisons Act does not require that when a special Rule is made by the Lord Lieutenant it shall lie on the Table of the House for 40 days before it comes into operation; and I wish also to ask whether this Rule was not put in force by the Lord Lieutenant, although the number of days required by the law had not expired?

MR. TREVELYAN: Sir, I have already publicly stated during the Session that this Rule has been put in force by the Lord Lieutenant, under what was considered by his advisers a special emergency. The steps which are foreshadowed in the Rule were put in force, though whether the 40 days had expired I cannot say. I stated in the House, in a debate, that the steps which will henceforth be taken under this Rule were taken in January last.

MR. PARNELL: If the Lord Lieutenant can legally act without this new Rule, what is the object of it?

[No reply was given.]

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MR. FIRTH asked the Chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works, Whether he is aware that the heavy traffic over Putney Bridge is shaking it rapidly to pieces; whether there is any ground for the opinion recently given by architects and other competent persons to the last Vestry meeting of Putney, that the old bridge will not last till the new one is ready; and, what the Board propose to do in order to avert impending accident?

SIR JAMES M'GAREL-HOGG: I think the hon. Member rather overrates the effect of heavy traffic on Putney Bridge. The Bridge has for many years been maintained by the removal, from time to time, of decayed timbers and the substitution of sound ones in their place; and this process of renewal is still going on, under careful supervision, so that the Bridge will be made to last until the new Bridge is completed.

SOUTH AFRICA-THE TRANSVAALTHE PAPERS.

MR. GUY DAWNAY asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, When the Transvaal Papers, which he stated on May 31 would be produced very shortly, will be laid before the House?

MR. EVELYN ASHLEY: If the hon. Member will refer to The Times he will

see that what I said was that

"I cannot quite tell when the Papers will be laid before the House; but they are being prepared."

However, we have looked them over again, and I think it will be convenient that some more Transvaal Papers should be given, and in about a week they shall be laid upon the Table.

NAVAL ARTILLERY-THE 43-TON
GUN.

MR. W. H. SMITH asked the Secretary to the Admiralty, How many rounds with full charges were fired from the 43-ton gun, now placed on board the Conqueror at Chatham, before she was accepted by the Admiralty?

MR. BRAND: As the right hon. Gentleman's Question refers to a subject which belongs to the Department of the War Office for which I am responsible, my hon. Friend the Secretary to the Admiralty has requested me to reply to

it. The number of proof rounds laid down for 43-ton guns was one round battering charge, and five rounds with charges that would increase the pressure of the first charge 25 per cent. These rounds were fired from the 43-ton gun now on board the Conqueror, and besides these five additional rounds were fired with varying charges.

FIRES IN THEATRES-THE GAIETY THEATRE, MANCHESTER.

MR. MACFARLANE asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If his attention has been called to the destruction by fire of the Gaiety Theatre, Manchester; if it is a fact that

"The building consisted entirely of a woodwork frame covered with a roof of tarred

canvas;

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and, if he can state by whom such a description of building was licensed as a place of public entertainment?

SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT, in reply, said, what the hon. Member stated in the Question was correct. The building had been duly licensed by the Justices as a music-hall, who satisfied themselves that the means of exit were sufficient. As regarded the control of the Corporation of Manchester had a these buildings, he was informed that Bill before Parliament last year in which there was a very good clause giving

them

power to call on the proprietors to secure the safety of this class of building. The Select Committee before whom the Bill went struck out that clause; and, therefore, the Corporation were not responsible for what had occurred.

SOUTHERN ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC

-ANNEXATIONS TO THE AUS

TRALIAN COLONIES.

MR. JOSEPH COWEN asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, If the Government has received any communication from Melbourne or Sydney respecting the proposed annexation of groups of islands in the Pacific to the Colonies of Victoria or New South Wales?

MR. EVELYN ASHLEY: Short telegrams have been received, not

"Proposing annexation of groups of islands in the Pacific to the Colonies of Victoria and New South Wales,"

but urging generally some sort of an

of Islands.

SIR WILFRID LAWSON asked whether the Government had received any information to the effect that some of these Australian Colonies had lately been ordering gunboats from a Newcastle firm?

nexation or protectorate of certain groups | In the meantime, it does not seem likely that the facts are as grave as is indicated by the Question; as, if the circumstances and condition of the people were such as described, they would, no doubt, have attended at Bunbeg at the usual hour, or would have applied to the relieving officer at his house. But I prefer not passing judgment upon the matter until I get particulars.

MR. EVELYN ASHLEY said, the Government had received no such infor

mation.

SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH asked whether the telegrams would be laid on the Table ?

MR. EVELYN ASHLEY said, that it would not be courteous to the Colonies concerned to lay these telegrams on the Table until an answer had been given to them.

POOR LAW (IRELAND)—OUTDOOR

RELIEF.

MR. O'BRIEN asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is true that 410 applications for outdoor relief for nearly 2,000 souls were made on Monday at the Bunbeg Dispensary, in the Dunfanaghy Union, and were unattended to, owing to the non-attendance of the relieving officer and the departure of his substitute at an hour in the morning before the applications could be made; whether numbers of these applicants, some of whom had travelled long distances, were in a starving condition, and could obtain no relief, except through the diminishing aid of private charity; and, whether the Local Government Board will take any steps to compel the Dunfanaghy Board of Guardians to afford outdoor relief to the poor?

MR. O'BRIEN said, the right hon. Gentleman had not answered whether it was not a fact that the Dunfanaghy Guardians had persistently disobeyed the instructions of the Local Government Board with reference to the giving of outdoor relief?

MR. TREVELYAN imagined he could hardly describe the Guardians as having deviated from the instructions of the Local Government Board. They had acted, according to their judgment, within their legal powers; and the Local Government Board could not interfere with them without altogether overstepping the principles of local responsibility.

MR. O'BRIEN: Is it not so that the Board have not, as a matter of fact, given any outdoor relief, although the Local Government Board Inspector reports that one-third of the people are without visible means of subsistence? [No reply was given.]

ARMY-LIFE ASSURANCE FOR

SOLDIERS.

SIR HERBERT MAXWELL asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether a scheme for the assurance of the lives of British soldiers was submitted to the War Office in February last by Captain Upton, 4th battalion Derbyshire Regiment; whether that scheme has been considered or approved of; and, whether he will inform the House as to the nature of the proposals, and the determination arrived at by the authorities in regard to them?

MR. TREVELYAN: As this Question only appeared on the Paper yesterday, there has not been time to obtain a written Report; but I have received a copy of a telegram sent to the Local Government Board by their Inspector, Dr. Woodhouse, who had been directed to make inquiry on the subject. From that MR. O'DONNELL asked what necestelegram it appears that the relieving sity there was for insuring the lives of officer having been disabled by an acci- British soldiers, so long as the policy of dent, his son has been appointed to act the Liberal Government was only dias his substitute. He attended at Bun-rected against feeble nationalities? beg on Monday at his father's usual hour-the telegram does not mention the hour-and waited until 12 o'clock in the day, up to which hour no applications for relief were received. He then left. Further particulars are expected by post.

SIR ARTHUR HAYTER: The hon. and gallant Baronet the Member for Wigtonshire should, I think, have addressed this Question to me, as representing the finance branch of the War Office under the direction of my noble

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