THE INDIAN BUDGET-QUESTION. SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTE asked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether he can name a day for bringing forward the Indian Financial State-imagine that there will be many more ment? MR. GRANT DUFF said, he hoped to bring it forward on Friday, August 2, at 2 o'clock. SCIENCE AND ART MUSEUM, EAST LONDON.-QUESTION. MR. HOLMS asked the Vice President of the Council, Whether leave has been given to any visitors to enter the Bethnal Green Museum on Sundays; and, whether he is aware that there were any visitors at the Museum last Sunday? certificates must be adhered to. Besides, | tickets of admission when they were relaxing the rule would not enlarge the presented, and that no more of them supply of teachers; it would simply bring were to be issued. We felt that we teachers from one school to another. could hardly turn back the ladies and gentlemen who might come on Sunday, with the tickets which had been granted them; but the arrangement that I have described will soon have the effect of calling in the tickets, and I do not visitors to the Museum on Sundays. I may add that we felt that we could not take from Sir Richard Wallace the power of inspecting his own pictures on Sunday, and consequently we gave him an ivory ticket, admitting himself or anyone who had that ticket, at any time he liked, but not specially on Sundays. The reply that he sent us was only consistent with the previous munificence of his conduct. He wrote to say that he was obliged for the pass that had been sent him for himself and his friends; but as the Lords of the Committee of Council had wisely determined that no Sunday passes were to be granted, he felt that he must decline to make use of his ivory ticket on Sunday, except, of course, when he had to pay the Museum a visit on business; for he had no doubt that it would create a bad impression on the inhabitants of Bethnal Green if the Museum was only open to a privileged few on Sundays. Sir Richard Wallace, however, also expresses his opinion that it would be advantageous to the public if all the Museums were open on Sundays for certain hours, and under proper restrictions. I trust that the House will think that we have really done what we could to prevent any privilege being given to one person over another, and I hope that the gentlemen whose tickets are to be called in will not, under the circumstances, complain, or feel themselves aggrieved at losing the privilege for the future. MR. W. E. FORSTER: The facts with regard to the visitors to Bethnal Green Museum on Sundays were as follows: I was informed, about the middle of last week-by a Member of this House, I believe that there had been some visitors to the Bethnal Green Museum on the previous Sunday. That was the first information that I had received of the fact, and the first notion I had that the Museum was at all open on Sunday. I brought the matter before the first Board we held at South Kensington-namely, on Friday morning, when I learnt that Mr. Cole had agreed, on his own responsibility, in accordance with previous custom, to issue, chiefly to Peers and Members of the House of Commons, tickets of admission to the Museum available for Sunday afternoon after 2 o'clock. I do not at all consider that Mr. Cole was to blame, because he was acting in accordance with precedent; but Lord Ripon and myself both thought that it would be most desirable that it should not be allowed in future. Whatever might be our own personal opinions in regard to the general policy of opening museums on Sundays, there can be little difference of opinion that the Bethnel Green Museum should not be opened for the rich and closed to the poor on that day. We therefore passed a Minute that the police were to be instructed to take from the visitors on Sunday their Mr. W. E. Forster NAVY-EXPERIMENTAL GUNNERY. QUESTION. MR. LAIRD asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, Whether, looking to the importance of ascertaining the comparative efficiency for actual warfare of ironclad broadside ships built on the central battery principle, carrying heavy guns worked by machinery, and ships on the turret principle, carrying a heavy armament, he will consider the propriety of recommending a somewhat similar experiment to be tried on the central battery of one of Her Majesty's broadside ships to that tried on the turret of Her Majesty's ship "Glatton," on Friday last? MR. GOSCHEN: The experiments with regard to the Glatton were instituted to decide on a particular part of the turret system-not the penetrability of the armour, but whether the turret would revolve after being struck. No similar experiments, he said, were advised in regard to the central battery, nor was it the intention of the Admiralty to institute any such experiments as those suggested in the Question. He did not see how they could be conducted, or what point of special value they would serve to throw light upon. COUNTY COURT JUDGES-CIRCUIT No. QUESTION. MR. WEST asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether it is the intention of the Lord Chancellor to fill up the County Court Judgeship rendered vacant by the death of Mr. Dimsdale, before the Motion respecting the reduction of the number of County Court Judges, now standing for Friday next, is disposed of? THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, in reply, said, the Lord Chancellor had directed inquiry to be made how far the circuit lately filled by Mr. Dimsdale could with advantage and propriety be absorbed into other circuits. If it could it would be so absorbed, but not other wise. In the course of the last two or three months two County Court Judgeships had been suppressed by the Lord Chancellor; but the Government could give no pledge as to the suppression of particular Judgeships or the reduction of the number to 35, and he would remind the hon. and learned Gentleman that nobody had fixed that limit but himself. whether it is the case that Adjutants of Yeomanry regiments have to perform duties of a financial character, such as cers on the Staff, as well as saddlery the payment of Non-Commissioned Offibills and other accounts incidental to a cavalry regiment; and, whether he is aware that considerable difficulty has arisen (in consequence of the inferior rate of pay) in obtaining efficient officers to fill the position of Adjutant in Yeomanry regiments, and that the Cumberland and Westmoreland Regiment of Yeomanry has been without an Adjutant since the middle of April, one officer appointed on the recommendation of His Royal Highness the Commander in Chief from full-pay, and another from halfpay, having resigned as soon as the new rate of pay was explained to them? SIR HENRY STORKS: The statement to which the hon. Gentleman refers War Department is concerned, adjutants is correctly reported. So far as the of Yeomanry are not as yet held responsible for the performance of financial duties. All moneys are issued to the commanding officers, who are held solely responsible for all the accounts incidental to a Yeomanry cavalry regi ment. any I am aware that two officers, one on full-pay and the other on halfpay, have declined to take up the appointment of adjutant to the Westmoreland and Cumberland Yeomanry; but, with this exception, I have not heard that any difficulty has arisen in obtaining efficient officers to fill these appoint whether speeches were not delivered during the said proceedings calculated to promote animosity between different classes of Her Majesty's subjects; and, whether at the time he stated that this effigy of the going Judge of assize had not been burnt in Derry he was aware that it had been ignominiously immersed in the Foyle? MR. GLADSTONE, in reply, said, that in speaking of the Corrupt Practices Bill, he was afraid he must draw a distinction between the Bill as it stood and the Amendments which it was proposed to make in it. So far as the Bill was concerned, the Government considered themselves responsible for giving the House an opportunity of considering it, and they would, therefore, propose that the Speaker should leave the Chair in order that the House might go into Committee on the Bill. They would not however be able to make that proposal until the House had got through the Committee on the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Bill. When the Committee on the Corrupt Practices Bill came on, the Government would be able to learn the views of the House with respect to the Amendments which it was proposed to make in it, and it would be for the House to judge when that stage was reached whether it was desirable to prosecute the Bill with the Amendments. The Government would not endeavour to impose their own will on the House in the matter; but they would endeavour to gather the opinion of the House, and would be guided by it. It was, he thought, quite possible that at that period of the Session the House might be doubtful as to the desirability of prolonging its labours for the purpose of going through the Amendments. They would not, however, prevent the House from making that sacrifice if it were so disposed. In reply to the second Question, he had to state that he hoped his hon. and learned Friend the Member for Taunton (Mr. James) would not require a great deal of assistance from the Government. The Bill stood for that evening, and he hoped progress would be made with it, for he should be sorry to see the Bill fall through. IRELAND-MR. JUSTICE KEOGH. QUESTION. LORD CLAUD HAMILTON asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether the effigy of Mr. Justice Keogh was on a recent occasion carried in procession through certain streets in Derry, preceded by musicians playing a rebel tune; whether this effigy was not afterwards immersed in the Foyle without any opposition on the part of the Government or of the police force under their orders; THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON said, he would, with the permission of the House, answer the Question. From the information which had reached the Government from the resident magistrates of Londonderry and the constabulary, it appeared that no effigy had been burnt there. Information had been received by the constabulary to the effect that there was an intention to burn an effigy. They at once communicated with the Mayor, and such steps as were deemed necessary were taken to prevent the burning of the effigy. On the same occasion a procession left the town with a band playing a rebel air, but they dispersed very quietly. The report of the constabulary officers distinctly stated that it was untrue that the effigy had been burnt and immersed in the Foyle. Having given all the information in his possession to the noble Lord, he hoped he would allow him to ask from what sources he had derived his information, in order that he might make inquiries as to which information was correct. LORD CLAUD HAMILTON: Tomorrow I shall be glad to give the noble Marquess the source of my information. MR. MITCHELL HENRY: Will the Chief Secretary for Ireland be good enough to tell the House what are "rebel airs?" FRANCE-DEPORTATION OF POLITICAL PRISONERS.-QUESTION. MR. DODSON asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether his attention has been directed to the landing at Newhaven from the steamship "Marseilles," on the 30th of June, of seven foreigners, concerning whom it is stated that they were escorted on board the vessel at Dieppe by the French police; that their passage tickets were given to the mate by the police; that the police guarded the gangway until the vessel started; and that they VISCOUNT ENFIELD, in reply, said, the only information which had been received at the Foreign Office on the subject was contained in a letter which his right hon. Friend had been good enough to forward to him that morning. All the documents connected with it in the possession of the Foreign Office would be sent that evening to Paris, and, through Lord Lyons, the attention of the French Government would be directed to them. Until the correctness of the facts was ascertained, he was unwilling to draw any conclusion from or make any assertion with respect to them. CIVIL SERVICE CO-OPERATIVE ASSO The themselves informed the French Con- | trading carried on by the Civil Servants sular agent at Newhaven that they were which did not content itself simply with sent out of France by the police on ac- providing for the wants of the members, count of their being engaged in the but sought, by means of co-operation, Commune War; and, whether he con- to make a considerable profit by buying siders such proceedings consistent with goods and selling them at an increased the assurances given by M. Remusat rate to persons who were not in the Serto Lord Lyons in his letter dated 7th vice. He was not aware that there was June, respecting the embarkation of any rule of the Civil Service which was Communists from France; and, if not, thereby infringed; but he, at the same what steps Her Majesty's Government time, felt bound to say, as he had said will take in the matter? to a deputation some time ago, that if it lay in his power he should be glad to stop such a system. There was a Treasury Minute of the 27th of March, 1849, which bore upon the question, and which was to the following effect:-That as the public were entitled to the whole of the time of its Civil Servants, and as the officers held situations which required daily attendance, they should not be allowed to accept situations as directors of companies requiring their attendance elsewhere during office hours. Minute went on to say, that their Lordships did not require officers already engaged in such concerns to abandon them at once, unless it should appear that their public duties would be thereby infringed upon, but that they would in future strictly restrain any officers from entering on such duties. That was the only record on the subject which he could find, and he was not, therefore, able to say that there was any rule of the service which would enable the Government to restrain Civil Servants from engaging in the operations to which the hon. and learned Gentleman appeared to take objection. In answer to the second Question, his reply must be that he had no means of obtaining information with respect to it. The Civil Servants, he might add, were absolutely prohibited from engaging in mercantile pursuits, if those pursuits took up any portion of the time which they owed the public. He had no doubt, further, that if a Civil Service Officer engaged in pursuits which would take away his time from the duties which he owed to the Crown, and thus those duties were not properly discharged, the Government would feel bound to call on him to elect between the two vocations. With regard to the last part of the Question, he had to say that he was not willing to enter into any inquiry, for the facts were patent enough, and must come under one or other of the two heads he had mentioned, CIATIONS.-QUESTION. SIR THOMAS CHAMBERS asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether the system of trading as carried on by servants of the Crown, under the designation of Civil Service Co-operative Associations, is not opposed to the rules of the Service; whether heads of departments are not in some instances salaried officers of the Co-operative Association; whether the servants of the Crown are not prohibited from engaging in trade or mercantile pursuits; and, whether the Government are willing that an inquiry should be instituted into the whole question of civil servants of the Crown and their connection with the Co-operative Trading Societies? THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER, in reply, said, he must make a distinction between Civil Servants of the Crown combining together for the purpose of obtaining goods intended for their own use cheaper and other forms of co-operation. As to the former, he saw no objection whatsoever to such a mode of proceeding, nor did he believe he had the power to interfere with it in any way. The Question, however, suggested that there was another system of IRELAND-THE IRISH CONSTABULARY. QUESTION. MR. MAGUIRE asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, If it be true, as publicly stated, that there are at present as many as one thousand vacancies in the Royal Irish Constabulary Force; and, should that statement be not entirely accurate, would he state to the House how many vacancies really exist, and also to what cause or causes the existence of these vacancies are to be attributed? THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON, in reply, said, there had been and still were a considerable number of vacancies in the Force, but he was not prepared to state the exact figures. It was in contemplation to refer any complaints to a Royal Commission, which was about to be appointed. MR. MAGUIRE: Would it be possible for the noble Marquess to state how many vacancies there were now in the Force? THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON replied that if it were possible, it would not be advisable to state the fact thus publicly. SUPPLY.-QUESTION. MR. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTH asked the President of the Board of Trade, Whether he has directed any further inquiry to be held in consequence of the complaints made to him from Bermondsey that, although there was a temporary improvement in the supply of Water after the former complaint and the inquiry to which it led "The supply has been again gradually decreasing in some parts of the district, and persons have again been going from house to house begging Water?" In addition to facts mentioned in the Question, he might state that he held in his hand an epitome of 26 letters, being some of the letters received by the Bermondsey Committee, dated from July 1 to July 5, 1872, and all describing a continued dearth of water. Several gave details of the sufferings of wife or children in consequence, and some of the writers mentioned that they had recourse to horse-troughs for water. One employed a man to fetch water from the Thames, and several mentioned that the drains were out of order and needed The Chancellor of the Exchequer flushing, and that they were emitting frightful smells. ["Order, order!"] MR. CHICHESTER FORTESCUE, in reply, said, that there were no legal means which he would not be most anxious to use to prevent the evils referred to, which had arisen from the very imperfect power of a particular company to secure a sufficient supply for the district in a time of emergency; whatever could be done would be done; but neither by law, nor from the nature of the case, could the Board of Trade apply an immediate remedy. The Water Examiner of the Board of Trade had communicated with the Vauxhall Company, and had recommended them to put up stand-pipes in the streets. The Company's engineer had acted on that suggestion, and several stand-pipes had been put up. If water should not be found in the stand-pipes, the blame could not be cast on the inhabitants of houses on account of defective fittings, but would entirely fall on the water company. On the 6th instant, the Water Examiner stated that there was generally a sufficient supply. MR. W. E. FORSTER, in reply, said, that the section referred to gave power to the Education Department to inquire into the matter; but they had not hitherto used the power, as they thought that they had not got the machinery which appeared to be necessary for satisfactorily trying these election disputes, and anyone having a right to complain might proceed by a writ of quo warranto. The Department would act in that way as a general rule, though they would exercise the power given them in some cases, in which, with the consent of all parties, it might be convenient to do so in order to prevent a resort to another tribunal. |