I am not aware that this is attributable | same warrant; but it did not follow that in any way to the absence of chains on there were the same grounds for arrest. the Embankment walls. Suggestions It was under consideration whether Mr. that chains should be so placed have Begley could be released, as Mr. Fitzbeen made; but the Metropolitan Board gerald had been; but upon that point he have considered that, inasmuch as they could not as yet give any answer. Iwould not be available at all times of the tide, they would be of no practical

use.

MR. ALDERMAN W. LAWRENCE said, that the chains he had alluded to would be available at all times, because they would have to be so placed as to be so.

SIR JAMES M'GAREL-HOGG said, he thought that hon. Members ought not to make speeches when asking Questions.

PROTECTION OF PERSON AND PRO-
PERTY (IRELAND) ACT, 1881 MR.
PATRICK GIBBONS.

MR. SEXTON (for Mr. BIGGAR) asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether Mr. Patrick Gibbons has been in prison as a suspect since May last; whether he has been under medical treatment in Galway Gaol for the past six months; and, whether, under the circumstances, there is any reason why he should be further detained in prison?

POST OFFICE-CONVENTION OF PARIS

-SEIZURE OF THE "IRISH WORLD"
NEWSPAPER.

MR. HEALY asked the Postmaster General, in reference to the seizure of the "Irish World" in the post, Upon what authority the Government translate the word "perte" in the phrase "En cas de perte d'un envoi recommandé," in Article 6 of the Postal Convention of Paris, to mean "a thing lost which cannot be found;" and, if he has any objection to lay upon the Table of the House the authorized translation of Article 6 which has been made from the French for the other countries included in the Postal Union?

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. W. M. JOHNSON): Sir, my right hon. Friend the Postmaster General has asked the Irish Office to answer this Question. The authority on which the Government translate the French word perte in this sentence as "a loss of a thing which cannot be MR. W. E. FORSTER, in reply, said, found" is that that phrase is the accuthat Mr. Patrick Gibbons' name ap-rate equivalent in English for the word peared on the doctor's books on the 18th October, and then his name did not appear until the 18th of March. He had been under medical treatment, as suffering from constipation, but was now in perfectly good health. His case was under the consideration of the Lord Lieutenant.

PROTECTION OF PERSON AND PRO-
PERTY (IRELAND) ACT, 1881-MESSRS.
FITZGERALD AND BEGLEY.

MR. HEALY asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is true that Mr. Michael Fitzgerald, of Cappoquin, County Waterford, has been released from prison, while Mr. Begley, of the same place, who was arrested at the same time, and on suspicion of the same offence, is still in custody; and, if he will state why Mr. Begley has not been released?

MR. W. E. FORSTER, in reply, said, that it was true that these persons were arrested at the same time and on the

here used in French. The Convention is in the French language; but there is no authorized translation. Each country party to the Convention translates it for itself.

MR. HEALY asked if the right hon. and learned Gentleman could refer him to any authority for this translation, literary or otherwise?

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. W. M. JOHNSON): I think the hon. Gentleman can hardly require any such authority. I apprehend the origin of the word in the modern classic French is the Latin word perdo. It has its equivalent in the Greek word apoballo, meaning "to cast away from you and absolutely destroy."

STATE OF IRELAND-THE DROGHEDA
TOWN COUNCIL INTRUSION OF
THE POLICE.

MR. HEALY asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether he is aware that a number of witnesses are prepared to prove that the

(IRELAND).

words used by the sub-inspector of police | stance of the kind which had been at the Drogheda Town Council meeting brought to his notice by the Prisons on the occasion of the late election for Board. mayor, are those which were reported in the press, and not those alleged by the INLAND REVENUE - BEER LICENCES official himself; if he will grant an inquiry into the matter; by whose instructions the police attended the meeting of the Corporation on the day in question; by whose instructions the constabulary attend meetings of the Drogheda Inde pendent Club; and, whether, seeing that the members of the Club object to their presence, he will give orders that

their attendance shall be discontinued?

cellor of the Exchequer, If he is aware that persons in Ireland who sell beer merely by retail, for which they pay a Licence Duty of £1 58., have, in addition, to pay the sum of £3 6s. 13d. for a wholesale dealer's licence, which does

MR. R. POWER asked Mr. Chan

not authorize the sale of less than four beer in England are not required to take and a-half gallons, while retailers of out this second licence; and, whether, in out this second licence; and, whether, in the next Revenue Bill, he will relieve Irish traders from paying for this extra licence in cases where it is not required?

MR. W. E. FORSTER, in reply, said, that, having again inquired into the subject, he was quite satisfied of the accuracy of the answers he made to previous Questions as to the conduct of the Sub-Inspector of police at the Drogheda Town Council meeting on the occasion CHEQUER (Mr. GLADSTONE), in reply, THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXof the election of Mayor. The police said, that the Question was answered attended the meeting by order of a by him last year, and he probably could superior officer, who acted on informa- not do better than refer the hon. Memtion received. He had no doubt that the Constabulary had also acted rightly ber to the reply which was then given as to the details; and the real difficulty in attending the meetings of the Drogheda Independent Club; but he would was this-that he did not think the hon. make further inquiries if the hon. Mem-hended the difference of the law beMember had quite accurately appreber liked to repeat his Question on Thursday or Friday.

MR. HEALY: I will not repeat the Question. I think the best course for the Drogheda Independent Club is to put the police out.

PROTECTION OF PERSON AND PRO

tween England and Ireland, as to which
It was
the apparent inequality arose.
not owing to any difference in the
authorities; but to the fact that in Eng-
charge made by the Inland Revenue
land separate beer licences could be
taken under the authority of the magis-

law might be a proper subject for con-
not. The question of equalizing the
sideration, and in regard to that he
should defer very much to the opinion
of those connected with Ireland; but it
was not a matter to be dealt with in a

PERTY (IRELAND) ACT, 1881 — AL-trates, whereas in Ireland they could LEGED PROSELYTISM AMONG PERSONS IMPRISONED UNDER THE ACT. MR. HEALY asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is true that religious tracts have been placed in the cells of Catholic suspects in Limerick Prison; and if this has been done with the sanction of Her Majesty's Government?

MR. W. Ě. FORSTER, in reply, said, he found that one paper of a religious

character-not a tract-was found in the cell of one of the Roman Catholic prisoners in December last. The Inspector of the Prisons Board inquired into the matter at the time, but failed to discover how the paper had got into the cell. On the 28th December the Board issued strict orders to prevent the introduction of any unauthorized publications into the prison. That was the only in

Revenue Bill, as the licences were not issued by the Revenue Department, but were under the control of the magistrates, and involved matters of police, &c., which it would not be suitable for the Revenue Department to deal with.

"A deputation of the citizens waited on Judge | learned Friend and this gentleman. It Barry, at his lodgings, Barrington Street, Lime- did not appear that it was a matter rick, this morning, for the purpose of requesting his Lordship to use his influence with the which could properly be laid in the form of a public document before the House, inasmuch as it seemed to concern simply miscarriage and inequality of private arrangements, which was really a matter for the discretion of the parties. Even if it related to the law on mineral leases, he did not know if it would be a matter for the Government to deal with; but they could not produce a private paper.

vernment led the public, whether intentionally or otherwise, to believe? If it was a fact that the Government did obtain concessions with regard to bounties upon shipbuilding and on navigation, he asked why were those concessions not shown in the Blue Books, and why did not the Blue Books correspond with that which had been stated? He (Mr. Mac Iver) had examined the Blue Books, and had employed others to do so; and he did not find in them any confirmation whatever of the view that the Government received_any_concessions whatever from the French Commissioners in regard to bounties on shipping, or any that were worth having

MR. MAC IVER, who had a Notice of Motion on the Paper to reduce the sum asked for by £1,500, said, one reason, amongst others, for putting this Notice upon the Paper was that he felt he had received some provocation from the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Sir Charles W. Dilke). But the House had nothing to do with anything that might be regarded as a personal question between the hon. Baronet and himself; and it devolved upon him, upon public grounds, to show some reasons of dissatisfaction with the general proceedings of the Foreign Office sufficient to justify him in putting the Motion on the Paper. There were abundance of such reasons. The hon. Baronet had pub-in relation to cargo. Under these cirlished letters which appeared in the newspapers; and there was, no doubt, a very general feeling throughout the country that the Government had received certain valuable concessions relating to shipping and goods from the French Government. He should like to know whether the sum asked for by the Foreign Office in this Report of Supply included any payment in respect of recent or present negotiations in regard to French commercial matters?

SIR CHARLES W. DILKE: No, Sir; none. ["Order!"] I understand the hon. Member to ask a definite question. My answer is in the negative. That sum was voted some weeks ago.

MR. MAC IVER went on to say that he thought he was justified in assuming that there were no negotiations going on at the present moment, or, if there were, that the cost of those negotiations was not included in the present Estimate. [Sir CHARLES W. DILKE: There are no negotiations.] He should like to ask whether the sum which the Foreign Office asked for included payment for Blue Books which had recently been issued by them; and, if so, he should like to ask, and he thought it but reasonable to do so, whose duty it was to prepare those Blue Books and to revise their contents? He also thought he was entitled to ask, in view of the letters which had appeared in the newspapers and the statements which had appeared in the Press, why it was that that duty should have been neglected, and how it was that the contents of the Blue Books, as a matter of fact, did not correspond with that which Members of the Go

cumstances, he thought he was perfectly justified in asking these questions. The amount by which he proposed that the Vote should be reduced was precisely equivalent to the salary of the hon. Baronet the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; but he was sure that the hon. Baronet himself would believe that there was no one in that House more unwilling than he (Mr. Mac Iver) that any actual reduction should be made in that payment, which he was sure the hon. Baronet very hardly earned. The duties of the hon. Baronet's position were such that, if the Forms of the House permitted him, instead of moving that the salary should be reduced, he would have preferred to move that more money should be paid, and that the hon. Baronet should be properly assisted in the Department in which he held such an important place. He had not the slightest doubt the hon. Baronet did all he could; but he (Mr. Mac Iver) wished he was less overworked and that he was more accurate. And he thought he was not out of Order in calling attention to the general fact that the duties of the Foreign Office were not well performed. He had but a few more words to say, and that was in reference to what he conceived to be the proper duties of private Members in that House in relation to the Foreign Office. He thought that a Member who represented, as he (Mr. Mac Iver) represented, an important commercial constituency-a shipbuilding and a shipowning constituency a constituency of a port which, if not the largest, was certainly the second port in the Kingdom, had a right to ask reasonable

Question proposed, "That '£3,631,600' stand part of the said Resolution."

questions of the Government in regard Amendment proposed, to leave out to commercial negotiations which were" £3,631,600," in order to insert under the control of the Foreign Office."£3,630,100,"-(Mr. Mac Iver,)-inHe admitted to the fullest extent that stead thereof. the justification of any question which he might have asked, or which he might yet ask, depended altogether upon the reasonableness of such questions. He thought he was justified in asking questious in regard to matters upon which he individually was perfectly well informed, and respecting which he knew beforehand what the reply of the hon. Baronet the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs ought to be if he wished to give information to the House of Commons on the subject. When he asked in the future for information, as he had asked for it in the past, it might be upon matters upon which he was perfectly well informed himself, for the purpose of pinning the Government to some statement by which information should be given to hon. Members in the House who were not concerned in shipowning constituencies, and to hon. Members who really lacked information on such subjects. He thought that the Ministerial replies to questions so asked ought to be of a nature to give bona fide information to the House and to the public on any subject on which the Government might reasonably and properly be interrogated. The proceedings of the Foreign Office, and especially of the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, if the latter would permit the comparison, reminded him of what Mark Twain, the American humorist, once said. He undertook to deliver a course of lectures, and said he could lecture best upon those subjects which he least understood, because then he should feel less trammelled in anything he might have to say. That was a truthful description of the replies of the hon. Baronet the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. He (Mr. Mac Iver) moved the reduction of the Vote, not in any serious desire to press that reduction to a division, but simply in order that he might express the hope that the Foreign Office would in the future make a more reasonable use than they had done in the past of the money voted to them, and would take a proper view of the duty, which he ventured to think devolved upon them, of giving accurate information to the House.

SIR H. DRUMMOND WOLFF said, he only wished to say one or two words, not so much with reference to the protest which had just been made, but to ask the right hon. Gentleman at the head of the Government, and also his hon. Friend opposite (Sir Charles W. Dilke), whether any steps had been taken to secure the execution of the reforms in Turkey stipulated by the Treaty of Berlin? A long time had elapsed without any steps having been taken to carry out these stipulations as far as the Government was concerned. His hon. Friend the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs had told the House more than once that the Government were not able to act alone in this matter, and that they were obliged to invoke the Concert of Europe. But he (Sir H. Drummond Wolff) thought that, as all were agreed upon the necessity of these reforms being carried out, Her Majesty's Government could not entirely get rid of their responsibility of taking the initiative simply because there had been a change of Government. The late Government had taken a leading part in the Berlin negotiations, and the Government could not now refuse to take a prominent place in seeing that the terms of that Treaty were fulfilled. His hon. Friend had told him on one or two occasions that there had been no apprehensions of any difficulty arising between Germany and Russia, and he would fully admit that the Government must know best what was going on in official circles; but, judging from what was appearing in the newspapers, he could not but say that there were evidences of the spirit of the people in the two countries which were far more significant than the assurances of Governments, and which seemed to him to give reasons for apprehending a movement of a Pan-Slavonic character which might seriously endanger the peace of Europe. He could not help thinking that if we were to resist this Panslavic inroad, and if we were to maintain the peace of Europe in the East, no course could be better calculated to attain that object