York's and the Hibernian, for soldiers' MERCHANT SHIPPING ACTS - LODG- TOWN. LORD FREDERICK CAVENDISH : Sir, the land in question forms part of the Crown Estates in charge of the Commissioner of Woods. Advertisements have recently been issued for proposals for building leases of it, and the replies are now under the consideration of the Office of Woods, who will report to the Treasury upon them. The formation, in 1873, of the public garden on that part of the Crown land which abuts ou the Embankment involved the abandonment of Sir James Pennethorne's scheme of a street from the Horse Guards to the Embankment. E.C.-NOTICE OF MOTION. MR. A. MOORE asked the President of the Board of Trade, Whether his attention has been drawn to the violence and ill-treatment to which emigrants are subjected at Queenstown by runners and touts belonging to the different lodging- THE HALL OF SCIENCE, OLD STREET, houses; whether his attention has been more particularly directed to a recent case where the baggage of some young able Member for Harwich, If he will MR. P. A. TAYLOR asked the honourgirls, who were desirous of spending the night at Miss O'Brien's Emigrant Home, take immediate steps to bring before the was seized and detained until a sum of House his Motion relating to the Hall of Science, Old Street, or otherwise remove money was paid for its recovery, which, the same at once from amongst the grants were compelled to pay; and, whe-Notices of Motions, seeing that the terms ther the Board of Trade, in conjunction of the Notice contain grave insinuations with the Irish Government, will take against the characters of several persons, steps to prevent such violence and extor- viz., Doctor Edward A. Aveling, Mrs. Besant, and the daughters of Charles Bradlaugh, esquire, junior Member for Northampton? sooner than lose their tion in future? passages, the emi I MR. CHAMBERLAIN: Sir, my attention has been drawn to the subject of this Question by letters from Miss O'Brien and in other ways, and I am afraid it is a fact that the conduct of runners and touts belonging to the different lodging-houses in Queenstown has been extremely bad in some cases. have communicated with the Irish Office, and I am informed that it is a fact that some young girls have been detained in the way mentioned by the hon. Member, and a charge of 58. demanded. That sum was afterwards reduced to 28., which was paid, but afterwards returned. The whole matter is under investigation. METROPOLIS-THE THAMES EMBANK MENT. MR. ALDERMAN W. LAWRENCE asked the First Commissioner of Works, I do SIR HENRY TYLER: Sir, in reply to the former part of the hon. Member's Question, I beg to say that I have been waiting for an opportunity when the House shall be delivered from the obstructive Resolutions which are constantly before it, and shall have resumed its ordinary position. intend to bring forward the Motion of which I have given Notice after Easter, and to ballot for a day with that view. In reply to the latter part of the Question, I cannot admit that my Motion contains any insinuations to damage the characters of the individuals referred to compared with their own connection with an infamous and blasphemous publication which advocates, week by week, the abominable doctrines of Atheism and Malthusianism and the disloyal principle of Republicanism. OF ROBERT WEBSTER. Whether the land on the Embankment in front of Scotland Yard has been let; whether the plans and elevation of the proposed buildings have been submitted LAW AND JUSTICE (IRELAND)-CASE to him; and, whether the new street (projected by the late architect and surveyor, Mr. Pennethorne) from the Horse Guards to the Embankment has been definitely abandoned? MR. REDMOND asked Mr. Attorney General for Ireland, Whether it is a fact that, in May last year, Robert Webster was summoned before the Gorey magis trates on a charge of intimidating men from bidding at an auction held upon his farm, from which he had been evicted; whether the case was sent for trial at the next sessions; whether, at the July Sessions, in spite of the objections raised by Webster's counsel, the hearing of the case was postponed to the Winter Assizes; whether the case was not called at the Winter Assizes; and, whether it is a fact that Webster has recently received notice that the prosecution has been abandoned; and, if so, if he would explain to the House what justification exists for a course which has entailed considerable loss and inconvenience to the defendant? He hoped that the right hon. and learned Gentleman would answer the Question in English. ["Order!"] fully admitted, a rule which may prove so prejudicial to the continued development of good schools in rural districts as that by which the total annual grant, exclusive of any special grant, made in consequence of the smallness of the population, may not exceed a sum equal to 178. 6d. for each unit of average attendance, or the total income of the school from all sources whatever other than the grant, and from any special grant made to pay the school fees for the year, of scholars holding honour certificates obtained before the 1st of January 1882? MR. MUNDELLA: Sir, the hon. Member asks me the reason for retaining the rule limiting the annual grant to 178. 6d. per scholar in average attendance where the local managers are not called upon for a larger contribution. My answer is, that the restriction is not imposed by the Code, but by Section 19 of the Education Act of 1876. CORRUPT PRACTICES AT ELECTIONS ACT THE MAGISTRACY — MR. MR. LABOUCHERE asked Mr. Attorney General, Whether he is aware that Mr. Cheney Garfit, whose name was removed from the Commission of the Peace for the division of Holland, bribery that took place at the last General Election, is still on the Commission of the Peace for the division of Lindsey? THE ATTORNEY GÉNERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. W. M. JOHNSON): Sir, I am sure the House will not consider it necessary that I should notice the last observation of the hon. Member. In reply to his Question on the Paper, I have to state that in May last Webster was committed for trial by the Gorey Bench. At the instance of the then Attorney General, the case was sent on to the Summer Assize, 1881, where a true bill was found; but owing to the absence of some necessary documentary evidence the trial was post-on account of his connection with the poned, and the Crown paid the costs of Webster's solicitor. The trial could not have taken place at the Winter Assize, inasmuch as County Wexford was not included in the Winter Assize Order. When, after this long interval, the case came before me as Attorney General for directions as to the Spring Assize, I found that Webster had not further interfered in reference to the farm in question, and had conducted himself peaceably since last summer. I therefore directed that he should not be further prosecuted, and should be informed of the reason for my decision. This was done, and, in my opinion, Mr. Webster has been very leniently dealt with, and has nothing to complain of. EDUCATION DEPARTMENT-BOARD SCHOOL GRANTS. MR. CHARLES PHIPPS asked the Vice President of the Council, If he can give any reason for retaining, now that the payment on result of examination is THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (Sir HENRY JAMES), in reply, said, he was not aware that Mr. Cheney Garfit was still on the Commission of the Peace for the division of Lindsey. If he had not yet been removed it was through inadvertence. He would inquire into the matter. SIR H. DRUMMOND WOLFF asked Mr. Attorney General, Whether Mr. Robert William Staniland, holding the judicial office of registrar of the Boston County Court, was the same Mr. Staniland who was scheduled for bribery by the Boston Election Commissioners? THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (Sir HENRY JAMES), in reply, said, he had no knowledge of the matter except the similarity of names, which would lead him to the conclusion that Mr. Staniland who was scheduled for bribery was the registrar of the County Court. The matter was now, however, the subject of consideration. PREVENTION OF FIRES IN THEATRES | permits I shall be glad to introduce such AND MUSIC HALLS (METROPOLIS)-be considered that the details of the a Bill. At present, however, it cannot BUILDINGS ACT, measure are finally settled. METROPOLITAN 1878, SEC. 11. MR. MACFARLANE asked the Chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works, If he can state why the appointment of persons to inspect and report upon the means of exit from theatres and other places of public amusement, in case of fire, was delayed from the 22nd July 1878, the date upon which the Act was passed, to the 13th January 1882 ? SIR JAMES M'GAREL-HOGG: Sir, in answer to the hon. Member, I beg to state that in the first instance it was considered that the existing staff in the department of the Superintending Architect was sufficient for the gradual inspection of theatres and other places of public amusement; but experience has shown the pressure to be so heavy that it has been necessary to employ the additional assistance referred to in the Question, with a view to obtaining reports on structural defects, which, in the words of the Act, can be remedied at a moderate expense. MERCANTILE MARINE-PROPOSED SHIPPING COUNCIL. MR. GOURLEY asked the President of the Board of Trade, If his attention has been called to a letter, which recently appeared in the "Times," from Mr. John Burns (Messrs. Cunard and Co.), of Glasgow, in which it is stated that a draft Bill, emanating from the Board of Trade, has been submitted to the consideration of the shipping interest throughout the Country, the object of which is to establish a Shipping Council to assist the Board of Trade in making new rules for the prevention of loss of life and property at sea, and in the carrying out of the rules already in existence; if it is his intention to introduce such a Bill; and, whether the constitution of the proposed Council is to be centralised, or otherwise, in its authority? MR. CHAMBERLAIN: Sir, I have seen the letter from Mr. John Burns, and it is true that the heads of a Bill, having for its object the establishment of a Shipping Council, have been submitted by my direction to the Representatives of the shipping interest for their suggestions and criticisms, and whenever the state of Public Business ARMY-BATTALION ESTABLISH MENTS. SIR JOHN KENNAWAY asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether he would have any objection to lay upon the Table a statement showing the increase in the establishments of the twelve battalions now at the head of the roster, and of the six battalions in the Mediterranean, from the 1st July last to the 1st March instant? MR. CHILDERS: Sir, If the hon. Baronet will move for such a Return I shall be happy to give it. POST OFFICE-THE PARCELS POST. SIR MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEY asked the Postmaster General, If he has considered the necessity which will arise, should his scheme for a parcels post be carried out, for the provision of riding or driving, instead of walking, postmen, especially in rural districts where the distances are great; and, whether such a provision will form a portion of his scheme? MR. FAWCETT: Sir, in reply to the hon. Baronet, I have to state that the introduction of a parcels post will, in many instances, render it necessary to employ riding or driving postmen instead of foot postmen. COLONEL MAKINS asked, whether it would be in the power of persons sending parcels to register them in the same way that letters were registered? MR. FAWCETT: I would rather defer giving an answer to that Question. YOUNG IRELAND LITERARY SOCIETY, DUBLIN-ALLEGED INTRUSION OF Mr. REDMOND asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is a fact that, on the 25th instant, a body of policemen again forced themselves into the room where a meeting of the Young Ireland Society was being held in Dublin, and insisted upon obtaining the names of the persons present; whether the Young Ireland Society is a purely literary one; whether the police have general power to use their discretion to break into any meeting they please, no matter what its object may be; and, whether he will protect this Literary Society from interference? MR. W. E. FORSTER, in reply, said, that the police had entered a meeting of the Young Ireland Society in Dublin because they had been informed that another meeting was to be held. They did not insist upon having the names of those present. It was impossible to know the nature of those meetings without making inquiries, and the police had confined themselves to making such inquiries in a civil manner. MR. REDMOND: I feel bound, in consequence of the reply of the right hon. Gentleman, to give Notice that I shall advise members of the Young Ireland Society to forcibly resist in future any illegal entrances by the police. PROTECTION OF PERSON AND PROPERTY (IRELAND) ACT, 1881-POLICE PROTECTION IN IRELAND. MR. ION HAMILTON asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether Mr. Tilson Shaen Carter did at any time apply for police protection for himself, or for any additional force of police to be located in his neighbourhood; and, if so, whether he will state the grounds upon which such application was refused? MR. W. E. FORSTER replied, that he need not say how much he sympathized with the family of Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter did not apply for personal protection, but he advised the Government to have a police station placed in the locality, and that would have been done in November, 1880, had not Mr. Carter changed his mind, and said it would not be required. In November last, however, he made fresh representations to the Government on the subject, in consequence of which a police station with 10 men was formed there. OFFICIAL APPOINTMENTS-PRIVATE SECRETARIES TO CABINET MINIS TERS. MR. ARTHUR O'CONNOR asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Whether he has any objection to lay upon the Table of the House a Return showing the number and names of clerks in the Treasury, and of other gentlemen who have been private secretaries to Prime Ministers and to Chancellors of the Exchequer, who have, within the past fifteen years, been advanced to Commissionerships of Customs and of Inland Revenue, or other superior posts in Departments other than the Treasury? MR. GLADSTONE: Sir, I should object to lay on the Table the Return asked for by the hon. Member. I should object to the Return on account of its incompleteness and on the ground that it does not select a particular Department, but relates to the general subject of the promotion of private secretaries, which will be a fair question for the hon. Member to open if he pleases. Besides, such a Return would not notice by whom the offices had been conferred, so that supposing, for example, my Predecessor had an admirable private secretary, and that I promoted him to a high office without consultation with my right hon. Friend, the inference from the Return would be that my Predecessor made the appointment. MR. ARTHUR O'CONNOR gave Notice that on Monday he would ask the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether Mr. Herbert Murray, at one time clerk in the Treasury and private secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was appointed Assistant Paymaster General and Queen's Remembrancer in Ireland, and was now Secretary of Customs at a non West, at one time private secretary salary of £1,400; whether Mr. Algerto the present Prime Minister, was appointed Commissioner of Inland Revenue and recently promoted to be chairman of that Board, at a salary of £2,000 a clerk in the Treasury, was appointed a-year; whether Mr. Charles G. Turner, Accountant and Controller General of Inland Revenue, at a salary of £1,000; whether Mr. Stevenson Arthur Blackwood, clerk in the Treasury, was appointed Secretary to the General Post Office, at a salary of £2,000; whether Mr. Rivers Wilson, clerk in the Treasury and private secretary to Mr. Lowe, Chancellor of the Exchequer, was appointed Controller of the National Debt, at a salary of £1,800; and whether Mr. C. L. Ryan, clerk in the Treasury and private secretary to the present Prime Minister, was appointed Assistant Controller and Auditor General, at a salary of £1,500? MR. GLADSTONE: Sir, I am prepared to answer, at a moment's notice, the part of the Question dealing with MR. GLADSTONE, in reply, said, that Mr. Murray's appointment to the post of Secretary to the Board of Customs was due to his eminent qualifications for that post; but he ought to say that the appointment was a peculiar one, because important changes which were greatly desired by the mercantile community, and which lay quite outside the ordinary experience of the Customs Department, were either in progress or under consideration. That was the main reason why a person had been sought outside the Department. The Government highly appreciated the services of Mr. Walpole, who was a very valuable public officer, and they had thought it right, under the circumstances, that a Minute should be passed by the Trea the appointments for which I am personally responsible. It illustrates what I have just stated, that gentlemen who have been private secretaries to Ministers of one political Party, frequently have their merits recognized by the other political Party. Mr. Herbert Murray was, at one time, private secretary to Lord Derby, I believe; I am not quite sure, but he was private secretary to a Minister in the Party opposite; and he was appointed by me to a secretaryship in the Customs on account of his singular capacity and the great services which he had performed. Mr. West was my private secretary, and was appointed by me to be a Commissioner of Customs, and he was promoted by Lord Beaconsfield, for his merits, to be deputy chairman of the Board of In-sury awarding him at once the maximum land Revenue, and he has now again, upon a vacancy in the chairmanship, been appointed by me to be chairman, because he was the best man I could find. I will not go through the details of the other appointments; but it is within my knowledge that this is one of the series of answers which the hon. Gentleman will get if he puts his Question. MR. O'DONNELL said, he had given Notice that he would ask the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether it is a fact that, for the past six months, during the absence of Mr. Smith, the late Secretary of Customs, on the ground of ill health, the duties of that post have been performed by Mr. F. G. Walpole, the assistant-secretary, to the satisfaction of the Board; whether it is not a fact that Mr. Walpole was recommended to the Prime Minister by Sir Charles DuCane, the Chairman of the Board of Customs, as the fittest person to succed Mr. Smith; whether it is a fact that Mr. Herbert Murray, Assistant Paymaster General and Queen's Remembrancer in Ireland, has been appointed to the post of Secretary to the Board of Customs; and, if so, upon what ground, having regard to the special recommendation made to the Prime Minister by the Chairman of the Board of Customs in favour of Mr. Walpole; and, whether at any time Mr. Murray was a clerk in the Treasury? The Prime Minister had answered this Question when replying to the hon. Member for the Queen's County; but he wished to know if the facts as regarded the valuable services of Mr. Walpole were as he (Mr. O'Donnell) stated? salary of £1,000 a-year, and a grant equal to the minimum salary of the Secretary to the Board during the time that he discharged the duties of that post in the absence of Mr. Smith, the late Secretary. CLOTHING CONTRACTS (ARMY AND MR. W. J. CORBET asked the Postmaster General, Whether, since the rule requiring the made-up clothing to be sent over here from Ireland for inspection and approval is no longer insisted on, the Contract recently entered into has been given to an Irish firm; and, if not, whether the rejection of all tenders from Irish firms is caused by the question raised as to the hardship of requiring the clothing to be sent to London for inspection? MR. CHILDERS: Sir, my right hon. Friend the Postmaster General has asked me to answer this Question, I presume because the War Department actually accepts these tenders in consultation with the Post Office. I must confess that I cannot understand the second half of the Question, which refers to the "hardship of requiring the clothing to be sent to London for inspection," inasmuch as the tender from the only Irish firm which desired inspection in Ireland was made on the basis of inspection in Dublin. This tender, however, was not accepted, because it was at the rate of above £700 a-year, or £2,200 in all above the tender actually accepted. I could not advise the Postmaster General |