first confession were considered utterly | the army. Speaking of the army, the incredible in the colony, where they had Roman Catholic soldiers in it, who were been investigated on the spot, and he more or less under the direction of the (Mr. Dilke) believed that a bad prece- priests, were as five to one; they had dent would be established if such a docu- been increasing of late years; and it ment were circulated with the sanction was a remarkable circumstance—the reof the House of Commons. sult of deliberate design somewhere-that the Roman Catholics were to be found strongest in the higher services, the Artillery and the Engineers. [Mr. NEWDEGATE: Oh, oh!] From communications with the authorities of the towns in the neighbourhood of his residence, he knew that they doubted the trustworthiness of the Roman Catholic police. If there were any truth in his suggestion that Fenian organization was based on the same principles as were the risings of the Roman Catholics, in 1798 and 1641, it was scarcely possible to over-rate the gravity of the question, and the urgent necessity for obtaining all available information. It was extremely difficult, in the absence of any sort of explanation from the Government, to conceive any substantial reason why the information in question should not be afforded. In New Zealand we had had wars and rebellions, and a few hundred natives had defeated the regular troops and the colonists; and in vain had he moved for the Reports of the Governor, Sir George Grey, who, in a speech reported in the New Zealand papers, had said he found that the Roman Catholic priesthood were at the bottom of the war, that they were organizing it, and that they and they alone were the cause of our troubles there. It was admitted by the hon. Member for Chelsea that there were Fenians in New Zealand, and it was due to our fellow-subjects there and elsewhere that we should obtain the fullest information as to the origin, nature, and present position of Fenianism. MR. WHALLEY said, he thought it extremely desirable that they should obtain every possible information upon that subject. The speech to which they had just listened was in itself a justification for the Motion of the hon. Member for North Warwickshire. The hon. Gentleman had stated that the confession had led to the expulson of Mr. Parkes and the Government from Office. There was nothing in Mr. Parkes's conduct that deserved that punishment, and the only interpretation of that statement could be that so much importance was attached to the suppression of this document by the Roman Catholic party that they at once organized an opposition to the Government and turned them out of Office. The argument of the hon. Member for Chelsea (Mr. Dilke) was in itself a confirmation of the necessity for the production of these Papers. He (Mr. Whalley) first called the attention of the House to the Fenian movement in 1862, and from time to time he adverted to it, but he was scarcely ever permitted by the House to state anything at all. In the course of three or four years, quite unexpectedly to the House, but not to himself, he was relieved of the duty of noticing the proceedings of the Fenians by their actions and the investigations which followed them. Fenianism, however, had received exceptional treatment in this respect, that the Government had endeavoured in every way to suppress inquiry and information about it. If the House had granted him a Committee he would have elicited the history of the organization; he would have exposed the knowledge and complicity of the Roman Catholic priesthood in America, and he would have shown that in this country and in Ireland it was co-extensive with Catholicism. He even offered, if he failed, never to trouble the House on the subject again; but the House would not grant him a Committee. Much of what he had said had been confirmed. But the Fenians were as quiet as mice now, because they were amenable to discipline as strict as any that prevailed in MR. NEWDEGATE, in explanation, said, he had not read from the Report of the Committee spoken of by the hon. Member for Chelsea (Mr. Dilke), but hereafter he should ask for its production. Question put, "That the said Order be discharged."-(Mr. Monsell.) The House divided:-Ayes 123; Noes 15: Majority 108. MILITIA AND RESERVE FORCES- MOTION FOR RETURNS. than if they were massed together gency in some central depôt, and they would not be exposed to entire destruction by fire-a calamity, which befell almost the MAJOR WALKER, in rising to call whole of the old stores in the Tower. attention to the fact that the greater He presumed that the reserve of weapart of the Militia and Militia Reserves pons was desired for a case of emerof Great Britain are still unprovided gency, when a large increase would be with the Snider-Enfield Rifle; and to made in the regular Army. The means move a Resolution on the subject, said for that increase must proceed from the that he would not waste time by dis- Militia, and if the Snider-Enfield rifles cussing the question whether or not the were distributed among them, there Militia should be supplied with breech- would, upon an emergency, be found the loading Snider and Enfield rifles, for arms in readiness, and, in addition, the after the experience of the Bohemian men to use them. As to the 3,700 men campaign he took it for granted that no forming the Militia Reserve, the force British troops would ever be sent into ac- was thought by some to be a failure; tion armed with the old-fashioned muzzle- but he dissented entirely from that conloader. The only point to be decided clusion. The fact was that the condiwas, whether or not it was practicable tions of the Militia Reserves were pubeither now or shortly to place the Snider-lished so late last year that the men and Enfield rifles in the hands of the Militia officers had no time to satisfy themselves and the Militia Reserve. He believed respecting the terms of service. The that he was not far from the fact when conditions had, however, been modified; he said that, by the end of last March, suspicions had been, or would be, re350,000 stand of old English muzzle- moved; and he had no doubt that in the loading rifles were converted into Sni- course of this year the Militia Reserves ders. How, then, should those arms be would swell to 12,000 or 15,000 men. disposed of? In the first place they Under the present system, however, supshould be assigned for the use of Her posing an emergency to arise, you would Majesty's regular Army. As these wea- have to draft them into the depôt compons were only fit for infantry, he should panies, in order that these men might say that, putting aside cavalry, artillery, be taught the use of the breech-loading musicians, &c., 150,000 stand of the rifle; whereas, if his suggestion were Snider-Enfield rifles would be sufficient adopted, they might go at once to swell to arm all the rank and file of the Bri- the service companies. He hoped, theretish Army. A certain portion would be fore, that the Secretary of State would required for Marines and the Navy, and modify the system he had introduced. he believed that, when the position of No doubt this could only now be done affairs in North America was less satis- to a certain extent; but a large proporfactory than at present, it was thought tion of the English Militia, and a still desirable that a certain portion of these larger proportion of the Scotch Militia, arms should be sent out to Canada. did not go into training till next month, Calculating 50,000 for the Royal Ma- and he hoped it would be found possible rines and the Royal Navy, and 20,000 to issue the new arm to a certain profor the Canadian Militia, the total amount portion of those regiments. If the new disposed of would be 220,000 stand of arms were not issued to the regiments It then became a question whe- during their present training, he hoped ther a portion of these arms might not that, at least, the Secretary of State be placed in the hands of the Militia and would prevent the scandal of 70,000 or Militia Reserve. He should be told, no 80,000 men learning the use of a weapon doubt, by the Secretary for War, that it which they never could be called on to was necessary that a large reserve of use. these weapons should be kept within reach in case of emergency; but would they not be within reach if placed in the hands of the Militia? If they were kept in the barracks and stores of the different regiments throughout England, they arms. The platoon exercise was the most difficult, the most intricate, and the most tiresome part of the soldier's instruction. At least one-fourth of the Militiaman's twenty-seven days of training must be set aside to make him a tolerable master of this antiquated exercise. Now, if it MR. COLLINS seconded the Motion. the new rifle, these 70,000 or 80,000 would be ready in sufficiently large should, at any rate, not be forced to waste quantities to be tried in the regiments their time in learning that which would and in the different climates where it be as useless as if they were learning would be necessary to try it before its ornamental needlework, and it should final adoption. Meanwhile it was mabe optional with the commanding officers nifestly not for the public interest to to go through the platoon exercise or manufacture the Snider rifle more largely not. In conclusion, he acknowledged than they could help, because, although the efforts of the Secretary of State to it was the best weapon in use in any raise the Militia force from its pre- service at present, yet we had in prossent discouraging position. He believed pect the early adoption of a better weathat the right hon. Gentleman was tho- pon. These considerations forced the roughly in earnest in wishing to make Government to be economical in the the force efficient, and it was with that supply of the Sniders in store; but, belief that he ventured to bring the sub- nevertheless, they had not been forgetject under his notice. ful of the desire to arm the Reserve forces with this rifle. At the beginning of the present year the Militia were only in possession of 7,422 of these rifles. That number he had already raised to 25,918; and this was quite irrespective of 11,000 issued to that portion of the Pensioners and second Army Reserve, who were going out for drill in the course of the present year. He thought that this showed an earnest desire to arm the Militia to an increased extent with the best weapons. Those Militia regiments had been chosen which either were going to encamp at Aldershot or Shorncliffe, or which had shown, during the last three years the greatest efficiency in target practice. This selection was intended as an encouragement to target practice, and instructions had been issued that increased attention should be paid throughout the Militia service to target practice. The hon. and gallant Member seemed to recommend that the Militia Reserve should especially be armed with the Snider rifle. As to the Militia Reserve, it was manifestly impossible to select it for the exclusive possession of the Snider, rifle on the ground on which so distinguished an officer as the hon. and gallant Gentleman would no doubt object to having any portion of a regiment under his command supplied with that weapon unless it were supplied to the whole. Such was the course which the Government had pursued. They had been desirous to maintain their reserve at the only point which prudence and considerations of usefulness would suggest with respect to a reserve meant to provide for a case of emergency. He had been very anxious to give an increased supply of the Snider rifle to Militia regiments, especially to those engaged in target MR. CARDWELL said, that no one could desire more heartily than he did to see the Militia efficient in all respects, and particularly in the skilful use of an improved weapon. He had already stated what had been done with regard to the supply of Snider rifles to the Militia; and the reserve of Snider rifles was probably greater than was stated by the hon. and gallant Gentleman. But our position was this-It was very necessary that we should be always in possession of a sufficient reserve of the best weapon, because, of course, we never knew what emergency might arise. That remark did not apply particularly to the present time, because, fortunately, there never was a time when we need be less apprehensive; but it was a general maxim always to keep in store a sufficient reserve of the best weapon. At present the Snider rifle was, he believed, the best weapon with which any service in the world was armed; but they had also just received and circulated the Report of a most competent Committee, which recommended another rifle in substitution for the Snider rifle. It was necessary that a full trial should be made of the new Henry-Martini rifle before it was finally adopted. That trial was about to be made with as much rapidity as possible, but the machinery had to be altered, and some months must elapse before the new weapon VOL. CXCV. [THIRD SERIES.] 3 L practice, and he wished to encourage | racter of six householders occupying that practice throughout the force with houses of a certain rateable value. There a view to a more extensive distribution was very little difficulty in obtaining the of rifles next year. He trusted, he testimonial required, and the value had might add, that, when a decision had been frequently raised in a surreptitious been arrived at in regard to the Henry-manner. The result of the passing of a Martini rifle, there would be an oppor- measure, which contained only those tunity afforded of largely arming the whole force with a breech-loading weapon-a result which he looked forward to with as much interest as the hon. and gallant Gentleman could feel in the matter. As to the Return for which he moved, he should be very happy to produce it. MAJOR WALKER thanked the right hon. Gentleman for his courtesy, and said, he had only moved for Returns to put himself in form. Motion agreed to. Return ordered. BEERHOUSES, &c., BILL. (Sir Henry Selwin-Ibbetson, Mr. Akroyd, Mr. Headlam.) mons. checks, was that drunkenness so greatly increased that a Committee of that House was appointed in 1834 to inquire into the subject. That Committee reported against the extension of beer-houses such as then existed, and, in 1839, Lord Brougham, who had been a strenuous supporter of the Bill of 1830, carried through the House of Lords a Bill for the repeal of the very measure of which he had been a few years before so warm an advocate, observing that the beerhouses were sowing the seeds, not of ignorance, but, what was ten times worse, of immorality broadcast through the land. Lord Brougham, moreover, protested against the question being made a party question; but, notwithstanding his warning, party differences were permitted to affect it and the Bill SECOND READING. [BILL 22.] was thrown out in the House of ComOrder for Second Reading read. The next step taken in connection with the subject was in 1850, when SIR HENRY SELWIN-IBBETSON, a Committee of that House reported that in moving that the Bill be now read the the beer which was sold was an inferior second time, observed that there had article, and that under the system which been a long struggle with growing in-prevailed the morals and comforts of the temperance on the one hand, and the attempts on the part of the Legislature to suppress it on the other. The hon. Baronet briefly referred to the Acts passed in the reign of Henry VI., in which he said the licensing system of the present day had its origin, and to the Act of 1828, which consolidated the previous Acts on the subject. Prior to 1830 licenses were granted by the Excise after a previous license had been granted by the magistrates, into which entered the question of the character of the individual to whom it was granted, the character of the house licensed, and the wants of the locality in which it was situated. In accordance, however, with the Act of 1830, beer-houses were licensed by officers of the Revenue, who might be supposed to be interested in creating as large a number of them as possible throughout the country, the only check being the insufficiency of the rateable value of the home of the applicant for a license, and the necessity of obtaining the certificates as to his cha poor were seriously impaired. No steps to remedy those evils were, however, taken in consequence of that Report, and, in 1853 and 1854, another Committee sat under the able presidency of the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Wolverhampton (Mr. C. P. Villiers) which, after an elaborate investigation of the whole question, reported in favour of uniformity of license; recommending that the distinction between beershops and publichouses, both as to the extent of the license and the manner in which it was granted, should be discontinued. The Committee further recommended that the licensing authority should be the same for all houses, and that authority should be magisterial. After two such Reports one would imagine that some action would have been taken in the matter, but it was not again dealt with until a Bill with respect to it was introduced by his right hon. Friend the Member for the University of Oxford (Mr. G. Hardy). That measure, which was in some respects similar to the present, met present beer-house system. He might also refer to two letters which appeared lately in the leading journal on the "Haunts of Crime." They were written by a man who thoroughly understood what he was about, and who, in company with the police, visited a number of beer-houses which were the haunts of habitual criminals. He found letters came pouring in not only from magistrates and clergymen, but from tradesmen and every other class of the com with considerable opposition. Some hon. Members argued that there ought to be no legislation on the subject, and that we must trust to improved education to remedy the evil; but the right hon. Member for Morpeth (Sir George Grey) promised on the part of the Government that, if the Bill were withdrawn, another on the same subject should be matured in the approaching Recess. Eventually his right hon. Friend was beaten by a small majority, but no Bill was introduced by the Government in the follow-munity, against that system. He had a ing year. The right hon. Baronet the Member for Tamworth (Sir Robert Peel) next brought in a measure relating to Ireland, and this was followed, in 1867, by the Bill of his hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool (Mr. Graves). Some people had advocated entire freedom of the liquor trade as a means of meeting the difficulty, and, in 1862, the Liverpool magistrates adopted this plan and licensed every person who could produce certain certificates of character. The system was tried for four years, at the end of which period Liverpool was preeminent for drunkenness and crime in proportion to its population over every other seaport in the country. A petition was then got up, which was signed by a great number of medical men, and 31,000 of the inhabitants, and the magistrates on inquiry found that a much smaller number of beer-houses were necessary, and only licensed twenty-two. The history of the past condemned the system established in 1830. It had been proved that that system had covered the country with a class of public-houses which had tended to promote drunkenness, crime, and profligacy. The facts which were brought to light at the present day condemned the system no less emphatically. Three-fourths of the criminals who were brought before justices of the peace attributed their first step in crime to beer-houses and the associates they had met there. The Judges, in their charges, told the same story, which was repeated in the presentments made by grand juries during the last few months. From the boroughs more than 100 mayors, writing in the names of the corporations, had expressed opinions in favour of the Bill, and the chief constables of Halifax, Blackburn, Leeds, and upwards of seventy places, and the superintendents of police of numberless towns were unanimous in their condemnation of the letter the other day from a magistrate in the county which he had the honour to represent, stating that it had just been brought to his notice that a man, who had been convicted at quarter sessions of larceny, and who had previously held a public-house license, had taken out a beer-house license under the Excise, and that his house was now an established haunt of bad characters. If time permitted, he could multiply testimony of the same kind. Statistics showed that the convictions in all the counties were 1 in 29 of public-houses, and 1 in 12 of beer-houses; in all the boroughs, 1 in 20 of public-houses, and 1 in 7 of beer-houses. He maintained that the evidence of facts, both present and past, alike condemned the system established in 1830. That evidence pointed, he thought, to uniformity of authority in the licensing of all houses of that description; also pointed in the direction of uniform magisterial control, and increased police supervision; and also indicated the necessity for an attempt to strengthen the law by giving greater facilities for the conviction of those who violated it. All those points, he believed, would be met by the adoption of that Bill. He had divided the licenses into two classes. The first class related to sale of these articles over the counter, but not to be consumed on the premises. For that first branch of the trade he had made the facilities as great as he could; but a different course ought to be pursued in regard to the consumption of these liquors in what was falsely called the poor man's club. When they knew that the unrestricted increase of the number of those places increased the adulteration of the articles consumed in them, and that the customer was expected to drink not only what he required but also for the good of the house, then it was justifiable to say that |