country for a small sum, and is, in the opinion of competent judges, calculated to injure rather than improve the breed of horses; and, if he will cause the selection to be cancelled, and another sire substituted? MR. COX (Clare, E.) asked, whether the right hon. Gentleman could state to the House the names of the Members of the Committees to be appointed to carry out the scheme for improving the breed of horses? THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. GOSCHEN) (St. George's, Hanover Square): The selections are made by the Royal Dublin Society, assisted by local committees. I do not think that the hon. Gentleman will desire to know the names of the local committees at this stage. In reply to the first question put to me, I may say that I do not think the Government would be well advised-indeed, I doubt whether they have any right-to interfere with the Royal Dublin Society in the selection of the horses and bulls who are to receive prizes out of the £5,000. In any case, it is not the duty of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to take any steps in the matter. With regard to the particular case mentioned by the hon. Member, I have no knowledge whether his allegations are correct. But I may inform him that, to avoid every appearance of partiality, and at the same time to obtain the most competent judgment, the Royal Dublin Society, at their recent horse show, entrusted the selection of the prize stallions to three English judges of the highest experience. From all the information I have received I believe the show was a great success, and the selection of prize-winners has given general satisfaction. 1879, amounting to £18 128. 9d., and for travelling expenses and allowances for attending at Petty Sessions, amounting to £18 148. 8d.; whether an account, setting out the items of the above claim, had been furnished to the Under Secretary at Dublin Castle; whether payment has been refused, on the ground that Mr. Graham had not complied with the Rule to furnish a quarterly account of such expenses; and, whether Mr. Attorney General will reconsider his determination, and grant a special authority for the payment thereof; and, if not, would he state to the House what are the reasons for so declining? THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. GIBSON) (Liverpool, Walton), in reply, said, the statement contained in the third part of the Question was correct. Payment had been refused, because Mr. Graham had not complied with the Rule to furnish a quarterly account of his expenses. He feared he could not depart from the decision which had been arrived at on the subject. METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS— COSTERMONGERS DWELLINGS IN MR. J. ROWLANDS (Finsbury, E.) asked the hon. Member for the Knutsford Division of Cheshire, Whether it is the intention of the Metropolitan Board of Works to redeem their promise made to the costermongers of St. Luke's on 13th March, 1877, in a letter of the Clerk of the Board resolved that, when the time shall have arrived "I have to inform you that the Board has for carrying such scheme into effect, provision shall be made in the blocks of buildings to be erected for the goods and barrows of the costermongers and street sellers residing within the area? MR. TATTON EGERTON (Cheshire, Knutsford), in reply, said, that in the agreement for the sale of the land comprised within the Whitecross Street Artizans' Dwellings area to the Peabody Trustees it was stipulated that, as regarded the scheme, standing-room for trucks and goods should be provided for costermongers occupying rooms in the buildings. If there were mongers occupying rooms within the area, it would be the duty of the Trustees to provide such accommodation. coster POST OFFICE-EAST INDIA AND CHINA POST OFFICE-POSTING LETTERS AT CAPTAIN COLOMB (Tower Hamlet's, Bow, &c.) asked the Postmaster General, Whether any provisions have been in troduced into the new 10 years' contract with the Peninsular and Oriental Company, binding the Company to carry the East Indian and China mails vid the Cape in the event of war interfering with the service vid the Suez Canal? SIR HERBERT MAXWELL (A LORD of the TREASURY) (Wigton) (who replied) said: A provision even more comprehensive has been introduced. If my hon. and gallant Friend will refer to the Treasury Minute, dated March 21, 1887, appended to the contract itself, which has been laid on the Table of the House, he will find the following passage: : CAPTAIN COLOMB (Tower Hamlets, Bow, &c.) asked the Postmaster General, Whether the Governments of Colonies and Dependencies contributing to the Postal subsidies of the Peninsular and Oriental Company for the mail service between them and the Mother Country have been informed that the Admiralty have arranged with that Company for the removal of the fastest and best steamers from their mail lines on the outbreak of war; and, whether these Governments have been asked to express any opinion on the subject; and, if so, whether they are satisfied with this arrangement? SIR HERBERT MAXWELL (A LORD of the TREASURY) (Wigton) (who replied) said: The Post Office has received from the Admiralty no such information as that referred to by my hon. and gallant Friend. No communication on this subject has, therefore, been made to the Colonies interested. MR. W. G. CAVENDISH BENTINCK (Penryn and Falmouth) asked the Postmaster General, Whether the officials of the General Post Office are acquainted with the arrangements which have been in operation for many years past on the Continent for posting letters at railway stations; and, why arrangements of a similar nature cannot be made in this country for transferring letters directly from railway station pillar boxes to Post Office travelling vans which are under the care of sorting clerks ? SIR HERBERT MAXWELL (A LORD of the TREASURY) (Wigton) (who replied) said: In some cases in England letters can be posted in the station. The box is cleared at certain hours, and the letters are transferred to the sorting van in precisely the manner indicated by my hon. Friend. The question whether, with the aid of the Railway Company and their officers, further facilities might be properly introduced at smaller stations is one which the Postmaster General is investigating. INDIA (MADRAS)-ALLEGED BRIBERY OF A HIGH OFFICIAL. MR. J. F. X. O'BRIEN (Mayo, S.) asked the Under Secretary of State for India, With reference to the affidavit filed on the 12th ultimo in the High Court of Judicature, Madras, by Mr. William Francis Grahame, Madras Covenanted Civil Service, Sessions Judge of Tinnevelly, to the effect that, in June 1884, he heard it publicly stated by a Native landowner of good position to Mr. Edward Turner, that his (Mr. Edward Turner's) immediate predecessor, as Chief Magistrate and Principal Collector of the Madura District, had been in the habit of taking bribes; and, whether he can explain why Messieurs Turner and Grahame, above referred to, for three years permitted such very serious allegations to go unnoticed? OF THE UNDER SECRETARY STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir JAMES FERGUSSON) (Manchester, N.E.) (who replied) said: The Secretary of State for India has no knowledge o the affidavit referred to by the hon. Member except from the newspapers. CHILDREN-LEGISLATION. He will, however, call the attention of THE LAW RELATING TO WOMEN AND the Government of Madras to the Question on the Paper. ROYAL IRISH CONSTABULARY-CON STABLES ACTING AS BAILIFFS. MR. SEXTON (Belfast, W.) asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether, on Wednesday last, a force of the Irish Constabulary acted in Gweedore, County Donegal, as bailiffs in the execution of warrants for arrears of seed rate, and made seizures after sunset, including a seizure of wool, the property of the managers of the Donegal Industrial Fund? THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER SECRETARY (Colonel KING-HARMAN) (Kent, Isle of Thanet) (who replied) said: The warrants alluded to are especially addressed to the police, who are acting in their capacity as constables. in the execution of them. The seizures referred to appear to have been made on the morning of Wednesday last. The agent of the Donegal Industrial Fund claimed the wool seized; and he was informed by the police that if he would make a declaration that it was the property of the Fund it would be given up. He, however, did not do So, and the wool was sold with the other seizures. MR. SEXTON asked the right hon. and gallant Gentleman, if he was aware that the police lay in ambush near the house during the night, and at a considerable time before dawn made the seizure; whether, under the circumstances, the seizure was legal; whether the warrant was issued two and a-half years ago; and what steps would be taken to indemnify the owners of the property? COLONEL KING-HARMAN said, he had no information upon the subject beyond that he had given to the House. He did not know how long the warrant had been issued. MR. SEXTON asked the Attorney General for Ireland whether a seizure made before dawn was legal? THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. GIBSON) (Liverpool, Walton) said, if the hon. Member put the Question on the Paper he would answer it. MR. HOWELL (Bethnal Green, N.E.) asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If the Government will, during the Recess, consider the solidate and amend the law relating to advisability of bringing in a Bill to con women and children? MATTHEWS) (Birmingham, E.), in reply, THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. said, he was not quite sure that he the law the hon. Gentleman's Question understood correctly to what branch of referred; but he would be happy to consider any proposal which might be made to carry out the object which the hon. Gentleman had in view. THE MAGISTRACY—(IRELAND)—THE VACANT COUNTY SURVEYORSHIP MR. EDWARD HARRINGTON (Kerry, W.) asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, How long has the position of County Surveyor for Kerry been vacant; what steps have been taken to fill it; and, when is Kerry likely to have a County Surveyor ? THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER SECRETARY (Colonel KING-HARMAN) (Kent, Isle of Thanet) (who replied) said, the delay in the appointment of a County Surveyor for Kerry occurred in consequence of the Grand Jury dividing the county into two parts, with the view of appointing two Surveyors for the county. Some time had been occupied with the necessary medical examination. The Civil Service Commissioners had issued their certificate of qualification, and the appointment would be carried out at once. CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE (IRELAND) ACT-ACCESS TO PRISONS. MR. W. A. MACDONALD (Queen's Co.. Ossory) asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether persons who may be imprisoned under the Criminal Law and Procedure (Ireland) Act will be allowed to see their friends; and, if so, under what conditions? THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER SECRETARY (Colonel KING-HARMAN) (Kent, Isle of Thanet) (who replied) said, there will be nothing exceptional in the treatment of persons convicted under the Statute referred to. They will be subject to the general Prison Rules. Under these Rules, convicted prisoners are not entitled to receive any visit during the first three months of their imprisonment. During the following three months they are entitled to receive one visit. MR. EDWARD HARRINGTON (Kerry, W.) asked if the right hon. and gallant Gentleman could say how the Government intended to separate young girls in the prisons from common prostitutes off the streets? COLONEL KING-HARMAN: I will answer the Question if the hon. Gentleman will put it on the Paper. MR. W. A. MACDONALD: Does the right hon. and gallant Gentleman mean to say that if Gentlemen, who may be hon. Members of this House, are imprisoned under the Crimes Act, they will not be entitled to receive any visits from their friends for three months? COLONEL KING-HARMAN: I have already said so, Sir. MR. W. A. MACDONALD: Ha! ha! MR. SPEAKER: Order, order! EXCISE THE TOBACCO DUTIES EXCESS OF MOISTURE. MR. SEXTON (Belfast, W.) asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, If he can state how many English tobacco manufacturers have been found in possession of tobacco containing moisture in excess of the proportion allowed by law? THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. GoSCHEN) (St. George's, Hanover Square): The number of English tobacco manufacturers who have been found in possession of tobacco containing more than 35 per cent of moisture is 51. The number in Scotland is 8; in Ireland, 12. They have all been cautioned. UNITED STATES-SEIZURE OF ENGLISH VESSELS IN ALASKAN WATERS. MR. GOURLEY (Sunderland) asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether the seven vessels seized by American cruisers in Alaskan waters, and ordered to be released, have been liberated; and, whether Her Majesty's Government have published notices to British subjects in Canada PUBLIC HEALTH-PRECAUTIONS AGAINST TRICHINOSIS. MR. C. W. GRAY (Essex, Maldon) asked the Secretary to the Board of Trade, Whether the Government are giving such attention to the report that a large number of persons on the Continent are suffering from trichinosis, caused by eating Hambro' bacon, that the people of this country may rest assured that all reasonable measures will be adopted to minimize the danger of such diseased meat being sold here? THE SECRETARY (Baron HENRY DE WORMS) (Liverpool, East Toxteth): The Board of Trade have received no information on the subject referred to by the hon. Member. They understand, however, that the Local Government Board issued a Memorandum in 1881 as to trichinosis and the cooking of meat. The question relating to the importation of trichinous meat appears to be one for the authorities of the Customs. MR. J. O'CONNOR (Tipperary, S.) asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, Whether any of the contracts for the supply of bacon to Her Majesty's Navy had been placed in Hamburg; and, if he discovered that the trichinosis had appeared there, whether the supply would be stopped, and the contracts placed within the United Kingdom for good sound bacon? THE FIRST LORD (Lord GEORGE HAMILTON) (Middlesex, Ealing), in reply, said, he was not aware of any contracts being so placed; but he could not answer the Question without Notice. He might state, however, that the principle of placing contracts was that, assuming quality and price to be equal, they gave the preference to home con- | counsel. Mr. Sheriff, whose action as Chief Justice of British Honduras is censured, was at the time one of the Puisne tractors. BRITISH HONDURAS-CASE OF MR. Judges of the Straits Settlements; but DILLET-JUDGMENT OF THE JUDI- MR. SHIRLEY (Yorkshire, W.R., Doncaster) asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether he has considered the Judgment in the case of Mr. Dillet, barrister-at-law of the Inner Temple, pronounced by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on the 25th of March last; whether the Mr. Sheriff who is so severely censured in that Judgment is the same Mr. Sheriff who has recently been appointed to be a Judge of the Supreme Court at British Guiana; whether it is the fact that, when accused of a crime of which he was afterwards declared by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to be innocent, Mr. Dillet was kept in solitary confinement for 22 hours of the 24 for over three consecutive months, and was made to sleep during the whole of that time on the bare floor; whether such solitary confinement was in accordance with the law and the terms of his sentence; whether it is the fact that, about a month after Mr. Dillet's conviction, the Legislative Council of British Honduras passed a Law called "The Public Officers Protecting Ordinance, 1884," for the purpose of preventing the Chief Justice, the Colonial Secretary, and the gaoler from being sued in action for damages by Mr. Dillet; whether, notwithstanding the circumstances of this case and the opinion expressed by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Mr. Sheriff is still to be retained in Her Majesty's Service; and whether attention will be paid to Mr. Dillet's application for reappointment, his conviction having been quashed on appeal? had been allowed by my Predecessor to exchange that appointment for a Puisne Judgeship of the Supreme Court of British Guiana before the decision of the Judicial Committee was given. It is not strictly correct that the Judicial Committee declared Mr. Dillet innocent of the crime charged against him, though they quashed the conviction on the ground of misdirection. There was nothing special in his treatment in prison, except that at first the Prison Rules were not strictly enforced. The construction of the prison and the requirements of discipline render it necessary that prisoners not undergoing hard labour should be confined to their cells. All prisoners are provided with a rug and head-rest, and sleep on the floor. Mr. Dillet's treatment in prison was in accordance with law and the terms of his sentence. It is the fact that on the 12th of November, 1884, an Ordinance was passed called the "Public Officers Protecting Ordinance; but I am informed that it is not the fact that this Ordinance was passed for the purpose of preventing any officer of the Colonial Government from being sued by Mr. Dillet. The Ordinance is similar to Ordinances in force in other Colonies. After careful consideration of the circumstances of the case, I arrived at the conclusion that I should not be justified in advising the Queen to cancel Mr. Sheriff's transfer to British Guiana on account of a single instance of failure in the discharge of his judicial functions in British Honduras. I may add that the Chief Justice of British Guiana has expressed himself as perfectly satisfied with my decision. Mr. Dillet has not for many years held any appointment in the Colonial Service. He THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir served for a short period, commencing HENRY HOLLAND) (Hampstead): I have in 1870, as clerk to his father, who was given very careful consideration to the Clerk of Courts in British Honduras. Judgment of the Judicial Committee His application for employment will be and to all the circumstances of the case considered with other applications. As of Mr. Dillet, including a full explana- to the additional Question asked by the tion by Mr. Sheriff, which, unfortunately hon. Member, I have to say that no for himself, he did not bring before the such Resolution was passed by the Court Judicial Committee, as he was under of Policy; but that a protest was signed the erroneous impression that his judicial by four out of five of the elective Memconduct was not in question, and there-bers and sent home. The fifth Member fore did not appear before them by refused to sign. |