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child must have an equal share of its parents' property; and he found that it had caused the destruction of proparty. He hoped that it might not injure the Government to lose one of the Bills named in the Queen's Speech, as reform had been mentioned in 1852, 1858, 1859, 1860, and again in 1866, when the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, on Lord John Manners quoting from Lord Tennyson's A Land of Settled Government, said the noble Lord ought to have gone on, and quoted, from the epistle dedicatory to the Queen, verses in praise of the measures of reform. The words that really followed were

"Where Faction seldom gathers head." The Chief Rabbi, Dr. Adler, had quoted the words before

"Where, begirt by friends or foes,

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A man may speak the thing he will; but the words before those words were applicable still

"It is a land which freemen till,

Which sober-suited Freedom chose."

It is true now, as it was then. He had great confidence in the present Government; and he hoped that such measures as the Law of Evidence-so called -Amendment Bill would not again be supported, and part of the Land Transfer Bill might not again be brought for

c. 42; Stannaries Act (1869) Amendment [50 & 51 Vict. c. 43]; Lunacy Districts (Scotland) [50 & 51 Vict. c. 39]; Savings Banks and Government Annuities [50 & 51 Vict. c. 40]; Sheriff of Lanarkshire (50 & 61 Vict. c. 41; Trinidad and Tobago [50 & 51 Vict. c. 44]; Metropolitan Police (50 & 51 Vict. c. 45]; Labourers' Allotments [50 & 51 Vict. c. 48]; Charity Commissioners (Offi. cers) [50 & 51 Vict. c. 49]; Tramways (War Department) [50 & 51 Vict. c. 65]; Trustee Savings Banks [50 & 51 Vict. c. 47]; Merchant Shipping (Miscellaneous) [50 & 51 Vict. c. 62]; Valuation of Lands (Scotland) Amendment [50 & 51 Vict. c. 51]; Friendly Societies Act (1875) Amendment (No. 3) [50 & 51 Vict. c. 56]; Bankruptcy (Discharge and Closure) [50 & 51 Viet. c. 66]; Expiring Laws Continuance [50 & 51 Viet. c. 63]; Local Government (Boundaries) [50 & 51 Vict. c. 61]; Prisons (Officers' Superannuation) (Scotland) [50 & 51 Vict. c. 60]; Superannuation Acts Amendment (50 & 51 Vict. c. 67]; Technical Schools (Scotland) [50 & 51 Vict. c. 647; British Settlements [50 & 51 Vict. c. 54]; Deeds of Arrangement (No. 2) [50 & 51 Viet. c. 57]; Escheat (Procedure) [50 & 51 Vict. c. 53]; Secretary for Scotland Act (1885) Amendment [50 & 51 Vict. c. 52]; Truck [50 & 51 Vict. c. 46]; Sheriffs (Consolidation) [50 & 51 Vict. c. 55]; Appellate Jurisdiction [50 & 51 Vict. c. 70]; Coroners [50 & 51 Vict. c. 71]; Local Authorities (Expenses) [50 & 51 Vict. c. 72]; Pluralities Act Amendment [50 & 51 Vict. c. 68]; Statute Law Revision [50 & 51 Vict. c. 59]; Coal Mines Regulation [50 & 51 Vict. c. 58]; Conveyancing (Scotland) Acts Amendment [50 & 51 Vict. c. 69]; Copyhold Enfranchisement [50 & 58 Vict. c. 73].

ward, although partly alluded to in the PROROGATION OF THE PARLIAMENT— Queen's Speech.

Committee negatived; (Standing Order
No. XXXV. having been dispensed
with for the remainder of the Session),
Bill read 3a, and passed.

House adjourned at a quarter past
Two o'clock, to Friday next,
Two o'clock.

HOUSE OF LORDS,

Friday, 16th September, 1887.

MINUTES.]-PUBLIC BILLS - Royal AssentConsolidated Fund (Appropriation) [50 & 51 Vict. c. 50]; Criminal Law (Scotland) Procedure) (No. 2) [50 & 51 Vict. c. 35]: Lieutenancy Clerks Allowances [50 & 51 Vict. c. 36]; Public Works Loans [50 & 51 Vict. c. 371 Licensed Premises (Earlier Closing) (Scotland) [50 & 51 Vict. c. 38]; Public Libraries (Scotland) Acts Amendment [50 & 51 Fict.

HER MAJESTY'S SPEECH. THE PARLIAMENT was this day prorogued by Commission.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR (Lord HALSBURY) acquainted the House that Her Majesty had been pleased to grant two several Commissions; one for declaring Her Royal Assent to several Bills agreed to by both Houses of Parliament, and the other for proroguing the Parliament:-And the LORDS COMMISSIONERS-namely, The LORD CHANCELLOR; The VISCOUNT CROSS (Secretary of State for India); The LORD STANLEY of PRESTON (President of the Board of Trade); The EARL BROWNLOW (Paymaster General); and The MARQUESS of LOTHIAN (Secretary for Scotland)—being in their Robes, and seated on a Form between the Throne and the Woolsack; and the COMMONS being come, with their Speaker, and the Commission for that purpose being read, the ROYAL ASSENT was given to several Bills.

Then THE LORD CHANCELLOR, "I have agreed with the President pursuant to Her Majesty's Command, of the United States to refer to a delivered Her Majesty's Speech, as Joint Commission the difficult questions respecting the North American Fisheries which have recently been

follows:

'My Lords, and Gentlemen, "My relations with other Powers continue to be friendly.

under discussion between the two Nations.

"The protracted Negotiations which have taken place between the Emperor "It is with singular satisfaction of Russia and Myself in regard to the that I mention the assemblage of the Line of Frontier, which we should first Conference of the Representatives agree to recognise as forming the of My Colonies that has ever been Northern Limit of Afghanistan, have held in this Capital. Their deliberabeen brought to a satisfactory termination; and the Ameer has readily accepted the boundary which the two Powers have laid down. I hope that this Convention will conduce powerfully to the maintenance of a durable peace in Central Asia.

"The Treaty between Great Britain and China in reference to the relations of that Country with Burmah has been ratified. The confident hope which I expressed that the general pacification of the latter Country would be effected during the present year has been fully realised, and a settled Government is being gradually introduced into its more remote districts.

"A Convention was concluded between the Sultan of Turkey and Myself for the purpose of defining the conditions under which it would be possible for Me to undertake the withdrawal of My troops from Egypt at a fixed date. It has, however, not been ratified by the Sultan, and the course of action imposed upon Me by My obligations to the Ruler and People of Egypt remains unchanged. The presence of My Forces has secured to that Country the blessings of tranquillity, and has enabled Me effectually to support the Khedive in his efforts to promote the good government and prosperity of his People.

tions, directed to many matters of deep practical interest to their respective communities, and conducted in a spirit of hearty co-operation, will, I doubt not, add strength to the affection by which the various parts of My Empire are bound together.

"Gentlemen of the House of Com

mons,

"I thank you for the liberal provision which you have made for the wants of the public service.

"My Lords, and Gentlemen,

"There are some grounds for hoping that the grave depression under which all commercial and industrial interests in this Country have lain for so long is assuming a less severe character. I deeply grieve to add, however, that there is no mitigation of the suffering under which large portions of the agricultural community continue to labour.

"The wants and difficulties of Ireland have occupied your close attention during a protracted Session. I trust that the remedies which your wisdom has provided will gradually effect the complete restoration of order in that Country, and will give a renewed encouragement to peaceful industry. In order to pass them, it has been necessary to postpone the

consideration of many important mea- | Thirtieth day of November next, to be

sures affecting other parts of the United Kingdom, which, I doubt not, you will be able to resume without hindrance in the coming Session.

"I have, however, gladly given my assent to legislation by which I hope the provision of allotments in districts where they are required will be facilitated; the safety and prosperity of the large and industrious population engaged in mining operations will be more fully secured; and fraudulent practices in the marking of merchandise, highly injurious to the trade and commercial reputation of this Country, will be prevented; while, with regard to Scotland, the Law of Criminal Procedure will be simplified and improved, and the high office of Secretary for Scotland will acquire additional importance and efficiency.

"This year, as the Fiftieth Anniversary of My Reign, has been the occasion for the expression of a fervent loyalty on the part of My subjects throughout the Empire which has deeply touched Me. I am indeed truly grateful for the warm and hearty proofs of affection which have reached Me from all classes; and in thanking God for the blessings He has vouchsafed to Me and to My Country, I trust I may be spared to continue to reign over a loving, faithful, and united people."

Then a Commission for proroguing the Parliament was read.

After which,

THE LORD CHANCELLOR said-
My Lords, and Gentlemen,

then here holden; and this Parliament is accordingly prorogued to Wednesday the Thirtieth day of November next.

HOUSE OF COMMONS,

Friday, 16th September, 1887.

The House met at a quarter before Two of the clock.

CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE (IRELAND) ACT-IMPRISONMENT OF MR. O'BRIEN, M.P.

MR. SPEAKER informed the House

that he had received a letter from Mr. Richard Eaton, Resident Magistrate, acquainting him of the arrest and im prisonment of Mr. William O'Brien, Member for the North Eastern Division of the County of Cork, which he read to the House, as followeth :

Sir,

Cork, September 12th, 1887.

O'Brien, esquire, a Member of the House of I have the honour to inform you that William Commons, was this day brought before me, on a Warrant, charging him with an offence under section 2 of the Criminal Law and Procedure Act, 50 and 51 Vic. c. 20, namely, inciting divers persons to assault, obstruct, and intimidate sundry persons, being Sheriff's officers, bailiffs, constables, and other Ministers of the Law, in the execution of their duties; and that he has been committed by me to the County Prison, at Cork, to await his trial on the said charge, on the 23rd of September instant, at Mitchelstown, in said county, before a Court duly constituted under said Act, and that he is now in Cork County Prison.

I have the honour to be,

Sir,

Your most obedient Servant,
RICHARD EATON,
Resident Magistrate.

To the Right Honble.
The Speaker of

The House of Commons.

MR. J. O'CONNOR (Tipperary, S.): May I ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant a question arising out of that letter?

By virtue of Her Majesty's Commission, under the Great Seal, to us and other Lords directed, and now read, we do, in Her Majesty's Name, and in obedience to Her Commands, prorogue MR. J. O'CONNOR: I wish to ask this Parliament to Wednesday the the right hon. Gentleman whether he

MR. SPEAKER assented.

will give us any assurance that this definite appointment of the day of trial will not be anticipated by the action of the authorities in Ireland?

THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. W. H. SMITH) (Strand, Westminster) (who replied) said: I have received no information from the Irish Government on the subject. I cannot believe that any other than the regular and formal course will be adopted in this case as in all other cases.

BURIALS ACT (ENGLAND AND WALES) -BOLTON-ON-DEARNE BURIAL

GROUND.

MR. SHIRLEY (Yorkshire, W. R., Doncaster) asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether burials can now take place without scandal or indecency in the Bolton-onDearne Churchyard; why the coming into operation of the order for closing the said churchyard has been postponed; and, whether the said churchyard cannot be enlarged, or a new burial ground acquired?

THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. MATTHEWS) (Birmingham, E.), in reply, said, that he had been informed by the Inspector that burials could take place in certain parts of the churchyard of Bolton-on-Dearne without scandal or indecency. The Order in Council closing the churchyard had been postponed until March next, in order to enable the parishioners to take steps to obtain a new burial ground. His approval had been asked for a site a

short distance from the church.

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MR. W. ABRAHAM (Limerick, W.) asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, When will those pupils who have been recommended by the District Inspectors of National Schools in Ireland in July last, be appointed monitors in the schools for which they have been so recommended? THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER SECRETARY (Colonel KING-HARMAN) (Kent, Isle of Thanet) (who replied) said: The Commissioners of National Education inform me that such of the candidate monitors recommended by the Inspectors as have been approved by

the Commissioners have been appointed from the 1st of July last.

POST OFFICE (IRELAND)-KILLALOE

POST OFFICE.

THE O'GORMAN MAHON (Carlow) (for Mr. Cox) (Clare, E.) asked the Postmaster General, Whether it is true that the accounts of the Killaloe Post Office have been falsified and monies embezzled; whether the Postmistress has been dismissed in consequence; and, whether there is any foundation for the rumour that it is intended to appoint a near relative of the dismissed official to the vacant position?

SIR HERBERT MAXWELL (A LORD of the TREASURY) (Wigton) (who replied) said: The Postmistress of Killaloe Post Office has been arrested on a charge of larceny and embezzlement. The matter is now the subject of a magisterial investigation. The question of dismissal would not come before the Postmaster General until the magisterial investigation had been completed. No vacancy had yet arisen in the office of sub-Postmistress.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND—APPROPRIATION OF GLEBE LAND FOR A BURIAL GROUND AT GREAT HARWOOD, LANCASHIRE.

MR. J. ROWLANDS (Finsbury, E.) (for Mr. H. J. WILSON) (York, W.R., Holmfirth) asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether he has been asked to sanction the appropriation by the Vicar of Great Harwood, Lancashire, of a part of the glebe for an addition to the churchyard, such land being at a great distance from the churchyard; whether he is aware that the Sanitary Authority of the district have provided, under Marten's Act, a cemetery adjoining the glebe land proposed to be so appropriated, and divided it into Episcopal, Nonconformist, and Roman Catholic portions, with a separate chapel for each; whether the fact that the Sanitary Authority, in the exercise of the discretion vested in them by the Act, have not obtained the consecration of the Episcopal portion of the cemetery, justifies the appropriation of glebe land for providing a second cemetery, to the detriment of that already provided by the inhabitants; and, whether, before giving the required sanction, he will

cause an inquiry into the facts of the case to be made?

THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. MATTHEWS) (Birmingham, E.), in reply, said, that his approval had been asked for the establishment of a burial-ground at Great Harwood, and, in accordance with the usual practice, the Burial Inspector had reported to him with regard to the suitableness of the proposed site. He was informed that a cemetery had been established under the provisions of Marten's Act. The appropriation of glebe land was lawful under certain conditions required by law to be observed. The appropriation did not require his sanction. It was for the Bishop, incumbent, and patron to decide whether the absence of a consecrated burial-ground for the interment of members of the Church of England in Great Harwood justified such appropriation.

LAW AND JUSTICE (ENGLAND AND WALES)-THE SENTENCE ON MIRIAM JONES, FOR ATTEMPTED CHILD

MURDER.

MR. W. ABRAHAM (Glamorgan Rhondda) asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether, after considering the Petitions sent to him respecting the case of the unfortunate girl Miriam Jones, who was sentenced at the Swansea Assizes to eight years' penal servitude for an alleged attempt to murder her child, and in view of the fact that the child is now alive and uninjured, he will consider whether the severity of that sentence might be mitigated?

THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. MATTHEWS) (Birmingham, E.): The learned Judge who passed sentence upon Miriam Jones is still absent from Eng land. Upon his return I shall consult him upon all the facts of the case and upon a mitigation of sentence. It would be contrary to usage if I dealt with the sentence without reference to the learned Judge who passed it.

LABOURERS (IRELAND) ACT-SCHEMES FOR THE ELECTORAL DIVISION OF TARBERT.

MR. CAREW (Kildare, N.) (for Dr. TANNER) (Cork Co., Mid) asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether it is a fact that

Captain Leslie, of Tarbert, succeeded in preventing the promotion of several schemes for the erection of labourers' cottages, under the Labourers (Ireland) Act, in the Tarbert Division, by his undertaking to erect whatever cottages might be required; whether it is a fact that no cottage has ever since been built; whether the Guardian for the said Division, who was responsible for accepting the said compromise, is a paid servant of Captain Leslie, and holds the position of Guardian through the proxy votes given by Captain Leslie and his friends; whether the labourers in the said Division are as a consequence, compelled to inhabit huts condemned by the Sanitary Authorities in March, 1882; and, whether any steps will be taken by the Executive Government in Ireland to remedy the present state of affairs in the Division referred to?

THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER SECRETARY (Colonel KING-HARMAN) (Kent, Isle of Thanet) (who replied) said: I understand that at a meeting of the Board of Guardians of Glin Union Captain Leslie stated that he was prepared to build eight houses in the Electoral Division of Tarbert at his own Hamilton, the elected Guardian of the expense; and it was agreed to by Mr. Division, that six houses would meet the clerk of Glin Union states that Mr. requirements of that Division. The Hamilton was never a paid servant of Captain Leslie. It is the case that no cottage has since been built. The Medical Officer of Health appears to have reported, in June, 1882, that in his dispensary district, which includes

houses unfit for human habitation. The Tarbert Division, there were certain Guardians presented, on the 30th of improvement schemes in the Union, inAugust, petitions for the confirmation of cluding the erection of 10 cottages in the Tarbert Division; and the Local Government Board have directed a local inquiry to be held into the application on the 21st of this month.

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