IRELAND-LOCAL GOVERNMENT (IRE- DUBLIN.-QUESTION. COLONEL STUART KNOX asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Whether the law advisers of the Irish Government see any difficulty in the case of the Dublin Corporation in enforcing this year the provisions of "The Local Government Ireland Act 1871," for the audit of its accounts; and, as the accounts of that Corporation for the year ending the 31st of August 1871 have not been signed and certified by any auditor, whether the Chief Secretary can state that the accounts for that year will be audited by the auditor appointed by the Lord Lieutenant in December 1871 for that purpose ? THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. Dowse) said, there was no difficulty now; but there was a difficulty in 1871, because the Act did not come into operation until the 1st of September, and there having been one audit of accounts up to the 31st of August, it did not seem right to incur the expense of a second. the words of the statute, I think they TURKEY-CHRISTIAN SUBJECTS OF THE SULTAN.-QUESTION. giving effect to the provisions contained VISCOUNT ENFIELD: Sir, the latest report from Constantinople, received two days ago, states that, as a general rule, the edicts in favour of the Christians are fairly carried into effect, and that as a class they have no reason for complaint. CRIMINAL LAW-CASE OF ALBERT C. LORD GEORGE HAMILTON asked the Secretary of State for the Home. Department, Whether it is true that ARMY-18TH PERTH HIGHLAND VOLUN- Albert Charles Griffin, who was sen TEERS-CASE OF PRIVATE PORTER. QUESTION. commutation of the sentence was founded upon facts which have transpired subsequent to the trial, or upon any recommendation from the Judge who pronounced the sentence? tenced to eight years' penal servitude for a rape upon a child eight years of MR. ANDERSON asked the Secre- age by Baron Bramwell at the Central tary of State for War, Whether his at- Criminal Court, has been released after tention has been called to the case of having undergone only six months' imPrivate Porter, of the 18th Perth High-prisonment; and, if so, whether this land Volunteer Corps, who was dismissed from his corps for the offence of attending two political meetings; that the meetings in question had so far been sanctioned by the magistrates granting the use of the hall to hold them in; that Private Porter expressed no approval of the sentiments of the lecturer, and that he did not attend in uniform or in any sense in his capacity of Volunteer; and, if the regulations of the volunteer force are now such that a citizen on joining a corps sacrifices his independent position as a citizen to the extent implied by this decision? MR. CARDWELL: Sir, it is true that Private Porter's services have been dispensed with by his commanding officer, in consequence of his having presided at a public meeting held to hear a lecture in favour of a Republican form of government. My attention has been called to the circumstance by the Ques MR. BRUCE replied that after the trial a Memorial, with some fresh evidence, was submitted by him to the consideration of the Judge, who, in consequence, suggested that fresh inquiries should be made through the police. Such inquiries were made; and the learned Judge, on the result being submitted to him, informed him (Mr. Bruce) that at the trial the evidence given by the child had been in some respects contradictory, and the fresh evidence showed her to be an artful little girl; and, moreover, that it had not been without a doubt that he had sentenced the prisoner, and if he had been on the jury he would have given him the benefit of the doubt. Under these circumstances, no other course could have been pursued of the House next Session, and which than the one he had adopted. BUENOS AYRES-MASSACRE OF MR. C. DALRYMPLE asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in reference to the lamentable massacre of foreigners at Taudil, Buenos Ayres, on the 1st January last, Whether, after communication with the British Consul there, he is now in a position to state what steps, if any, Her Majesty's Government have taken or intend to take to secure for the future the safety of British settlers in the Argentine Republic? VISCOUNT ENFIELD: Sir, on the 22nd of June, as appears in the Papers lately presented to Parliament, Mr. MacDonnell was instructed to remind the Argentine Government of the obligation incurred by it to deal with those whom it had induced by its assurances to settle in the country as with its own citizens, and to take the most effectual measures in its power for their protection; but that if this be not done "It must reconcile itself to the reproaches of those nations whose subjects suffer from its neglect of duty, and to the loss it will sustain by a cessation of the flow of immigration which has hitherto been directed to the country." IRELAND-LABOURERS' DWELLINGS. QUESTION. MR. WHITWELL asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Whether, as there has been no legislation this Session with respect to Labourers' Dwellings in Ireland, he can give any hope that this important subject will be taken into consideration by the Government during the Recess? THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON stated that he hoped the Government would be able during the Recess to consider the subject of labourers' dwellings in Ireland, and that with a view of facilitating such consideration the Poor Law Commissioners had, on his suggestion, issued a series of questions to their Inspectors, for the purpose of obtaining information on several points connected with the subject. The whole, or, at any rate, the greater part, of their Reports had now been received, and they contained much useful information which would no doubt be laid upon the Table probably would form the foundation of a satisfactory measure on the subject. CATTLE IMPORTATION-GERMANY AND RUSSIA-THE RINDERPEST. QUESTION. MR. M'LAGAN asked the Vice Presi dent of the Council, If he has any information as to what steps the German Government have taken to prevent the introduction of the rinderpest from Russia into Germany? MR. W. E. FORSTER said, he was informed that on the 2nd of August an Order was issued at Berlin prohibitthe whole Russo-German frontier by sea ing the importation of Russian cattle on and land. It appeared, however, that that had not prevented the introduction of the rinderpest into Germany. In addition to the fact that the cattle which had arrived at our ports must have had the disease before leaving Germany, he was informed that the rinderpest had broken out within five miles of Hamburg. He hoped, however, the German Government would soon stamp it out. THE ROYAL MINT-THE SILVER COINAGE.-QUESTION. COLONEL TOMLINE asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether it was by Statute Law or by the Prerogative of the Crown, that he, as Master of the Mint, caused the scarcity of silver coinage, the existence of which scarcity he admitted on the 1st of August, in his reply to the honourable Member for Sheffield; and, whether it is by Statute Law, or by the Prerogative of the Crown, that he now limits the coinage of silver for the people of Great Britain and Ireland to £50,000 a-week? THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: Sir, the hon. and gallant Gentleman asks me whether it was by statute law, or by the Prerogative of the Crown, that I, as Master of the Mint, caused the scarcity of silver coinage? The scarcity of silver, in my opinion, was caused by the great increase of trade in this country, and certain changes, which are very much to be rejoiced at, in the direction of making the payment of wages much more frequent. As I do not admit, therefore, that I caused CASE OF GEORGE PAGE. QUESTION. the scarcity of silver, the hon. and gal- IMPRISONMENT FOR CROWN DEBTlant Gentleman will, I am sure, be kind enough to relieve me from finding an explanation of the circumstance. Then, the hon. and gallant Gentleman asks me, whether it is by statute law or by the Prerogative of the Crown that I now limit the coinage of silver for the people of Great Britain to £50,000 a-week? I have announced that it would not be possible to increase the silver coinage of the country to more than £50,000 a-week, owing to the imperfection of our machinery; but as I did not say that that was for any other reason the maximum amount of the coinage, I apprehend that I am also discharged from the necessity of stating whether it is by statute law or the Prerogative of the Crown that such a limit has been fixed. MR. M. T. BASS said, that some weeks ago he was asked to inquire into the condition of a man named George Page, who since August 29, 1871, has been a prisoner in Maidstone Gaol for debts due to the Crown. He accordingly did so, and made representations to the Treasury to the effect that Page was in a dangerous state of health, and that under the circumstances he hoped the department would consent to his liberation. Communications were also made to the Board of Inland Revenue, and the President of the Board gave his assent to the man's release. He took it for granted that when these documents were taken to Maidstone Gaol the man would be set at liberty; but he was now THE ROYAL MINT-CHARGES AGAINST informed that he was still there in a very THE AUTHORITIES.-QUESTION. bad state of health. He wished, thereCOLONEL TOMLINE asked Mr. Chan- fore, to ask the Secretary of State for cellor of the Exchequer (in the absence the Home Department, Why George of the First Lord of the Treasury), Whe-Page is still detained in prison, notther he is aware that charges have been withstanding the fact that the Lords of openly made in Parliament against the the Treasury and the Commissioners of authorities of the Mint of peculation, Inland Revenue have signified their conand of secret alteration of official docu- sent to his discharge? ments, and that an inquiry was deMR. BRUCE said, the matter was manded, which inquiry has hitherto been not within his jurisdiction, as he had successfully resisted; and, whether he nothing whatever to do with the release will consent to the appointment of a of persons who were in prison in conRoyal Commission to inquire into, and sequence of civil suits. He had applied, report upon, the truth of those charges? however, to the proper authorities in THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHE- order to obtain a reply to the Question QUER: I am not aware of the correct- of the hon. Member, and he had received ness of the facts stated by the hon. and from the Board of Inland Revenue a gallant Gentleman; but, certainly, whe-letter to the effect that it offered no obther they have happened or not, they have not happened in this House. The only answer I can give the hon. and gallant Gentleman is, that in order to found a case for an official investigation of any kind, either by inquiry or by Royal Commission, two things must be combined. In the first place, a charge must be distinctly made, and secondly some sort of evidence must be produced to give a colour and plausibility to that charge. Until these two conditions are complied with, I am sure the House and the Government will not grant a Royal Commission; and in the present case, as far as I am aware, neither of these conditions has been complied with. jection to Page's release, if the district Commissioners, who had obtained the warrant against him, did not object to it. It appeared that Page was required to pay costs to the amount of £15 or £16; but the Board would take steps to remove this obstacle to his release. TRINITY HOUSE-DISMISSAL OF MR. BEAZELEY.-QUESTION. MR. EASTWICK asked the President of the Board of Trade, Whether any communication has been received from the Trinity House relative to the dismissal of Mr. Beazeley? MR. CHICHESTER FORTESCUE replied that he was not responsible for either the engagement or dismissal of INTOXICATING LIQUOR (LICENSING) Saving Clauses. any gentleman in the employment of the | made a mistake. Professor Simonds was Trinity House; but the Deputy Master no longer in the service of the Governof the Trinity House being aware that ment, and he was sorry for it; but in the Question had been addressed to the such an emergency Professor Simonds Board of Trade by the hon. Member, had been kind enough to place his most had sent him (Mr. C. Fortescue) a letter, valuable services at the disposal of the the substance of which was as follows: Government. He did not suppose, how-Mr. Beazeley had been removed from ever, that any objection had been raised the service of the Trinity House. He by the Veterinary College. had been employed as assistant to the engineer, and in the course of last year he delivered to the Institution of Civil Engineers a lecture on the subject of fog signals. His official superior objected to Mr. Beazeley's using data which could only be obtained from documents belonging to the Trinity House, and to his putting forward views, the importance of which was solely due to the fact that he was on the Trinity House staff. Nothing further was heard of Mr. Beazeley till a copy of his second lecture at the United Service Institution was forwarded by him to the Deputy Master, without any reference to what had previously occurred. Under these circumstances, and looking to the terms on which Mr. Beazeley stood in the office, the Board felt that there was only one course to be pursued. Mr. Beazeley having only a weekly tenure of office, the Board invited him to name a reasonable time within which he might expect to obtain employment elsewhere; but as he did not do this, they were obliged to give him two months' notice. CATTLE PLAGUE-PROFESSOR SIMONDS.-QUESTION. MR. NEWDEGATE said, he wished to put a Question to the right hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. W. E. Forster) in consequence of some remarks of that right hon. Gentleman, delivered July 30 or 31, relating to Professor Simonds, which have been misunderstood. Professor Simonds occupies the position of Principal of the Royal Veterinary College, and the right hon. Gentleman was understood to say that the Professor went down to Newcastle as Government Inspector. He wished to ask the right hon. Gentleman, Whether he intended to convey that Professor Simonds went down as an Inspector in the service of the Government? MR. W. E. FORSTER said, that if he had spoken of Professor Simonds as one of the Government Inspectors he had Clause 60 (Saving of certain rights) agreed to. Definitions. Clause 61 (Interpretation). SIR HENRY SELWIN-1BBETSON proposed, in line 40, to omit "Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Act, 1828." That he believed was known as the Alehouse Act, and he suggested the omission of the words "Intoxicating Liquor.” MR. BRUCE said, he saw no reason for altering the words of the clause. SIR HENRY SELWIN-IBBETSON said, there was another question most difficult to define, and that was what constituted "a bona fide traveller." He proposed to insert in the clause, at page 29, line 19, after "county," an Amendment, to be inserted as a separate paragraph, to this effect "A bona fide traveller shall mean a person who being in a neighbourhood other than that in which he resides, and at a distance of not less than three miles from such residence, stands in need of refreshment." Since he had put his Amendment on the Paper official information had been sent him, which showed that three miles would, practically, be hardly a sufficient limit to fix for carrying out the definition of a traveller by a reference to his neighbourhood, and that a larger limit must be assigned. He believed that which was last year adopted by the Home Secretary, when dealing with that very subject, was an unobjectionable one, and he should ask leave of the Committee to alter his Amendment by inserting "five" instead of "three." The Amendment would not do what he should wish to do, by getting rid of the MR. BRUCE admitted that the hon. Baronet had an advantage in being able to quote against him the opinion he expressed last year, but he thought the magistrates would have great difficulty in applying it. How, for example, was it to be interpreted in places of such magnitude as London or Manchester? His own opinion was, upon the whole, that the matter had much better be left to the decision of the magistrates themselves, as the circumstances in different places were so various. Besides, the increased stringency of the Bill and the greater restriction of the open hours, made it desirable that they should not add to the difficulty which must any way occur in enforcing the law. They had reduced the open hours on Sunday afternoons to all except bona fide travellers, and he should be sorry to see the law enforced too strictly, which they would do very seriously if they were to adopt the hon. Baronet's definition. For that reason he must oppose the Motion. MR. LOCKE said, that if his hon. Friend would stop in his Amendment at the word "6 resides,' "it would answer very well. As he had now put it, it would never do. Suppose he (Mr. Locke) said he should walk all the way to Edinburgh. Well, he should very likely get tired before he had gone a mile; and then his hon. Friend stepped in and said he must walk five miles before he should be entitled to any refreshment. Why, it might be the death of him. Or say he only resolved to walk to Croydon, and that he walked to the top of Brixton Hill, and then felt weary. Even then, not having completed the specified five miles, he would have to trudge the difference further on, before he could get anything to drink. He did not think the definition was a good one, and must decidedly say that he coincided in the opinion that the settlement of the disputed point should be left with the magistrates. SIR HENRY SELWIN-IBBETSON said, it was not his intention to press his Amendment, and explained that it only referred to times when public-houses would be closed by law. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Repeal. Clause 62 (Repeal of Acts mentioned in schedule), amended, and agreed to. Postponed Clause 60 A (License as defined by Act not required for certain retail sales). MR. BRUCE said, that the clause had been postponed at an early hour on Saturday morning, in deference to the right hon. Gentleman at the head of the Government, who had given great attention to the subject; but as a domestic loss prevented the right hon. Gentleman from being present, he had to appeal to the indulgence of the Committee to postpone it a little longer, to enable the right hon. Gentleman to be in his place. His appeal more particularly applied to the hon. Baronet the Member for West Essex, who had a Notice of Amendment upon the Paper. SIR HENRY SELWIN-IBBETSON observed, that he was not surprised at the appearance of the House, and did not doubt that its recent labours had told severely on many of its Members, as they must have done, particularly on the right hon. Gentleman at the head of the Government himself, whose absence from his place too plainly confirmed the statement just made by the right hon. Gentleman the Home Secretary. He attached immense importance to the proper discussion of this clause, and one of the chief reasons why he had objected to the Bill going on at so late a period of the Session, was that he had felt that many hon. Members who had taken a deep interest in this question, and who had very strong feelings respecting it, would be absent when it came under discussion. What he had foreseen had come to pass, for many benches were empty, the length of the Session having told on the endurance of hon. Members. He felt, indeed, that even a discussion that evening on the subject would not be so satisfactory as it would have been some short time back. The appeal which had been made under the circumstances was one which he confessed he had the greatest possible difficulty in resisting; but he had to consider not only his own feelings on the subject, but also those of other hon. Members, and there arose the fear that any further postponement would place hon. Members who might be present when the subject came on for discussion entirely at the mercy of the Go |