Complaint made to the House by the | Committee Report - Kensington Station and honourable Member for Barnstaple, of the terms of a Letter relating to the Ecclesiastical Dilapidations Bill, written by Mr. Joseph K. Aston.

MINUTES.]-PUBLIC BILLS-First Reading-rowby) that the House go into Commit

Government whether they would take | with pawning, preferred to go to buyers into consideration the granting any re- of another kind, and, therefore, the relaxation of the insurance duty for that strictions imposed upon pawnbrokers part of the insurance amounting to about did not lead to a greater percentage of a fourth, which would be necessary to detections in criminal cases. He did not cover the risks of the customers? The wish to detain their Lordships; but he proposal for insurance of pawnbrokers' did wish to enter his protest against the pledges seemed to have been first made supposition that he was any party to the by Mr. M'Culloch, but the provisions of creation of the vested interest which this Bill had been sketched out in a might hereafter be held to have been pamphlet dated June, 1868, by a pawn- created by this Bill, for their Lordships broker of Exeter, Mr. J. R. Brooking, knew the difficulties to which vested into whom seemed to belong much more terests had given rise, when legislation credit for these reforms than he had was proposed in respect to another trade. hitherto obtained. He did not say that such interests might of Parliament; but he only hoped that not be fairly urged on the consideration by protesting now he might keep him

Schedule 3 amended, and agreed to.
Schedule 4.

harmonize with any prices current in the country. Beyond that, moreover, it LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY was useless for the Chancellor of the said, he would now move the Amend- Exchequer to reduce the duties on tea ment of which he had given Notice, to and sugar if at the same time he stinted leave out Proviso 2, which makes a far- the supply of farthings, so that the conthing into a halfpenny, and three far-sumer could not benefit by these reducthings into a penny, because it seemed to have been adopted to make up for the insufficient supply of farthings by the Mint, and he feared that the Proviso would encourage the Mint to neglect the proper supply of farthings. That farthings were insufficient in quantity in some parts of the country was shown by the answer given by Mr. Stubbs, a magistrate's clerk at Liverpool, to Question 3,095 of the Select Committee of the House of Commons. He said—

"As to Section 4, which enacted that pawnbrokers were to give farthings, I may say that in Liverpool farthings are scarcely known, and it is frequently the case that rows of pins have been given in lieu of farthings. Whether from scarcity of coin or from other causes, I cannot say, but I have not seen a farthing in Liverpool certainly within the last six years."

If the Proviso applied only to fractional sums, not represented by any coin, it would be intelligible; but it did not seem called for, except by reason of a deficiency of coin, for which the Mint was responsible. The Proviso was most unjust in principle, for it was the same in form and spirit as a Proviso would be enacting that in certain cases half-asovereign or a sovereign should be required where a debt amounted to 98. or 198., for if a portion of the copper coinage was to be treated as non-existing, the silver coinage might soon come in for similar treatment. Any deficiency of small coin fell very severely upon the poorer portion of the population, and he had seen that proved by the fact that the only complaint which he heard made in Savoy after the annexation, was that the French Government had not given them as much small change as they had under the Piedmontese. He might also refer to the whole population of Catalonia having rejected two new copper coinages of the Revolutionary Government in Spain, so that even the beggars would not take these coins. The first of these coinages diminished the number of coppers in the piece of silver from 34 to 32, so as to get rid of four small coins called ochavos, and the second reduced the 32 coppers to 20, which would not

tions, which are only profitable to the
importers. The noble Lord concluded
by moving the omission of the Proviso.
Amendment agreed to; words struck out
accordingly.

Schedule, as amended, agreed to.
Schedule 5 amended, and agreed to.
House resumed.

LORD REDESDALE said, he must express his concurrence with the noble Lord (Lord Stanley of Alderley) in the view that the Proviso against which he had moved his Amendment would not have been fair to poor persons who might be obliged to have dealings with pawnbrokers.

THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY said, he also concurred in thinking that the Proviso would have been unadvisable.

The Report of the Amendments to be received To-morrow; and Bill to be printed, as amended. (No. 292.)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (IRELAND)
BILL-(No. 246.)

(The Marquess of Lansdowne.)

THIRD READING.

Bill read the third time (according to Order).

Some Amendments made.

On Motion, That the Bill do pass?

THE EARL OF LONGFORD said, that at present local Governing Bodies had power to promote private Bills; but they had no general power of opposing Bills affecting their locality, and which they did not approve. He begged to move an Amendment giving them the latter power.

THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE failed to see any sound objection to the proposition of the noble Earl; but he must ask him not to press it at that period of the Session, inasmuch as it was one on which opinion had not been taken, and it was now too late to have it considered.

THE EARL OF LONGFORD said, that of course it was useless for him to press the Amendment at that period of

the Sesssion if the Government did not consent to its adoption, and he would therefore beg leave to withdraw it. Amendment (by leave of the House) withdrawn.

Motion agreed to Bill passed, and sent to the Commons.

MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS (BOROUGH
FUNDS) BILL-(No. 264.)
(The Earl of Morley.)

REPORT.

Order of the Day for receiving the
Report of the Amendments, read.
Moved, "That the said Report be now
received."(The Earl of Morley.)
Motion agreed to.

LORD REDESDALE moved an Amendment having for its object to prevent any town council from promoting a Bill for the compulsory purchase of waterworks or gasworks. He said much vexation was caused to gas companies and water companies by town corporations who wanted to get possession of their property.

any Bill, or any payment to any such member for acting as counsel or agent in promoting or opposing any Bill, should be charged to the public funds administered by such body.

THE EARL OF MORLEY said, he could not consent to the first portion of the Amendment, because when any member of one of those bodies attended as a deputation to watch the progress of Bills, it must be presumed that the constituents of the body of which he was a member approved such attendance. To the latter part of the Amendment, providing against payment out of the funds of the body to any of its members who acted as counsel or agent before a Parliamentary Committee, the Government would give their assent. Motion agreed to.

Amendment, as amended, agreed to. Further Amendments made; and Bill to be read 3a To-morrow.

Bridgewater: Also, Copy of Dr. Morgan's will:
persons connected with Dr. Morgan's School,
Ordered to be laid before the louse.—(The
Marquess of Salisbury.)

DR. MORGAN'S SCHOOL, BRIDGEWATER. Return of all correspondence between the EnTHE EARL OF KIMBERLEY sub- dowed Schools Commissioners or Assistant Committed that in these days, when uni-missioners and the governing body of or any other formity in the management of public undertakings was thought so desirable, it would be unwise to insert in an Act of Parliament a Proviso to prevent a town council from promoting a Bill for the compulsory purchase of gasworks or waterworks. Parliament would take care that such Bills were passed only in proper cases.

LORD REDESDALE said, he would withdraw his Amendment, because at that time there was no hope of carrying it against the wish of the Government.

Amendment, by leave of the House, withdrawn.

LORD REDESDALE said, he had another Amendment to propose, and its object was to put an end to what he regarded as an abuse. The members of local Governing Bodies were very fond of coming to Parliament to promote or oppose Private Bills, because it gave them an opportunity of visiting London at the expense of the ratepayers of their locality. He would move the insertion of a clause to the effect that no expenses incurred by any member of a local Governing Body on account of attendance on Parliament in promoting or opposing

House adjourned at Six o'clock, till
To-morrow, Four o'clock.

MR. CAWLEY (for Mr. GRAVES) asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, If he will state to the House the nature of the communications received from the Government of France in reply to the protest made by Her Majesty's Government on the 24th of February last against the levying of differential duties on merchandise imported into France under the British Flag, and the demand then made to place British Shipping on the "most favoured nation" footing?

VISCOUNT ENFIELD: The French Government maintain that there is no treaty engagement between this country and France which precludes the levying of the duties in question, and have hitherto declined to accede to the application made by Her Majesty's Government. The representations made on this subject last February have been renewed, and the subject is still engaging the attention of both Governments.

ENDOWED SCHOOLS COMMISSIONERS-
GREYCOAT HOSPITAL, WESTMINSTER.
QUESTION.

alluded never came before the Education Department during the time when they could have considered it; and, in fact, it had never come before them officially.

INDIA-MR. DENIS FITZPATRICK.
QUESTION.

MR. J. LOWTHER (for General FORESTER) asked the Under Secretaryof State for India, Whether Mr. Denis FitzPatrick, who in 1864 was Judge of the Small Cause Court at Delhi, and Agent to the Government of India in defending two suits brought against them in the Deputy Commissioners' Court at Delhi by the representatives of the Begum Sombre, and who, as it appeared by evidence in that Court, in the same year was found to have abstracted papers from the Public Records in the Government Collector's Office at Meerut, is the same Denis FitzPatrick who for upwards of three years has been, according to the Indian official Civil List, receiving a salary of £1,600 a year for superintending the said suits in this country on the part of the Government of India?

MR. GRANT DUFF, in reply, said, the Question had taken him very much by surprise. He had that morning made every possible inquiry about the matter, and found that no one at the India Office had ever heard a whisper of such a story. He was told that Mr. FitzPatrick, whom he never saw, and about whom he knew nothing whatever personally, had the highest reputation for honour. It was a very great pity that the right hon. and gallant Member, before he asked a Question reflecting upon private character, did not think it desirable to give the representative of India in that House a somewhat longer Notice; especially as Mr. FitzPatrick had been

MR. W. H. SMITH asked the Vice President of the Council, Whether it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government to advise Her Majesty to signify Her Assent at the close of the present Session to the scheme prepared by the Endowed Schools Commissioners for the management of Greycoat Hospital; or whether, seeing that it affects the interests of the working people of Westminster, who have not fully considered its provisions, he will recommend delay until the commencement of next Session? MR. W. E. FORSTER found from the best legal advice that there was practi-employed to watch a case adverse to the cally no discretion with the Government right hon. and gallant Member's private in the matter. It was their duty to recommend Her Majesty to consent to the scheme of the Endowed Schools Commissioners, as there had been two months during which Petitions might have been presented to the Education Department, and the scheme had lain 40 days on the Table of the House. He was sorry to hear that any persons were dissatisfied with the Greycoat School Scheme, and could only state that the particular objection to which the hon, Gentleman

interests.

MR. J. LOWTHER said, he knew nothing about the details of the matter. He had merely been asked to put the Question, and he did not think the hon. Gentleman had answered it. The hon. Gentleman had not said whether this was one and the same person who was mentioned under these two heads.

MR. GRANT DUFF stated that he knew nothing whatever about the matter; but he believed that if the right hon,