§ MR. HUNTasked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether he has come to any conclusion as to the propriety of sanctioning, by means of a Private Bill, an alteration of the terms prescribed by a Public Act of Parliament for the composition of the debt due to the Exchequer upon the security of Blackwater Bridge; and, whether he has ascertained whether there was any foundation for the charge made by him on more than one occasion in 1868 against the conduct of the late Government in respect to the composition of this debt?
MR. GLADSTONEsaid, in reply, with respect to the latter part of the Question, which was of a personal nature, as far as he could recall the circumstances of 1868 he believed he was entirely in error as to the criticisms which he offered upon the conduct of the late Government on the point to which the right hon. Gentleman had referred. He both regretted that circumstance and likewise that from accident he was never aware that explanations had been offered by the right hon. Gentleman which would have enabled him to say at an earlier period what was entirely due to the right hon. Gentleman. With respect to the former part of the Question, he agreed with the right hon. Gentleman that it would not be expedient that the House should assent to the insertion in a Private Bill relating to Blackwater Bridge of an alteration of the terms prescribed by a Public Act for the composition of a debt. Whether those terms were quite correct or not he would not trouble the House at that moment to say; but he agreed with the right hon. Gentleman that the two subjects should be kept separate.