MR. BASSasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If he would kindly describe to the House the number and composition of the members of Queen Anne's Bounty Board; whether they number about six hundred and fifty, and that a large proportion of them are not members of the Established Church; whether they have absolute control over large Church property which is designed to augment the income of poor incumbents; and, whether complaints have been made to him of their administration of that property?
MR. ASSHETON CROSS,in reply, said, he thought the Queen Anne's Bounty Board consisted of the following persons:—The Archbishops and Bishops, the Deans and Chapters, the Speaker of the House of Commons, all Privy Councillors, all Lords Lieutenant of Counties, the Judges, the Serjeants-at-Law, the Queen's Counsel, the Chancellors and Vice Chancellors of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, the Lord Mayor of York, the Attorney and Solicitor General, and the Mayors of all other towns. Considering how great was the number of those constituting the Board, there were no doubt many among them who did not conform to the doctrines of the Church of England; but he would refer the hon. Member, and all others who took an interest in the matter, to the Report of the Committee of this House which sat in 1868 to investigate the constitution and functions of this Board, and which made a Report to the House. The Members of the Board, no doubt, had control over considerable sums of public money, and he believed also that there had been recent complaints as to their action.