MR. JAMESasked the Vice President of the Council, If it is the fact that the revenues of John Betton's Charity, amounting to £6,000, are as rearranged by the Court of Chancery in 1846 at present distributed in small sums ranging from £5 to £10 to certain voluntary schools in England and Wales; whether his attention has been called to a report of the Endowments Committee of the London School Board, which states that the reasons assigned for this distribution of the bequest are wholly insufficient; and, if the Government propose to take any steps which may lead to the restoration of this property for the purpose of educating the children of the metropolis co-extensively with the city of London and its suburbs, the area originally specified under John Betton's will?
§ VISCOUNT SANDONThe Charity Commissioners inform me that it is a fact, as the hon. Gentleman imagines, that £6,000 a-year, being a portion of the revenues of Betton's Charity, is distributed in the manner he mentions among "charity schools" in England and Wales, but they have no information as to whether these schools are voluntary or not. No communication has been made to me respecting the Report referred to by the hon. Gentleman. The Charity Commissioners inform me that some misapprehension appears to exist, from the Question of the hon. Gentleman, as to this Charity. They state that there was no direction of the founder that the benefits of the fund, to which the Question relates, should be limited to the area of the City of London and its suburbs; but that under the will one-fourth part of the charity, being a distinct fund from that alluded to by the hon. Gentleman, is assigned to "charity schools" in the City of London and its suburbs, and that this trust is strictly observed. In these circumstances the Government, as at present advised, does not see any reason for interference in the matter.