§ MR. HANDEL COSSHAM (Bristol, E.)asked the hon. Member for the Penrith Division of Cumberland, Whether representations have reached him from the inhabitants of the hamlet of Draycott, in the parishes of Rodney Stoke and Cheddar, in the County of Dorset, as to the administration of the Charity of John and Joseph Chard; whether he is aware that the inhabitants complain that, although it is provided by the scheme that the Trustees shall be residents in or near Draycott, no such residents have of late been appointed; and, whether the Commissioners will make inquiries, if possible on the spot, into the way in which the funds of the Charity have been recently administered, and into the other matters complained of?
§ THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (Sir WILLIAM HART DYKE) (Kent, Dartford)(who replied) said: A copy of a Petition addressed to the Trustees of the Chard Charity, and signed by the church wardens, overseers, and certain inhabitants of the hamlet of Draycott, praying that a person resident in the village should be appointed to fill a then imminent vacancy in the Trust, was forwarded to the Commissioners on November 24, 1887. Subsequent representations have been received by the Commissioners, complaining of an unequal distribution of the Charity Funds by the Trustees. It is provided by the scheme that the Trustees shall be resident within the 1652 distance of 12 miles from the parish church of Draycott. The complaint of the inhabitants in question is not that this provision of the scheme is disregarded; but that no one of the nonofficial Trustees who have been appointed is resident in the village itself. The Commissioners have more than once urged on the Trustees the desirability of appointing a gentleman so resident; and, as a result of these representations, a gentleman resident in the immediate neighbourhood has been selected to fill the latest vacancy which has occurred. The Commissioners will institute an inquiry, with a view to ascertain whether the complaints which have been made as to the application of the income of the Charity are well founded, and whether the general operation of the scheme is satisfactory.