§ ME. HOWELLI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether he is aware that, by the 5 & 6 Will. IV., c. 71, s. 20, the Commissioners appointed to inquire concerning charities in England and Wales were empowered in certain cases to appoint ministers and churchwardens as trustees of charities; whether he can inform the House as to the number of charities in which such trustees were appointed by the then Commissioners, and subsequently; and whether ho will consent to lay upon the Table of the House a Return of all such charities, the places, where situate, the yearly value of the charity in each case, and the names of the present trustees of such charities?
§ MR. W. E. GLADSTONEThe statement contained in the first paragraph of the question is correct. With regard to the second paragraph, I am informed that no information on the point referred to has been recorded. I believe that the provision in question has been acted upon very rarely, and the powers given by it expired in March three years ago. I am not prepared to grant the Return asked for.