§ 13. "That a Supplementary sum, not exceeding £153,044, be granted to Her Majesty, to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March 1897, for Public Education in England and Wales."
§ MR. HUMPHREYS-OWENsaid he understood that it had been stated that under this Vote there would be no remedy by which the arrears which had been referred to, and which so many necessitous Board Schools were anxious to get, could be obtained, although it had been shown that, under a Circular issued by the Department, several years' arrears had been paid. He wished to ask the Solicitor General whether, that being so, it might not be possible so to manage that further arrears should be paid, whereby the poor Board Schools would be much benefited.
§ *MR. CHANNINGsaid he understood the Attorney General on Friday night laid down that the Education Department did not act ultra vires in issuing the Circular of 1881, which was expressly meant to deal with those cases of arrears, and it had been seen that that Circular allowed to the poor Board Schools not only the grant for the current year, but also for the immediately preceding year. As he understood the law thus laid down, if the Department was acting within its powers in issuing that Circular, and granting, on their own discretion, this extra grant to the necessitous School Boards, then he submitted that his hon. Friend would be justified in pressing on the Government the duty of dealing with the equitable claims of these necessitous boards in this spirit. The Attorney General having laid it down that this action was within the power of the Department, he thought they had a right to ask the Government to take into consideration the case of School Boards in a necessitous condition, and to exercise the same powers with regard to matters of arrears which they exercised towards the schools when they issued the Circular of 1881. He should like to ask whether it was not possible for the Department to issue another Circular to meet the present difficulty?
§ THE SOLICITOR GENERALsaid that no one could rend the Section without seeing that these grants were to be claimed and made annually. It never could have been meant that they should be allowed to accumulate. The terms of the Circular of 1881 clearly excluded the accumulation of arrears.
§ MR. HERBERT LEWISsaid that the Circular of 1881 allowed arrears for one year.
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERALsaid that what the Circular did was to fix a period within which the annual statement must be sent in. There was no allowance of arrears. It was simply reasonable requirement on the part of the Department to see what was included in the year's accounts.
§ MR. LEWISsaid that it was obvious that the Department had the power of extending the time within which the accounts might be sent in. Why not ex-lend the time still further? The poor School Boards had an equitable claim to these arrears.
§ Resolution agreed to.
§ 14. "That a Supplementary sum, not exceeding £10,000, he granted to Her Majesty, to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March 1897, for the Expenses of the Department of Science and Art in respect of Schools of Science."
§ 15. "That a Supplementary sum, not exceeding £650, be granted to Her Majesty, to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March 1897, for Purchases and Acquisitions of the British Museum."
§ 16. "That a Supplementary sum, not exceeding £327, be granted to Her Majesty, to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March 1897, for the Salaries and Expenses of the National Portrait Gallery."
§ 17. "That a Supplementary sum, not exceeding £20,110, be granted to Her Majesty, to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March 1897, for the Expenses of the Commissioners of National Education in Ire-land."