§ MR. J. MORLEY (Montrose Burghs)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury, having regard to the announcement to the Trustees of the British Museum by the Government of their intention to take proceedings with a view to a judicial decision on the title of the Museum to the recently acquired Irish gold ornaments, whether he will lay upon the Table the correspondence on the subject between the Treasury and the Trustees of the Museum, as well as the Report of the Departmental Committee presided over by Lord Rathmore.
§ MR. HANBURY (for Mr. A. J. BALFOUR)The correspondence is voluminous, and contains moreover the Law Officers' opinions, which it would be contrary to established practice to lay before Parliament. I propose, however, to present a summary in some detail of what has passed between the Treasury and the Trustees, but before doing so I shall submit such summary to the Trustees in order to ascertain whether it is in their judgment a fair representation of the case. The report of the Departmental Committee was presented to Parliament last year.
§ MR. STANLEY LEIGHTON (Shropshire, Oswestry)Will the right hon. Gentleman add to the Return a copy of any regulations or minutes issued by the Treasury in respect of treasure trove since the passing of the Act of 1837, and also a note of legal proceedings, if any, which have since been instituted for the recovery of treasure trove.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI must see the documents before I can promise to lay them on the Table. Perhaps my hon. friend will put his question on the Paper.