§ MR. GINNELL (Westmeath, N.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have there been during the last three years in England and Wales, including London, for resistance to the Education Acts, or to any of them, or to their administration; in how many of those cases has sentence of imprisonment been pronounced; and in how many of those cases has the sentence been quashed or remitted, the term shortened, the rigour of imprisonment modified, or other relief been given in recognition of popular principle, the absence of moral criminality, or on any other than legal grounds.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. GLADSTONE,) Leeds, W.I am not aware of any prosecutions having been instituted in consequence of resistance to the Education Acts. There have of course been many cases of refusal to pay the rates 624 levied for the maintenance of denominational schools, but such refusal is not a criminal offence. The payment of the rates is enforced by civil process, and when in default of distress the defendant is imprisoned he is imprisoned as a debtor. The Executive Government has no power to relieve any person from the liability to pay rates, nor to interfere with the legal process whereby that liability is enforced.