Lords Sitting of 15 March 1872

MINUTES.
SELECT COMMITTEE—Harbour and Fortifications of Alderney, nominated; Tramways (Metropolis), The Lord Egerton added in the room of The Earl of Longford.
PUBLIC BILLS—First Reading—Bankruptcy (Ireland) Amendment * (51); Debtors (Ireland) * (52).
Second Reading—Reformatory and Industrial Schools (25).
Third Reading—Poor Law Loans* (51), and passed.

EDUCATION—THE NEW (REVISED) CODE (1871)—NIGHT SCHOOLS.

  OBSERVATIONS.
  VISCOUNT MIDLETONrose to call V attention to the regulations in force under the New Code with respect to the number of attendances, standards, and ages enforced in Night Schools; and to ask the Lord President of the Council, Whether it is proposed to make any, and, if so, what change in the regulalions? The noble Lord proceeded to say that in a great part of the agricultural districts a boy was only kept at
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  school until he was old enough to earn small wages, so that when once a child could earn 3s. 6d. a-week by field labour it was hopeless to expect his attendance at a day school. The only means, therefore, of instructing children above 12 years of age in agricultural districts was by machinery specially adapted for that purpose, or, in other words, by means of night schools. Such schools were recognized by the Committee of Council; but there were certain points in the regulations respecting these schools which he thought reprehensible, as standing in the way of the education of the agricultural population, and to these points he wished to call attention. First, as to the number of attendances. As the Code stood originally the minimum of evenings on which the school was required to be open was 80, and the minimum of attendances by each scholar was 50; but by a subsequent Minute the figures were so far modified that the former was reduced to 60, and the latter to 40. Where the surrounding influences were good—in those districts where the clergyman felt a lively interest in the school, and the landowning and farming classes were favourable,

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  which was not invariably the case—that number of attendances could be secured; but in many instances it was only with the utmost difficulty that it was possible to obtain that number of attendances from the greater number of scholars—especially where the area from which the scholars were gathered was a large one. Then as to the number of evenings on which the school was to be kept open, in places where the schoolmaster had no assistance—and this was the case where the school was not in the centre of a dense population—he thought a little more consideration ought to be shown to the schoolmaster. It was necessary that the night school should be kept open from the middle of September to the middle of March, with, perhaps, a fortnight's vacation at Christmas; and it was just possible that by keeping open for three evenings a-week during 12 weeks, and for the remainder of the time on two evenings in the week, to fulfil the requirements of the Code. Now, remembering that the schoolmaster was engaged for five hours in the day school for five days in the week, and for another hour afterwards while giving instruction to a pupil teacher, or to pupil teachers, as the case might be, an hour or an hour and a-half in the night school, for 60 nights, during 24 weeks, made up too severe an amount of duty. If, through illness, the schoolmaster was obliged to close the school on some evenings, he had to pull up for lost time by keeping it open as many, perhaps, as four nights in the same week. He (Viscount Midleton) would venture to suggest that every master might fin future be permitted to limit his duty in the night school to a general superintendence—that the schoolmaster should not be required to be present throughout, but might avail himself of voluntary efforts to second his own exertions. If that suggestion were not thought advisable, he would, as an alternative, propose that the minimum number of evenings for keeping school might be reduced from 60 to 40, or 45 evenings a-year. He would further suggest that the standard of proficiency required by the Code for the scholars who attended night schools should be lowered. At present it was on a level with that required in the case of day schools; so that scholars who attended school 40 or at most 60 times were expected to have the
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  same amount of knowledge as those who attended 250 times. He thought it would be well to so modify the Code that a child might go up in the same standard for two successive years, and that it would be advisable to allow a more moderate standard for night scholars who had not come from a day school, or had not been well instructed in their infancy. The ages for those who attended for instruction at night schools were 12 years as the minimum and 18 at the maximum. Formerly youths up to 21 were allowed to attend. He would be for a further extension, and allow persons up to the age of 25 or even 30 to attend night schools if they were really anxious for instruction. The present system also bore hard upon the country as compared with the urban parishes. He submitted that, until we should have succeeded in diffusing education throughout the length and breadth of the land, we must be prepared to proceed with very moderate regulations—at would not do to attempt to lay down a "hard-and-fast" line; we must tempt those to learn whom it was impossible to drive. It was rumoured that by a further modification of the Code contemplated by the Committee of Council, matters were to be made even more difficult than they were at present, by the minimum of school evenings being raised to 80, and the minimum of attendances to 50. If this were carried out, the result would be that in many cases managers would withdraw their schools from the supervision of the Government, and place them under that of voluntary organizations. He knew that this was contemplated. In his opinion such a result would be one which all the friends of education must regret; for, valuable as some of the private educational societies were, they could not perform the work of supervising and encouraging education in so effective a manner as the same work could be done by the State. It was because he believed that their Lordships were to a man interested in seeing the work of education fully and fairly carried out, that he had ventured to call their attention to this matter. With these observations he begged to ask the noble Marquess the President of the Council for an answer to the Question of which he had given Notice.
  THE MARQUESS OF RIPONsaid, he entirely agreed with the noble Viscount (Viscount Midleton) as to the importance of night schools, provided always that those schools were efficient for the purpose intended. In order that the House might understand the reasons which had induced him and his right hon. Friend the Vice President of the Council to take the measures they took last year, he must call attention to the state of things which had existed before then. The state of things they had had to deal with was that they had the strongest evidence from School Inspectors, that a very large number of night schools to which State aid was given were in a very unsatisfactory condition. Their Lordships knew that the night schools were intended for children above the age of 12 years. Well, it appeared by the statistics in the possession of the Department, for the year ending in August, 1870, that this was the result—that of a total number of 74,692 children attending night schools examined, 24,695, or one-third, were presented in the first standard, which was the standard intended for the examination of infants; and out of the total of 74,692, as many as 56,881 were presented in the first three standards. Now as Standards 2 and 3 were those for children of seven and eight years, their Lordships would see that the vast majority of the 74,692 examined, all being 12 years of age or upwards, were presented only in the standard for infants or in those for children of eight years. In 1871, the number examined was 83,512, of whom 25,960 were presented in the first standard and 62,724 in the first three standards—the examinations of 1871 thus disclosing precisely the same state of things as had been shown by the examinations of 1870. There were a number of Reports from Inspectors which testified to the same condition of inefficiency. He should quote one or two, which would illustrate the character of the others. Mr. Du Port, in his Report for 1868–9, said—
  "I fear that in no small number of cases youths are presented at the night school examinations at the close of every season in standards a good deal lower than their standard of attainments, and where this is the case the examination does them no good; it in no wise stimulates them during their season of work, for one thing, and it in no wise tends to show them their weak or failing points, for another. To make my point clearer, I will state it in the exaggerated form in which I once found it existing
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  in a night school that in other respects was decidedly above the average. Boys able to read easy narrative, to spell fairly easy sentences from dictation, and to work at any rate easy sums in simple rules were examined in Standard 1, that is, their capitation was paid upon an examination as to their power of reading monosyllables, adding and subtracting numbers not involving a figure even in the answer above 10, and making the alphabet letters from dictation."
  Mr. Binns, in his Report for 1869–70, says—
  "A few instances have occurred where scholars who have already passed all, or nearly all, the standards in the day school are presented in a lower standard at the night school. Teachers, I fear, often understand the expression in column 8a in the examination schedule 'Under what standard last examined?' to refer only to the night school, and therefore ignore whatever had been previously done in the day school. Again, the invariable accuracy with which long rows of figures are sot down in the exercises of the lower standards in arithmetic almost leads to the suspicion that they have not always been dictated as prescribed by the official instructions, or else that they have been overlooked by the teacher and a hint conveyed as to their correction."
  Their Lordships were aware that under the old system the examinations in reading were conducted by the managers, and those in writing and arithmetic by the Inspectors. The result of the examinations for the year ending August, 1870, was that the failures in reading were only 7·50 per cent, while those in writing were 14·78, and those in arithmetic 17·60. In 1871 the failures were 7·24, 15·72, and 17·79, showing that examinations by the managers were not nearly so stringent as those by the Inspectors. In the Code of last year, in order to encourage this class of schools, the grants were increased. By the old system the grant was 2s. 6d. on the average attendance, and 5s. on passing; these had been increased to 4s. and 7s. 6d. But when they were increasing the grants, the Government were bound to see that they got good and efficient work for the money paid. It was on this ground that the changes to which the noble Viscount had adverted were made last year. The noble Viscount objected to the number of evenings on which the night schools were required to be kept open, as being too high; but when the noble Viscount spoke of 60 as being too high, he (the Marquess of Ripon) must draw his attention to the fact that, in 1869, of the 2,240 schools examined, it was found that the average number of meetings of these schools was 57 in the year.

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  In respect to the minimum of attendance, formerly it was fixed at the ridiculous figure of 24; but he (the Marquess of Ripon) thought the Government were not unreasonable in fixing it at the present figure, 40. He could not say precisely what the average number of attendances had been under the old system, but he knew that he was under the mark when he said it was in excess of what the Government now required:—so that the experience of the Department did not tally with that of the noble Viscount, which must necessarily be more limited. Then the noble Viscount took exception to what he called the high standard which the Committee of Council required. He (the Marquess of Ripon) had shown from the Returns that in the majority of cases that standard was the one laid down for infants, and that in the vast majority it was either the standard for infants or the standard for children of eight years—the age of the scholars examined being from 12 years to 21 years. The Committee of Council had thought it right to lay down a rule to prevent the scholars in night schools from being examined twice in the same standard. Nothing could tend more to the stagnation of education than that managers should be able to present youths year after year to be examined in the same standard, and that an exceedingly low one. He must say that he did not think the Government were asking more than they were entitled to expect, not only in justice to the public, but also in justice to the schools themselves. The noble Viscount objected to the reduction in the maximum age at which scholars were admissible to the night schools from 21 to 18. He must at once say that the noble Viscount evidently took a different view of the object for which those schools were intended from that which he held, because the noble Viscount said that they should not fix the maximum even at 21, but should allow persons to attend the schools up to the age of 25 or even 30. That would be a perfectly intelligible proposition if the public grants were intended for the education of adults; but they had never been held to be for any such purpose. They were for the education of young persons, boys and girls. This was a point which ought to be kept in view, and the Committee had endeavoured to keep it in view
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  when they fixed the maximum at 18 years of age. The noble Viscount had said there was a rumour that the Committee intended to make an alteration in the Code with respect to the number of meetings of night schools and the number of attendances, and had asked him whether there was any intention to make such an alteration. The matter was hardly one of rumour since it appeared in the Code of the present year, which laid down that, in 1873, the number of meetings was to be 80, and the number of attendances 60. That Minute had been suspended for the present year, but it had been intended to put it in force next year. The Committee agreed, however, with the noble Viscount as to the desirability of maintaining the night schools, and their experience had led them to the conclusion that to attempt to raise the number of meetings or attendances in the manner contemplated by the existing Code would be unadvisable. Consequently, it was not the intention of the Education Department to carry out the proposed change, and they would retain the number of meetings at 60, and that of attendances at 40, as they stood at present.

NAVY—COMPARATIVE VALUE OF COAL IN H.M. SHIPS.

  MOTION FOR A PAPER.
  THE EARL OF LAUDERDALE, in moving for—
  "Copy of the Report on the trials on board H.M. Ships Crocodile, Serapis, and Euphrates (Troop Ships), as to the comparative value of Welsh Coal and Welsh and North Country Coal mixed and burnt in equal proportions,"
  said, that the necessity of having the best quality of steam coal on board Her Majesty's ships was quite equal to the necessity of having the best quality of gunpowder. The engines on board Her Majesty's ships of late years had been improved, and required, consequently, the best fuel to enable them to develop the results desired. Last year he had endeavoured to explain to their Lordships the nature of the two descriptions of coal used in steam navigation. One—the Welsh steam coal—was an anthracite, not a bituminous coal, and the other was the North-country coal, a bituminous coal. Formerly, the Welsh coal was deemed preferable to the other. No other coal, when it could be got, was

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  ever used on board Her Majesty's ships until lately, when there had been a change. Experiments had lately been carried on by the Admiralty with the object of seeing how far the North-country coal could be brought into use; but the general opinion amongst naval men and others was, and always had been, as far as he could make out, that there was no possible comparison between the two. Notwithstanding this opinion, Her Majesty's Government had thought fit—he did not know why—within the last two years, to introduce the North-country coal—that was to say, the mixture commonly known as "Baxter's Mixture"—for the use of the Navy. There had been various reports upon it, and as far as he could make out, they all tended to show that the maximum of power could not be got out of the engines by means of this mixed coal. The great steam-packet companies would not use mixed coal. The Lords of the Admiralty had thought fit to order trials to be made on board the troop ships Crocodile, Serapis, and Euphrates, and the First Lord of the Admiralty was questioned a short time ago as to the use of coals and the result of these trials. In his reply, the First Lord was reported to have said that the results of the experiments had shown a saving in Welsh coal as to quantity, but in mixed coal as to time; but he (the Earl of Lauderdale) could not understand how this could be, as all three were at a limited speed. He knew from his own experience that in hot climates North-country coal deteriorated more than Welsh coal. The loss from Welsh coal was in dust, but the dust was used to make patent fuel, which was as valuable as coal. In order to use "Baxter's Mixture," it had been necessary to alter the furnaces in every ship in which it had been employed, and to reduce the fire space by one-sixth, so that it was impracticable now to burn Welsh coal in those furnaces so as to get the maximum heat. To continue such a policy would be a mistake. He did not think that the experiments made with the troop ships had been conducted in a satisfactory manner. The best Welsh coal ought to have been used; instead of which, he had been informed, some of the coal used was of the worst description. That was not a fair experiment. One of the gentlemen appointed to superintend the experiments was Mr. M'Culloch,
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  who was now employed as coal broker to the Navy. He had nothing to say against that gentleman; but he thought it should be stated when that gentleman was appointed, what proof he gave of qualifications for the situation, and on what terms he purchased coal. A broker was allowed a certain percentage on every ton of coals bought, and it would be interesting to know whether any stipulation was made that he should not receive a gratuity from the person selling the coal. He understood that the Government did not receive the best description of Welsh coal.
  Moved that there be laid before this House, Copy of the Report on the trials on board H. M. Ships Crocodile, Serapis, and Euphrates (Troop Ships) as to the comparative value of Welsh Coal and Welsh and North Country Coal mixed and burnt in equal proportions.—(The Earl of Lauderdale.)
  THE EARL OF CAMPERDOWNsaid, he readily admitted that the question of the supply of coal to the Navy was one of national and of growing importance, and that it fully deserved the consideration of that House. He could, however, assure the noble Earl (the Earl of Lauderdale) that the most serious attention of the Admiralty had been directed to this subject during the last three years, as had been exemplified by the series of experiments that had been carried out; the results of some of which had already been, and the results of the more recent of which would be laid upon their Lordships' Table. On the part of the Government, he should have no objection to lay upon the Table the Returns which the noble Earl had asked for. The noble Earl had, in the first place, called attention to the fact that the furnaces in the various ships in the Navy had been altered, as he assumed, for the worse; whereas, in truth, the fire-producing power of the furnaces had been in no wise lessened by the alterations, and it was quite certain that both with regard to the Welsh coal and the mixed coal a great diminution of smoke had been caused by admitting the air beneath instead of over the coal. Whatever might be the relative merits of the Welsh coal and the North-country coal, it was quite certain that the amount of steam the question had generated in the breasts of their respective advocates was considerable, and he could only hope the

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  results would be beneficial to the public. He could assure their Lordships that the Admiralty did not regard themselves as bound by one series of hasty experiments to decide in favour of one or the other of these two descriptions of fuel. The result of these experiments depended so much upon circumstances—upon the state of the wind and weather, but most of all upon the care with which the stoking was performed—that it would be most unwise to found a theory upon the results of one trial. It had, however, been satisfactorily ascertained that the mixed fuel in the new furnaces produced hardly any more smoke than the Welsh coal in the furnaces of the old construction. The latest experiments had been conducted during the past winter in three ships, which had been selected because they were sister ships and had about the same rate of speed, and there had been no desire on the part of the Admiralty to show that one species of fuel was better than the other, but merely to ascertain which was the best coal for the service. Mr. M'Culloch, who purchased coal for the Admiralty, and who was in favour of the mixed fuel, was only sent on board one of the ships in order that he might see that that fuel was properly stoked and had a fair trial, as compared with the Welsh coal; but when he reported, due weight was given at the Admiralty to the fact that he was known to have a predilection in favour of one kind of coal. At the same time that was no reason why he should not have been present at the trial, and it seemed to him (the Earl of Camperdown) that the selection was a proper one. One remarkable result of the trial was that the three ships, instead of consuming, as heretofore, 9,000 tons of coal on their voyage, only consumed 7,000 tons; due allowance must be made for the fact that the stokers were now all Englishmen, whereas, formerly, on the Indian side of the Isthmus of Suez the stokers were generally natives of India; but still there was no doubt that the voyage of those three ships was more economical in regard to the consumption of coal than any voyage which they had previously made. That showed that the supervision of Mr. M'Culloch had been effectual. In point of economical consumption of coal, the result of the trial was slightly in favour of the Welsh coal; but it must be borne in mind that the
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  Welsh coal was on that occasion tried under exceptionably favourable circumstances. The greater part of the coal was taken directly from the colliers which had brought it to Bombay, and the remainder, which had been brought to Bombay from the Abyssinian expedition, had been screened at the depôt in Bombay before being put on board the ships; so that the Welsh coal then used was not a fair average sample of what they might expect such coal to be in that climate. If it were possible to obtain Welsh coal perfectly fresh for the use of Her Majesty's ships in all parts of the globe, he did not think anyone would dispute the fact that Welsh coal was better than mixed coal, and it was also less productive of smoke when a vessel was driven at very high speed. But it was shown by almost unanimous testimony that Welsh coal did deteriorate in hot climates far more rapidly than any other kind of coal; and the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Company, and other companies, he believed, employed that very mixed coal of which the noble Earl had spoken at their tropical stations. He quite agreed with the noble Earl that the Navy must always be regarded from the point of view of war. Therefore, not only must speed be taken into consideration, but they must also remember that, on the breaking out of a war, it would be most advantageous to have as large a stock of fuel as possible in their foreign depots, and he did not think it would be possible to keep, in a state fit for immediate and effective use, nearly so large a supply of Welsh coal as of other coal. With regard to smoke, in the altered furnaces the mixed coal did not produce appreciably more smoke than the Welsh coal did in the old furnaces, and hitherto there had been no complaints of the Welsh coal under the old conditions. For those reasons, it had been determined to follow the example of the companies to which he had referred, and to employ Welsh coal for shipment in the home ports; to employ two-thirds Welsh coal in Malta; and on the other side of the Isthmus to employ half Welsh coal and half mixed as heretofore. The Admiralty had no prejudices or foregone conclusions in that matter; and in any experiments which might hereafter be instituted in regard to different kinds of fuel, he could assure the noble Earl and the House that, while

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  fully recognizing the disadvantage of such a monopoly as might be created by limiting themselves only to Welsh coal, the only care of the Admiralty would be the welfare and the efficiency of the naval service.
  THE DUKE OF SOMERSETsaid, that when he was at the Admiralty frequent applications were made on behalf of the coal-owners of the North to get the Admiralty to use more and more of the North-country coal; but the language he had always held on the subject was, that as long as the interests of the Navy was best served by the use of the Welsh coal he should continue to use it. Since then, however, a sort of compromise appeared to have been arrived at to satisfy the Northern constituencies by employing a mixture of Welsh and North-country coal. The result was, that if they went out in one of Her Majesty's ships they would be almost smothered with smoke; and if they complained, the officer in charge would say—"Never mind; we shall soon get down to the good coal; the worst is all at the top." Experience showed that the Welsh coal was the best for the Navy. It was stated to be apt to deteriorate in the tropics. Well, Lord Dudley once observed that morality would not keep very sweet in those warm climates, and he was not sure that they could entirely rely on all the reports received from those latitudes. But he believed that naval officers all over the world, if fairly appealed to, would say—"Give us Welsh coal, and no mixture whatever." On every ground he thought the Admiralty ought to return to the use of the Welsh coal for the Navy.
  THE EARL OF LAUDERDALEwished to know how Mr. M'Culloch know anything about stoking. In his opinion an engineer was a much better authority on such a subject than a coal broker.
  THE EARL OF KIMBERLEYsaid, he was rather anxious, in the interest of some of the colonies with which he was officially connected, that all further trials with different kinds of coal should not be quite put an end to. With respect to the mixture of North-country coal and Welsh coal, it should be remembered that the Peninsular and Oriental Company—no bad judges of such a matter—actually used that mixed coal, as his noble Friend had stated. The point in dispute was not whether Welsh coal of good quality was the best fuel,
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  but whether in certain parts of the world Welsh coal did not so deteriorate as to become inferior to mixed coal.
  Motion agreed to; Returns ordered.

VOLUNTEER ACCOUTREMENTS.

  QUESTION.
  LORD TRUROsaid, he desired, at the request of the metropolitan commanding officers, to put a question on the subject of the accoutrements and ammunition supplied to Volunteers. Although it might at first sight seem a small matter as to whether Volunteers should be provided with a greatcoat and a water-bottle, it was by no means a trifling question as to whether 180,000 men deserved some consideration from the Government in the matter of equipment and clothing. It was a position of some humiliation to Volunteer officers to have to apply to Parliament for uniforms for their men; but it should be remembered that the Volunteers included in their ranks many men of scanty means, and the capitation grant was yearly consumed in providing ordinary clothing. It was natural to suppose, however, that the War Office should be anxious to see the Volunteers not only well armed but well equipped; yet no commanding officer acquainted with the real character of his men's clothing would venture to take them to Brighton Downs in such a season as this. He had heard with regret that the Government had determined to limit the amount of ammunition supplied to Volunteers to 90 rounds, and to give none for marksmen or recruits. Surely it was not intended that as soon as a man had become a marksman he was to throw his rifle aside; and why were recruits not to be drilled in rifle practice? If the Volunteer Force was to be of any use, it was advisable that marksmen of all men should retain their efficiency, and unless it was decided to trust in future to what had been described as "the constitutional backbone" of the Army—which, however, could never for a moment be regarded as equal in efficiency and intelligence to the Volunteers—it was advisable that something more should be done to assist the Volunteer Force. He therefore asked, whether it is the intention of H. M. Secretary of State for War to supply the Volunteers with cloaks or greatcoats, haversacks and

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  water-bottles, and to issue ammunition for recruits?
  THE MARQUESS OF RIPONsaid, that, in the absence of Lord Northbrook, he would reply to the Question. In 1870, when the capitation grant was last settled, a Committee, over which the present Inspector General of Volunteers presided, made a Report to the War Office as to the expenses of Volunteer corps, and formed an estimate of the sum required as the capitation grant; and experience had shown that the 10 s. for efficients, and £1 for extra efficients, together with the further grant of £2 10 s. for officers and sergeants claimed as efficients, gave a sum equal to about 5s. a head for the whole force. It was very-satisfactory to find that 10,000 officers and sergeants claimed the grant as efficients. The arrangements made for the grant were held to be sufficient to provide Volunteers with capes, haversacks, and water-bottles, which were included in the calculations made, and the Government, therefore, did hot intend to supply those articles. At the same time, in such a case as the Autumn Manœuvres of last year, a different rule might be followed. Last year the Volunteers engaged in those manœuvres did receive greatcoats from the Government stores, being, of course, required to return them to the stores when the manœuvres were over. As regards ammunition, it was thought that 90 rounds were sufficient to provide for training recruits. Sixty rounds were to be expended in class firing, and the remaining 30 in file and volley firing and in skirmishing. Generally, the 60 rounds were used, but the 30 were not in all cases required, so that the surplus was available for recruits. If, however, any corps could show that the whole of the 90 rounds had been expended in the manner prescribed, the War Office would issue additional ammunition for training recruits.
  THE DUKE OF RICHMONDobjected to the comparison raised between the Volunteers and Militia by the noble Lord (Lord Truro) who had put the Question, and protested against his assertion that the Militia could not compete with the Volunteers either in efficiency or intelligence.

REFORMATORY AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS BILL. (No. 25.)
(The Duke of Richmond.)
REFORMATORY AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS BILL. (No. 25.)

  SECOND READING.
  Order of the Day for the Second Reading, read.
  THE DUKE OF RICHMOND, in moving that the Bill be now read the second time, said the object of the measure was very simple, and would, he thought, meet a difficulty which now existed. Under the existing law the prison authorities were permitted to contribute to schools of this character, but not to initiate them. The Bill proposed to remedy that deficiency by enabling the prison authorities to undertake the establishment of schools where it might appear necessary. It was, he might say, the supplement of the legislation of last year, for magistrates were empowered by the Prevention of Crime Act to send to these schools children who had been twice convicted, and in localities where such institutions did not exist the law became a dead letter.
  THE EARL OF MORLEYsimply rose to say that the Bill would receive the cordial support and assistance of the Government.
  Bill read 2a and committed to a Committee of the Whole House on Monday next.

  TRAMWAYS (METROPOLIS).
  Message from the Commons that they have directed the Committee appointed by them to join with the Select Committee of their Lordships "to inquire into the question of Metropolitan Tramways proposed to be sanctioned by Bills in the present Session, and to report: (1) Whether it is desirable or not that any fresh Tramways should be laid within the Metropolitan area; (2) What should be the limits of the Metropolitan area in respect of Tramways; (3) Under what authority the construction and working of Metropolitan Tramways, if any, should be placed; (4) Along what lines of streets, if any, Tramways should be allowed to be constructed, and under what restrictions," to meet the Committee appointed by their Lordships at Three of the clock upon Monday next.
  BANKRUPTCY (IRELAND) AMENDMENT BILL [H.L.]
  A Bill for the amendment of the Law of Bankruptcy in Ireland—Was presented by The Lord O'HAGAN; read 1a (No. 51.)

  DEBTORS (IRELAND) BILL [H.L.]
  A Bill for the abolition of imprisonment for debt in Ireland, and for the punishment of fraudulent

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  debtors; and for other purposes relating thereto—Was presented by The Lord O'HAGAN; read 1a. (No. 52.)
  House adjourned at Seven o'clock, to Monday next, Eleven o'clock.