Lords Sitting of 1 May 1877

MINUTES.
PUBLIC BILLS—Second Reading—Settled Estates (49).
Committee — Report — Judicial Proceedings (Rating) * (37).

BURIAL ACTS CONSOLIDATION BILL.

  EXPLANATION.
  THE DUKE OF RICHMOND AND GORDONsaid, that in his absence yesterday his noble Friend (Earl Granville) drew attention to the circumstance that the Committee on this Bill was set down for Ascension Day. No doubt

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  when the Committee was fixed for the 10th that circumstance had escaped notice. He proposed to postpone the Committee till Thursday, the 17th inst., which he hoped would be a convenient day for their Lordships. On a former occasion his noble Friend had suggested that the Bill should be printed in such form so that what was old might be readily distinguished from what was new in it. He had consulted the draftsman on that point, and it appeared that there might be a difficulty in carrying out the noble Earl's suggestion, as the Bill was a very long one—consisting of between 80 and 90 clauses—and the old and the new parts of it were much mixed up. He was in communication with the draftsman, who was considering the matter; and if the Bill could not be printed in the manner suggested, he would lay on the Table a memorandum describing the proposed alterations in the existing law.
  EARL GRANVILLEremarked that as the noble Duke proposed to postpone the Committee for so long a time, it would appear as if the Government were not very anxious about the passing of the Bill. He hoped there would be no further postponement, and that on the day named he would be ready to go into Committee.
  THE DUKE OF RICHMOND AND GORDONreplied that, as usual, his noble Friend had something to say, but the inference drawn by him on this occasion was not correct. He could assure his noble Friend that there was no desire on the part of the Government to delay proceeding with the Bill. As the Business in the other House was somewhat in arrear, nothing would be gained by sending down the Burials Bill within the next week or fortnight — for the other House would scarcely be able to take it up till after that.

THE EASTERN QUESTION—THE PAPERS — THE RUSSIAN CIRCULAR.

  QUESTION.
  EARL GRANVILLE: I wish to ask the noble Earl the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, When the further Papers promised by him, having reference to the Eastern Question, are likely to be delivered? I beg further to ask him, whether an answer has been sent by Her Majesty's Government to the Circular from
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  the Russian Government; and, if so, whether that answer will be laid on the Table?
  THE EARL OF DERBY: The Papers which I promised in addition to those already laid before Parliament will, I hope, be presented on Thursday next. With regard to the latter part of the noble Earl's Question, I have to state that the Government have prepared an answer to the Circular of the Russian Government. That answer has been submitted for approval to Her Majesty, and when approved will be forwarded to St. Petersburgh. I shall be prepared as soon as usage will permit—namely, as soon as it is in the hands of the Russian Government—to lay it on the Table of the House.

  SETTLED ESTATES BILL—(No. 49.)
  (The Lord Winmarleigh.)

  SECOND READING.
  Order of the Day for the Second Reading, read.
  LORD WINMARLEIGH,in moving that the Bill be now read the second time, said, that the object of the measure—which had come up from the Commons—was to consolidate and amend the law relating to leases mid sales of settled estates. The powers now possessed on this behalf had been created by several Acts of Parliament, all passed in the reign of Her Majesty; and, in consequence, great difficulty and confusion had arisen, and the powers of the Courts by which their provisions had been administered were defective. This Bill repealed the whole of these Acts, and contained a series of clauses which extended and defined the powers in regard to settled estates contained in the previous Acts.
  Motion agreed to; Bill read 2a accordingly, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House on Tuesday next.

  THE MEDITERRANEAN—SECURITY OF COMMERCE.—QUESTION.
  LORD WAVENEYsaid, that in putting the Question of which he had given, Notice, it was not his intention to detain their Lordships at any great length. The object of his inquiry was that the public

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  might be informed at the earliest possible moment as to how matters stood in the Mediterranean. Remembering the serious injury inflicted on commerce by pirates in that sea during the Greek War of Independence, he was much afraid that the recurrence of a similar state of things was not far distant. He had given his Notice in consequence of the following statement, which appeared among the foreign correspondence of The Times on the 25th ult:—
  "A band of pirates, headed by the notorious Ghiorgoula, and formed at Athens by his Lieutenant, Latzks, for the purpose of attacking different points in the Archipelago, has been captured in a creek at Rhodes. After a raid on Lindos, bad whether had forced them to take refuge there. The Turkish Gendarmerie Colonel surprised them in a cave, from which, being threatened with starvation, they made a sortie, killing the Orderly Officer, a Gendarme, and three civilians. On the death of the chief and his lieutenant, the remaining 13 surrendered."
  Seeing how well provided we were with Consuls and Vice Consuls, he presumed that the Foreign Office was kept well informed on such subjects, and he therefore begged to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether any reports had yet been received from Her Majesty's Consuls abroad of the existence and progress of piracy in the Mediterranean?
  THE EARL OF DERBY: The only case of piracy in the Mediterranean which has come to the knowledge of the Foreign Office is the one to which the noble Lord has referred in putting his Question. The circumstances were precisely as they are stated in the correspondence quoted by the noble Lord — namely, that a piratical crew made a descent on Lindos, which they plundered, and carried off a considerable amount of property. The next day the Governor sent troops by land and also sent a ship, or ships, to cut the pirates off by sea. The pursuit was successful. The greater number of the band were captured, and their leader is said to have been shot. The despoiled property, or the greater portion of it was recovered and restored to the owners, and some of the band were sent to Rhodes to be tried. It would appear that the majority of the pirates were from Greece, and some few of them were from the Islands of the Archipelago. That is the only case of piracy that has come to our knowledge. No doubt the Consuls and Vice Consuls will feel it their duty to
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  report such occurrences to the Foreign Office should any others arise.
  House adjourned at half-past Five o'clock, till Thursday next, half-past Ten o'clock.