§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
THE EARL OF CAMPERDOWN, in moving that the Bill be now read the second time, said, the object of the Bill was to create a new body of management and a new administration for the Charities of London. For a long time the necessity of some reform in this matter had been felt, and the population of the City had declined from 131,000 in 1851 to 50,000 persons in 1881. The Charities were considerable both in number and amount, and were increasing in value every year. They existed for the benefit of different parishes in the City, and consisted in great part of house property in and near London. In 1865 1795 these Charities amounted in yearly value to £67,000; in 1880 they reached the sum of £117,000; and there was very little reason to doubt that with an active and energetic system of management they would amount to not less than £200,000 a-year. Many of the purposes for which they bad been originally given by benevolent donors were now extinct, and many had changed their character. There was a Royal Commission appointed to inquire into all the Charities. It was presided over by the noble Duke (the Duke of Northumberland). They reported in 1880, and since that time several Bills had been introduced into Parliament founded upon the Report, but not one had succeeded in passing through the House of Commons till this year. The present Bill had come up from the other House, where it had been discussed by a Select Committee. He would refer their Lordships for information on the subject to the Report of that Committee. The most important changes proposed by the Bill were to place the Charities in the hands of the Charity Commissioners, who would be able to proceed by inquiry into all matters without any previous application on the part of Trustees or other persons interested in the Charities. The Bill appointed two additional Charity Commissioners, the duration of whose appointment was not to extend beyond the end of the year 1889. These Commissioners were to form schemes for the application and management of the property—that part of it which was ecclesiastical being devoted to ecclesiastical purposes; and that part which was general being devoted to the establishment and maintenance of provident institutions and to the welfare generally of the poorer classes. Ample provision was also made to satisfy vested interests. In conclusion, it was, he thought, very desirable, in the interests of all concerned in that matter, that legislation upon it should not be longer delayed. The noble Earl then moved that the Bill be now read a second time.
Moved, "That the Bill be now read 2a."—(The Earl of Camperdown.)
THE BISHOP OF LONDON, in supporting the measure, said, it aimed at providing a remedy for a state of things which ought not to be allowed to exist any longer. The City of London, as at 1796 present constituted, was comprised within one mile, and £104,500 was the amount of the charitable funds available. That sum could not be properly expended in charity in the City, where some of the parishes had no poor at all; and the Charities had been expended in various other matters, such as the redemption of tithes, and the giving of parish dinners in some cases. He trusted that their Lordships, even at that late period of the Session, would pass the Bill.
Motion agreed to; Bill read 2a accordingly, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House on Thursday next.