Sitting of 24 March 1880

Preamble
The House met at half after One of the clock.

PROROGATION OF THE PARLIAMENT.
Message to attend The LORDS COMMISSIONERS:—
The House went;—and a Royal Commission to that purpose having been read, the Royal Assent was given to several Bills.
And afterwards Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech was delivered to both Houses of Parliament by the Lord High Chancellor (in pursuance of Her Majesty's Command).
Then a Commission for proroguing the Parliament was read.
After which,
THE LORD CHANCELLORsaid——
My Lords, and Gentlemen,
By virtue of Her Majesty's Commission, under the Great Seal, to us and other Lords directed, and now read, we do, in Her Majesty's Name, and in obedience to Her Commands, prorogue this Parliament to Tuesday the thirteenth day of April next, to be then here holden; and this Parliament is accordingly prorogued to Tuesday the thirteenth day of April next.
AND ON THE SAME DAY THE PARLIAMENT WAS DISSOLVED BY PROCLAMATION.

A TABLE OF ALL THE STATUTES
PASSED IN THE SEVENTH SESSION OF
THE TWENTY-FIRST PARLIAMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
43 VICTORIA.—A.D. 1880.

A TABLE OF ALL THE STATUTES

  PUBLIC GENERAL ACTS.
  1. AN Act to enable Guardians of the Poor to borrow Money for the purpose of pro curing Seed Potatoes and Seed Oats, and other Seed, for Tenants in Ireland; and for other purposes.
  2. An Act to amend the Artizans and Labourers Dwellings Improvement (Scotland) Act, 1875.
  3. An Act to amend the Law relating to the Salaries and Allowances of certain Officers in India; and for other purposes relating thereto.
  4. An Act to render valid certain proceedings taken for the Relief of Distress in Ireland, and to make further provision for such Relief; and for other purposes.
  5. An Act to apply certain Sums out of the Consolidated Fund to the service of the years ending on the thirty-first day of March one thousand eight hundred and eighty, and one thousand eight hundred and eighty-one.
  6. An Act for amending the Law relating to the grant by Justices of Certificates for Beer Dealers Retail Licences.
  7. An Act to amend the Law in regard to charging Road Debts on Entailed Estates in Scotland.
  8. An Act to explain and amend the twenty-second section of the Artizans and Labourers Dwellings Act. 1868, Amendment Act, 1879.
  9. An Act to provide during twelve months for the Discipline and Regulation of the Army.
  10. An Act to enable the Secretary of State in Council of India to raise money in the United Kingdom for the purpose of paying off or redeeming Debentures of the East Indian Railway Company.
  11. An Act to make Powers of Attorney and Requests for Transmission of Dividend Warrants by Post relating to India Five per centum Stock applicable to India Four per centum Stock.
  12. An Act to abolish the Landlord's Right of Hypothec for Rent in Scotland.
  13. An Act to apply certain sums out of the Consolidated Fund to the service of the years ending on the thirty-first day of March one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine, one thousand eight hundred and eighty, and one thousand eight hundred and eighty-one, and to appropriate the Supplies granted in this Session of Parliament.
  14. An Act to grant certain Duties of Customs and Inland Revenue, to alter other Duties, and to amend the Laws relating to Inland Revenue.
  15. An Act to authorise the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to borrow a sum on the security of Terminable Annuities, and to

  increase the permanent Annual Charge of the National Debt.
  16. An Act to raise the sum of Sixty thousand pounds by Exchequer Bonds, Exchequer Bills, or Treasury Bills, for the service of the year ending on the thirty-first day of March one thousand eight hundred and eighty.
  17. An Act to abolish the property qualification for members of Municipal Corporations and Local Governing Bodies.
  18. An Act to amend the Law relating to the Conveyance of Voters to the Poll, and to continue the Acts relating to the Prevention of Corrupt Practices at Parliamentary Elections and the Acts relating to Election Petitions.
  19. An Act to amend the Companies Acts of 1862, 1867, 1877, and 1879.

  PRIVATE ACT,
    NOT PRINTED
    1. AN Act to naturalize Luitbert Alexander George Lionel Alphons Freiherr Von Pawel Rammingen, and to grant and confer on him all the rights, privileges, and capacities of a natural-horn Subject of Her Majesty the Queen.
GENERAL INDEX TO FIRST SESSION 1880.

  EXPLANATION OF THE ABBREVIATIONS.
  IT being a principal object of this Index, that the proceedings on each Motion shall be completely recorded, some abbreviations of forms were necessary. Those who are accustomed to the proceedings of Parliament will readily fill up the voids. Those who are not so familiar, may find the following explanation useful, but will find the whole formulœ set out at length in the "Contents."
  The names which immediately follow the title of a Bill are those of the peers or hon. Members who have charge of the Bill.
  The numbers which are added at stages of Bills are the official numbers of the prints and reprints ordered at each stage, and, with the Statute, will enable the reader to follow all the changes the Bill has undergone.
  The entries—Moved, "That the Bill be now read 2a;" Amendt. "this day six months;" Question put, "That 'now' &c."—indicate the usual form of raising the issue—namely, "That the word 'now' stand part of the Question."
  "The Ballot, Amendt. on Committee of Supply" indicates that the Question was raised by means of an Amendment moved on the Motion (after the Order of the Day for the House to go into Committee of Supply had been read), "That Mr. Speaker do now leave the Chair." In this case the issue is formally raised by the Motion "To leave out from the word 'That' to the end of the Question, in order to add" other words. The decision is taken on the Question, "That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the Question."
  The Nos. added to the "Parliamentary Papers" are in most cases those given in the Commons' "List of Papers for Sale."

MINUTES.
PUBLIC BILLS—Royal Assent—Exchequer Bills and Bonds [43 Vict. c. 16];Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) [43 Vict. c. 13]; Customs and Inland Revenue [43 Vict. c. 14]; Hypothec Abolition (Scotland) [43 Vict. c. 12]; Companies Acts Amendment[43 Vict. c. 19]; Municipal Corporations(Property Qualification Abolition) [43 Vict. c. 17]; National Debt [43 Vict. c. 15]; Parliamentary Elections and Corrupt Practices (No. 2) [43 Vict. c. 18].

PROROGATION OF THE PARLIAMENT —HER MAJESTY'S SPEECH.
The PARLIAMENTwas this day prorogued by Commission.
THE LORD CHANCELLOR THE LORD CHANCELLOR acquainted the House that Her Majesty had been pleased to grant two several

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Commissions, one for declaring Her Royal Assent to several Acts agreed upon by both Houses of Parliament, and the other for proroguing the Parliament:—And the LORDS COMMISSIONERS—namely, The LORD CHANCELLOR; The EARL OF HARDWICKE; The EARL OF BRADFORD; The SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (The Viscount Cranbrook); and The LORD SKELMERSDALE—being in their Robes, and seated on a Form between the Throne and the Woolsack; and the COMMONS being come, with their Speaker, and the Commission to that purpose being read, the ROYAL ASSENT was given to several Bills.
Then THE LORD CHANCELLOR, pursuant to Her Majesty's Command, delivered HER MAJESTY'S SPEECH, as follows:—
"My Lords, and Gentlemen,
"As the time assigned by law for the termination of the present Parliament is near at hand, I am induced, by considerations of public policy and convenience, to select this period of the session for releasing you from your legislative duties, with a view to an immediate dissolution, and the issue of writs for a general election.
"I cannot part from you without expressing my deep sense of the zeal and ability which, during more than six years, you have consistently displayed in exercising your important functions, nor without tendering to you my warm acknowledgments for the useful measures which you have submitted for my acceptance, and especially for the manner in which you have upheld a policy the object of which was at once to defend my Empire and secure the general Peace.
"My relations with Foreign Powers are friendly, and favourable to the maintenance of tranquillity in Europe.
"I entertain the confident hope that the measures adopted in Afghanistan
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will lead to a speedy settlement of that country.
"I have had much satisfaction in assenting to the Acts you have passed for the relief of the distress unhappily prevalent in parts of Ireland, and trusting that these measures will be accepted by my Irish subjects as a proof of the ready sympathy of the Imperial Parliament, I look forward with confidence to the restored prosperity of their country.
"I rejoice to observe the indications of a general improvement in trade, and that the commercial depression which I have had to lament appears to be passing away.
"I have witnessed with the greatest sympathy the heavy losses sustained by the various classes connected with the cultivation of the soil, and have viewed with admiration the patience and high spirit with which they have contended against an almost unprecedented series of disastrous seasons.
"I trust that, with the blessing of Providence, a more favourable harvest may be looked for, and that, from the Commission which I issued to inquire into the causes of agricultural depression, suggestions may come which will lead to the more profitable use of agricultural land, and to a higher development of this branch of national industry.
"The electors of the United Kingdom will be called upon forthwith to choose their Representatives in Parliament, and I fervently pray that the blessing of Almighty God may guide them to promote the object of my constant solicitude—the happiness of my people."
Then a Commission for proroguing the Parliament was read.
After which,
THE LORD CHANCELLORsaid——
My Lords, and Gentlemen,
By virtue of Her Majesty's Commission, under the Great Seal, to us and other Lords directed, and now read, we do, in Her Majesty's Name, and in obedience to Her Commands, prorogue this Parliament to Tuesday the thirteenth, day of April next, to be then here holden; and this Parliament is accordingly prorogued to Tuesday the thirteenth day of April next.