Sitting of 28 March 1899

Preamble
MR. SPEAKERtook the Chair at Twelve of the Clock.
PRIVATE BILL BUSINESS.

  PRIVATE BILLS [H.L.] (STANDING ORDERS NOT PREVIOUSLY INQUIRED INTO COMPLIED WITH).
  MR. SPEAKER MR. SPEAKER laid upon the Table Report from one of the Examiners of Petitions for Private Bills, That, in the case of the following Bills, originating in the Lords, and referred on the First Reading thereof, the Standing Orders not previously inquired into, and which are applicable thereto, have been complied with, viz.:—

  Aberdeen Corporation Bill [H.L.]

  Cromer Protection Bill [H.L.]

  Wallasey Tramways and Improvements Bill [H.L.]

  Ordered, That the Bills be read a second time.

LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RAILWAY (NEW RAILWAYS) BILL.
Read the third time, and passed.
LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RAILWAY (VARIOUS POWERS) BILL.
Read the third time, and passed.
CARDIFF RAILWAY DILL.
As amended, considered; to be read the third time.
LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY (ADDITIONAL POWERS) BILL.
To be read a second time upon Monday, 10th April.
LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY (NEW RAILWAYS) BILL.
To be read a second time upon Monday, 10th April.
PRIVATE BILLS.
Ordered, That Standing Orders 39, 129, and 230 be suspended, and that the time for depositing Petitions and Memorials against Private Bills, or against any Bill to confirm any Provisional Order or Provisional Certificate, and for depositing duplicates of any Documents relating to any Bill to confirm any Provisional Order or Provisional Certificate, be extended to the first day on which the House shall sit after the Recess.—(The Chairman of Ways and Means.)
METROPOLITAN POLICE PROVISIONAL ORDER BILL.
Read the third time, and passed.
ELECTRIC LIGHTING PROVISIONAL ORDERS (No. 3) BILL.
"To confirm a Provisional Order made by the Board of Trade, under the Electric Lighting Acts, 1882 and 1888, relating to Bermondsey," presented, and read the first time; to be referred to the Examiners of Petitions for Private Bills, and to be printed. [Bill 148.]
LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROVISIONAL ORDERS (No. 1) BILL.
"To confirm certain Provisional Orders of the Local Government Board relating to Manchester, Middlesbrough, Nelson, Southampton, and Stafford," presented, and read the first time; to be referred to the Examiners of Petitions for Private Bills, and to be printed. [Bill 149.]
PETITIONS.
  LIQUOR TRAFFIC LOCAL VETO (SCOTLAND) BILL.
  Petitions in favour, from Arbroath (two), Newton Stewart, Dunoon, and, Paisley; to lie upon the Table.
  LONDON GOVERNMENT BILL.
  Petition of the School Board for London, for alteration; to lie upon the Table.
  PARLIAMENTARY FRANCHISE.
  Petitions for Extension to Women, from Liverpool, Bedfork Park, Dartmouth, Hendon, Leicester, Ravensthorpe, Bristol (two), St. Leonard's on Sea, Sydenham, Leeds, Thornbury, Westbourne Terrace (three), Maida Vale, West London (three), Parkstone, Birmingham, Northfield, Leek, Highbury and Cheltenham, to lie upon the Table.
  PRIVATE BILL LEGISLATION (MUNICIPAL TRADING).
  Petitions for inquiry by a Select Committee, from Bristol and Cardiff; to lie upon the Table.
  PRIVATE LEGISLATION PROCEDURE (SCOTLAND) BILL.
  Petitions in favour, from Faculty of Advocates, Stirling, Paisley, and Gourock; to lie upon the Table.
  PUBLIC HEALTH ACTS AMENDMENT BILL.
  Petition from Stafford, in favour; to lie upon the Table.
  SALE OF INTOXICATING LIQUORS ON SUNDAY BILL.
  Petitions in favour, from Manchester, York, St. Albans (two), Burnage, Heaton Moor, Copford, Old Basford, Salford, Needham Market, Woodbridge, Holbeach, and Long Melford; to lie upon the Table.
  VACCINATION ACT, 1898.
  Petition from Festiniog, for repeal, to-lie upon the Table.
RETURNS, REPORTS, ETC.
  REVENUE DEPARTMENTS (APPROPRIATION ACCOUNTS).
  Paper [presented 27th March] to be printed]. [No. 133.]
  SANITARY INSPECTORS' EXAMINATION BOARD.
  Return [presented 27th March] to be-printed. [No. 134.]
  CENTRAL LONDON RAILWAY BILL.
  Reported, with Amendments; Reports to lie upon the Table, and to be printed.
  VALE OF GLAMORGAN RAILWAY BILL.
  Reported, with Amendments; Reports to lie upon the Table, and to be printed.
  WOODHOUSE AND CONISBROUGH RAILWAY (ABANDONMENT) BILL.
  Reported, without Amendment; Report, to lie upon the Table, and to be printed.

  HARBOUR, &C, BILLS.
  Copy ordered, "of the Report of the Board of Trade on the Clyde Navigation Bill."—(Mr. Ritchie.)
  Copy presented accordingly; to lie upon the Table, and to be printed. [No. 135.]

QUESTIONS.

  DUNDALK PORT.
  MR. D. SULLIVAN (Westmeath, S.): On behalf of the hon. Member for North Louth I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, will he inquire if in the case of 27 coal vessels entering the port of Dundalk since June, carrying 9,987 tons cargo, the registered tonnage according to the Board of Trade surveyor was only 2,756 tons; is he aware that under this system of measurement the Irish port authorities find themselves deprived of sufficient dues to maintain an efficient service; and, do the Government intend to take any step to re-adjust the system of registration?
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. C. T. RITCHIE,): I have no doubt, from inquiries I have had made, that 27 vessels could be selected from those entering Dundalk since June last, whose registered tonnage and the weight of cargo carried by which would correspond with those given in the question. But registered tonnage has no fixed relation to dead weight capacity, and I am not aware that the effect of the present system is to prevent port authorities in Ireland or elsewhere from maintaining an efficient service. The question of tonnage measurement was exhaustively inquired into by a Royal Commission which reported in 1881; and the latest Statute regulating it (now incorporated in the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894) was passed in 1889. As at present advised, I am not prepared to propose fresh legislation on the subject.

  LEAD POISONING IN THE POTTERIES.
  SIR CHARLES DILKE: I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he is aware that the deaths have occurred in the Potteries on 19th January of Bertha Carter, engaged in ware cleaning and taking ware from dipper; on 13th March of William Hopkins, glost-placer; on 16th March of Arthur Rushton, glost-placer; whether, though all these were persons employed in the most dangerous processes, two of whom had previously suffered from lead poisoning, no inquests were held; and, whether he will cause inquiry to be made into the more recent case of Henry Drakeford, dipper, who died on 18th March in a workhouse, where he had been for seven weeks, having been a dipper from the age of 14, and who, after 13 years at dipper's work, became subject to fits, from which he had suffered for several years, and which are alleged to have been caused by lead poisoning?
  THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. JESSE COLLINGS,): There has been much difficulty in tracing the cases mentioned in the first paragraph of the question. But I now find that in all three cases the death was certified as due to other causes than lead poisoning: and in each case the medical man in attendance on the deceased is strongly of opinion that death was not in any way caused by lead. In these circumstances the cases did not and could not come to the notice of the coroner as cases where an inquest might be necessary. Enquiry shall be made into the case mentioned in the last paragraph of the Question.

  CLERKS TO TOWN COMMISSIONERS.
  MR. DILLON: I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether the clerk

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  of Town Commissioners is qualified to be a candidate for urban district councillor?
  THE CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE LORD LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND (Mr. GERALD W. BALFOUR,): If the Clerk to Commissioners of a town which is not an urban district, resides in an urban district and is not otherwise disqualified, he would appear to be eligible for election.

  PRISON CHAPLAINS.
  MR. CARVELL WILLIAMS (Notts, Mansfield): I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he can state to what religious denominations the prison chaplains of England and Wales belong; giving the total number connected with each denomination?
  MR. J. COLLINGS: The chaplain and assistant chaplain of a prison must by statute (viz., the Act of 1865) be members of the Established Church. There are 61 chaplains and four assistant chaplains.

  ARMENIAN ORPHANAGES.
  MR FRANCIS STEVENSON: I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether he is now able to give further information with respect to the question of the instructions given by the Porte to close certain orphanages founded and supported by British and American contributions for the benefit of Armenians; the delay in the payment of compensation due to British merchants at Constantinople in connection with the massacre of August, 1896; and the willingness of the British Government to use its good offices with the Government of H.I.M. the Czar for the purpose of securing a mitigation of the edict of May, 1898, enforcing within 12 months the repatriation of Armenians who have taken refuge in Trans-Caucasia, and have not become naturalised Russian subjects.
  THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. ST. JOHN BRODRICK,): I fear that I have nothing to add to the answers already returned by me to questions on
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  all the three subjects mentioned, on February 27th, March 16th, and March 20th.

  ASSAULT ON MR. DAVITT AT CHARLEVILLE.
  MR. ARNOLD- FORSTER: I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether his attention has been called to the savage assault made upon the honourable Member for South Mayo at Charleville, county Cork, on Saturday last; whether he can inform the House what were the injuries sustained by the honourable Member and his friends; and, what steps he proposes to take to protect the honourable Member from violence?
  MR. DILLON: Before the right honourable Gentleman answers that question I should like to ask whether he is aware that the assault in question was committed by 40 drunken rowdies hired by a local Unionist landlord.
  MR. SPEAKER: Order, order ! That is a form of question which would not have been accepted at the Table, and cannot be permitted as a supplementary question.
  MR. DILLON: I will ask a question which is in order; whether it has not always been ruled by you and other Speakers to be a gross act of personal discourtesy to ask a question in reference to a Member of this House without giving him notice.
  MR. SPEAKER: If it is a question which reflects upon the conduct or character of the Member in any way it would be proper to give him notice. But the fact that an honourable Member has been assaulted does not reflect upon his character.
  MR. GERALD BALFOUR: I have ordered a report on this matter, but I have not yet received it. Therefore, it is not in my power to answer the question.

  SHUNTING FATALITY ON THE SOUTHEASTERN RAILWAY.
  SIR CHARLES DILKE: I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, if his attention has been called to the inquest

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  on Wednesday last touching the death of George J. Stevenson, a goods guard of the South Eastern Railway, who was crushed between the buffers in coupling; whether he is aware that the evidence showed that the shunting pole was useless in the case of many kinds of coupling now in use: whether Stevenson's death has been duly reported to the Board; and, whether any proceedings can be taken by the Board of Trade in the case?
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE: The Board have received the Coroner's return and an intimation of the accident from the Company by telegraph. The formal return from the Company has not yet been received. I have ordered an inquiry by a Sub-Inspector.

  CONGLETON RAILWAY ACCIDENT.
  MR. MADDISON: I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, if he is aware that Lieutenant Colonel H. A. Yorke, in his report on the accident which occurred on 17th January, 1899, at Congleton, on the North Staffordshire Railway, states that the accident was attributable to conditions in all respects similar to those which existed at the time of the derailment at New castle-under-Lyme on 15th July, 1897; and, whether, in the absence of the necessary powers to enforce his Inspector's recommendations, he will call the attention of the North Staffordshire Railway Company to their neglect of precautious pointed out to them 18 months ago?
  TUB PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE: The North Staffordshire Company informed the Board of Trade that they had complied with the Inspecting Officer's requirements at Newcastle-under-Lyme, as far back as August, 1897, and the Department has no reason to suppose that the necessary work was not completed. The Board will press the Company to do the same at Congleton.
  MR. MADDISON: Am I to take it that although the same conditions were known to exist at Congleton as at Newcastle-under-Lyme, no attempt was made to apply a remedy for 18 mouths?
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE: I cannot say exactly, but I
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  think the honourable Gentleman is justified in drawing the inference.

  PEKIN-HANKOW RAILWAY.
  MR. PROVAND: I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, if he has any information as to the reported failure of the Belgium Syndicate to fulfil the conditions attached to the concession for the Pekin-Hankow Railway; and whether, in consequence of this, the concession has been or is to be cancelled or regranted to other parties.
  MR. BRODRICK: No information has reached us officially to the effect of the honourable Member's question.

  COMPULSORY LABOUR ON THE GOLD COAST.
  Mr. BUCHANAN: I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies, whether troubles have arisen among the Natives in the northern territories of the Gold Coast owing to the enforcement of compulsory labour in connection with the telegraph extension works, and a detachment of Hausas has been sent up from the coast in consequence; and, whether ho will state the conditions and method by which labour is compulsorily obtained for these and similar works, and lay upon the table a copy of the Compulsory Labour Ordinance of the Colony?
  THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. J. CHAMBERLAIN,): No troubles have arisen in the northern territories of the Gold Coast, but a detachment of Hausas has been sent up to Kumassi in consequence of disturbances in Waru, where the king has been deposed in a revolt of his subjects. The Compulsory Labour Ordinance expired on December 14 1898, and there is now no system of compulsory labour in the Colony.

  PUPIL TEACHERS.
  MR. M'KENNA (Monmouth, N.): I beg to ask the Vice-President of the Committee of Council on Education, whether his attention has been called to the fact

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  that the new provisions in the Day School Code for 1899–1900, relating to the training and education of pupil teachers, come far short of the recommendations of the recent Departmental Committee on the subject; and, whether he proposes to carry out these recommendations at a later date?
  THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ON EDUCATION (Sir J. GORST,): Yes, I am aware that the new provisions in the Day School Code about the pupil teachers fall far short of the recommendations of the Departmental Committee and of what the Education Department itself considers desirable in the interests of the teachers. I hope to be able to obtain a further report upon the subject.

  INDIAN SUGAR DUTIES.
  MR. FLYNN: I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in respect to the speech of M. Hezeduis, Minister of Commerce in the Hungarian Parliament on the 23rd instant, whether it is a fact, as stated by M. Hezeduis, that the imposition of a countervailing duty on sugar by the Legislative Council of India contravenes the Most Favoured Nation Treaty on the ground that, according to that Treaty, no Colony is entitled to impose higher duties on Austro- Hungarian goods than on the goods of any other country; and, if so, what action does the Foreign Office intend to take?
  MR. BRODRICK: I can only refer the honourable Member to my answer to his question last night. We are not prepared to accept the view expressed in his question.

  CLIFDEN LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTION.
  MR. O'MALLEY: I beg to ask Mr. Attorney-General for Ireland, whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Sheriff of Galway has appointed Mr. Thomas Lyden to be presiding officer for one of the Clifden districts, in connection with the forthcoming Local Government elections; whether he is aware that Mr. Lyden is the Relieving Officer for the Clifden
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  Union, and at the request of the chairman of the union, Mr. Henry Robinson, J.P., has been actively canvassing on behalf of the said Mr. Robinson, who is a candidate for the County Council; and, whether, under these circumstances, he will direct the Sheriff to make another appointment, and at the same time instruct Mr. Lyden not to take part in the contest?
  MR. ATKINSON: My attention has not previously been directed to the appointment of Mr. Lyden as presiding officer, or to the facts alleged in the second paragraph. The appointment of presiding officers rests with the returning officer. The Local Government Board will instruct Mr. Lyden not to take any part in the election.

  MUZZLING ORDER IN SURREY AND BUCKS.
  MR. LAFONE: I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture if he can see his way to withdraw the muzzling order now in force in Middlesex, as there has not been any case of rabies during the past six months, and in the neighbouring counties of Surrey and Bucks the dogs are unmuzzled and pass freely from one county to another?
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE (Mr. W. H. LONG,): I am afraid I can add nothing as yet to the reply which I gave to Mr. Ambrose on this subject earlier in the month, but my honourable Friend may be sure that the matter will be kept in view.

  MAGHERABOY COUNTY GOVERNMENT ELECTION.
  MR. DILLON: I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if ho is aware that the Returning Officer for the election of district councillors for the Magheraboy rural district, in the Letterkenny county electoral division of the county Donegal, through his deputy has expressed the intention of taking the poll for the election of district councillors for the said district at premises in the town land of Pluck used as a corn mill, which is an old and unsuitable building; is he aware that

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  the said townland of Pluck is at least six miles from the furthest point in said district where a great number of voters reside, and that within that district there are two national schools suitable for taking the poll, one situate in the centre of the district at Drummany, not more than three miles from the remotest voter, and another situate at Knockbrack, not more than three and a-half miles from the remotest voter, the said schools being available for the election free of charge; and, if the Local Government Board will consult the convenience of the voters and interest of the ratepayers in the fixing of the polling station?
  MR. GERALD BALFOUR: There has not been sufficient time to communicate with the Returning Officer on the subject of the statements in this question, but I have directed a copy of it to be transmitted to that gentleman for his consideration.

  SHIPPING QUESTIONS.
  MR. HAVELOCK WILSON (Middles-borough): I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, whether his attention has been called to the inquiry held into the loss of the Newcastle steamship "Cardinal" in the North Atlantic on 12th February, whilst on a voyage from Pensacola to Antwerp: whether he is aware that the Court found that the height of the deck cargo of timber was six to seven feet in the well of the vessel and about four feet on the awning deck, and three and a-half to five feet on the after-deck; whether he is aware the Court found that the vessel, as loaded, was not in a good and seaworthy condition when she left Pensacola on her winter voyage across the Atlantic; whether he is aware that the Merchant Shipping Act prohibits the carrying of such deck cargoes during winter to ports in the United Kingdom, but does not prohibit the carrying of such deck cargoes to Continental ports; whether he intends to introduce legislation at an early date to prohibit British vessels carrying excessive deck-loads of timber to Continental ports during the winter months; what proceedings, if any, does he intend to take against the owners of the "Cardinal" for allowing this vessel to proceed to sea in an unseaworthy condition; and, whether he is aware the
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  owner, Mr. Avory, declined to disclose to the Court the amount of insurance effected on this vessel?
  The following Question was also on the paper:
  MR. HAVELOCK WILSON: To ask the President of the Board of Trade, whether he can state the number of Lascars employed on board the British India Steam Navigation Company's steamship "Goorkha," as able seamen, firemen, trimmers, cooks, and stewards; whether he can state how many cubic feet and how many superficial feet are provided for each Lascar on board this vessel; and, whether the crew spaces are kept entirely free for use of crew, as provided by section 210, sub-section 2, of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894.
  THE PRESIDENT OF THIS BOARD OF TRADE: These questions only appeared on the paper this morning, and it has been utterly impossible for me to make the necessary inquiries to enable me to answer the honourable Gentleman.
  MR. HAVELOCK WILSON: I will put them down for the first day after the Recess.

  RATING OF IRISH HOLDINGS OF £4 AND UNDER.
  MAJOR WYNDHAM-QUIN: I beg to ask Mr. Attorney-General for Ireland whether he is aware that doubts have been published to the effect that it has been omitted to provide in The Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, for the rating of the occupiers of holdings valued at £i and under; and, if this is so, will the Government introduce legislation to correct this omission?
  THE ATTORNEY - GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. ATKINSON, Londonderry, N.): I am aware that at p. 826 of a Treatise on the Law of Landlord and Tenant in Ireland, recently published by Messrs. Quill & Hamilton, it is stated that the omission referred to occurs in the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898. The statement is, in my opinion, entirely erroneous. There is no such omission. And from the misquotation on the above-mentioned page of the language of one of the Schedules to the Act, it would appear

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  that the authors have fallen into this obvious error by construing the words "this Act" where they occur in that Schedule, as if they referred to a Statute assed over a half a century ago, and not as they manifestly do to the Local Government Act itself. Occupiers of holdings of the class mentioned are as regards rating in the same position as the occupiers of other classes of holdings. Fresh legislation on the subject is unnecessary as there is nothing to correct.

  ROYAL COMMISSION ON LOCAL TAXATION.
  MR. MOULTON: I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why the evidence taken at Edinburgh in April last year before the Royal Commission on Local Taxation has not been published, whereas evidence taken in London in May, June, and July has been already issued; and, when the Scotch evidence will be in the hands of Members?
  MR. JESSE COLLINGS: This Question only appeared on the paper this morning, and it has been quite impossible to get the information asked for yet.

  NORTH-EAST CARNARVONSHIRE POLICE.
  MR. LLOYD-GEORGE (Carnarvon): I bag to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the inquiry instituted by the Home Office into the question of removing the office of Superintendent of Police for North-East Carnarvonshire from Conway to Llandudno, whether he is aware that the Joint Police Committee for Carnarvonshire had already considered the proposal, and decided by a preponderating majority against the removal; and that this decision was confirmed by the local bench of magistrates by a vote of seven to one; could he state at whose instance the Home Office made the inquiry; and whether any notice was given either to the Joint Police Committee, to the local bench of magistrates; or to the local authorities of the time and place of such inquiry; and, if not, what other steps were taken to secure a representation of their views on the question.
  MR. JESSE COLLINGS: There was no formal inquiry, but the Inspector of Constabulary for the District, having been asked to furnish the Secretary of State with his report, in the matter informed him in December last, that after visiting Carnarvon, and having had interviews with the Chairman and other members of the Llandudno District Council, and with the Chairman of the Standing Joint Committee of the county, he was convinced that in the best interests of all concerned the Superintendent of the District should be removed from Conway to Llandudno.
  Of this opinion the Standing Joint Committee were informed as well as the other correspondents on the subject.

  VACCINATION OF INFANTS.
  MR. CHANNING: I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board, whether he is aware that the entries in the medical officer's book at St. Pancras Workhouse show that between 1st January and 22nd February, 1899, there were vaccinated in the workhouse, three children eight days old, one child 11 days old, one child 12 days old, three children 13 days old, one child 16 days old, one child 18 days old, and one child 23 days old; and, whether, considering that this vaccination of infants of from one to three weeks of age is contrary to the intention of the Second Schedule to the Vaccination Order of 18th October, which prescribes that the offer to vaccinate shall be made when the child is two months old, and that the Royal Commission condemned the practice of premature vaccination, he will direct the St. Pancras medical officer to discontinue this practice.
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. H. CHAPLIN, Lincs., Sleaford): I find that the facts are as stated in the first paragraph, of the Question. The Medical Officer states, however, that in every case the parent specially requested the vaccination of the child, and that no compulsion, persuasion, advice or offer was resorted to. He adds that all the cases referred to have been satisfactorily protected from small-pox, and have suffered no complications whatever. There is nothing inconsistent either with the Vaccination Act,

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  1898, or the Vaccination Order, in a child being vaccinated at an early age if the parent desires it, nor as far as I know is there any power to prevent it.
  MR. CHANNING: Does the medical officer receive fees for these vaccinations?
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD: No, sir.
  MR. CHANNING: I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board, whether his attention has been called to the vaccination, in Queen Charlotte's Hospital, of the infant child, Humphrey, of Mrs. George Forbigger, of 21, Belgrave Road, Cambridge, when only two days old, although the child was suffering from eczema when he and his mother were discharged on 11th February, and to the fact that the disease has since become so serious that the child has been in hospital; whether he is aware that the subscribers' letters securing admission to Queen Charlotte's Hospital still contain a stipulation that the child must be vaccinated before the mother leaves, that is within If days; whether the hospital authorities now hand or show to patients any notice that parents cannot, under the Act passed last year, be compelled to have their children vaccinated under six months: and, whether he will take immediate steps to secure, in Queen Charlotte's Hospital and similar institutions, a strict observance of the provisions of the Act?
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD: I have caused inquiry to be made as to this case and find that a child named Humphrey Terheggen was vaccinated at Queen Charlotte's Hospital as stated, the child being in perfect health at the time. On the eighth day after vaccination a single small pustule had appeared on the child's hand, and 28 days after vaccination the child was admitted into Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, suffering from a very common form of infantile eczema, from which it has now almost recovered. The course of the vaccination was throughout quite normal, and during the child's stay in Queen Charlotte's Hospital it steadily gained weight. There is no statement on the subscribers' letters as to vaccination, but it is definitely pointed out on the "Order of Admission" that vaccination will not be performed if objection is made
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  by the parent. I have no information as to any notices prepared by the hospital authorities as to the terms of the Vaccination Act, 1898, neither is there any obligation on their part to issue any notices as to the Act, but I am in communication with the Guardians of the Parish of St. Marylebone and with the Vaccinator at Queen Charlotte's Hospital, and I am calling their attention to the provisions of the Act in reference to the vaccination of children in that Institution, and to the age at which vaccination is required by the Act.
  MR. CHANNING: Do I understand that the right honourable Gentleman is addressing representations to the hospital authorities in order to discourage these early vaccinations as to which he expressed a very strong opinion last Session?
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD: That is the effect of the communication I have made.

  THE CIVIL SERVICE ESTIMATES.
  Mr. PICKERSGILL (Bethnal Green, S.W.): I desire to put a question to the First Lord of the Treasury of which I have given private notice. I have a notice on the paper in regard to the Vaccination Order of October 18th, 1898, and to the covering letter to the Boards of Guardians of the President of the Local Government Board. I desire to bring this subject before the House as early as possible, but do not wish to stand in the way of an early adjournment today if some arrangement can be come to. I wish to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether, having regard to the importance of this matter and to the fact that the Local Government Board vote was scarcely discussed last year and very inadequately discussed in 1897, that vote would be put down at an early date in Supply?
  THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR, Manchester, E.): No doubt Class 2 must be put down at an early date after Easter, but that does not necessarily mean that the vote for the Local Government Board will come up immediately for discussion. I should not

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  like at this distance of time to pledge myself until I know what the wishes of the House are on the subject.

  THE EDUCATION CODE.
  VISCOUNT CRANBORNE: Arising out of the conversation on the adjournment last night, I wish to ask you, Mr. SPEAKER, for your ruling on a definite matter that is before the House. On March 6th the Education Code was laid in dummy on the Table of the House and it was not circulated among Members until March 21st. The question I desire to ask is, from which of those dates will the 30 days count as to the period on which the Code should lie on the Table of the House?
  MR. SPEAKER: It was not quite certain last night what the facts were, but I have now ascertained that the Code was only laid in dummy on the Table of the House on March 6th, and I shall rule that the time runs from March 21st. I shall also give directions at the Table that where papers are brought to the Table under the provisions of a Statute which requires that they shall lie upon the Table for a certain period, no dummies shall be received, but that the full papers should be laid on the Table together with such a notice stating the date and the nature of the papers and the Statute and Section under which they are handed in, as will enable the clerks to know from and to what date the time will run. I shall rule now that the time runs in this particular case from March 21st, being the date from which the Code was actually brought in, or made available for Members.

  ST. CLEMENT'S CHURCH, BELFAST.
  MR. DILLON: I desire to ask the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether it is true that by order of the Bishop, St. Clement's Church has been closed for one year.
  MR. GERALD BALFOUR: I understand that the Church has been closed by order of the Bishop.

  SUPPLY.
  MR. CHANNING: What Supply will be taken on the first Friday after the Recess?
  THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY: I am given to understand that it will be necessary to take the Navy Estimates on the first Friday after the Recess and, if that is confirmed, the Navy Estimates will be put down on that day.

  ANGLO-FRENCH AGREEMENT.
  MR. GIBSON BOWLES (King's Lynn): I wish to ask the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs whether he can state why the agreement with France, relative to African territory, signed on March 21st, which professes to be an addition to the Convention between the two countries of June 14th, 1898, and which appears to be in itself of the character of a Convention, is entitled a Declaration; whether a Declaration is of the same binding force as a Convention; and whether this document has been styled a Declaration instead of a Convention in order to avoid the necessity for submitting it for confirmation to the French Chambers?
  MR. BRODRICK: I am hardly prepared to answer at short notice the dissertation of my honourable Friend on the principle which governs this agreement, but I can assure him that the present procedure was adopted because it was considered the most convenient for all the parties concerned.
  MR. BUCHANAN (Aberdeenshire, E.): Will vote 10, which raises the Question of the fortification of Wei-Hai-Wei, be taken on the first Friday after the holidays?
  THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY: Yes, that will be the first vote taken.

  ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE (EASTER).
  Motion made, and Question, "That this House do now adjourn till Monday, 10th April."—(Mr. Balfour.)

  COUNTERVAILING SUGAR DUTIES.
  MR. MACLEAN: On the Question of the recent action of the Government of India with regard to the Sugar Duties, you were good enough to give me your ruling, Sir, last week, that it was impossible to raise a discussion on the subject owing to the blocking notice

  649
  given by the honourable Member for Sheffield. That applies not only to the merits of the Question itself, but also to the procedure taken by the Government of India and the Secretary of State for India. I bow to your decision, Sir, in the matter, and I do not propose to raise the subject here to-day, but I should like to make an appeal to the Leader of the House to set apart a day soon after Easter for a discussion upon that Question. The right honourable Gentleman, in answer to a Question, said that he could not provide special facilities for the discussion of any matter however important or interesting it might be; but I venture to call his attention to the fact of the scope of this Measure passed in India. Lord Curzon says it is a protective Measure, and that he hopes it will be imitated in all other points. We know that policy comes from Sheffield; but the point which we desire to raise is not the controversy of Protection and Free Trade, but how far Her Majesty's Government intends to go in this direction. I am sure the right honourable Gentleman will feel that it is a question which, having been raised in this form by the Viceroy of India, with the consent of and sanction of the Secretary of State, it would not be becoming for the Government to put off a discussion in the House and allow a blocking Amendment, like that of the honourable Member for Sheffield, to prevent that discussion being raised. In that Resolution which the honourable Gentleman has put down upon the paper, he not only expresses approval of the action of the Viceroy of India, but he goes further and expresses the hope that Her Majesty's Government will fall upon the breast of; the Viceroy with gratitude. I am sure that the right honourable Gentleman will agree that this is not a matter that should be indefinitely delayed. No doubt the right honourable Gentleman, with his serried battalions behind him, can carry a Resolution for Protection and remain happy until the next General Election undeceives him; but I think that the right honourable Gentleman will agree that the issue should be soon submitted to the House of Commons.

  IRISH INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS.
  MR. J. C. FLYNN (Cork, N.): The Question that I intend to refer to is one
  650
  that has caused a considerable stir in Ireland. I refer to the recent order of the Local Government Board with regard to the new rules regulating the admission of children into the Industrial Schools. The honourable Member for Mayo, in referring to this matter some years ago, said that the regulations were giving satisfaction all over Ireland to all concerned in the treatment of the poor, and especially in the treatment of the destitute. Now, without a moment's warning, the working of the Industrial Schools is to be altered, and the magistrates are to be called upon to read the law in a certain way. I say that the Executive Government is going beyond its province in asking magistrates to read an Act of Parliament in a certain way. I contend it is in the discretion of the magistrate, and such directions ought not to emanate from the Local Government Board. I make these remarks because I observe that two magistrates of Dublin have so far altered the practice regulating the admission of these poor children into these Industrial Schools, as to completely alter the reading of the law. We complain that no opportunity has been given to Irish Members to consider the alteration of the rule, and so far as we can see, it is simply an order issued by the Chief Secretary and the Local Government Board, to be acted upon all over the country. I cannot better illustrate my meaning than by quoting a letter from an Irish gentleman who is much interested in the question of these schools. He said that for over 30 years the Act had been administered in a most liberal spirit, and that good work had been done by these schools. The policy of the Government has entirely reversed that action. A Departmental Committee of the Home Office sat in 1896, and they went into the question thoroughly, and they went into the working of the English and Scotch Industrial Schools, but the Irish schools were in no way considered. No evidence was called, but apparently it would seem that the outcome of that enquiry was that this Order has been issued to the magistrates, and the whole system has been reversed. Now it is a very serious question, because if any Board does any good in Ireland at all, the right honourable Gentleman will admit that it is this Board which administers Industrial Schools. I find, with all respect to the Chief Secretary and

  651
  to the Attorney-General, that this circular which has been issued by the Local Government Board is not in accordance with the Act of Parliament itself. Now up to the present the magistrates have acted upon this principle, that where children have lost one parent, or where both their parents have died, that the extreme destitution of the child was sufficient to admit that child into the schools, so as to save it from the contaminating influence of criminals. And it is a well-known fact that criminality in the juvenile population of Ireland has largely diminished in recent years, and that was greatly owing to the beneficent operation of these Industrial Schools. Now I might quote the Act of Parliament referring to this matter, and I beg to invite the Attorney-General's attention to this particular section, Section 11 of the Act of 1868. Section 13 does not help the matter very much, except that it refers to children under 13 years of age. The circular also refers to the Amending Act of 1880, Section 1, which in no way touches this question. The whole thing, in my opinion, hangs upon Section 11 of the Act of 1898, and unless that section is repealed, I do not see how these Industrial Schools can be operated in the way in which the Local Government Board desires. We don't know whether it is parsimony in dealing with the small relief given to the most deserving class in Ireland, but whatever the motive is, it is most disastrous in its operation, as we are assured by responsible authorities. All the managers of industrial schools whom we have interviewed are decidedly against it, To my mind it is Section 11 which defines the action to be taken where destitution is apparent or the want of protection by parents being dead, and entire ignorance, and because through such circumstances a child is likely to be dragged into the paths of vice and criminality, that the magistrates exercise a wise discretion in admitting the child to the school. That system has been in operation for 30 years, and it has given great satisfaction to all parties, and it is somewhat surprising that the Local Government Board should have adopted this form of procedure without consulting anybody, without consulting public opinion in any way. There is another question: a number of these schools have been erected, and cost of building and maintenance incurred; they have been erected
  652
  for a certain number of children, and under this rule all this accommodation will be wasted, and the schools will be no longer required for the good and beneficent work in which they have been engaged.

  COUNTERVAILING SUGAR DUTIES.
  THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY: Perhaps before the Chief Secretary replies, I ought to reply to the question put to me by my honourable Friend the Member for Cardiff. My honourable Friend desires that I should give a pledge to find time for the discussion of a very important question relating to India, in which he takes a great and natural interest. The Government have not the least desire to avoid a discussion. On the contrary, we are of opinion that we have nothing except to gain by being given an opportunity of laying the arguments which have influenced us before the country. But my honourable Friend must be aware that in the present state of public business, in order to select one motion before the House for a particular favour, I should have to sacrifice for the motion Government time. Now it is not impossible, in spite of the difficulties which have arisen from the appearance of another resolution on the Paper of which my honourable Friend complains, that an opportunity may arise in the course of the next few weeks for my honourable Friend to lay his views before the House.

  NORTH-EAST CARNARVONSHIRE POLICE.
  MR. LLOYD - GEORGE (Carnarvon Boroughs): The right honourable Gentleman did not answer the whole of the question I put down on the Paper to-day. He neglected to answer the most important point of the question; it is purely a local matter relating to the removal of the office of the Superintendent of Police from Conway to Llandudno. The matter was gone into very fully by the County Police Committee, who represent both the Magistrates and the County Council, and they decided, after a very full discussion, by a majority of two to one not to remove the office of the Superintendent. There may be something to be said, of course, for the removal, but by what process I do not

  653
  know, and that is the part of the question which the right honourable Gentleman did not answer; an inquiry was set on foot by the Home Office to override the decision of the Police Committee. Now, I do not think it is right that the Home Office should adopt such a course without giving full notice to the Local Authorities of their intention. I should like to know at whose instance this inquiry was set on foot. It was not at the instance of the Police Authority, because they had gone into the matter and decided against the removal, but there was an inquiry, and an officer was sent down to investigate the matter. He never communicated with the Police Committee or with the District Council of Conway, but only communicated with the District Council of Llandudno. He goes down to Carnarvon and sees the Chairman of the Committee, but that gentleman had taken a one sided view of this particular question. After having seen him, the officer went and saw the I Chief Constable, who had also taken a very strong view upon the question, and it was only discovered by the barest accident that the Home Office had set the inquiry on foot at all. He did not consult the local Bench of Magistrates, who only discovered by accident that a man had been sent down.

  IRISH INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS.
  MR. G. BALFOUR: The question of the decision of the magistrates in regard to the industrial schools in Ireland was brought before this House and fully discussed not long ago, and I do not think that the honourable Member's observations have added much to the subject in any respect. The honourable Member is under some misconception with regard to the matter. He seems to think that the magistrates act under the rules issued by the Executive, but that is not so.
  MR. FLYNN: In the sense of how a certain section of the Act is to be construed, they do.
  MR. G. BALFOUR: Section 52 is very important, but there are only two paragraphs in the circular of which the honourable Member can possibly complain, but which in order to remove any misunderstanding upon the subject it was necessary to put in. How' it can be claimed that that Circular compels the Act of Parliament to be read in a certain way I cannot imagine;
  654
  that is a point which my right honourable Friend the Attorney-General went into. But perhaps I had better state shortly what my own views are with regard to this question, and the abuses which have gone on for so many years under the industrial school system. The object of the Circular is not merely for the sake of saving a certain amount of money to the Exchequer, but we thought it right to call the attention of the magistrates to the Act. The reason we have done so, in the first place, is, that when Acts of Parliament are manifestly abused every day, it is necessary that the intention of the Acts should be called to the attention of those who administer them. This Act was never intended to relieve mere destitution; it was intended for the purpose of rescuing children who were in danger of being dragged into the vortex of criminality through their surroundings. That is the real object of the Act.

  AUTOMATIC COUPLINGS.
  MR. PURVIS: I am very unwilling to occupy the attention of the House at this moment upon the question of automatic couplings to railway wagons, and I hope I shall stand excused in presuming to bring it forward. The owners, as we all know, desire that the question of automatic couplings should be left to a Royal Commission, and I thought yesterday, perhaps the wish was father to the thought, that the President of the Board of Trade was inclined to accede to their request, and yesterday that idea was confirmed, when the right honourable Gentleman said he did not intend to proceed further with this Bill during the present Session and that he intended to have an enquiry into the whole subject, and consequently rising hopes of thousands of railway men have suddenly been dashed to pieces like a pitcher dropped upon the ground. Of course, if compulsory automatic couplings are unnecessary it would be an intolerable hardship upon the railway Companies to have to adopt them, but where we are puzzled is that we think the right honourable Gentleman ought to have ascertained the facts before bringing in his Bill. The Government makes enquiries, and upon the result of those enquiries they bring in a Bill; then having brought it in the right honourable Gentleman is approached by the owners, and he comes here stating that he is not

  655
  going to proceed further with the Bill and asks us to enter into or consent to an enquiry into the whole matter. I am lost in amazement at the way in which the right honourable Gentleman's native hue of resolution has thus been "sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought," and I think we have a ground for complaint of his treatment of us and the action he has taken. He says he has tried to please all concerned, but I may tell him that the man who undertakes to please everybody ends by pleasing nobody. In order to make a long story short I feel that the duty is cast upon me to express the deep regret and indignation of at least 3,000 railway men that this present railway Bill has come to so lame and impotent a conclusion; though I am convinced that their disappointment is only temporary.

  SEAMEN'S ACCOMMODATION ON BOARD SHIP.
  MR. HAVELOCK WILSON (Middles-borough): I will not detain the House very long, but there is one personal matter to which I wish to refer. The President of the Board of Trade in the debate upon the Estimates last Tuesday made a statement to the effect that I had made statements which were untrue and grossly exaggerated. I think a statement like that from the right honourable Gentleman without any proof ought to be challenged, because I am not aware of having ever made in this House a statement which was untrue, nor am I aware of ever having made a statement which was exaggerated in connection with any correspondence which I have had with the right honourable Gentleman and his Department. None of my letters have been challenged by him, and I invite the right honourable Gentleman, and I am entitled to ask him if I have, as he stated, made statements which are untrue or exaggerated, to point them out. It is his duty to point out what those statements are. I am entitled to ask that a Government Department should do its duty. I think the Department of the right honourable Gentleman is not doing its duty, and he need not lose his temper over the matter because I am pressing him to do that which I think he is perfectly entitled to do under the powers he has at his command. When the Estimates are brought before this House
  656
  it is only right that an honourable Member of this House should be able to challenge the Estimates of any particular Department which he thinks is not doing its duty. I did no more than that, but instead of getting a courteous retort from the right honourable Gentleman I got nothing but abuse, and I invite him now to say what were the untrue and exaggerated statements that I made, because I can promise the right honourable Gentleman that so long as he delays putting the law in force I shall continue to press him. I say to my mind it is a scandal that a Government Department has to take three weeks or more to find out what is the true position of the law with regard to the accommodation to be allowed for men on board ship. I have been able to obtain that information from a legal gentleman in 24 hours, but this Department has taken weeks. In August last year I was promised definitely that the matter should be enquired into, and that, it should be put right. Now 12 months have gone by, and so far as I can ascertain nothing whatever has been done, and I resent and bitterly complain of the treatment which I have received.

REDISTRIBUTION OF SEATS.

  AUTOMATIC RAILWAY COUPLINGS.
  MR. COGHILL: There is one question to which I should like to refer. A statement appeared in the newspapers to the effect that the Government had given up their intention of dealing with the Question of the Redistribution of Seats during the present Parliament. I understood that it was in the contemplation of the Government to take this Question into their consideration, and I hope that the Government will do-so with a view to dealing with this subject without delay. I do not think that most honourable Members are familiar with the fact that there are many glaring: anomalies owing to the inequality of the size of the different constituencies at the present time, and though I do not think it right to take up time by reminding the House of these inequalities, they are so-great that they ought to be apparent. There is another point which I would also urge: if this Redistribution of Seats was put into force—if a thorough Redistribution of Seats was made, we should be free from Home Rule for ever. We were

  657
  told by the Chief Secretary for Ireland the other day that Home Rule is still a great danger. If that is so, then one is lost in amazement at the utterances of Members of the Government on this subject, because it appears that so far from being anxious to get rid of Home Rule, they are doing all in their power to keep it where it is. We had a remarkable speech from the Duke of Devonshire upon this subject recently, who told us that Home Rule exercised a strengthening and fortifying effect upon the Unionist party, that Home Rule exercises a cementing and consolidating effect which is of great value to the permanent harmony of the Unionist party. I have always taken the opposite view. I do not believe in keeping Home Rule alive as a sort of bogey to frighten Unionist Members. As we are all decided against Home Rule, we ought to do our best to get rid of it, because there is this great danger: we are getting near to a General Election, and what will the state of the parties be after that General Election? It is perfectly certain that upon another election the Government will not be able to count upon having a majority of 140. In all probability the parties will be equally divided, and the balance of power will once more be with the Irish party, and under those circumstances I do implore the Government to take some steps to bring about a Redistribution of Seats in order that we may be saved from all prospect of such a danger in the future, and to insure that the balance of power may not again be in the hands of the Irish Party as it has been in the past. Before I sit down I should like to refer to what the honourable Member for Peterborough has said upon the Automatic Couplings Railway Bill. I sit for a railway constituency. The railway shunters in that constituency have had an opportunity of seeing the automatic coupling at work for nine months, and they have heard it spoken of amongst the men—the men on the North Staffordshire Railway—and they know what this coupling means. They say that this coupling is totally unfitted for a railway, and they have asked me to take what steps I could, and do what I could, to get that clause withdrawn. I do not speak for shareholders or for directors, and I put down that Motion at the request, and in the interests of, the workmen and shunters of that railway.

  THE RAILWAY REGULATION BILL.
  MR. MADDISON: I wish to got a little more information from the President of the Board of Trade upon the subject to which the honourable Gentleman, the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, has just referred. I think that nothing has occurred during this Session more notable, and I would also say more deplorable, than the action of the President of the Board of Trade on this question of Railway Regulation Bill. The President of the Board of Trade, who, I believe, has been sincere, and who is sincere in his desire to bring about what we all believe would effect a great saving of life and limb amongst railway men, has confessed that he is unable to carry through this Bill, which is in a most deplorable condition at the present moment. The honourable Member for Peterborough is more easily satisfied than I am upon this Question. He took it for granted that something had happened to prevent its going through. I have not been able to gather from the President of the Board of Trade that such was the case. Look at the history of this Bill. The right honourable Gentleman, the President of the Board of Trade, kindly granted me a return of the accidents which had taken place, and that return must convince all honourable Members that the accidents in connection with shunting are extremely serious. In reply to other Questions answers were given that the right honourable Gentleman had instructed one of his officials, the head of the Railway Department, to go over to America and to inquire into certain matters there, which had to be inquired into, in connection with the question of automatic couplings. Mr. Hopwood went to America; he has a large experience of English railways, and he was well fitted to inquire into this Question. He came back, and he issued a Report. That Report is in the hands of honourable Members; they know what he has reported, and they are able to get a fair idea of what takes place in the United States. Then we have an Amendment to the Address, which I had the honour of moving, upon which the right honourable Gentleman, the President of the Board of Trade, made a speech; and though he did not agree with me on the one hand, as to the advisability of unlocking the powers of the Board of Trade, on the other hand he clearly stated that the question of

  659
  automatic couplings should be dealt with by legislation. Then we had another speech from the right honourable Gentleman, in which he told the House that he thought that this automatic couplings suggestion was a reasonable one, and if carried out, was one which would effect a great saving in life and limb; and then we had the Bill of the right honourable Gentleman, a Bill which is moderation itself. Some foolish people are going about the country saying that the right honourable Gentleman has bowed down to the Amalgamated Railway Servants and to labour agitators generally. All I can say is that if ever the honourable Gentleman gets into the hands of that society he will have to bring forward a very different Bill. This Bill is simply milk and water from the point of view of extreme railway men.
  THE SPEAKER: Order, order. The honourable Member is entitled to discuss the action of the President of the Board of Trade in introducing the Bill and then (as he alleges) withdrawing it, but he is not entitled to discuss the merits of the Bill or its contents.
  MR. MADDISON: It is not my intention to discuss the details of the Bill, Sir, I was merely using it as an argument to show the opinion that has been urged against the right honourable Gentleman has not been maintained. Shortly after the Bill was introduced there was a deputation of private railway wagon owners which waited on the right honourable Gentleman. That deputation was a remarkable one. One gentleman in discussing the question of automatic couplings said that the Bill had cost him many anxious nights, and the result was that he regarded this Bill as unnecessary. Another gentleman said he was between "the Devil and the deep sea." That deputation was composed mostly of people who are interested in wagons, people who would be affected by this Bill, and after the deputation the right honourable Gentleman throws over 300,000 railway men, including those whom the honourable Gentleman the Member for Stoke-upon-Trent represents, who he thinks are opposed to this Bill; we can allow him to take care of the few that he represents. The reply of the right honourable Gentleman filled some of us with something amounting to consternation because at the end of his reply he
  660
  told us he would drop the couplings part of the Bill. But when you have once thrown one portion to the wolves they want all the lot, and immediately the right honourable Gentleman had replied and said that he would practically give up automatic couplings and refer the other portions of the Bill to a Committee, one of the prominent members of the deputation wanted him to go further. So we go along the down grade, and if the honourable Member for Peterborough is right we have lost automatic couplings for this Session at least. What I want to know from the Board of Trade is whether we have not only lost automatic couplings, but breaks as well? I do not wish to detain the House any longer upon this question, I merely wish to know, is the present Bill or any portion of it to be proceeded with? If not, what is to be the nature of the tribunal of inquiry which is to go into this matter? Is it to be a Royal Commission, which, the House should remember, has been demanded by the private wagon owners and railway companies from the first? Will the right honourable Gentleman say that the reference is to cover a wider field than the three items contained in this Bill? But the right honourable Gentleman must remember that we have been moderate in our demands; we have been content to take reform by instalments, and if the question of the safety of the railway men is to be dealt with the right honourable Gentleman knows very well he will give some very hard work to any Royal Commission that is appointed. I hope that he will see his way to proceed with this measure.

  NORTH-EAST CARNARVONSHIRE POLICE.
  MR. JESSE COLLINGS: The question raised by the honourable Gentleman the Member for Carmarthen appears to have been raised through some misapprehension. He seems to think that there has been an inquiry upon the subject by the Home Office, but there has been no such inquiry and nothing in the form of one, or anything that could be called any inquiry. The Home Secretary naturally asked the advice of the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, whose opinion was that the office of the Superintendent of Police should be located in a large centre of population, and that it would be more

  661
  useful to have it in a place like Llandudno than in Conway. There has been no inquiry, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary only being consulted. I think I have now given all information upon that question.
  MR. LLOYD-GEORGE: Do you propose to take any further action?
  Mr. COLLINGS: There has been no formal enquiry, but it seems to me to be a matter of common sense that the office of the Superintendent in the interests of the population should be placed in the centre of a large population like that of Llandudno rather than that it should be placed in a comparatively small and retired place like Conway.

THE RAILWAY REGULATIONS BILL.

  SEAMEN'S ACCOMMODATION ON BOARD SHIP.
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. RITCHIE,): If the House will permit me, I will deal with the points raised by the two honourable Gentlemen with regard to my action in respect to automatic couplings. I can assure my honourable Friend, the Member for Peterborough, that I was very careful to make all the enquiries I could before introducing the Bill at all. That enquiry was made in the United States and the report was entirely in favour of the automatic couplings. The honourable Member said that the Bill was not a very drastic measure, but on the contrary an extremely mild one. I quite agree. The honourable Member for Stoke-on-Trent seemed to think he had found a conclusive answer to the Bill when he said that the automatic couplings he had seen in use were not suitable. It was never contemplated that there should be any special form of automatic couplings and everyone will admit that the couplings which he has seen and condemned are unsuitable for English railways. But we purposely propose to give five years to the railway Companies to endeavour to obtain automatic couplings which might be suitable for the railways of this country. If no such couplings were found during that time then of course it would be impossible for the Board of Trade to make the order which they are empowered to do under
  662
  this Bill, notwithstanding the enquiries I made in the United States. I made other enquiries, and I had no reason to expect that the Bill would be received as it has been by certain persons. It is quite apparent to all those who understand Parliamentary Procedure that the demand for enquiry which has been made by those interested is of such a character as to render it absolutely impossible that any Government could carry a measure of this kind through the House, with the business before it, during the present Session, and what makes that more evident is that both parties concerned, the railway men and the truck owners, both consider that it is necessary that they themselves should make an investigation into the matter. That investigation is now pending in the United States of America. The railway Companies and truck owners have sent out a commission, and the railway servants have also sent out a commission.
  MR. MADD1SON: But the enquiry will be finished and they will be back in time for the second reading after Easter.
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE: But we have not only to deal with the second reading The second reading of a measure of this character is a very little way indeed, and there again let me say that I always recognised that a further enquiry would be necessary and that the Bill should be referred to a Committee. Everybody who understands the Procedure of the House of Commons must know that it is no matter of regret that this Bill was introduced. We must all feel that the question of automatic couplings has been greatly advanced by the mere introduction of this measure. The action of the railway Companies must shew us all that their minds are now being directed seriously to the question of automatic couplings, and whether the enquiry which will have to take place to investigate this subject precedes the second reading of this Bill or follows it, our position is very much the same. Indeed, I venture to say that a Commission appointed at once to enquire into the matter would advance the Bill more than if we had to wait to a latter period of the Session, which we should have to do to get the second reading. Now the honourable Gentleman says that if it is referred to a Royal Commission, having regard to the safety of life and limb, it

  663
  should have a wide scope. Certainly, if a Royal Commission is to be appointed it cannot confine its attention to automatic couplings. If it is appointed it must have a large and wide reference to enable it to enquire into all methods of saving-life, and all appliances of which we can avail ourselves for that purpose.
  MR. MADDISON: The right honourable Gentleman has not answered the Question, which I consider of vital importance, as to what is to be the nature of the enquiry.
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE: The nature of the enquiry is under the consideration of the Government, and if the matter is referred to a Royal Commission, it will be such a reference as the honourable Gentleman desires.
  MR. MADDISON: May I take it for granted that the present Bill is to be dropped altogether?
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE: No, the honourable Gentleman cannot take it for granted at all. I do not know what the honourable Gentleman desires: does he desire that one portion of this Bill referring to safety appliances should be passed into law and that the other parts of this Bill should be referred to a tribunal to be decided upon? If a Royal Commission is appointed it may be desirable that the whole Question, not only this Bill, but other matters connected with railway management, should be referred as well. You could not refer the mere question of automatic couplings to a Royal Commission. If it is desirable that everything should be done to save life and limb upon the railways, it would be also desirable to refer the whole question of railway management to the Commission. Now the honourable Gentleman, the Member for Middles borough, complained that I complained that he had not given me any notice of his intentions. I had no right to demand any notice from him at all, but there is a courteous understanding between the honourable Members of this House and the Ministers that when honourable Members are going to bring anything forward that they should give some notice; and in bringing an indictment against the whole conduct of the Board of Trade and attempting to
  664
  cut down the estimates, it would have been not only courteous but wise on the part of the honourable Member to have given the Minister some notice, because he knows very well that the Minister is not charged with all the information which would enable him to deal with all the Questions he has raised. The honourable Gentleman said I must not lose my temper. I do not profess to be angelic in my temper, and I confess that I think, not possessing the temper of an angel, that it is enough to ruffle any Minister who has thrown at his head such a mass of insinuation and inuendo and chaff as the honourable Gentleman has thrown, not only against my personal conduct, but the conduct of other trustworthy and highly-placed persons. Let me say I did not allege that any statement made by the honourable Gentleman was untrue. I said his statements were unfounded and greatly exaggerated, and I adhere to my statement. What does the right honourable Gentleman charge me with? With breaking the law; that I was palming on to the House deceptive figures; that I was a shareholder in the Peninsular and Oriental Company, and that I had ignored promises made on my behalf to enquire into the question of the law with regard to the accommodation for Lascars, that I had given only evasive replies and that we had enforced the law against the weak and not against the strong, the strong being the Peninsular and Oriental Company.
  MR. HAVELOCK WILSON: Would the right honourable Gentleman allow me to say I quite admit every one of those statements with the exception of one, and that is the one which deals with supplying false figures to the House. I said the figures given to the House were supplied by the Peninsular and Oriental Company. I did not charge the Right honourable Gentleman with supplying false figures to the House.
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE: It did not occur to me that he had said I had manufactured the figures; but he said I had presented figures that were false, that I had been shuffling, that I had been giving evasive replies, and breaking my promises. Are not these charges enough to ruffle the temper of an angel? Now the honourable Gentleman asked me to give some proof of what I had said that he had made

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  grossly exaggerated statements. There were three cases in my mind, although at the time I had not the figures beside me. The honourable Gentleman said that I had given figures supplied to me by the Peninsular and Oriental Company, which were false figures, with regard to the Lascars carried on the "Sumatra," the "Arcadia," and the "Caledonia." The figures which I gave were, "Sumatra" 65 Lascars, giving a cubic measurement of 71 feet, which the honourable Gentleman says is about up to the mark, 72 feet; the "Arcadia" 132, and the "Caledonia" 157. The honourable Gentleman said the figures ought to have been "Sumatra" 87, "Arcadia" 100, "Caledonia" 192. There was a slight misstatement in the "Caledonia" figures on account of, by accident, the numbers being taken for the outward trip instead of the inward; but that does not affect the main argument. Now these figures which were supplied to me, the honourable Gentleman says were false. Is he aware that of the 87 on the "Sumatra," 22 were men engaged in the purser's and steward's departments, and that they were not Lascars at all, but Goanese Christians.
  MR. HAVELOCK WILSON: I was quite aware of that.
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE: Is he also aware that they did not live nor mess with the Lascars?
  MR. HAVELOCK WILSON: The right honourable Gentleman is under a misapprehension on this point. The question I asked was, what accommodation was provided for these men, and what was the number of men employed? The right honourable Gentleman himself supplied a return which he got from the Customs, which gave the number of men who were on board the ship when it arrived in port. That was the correct number. Therefore, it was no fault of mine, but the fault of the people who supplied the right honourable Gentleman with the information.
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE: It is the fault of the honourable Gentleman to quote the figures he did. The fact of him knowing that these 22 men were not Lascars at all, that they did not live with the Lascars, that they did not mess with the Lascars, and
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  that therefore the space occupied by them had no right to be counted as space occupied by Lascars. The fact of his knowing all this, and did not tell it to the House shows a great want of candour on the part of the right honourable Gentleman.
  MR. HAVELOCK WILSON: I must object to that statement. I say that they are included in the space that is provided in connection with the natives or Lascars. I am quite sure that on further enquiry the right honourable Gentleman will find that he is mistaken on that point.
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE: Does the honourable Gentleman say that these Goanese Christians live and sleep in the same space area as the Mohammedan Lascars do?
  MR. HAVELOCK WILSON: I did not say that.
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE: Then I cannot understand the honourable Gentleman. My information is that in the "Sumatra," the "Arcadia," and the "Caledonia," whore a considerable number of these native Christains are carried, the honourable Gentleman included them amongst the Lascars, and in the space given to the Lascars. Of course no space has been counted for these men, for the very reason that they did not occupy the same place as the Lascars; and for the honourable Gentleman to quote in this House figures which have no reference to a large number of men who are not Lascars at all but are Christians, and who do not live at all with the Mohammedan Lascars for the purpose of shewing that not enough space is given to the Lascars—that, I say, shews a want of candour on his part.
  MR. GIBSON BOWLES: I think the right honourable Gentleman has wasted a great deal of time over the honourable Member for Middleborough. That honourable Member has been in the habit of making all kinds of statements, putting them down on the paper as Questions and of not being here in his place to ask his Questions. These Questions are full of the most infamous insinuations, and he has always failed to prove them, as clearly and completely as he has failed today. It is rather hard for the honourable

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  Gentleman to carry on his business in this House in that manner. If he carries on his business outside this House on the same principles as he carries it on in the House, I do not think I can predict for him any great success in his calling in life.
  MR. HAVELOCK WILSON: May I ask the honourable Gentleman if he is the general censor?
  MR. SPEAKER: I must ask the honourable Member to abstain from the practice of interrupting whenever an expression is used with which he does not agree.
  MR. GIBSON BOWLES: The impertinence and the irrelevance of the interruptions of the honourable Member are becoming intolerable.
  MR. SPEAKER: Order, Order! The word ' impertinence' should be withdrawn.
  MR. GIBSON BOWLES: I will withdraw the word unreservedly. I need not say I am not perfect. I was very much interested to hear the remarks of the Right Honourable the President of the Board of Trade in regard to the Railways Bill which he coupled with some hope that at a future time the Bill may be revived. I think that hope is destined to be defeated. I trust that the right honourable Gentleman will reconsider the whole situation and not suggest that there is any chance of reviving the Bill. The Bill is absolutely dead, and I think that the reasons which the right honourable Gentleman himself gave are sufficient to show that it ought to remain dead. The right honourable Gentleman has said that the cause of automatic coupling has been advanced by the introduction of the Bill. But I cannot see how any cause can be advanced by bringing in a Bill in this House which causes strong indignation on the part of all those who understand the objects and effect of the Bill. Then the right honourable Gentleman said that the object of the Bill was not to impose a specific order on the Railway Companies as to automatic couplings; but my honourable Friend below the gangway showed very clearly that the only automatic coupling which has been tried here is imperfect. Next the President of the Board of Trade said that the Bill did not
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  impose a specific automatic coupling on the Railway Companies; but that it gave the Company five years to discuss one. Then the Bill is a Bill for the discovery of an automatic coupling. I think it is absurd to bring in a Bill for such a purpose. The right honourable Gentleman says if the discovery of an effective automatic coupling was not made within five years the Bill would have remained a dead letter, and that no hurt would have come to any Railway Company. I think the Bill is a very serious object lesson to Her Majesty's Government, and I hope before they introduce revolutions of this sort— for this Bill would have been a revolution —they will take steps to ascertain the facts, not in the United States but in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. I believe the facts are not such as to warrant an interference with the Railway Companies of the United Kingdom before enquiry. I, for one, am extremely pleased both for the sake of the right honourable Gentleman and of Her Majesty's Government that this unfortunate proposal has been abandoned. I do hope the right honourable Gentleman will seriously reconsider the suggestion he has made that the Bill may have to be revived. That would be contrary to the interest of the right honourable Gentleman and deadly to the interests of the Government. It would lead all those interested in railways to make further secessions from the ranks of the supporters of the Government, which would be extremely unfortunate, and which the Government, strong though it may be, can scarcely afford.

  LIQUOR TRAFFIC IN THE NEW HEBRIDES.
  MR. SAMUEL SMITH: I wish to take this opportunity of calling attention to some grievances on the part of the natives of the New Hebrides. I have received, and I daresay other honourable Members have received, representations on behalf of natives of the New Hebrides in regard to the liquor trade and the trade in fire-arms and gunpowder there. This is a matter of great importance—a matter of life and death to the natives. I am sorry that the Colonial Secretary is not here, but I have conferred with him on the subject. My excuse for bringing it before the House in the absence of the right

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  honourable the Colonial Secretary is that I think this is a matter which will not brook delay beyond the adjournment of the House. As honourable Members know, restrictions have been put for a great many years past on the import of strong drink, firearms and gunpowder into the New Hebrides. The French Government are under the same restrictions as the British Government, but French traders have been allowed to engage in the trade owing to the want of vigilant supervision on the part of the French Government. That has caused discontent in the Australian Colonies, and representations were made to the Australian Governments that the restrictions ought to be removed from British traders so as to put these on the same footing as the French traders. It is further stated that the Agent-General for Victoria has appealed to the Colonial Secretary to remove the restrictions from the British traders, and that the Colonial Secretary has expressed himself favourable to this appeal. Now I have the authority of the Colonial Secretary for stating that that is absolutely untrue, that it is an entire misapprehension that this appeal made to him met with any favour at all. I know that he has always been a determined opponent of this traffic, and I hope that his influence will be cast still further in the same direction. My object in bringing the matter before the House is to clear up the subject, and to strengthen the hands of the Government to resist the appeals made by traders to remove the restrictions upon that most detestable traffic. The House will remember that the New Hebrides have been reclaimed from cannibalism and barbarism by the missionaries, and that many of the villages in the islands are models of Christian civilisation. Some of the natives, however, still remain in the state of original barbarism, and indulge in cannibalistic practices. If this liquor trade is allowed to go on there, without let or hindrance, the most dreadful consequences are sure to follow. Let me read an extract from an appeal made to the House by the Venerable Dr. Paton:—
  "Alcoholic drinks, and their inevitable accompanying evils, have swept from the face of the earth the whole of the aboriginal inhabitants of Tasmania, and nearly all the aborigines of Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia, and are rapidly leading to their graves the few that remain there, as well as those in the other
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  colony. Many of them have been cruelly shot, and some of them have shot white men. I do hope our beloved Queen and her Government will not, by the sanction of British law, let loose this body-and-soul-destroying fiend through her traders on the New Hebrides, because of the pleading and influence of any party at home or abroad. A short time ago on Tauna three white traders were for some days together drinking. They quarrelled over it, and one shot another dead. But the others continued at their drinking. Several natives were also lately shot dead on that island, and every now and then murders by rifles and alcohol take place on the group. The Federal Council are made to say in the 'Herald,' 'the prohibition on Britishers has not conduced to the benefit of the natives.' A Tauna High Chief lately thought differently. He came to the missionary recently placed among some 4,000 cannibals there, and implored him to go with him to an American trader on the island, and help plead to him to stop the sale and importation of rum and brandy, as it was making havoc of his people; and when they were deprived of reason by the white man's tire-water, he had no power to control them. The natives especially fear the cruel conduct of, and keep away from, traders addicted to drinking, but they respect and like to deal with temperate traders. A loaded rifle is at all times a dangerous weapon in the hands of irresponsible savage cannibals, and a thousandfold more so when he is maddened with intoxicating drink. On many of the islands there are no French traders, but English only, and if the prohibition is removed, alcohol will, as in Australia, soon sweep industrious and sober natives into eternity —people who, even as savages, depend on the cultivation and crops of the land for their support. More than half the population of these islands have been destroyed by the Queensland and New Caledonian ' Kanaka Labour Traffic.' Now this inter-island traffic at least is fearful slavery; and alcohol, if sold at all, will soon complete the demoralisation and destruction of the race."
  Now, that is the condition of things in the New Hebrides, even with the limited trade that goes on; but if the trade is made absolutely free, and the same volume of strong drink is poured into the New Hebrides as into West Africa, we shall see the population extinguished. We are negotiating just now with France about many questions, and I suggest that there is now an opportunity for asking France to unite with us in re-imposing strict rules in regard to the traffic in strong drink, fire-arms and gunpowder.

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  And we should invite other nations also to join us. We must remember we have some reparation to make to the natives of the New Hebrides. We allowed a traffic in labour which was very little different from slavery, and which resulted almost in the depopulation of the South Sea Islands. The same barbarities, it is true, do not now take place as before; but even now many of the young men were taken from the islands. We are under a kind of moral obligation, therefore, to do what we can to protect the remainder of the inhabitants of these islands, and we can only do so if these restrictions on the sale of alcohol and fire-arms are maintained. I would just ask permission to say a few words in regard to the drink traffic in West Africa. A most painful account is given in the "Times" on Monday by Bishop Tug well, Bishop in Western Equatorial Africa, of the present state of things in that colony. I have seldom read anything sadder or more lamentable than this account. The Bishop speaks of the enormous increase which has taken place in the imports into British West Africa of rum, brandy, whiskey and spirits of all kinds, but particularly of Hamburg gin— a horrible compound of the most poisonous kind, and which is sold at 1d. and 2d. per bottle, with the most disastrous and horrible results. I ask the House to allow me to quote a few sentences from the letter of Bishop Tugwell—
  "Habits of drinking spirits and drunkenness are greatly on the increase amongst the young men of our town. On all festive occasions brandy and whiskey, and what are known as ' better class spirits,' are largely consumed. In these days it is useless to call your friends, provide what delicacies you may, if you do not freely supply whiskey, &c.; without these things your entertainment is pronounced a failure. Indeed, nowadays you cannot call upon a friend or entertain a visitor without taking or offering a drink. Whiskey is quoted at 27s. 6d. per case of 12 bottles, and brandy at 18s. 6d. per case of 12 bottles."
  Now, this state of things is not confined to native Africans alone, as anyone knows who is connected with Africa. White men
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  in West Africa do not live more than three years on the average. It is the result of this abominable use of liquor.
  "Of the deaths which occur amongst Europeans on the coast probably 75 per cent. are to be attributed to habits of drinking at all hours of the day, and drunkenness, these habits being directly fostered and encouraged by the cheap rate at which spirits can be purchased"—
  which is a mere bagatelle.
  "An agent to a firm can obtain wines and spirits for his own consumption at cost price; thus an agent can procure wines and spirits at 1s. 6d. per bottle. Many of those who come out are mere boys. They quickly contract habits of drinking, and are either invalided and sent home, or die. English traders seldom, if ever, meet at any hour in the day without indulging in spirits"
  A Convention exists with the view of limiting, as far as possible, the trade in strong drink amongst the negroes in West Africa, or at least a large section of West Africa. The upper part of the Niger is under what is called the Prohibition zone; the nations of Europe regard it as a close country to spirits. Bishop Tugwell points out that unless we take care, the regulations under that Convention will be broken through, and drink carried up into the Upper Niger region, which is inhabited by 40 or 50 millions of people. Here is what the Bishop says—
  "On the Upper reaches of the Niger, where hitherto spirits have been excluded, Imperial officers tell me that they have considerable difficulty in excluding spirits from the forts. Further, pure alcohol, in tins the size of a kero-sine tin, is being imported in increasingly large quantities. This is a frightful evil. When Sir Henry McCullum, lately Governor of the Colony, discovered this, he undertook to take steps to check this import, but nothing has been done, nor am I aware that any action is proposed on the part of the Government."
  Now, one effect of this state of things is that it has half destroyed the legitimate trade of West Africa. The natives are so demoralised by the trade that practically they care for nothing but drink. They have no wants that can be supplied by English traders except the drink, for

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  all their means have been expended in the drink. Here is what the Bishop says, quoting from the "Lagos Weekly Record" of Feb. 4—
  "The gin traffic is gradually yet surely sapping the energy and industry of the native, and making him less inclined to new wants, and less capable of supplying such new wants, and in this wise British industries are being undermined, and the demoralisation of: the native wrought. Such a policy is suicidal in the extreme."
  I believe, Mr. Speaker, that if we could restrict this trade in alcohol, we would gain very much more than what we should apparently lose, because we would open the way to a much larger trade in Man Chester goods. The fact is, that a great portion of what is called the expansion of our trade in Africa simply means the poisoning of natives with rum, and providing them with the means of slaughtering one another with firearms and gunpowder. We are simply adding to the ruin of these poor people. Now that this country is getting possession of such a vast amount of African territory, and that tens of millions of people have come under our control within a few years—France and England have divided between them two-thirds of Africa with 150 millions of a population—if our rule is to be a blessing and not a curse, it is most important that we should try to stop this traffic in poisonous drink. These people cannot resist temptation. It is too strong for them. When a negro takes to drink he drinks incessantly, and he drinks for the sake of drunkenness; and it seems to me that in place of opening up Africa to British civilisation, if this drink trade is permitted to go on, it will open Africa only to demoralisation and to absolute ruin. It is for that reason that I have brought this question before the House. I know that the Colonial Secretary sympathises with the view I have taken. I wish to bring the question before the country, and to make the country realise its great importance, and I do hope that the Government will do all it can, by
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  every means in its power, to check this poisonous traffic.
  MR. COLVILLE: At the risk of dwelling at what may seem too great length on this rather unpleasant subject, I beg to emphasise the remarks of my honourable Friend the Member for Flintshire. It has become generally known that the trade in intoxicants in West Africa has assumed very large proportions. The letter of Bishop Tugwell in the "Times" indeed shows that the increase has been enormous, for he has proved that imports of gin and brandy into Lagos last January were something like 50 per cent. greater than in the corresponding month of last year, notwithstanding the prohibitory zones in the country. When some African chiefs visited this country some time ago our Sovereign Lady the Queen gave them great encouragement by the assurance that there would be no relaxation of the law discouraging the drink traffic. It is rather lamentable to reflect that the Government which maintains a State connection with the Christian religion should be sending out to Africa along with her missionaries large quantities of that which is doing more harm than anything else to demoralise the natives of Africa, and unfit them for accepting our most holy faith. It has become pretty well known among those who have sons and relatives in commercial circles in West Africa that very great evils and temptations are put in their way through the cheap and abominable liquor which is so freely imported there. I cannot too strongly urge upon the Government to take steps in order to still further extend the prohibition of the import of these very cheap and very dangerous intoxicants into Africa. We all know the susceptibility of the African people to intemperance. They do not seem to have the moral power that our fellow subjects have in the other parts of the Empire to restrain themselves in the use of intoxicants. They have no moderation, and no ability to restrain them-

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  selves, and consequently they fall victims to the vile habit. It is the duty of the Government, having regard to the increased interest we have obtained in that great continent, to see that any action that can be taken will be promptly taken to limit the effect of this traffic in spirits, and to support our missionaries and all those who desire the welfare of our fellow subjects in West Africa.
  MR. J. GALLOWAY WEIR: I regret the Colonial Secretary is not represented on this occasion in the House, although I was pleased to hear that my honourable Friend the Member for Flint had approached him, and that the right honourable Gentleman had shown his sympathy with him in the desire that this abominable traffic should be diminished if not entirely abolished. A short time ago £95,000 was voted for the Gold Coast, and the Colonial Secretary said that a portion of that money was required for a West African regiment. Now the officers in that part of the world say that they have considerable difficulty in excluding spirits from the forts. I object absolutely to the provision of large sums of money by the taxpayers of this country for the West African Colonies while the sale of drink of the vilest character prevails, and while the officers in command of the native regiments are unable to cope with the drink traffic. Whiskey is found there at 27s. 6d. the dozen bottles, and brandy at 18s. 6d. per dozen, and you can buy gin and rum at l½d. or 2d. per bottle. If the Colonial Government were to raise the duty to 10s. 6d. per gallon, which is charged on spirits in this country, I am sure a better article would be sold. Not that I am in favour of strong drink of any kind. But I say some effort should be made by the Government to put a stop to the traffic in these vile spirits in West Africa. Bishop Tugwell stated that he had travelled 1,000 miles in West Africa, and that he saw in every centre that there was an increase of drink consumption. It is a shame that we, the Imperial guardians of these countries,
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  should suffer such growths to go on unchecked. I think the duty on the spirits should be increased, and that our Government should approach the French Government and other Governments interested and endeavour to bring about some revised tariff as was suggested at the Brussels Conference. The increase in the import of spirits is something enormous. The amount in January, 1898, was 29,387 gallons of gin alone; and in January of this year it was 52,753 gallons, or an increase for the month of 23,000 odd gallons. Now, I would urge on the Foreign Office and on the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, if he will give me his attention for one moment, to try and get the tariff arranged at the Brussels Conference altered, so that the duty may be higher on spirits, and that the quality of the spirits imported may be of a better and purer quality.

  THE ENGLISH CHURCH UNION CIRCULAR.
  Mr. HARWOOD: I am sorry to delay the House, but I wish to draw attention to a matter which affects the House generally. I refer to a circular, a copy of which was sent a few weeks ago to every Member of the House, accompanied by a letter from Lord Halifax. That circular is within the cognizance of the House, because the attention of every Member was drawn to it. It embodied a resolution which it was stated was unanimously passed by a body called the English Church Union. I do not propose to raise any theological controversy, but I venture to say that this circular raises a very important constitutional question.
  Mr. SPEAKER: Order, Order! The honourable Member is now anticipating a motion on the paper standing in the name of the honourable Member for Walsall.
  Question put, and agreed to.
  The House adjourned at 22 minutes past 2 o'clock, until Monday, April 10th.