MR. GRANT DUFF: Most undoubtedly, Sir. The state of things in the Transvaal is this-that the garrisons of Her Majesty remain in the Transvaal, and that justice is administered in the name of Her Majesty precisely as it was before the outbreak. MR. CARINGTON asked what notice Her Majesty's Government had taken of Kronje having attacked a friendly Kaffir Chief and killed 70 of his men? MR. GRANT DUFF: I am afraid it | Majesty's Government to take, if neces would be very far indeed from advan- sary, military measures for the protectageous to the peace of the Transvaal tion of the Natives? if I were to state from day to day what the Royal Commission is doing, either in regard to the Native question or any other question. I had occasion the other day to show that the Commission had dealt most promptly and successfully with the only Native question of any real difficulty that had arisen. I was further happy to be able to show that the Boer leaders had acted with great frankness and fairness in assisting our people in dealing with the question. I am sure that it will be the opinion of the House that the Commission may be safely left to deal with ordinary questions with regard to the Natives as they arise. Of course, if any question of real difficulty arises they will consult Her Majesty's Government. I should like to take this opportunity of giving answers to those Questions which were put to me on Friday by the right hon. Gentleman opposite (Sir Michael Hicks-Beach). We telegraphed as we promised, and we received replies. The first question was, whether British troops had started for the re-occupation of Potchefstroom, and we have received the following telegram from Sir Evelyn Wood: "May 28.-Escort and garrison for Potchefstroom leave here to-day. Cross border Monday. Buller accompanies. Will not leave Standerton until guns are received." Our second question was "Is there any truth in report that Natives in Boer employment have been ordered by their Chiefs to return to their kraals, and that Natives in English employment have been warned to be ready to join tribes in case of war?" To that we received the following reply from Sir Hercules Robinson: : "Yours 27th.--Lieutenant Davidson, heliograph officer so reports from Heidelberg. Wood endeavouring to verify this and similar rumours before reporting to you." In reply to the Question of the hon. Member for the City, all I can say is that the terms and conditions, on which local freedom was to be granted to the Transvaal have already been made known in full to the House, and that negotiations are still proceeding within the limits and upon the alternatives then made known. MR. GORST asked, if the English Commission in the Transvaal had power and authority delegated to them by Her MR. GRANT DUFF: We know nothing whatever of 70 men of any Kahr tribe having been killed; and if the hon. Member cares to have my opinion on the subject, it is that I do not believe a word of it. LORD EUSTACE CECIL: The right hon. Gentleman says that justice will be administered as heretofore. When I asked him the other day a Question on the subject of the murderers of Captain Elliott, I understood that they were to be tried by a Court in the Transvaal, but not a Court according to the oll established rule. Now, I should be glad, indeed, to know what Court it is that these persons are to be tried before? MR. GRANT DUFF: If I conveyed the impression which he has just stated to the mind of the noble Lord, I must have been, I fear, curiously infelicitous in my mode of expression. What I said was that the murderers of Captain Elliott would be tried by the existing High Court, according to the existing law, and I really do not know how to put what I have to say more clearly. MR. GORST gave Notice that he would ask whether a letter had been received from Montsuni by Sir Evelyn Wood, stating that he had been obliged to take up arms, owing to the Boers instigating his enemies to attack him because he was faithful to the English during the war, and what reply had been sent to it? TOBACCO CULTIVATION (IRELAND). SIR EARDLEY WILMOT asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, If he would consider the desirability of allowing the Irish farmers to grow tobacco on lands now uncultivated in Ireland, as an inducement to them to bring those lands into cultivation, and at the same time to supply themselves with an article which, | laugh to this House. I am not aware in their climate and condition, is one of what influence he brought to bear in the necessaries of life; such tobacco to order to obtain signatures, and he states be retained for home use and not to be that the whole affair was a joke. I fail exported; it having been stated, on good to see any humour in this joke; and I authority, that the moisture of Ireland have directed the same censure to be is peculiarly favourable to the growth of conveyed to this gentleman as I did last tobacco, and that it flourished formerly week to the promoter of a Petition in in that Country? the opposite sense. MR. GLADSTONE: There has been no recent discussion on the subject of the growth of tobacco in Ireland, and if the question should be raised, it would undoubtedly have to be considered with reference to the Kingdom at large. The hon. Member is probably aware that for about 50 years the growth of tobacco has been permitted in Ireland, and that its growth was protected by high differential duties. We also know that the repeal of that permission was recommended by the Commission of 1830, inasmuch as the experiment was not successful. At the same time, I regret the prohibition of any agricultural product by law as very unsatisfactory. I am at all times open to the reception of any statement or suggestion tending to show that if that prohibition was removed we could satisfactorily levy the duty on the commodity if grown at home as we do when imported. PARLIAMENTARY OATH-MR. BRAD WICH. MERCHANT SHIPPING ACTS-EMI- VISCOUNT LYMINGTON asked the President of the Board of Trade, Whether the inquiries which he promised to make relative to a letter in the "Pall Mall Gazette," signed "Charlotte G. O'Brien," respecting the state of things. on board an emigrant ship, have proved the substance of that letter to be correct; and, if so, what steps he intends to take in the matter? MR. CHAMBERLAIN: I stated to the House on a previous occasion that on seeing the letter from Miss O'Brien which appeared in The Pall Mall Gazette, I had direted Captain Wilson, one of the officers of the Board of Trade, to proceed to Queenstown to inquire into the facts of the case, and that Mr. Gray, the Assistant Secretary of the Marine Department, who was in Liverpool at the time, would also make an independent inquiry into the subject. I communicated LAUGH-INTERFERENCE OF A GO-learnt from her that the vessel to which at the same time with Miss O'Brien, and VERNMENT OFFICIAL AT WOOL- her description was intended to apply was the Germanic, of the British White Star Line. I have now received full Reports from Mr. Gray and Captain Wilson, and these show, first, that all the requirements of the law have been fulfilled, and even exceeded, by the owners of the White Star Line, in their provision for emigrants; secondly, that the general arrangements on this line are at least as good as those on any other of the 10 lines which take emigrants from Liverpool and Queenstown to America; and, thirdly, that these officers are totally unable to recognize the state of things described by Miss O'Brien in anything which has ever existed on board the Germanic. Captain Wilson was accompanied in his inquiries by Miss O'Brien herself, and visited with her 10 ships belonging to different lines. On the 20th of May Miss O'Brien and Captain Wilson visited the Germanic on her last outward voyage, and on the BARON HENRY DE WORMS asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether he will take steps to inquire whether some of the Government officials of the Arsenal at Woolwich have been using their influence with the employés in the Arsenal to induce them to sign Petitions condemning the action of the House of Commons in regard to Mr. Bradlaugh, and urging his immediate admission to the House; and, whether such Petitions have been sent round for signature during working hours? MR. CHILDERS: In reply to the hon. Member, I have to say that last week I ordered inquiries to be made into the subject of his Question, and I have learnt that it is the case that one of the Government officials in Woolwich Arsenal-a junior writer in the Carriage Department did circulate a Petition in favour of the admission of Mr. Brad completion of their inspection Miss O'Brien wrote a letter to the Chief Secretary for Ireland, which she has desired me to read to the House. This letter is as follows: 66 My dear Mr. Forster,—I have just seen the Germanic with Captain Wilson. As it is at present, nothing can exceed the beauty and perfection of the arrangements. I can in no way reconcile my former impressions with what was to-day shown us. I have, however, written to some of the emigrants who travelled on the Germanic on the 10th of March. If their testimony is against mine I shall certainly withdraw my accusations against this particular ship, though not against the whole system, which I look on as certain to lead to abuse, and as requiring legal alteration, Meanwhile, I am much puzzled. Yours very truly, C. G. O'BRIEN." I am informed by the owners of the Germanic that the arrangements on the 20th of May were precisely similar in character to those in use when Miss O'Brien first saw the vessel on the 10th of March, and this statement is confirmed by the emigration officer, who cleared the vessel on both occasions. I ought to add, with reference to a statement in Miss O'Brien's first letter, to the effect that the Germanic, which was supposed to carry 1,000 steerage passengers, carried on one voyage last year 1,775 emigrants, that, as a matter of fact, the largest number of steerage passengers carried by the Germanic in any one voyage during 1880 was 864, or less than one-half the number mentioned by Miss O'Brien. On the occasion of Miss O'Brien's visit the number carried was only 365. I should have been glad to leave the matter here, but I have since received a letter from Miss O'Brien which I am totally unable to explain. In this letter, which is not dated, she says "My letter to Mr. Forster, which Captain Wilson and Mr. Graves saw, really means nothing. Mr. Forster has the letter, which states that the present arrangements, as shown on the 19th were excellent, that I was unable to reconcile them with what I had previously seen; but that I had written to some emigrants of the date in question to ascertain their testimony. I should wish my letter in its own words to be read in Parliament, as I distinctly do not withdraw my former letter; but I do not wish to press it against the Germanic, as I have now plenty of evidence against the system under Captain Wilson's testimony. I expect soon to be in possession of further evidence; but I must take no step that would weaken present standpoint, as any appearance of going back on my first letter would do." Mr. Chamberlain my This letter leaves me as puzzled as Miss O'Brien. It is difficult to deal with statements of a lady who writes a sensational letter one day, who writes a month later what appears to be a qualified withdrawal of the serious charges contained in the first, and then a day or two later another letter to say that her withdrawal means nothing because she must not weaken her standpoint-that is, a standpoint to bring further charges. Miss O'Brien incloses in this letter a list of questions conveying imputations of a serious character, which I understand to be directed against the ships of other lines; but the questions themselves contain no precise indication as to the particular vessel to which they refer. I am having these questions examined, in the with respect to them, and I am carefully hope of obtaining positive information considering the whole subject, with a view of seeing whether any improvetice or law; but, meanwhile, I have to ment can be made in the existing pracsay, in answer to the noble Lord, that, in my opinion, the letter in The Pall Mall of things on board the Germanic on the Gazette professing to describe the state 10th of March was not correct in substance. MR. PARNELL: The Grand Jury at British and other steamships which were New York have found indictments against tleman received any information with reovercrowded. Has the right hon. GenConsulate in New York, and will he make gard to this statement from the British inquiries into the matter? MR. CHAMBERLAIN: I will make inquiries into the matter with pleasure; but I have received no special information on the matter. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR: Within the next two or three days I will put a Ques tion on the Paper with reference to the from Boston, from an ex-constituent of same subject. I have received a letter mine, who was not and could not be in communication with Miss O'Brien, and who gives a picture of female emigrants almost corresponding with hers. EDUCATION (IRELAND)—DEGREES BY THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES. MR. BERESFORD HOPE asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether he can assure the House that, in case any Theological Colleges in Ireland are empowered to grant degrees in divinity provision shall be made that such degrees shall only be given to persons who have already graduated in arts at some University, so as to ensure an adequate standard of literary proficiency on the part of persons graduating in divinity? MR. GLADSTONE: There is a plan before the Government for constituting a body in Ireland for granting degrees in Divinity in connection with the Presbyterian Communion. I am not able to say the precise security we shall take that the degrees shall be granted in connection with a proper standard of attainment in other matters; but the subject is well worthy of consideration, and will be duly weighed. ARMY ORGANIZATION WARRANT OFFICERS OF THE ROYAL ENGI. NEERS. SIR HENRY TYLER asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether he will be so good, in his new scheme, to consider the question of giving the rank of Warrant Officer to First Class Military Foremen and First Class Staff Clerks of the Royal Engineers, so as to place them on an equality in this respect with Master Gunners? MR. CHILDERS: In reply to the Question just put to me, I can only say that, while reluctant to give driblets of information as to a scheme the full details of which will shortly be before the House, I believe that the hon. and gallant Gentleman will be quite satisfied as to the classes of non-commissioned officers in which he is interested. POST OFFICE-TELEGRAPH WIRES (METROPOLIS). SIR HENRY TYLER asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether his attention has been drawn to the continually increasing and apparently unlimited development of webs of wires stretched tightly over the thoroughfares of the Metropolis; to the periodical deterioration of strength in those wires from the action of the atmosphere; to the danger that would arise, with probable loss of life, from the fracture of any one of those wires; to the constantly augmenting risk consequently occasioned, especially in many of the principal thoroughfares; and, whether he will consider the question of providing against such danger? SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT, in reply, said, that the Question raised by the hon. and gallant Gentleman was deserving of attention, but did not lie in his Department. It really rested with the Postmaster General and the authorities having control over the streets. He would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the Telegraph Act of 1862 if he wished for information with regard to the control over telegraph wires. LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANIES' ACT, 1870-RETURNS. year, SIR HENRY TYLER asked the President of the Board of Trade, Whether it is desirable to publish (for instance) in the Blue Book of this year, the Returns published by so many Life Assurand, to proceed on the same system, by ance Companies the same time last which the Returns for the past year, and for the past quinquennial period, published this spring, would next spring appear in the Blue Book; and, whether the Blue Book for each year those Reit would not be possible to include in turns printed and published by the Companies in the early portion of that year? POST OFFICE-PARCEL POST-COLLECTION OF ACCOUNTS. MR. A. GRANT asked the Postmaster General, Whether, in making his arrangements for the introduction of the Parcel Post, he will consider if it is practicable to connect with it the system, as followed in Germany, whereby the Post Office undertakes to collect, on account of the sender, the amount stated in an invoice accompanying the parcel, before giving delivery of the goods? MR. FAWCETT, in reply, said, that, after giving the subject careful consideration, he regretted to find that thero were serious difficulties in the way of such a scheme as was suggested in the Question of the hon. Member. GOVERNMENT. INDIA - PROTESTANT MISSIONARIES. SOUTH AFRICA-LOAN FOR THE CAPE MR. WHITLEY asked the Secretary of State for India, If he will state the reasons why the present Viceroy has for the first time prohibited public preaching by Protestant missionaries in Cal cutta? THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON, in reply, said, that he had asked the hon. Member on Friday to postpone his Question. He had, at the same time, asked the hon. Member whether he had any information on the subject beyond certain telegrams which had appeared in the newspapers. He understood the hon. Member had no further information. He had, on the former occasion, pointed out to the hon. Member that the statements in those telegrams did not correspond with what was contained in his Question. The statement that he himself had seen was to the effect that any action which had been taken in the matter had been taken by the police under the instructions of the law authorities, and not in any way by the direction of the Viceroy of India. He had no further information on the matter, and had no reason to believe that either the Viceroy or the Government of India had taken any steps in the matter. ROYAL HIBERNIAN MILITARY SCHOOL. MR. MELDON asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether the Royal Hibernian Military School is incorporated by Charter, or how otherwise; and, if by Charter, the date of same; whether there is any objection to lay Copy of the Charter of Incorporation upon the Table of the House; and, whether the office of Commandant, and other superior officers of the School, are Civil or Military appointments or not; and what are the rules regulating the status and rank of such officers ? MR. CHILDERS: In reply to my hon. and learned Friend, I have to state that the Royal Hibernian School is incorporated by a Charter dated September 8, 1871, and I presume that my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary for Ireland will have no objection to laying a copy on the Table. The duties of the Commandant, Adjutant, and medical officer are mainly civil, although technically for certain purposes these officers have a military character. MR. ANDERSON asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, If the new loan of two millions for the Cape Government, just announced by the Crown agents for the Colonies, is being issued under instructions of Her Majesty's Government; and, if he is yet in a position to say whether the Cape Government is a corporation that can be sued; and, if not, whether he is satisfied that the giving instructions would not of itself carry responsibility, failing other remedy? MR. GRANT DUFF: To the first Question my reply must be in the negative. The loan is issued, as the prospectus shows, on behalf of the Cape Government under an Act of the Colonial Parliament. In reply to the second Question, I have to say that I am not yet in a position to add anything to what I said on the 2nd of this month. As to the third Question, I have to repeat that the Imperial Government undertakes no responsibility for this or any such loan, direct or indirect. I have further to remind my hon. Friend that I promised Papers on this subject as soon as possible. STATE OF IRELAND-DUNGARVAN WORKHOUSE. MR. R. POWER asked Mr. Attorney General for Ireland, If it is true that on the 12th instant a body of police entered the workhouse at Dungarvan without assigning any reason for so doing; that they remained there while the board was sitting; and, if he can give any reason for so unusual a proceeding? THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. Law): It is not a fact that the police entered the workhouse at Dungarvan on the 12th instant, and remained there while the board was sitting. What really occurred was this. On the occasion in question there was an election being held for the clerkship of the Dungarvan Union. One of the candidates was put forward by the Land League, and a good deal of excitement existed. It was thought that a demonstration might be attempted by the crowd outside the workhouse against some of the Guardians when proceeding to vote, and it was therefore deemed advisable to take the usual course of |