ever, that the state of the Cathcart's Hill Cemetery is not accurately described in the letter to The Times signed "J. P.," and it is contradicted by a subsequent letter signed by two gentle men known to me of undoubted authority, whose initials are given, and also by a report from the Consul General at Odessa, who recently visited the Crimea. I have asked the Foreign Office to instruct the Consul General at Odessa to make further and full inquiries on the subject. Purchase officers will retain on retire- | to any plan for bringing the remains ment the pecuniary advantages given at the present time to one place as was them under the present Warrant. If done by the French. I believe, howthe hon. and gallant Gentleman is aware of any special case which would form an exception to this rule, under the system I have explained in the Memorandum laid before Parliament, it shall be considered by the Committee who are dealing with the new Warrant. If the second part of the hon. and gallant Member's Question refers to the principle of the Warrant of 1877, under which inducements were given to officers to retire in their then existing ranks, and which he calls an apparent anomaly, I can only say that I find that this so-called anomaly was a very deliberate decision by my Predecessor on the Report of the Royal Commission, where the reasons for it are fully given; and I am not prepared to disturb it. ARMY-BRITISH CEMETERIES IN THE to foreign parts, or of dispensing with CRIMEA. MAJOR VAUGHAN LEE asked the Secretary of State of War, If his attention has been called to a letter in the "Times" newspaper of the 14th instant, under the signature of J. P., showing the state of our cemeteries on Cathcart's Hill and elsewhere in the Crimea; and, if he will cause steps to be taken to verify this statement, and, in the event of its being correct, he will, without delay, make arrangements to have the walls of these cemeteries repaired, and the graves and graveyards properly restored, and, for the future, have those cemeteries maintained in proper order like those of the French? MR. CHILDERS: Sir, in reply to the hon. and gallant Member, I have to state that I have always taken much interest in the subject of his Question, although officially the cemeteries are not in charge of the War Department and we have no funds from which aid could be given towards their maintenance. I find, as a matter of fact, that since the Crimean War about £7,000 has been spent upon them, and at the present time £80 a-year is allowed from Civil Votes for the salary of a custodian and for repairs. The real difficulty, which marks the difference between these cemeteries and the French graves, is that there are 10 British cemeteries at or near the places where the men fell, and that much objection would be made Mr. Childers POST OFFICE-POSTAGE OF NEWS- MR. WARTON asked the Postmaster General, Whether he will consider the advisability either of extending the time within which newspapers may be posted any restriction in that behalf? MR. FAWCETT: Sir, the restriction to which the hon. and learned Member refers has been practically abolished with regard to the whole of the Continent, the United States, and Canada, because newspapers can, by a regulation of the Postal Union, be posted at the same rate as book packets. I will consider whether any steps can be taken to limit the effect of the restriction with regard to other countries. SOUTH AFRICA - THE TRANSVAAL (NEGOTIATIONS)—SIR EVELYN WOOD. SIR H. DRUMMOND WOLFF asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether the attention of Her Majesty's Government has been called to a telegram in the "Standard" of May 6th, dated Newcastle, Wednesday, in which it is stated that— here at the question raised in England as to "Considerable surprise has been manifested blame or praise due to General Wood for his making the Treaty with the Boers. "Sir E. Wood as a soldier obeyed the orders carried out a painful and delicate task to the he received from the Home authorities, and best of his abilities. It is, however, no secret here that he strongly advocated driving the Boers out of Natal before entering into any negotiations with them; but his advice was altogether ignored at home;" and, whether such statement is correct? TITHE (EXTRAORDINARY CHARGE) BILL. SIR MICHAEL HICKS - BEACH asked permission, before the right hon. Gentleman answered the Question, to put to him a Question on the same subject of which he had given him private Notice. It was- -Whether any communications by telegraph or otherwise bearing on this subject have passed between Sir Evelyn Wood and the Home Government, or between the late Sir George Colley, while he was in command, and the Home Governinent, which have not yet been published; and, if so, whether any such communications will be published? MR. GRANT DUFF: I will, Sir, with the permission of the House, answer these two Questions together. The hon. Gentleman the Member for Portsmouth (Sir H. Drummond Wolff) asks me with regard to a passage in The Standard newspaper. To that I have to reply that the statement therein contained appears to me to be neither correct ner just to Sir Evelyn Wood. In reply to the right hor. Baronet the Member for East Gloucestershire (Sir Michael Hicks-Beach), I have to say that the whole history of the transaction to which he alludes is in the hands of lion. Members; that we have received no telegrams or other communications either from Sir George Colley or Sir Evelyn Wood besides and beyond those that have been laid on the Table of the House. I would refer hon. Members more especially to No. 89 of 2,837, received at the Colonial Office on the 6th of March, to No. 113 of the same Paper, received on the 17th of March, and to No. 5 of 2,858, dated the 23rd of March, the material part of which I will read as containing the most recent expression of Sir Evelyn Wood's views "March 23, 11.30 p.m.-Sincerely grateful to Government for appreciation of efforts in carrying out their wishes. Referring to words 'happiest results,' &c., in my telegram of March 5, I meant that a series of actions fought by six companies could not affect our prestige, but Boer leaders had lit a fire which had got beyond their control and would be quenched more easily after a British victory; the fire is now out for a time, but Kruger to-day stated the Republic would be ruined if the Commission admitted claims from all forced to aid Boers. In drafting instructions, therefore, the hitherto inert power of the loyalists must be treated as an important factor in the question of a lasting peace. It would be also false modesty to conceal belief that personal acquaintance with me has materially aided solution. Uneducated men mistrust Governments, but trust persons." MR. J. G. TALBOT asked the honourable and learned Member for Rye, Whether, looking to the fact that a Select Committee of this House has been appointed to consider the question of Extraordinary Tithe, he proposes to proceed with the Second Reading of the Bill on the same subject on the 25th of May? MR. INDERWICK, in reply, said, he had received no Notice of the intention of the hon. Member to put the Question to him. The Select Committee to which the hon. Gentleman referred had not yet been appointed. When it had been, he would be happy to tell the hon. Member what course he intended to take. Mr. J. G. TALBOT said, he had given public Notice of his Question on Friday, which he had thought would have been sufficient, and he had intended no discourtesy to the hon. and learned Menber. He now gave Notice that if the hon. and learned Member proceeded with his Motion on the 25th of May he would move the "Previous Question." SOUTH AFRICA-THE TRANSVAAL (NEGOTIATIONS)-THE BRITISH GARRISONS. LORD EUSTACE CECIL asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether, in view of the great danger of a native rising in the Transvaal, and of the critical state of our negotiations, as suggested by his answer on Monday last, he can explain the exact position of the garrisons in the Transvaal under the terms of the armistice by which they were to be allowed to receive provisions, but no material of war? MR. GLADSTONE: I do not wish to be committed by the terms of the Question in the answer which I give; and I take it for granted that the noble Lord's object is not to ask me to go into military details, but simply to state the condition of the garrisons. Taking the Question in that view, I have no hesitation in answering that, in the first place, as regards the provisioning of the garrisons there is no difficulty whatever. In regard to ammunition, they are also well supplied. (COMMONS} PROTECTION OF PERSON AND PRO- MR. DILLON. MR. LABOUCHERE asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether his attention has been called to the fact that Mr. Dillon, now in Kilmainham Gaol, is suffering from illness; and, if he will take steps to ascertain whether continued incarceration will have any serious effect upon that gentleman's health, with a view to at once release him, if such be the case? MR. SEXTON also asked the right hon. Gentleman, Whether it is true, as stated in the newspapers, that in consequence of the report on the state of his health, the hon. Member for Tipperary has been placed in the infirmary of Kilmainham Prison; also, whether prisoners confined in cells through illness are condemned to entire solitude, because the rules of the prison prevent their receiving any visitors? MR. W. E. FORSTER: I am afraid I must ask the hon. Member for Sligo MR. HEALY rose to a point of Order. He wished to know whether, when a Member of that House who had been arrested on a charge for which he had not been tried, and of which he had not been guilty, was referred to in the House, he should be mentioned by name, and not by the constituency which he represented, as was the usual courtesy in the House? MR. SPEAKER: The right hon. Gentleman (Mr. W. E. Forster) has not taken any course, in my opinion, opposed to Order. Hon. Members are aware that there are two Members for Tipperary in the House, and it is necessary to distinguish between them, Troop-ship "Nemesis." 24 MR. HEALY asked whether, in the case of a constituency having two Members, it was not usual to refer to them as the senior and the junior Member respectively? MR. A. M. SULLIVAN: Sir, as there are two Members for Bradford in the House, may I ask Mr. Forster whether he will be in a position to give to the House the information he expects regarding the health of the hon. Member for Tipperary when it reaches him? MR. W. E. FORSTER: I may say that I meant no reflection and no act of discourtesy by the way I referred to Mr. Dillon. My impression was that, when referring to any action outside of a Member of this House, it was within Order not to refer to him in the usual way, but to speak of him by name. ARMY RE-ORGANIZATION OFFICERS' UNIFORMS. MILITIA SIR HERBERT MAXWELL asked the Secretary of State for War, If any allowance will be made to Militia officers whose regiments are to be changed into the Highland or trews dress, in the same way as indicated by him, for officers of those corps changed from or to Rifles? MR. CHILDERS: Sir, in reply to the hon. Baronet, I have to say that in cases where alterations are made in the uniHighland dress, I propose to grant some forms of Militia_regiments to and from allowance, as in the case of Rifle dress. I may add that I propose to assist the officers of the Army in the same way. NAVY-THE TROOP-SHIP "NEMESIS." MR. TREVELYAN: Sir, it is the case that 39 horses out of 224 died on board the Nemesis on the way out. The vessel was 40 days on the voyage to the Cape, which was about 10 days longer than she ought to have taken. The delay between England and St. Vincent was caused by unusually heavy weather; but after leaving the latter port, she put into St. Helena under circumstances which have not been satisfactorily explained. On reaching the Cape the troops and horses were transferred to another transport for conveyance to Durban, and an inquiry into the circumstances was ordered on the spot, the report of which has not yet been received. The Nemesis was classed 100 Al at Lloyd's, practically the highest classification she could have, and held a Board of Trade certificate dated the 21st of February last. Her hull, engines, and boilers were also thoroughly surveyed by the officers of the Transport Department before she was engaged, and were found in every respect in good order. I am sure that the House will remember that this is the only thing resembling a misadventure in the operations of the Transport Department connected with South Africa. That Department has conveyed 12,000 men, 2,400 horses, and 7,500 tons of stores 8,000 miles across the ocean, for the most part in the depth of a winter of no ordinary severity. PUBLIC HEALTH-SMALL-POX (METROPOLIS). COLONEL MAKINS asked the President of the Local Government Board, If it be a fact that application was made by the Asylums Board to the Government and the Metropolitan Board of Works for permission to place temporary Small Pox Hospitals on the vacant ground at Wormwood Scrubs; and, if so, whether such application was refused, and the grounds for such refusal ? under that Act there was no power to use any part of the land for a small-pox hospital. - RAILWAYS (INDIA) — PORTUGUESE TERRITORY-TREATY OF LISBON. SIR GEORGE CAMPBELL asked the Secretary of State for India, Whether, in accordance with the conditions of the Treaty of Lisbon, a mixed Commission has ascertained that a Railway from Marmaganna to New Hubli would be preferable, in the interests of commerce generally, to one from Karwar to New Hubli, and likely to prove remunerative; and, whether the Government of India are satisfied that the proposed Line by way of Marmaganna is preferable to any other, can be constructed at a reasonable cost, and is likely to prove remunerative? THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON: Sir, under the Treaty of Lisbon it was optional to appoint a mixed Commission to ascertain whether a railway from Marmagoa to New Hubli would be preferable, in the interests of commerce generally, to one from Karwar to New Hubli. The words are, "Whenever either of the high contracting parties may be desirous of ascertaining" the advantages of one as compared with the other, they shall in concert appoint such a Commission. It was not, however, considered necessary to follow this course, Her Majesty's Government being of opinion that there were good and sufficient reasons for co-operating with the Government of Portugal in carrying out the Marmagoa undertaking, each Government dealing with the construction MR. DODSON: Sir, no application of of those sections only of railway which the above nature has been made to the lie within its own territory. The GoGovernment or to the Metropolitan vernment of India expressed themBoard by the Asylums Board; but an selves in favour of the Karwar line; but application from the Fulham District | in dealing with the question at the India Board of Works was made to the Me- Office it was thought that both the letter tropolitan Board and refused, that Board and spirit of the Treaty bound us not stating that they had no power to grant only not to attach too much weight to the use of any portion of Wormwood the circumstance that Karwar was in Scrubs for the purpose. No specific British territory, but also to judge the grounds of refusal were stated; but case for Marmagoa as favourably as in Wormwood Scrubs appear to be vested reason and candour we could; and we in the Metropolitan Board of Works by came to the conclusion that it was more the Wormwood Scrubs Act, 1879, upon advantageous, under all the circumtrust for the perpetual use thereof by stances, to make the arrangement, which the inhabitants of the Metropolis for has been explained, with the Portuguese exercise and recreation grounds, subject Government. There is no reason to supto their use for military purposes; and it pose that the line will not be constructed is presumed that it was considered that at a reasonable cost by that Government and that when completed throughout it managers of the five lines of British will not be remunerative. MERCHANT SHIPPING ACTS-EMI GRANT SHIPS. MR. O'DONNELL asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether his attention has been called to a letter in the "Pall Mall Gazette" of Friday, 6th in stant, on the "Horrors of an Emigrant Ship." signed Charlotte O'Brien, and detailing the life on board an emigrant ship from Ireland to America; whether he has noticed especially the following passage: "But my business was with the women's quarters, and we went on there. Between two decks, better lighted than the men's quarters, was a large space, open from one side of the ship to the other From either side of a long central walk to the outer walls of the ship were slung two enormous hammocks, one suspended the lower one. What was going on in the two upper hammocks I could not see, but I presume they were the same as those below. I suppose each of these hammocks carry about one hundred persons. They were made of sailcloth. and, being suspended all around from hooks, were perfectly flat. Narrow strips of sailcloth divided this great bed into berths. These strips of cloth, when the mattresses were out, formed divisions about eight inches high; when the mattresses are in it must be almost one level. about three feet from the floor, the other above Now in these beds lie hundreds of men and women. Any man who comes with a woman, who is or calls herself his wife, sleeps by right in the midst of hundreds of young women, who are compelled to live in his presence day and night; if they remove their clothes it is under his eyes, if they lie down to rest it is beside him. It is a shame even to speak of these things; but to destroy such an evil it is necessary to face it; " and, whether it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government to take any steps to put an end to such a disgraceful treatment of the emigrant poor? MR. CHAMBERLAIN, in reply, said, the Prime Minister had desired him to answer that Question and another of a similar nature which stood on the Paper in the name of the noble Viscount the Member for Barnstaple (Viscount Lymington). The circumstances to which steamships which took Irish emigrants from Liverpool to Queenstown; and he had now received from all those managers a most emphatic and categorical denial that any such circumstances as were related in the article could possibly have taken place with regard to their lines of steamships. He had, however, thought the matter of so much importance that he had directed Captain Wilson, one of the principal officers of the Board of Trade, to visit Queenstown and Liverpool to make special inquiries into the matter; and Mr. Gray, the Assistant SeBoard of Trade, who was now at Livercretary of the Marine Department of the pool, had been instructed to make further inquiry. He had asked Miss O'Brien to give him the name of the ship to which her letter referred, and also any other particulars which would enable him more carefully and thoroughly to investigate the matter. He hoped, under these circumstances, the House would think it right to suspend its judgment upon the statement made. As soon as possible, after its completion, the Correspondence would be placed on the Table. MR. MACDONALD said, he had several times crossed the Atlantic; but he had never seen anything of the kind mentioned, although he had inspected the steerage. He would like to know, if the right hon. Gentleman had any information as to what line of steamships was referred to? MR. CHAMBERLAIN said, the line referred to was not mentioned in the article in The Pall Mall Gazette; but he had written to Miss O'Brien for particulars. MR. O'DONNELLasked, if any inquiry would be made as to American lines touching at Queenstown? MR. CHAMBERLAIN said, he was not aware that any American line carried Irish emigrants from Queenstown or Liverpool. POST OFFICE (SAVINGS BANK DE reference was made in the first Question PARTMENT) — EMPLOYMENT OF were brought to his attention some days DEAF AND DUMB PERSONS. before the letter was published in The Pall Mall Gazette by his right hon. MR. C. S. PARKER asked the PostFriend the Chief Secretary for Ireland, master General, Whether, as has been and he at once made some preliminary stated, it is intended to employ a cerinquiry into the matter. On the pub-tain number of deaf and dumb perlication of the letter signed "Charlotte sons at the Post Office in the sorting of G. O'Brien" he communicated with the papers? The Marquess of Hartington |