WESTMINSTER SCHOOL AND CHRIST

CHURCH COLLEGE, OXFORD. MR. J. G. TALBOT asked the honourable Member for Southwark, Whether he intends to put to the Government the question of which he has given Notice, and which has been long upon the Paper, such Notice reflecting on the character of a distinguished college at Oxford, and on the conduct of important public bodies?

MR. THOROLD ROGERS, in reply, said, he should certainly put the Question of which he had given Notice; and he hoped he might be allowed to explain why he had placed it upon the Paper. He saw it stated in one of the newspapers that an appeal was about to be made to the First Lord of the Treasury to allow the Dean and Chapter of Westminster to take away from the Westminster Schools the property they were legally entitled to on the death of one of the canons, and the acquisition of which by the schools was absolutely necessary to carry out their requirements. There were other statements. [Cries of "Order!"] Unfortunately, there was no Department of the Government entitled to give an answer to a Question upon higher education. [" Order!"] He might take some little exception to the terms of the Question of the hon. Member. [Order!"]

MR. SPEAKER said, it would not be regular to debate the form of the Question.

MR. J. G. TALBOT wanted to know when the hon. Member would put the Question, and whether he thought it proper to make an attack upon a distinguished body without notice, that body having no opportunity of replying?

MR. THOROLD ROGERS said, that he had no intention of making an attack upon a distinguished body.

MR. J. G. TALBOT wished to know when the hon. Member would put his Question ?

MR. THOROLD ROGERS said, that he should put his Question on Friday.

EVICTIONS (IRELAND)—EVICTION AT BALLYBUNYON, IN THE COUNTY OF

KERRY.

MR. DALY asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is true that at Ballybunyon, in the county of Kerry, on the estate of

Mr. Gunn Mahony, an absentee landlord, a man named Broder was with his large family evicted from his house, and, though apparently dying, was thrown upon the road without any shelter whatsoever; and, whether it is true that Broder had received the last sacraments of the Catholic Church administered only to dying persons?

MR. BRODRICK asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether, in the case referred to, the tenant was not still alive and well; and whether he was not at the time of the eviction three years in arrear of a rent fixed in 1862 by the Court of Chancery, and not since raised; and whether it was not the fact that the state of his health was now such as to have permitted him on the 9th inst. to join a mob of about 1,000 persons in cutting turf on the property of his landlord in open defiance of the law?

MR. W. E. FORSTER, in reply, said, that he would give the House what information he could. The name of the evicted tenant was Brodrick, not Broder, as stated in the Question. He was tenant of an 80-acre farm, of which the rent was only £65. He had become a tenant of the farm under the Court of Chancery, at a rent of £75, in the year 1855. In 1862 the rent became £65. There had been a decree in June, 1880, for non-payment of rent, which was not executed until the time had almost expired; not, he believed, because the man was in a dying state, but because the landlord had been informed that the tenant was in a delicate state of health. The eviction took place on April 22. On the 9th instant, he was present as a spectator when a large crowd of persons assembled, but took no active part in the gathering.

MR. DALY said, that he was not responsible for the error in the name, as he received his information in a telegram from the parish priest.

POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANK

from current deposits; (b.) by moneys specially deposited for the purpose of investment; whether the amount thus withdrawn for investment has caused any diminution in the number of deposits in the Trustee and Post Office Savings Banks respectively, or in the amount of the deposits; how much of the amount invested has been taken in the form of stock certificates to bearer, and whether there have been many applications for stock certificates for smaller amounts than £50, the minimum amount now granted; and, whether any of the figures as to the above mentioned details could be given separately for Great Britian and Ireland?

Mr. FAWCETT: Sir, in reply to the Questions of my hon. Friend, I have to state that the Act for allowing small investments in Government Stocks through the savings banks came into operation on the 22nd of November last, and in less than six months between that date and the 14th of May, the amount so invested through the Trustee Savings Banks was £68,400, and through the Post Office Savings Banks, £455,800. Of this latter amount £177,500 was withdrawn from existing deposits for investment, and £278,300 was specially deposited in the Post Office Savings Banks for immediate investment. In spite of this withdrawal, the amount of Post Office Savings Bank deposits has increased since the 22nd of November by no less than £1,010,360, and the number of depositors has increased in the same period by 331,795. Of the amount invested in Government Stocks through the Post Office Savings Banks, £5,850 has been taken in the form of Stock Certificates to bearer, and there

have been only one or two applications for Certificates of smaller amount than £50. With regard to the last Question of my hon. Friend, it may perhaps be sufficient if I state that of the aggregate amount of £155,800 invested in Govern

ment Stocks through the Post Office Savings Banks, £394,700 was invested in Great Britain and £61,100 in Ireland. Of the amount invested in Great Britain only £17,100 had been sold, and of the amount invested in Ireland only £2,400 had been sold.

TUNIS-THE PORT OF BISERTA. MR. BOURKE asked the Under Seoretary of State for Foreign Affairs,

Whether the Paper drawn up by Mr. Wood, Her Majesty's late Consul General, containing a reference to Biserta Bay, is within the control of the Foreign Office; and, if so, whether he will lay it before Parliament with the other Papers on the subject of Tunis?

SIR CHARLES W. DILKE: Sir, the Report referred to is one of a confidential scheme, and, as my right hon. Friend is aware, it is contrary to the custom of the Foreign Office to publish documents of this kind. I may, however, add that, although allusion is made in it to Biserta, it gives no details as to the character of the harbour, or the expenditure necessary to convert it into a harbour of value.

MR. BOURKE asked the Secretary to the Admiralty, Whether he can, without detriment to the public service, lay upon the Table any Reports which are in possession of the Admiralty from naval officers, upon the importance, strategical or political, of Biserta Bay?

MR. TREVELYAN: Sir, there is no Report in the Hydrographical Department of the Admiralty bearing on Biserta Bay. There is a short letter in the General Record Office from Admiral Spratt to Lord Clarence Paget, written in 1861; but it contains nothing that is not still more emphatically and fully said by the gallant Admiral in his letter published in The Times of last Monday, and there are expressions in it which justly impelled the writer to mark it confidential.

the formation of a permanent corps of mounted infantry?

MR. CHILDERS: No, Sir, no provision is made for such a force in the Estimates for 1881-2.

WAR OFFICE-MILITARY EDUCATION AT SANDHURST-STUDY OF FRENCH

AND GERMAN.

SIR GEORGE CAMPBELL asked the Secretary of State for War, with reference to his correspondence with the public schools regarding education in French and German, Whether it is not the case that hitherto there has been absolutely no instruction in those languages at Sandhurst, so that young men qualified up to a certain point before entrance have every encouragement to forget what they know of modern languages from the moment they enter as cadets into Her Majesty's Service; whether he will introduce the study of modern languages at Sandhurst; and, whether he will consider the possibility of doing anything to assist and encourage junior officers, after joining their regiments, to continue and improve their knowledge of these languages where circumstances permit?

MR. CHILDERS: Sir, I have not overlooked the point suggested in the Question of my hon. Friend; but he, perhaps, is not aware that cadets only pass something over eight months at Sandhurst, and that the course is one of purely military subjects, which necessarily take up their whole time. When I was at Sandhurst lately, I especially looked into this question; but the real fact is, that unless French becomes part of the education of an English gentleman at school, a very small proportion will acquire facility in it afterwards. It is with this object that I hope the authorities of our public schools may be induced to do something more for living languages even at a moderate sacrifice of Greek, and that we have appealed to them to assist us if they wish to increase or even to maintain the present proportion of entries into the Army from these essentially national institutions.

WAYS AND MEANS-INLAND REVENUE

-BEER AND SPIRIT LICENCES ON
RAILWAYS.

MR. ALDERMAN LAWRENCE asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, To whom it is intended that the Commis

Sir Baldwyn Leighton

sioners of Inland Revenue shall grant licences at £5 per annum to sell wine, beer, spirits, and tobacco in travelling public house Railway cars; whether such travelling public house Railway cars will be authorised to supply first class, second class, and third class Railway passengers with any liquor they may require; and, whether all Railway Companies will be permitted to attach such travelling taverns to any train they may think advisable, whether express, excursionist, or Parliamentary, and without limit as to distance travelled?

MR. GLADSTONE: Sir, I will give the particulars of the Question to my hon. Friend if he desires to have them; but I doubt if this is a convenient moment to explain them to the House. If it is agreeable to the hon. Member, I would rather suggest that we should wait until I make the proposal, of which I will undertake to give him due notice.

MR. ALDERMAN LAWRENCE: This is a question which is of great interest in the country. [Cries of "Order!"]

MR. SPEAKER: After the statement of the right hon. Gentleman, I not think it would be regular to press the Question.

TRADE AND COMMERCE-HAWICK AND GALASHIELS.

LORD HENRY SCOTT asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Whether he has any objection to mention the name of the gentleman connected with the manufactures of Hawick who informed him that the trade of that town and Galashiels and other manufacturing towns of the district was good and satisfactory; whether he is aware that, since 1875, eleven woollen manufacturing firms had failed in Hawick alone, and their liabilities, varying respectively from £4,500 to £400,000, had reached a total sum of over £830,000; whether it is not the fact that the export of tweeds is greatly hampered by foreign tariffs in America and other countries, while at the same time the price of home-grown wool had so declined as to be actually unremunerative to the grower; and, whether any steps will be taken by Her Majesty's Government in any treaty of commerce now negotiating or to be negotiated to secure that so important a home manufacturing interest is relieved from the unfair and unequal duties now imposed on it by foreign tariffs?

MR. JOHN BRIGHT: Sir, I am bound to rise to the Question of the noble Lord. To the two or three paragraps of that Question I will give such an answer as it will admit of. The House will see that the first portion of the Question merely asks the name of the gentleman who stated to me some facts concerning trade on the banks of the Tweed to which I referred in a recent speech. I do not think it necessary to give the name of that gentleman; but I will mention that he has occupied a high position in the municipality of Hawick, and is one of a family who are largely interested and connected with the trade in the district. The next Question relates to the bankruptcies in Hawick since 1875. Now, I did not know of this Question till I came down to the House. But I have just received a telegram from Hawick, which, by the statement of two or three facts, furnishes a sufficient answer to the Question. The telegram comes from the secretary of the South of Scotland Chamber of Commerce, and is to the effect that some serious failures of manufacturing firms took place in 1875 owing to circumstances altogether outside the manufacturing industry of the place; that trade was healthy; that the heaviest failure took place in consequence of the wild and foolish speculation of one of the partners resident in London, and had nothing to do with the trade at IIawick, which was profitable at the time, and has been since in a very satisfactory state, especially when the condition of trade in many parts of the country is taken into consideration. Then he says that the other manufacturing firms have failed for trifling amounts; that the trade has been steadily increasing; that last year higher wages were paid than in any preceding year, in spite of the depression of trade, and that the Census shows an increase of population of 42 per cent in the decennial period. He also says that wool-there was no reference in my speech to the price of wool -is certainly low in price; that farmers took land anticipating that prices would be higher by 50 per cent; that rents are too high; and that the Border pastoral farmers are paying rent wholly or partially out of capital. He says, in continuation, that if I ask the hon. Member for the Border Burghs Mr. Trevelyan), I shall probably get further

material with which to answer satisfactorily the noble Lord opposite. The noble Lord opposite asks whether it is not the fact that the export of tweeds is greatly hampered by foreign tariffs? Well, no doubt, if all foreign tariffs were as free as our own there would be a larger trade in this country. The night before last I was speaking on this very practice to a gentleman eminent in the political life of Canada, and he told me how in that very article of tweeds there was an interference with the trade of this country by the imposition of tariffs in the Colony. He added that the time was not far distant when the policy at present pursued would be reversed. The Question asks

"Whether any steps will be taken by Her Majesty's Government in any treaty of commerce now negotiating or to be negotiated to secure that so important a home manufacturing interest is relieved from the unfair and unequal duties now imposed on it by foreign tariffs?" Unfortunately, this Parliament can only deal with the tariffs of this country; but, of course, any Government in Office would do its utmost in case of any negotiations to obtain as favourable terms as possible for the trade of this country. This is what the Government has tried to do with France, and what it will do as occasion offers in the case of negotiations with any other country.