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originally appointed; what will be approximately the average pension of each of these officers; and, will the total additional cost to the State considerably exceed £20,000 without effecting any compensating saving, or conferring any advantage on the officers in question? MR. CHILDERS: In reply to my hon. and gallant Friend, I have to state that the Warrant, which will be issued before the 1st of July, will specify the appointments, the tenure of which will qualify officers to remain for specified periods on the active list. As a rule, the tenure of these offices must be two years at least, with special provisions as to service in the field.

CURRENCY-MONETARY CONFERENCE

to the Conference, the Government of I
"You will explain that, in sending a dele
must not be held to commit itself to the ap
tion of the principle of the bi-metallic sys
in India, and that you are not authorized, with
out further instructions, to vote on any questi a
add that, while the Secretary of State in Co
cil is unwilling to encourage an expectation f
any material change, at present, in the monetary
policy of India, he would be ready to consider
any measures which might be suggested fr
adoption in India as being calculated to prom
the re-establishment of the value of silver. It
is desirable that you should, as far as possit,
avoid giving any pledge on the part of the G-
vernment of India which would in any manner
interfere with its future liberty of action; bat,
in the event of your being pressed on the sr-
ject, or your seeing reason to think it desirika
that such a declaration should be made, you are
authorized to agree, on the part of the Govern
ment of India, that, for some definite term
of years, not exceeding ten, it will undertake
not to depart, in any direction calculated to
lower the value of silver, from the existing
practice of coining silver freely in the Indian
mints as legal tender throughout the Indian
dominions of Her Majesty. Such a declaration

raised at the Conference. You will, however,

AT PARIS-BI-METALLISM. MR. E. STANHOPE asked, Whether the statement alleged to have been made on Tuesday last at the Paris Conference by Sir Louis Mallet was in any way authorised by Her Majesty's Government or the Secretary of State for India in Council; and, if not, whether such expressions on the subject of Bimetallism by the official representative of the Government of India in this Country will not lead to great misconception abroad as to the attitude of Eng-must, however, be conditional on the acceptan land on this subject?

MR. THOROLD ROGERS asked, Whether the reported statements of Sir Louis Mallet at the Paris Conference have the sanction of Her Majesty's Government, and can be construed to imply that the Government approves of the theory which its representative at that Conference has adopted, and in particular the opinion which Sir Louis Mallet is reported to have expressed that, "if law was entitled to impose a single metal as money, it had an equal right to impose two metals at a fixed ratio?"

by a number of the principal States of an agr✨ ment binding them, in some manner or other, to open their mints for a similar term to the coinage of silver as full legal tender in the proportion of 15% of silver to 1 of gold, and the engagement on the part of India would be obligatory only so long as that agreement remained in force."

I have received no official information

I

of the speech said to have been delivered by Sir Louis Mallet at the Paris Conference, and, indeed, no information peared in The Times of, I think, the day on the subject except that which apbefore yesterday, and, therefore, can give no opinion upon the speech until I THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON: have received an authentic copy. In reply to the Questions that have been put to me, I have to say that, as the in- may, however, mention that before com terests of India and of the United King-ing down to the House I received a teledom with regard to the silver question 4 P.M., in which Sir Louis Mallet gram from Lord Lyons, dated May 20, did not appear to be identical, it seemed fitting that they should be separately represented at Paris, and that independent instructions should be given to the delegates. The British delegate is in-reply to previous speakers was purely personal

structed as follows:

"The delegate of Her Majesty's Government will assist at the meetings of the Conference, Major Nolan

says

"Times City Article, Thursday. I distinctly stated that the opinion on abstract question in

and individual, and that English Government had from the beginning absolutely refused to join bi-metallic experiment. Speech not yet recoived from printer; will be sent immediately."

vernor of Senegal, with regard to trade. upon the Upper Niger above Timbuctoo

THE "PRINCESS ALICE” CATASTROPHE

-BURIAL EXPENSES OF THE SUF-that is, some 2,000 or 2,500 miles
FERERS-TIDAL RIVERS (INTER-
MENTS) BILL.

MR. MONTAGU SCOTT asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether his attention has been called to a statement in the "Morning Post" that, in consequence of the existing state of the Law, by which the expense of the burial of those drowned in the Princess Alice disaster, and cast or brought ashore at Woolwich and Plumstead, will have to be paid by those two parishes; and, that bodies of drowned persons are now not recovered from the Thames, but are allowed to float up and down in the tide, as in the rivers of India; and, if he will take immediate steps to alter the Law, and thereby prevent so gross a violation of public decency?

SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT, in reply, said, that when he was asked if "he would take immediate steps to alter the law," hon. Gentlemen in that House must know that that was no easy thing to do. He, however, quite admitted that there was a distinct grievance in this case, and the hon. Member for Greenwich (Baron Henry de Worms) had introduced a Bill for the alteration of the law in this matter, and that Bill would receive the favourable consideration of the Government.

CENTRAL AFRICA FRENCH PROTEC

from its mouth. Similar information has reached Her Majesty's Government from Her Majesty's Minister at Brussels. I am not aware that there are at present any British traders or trade in the country in question.

LAND REVENUES ACT-THE STAGSDEN
CROWN ESTATE.

MR. J. HOWARD asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether he will cause an inquiry to be instituted into the management of the Crown Estate at Stagsden, Bedfordshire, and the alleged harsh treatment of the tenants since the estate was transferred to the Crown by the trustees of the late Baron Dynevor; and, whether he will direct particular inquiry to be made into the case of George Pettit, an industrious and respected tenant farmer upon the said Crown Estate, who recently committed suicide, and who, according to the evidence adduced at the coroner's inquest, left behind him a memorandum to the effect that he had been driven to the act by the treatment which he had received at the hands of the agent of the Crown Estates?

The

MR. GLADSTONE: The matter is one which deserves to be considered with care. The estate to which the Question relates, and which consists of something like 4,000 acres, was purchased for £112,000, and £21,000 has been laid out in improvements. farms have been let, according to the judgment of those intrusted with the management, in strict accordance with the provisions of the Land Revenues Act. The valuation on which they have been let is that of Mr. Clutton, who is well known as one of the most expe

TORATE ON THE UPPER NIGER. MR. O'DONNELL asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether it is true that the French Government have concluded a Treaty with the native ruler of the territories on the Upper Niger, placing the Niger from its sources down to the great emporium of Central African Trade, under the exclusive protectorate of France, and exclud-rienced valuators in England. The total ing all Europeans, except French subjects, from establishing themselves and from opening trading factories within these immense regions, and even from navigating the River Niger; and, whether Her Majesty's Government will consent to the imposition of such disabilities on British subjects?

SIR CHARLES W. DILKE: We have heard from private sources of the conclusion of a Treaty between France and the King of Segoo through the Go

amount of rent is £4,312, at 238. an acre. Owing to the bad times allowances have been made to the tenants amounting to 11 per cent in 1878, 17 per cent in 1879, and 22 per cent in 1880. The same reduction has been granted in 1881. This leaves the rent at something like 228. an acre, and it will be seen that there is nothing like severity or hardship in the general management of the estate. George Pettit, I am informed, held 171 acres

MR. GLADSTONE: I may be allowed to say that the information which I conmunicated to the House was received from the Commissioners of Crown Lands. I would, at the same time, observe that that information turns upon matters of fact, and not of opinion.

WESTMINSTER SCHOOL AND CHRIST

of some of the best land on the estate, on which £2,000 had been laid out in making improvements. He paid 258. an acre, deducting the allowances in bad times which I have described. Last Michaelmas he fell into an arrear of £20, of which no notice was taken until the month of March in this year, when application was made to him for payment. In reply he requested some further time, and no further application. was made to him. On the 15th of April the Commissioners visited the farm, and Pettit made no complaint to them, and expressed himself well satisfied with the new buildings and improvements which had been made. He asked that some further works might be carried out, and the application was acceded to and the works put in hand. I may add that there is no doubt this gentleman suffered a good deal from anxiety of mind; but I am informed that he took a second farm by which he lost heavily. I may also mention that I am assured that two months ago, in the course of conversation with his brother, he spoke of the great anxiety which he felt in connection with the farm which he had lately taken; but that he made no complaint with reference to the farm which he held under the Crown.

MR. J. HOWARD asked whether the information which the right hon. Gentleman had given to the House was supplied from the Department of Woods and Forests, or whether it came from an independent and impartial source? He should also like to know whether the right hon. Gentleman had read the report of the evidence which had been given at the Coroner's inquest, and the comments which had been made in the county newspapers on the management of the estate in question; also whether his attention had been called to the case

of another tenant?

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CHURCH COLLEGE, OXFORD. MR. THOROLD ROGERS asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether it is true that the governing body of Westminster School have agreed to surrender the right of the school to the house in Little Dean's Yard, lately occupied by the Rev. Lord John Thynne. and containing an area of about 10,000 square feet, and to accept instead another house containing an area of about 4,000 feet, after the decease of the present occupier, this house, the acquisition of which is more or less remote, not being so conveniently situated for the proper conduct of the school, and for the necessary expansion of its teaching, and whether in case such an arrangement has been made, there are any means by which it may be rescindel, and the school enter at once into the premises to which it is legally entitled; and, whether, in case the statutes of Westminster School, and the College of Christ Church, Oxford, are revised, it would not be expedient to free the ancient and royal foundation of Westminster from the relations with the two Deans and two Chapters of St. Peter's and Christ Church, especially the latter, since during the last ten years the undergraduates of Christ Church, Oxford, have gained only six first classes in Literis Humanioribus, and only eighteen first classes under Moderators, the college containing 207 undergraduates, while another college, exemptia gratia, now has, in the same period, having now 165 undergraduates, gained twenty-six first classes in Literis Humanioribus, and thirty-nine first classes under Moderators, and that the Westminster stu dents may be left free to choose their own college?

MR. GLADSTONE: In reply to my hon. Friend, I have to state that, as I am informed, the Governing Body of Westminster School have agreed to sur render the right of the School to which he refers. With regard to the second branch of the first portion of his Ques

tion, I am not aware of any means by which such an arrangement can be rescinded. The fact is, that the Legislature has, by a not very old Act of Parliament, made provision, through this body, for the conduct of the affairs of the School; and there are no means of taking the conduct of those affairs out of their hands. With reference to the second Question, I may allude to the inference to be drawn from it, which would lead one to suppose that my hon. Friend is of opinion that the diminution in the number of first classes in the case of the Undergraduates of Christ Church was due to the contaminating influence of the contact between the School and College. The Dean of Westminster gives me this consolatory assurance with regard to the composition of these Governing Bodies-namely, that out of 15 persons the Dean and Chapter have only three places; and, consequently, they cannot well corrupt the other 12 members, or if they do they must do so by some mysterious influence, which evidently testifies to an occult virtue in Deans and Chapters. At Christ Church the case was quite as strong, the Governing Body consisting of 29 persons, and the Dean and Chapter having only seven places; so that only about a fourth part of the responsibility for anything that takes place rests with the Dean and Chapter. My hon. Friend is dissatisfied with the conduct of the Governing Body; and upon that matter I must leave him to form an independent judgment.

FRANCE THE NEW COMMERCIAL

TREATY (NEGOTIATIONS). Mr. W. HOLMS asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether, having regard to the fact that negotiations are about to begin with a view to making a new Commercial Treaty with France, which will effect some of the most important industries of this Country, he will be so good as to relieve the anxiety which is felt in connection with this question by giving an assurance that no Commercial Treaty will be concluded with France till it has been submitted to and approved of by Parliament?

MR. GLADSTONE: The Question my hon. Friend asks me is whether we will give an assurance that no Commercial Treaty will be concluded till it has been submitted to and approved of by Parliament? That pledge has never

VOL. CCLXI. [THIRD SERIES.]

been given in any case by any Government with regard to any Treaty. I could not give that pledge. It would involve a fundamental alteration as to the mode of carrying on the Business of the country. I have, however, already formally conveyed to an hon. Member who takes an interest in the matter an assurance that he need entertain no anxiety on this subject. There is every security that there can be-in this case very special security-that no steps will be taken except in the light of day, and within the full knowledge of the commercial community, as well as of Parliament; and I think that when my hon. Friend the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs proceeds to present to Parliament information with regard to the arrangements for carrying on the negotiations, it will be seen that no apprehension need be entertained.

FOREIGN JEWS IN RUSSIA-EXPULSION OF A NATURALIZED BRITISH SUBJECT.

BARON HENRY DE WORMS gave Notice that, on Monday, he would ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether he will lay upon the Table of the House a Copy of the Protest. by Her Majesty's Government to the Government of Russia relative to the expulsion of Mr. Levisohn, a British subject of the Jewish faith, and of the text of the Russian law bearing on the subject, and of the notice said to have appeared in the "Gazette" warning British subjects professing the Jewish faith from visiting Russia or taking up their residence there?

SIR CHARLES W. DILKE explained that he had never said that the notice given in The Gazette warned any subjects from visiting Russia.

British

STATE OF IRELAND-MOVEMENT OF

TROOPS AND ARTILLERY.

MR. HEALY asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether it was true, as stated in the morning newspapers, that four pieces of artillery in a flying column had been sent against the peasantry of Limerick; and, if so, whether he had yet received any news from the seat of war?

MR. CHILDERS: I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman puts this Question to me seriously. [Mr. HEALY : Yes.]

2 I

Then, all I can say is, that I have not | hour of the evening; but he felt that the seen the paragraph in the newspapers to which he alludes.

PROTECTION OF PERSON AND PRO-
PERTY (IRELAND) ACT, 1881-MR.

DILLON.

MR. SEXTON asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If it was true that Mr. Dillon had been obliged to return from the infirmary in Kilmainham to an ordinary cell in consequence of the fact that he was obliged to herd with other people in the room which had been set apart for his separate use; and whether, in view of his delicate state of health, steps would be taken to allocate a room in the prison for his sole occupation?

MR. W. E. FORSTER: If the hon. Gentleman gives Notice of the Question, I shall answer it. What I believe is, that it was found necessary to put other people who were ill in the same room with Mr. Dillon on account of the want of accommodation in the infirmary.

present was too serious an occasion to be allowed to pass without protest. They knew well that in Ireland arrests were accustomed to be made without any charge being brought against those ar rested; but he believed this was the first time since the abolition of the Penal rested for political reasons. Though Laws that a clergyman had been arthey had a Tory Government in Offices in 1867, and though thousands of petsons were arrested in that year, yet amongst that number there was not a sion, though the Tory Government were single clergyman arrested on that occa towards Catholic clergymen. How was never given much credit for partiality it that when a Liberal Government was in Office, and that when the number arrested was comparatively so small, that He knew the three large farmers who one of them was a Catholic clergyman? were arrested in his neighbourhood since they were boys, and he knew them to be active and industrious, and be lieved they would not be guilty of any reckless or illegal conduct to bring them

PEACE PRESERVATION (IRELAND) ACT, under the provisions of the Bill. It was,

1881-ARRESTS OF REV. FATHER

SHEEHY AND OTHERS.

MR. O'SULLIVAN asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it was true that that morning the Rev. Father Sheehy, Mr. Henry Gilbertson, Mr. P. M'Carthy, and Mr. John Cleary were arrested at Kilmallock, in the county of Limerick, under the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act; and, if so, whether he would inform the House on what grounds those four gentlemen had been arrested?

therefore, a mystery to him why those arrests should have taken place. One of these gentlemen was an auctioneer in a large way of business, as well as being a large farmer, and he never knew a man more attentive to his business than he was. He (Mr. O'Sullivan) felt that he would not be discharging his duty to his constituency if he allowed this occasion to pass without calling attention to the arrest of these men. The Chief Secretary had declined to tell them the reason why they were arrested; but he MR. W. E. FORSTER: The four per- (Mr. O'Sullivan) would tell them what sons named by the hon. Member were he thought was the cause of their arrest. arrested this morning under the provi- There was in his neighbourhood, and in sions of the Peace Preservation Act. I many other parts of the County Limerick, can only say it is with great regret that a great many rack-rented tenants; but we have found it to be absolutely neces- there was particularly, on one estate sary to direct the arrest of a Roman Ca-in that neighbourhood, the most racktholic clergyman. With regard to the exact terms of the Warrant, we shall receive that document by post to-morrow morning, and if the hon. Member will ask me, I will give him the terms of it on Monday. It will be laid upon the Table of the House in the usual course. MR. O'SULLIVAN said, that during the seven years which he had been in that House he had never risen to move the adjournment of the House at that early Mr. Childers

rented tenantry in any part of Irelandthat was on the estate of a man named Coote. It had been stated in that House that the purchasers in the Landed Estates Court were the greatest rackrenters; but this man was not a purchaser in the Landed Estates Court. He was one of the real old Cromwellian settlers, and he was a man that rackrented his tenantry more than any other landlord in the County Limerick. Writs

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