ference expressed for the Bill of the hon. and gallant Member opposite; on the contrary, when the subject was before that body, the general feeling was certainly strongly in favour of the Bill now before the House. Motion agreed to. Bill read a second time. MR. CHAMBERLAIN said, he should move, on Monday next, that the Speaker leave the Chair. Motion made, and Question proposed, "That this House will, upon Monday next, resolve itself into the Committee on the Bill."(Mr. Chamberlain.) Amendment proposed, To leave out all the words after the word "That" to the end of the Question, in order to add the words "the Bill be referred to a Select Committee."-(Mr. John Talbot.) Question, "That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the Question," put, and agreed to. Main Question put, and agreed to. MARRIED WOMEN'S PROPERTY SECOND READING. Order for Second Reading read. MR. OSBORNE MORGAN said, he regretted the necessity of asking the House to read this Bill a second time at so late an hour (1.35 A.M.). But he apprehended that the Motion he was about to make would not meet with any opposition on the part of hon. Members, inasmuch as the Bill was nearly identical with that which, two years ago, was settled by a Select Committee, and subsequently received the sanction of Lord Cairns. Having regard to that, and to the fact that the principle of the Bill had been over and over again discussed in that House, he trusted hon. Members would agree to the second reading, in which case they might be assured that the Committee stage of the measure would not be taken except at a time when its clauses could be fully considered. Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Bill be now read a second time." (Mr. Osborne Morgan.) SIR GEORGE CAMPBELL said, he hoped the Bill would not then be pressed Mr. Duckham to a second reading. He need hardly say that it was a measure of enormous importance, and one which might be said to alter the state of every one of Her Majesty's subjects. Moreover, the Bill had only been circulated yesterday morning, and neither he nor several of his hon. Friends had any idea that it would come on at so short a Notice, and that they would be asked to give it a second reading at once. It was said that the Bill was identical with one which had been prepared by a Select Committee; but he must point out that the Bill 80 prepared had never been before the House. He felt bound to say that it would be almost indecent to pass the Bill through the important stage of second reading at that hour of the morning (1.40); and, in order to give further time for its consideration, he begged to move the adjournment of the debate. MR. RICHARD POWER said, he did not often agree with the views of the hon. Member for Kirkcaldy; but on the present occasion he felt it his duty to second the Motion just made. It was impossible to overrate the importance of the changes proposed in some of the clauses of this Bill. For instance, in Clause 14, he found that a husband was to be liable for the debts and wrongs of his wife contracted and committed before marriage-a provision that did not commend itself to his judgment, inasmuch as he thought it was quite sufficient for a man to be liable for those which arose after marriage. Clause 17 was also objectionable, for it provided that all questions between husband and wife were to be decided in a summary way. Again, with regard to Clause 22, which was to enact that a married woman should be liable, through the parish, for the maintenance of her husband, he had to remark that, bad as the existing law was, this was worse. Then Clause 23 provided that a married woman was to be liable, through the parish, for the maintenance of her children. This was worse again. Considering the lateness of the hour, and the bad law which the right hon. and learned Gentleman sought to introduce, he should support the Motion for the adjournment. Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Debate be now adjourned." (Sir George Campbell.) Question put, and negatived. Original Question put, and agreed to. Bill read a second time, and committed for Monday next. MOTIONS. POLICE BILL. LEAVE. FIRST READING. MR. OSBORNE MORGAN pointed | stable should serve, and at the end of out that the clauses which had been re- that time that he should be able to ferred to did little more than declare the claim his pension as a right. They reexisting law. commended the term of 25 years, and the Government had adopted it in the Bill, so that for the future every police constable who served for 25 years in the force would be enabled to claim his pension. Then an important alteration was proposed in the direction of giving pensions to widows. Under the present law, the widow of a police constable was only allowed to receive a gratuity even if her husband were killed in the execution of his duty, and might himself have been entitled to a pension. The MR. HIBBERT said, in rising to move Government had adopted the recomthe introduction of the Bill standing in mendation of the Committee, and it was his name, he felt it his duty, even at proposed that instead of giving a gra that late hour, to offer a few words of tuity, the widow should be entitled to explanation to the House. He was claim a pension according to the scale afraid this was unavoidable, for the Bill which would be found in the Bill. had been for a very long time under con- Moreover, the Government also proposed sideration, and often deferred. The mea- to make an allowance for each child up sure, which dealt with great interests, he to the age of 15. The Committee had might say, had resulted from the Com- also considered the great difficulty and mittee appointed by his right hon. Friend great abuses which existed under the opposite, in 1877. It was very much system of certificates; and Her Majesty's owing to the interest which the Report Government proposed that in future all of that Committee had created that these certificates would be required to Her Majesty's Government now found bear the name of a competent medical themselves enabled to lay a measure man, in addition to that of the Chief Condealing with the question of Police Su- stable of the Force in which the constable perannuation upon the Table of the served. The next point he wished to House. The Committee, in their Report, allude to was that of length of service. went very fully into the subject, and he According to the present law, a constable might point out to his right hon. Friend could not count past service upon enteropposite that the recommendations in ing a new force unless he had passed that Report, which were embodied in seven years in the first force in which the Bill, were seven in number, all of he served. Now, Her Majesty's Governthem constituting very important amendment proposed, if a constable changed ments of the law, and certainly adding, as they would do, very much to the advantages now enjoyed by the police of the country. In the first place, he might say that the greatest dissatisfaction existed with respect to the uncertainty of the claim for pensions to police constables. Under the present law, a constable who entered the Service at 21 years of age was not enabled to obtain his pension before he reached the age of 60, unless he obtained a certificate of incapacity in mind or body from the Chief Constable of the Force. That was felt to be a very serious hardship by the Constabulary. The Committee, after considering this question, recommended that there should be a certain number of years during which the police con his force, with the consent of the Chief Constable of that Force, that he should be entitled to claim the whole period passed in the first force. Police constables would, therefore, be placed in a better position in this respect also. There was one point in which they had not carried out the recommendation of the Committee, and that had relation to the Superannuation Fund. The Committee recommended that pensions should be a direct charge on the rates, and that the Superannuation Fund should be transferred to the police funds in counties, and the borough rates in boroughs. But owing to the great alteration which had taken place during the last seven years with regard to the solvency of the fund, and the large amount of money paid to the fund, the Government had decided that it would be fairer to the ratepayers and the Constabulary that the fund should be continued. He might observe that the fund had increased in amount since 1874, when this question was considered, from a total capital of £865,000 to a capital of £1,145,000the increment being £279,000. Now, in order to strengthen this fund, the Government proposed to grant additional fees in aid of it. Under the present Licensing Act only one-half of the fines in connection with licences were paid over to the Superannuation Fund; but it was now proposed that the whole of those fines should be paid over. Again, the fund was to have the benefit of all fines for assaults on constables, which had been hitherto paid over to the county and borough rates, and, amongst other items, hawkers' and chimneysweepers' licence fees were also to be paid to the fund. In addition, there would be paid over to the fund the fees for serving writs and summonses in counties. In the case of boroughs these had always been paid over; but it was now the intention of the Government to place the counties and boroughs, so far as this matter was concerned, on the same footing. They trusted, with all these additional means of strength, that before many years were over all the pension funds would be found in a solvent state. In the majority of cases the funds were so solvent, although in some places they were not; and in the case of the Metropolis the whole of the fund had gone. But upon the principle they proposed to adopt of investing 24 per cent of the pay every year, it was expected that this question of pensions would be adjusted more to the satisfaction of the ratepayers than by making the pensions a direct charge upon the rates. He asked the House, in considering this Bill, to look it as affecting the interests of a body of men who were well worthy of their consideration, inasmuch as they were indebted to them so much for their comfort and safety every day of their lives. On those grounds he trusted that the splendid body of men composing the Constabulary Force in England would find that Parliament, in considering their claims and grievances, was willing to make such changes in the law as would make their future condition much upon Mr. Hibbert more satisfactory than it was at present. He was unable, from want of more complete information, to speak with regard to Scotland; but in the case of England a system of pensions had been in existence for 40 years. In Scotland he believed the system to be entirely new, and it would be for Scotch Members to consider whether they would support the proposals of the Government. For the reasons he had given, he asked the House to consent to the introduction of the Bill. Motion made, and Question proposed, "That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision respecting the pensions, allow Great Britain and their widows and children; ances, and gratuities of Police Constables in and to make other provisions respecting the Police of Great Britain.”—(Mr. Hibbert.) SIR HENRY SELWIN-IBBETSON said, he must express his gratification that Her Majesty's Government should have taken up this subject, which had long been deferred; and he trusted to find in the provisions of the measure sketched out by the hon. Gentleman opposite that the claims of the police were fairly dealt with. COLONEL ALEXANDER said, that having been in communication with various members of the Police Force, and being alive to the great interest taken by the Force in the question of superannuation, he ventured to promise the hon. Gentleman in charge of the Bill the thanks of that body for the introduction of measures calculated to im prove the position of the Force with regard to superannuation. There might be some matters of difference still remaining; but the men would now feel that the point for which they had been struggling for years-the indefeasible a fixed right of every constable to pension-had been acknowledged. For his own part, he trusted Her Majesty's Government would take the earliest opportunities of pressing the Bill forward in order that it might pass into law this Session. Question put, and agreed to. Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. HIBBERT, Secretary Sir WILLIAM HARCOURT, and The LORD ADVOCATE. Bill presented, and read the first time. [Bill 197.] TRUSTS (SCOTLAND) BILL. On Motion of Mr. JAMES STEWART, Bill to amend the Law of Scotland in relation to Trusts, ordered to be brought in by Mr. JAMES STEWART, Mr. MACKINTOSH, and Mr. CRUM. Bill presented, and read the first time. [Bill 198.] CONVEYANCING AND SETTLED LAND BILLS. Ordered, That the Select Committee on Con veyancing and Settled Land Bills do consist of Twenty-one Members:-The Committee was accordingly nominated of Mr. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Sir RICHARD CROSS, The JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL, Sir GABRIEL GOLDNEY, Mr. DAVEY, Mr. MACNAGHTEN, Mr. HINDE PALMER, Mr. GREGORY, Mr. WILLIAM FOWLER, Sir HARDINGE GIFFARD, Mr. HENRY H. FOWLER, Mr. LEWIS FRY, Mr. BRODRICK, Mr. PATRICK MARTIN, Mr. SHAW LEFEVRE, Sir HENRY SELWINIBBETSON, Mr. COMPTON LAWRANCE, Mr. WHITLEY, Mr. GIBSON, Mr. MELDON, and Dr. COMMINS:-With power to send for persons, papers, and records; Five to be the quorum. House adjourned at Two o'clock. HOUSE OF LORDS, Friday, 9th June, 1882. MINUTES.]-PUBLIC BILLS-First Reading reported to be dead. I wish to ask the Government, Whether they have any further information to give to the House; whether any arrests have been made; and, whether the Government attribute, or whether they think there is any relation between these murders and outrages and the Whitsuntide addresses of in "another place?" their hon. Friends, both out-of-doors and EARL GRANVILLE: I came into the House with my noble Friend the Lord Privy Seal, and I thought he was here; but he told me he had only just received Notice of the Question from the noble Lord, and that he had communicated with the Irish Office, but had not yet received details. any Afterwards LORD ORANMORE AND BROWNE: Perhaps the noble Lord will now answer the Questions which I, a short time ago, put to the Government. LORD CARLINGFORD (LORD PRIVY SEAL): I am sorry I was not in my place at the time; but as I received the information only at the last moment, I had sent to the Irish Office to see whether any further details had arrived. I am sorry to say I can give your Lordships no, or little, further information with respect to these dreadful crimes in Ireland. It appears that Mr. Bourke and his escort, a soldier, were fired at from behind a wall, which was loopholed for the purpose. This is the only CRIME AND OUTRAGE (IRELAND)-news in addition to what has appeared in the papers. MURDER OF MR. W. BOURKE AND ESCORT THREE FARMERS SHOT AND MAIMED.-QUESTIONS. LORD ORANMORE AND BROWNE: My Lords, I do not see the noble Lord the Lord Privy Seal in his place; but as some alarming accounts have recently come from my unhappy country, I wished to ask the Government, Whether they can give your Lordships some further information of the outrages which have taken place? It is reported that there have been two murders, of Mr. Bourke and a soldier who was protecting him, at Castle Taylor, Grand Gate, Ardrahan, Galway County; and three farmers have been shot in the legs-Michael Brown, at Rathglass, six miles from Ballina; Henry East, at Ballafarna, Roscommon County; and Cornelius Hickey, of Castleisland; thus, no less than five persons have been shot, and two of them are Death is believed to have been instantaneous in each case. It seems that three arrests have been made in respect to the murders of Mr. Bourke and his escort. The three other cases to which the noble Lord has reof maiming by firing at the legs, apferred are additional, and they are cases parently for the purpose of maiming as distinguished from killing the victims. In one of these cases arrests have been made, but none in the other two at this moment informed of the circumstances. It is rumoured in London that the Fleet, or a large portion of it, has been withdrawn from Alexandria. If it has, or if it has not, it would be well, I think, that the fact should be published; and I shall be glad if the noble Earl will state whether it is so or not? EARL GRANVILLE: As a matter of fact, I am entirely in ignorance that any portion of the Fleet has been removed. Indeed, I am quite sure that it is not the case. THE ROYAL IRISH CONSTABULARY. OBSERVATIONS. QUESTION. VISCOUNT MIDLETON said, that those of their Lordships who were acquainted with Ireland, especially those of them who had seen the state of things on the spot within the last few months, he might say the last two years, must know how responsible were the duties cast upon the Royal Irish Constabulary. From the time the present Government succeeded to Office, the life of the members of the Force had been one long round of duties of the most disagreeable and delicate character. They had to patrol by night, and were liable to be called upon to march long distances into every part of the country, and, in fact, had to perform some of the most unpleasant duties that could possibly fall to the lot of any body of men. By common consent those duties had been discharged with rare fidelity and forbearance. The present Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (Earl Spencer), in reply to a Question put to him last year, took occasion to refer, in terms of the highest encomium, to the manner in which the duties of the Constabulary had been discharged. He could tell their Lordships that the duties-the exceptional duties which had been imposed upon the Force had not only been conducive to a great strain upon the physical qualities of the men, but had also interfered in a very serious manner with them, and entailed upon them very serious pecuniary loss. Both officers and men had been despatched on various occasions long distances from their homes, and to places in which, from the peculiar character of the service in which they were employed, it was extremely difficult for them to obtain provisions except at fabulous prices. In consequence of this in the early part of the Session some efforts were made to The Marquess of Salisbury acknowledge the extra services which had been rendered by the Force, and to place them in a somewhat better position in more than one particular. He remembered hearing the question put to one of the County Inspectors-when a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary was on duty? The reply was very much to the point-"Sir, a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary is never off duty. He is liable to be called on at a moment's notice to go in any direction, and to remain there any length of time." When the Budget was introduced a Vote was included to compensate the Constabulary for the extra services they had rendered, and the extra expense to which the men had been put. That, probably, was not a subject which fell within the jurisdiction of their Lordships' House; but, on a Question being put, the official answer given was that the whole of that sum was to be distributed amongst the men, and that none of it was to go to the officers of the Force. Upon its being asked what was going to be done for the officers, the reply-which he could not help thinking was a very unsatisfactory reply -was that a Bill, at some uncertain date, was to be brought in dealing with the whole subject. He wanted to know definitely when that Bill was to be introduced, and he also wanted to know what would be the general provisions of the Bill? So far as the men were concerned, he believed they were content with what would be a substantial remuneration for their services; but he hoped that in any measure which might be introduced the provisions of the Act of 1866, which now regulated the constitution of the Force, would be amended so far as to restore the old privileges with regard to pensions. The Act of 1866 cut down very materially the pensions allowed to retiring members of the Force. He could not help thinking that it was exceedingly improper that men in the Service who received any injury in the discharge of their duty should not have a pension which would enable them to live in respectability and comfort, without having to appeal to the charity of the public; and he hoped if any Bill was introduced this matter would not be lost sight of. But what he especially wished to ask was what it was proposed to do for the offi cers of the Force, and, if it were impossible to make a statement on the subject at present, when they were to know |