PETITION. PARLIAMENTARY OATH (MR. BRADLAUGH)-"GURNEY v. BRADLAUGH." MR. LABOUCHERE said, he begged to present a Petition from George Henry Lewis, gentleman, of Ely Place, Holborn, praying that leave be given to the proper Officer of this House to attend the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice, in the action now pending, wherein Joseph Gurney is Plaintiff and Charles Bradlaugh, esquire, one of the Members for the Borough of Northampton, is Defendant, in order to produce the paper writing subscribed by him at the Table of the House on the 21st of February last, and the copy of the New Testament named in the Journals of the House on the same date. He begged also to move "That leave be given to the proper Officer to attend the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice with the said paper writing and copy of the New Testament." Motion made, and Question proposed, "That leave be given to the proper Officer to attend the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice with the said paper writing and copy of the New Testament."(Mr. Labouchere.) MR. NEWDEGATE said, he opposed the Motion, and should feel it his duty to move the adjournment of the debate. He had not himself been informed that the Motion would come on to-day, and he believed other hon. Members had been equally taken by surprise. MR. SPEAKER: I must point out to the House that the House allows unopposed Motions for Returns to be taken before the commencement of Public Business; and if this were an unopposed Motion for a Return, I should say that the Motion might be made, and dealt with by the House at this period; but as the matter appears to be opposed, it will have to come on for debate when the Orders of the Day and Notices of Motion have been disposed of. will use his influence with the Council of the Royal Botanic Society to induce them to make arrangements whereby the public can have access to the Botanical Gardens and ground of that society situated in Regent's Park? MR. COURTNEY: Sir, my right hon. Friend the First Commissioner of Works has no relations with the Royal Botanic Society in his official capacity. That Society occupies its grounds in the Regent's Park under a lease from the Commissioner of Woods, which does not expire until 1901. It is under covenant to use the premises as a botanic garden; but Government has no power during the present lease to compel the Society to admit the public to the grounds. EVICTIONS (SCOTLAND)-LOCH CARRON, CO. ROSS. MR. FRASER-MACKINTOSH asked the Lord Advocate, Whether his attention has been called to two cases of eviction on the estate of Mr. Dugald Stuart, of Lochcarron, in the county of Ross, wherein it is stated that Farquhar Maclean, aged eighty, and John Mackenzie, aged fifty-seven, crofters, have, though not owing any arrears, been evicted, the alleged grounds being that their sons, over whom parental authority has ceased, had, in vindication of character, recovered pecuniary damages for slander from the ground officer on the Lochcarron Estate; whether proceedings thus originating were legal; and, if so, will he take steps to amend the Law; whether he is aware that the public prosecutor for the county acted as agent in the evictions which have ended in public disturbance; and, whether he will issue a caution to procurators fiscal as to conducting civil processes which may end in criminal proceedings? THE LORD ADVOCATË (Mr. J. B. BALFOUR): Sir, I have made inquiry into the circumstances of these cases, and I have ascertained that it is the fact that Mr. Dugald Stuart obtained unopposed decrees of removing against the two crofters named, who are both advanced in years, and are not in arrear with their rent. There had been a dispute between Mr. Dugald Stuart, or his OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY, ground officer, and two sons of the crofREGENT'S PARK ADMISSION OF THE PUBLIC. QUESTIONS. 19:0:0 METROPOLIS-THE PARKS-GARDENS MR. BROADHURST asked the First Commissioner of Works, Whether he ters named, in regard to the execution of some building work, in the course of which the ground officer used language which the Sheriff Substitute held to be rister, in nine months' time, in that district in which he now sits as judge; and, whether Mr. Wyllie will, in consequence, have to receive briefs from those solicitors who are now pleading before him in his capacity as judge; whether he is aware that Mr. Cuninghame, another Sub-Commissioner in the same district, is a partner in a seed and manure firm, having large business relations with the tenantry in this district, and that his traveller, Mr. Tatton, was soliciting orders in Castlederg, on behalf of the firm, on the same day that he was sitting in that town in his capacity of Sub-Commissioner; and, whether he will consider how far it is fair to those gentlemen to place them in the invidious position of judges in a district in which they have present and prospective business actionable, and in respect of which he awarded £5 of damages to each of the sons. Mr. Stuart then instituted actions of removing against the crofters, with whom their sons were living in family. No attempt was made to remove Maclean, as he was unwell, but the decree was executed against Mackenzie. I understand, however, that a settlement has been, or is in course of being, arrived at between Mr. Stuart and the crofters. I see no reason to doubt that the proceedings were legal, the tenancies having been yearly, and they do not suggest any defect in the law which appears to me to require amendment. In answer to the third and fourth heads of the Question, I have to say that the Procurator Fiscal of the county was employed as a solicitor to obtain the decrees of removing in the Sheriff Court at Ding-relations? The noble Lord said that, wall. There was no reason to expect that the execution of the decrees would result in disturbance; and the Procurator Fiscal, who is an able and judicious official, has never, to my knowledge, done anything calling for a caution of the kind indicated in the Question. THE IRISH LAND COMMISSION - MR. COMYN, SUB-COMMISSIONER. MR. O'CONNOR POWER asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If it is true that Mr. Comyn, one of the Sub-Commissioners appointed under the Land Act, has been recently engaged in carrying out the Act in respect of the fixing of rents in cases where relatives or family connections of his own were interested; and, if so, whether Mr. Comyn will be removed to a district where cases of this description may not come before him? MR. TREVELYAN: Sir, the question was started in the public Press, and received the public denial of Mr. Comyn himself. THE IRISH LAND COMMISSION MESSRS. WYLIE AND CUNINGHAME, SUB-COMMISSIONERS. LORD ARTHUR HILL asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether he is aware that Mr. Wyllie, Chairman of the Sub-Commissioners for Tyrone, still has his name on the North-West Circuit List; that he only holds his appointment for one year, and intends resuming practice as a bar The Lord Advocate since he had put his Question on the Paper, he had ascertained that Mr. Cuninghame was a partner, not in a seed and manure firm, but in a corn merchant's or meal and flour firm. MR. TREVELYAN: Sir, Mr. Wylie informs me that he still has his name on the North-West Circuit List, and that on his ceasing to be an Assistant Commissioner, he intends to resume practice as a barrister on that Circuit. As to Mr. Cuninghame, the alteration in the noble Lord's Question is one of some importance. He has no business relations whatever with any of the tenantry of the district. He is not aware of any traveller of his firm having been in any town while he was sitting in it. Under these circumstances, I think the final paragraph of the Question does not require further answer. CONTAGIOUS DISEASES (ANIMALS) ACTS - PROSECUTION AT SLEAFORD. MR. HENEAGE asked the Vice President of the Privy Council, Whether his attention has been called to the recent prosecutions under the Animal Contawhether the Department agree with the gious Diseases Acts at Sleaford; and, magistrates that foot and mouth disease and foot rot can be so easily mistaken that several hundred sheep affected with the former could be allowed to spread the disease through several counties, without anyone being made responsible; and, if that is the opinion of the Privy Council, whether they will issue such further information as would protect small farmers of no great veterinary experience from being convicted from no fault of their own; and prevent persons who knowingly allow the removal of animals suffering from contagious diseases to the public injury from escaping the penalty? SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT, in reply, said, this was, no doubt, a very important matter. Some time ago he ordered a large extra force of police to be put upon the Embankment. With reference to the general question, it would not be correct to regard these figures as giving an average at all, inasmuch as they included the Princess Alice year. Three years ago the number amounted to one-half. The matter was one that required further investigation, and he had directed communications to be made to all the Coroners, in order that he might see what suggestions they had to make on the subject. MR. MUNDELLA: Sir, I have seen a Report of the proceedings under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act at Sleaford, which were instituted by the local authorities, and in which the Privy Council were in no way concerned. The Veterinary Department is satisfied that foot-and-mouth disease and foot rot are perfectly distinct diseases, and that no competent veterinary inspector ought to mistake the one for the other. It is not necessary to issue any detailed information to the public on the subject of the symptoms of this or any other disease, because the owner of an animal suffering from any kind of illness, whether a contagious disease under the Act or not, can relieve himself of all further responsibility by giving notice of the fact to the local inspector, who is bound to the Secretary of State for War, Whether attend immediately and report to the he is aware that there is practically no local authority. Article 122 of the Ani-barrack accommodation for British troops mals Order is as follows: : "Optional Notice of Disease or Illness. Any person having in his possession, or under his charge, an animal affected with disease, or with any illness, or suspected of being so affected, besides giving such notice to a constable, as he is required by Section 31 of the Act of 1878 to give, may, if he thinks fit, give notice of the fact of the animal being so affected, or suspected, to the inspector of the local authority.' No person, therefore, is justified in pleading ignorance as an excuse for spreading disease. METROPOLIS-THAMES RIVER (HUMAN CORPSES). BARON HENRY DE WORMS asked the Secretary of State for the Home the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether, with reference to the official statistics recently published, which show that the number of dead bodies found in the Thames during the last five years was 68 in the City of London district, and 1818 in the Metropolitan Police districts, 599 of which were discovered in the river without there being any evidence to show how they came there, any steps will be taken by Her Majesty's Government for securing better protection to human lives on the Thames Embankment and other roadways on the banks of the river? BARON HENRY DE WORMS asked whether the right hon. and learned Gentleman would consider the question of erecting a central public Morgue? SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT was understood to say that he would. ARMY-THE BRITISH TROOPS IN SIR DAVID WEDDERBURN asked in Natal, the barracks at Pietermaritzburg being sufficient to contain four companies only; and, whether it is intended, in the event of an Imperial garrison being retained in Natal, to quarter the troops in properly constructed barracks, such as may be proof against the heavy rainfall of that country? MR. CHILDERS: Yes, Sir; I am well aware of the insufficiency of the present barrack accommodation in Natal; but when the strength of the permanent garrison, if any, which is to be kept there is decided, the necessary accommodation will be proposed to Parliament. In the meanwhile, the expenditure on barracks is limited to repairs and maintenance. EVICTIONS (IRELAND)—EVICTIONS AT RYNMOUNT, CO. LONGFORD. MR. JUSTIN M'CARTHY asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is true that the Irish Government have at present four policemen guarding two emergency men who are taking care of lands on the estate of Mr. Cusack, at Rynmount, county Longford, from which two families have been evicted; whether it is true that both the evicted tenants, the Widow Clyne and Mr. Gregory Yorke, are able and anxious to pay the rent for the homes in which they were born, and which their fathers had built; whether they have offered to pay what they deemed to be a rack-rent; and, whether any charge of any breach of Law was ever made against either of these two evicted tenants? MR. TREVELYAN: Sir, it is true that four members of the Constabulary are protecting two caretakers from the Property Defence Association who are minding the evicted farms referred to by the hon. Member. It is true that the evicted tenants were anxious to continue in their holdings, and were willing to pay a considerably increased rent to be allowed to do so. The Constabulary inform me that no charge for a breach of the law was ever made against either of them, but that, on the contrary, they are most respectable, law-abiding people. I am asking some questions about this case, which has some points of importance about it. PROTECTION OF PERSON AND PROPERTY (IRELAND) ACT, 1881-MR. JOHN GANNON. MR. O'KELLY asked the Chief Secre tary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If his attention has been called to the case of Mr. John Gannon, of Kilgefin, county Roscommon, who was arrested, with six others, thirteen months ago, and is still detained in custody, though his comrades have been released; and, whether the fact that he is a native born American has any influence on his continued detention? MR. TREVELYAN: Sir, His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant had Mr. Gannon's case quite recently before him; and, having regard to the fact that he was an American by birth, His Excellency ordered his release on condition of leaving Ireland for America. Mr. Gannon has refused to accept his discharge on these terms, and His Excellency cannot at present allow him to be at large in the district. recently voted by Parliament as a reward to the Irish police, will be paid to the officers and men in Clare, Mayo, and Kilkenny, against whom verdicts of “wilful murder were returned by coroners' juries; whether a great amount of extra duty was also thrown upon the warders and others connected with the Irish prisons during the period since the Protection of Person and Property (Ireland) Act has been in force, as well as upon the police; and, whether prison officials will be entitled to participate in the reward granted to the Constabulary, or if the Government intend in any way to recognise their services? MR. TREVELYAN: Sir, the sum in question has not yet been voted by Parliament, and it is not intended that any portion of it is to be given to officers in the Constabulary. In the County Mayo alone were these verdicts of "wilful murder," within the past two years, brought by Coroners' Juries against any members of the Force who will be entitled to share in the proposed grant. There were two cases in that county. In one case the Attorney General obtained a conditional order on technical grounds to quash the inquisition; but instead of proceeding with it, he directed a magisterial investions were refused, and the case, theretigation, with the result that informafore, was not sent for trial. In the other case, the Grand Jury at the Assizes ignored the bill. With regard to the labour was met by employing extra case of the prison warders, the extra hands. The duties of some of the superior officials in the prison service were, perhaps, somewhat more heavy than different from that of the Constabulary, usual. Their case, however, is quite and does not call for any special recog nition. PROTECTION OF PERSON AND PROPERTY (IRELAND) ACT, 1881-DR. O'BRIEN AND MR. DOYLE. MR. HEALY asked the Chief Secre tary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether the case of Dr. O'Brien, of Miltown Malbay, has been reconsidered; and also that of Mr. Doyle, of Kerry; removed recently from Limerick to Kiland, whether these gentlemen have been mainham Gaol, much further away from their native place? MR. TREVELYAN: Sir, His Excellency has reconsidered both these cases. NATIONAL EDUCATION (IRELAND)--- tary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, MR. SYNAN said, he would take the earliest opportunity of bringing that matter before the House. PROTECTION OF PERSON AND PRO- MR. O'KELLY asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether he can see his way to the release of Mr. Bernhard M'Hugh, who has now been kept in prison, on suspicion, for fifteen months, as the district of Castlerue, county Roscommon, to which he belongs, is orderly and peaceful, and in view of the fact that Mr. dangerously ill, and that Mr. M'Hugh M'Hugh's father, a very old man, is is the only support of a very large family? Lieutenant has leased. -JUDICIAL VACANCIES. grant of £75 to the late Lord Monteagle to build a boys' school in Shanagolden, on a thirty-one years' lease, was a violation of the conditions; whether the site of the school was a plot of ground used as a commonage by the villagers; whe- HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE (IRELAND) ther the Commissioners intend to continue the grant for salaries, &c. to a school in which there are only sixteen scholars, and the majority of them the children of the teachers; and, whether the Government intend to suggest to the Commissioners the propriety of giving a grant to a school to which the parents will send their children? MR. TREVELYAN: The first two Questions of the hon. Member are matters of great detail, and would take a very long time to answer. I have got a reply from the Commissioners of National Education, which I will show him privately. The grant of £75 was made to the late Lord Monteagle at a time when it was quite consistent with the Regulations then in force. When Lord Monteagle proposed to build the school, the law adviser of the Board inquired into the case, and was satisfied as to his title. I am informed that the Commissioners have resolved for the present to continue grants of salary to the teachers. As to the last Question, under the circumstances of the case, which I stated in answer to the Question of the hon. Member on the 19th of May, the Government do not propose to interfere with the discretion of the Commissioners. MR. GIBSON asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether the vacancies in the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice in Ireland have yet been filled; and, if not, when it is intended to make the appointments? MR. TREVELYAN: Her Majesty's Government is at present in communication with Her Majesty upon this subject, and until Her pleasure has been taken, the right hon. and learned Member will see that it would be manifestly premature for me to make any statement in the House. I wish to say, in reference to an answer I have already given the right hon. and learned Gentleman, that when I said the North-West Circuit was a large one in comparison with the County Tyrone, in which the Commissioner was serving, I meant that it included five counties, of which Tyrone was only one. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR asked whether, in considering the propriety of filling up the vacancies on the Irish Bench, the Government would take into account the fact that two of the Courts had nothing to do, and that the Court of Queen's Bench would have very little to do but |