tion, steps are being taken for the extension of the powers of the Commissioners' Patriotic Fund; but I am not able at this moment to say when the supplementary charter will be granted. It would, in any case, not be advisable to extend indefinitely such a supplemental charter. It might be extended beyond its present purposes; but it would not be wise to extend it indefinitely for all times. ARMY REGULATION ACT-CASHIERED PURCHASE OFFICERS.-QUESTION. GENERAL SHUTE asked the Secretary of State for War, If, in the event of a purchase officer being cashiered or dismissed from the service by sentence of court martial, Her Majesty has the power to direct that he be paid by the Army Purchase Commissioners the same amount to which he would be entitled on retirement of his own free will? COLONEL STANLEY: Sir, to be strictly accurate, the award of the Army Purchase Commissioners would be made under the Act of 1871, and not under the direction of Her Majesty. If a purchase officer is dismissed the Service, or cashiered under sentence of court mar tial, the court has power to order that he shall forfeit all pecuniary interest in the value of his commission; but if, by the grace of Her Majesty, he is gazetted out of the Army, he may be permitted to receive the value of his commission take any measures for the better enforcing of the Fishery Laws by despatching a gunboat to the northeastern coast or otherwise? MR. W. H. SMITH: Sir, my attention has been called within the last few days to alleged infractions of the Fishery Laws by steam trawlers, and I have called for a report from the captain of the Coastguard ship at Hull on the subject. It is open to the owners of any boats whose nets are injured, in breach of the Fishery Laws, themselves to prosecute the parties in fault. A gunboat will be despatched to watch the proceedings of these trawlers if it is necessary to do so; but it is doubtful whether the Admiralty have any legal power to interfere. MINES (COAL) REGULATION ACT, 1872— INSPECTION OF COAL MINES. QUESTION. MR. BURT asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether it is his intention to amend his inMines which as at present framed structions to the Inspectors of Coal allow a certificated manager to have several mines under his charge, and authorise indefinite periods of absence from the mine on the part of such manager, while the Act itself, in seetion 26, requires "every mine to be under the control and daily supervision a manager?" of MR. ASSHETON CROSS: Sir, this is a very important point to which my hon. Friend has called the attention of the House; but what I wish to impress upon him, in the first place, is thisthat I have made no change in the in structions that have existed from the time of the passing of the Act of 1872. The principle of the instructions to which my hon. Friend refers is not new at all, but is copied verbatim from the instructions that were drawn up in 1872. I, of course, am not responsible for them; but I presume the Secretary of State drew them up for the purpose of insuring that the provisions of the Act should be carried out in the most practical way. The conditions necessarily vary, and the arrangements may vary also according to the size and other circumstances of the mine, but must in each case be such as to secure the real effectual supervision of the every-day working of the mine. If they fail to do so, the Secretary of State would feel it his duty at once to take steps to interfere. As a doubt has been raised, I shall cause the Question of the hon. Member and my answer to be sent to the Inspectors, in order to show that it is not the intention of the Secretary of State to interfere with the actual carrying out of the Act of Parliament in its full meaning. ILLEGAL LOTTERIES.-QUESTION. MR. ANDERSON asked Mr. Attorney General for Ireland, If his attention has been called to an illegal lottery that has been extensively advertised to take place in Dublin, on the 26th June, under the superintendence of the High Sheriff and other magistrates; if he is aware that the Law against lotteries makes no exception in favour of lotteries for good objects, those for the City of Glasgow Bank and the West of England Bank ISLAND OF CYPRUS-PUNISHMENT OF charities; having been at once sup PRIESTS.-QUESTION. MR. JUSTIN M'CARTHY asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether the Government have any authentic information with regard to the alleged infliction of a degrading punishment on two Greek priests in Cyprus by the orders of the English authorities in the island; and, whether, if such a punishment were inflicted, it has received the subsequent sanction of the Foreign Office? MR. BOURKE: Sir, in answer to the Question of the hon. Member, I have to say that, according to the information at the Foreign Office, two priests were sentenced in due course of law by the local Court at Famagosta--one of them to seven days, and the other to one month's imprisonment. We have asked for a Report upon the subject, and that Report is, I believe, now on its way home. With regard to the second part of the Question, I do not think it is likely that the Foreign Office, unless they find that some irregularity has taken place, will interfere either to sanction or disapprove of the sentence that has been carried out in pursuance of the judgment of a Court of Law. PRISONS (IRELAND)-RELIGIOUS DE NOMINATIONS.-QUESTION. MR. BIGGAR asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, If he will give a Return of the average numbers of the different religious denominations in the several gaols of Ireland, with the salaries of the chaplains? MR. J. LOWTHER: I believe, Sir, the Returns to which the hon. Gentleman refers will be found included in those promised the other day on the Motion of the hon. Member for Longford County (Mr. Errington). pressed by the authorities; and, if Irish magistrates are to be allowed to set this law at defiance, or if he will take steps to have this illegal lottery also suppressed? THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (MR. GIBSON): Sir, my attention has been called by the Question to the bazaar and drawing of prizes advertised to be held in Dublin on the 26th instant. I am aware that the law against the advertising and publishing of lotteries does not purport to make any exceptions. I need hardly say that Irish High Sheriffs and magistrates enjoy no special immunities, and are in the same position as Scotch and English Sheriffs I think it is very and magistrates. probable that some of the gentlemen whose names appear in this advertisement did not read it attentively; and, indeed, I should not be surprised if The Crown some had not read it at all. and Treasury Solicitors in Ireland will, however, inquire into the circumstances of the advertisement referred to. may add that I think lotteries for large sums of money, or for articles convertible into large sums of money, are open to much objection, and I hope that the public attention which has been called to this matter will be productive of good results. SOUTH AFRICA - THE ZULU WAR — OVERTURES OF PEACE.-QUESTION. SIR WILFRID LAWSON asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether the Government have laid before Parliament all the information which has been received concerning the overtures for peace which have been made by Cetewayo? SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH: Sir, in reply to a previous Question from the hon. Baronet, I think on Mon I day last, I informed the House of all I ARMY-THE FIRST CLASS ARMY RE- COLONEL ARBUTHNOT asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether, in the opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown, men of the First Class Army Reserve, who may volunteer to rejoin the Colours, can be accepted; and, if so, whether any steps have been or are about to be taken to make this fact generally known; and, if, on the other hand, it is not competent for such volunteers to rejoin under the provisions of "The Enlistment Act, 1870," he proposes to introduce a short Bill amending that Act. the legal gentleman appointed to watch the coroner's inquest in respect to the loss of over 60 lives by an explosion of fire damp in the Dinas Colliery, South Wales, that the jury had found that though the manager had been deprived of his certificate for gross negligence and incompetency, after a thorough judicial investigation, he had still been continued as manager by the owner or agent, or both; and, if he intends to take any steps to punish the party or parties that committed an act which set at defiance the decision of a regularly constituted court? MR. ASSHETON CROSS, in reply, said, the Coroner's jury had only just given their verdict in the case of this explosion, and he had not yet received the Report of the legal gentleman who attended the inquest on behalf of the Secretary of State. The course that it was proposed to take was this. If, on the Report of that gentleman, it appeared that legal proceedings ought to be taken COLONEL STANLEY: Sir, at an earagainst any person connected with the lier period of the Session, when the hon. mine, he would at once proceed to take them. But there was and gallant Member for Sunderland one important (Sir Henry Havelock) asked a similar point connected with the case, and that Question, I was obliged to answer that, was that the explosion happened so long as I was then advised, many of the since, and the Coroner's jury had been First Class Army Reserve men could not so long in finishing the inquiry and volunteer to join the Colours except for giving their verdict, that the time limited a period of six months. The question by the statute, within which proceedings was referred to the Law Officers of the under the Act could be taken, had exCrown, and they had a further consulta-pired. In order to prevent such an tion with the Lord Chancellor, and, I believe, with other legal authorities; and it is now held that the section of the Act which was supposed to be doubtful does admit of those men volunteering to join the Colours. It is, therefore, proposed to take advantage of this interpretation to a limited extent. It is proposed to make this known by an Army Circular, which I hope will be issued in the course of a few days; and I may add, the number of men to which it is proposed to limit the volunteering will be such as still to keep the numbers within the total provided for by Parliament at the commencement of the year; so that it will not be necessary to ask for any Supplementary Vote. COAL MINES-THE DINAS COLLIERY EXPLOSION.-QUESTION. occurrence in future, and to guard against those cases where, no death resulting, there was no Coroner's inquest, he proposed to introduce a short Bill to allow the Secretary of State to order a special inquiry in the case of mining accidents, in the same manner as he was empowered under the Act of 1875 to order special inquiries in case of accidents from explosive substances—a power MR. MACDONALD asked the Secretary of State for the Home Depart-t ment, If it has been reported to him by Sir Michael Hicks-Beach which had been of so much benefit. CRIMINAL LAW-CASE OF RYAN. QUESTION. MR. SULLIVAN asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, If it is the fact that a man named Ryan, who at the last Commission in Dublin was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment for causing the death of his wife, has recently been released by order of the Government, although an alleged accomplice of his is be tried on that charge at the approaching Commission; and, if he can state the grounds on which Ryan has been released? MR. J. LOWTHER: Yes, Sir, it is the case that a man named Ryan, convicted of manslaughter, was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment in Dublin; but after reference to the Judge before whom the case was tried, he was released by order of the Government, on the ground of ill-health. As to the case of Collins, I understand it was one in which the man was charged with an offence of the same character; but, as a matter of fact, not with being an accomplice with the other prisoner, and he applied to have his trial postponed. That application was acceded to, and the trial, I believe, stands for the next Sessions. PARLIAMENT ARRANGEMENT OF PUBLIC BUSINESS.-QUESTION. MR. W. E. FORSTER asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, When the Education Estimates will be taken? THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER stated that the Government proposed on Monday to take Supply the Army Estimates; that, as he had said before, in consequence of the peculiar position of the Army Discipline and Regulation Bill, they proposed to devote the other days of the week at their disposal to that measure; and that, therefore, they would not be able next week to take the Education Estimates, as to which, however, due Notice would be given. MR. CALLAN asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for the convenience of Irish Members, When the Irish Estimates and the Scotch University Esti mates will be taken? THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: Not next week. I cannot say exactly when; but due Notice will be given. ORDERS OF THE DAY. 1606 SUPPLY.-COMMITTEE. Order for Committee read. Motion made, and Question proposed, "That Mr. Speaker do now leave the Chair." METROPOLIS-LOCAL TAXATION. MR. BAILLIE COCHRANE, in rising to call the attention of the House to the great increase of the Local Taxation of the Metropolis, while the Vestries failed to carry out any sufficient sanitary arrangements; and to move for a Select Committee to inquire into the powers of the Vestries and their administration of the funds at their disposal, said, that some of our most eminent statesmen had called attention to the government of the Metropolis. The noble Lord the present Prime Minister had made many eloquent speeches on the subject of the sanitary condition of the Metropolis; and the right hon. Member for Greenwich (Mr. Gladstone) had said, in 1858, that he anticipated the time when the principle of self-government would be applied in its fullest extent to the Metropolis. The question had, too, engaged the attention of Royal Commissions and Select Committees, and Bills had been introduced on the subject. As a matter for legislation it had engaged the attention of such men as Sir George Grey, Sir Cornewall Lewis, and Mr. Buxton. The last to direct attention to it with a view to legislation was the noble Lord the Member for Haddingtonshire (Lord Elcho), who urged the claims it had on the consideration of Her Majesty's Government. The necessity for a reform in the government of the Metropolis was increasing every year. The Registrar General informed the country that the population of the Metropolis was increasing at the rate of 75,000 per annum, and that, during the last seven years, 150,000 additional houses had been built within its boundaries. As Mr. Horton, in his valuable pamphlet, pointed out, the Metropolis was divided into 37 districts for the purpose of registration of births; into 56 districts for the duties of the Building Act; into 19 divisions for police purposes; into 13 County Court districts; into 15 Militia districts; and additional divisions for Inland Revenue, postal, and gas and water and Parliamentary purposes; so that a map of London must have 14 or 15 different boundaries to represent in each area the controlling powers. With this mere unorganized accretion of corporations, boards, vestries, commissioners, magistrates, and so forth, the administration of this Metropolis might very fitly be described in the words with which John Bunyan depicted the Valley of the Shadow of Death. It was, he said, "Every whit dreadful, being utterly without order." Comparing the govern brigade also demanded investigation. Whilst in Paris, with a population of 2,000,000, and in New York, with a population of 1,300,000, there were respectively 1,500 and 2,350 firemen, London, with her 4,000,000 of population, had only 406 firemen. There was a complete want of proper market accommodation owing to the absurd restrictions which prevented markets being established within, he believed, seven miles of the City. These and other evils he attributed to the system of vestries. The vestries fought amongst each other on questions as to the varying merits of wood pavement and macadam. In consequence of the vestry system, with all its anomalies, the state of the sewers and of the pavements in many districts was most unsatisfactory. He believed that one of the greatest evils of the present system was connected with the auditing of the vestry accounts. Some parishes were undoubtedly well managed in this respect; but he was credibly informed, for the information was based on a published document, that in some cases the auditors could neither read nor write. [4 laugh.] That seemed an incredible assertion; but he made it on an autho ment of the parish of Marylebone with | in our streets involved a loss of at least that of Westminster, it would be found £500,000. The condition of the fire that the population of each was about the same. Marylebone parish collected £194,036; Westminster City, £194,031. Marylebone parish was managed by one vestry, and its administrative expenses were under £8,000 per annum; while the five boards of local management in Westminster cost nearly £20,000. These five boards employed 21 clerks and vestry clerks, six surveyors, four solicitors, nine officers of health, six inspectors of nuisances-all these officers being employed for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the Metropolis Local Management Act. The gas and water supplies of the Metropolis were under the control of different Companies, who were hostile to each other. The result was that the water supply cost, according to the Registrar General, £1,283,000 a-year; whereas he asserted that it could be provided for £470,000 a-year. Moreover, each public gas lamp in London cost £4 10s. a-year, whilst in Manchester the cost was only £1 5s. Mr. Frith said the Gas Companies pretended that they had a right to a dividend of £10 per cent, and that in any scheme for purchase, they must be paid at that rate, and that Londoners were precluded by legislation from sup-rity that was open to any Member of plying themselves. Now, the Gas Companies had funds which they called capital, which had never been investigated. And it seemed it was not capital at all; but on this the consumer was charged 10 per cent, and was even now paying 10 per cent, on the former ruinous competition. It was distinctly asserted that the Companies made £400,000 net profit on every £1,000,000 capital which Parliament permitted them to raise. The management of the Metropolitan Board of Works, he admitted, was admirable, and everything had improved since it was established in 1853, when there were 10,500 officials in London and over 150 vestries raising rates; but that was no reason why householders and ratepayers should be subjected to unnecessarily heavy burdens. He did not say that there was peculation; but, under the existing system, the ratepayers paid in some instances at least a third more than they ought to be called upon to do. It had been shown that the delay in traffic occasioned by the accumulation of snow, mud, and dirt Mr. Baillie Cochrane the House, and if it was inaccurate he was not responsible. That document stated that no auditor could be relied upon carefully to examine parish accounts unless he could read and write, and that there were instances of the appointment of auditors who possessed neither qualifi cation. The vestries made rates on the parishes, and declined to make satisfactory reports showing how the money they raised was expended. The vestries, however, were not slow in demanding that the action of other bodies should be inquired into. It was charming to find that they were fully alive to the faults of others, and anxious to see them corrected, although they must not be touched themselves. He held in his hand a printed paper headed "Relief of Ratepayers' Burdens," and it purported to be a "Statement in favour of inquiry into the administration of funds in possession of the City Guilds." It went on to say that "The vestries of London were recently invited, in pursuance of a resolution adopted by |