have been neither recalled nor super- that the Bill stood in a very peculiar seded, but are retained in their present situation for some time. It was an unpositions as Lieutenant Governor of opposed Bill, and as such had come Natal and Administrator of the Trans- before the Committee over which he vaal, but under Sir Garnet Wolseley, presided, and had also been made the who, by his commission, becomes Go- subject of a Resolution of their Lordvernor of the two Provinces. I think ships' House with regard to the adopthis arrangement will carry out the tion of the narrow-gauge principle in views of my noble Friend. His second Ireland. The Resolution which had been Question is, whether the Colony of Natal come to by the House was that they and the Province of the Transvaal will should have a Report from the Board of be administered as a single Colony? Trade on the subject of the Bill. There No; those two Colonies will remain in | had, accordingly, been a Report made by their present state. In reply to his the Board of Trade; but he was sorry third Question whether Sir Bartle to say that the Report of the Board of Frere's Commission has been cancelled Trade appeared to him to be exceedingly for the purpose of being re-issued in an unsatisfactory. The engineer of the comamended form-I have to say that Sir pany had been examined, and, of course, Bartle Frere's commission has not been gave strong evidence in favour of the cancelled. It will be kept in full force, Bill, and gave some reasons why the except in those districts over which by line should be constructed on the narrow his commission Sir Garnet Wolseley gauge. But the Board of Trade had would have jurisdiction. All this, and not inquired into some matters which further information, will be found in appeared to him (the Earl of Redesdale) the Papers which I laid on the Table to be of very great importance in coming yesterday, and which, I trust, will be in to the conclusion to sanction a railway the hands of your Lordships within a on a less than the standard gauge. For inday or two. stance, the engineer said in his evidence that dangerous gradients ought to be avoided; but no questions were put to him as to where the gradients might not be modified. He considered this matter was an extremely important element in such an application. Then, again, it was an extremely important matter to inquire whether a company applying for power to construct a narrow-gauge line should not be compelled to take sufficient land to construct the line on the standard gauge, if it was afterwards found desirable; but no such questions had been put to the engineer. Their Lordships must bear in mind that in Ireland a great deal of evil had arisen from the construction of very small railways; but the amalgamation of the smaller lines into evil had been greatly reduced by the the larger ones. With regard to the present Bill, the existing railway of 12} miles was constructed on the broad gauge, and it was proposed to make 15 miles, or thereabouts, on a different gauge. If that were sanctioned, it must necessarily interfere with any proposals of amalgamation with another line. All these matters were really very serious; and it was also important to point out that this railway did not, as it had been stated, receive very general approval throughout the country. He had looked

THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY: May I ask the noble Earl, Whether the Papers to which he alludes will contain the Instructions to Sir Garnet Wolseley?

EARL CADOGAN: No; the Instructions given to Sir Garnet Wolseley are not included in these Papers for a reason stated in "another place" by the Secretary of State-namely, it was thought that if those Instructions were made public, either in this or in the other House of Parliament, they would be telegraphed to the Cape, and would reach the Cape before the officer who is to carry them out would have arrived at the Colony.

WEST DONEGAL RAILWAY BILL. [H.L.]

COMMITTEE.

Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee, read.

Moved, "That the House do now resolve itself into Committee."

THE EARL OF OF REDESDALE (CHAIRMAN of COMMITTEES) said, he thought it would be convenient if he explained why he had adopted the course of referring this unopposed Bill to a Committee of the Whole House. Their Lordships would, no doubt, remember

Earl Cadogan

at the Returns; and he found that out of | on a former occasion his noble Friend the owners five assented, one dissented, had reported that, in his opinion, or, five were neutral-and one of those, who rather, that in the opinion of the Comwas the most important, as the line went mittee over which his noble Friend through a very large extent of his pro- presided, that Bill should not be property, had since expressed to him his ceeded with. The House on that ocdissent and nine gave no answer at all. casion arrived at the conclusion that it Of the lessees, seven assented, eight was desirable that the authority of his dissented, one was neutral, and three noble Friend as guardian of the Private sent no answer at all. Of the occu- Business should be maintained; and he piers, 28 assented, 27 dissented, 3 was bound to say, as his noble Friend were neutral, and 12 gave no answer still seemed to wish to convert their at all. That was the state of feel- Lordships to his opinion, that he had ing in the district through which the heard nothing to convince him that his railway was to pass. As, however, the noble Friend's decision was wrong. On Report of the Board of Trade recom- the contrary, he believed the decision mended that the line proposed should be that had been arrived at was a right demade, he did not wish to offer any op- cision. The proposal which their Lordposition to the Bill, especially after the ships determined was that narrow-gauge Resolution of their Lordships to which railways ought to be sanctioned where he had referred; but he, nevertheless, railways on the national gauge would still continued to think that such lines either be impossible in construction, or were not advisable. In this case, there unremunerative. With regard to the had been no examination made on the Letterkenny Railway, his noble Friend spot by any officer of the Board of Trade; said it was not impossible to construct and, therefore, he had thought it his it on the national gauge, because they duty, in all the circumstances, to refer had the land taken, and that there was the Bill to a Committee of the Whole no difficulty about the levels. That was House. He desired to say a few words quite true, and, therefore, that part of with regard to another Bill which came the case failed. But what about the before him as Chairman of the Commit- other case? Would it have been remutee on Unopposed Bills, and with regard nerative? His noble Friend thought it to which he believed that the course he would, because the Company had the had adopted had been misunderstood. power to raise an amount of capital The Letterkenny Bill did not stand in which would have been sufficient to the same position. That railway had make a broad gauge. But there was been granted on the standard gauge, one statement in Colonel Yolland's Reand it was proposed to be converted into port which his noble Friend had entirely a narrow gauge. There was no diffi- overlooked, and which he (the Lord culty in constructing it on the standard Chancellor) took to be the key of the gauge, for which almost all the land re- whole Report to the Board of Trade. quired was already purchased, and as Colonel Yolland said the question rethe promoters had got an Act last year ferred to the Board of Trade seemed to for an extension of time, without asking be-should there or should there not be for more capital or change of gauge, a railway? And from the evidence placed they must then have thought it would before them, Colonel Yolland concluded be remunerative if so constructed, and, that there was no prospect of raising the therefore, he did not feel justified in money for making the line on the standpassing the Bill. ard gauge; and, therefore, under the circumstances, Colonel Yolland concluded that the construction of a narrowgauge railway would be beneficial to the district. That really seemed to be the key to the whole matter. No doubt, it would be much better to have a railway on the standard gauge, if it were possible, and their Lordships had affirmed that principle by a Resolution of the House; but when it was not possible it was better to have a narrow-gauge

THE LORD CHANCELLOR said, he was glad that his noble Friend (the Chairman of Committees) had taken the course of referring the Bill to a Committee of the Whole House; because, as he understood his noble Friend's view, if he had not done so, it must have shared the fate of the Letterkenny Railway Bill. His noble Friend had referred to the Letterkenny Railway Bill, and their Lordships would remember that

railway than no railway at all. With Prosecutor. It was the opinion of those regard to the present Bill, his noble most conversant with the subject that Friend had spoken with regard to the in the administration of our Criminal Report of the Board of Trade, and had Law there was no necessity for a genesaid that there had been no investiga-ral and thorough change; but some of tion on the spot. That was not what could be expected, seeing that the officers of the Board had the surveys before them, and upon that point he did not see that any exception should have been taken by his noble Friend. He trusted that their Lordships would have no difficulty in coming to a conclusion on the

matter.

LORD WAVENEY supported the Bill; but, at the same time, he thought it very desirable that the investigations should be made in Ireland, where the truth as to any point could be more easily ascertained.

THE EARL OF REDESDALE (CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES) said, in the Letterkenny case the money powers of the Company were ample. There had been £80,000 expended on the line already, and of the £100,000 they had at command to complete it, the first £50,000 was to have a preferential dividend, and the next £35,000 was guaranteed.

Motion agreed to.

House in Committee accordingly. THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY said, in the Board of Trade Report, Colonel Yolland stated that the speed should be limited to 25 miles an hour. He asked whether the noble Viscount (Viscount Lifford) would insert some Amendment in the Bill to that effect?

VISCOUNT LIFFORD said, he did not intend to propose any Amendment.

Amendments made: the Report thereof to be received on Thursday next. PROSECUTION OF OFFENCES BILL. (The Lord Chancellor.)

(NO. 74.) SECOND READING.

the most eminent of the witnesses-including the Lord Chief Justice and others-examined by the Commission thought that some change was required; and that, although the system worked generally well, there were frequently cases in which offenders escaped justice owing to the disinclination of individuals to take up the prosecution. The object of this Bill was to meet those exceptional cases-such as large commercial frauds, in which private persons. could not be expected to undertake the expense of prosecutions. In order to effect that, the Bill proposed that the Secretary of State should appoint an officer who would be called the Director of Public Prosecutions, and who would have the status of a permanent Under Secretary of State. It would be the duty of the latter, under the Secretary of State and the Attorney General, to carry out prosecutions undertaken by the Government. It was proposed that the Metropolis should be under his direct control, and that the Provinces should be mapped out into certain districts, each having an officer under the

Director in London. The proposals of the Bill were rather intended to meet exceptional cases than to disturb the general system at present prevailing; and regulations would be made by the Attorney General, with the approval of the Secretary of State, as to the excep be undertaken, and as to the mode in tional cases in which prosecutions would

which the Director of Public Prosecutions would give advice. Solicitors would be appointed for the Assizes, and there would be a staff in the Director's Department, the number of which would depend on the work to be done. It would not be large at first. For the

Order of the Day for the Second Read- first time, the Law Officers would have ing, read.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR, in moving that the Bill be now read a second time, said, it had already received the sanction of the other House of Parliament. Its object was to give effect to the recommendation of a Commission appointed last year to consider the subject, and to establish a Public The Lord Chancellor

an Office in London, and there would be a continuity of rules in their Department. The noble and learned Earl concluded by moving the second reading.

Moved, "That the Bill be now read 2a." -(The Lord Chancellor.)

LORD ABERDARE said, though the Bill fell far short of what had long been called for by those who were in favour

Motion agreed to; Bill read 2a accordingly, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House on Friday next.

DISQUALIFICATION BY MEDICAL
RELIEF BILL.-(No. 6.)

(The Lord Aberdare.)

COMMITTEE.

Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee, read.

of a Public Prosecutor, he approved of LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY it, as he thought it would be useful in disapproved of the principle of the Bill, its operation by having a tendency to and said, that it was admitted that the prevent the scandals which now occa- present system worked well in criminal sionally arose. During the time he was prosecutions. At present, the reputation responsible for the discharge of the of the Attorney General, or of other duties of Home Secretary, he found by lawyers instructed by the Solicitor for his official experience that there were the Treasury, was as much founded on many defects in the existing system of defences as on prosecutions, and they criminal administration; but there was could afford to be fair, and not to stretch no part of it with which there was so points unduly; but the reputation of much dissatisfaction as the very large these new Public Prosecutors would enpowers exercised by the Home Se- tirely depend upon the number of concretary. A large part of these cases victions they obtained, and it was imposarose from the imperfect inquiry as to sible that they should not be biassed by the antecedents of the prisoner, with re- that. spect to whom, after his trial and conviction, facts often transpired which ought to have been known to the Judge and Jury at the time of the trial. From Scotland, where such inquiries were carefully made, there was not only a larger proportion of convictions to prosecutions than in England, but a far smaller relative number of appeals to the interference of the Home Secretary. The necessity of careful examination when the case was in progress was proved when, after sentence, the Secretary of State was called on to make fresh inquiries. If every case were, in the first instance, fully investigated, there would be less necessity than now for the exercise of the power vested in the Home Secretary; but its exercise was at times necessary because of the discovery of important evidence after the trial. In his own experience, a man killed another apparently without cause. He was found lying by the side of the murdered man, whom he had not robbed. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death, and it was only after his sentence that, local inquiries having been made, it was discovered that he suffered from epileptic fits, and that when labouring under them he was dangerous to those who approached him, so much so, that his fellow-colliers had pressed the manager of the mine in which he was employed not to allow him to work with them. In Scotland, in such a case, all the antecedents of the prisoner would have been fully inquired into before the trial, and the Home Secretary would not have been obliged to have recourse to irregular means to discover what the facts of the case were. The Bill, in his opinion, would bring about a change which would be acceptable to the country.

House in Committee accordingly.

THE DUKE OF RICHMOND AND GORDON said, that by the Bill, as it originally stood, no one would be disqualified by the receipt of parochial relief in certain cases from exercising the franchise. The question had been considered, and it appeared that the only relaxation of the Poor Law of 1835 was that by the Statute 25 & 26 Vict. c. 83, s. 6, an Act applying solely to Ireland. This provision he proposed to adopt in the Bill. Under the Act in question a person who had obtained medical relief in a Union fever hospital could ask to re-pay the Guardians the cost of that relief, and, if he did so, the fact of his having received it did not deprive him of electoral rights. The noble Duke concluded by moving the Amendment of which he had given Notice, as follows:

In Clause 1, page 1, line 9, after (“family”) leave out to the end of the clause and insert ("has before or after the passing of this Act received relief and medical treatment as an inpatient of any hospital or infirmary maintained under the laws for the relief of the poor in condangerous disease, provided such person shall sequence of such patient suffering from any have repaid or tendered to the authority of such