The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-05-28 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

In the HOUSE OF LORDS, May 23, the Prince of Wales
has in his place en the cross benches.
The Lord Chancellor brought in a Bill to facilitate the
apprehension in the British , olonies of persons who have
committed criminal offences, whether felonies or otherwise,
In the United Kingdom, and to effect the same object in
respect of offenders escaping from ,cine British Colony to
another.
The Bill was read a first time.

Lord Lansdowne moved for a Committee to inquire into
the operation of the Irish Jury Laws in respect of Trial by
Jury in Criminal cases.
Lord Carlingford, speaking on behalf of the Government,
admitted that an ample case existed for a full inquiry by
means of a Select Committee into the necessity of some
further change of the law than had been effected by Lord
O'Hagan's Act.
Lord Denman and Lord Oranmore made some remarks
and Lord OH agan concurred with the Government in think-
ing that an inquiry was desirable.
The motion was then agreed to.

A number of Bills having been advanced a stage, their
Lordships adjourned at twenty-live minutes past' six
o'clock.

In the HousE OF COMMONS, the cttuestions addressed to the
Treasury Bench were over sixty is number, and "question
time" lasted close upon two hours.
In answer to Mr. Monk and Mr. Henderson, Sir C. Dilke
ininounced that the British Comrmissioners for negotiating
the French Treaty of Commerce would be himself, Sir C. R.
Wilson, Mr. Kennedy, and Mr. Crowe, the British Consul-
General at Dtlsseldorf. Every opportunity, he said, would
be offered to the commercial communities to lay informa-
tion before the Commission, which he believed would com-
mence its sittings on Thursday.
Mr. Fawcett, in answer to Sir 11. Wolff, said that in the
inquiries he had been lately making into the position of the
tele.:raphists he had seen reason to direct particular atten-
tion to the question of overtime. Although the length of
the ordinary day's work was eight hours, it was often ar-
ranged that the sixteen hours worked in two days should be
ivi led into a short day's work of three hours, succeeded by
one of thirteen hours, and after working thirteen hours the
telegraphists not infrequently volunteered to work overtime.
It had occasionally happened that a telegraphist had been
on duty twenty-one hours. He was sure that such an
amount of continuous duty must be alike injurious to the
telegraphist and to the interests of the public service. In
tthe proposals he was about to make with regard to the
luture position of the telegraphists the question of overtime
would be dealt with in such a way as would, he hoped, pre-
vent such excessive employment in future: (Hear, hear.)

Majoribanks asked the Secretary of State for War
Whether he would state the reasons why York had been pre-
'tenet to Berwick-on-Tweed as the head-quarters of the
iiring's Own Borderers, a regiment essentially Scotch in its
privileges, history, and origin.
Mr. Childers. in reply, said—l have to state that the 25th
Regimes bus been localised at York since the year 1873, but ,
that we have endeavoured to see whether some arrangement
might not be made more in harmony with the traditions of
the regiment, whose title is the Borderers, by moving them '
to Berwick. But this would have necessitated arrangements
as to the affiliated Militia battalions which are practically
imposeible, and also would have raised difficulties as to
barracks. With great reluctance, therefore, I have decided
tint it will be best to leave matters as they are.
111 answer to a question from Sir J. Kennaway, Mr.
Gladstone said that the proposal to license the sale of drink
tln railway cars, Which had been made as an administrative
and not a financial measure, had been killed by the opposi-
tion it had excited, and as he could not afford the two or
three hours which its discussion would require, it would be
withdrawn.
gr. Labouchere asked the Secretary of State for India
whether it was contemplated to make a present of £12,000
to Sir Frederick Roberts for his services in Afghanistan;
whether such moneys were to be furnished by the inhabi-
tants of India or those of the United Kingdom; and
whether the House would have an opportunity of expressing
an opinion upon this present before any decision should be
finally taken by her Majesty's Government in the matter.
The Marquis of Hartington: The noble lord the member
for Woodstock has a question upon the paper on the same
subject as that to which this question refers. Coasidering
the exeeptional character of the noble lord's question,
perhaps he would be good enough to read it out at full
length. (Hear, hear.)
Lord It. Churchill said he would wait until his question,
which was the 48th on the paper, should be reached.
The Marquis of Hartington : "In reply to the hon. mem-
ber for Northampton, I have to say that I stated some
time ago in moving a vote of thanks to the Army in
Afghanistan that Her Majesty had been graciously pleased
to confer a baronetcy upon General Stewart and General
,Roberts and that, in accordance with precedents, the Council
cd India had voted the sum of £l,OOO a year to each of them,
oe.as an alternative the sum of £12,500 in commutation of
a peusion. These sums will be charged on the revenues of
India,, and have been voted by the authority of the Council ,
of India, The sanction of Parliament to this grant is not
necessary, And the matter will not be brought before this
House unless my hon. friend the member for Northampton
or some other member thinks it necessary to call attention
specifically to the subject. The noble lord the member for
Woodstock puts a question on the same subject, and as he
declines to read it, I shall myself have to put the House
to the trouble of listening to it. lam asked by the noble
lord Whether it is a fact that Sir Garnet Wolseley
received for his eminent services in Ashantee a grant of
£25,000; whether General Sir Frederick Roberts on his re- ,
turn from India was definitely informed by him, in re-
turn for his equally eminent services in Afghanistan, he
would receive a grant of £20,000; and whether Sir Frederick
Roberts, on his return home from South Africa, was in-
formed that the grant of £20,000 had been reduced by him
to e. 12,000 ; and, if so, why the grant originally promised
had riot been made. In reply to these questions I have to
state that I believe that Sir Garnet Wolseley did receive
£25,000. But that was a grant made by Parliament, while
the sums which have bean voted to Sir D. Stewart and Sir
F. Roberts were voted by the Council of India on my re-
commendation, strict Indian preeedepts being followed. In
reply to the second question, I neve to state that
Sir F. Roberts returned home from India in November,
that I never had any communication whatever with him
on the subject of a pension or grant of any kind until
February 26, 1881, and that in informing him of the honour
which Her Majesty's Government proposed to confer upon
him I used these words,—' I propose to submit to the
Council de India that a grant of £l,OOO a year for life be
made to you,' A day or two afterwards I saw Sir F.
Roberts, and I had some conversation with lam, the exact
Purport of which I ceranot, of course, vouch for. The effect
of it, however, was that he felt some natural hesitation
about accepting an hereditary honour when the pension by'
which it was to be accompanied Was limited to his own life.
In consequence of that conversation I wrote him a letter on
March 1, in which I said that precedent wee clearly
in favour of limiting any grant from the Revenues et
India to one Life, and that I should have great difficulty in
inducing the Council pf India to depart from that course.
I addel that I thought the Council would be prepared to
Consider favourably any reensect he might make to commute
d ension for a capital sum. Sig Frederick Roberts left
for Natal a day or two after the receipt of that letter, after
having signed his grateful acceptance of the gift, and his
wish that the pension should be comnsuted for a eapitel
sum. Some delay took place in the final settlement ,of the
matter, in consequence of its being Seeertained that owing
to the provisions of an Act of Parliament it would not be
possible for either sir Donaid Stewart or Sir Frederick
Roberts to draw a pensiop of £l,OOO a year while they
held the offices of commander-iiifehief in India or Madras.
They finally answered, accepting a peneion of £l,OOO a year
when they could legally receive it, or, as an alternative, the
sum of £12,500, which was in both cases in excess of the
actuarial value of a pension of £l,OOO a year. Therefore
there is no ground whatever for saying that I ever assured
Sir F. Roberts that he would receive a sum of £25,000, or
any sum other than that which I have mentioned."
Tt?e noble Marquis concluded by warmly challenging the
noble terd to say whether he had any other grounds for
this question than the statements published in a weekly
paper.
Lord R. Churchill said he Was not in the habit of putting
questions on such grounds, anti he had acted on information
which had come into his possession.
On the motion for going into Committee on the customs
and Inland Revenue Bill,
Mr. Pell moved a resolution calling for an annual state-
inent of Local taxation along with the _Budget, so as to afford
the House 44 opportunity of reviewing, as a whole, the
requisitions made on the nation for local as well as Imperial
purposes. In support of it he dwelt on the rapid increase of
Is taxation and of local indebtedness, and contended that
the only means of imposing an effectual check on this increase
would be to keep the subject steadily before the public and
Parliament.
Sir M. Lopes, in seconding the motion, chowed that the
locai indebtedness is increasing at the rate of ten millions
a year, and that the total amount has now risen to 150 mil-
lion pound.
Mr. Rathbone insisted that a more scientific arrangement
of local authorities was indispensable to ecoesorey, and Mr.
T. Collins maintained that the borrowing powers of local
authorities should be limited to 30 years.
Mr. Gladstone ptofessed himself favourable to the spirit of
the Resolution as well as every proposal for improving and
Simplifying the form of accounts of our local finances. It
would not be convenient, however, that such a statement
should be made at the same time as the Budget,
and the President of the Local Government Board,
who was anxious to make a statement, would take
as early an opportunity as possible, Without com-
mitting himself to any definite proposal, he suggested that
there should be a standing Committee on Local accounts on
the model of the seleet committee on Public Accounts; but
whatever good might be effected by presenting the accounts ,
from time to time, there could be no final settlement of the
fundamental questions of local taxation apert from the great
question of local self-government.
After some further discussion, in which Mr. Selater-
Booth, Mr, Heneage, Mr. Leighton, and Mr. Paget took
part, the resolution was negatived.
Mr. Meaclver addressed the House at some length in
favour a replacing Customs duties upon such foreign im-
portations as come into unfair competition with the in-
dustries of Great Britain and Ireland.
After a short discussion, Mr. Gladstone pointed out the
Incongruity of the subjects referred to with the subject
matter of the Bill.
The House then went into Committee on the Bill—various
elatees of which were diseussed up to shortly after two
o'clock, when a prolonged disenssion took place over the
question whether progress should be reported. Mr. Glad-
stone finally gave way.
The orders of the day were next taken up, tad the fourth
order—the Land Tax Commissioners' Names Bill—oacepied
the attention of the House until twenty minutes past three.
The remaining orders were then got through, after which
hr. McCarthy, in a lengthy speech, proposed his motion
in reference to the arrest of lit. Dilwu and the Executive
in Ireland generally.
On the Motion of Mr. 0:Donnell, the debate was ad,
burned, and the Ilouse was counted out at Five Minutes
to Four.

In the HotISE OF Lour's, May 24, the Duke of Argyll gave
notice that on the 17th of Jane he will call attention to the
report of the Bessborough Commission on the Irish Land
Laws.
Lord Granville, replying to Lord Rosebery, said he under-
toed that the convention between Greece and Turkey had
• been signed that afternoon.
Their lordships having gone into committe on the
Charitable Trusts Act Amendment Bill, of which the Lord
Chancellor has charge, Lord Cairns moved to omit the clause
Which empowered the Charity Commissioners to make an
Order vesting all the real and personal property of a e1:41.4y
in the official trustees. The Lord Chancellor opposed the
motion, which was, however, carried by one hundred and
oix to seventy-five.
Lord fialisbury carried, against the opposition of the Lord
Chancellor, by ninety-six to fifty-nine, an A_mendment to
to the Third Clause, excepting from the powers conferred on
the Commissioners that of making orders for the establish.
ment of a scheme for the administration of a Charity.
Other Amendments were made, and the Bill passed
through Committee.
The other orders having been disposed of, their lordships
adjourned at ten minutes to nine o'clock,
The HougN OF Common met at two o'elock, when Mr.
Ona/nw, in asking whether there was any official aonlimation
of the news of Mr. Adam's death, took the opportunity of
giving expression to the general regret felt on both sides,
and Mr. Gladstone, who said that a telegram had just been
received confirming the news, thanked Air. Onslow for his
eulogistic reference and bore his tcatiniony to its complete
iustiee. Sir S. Northcote also said a few words in acknow-
Ledgment of the universal esteem in which Mr. 443111 was
held.
_ln answer to a question as to the affairs of Tunis, Sir C.
Dilice said there was no correspondence at the Foreign
Office with the Italian Government respecting Tripoli, and
that the Government had no information that the German
Government had offered its mediation.
In reply to a question put on behalf of Mr Whitworth,
I: I ail_ co, whether, if the Prime Minister, owing to the long-
: sow coPtUalled cheapness of money in this country, should deter-
mine upon the reduction of the interest on Consols, the
holders could
paid demand more than par for the portion to be
off,
Mr. Gladstone said that with regard to the particularques-
tion he should be sorry
the expectation thatrry to say anything which should lead to
be effeetaL There an operation of this kind was about to
was a Bill coming on, with regard to which

he had obtained a preliminary resolution, for the conversion
of terminable annuities, and on which any remarks he had
to make would be more appropriate. They had recently
come into a state of things in the Money Market in which
just as 3 per cent. Metropolitan stocks had come
to bear better p, ices relatively, than 3, so 2i public stock
had come to bear a better price than 3 per cent. Under
these circumstances, they had made some sales to the public
of 2i per cent. which had been advantageous. With regard
to the immediate question, there was no doubt due notice
must be given before any operation could be effected, and the
legal obligation was strictly limited either to paying 3 per
cent. perpetual annuity or the sum of £lOO.
The adjourned debate on Mr. J. M'Carthy's vote of cen-
sure on Mr. Forster's administration of the Coercion Act
was resumed by Mr. O'Donnell, and continued by Mr.
Litton, Mr. Forster, Mr. Plunkett, and Al r. O'Sullivan, who
moved the adjournment of the debate, which was resisted
by Mr. Gladstone. Mr. Parnell having insisted upon the right
of Irish members to reply, Mr. Callan spoke until the hour
for adjournment arrived.

At the Evening Sitting the House was counted out before
any business was done