The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-25 00:00:00

THE CATTLE PLAGUE.

Lnrd 'AFFORD asked wheth,r there was any inten-
tion of extending the provisions of the Cattle Diseases
Act, 1866, an t rec ived an answer that the matter was
under the consideration of the Government.
EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND.

The Duke of ARGYLL then called the attention of the
hou,e to the subject of the extension and ituirovemout of
education in Scutmu I. _ .

i LEFT SPEAKING•]

11011 SE OF COMMONS—Tars EVENING.
The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock.
ARMY ESTIMATES.
Mr. CARD WELL brou3ht up the army estimates,
which were laid ou the table.
NAVY ESTIMATES.

Mr. CHILDERS also brought up the navy estimates.
POSTAGE.

Mr. GRAVES gave notice that on an early ?day he
should call the attention of the house to the subj•ct of
inland postage, and m)ve a resolution that the charge be
loss than Id. per oz. of printed matter.
LAW OF EVIDENCE. •

Mr. DENMAN gave notice that on Friday ha should
move for leave to introduco a bill to. amend the law of
evidence.

THE ESTIMATES.

Mr. CARD WELL gave notice that on Frid•iy he should
bring forward the navy estimates, and Mr. Cardwell an-
nounced that be should bring forward those for the army
on the eth of March.
THE ADMIRALTY.

Sir J. EL PIIINSTONE asked the First Lord of the
Admiralty whether aly changes had been made in the
e institution of Board of the Admiralty or Coastguard 0 ftic 3
since the accession of 413 present Ouvernai nit to office ;
and, if so, for certain particulars as to such changes,
including the number of man discharged from the
dockyards.

11117. CIIILDERS said there had been certain changes in
the Admiralty, but only to the extent of making its direc-
tion similar to that of the other departments. The
changes as regarded the personnel of the navy was no w
dealt with by himself. with the advice of the first naval
lord. That with respect to the material by the Controller
and questions of ileauce by too. fie ineial Secretary (the
member for Montrose), each being responsible to tam, the
First Lord. The Controller and Deputy-Controller of
the Coast Gu ird had boon amalgamated, and those,
with a number of other changes which had been made,
reduced the superior officers from 17 to 13; the salaries of
officers prior to the reduction was £24,901, bat since
the new arrangement it would be £21,000. (Uttar, hear.)
Instead of six oaicial residences bring occupied as for-
tnerly, there would be now only three, and as the rental
of the residences given up was worth at the least £1,200
a year the saving by that arrangement alone would be
about -3,100, besides which there would be the advantage
of concentrating the department. (Lear, hear.) There
had been a small increase in the salary of the first sea
lord, the controller and constructor of the navy, which was
now respectively £1,530, £1,700, and 31,200. There had
been some clerks discharged, but very few against their
own will, as most of them had accepted the offers made to
them or had placed their names on the redundant list,
from which they would b 3 taken as quickly as the pubiic
services would allow. The saving to the public under the
new arrangements would be about 2r.£ 14, 00 0. Noae of
the persons employed at Woolwich had yet been dis-
charged, although it was already uuderstood that Wool-
wich, as a dockyard, would be altogether closed in Octo-
ber next; but there had been 320 men discharged frrm
Portsmouth, 240 from Devonport, and about 200 in smaller
establishments. The total number of men discharged dur-
ing the last financial year amounted to about 5,000, but
of that number 2,000 had been but temporarily employed.
Most of those discharged had had their claims fully in-
vestigated and dealt with in the fairest manner with a due
regard to the public service.
sir J. ELPHINSTONE said on a future occasion he
should call attention to the subject, for the purpose of as-
certaining whether these chabges were ccnformable With
the patent of the Admiralty.
THE ALABAMA CONVENTION.
Mr. TORRENS asked the Under-Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs whether any authentic information
had been received of the rejection by the Senate of the
United States of the Convention regarding the Alabama
claims; and whether he could inform the house that the
convention regarding mutual rights of naturalisatiA2 had
beenraceTVeV
M. 0 Asaid her Majesty's Government had not
yet received any authentic intelligence of the rejection by
the United States Senate of the text of the Convention
for the settlement of the Alabama claims.
THE FENIAN CONVICTS.
In reply to Sir F. HEYGATE,
Mr. C. FORTESCUE said, in the conclusions arrived
at, the opinion of the judges had not been consulted, but
that the Government and the Lord Lieutenant had been
the only persons who had decided the matter.
OCCUPIERS FOR SHORT TERMS.
Mr. GOSCHEN moved for leave to bring in a bill to
amend the; laws with respect to the ;rates assessed upon
the occupiers for short terms. The right hon. gentleman
said,the subject of rating had given rise to much discussion,
and the result had been that legislation became imm'ment,
as the Government felt that to collect rates from weekly
tenants was unjust. By the bill he now sought to intro-
duce the Government did not wish in the slightest degree
to interfere with electoral machinery of the new Reform
Bill ; neither did they intend to raise the question as to
whether the rate book should be the register. The bill he now
wished to submit to their consideration proposed that
tenants should still be rated, but that they should be at
liberty to deduct the same frnn the rent due, or accruing
due, to their landlord, and that every payment sd made
should be deemed a valid discharge for rent. The occu-
pier was not callod upon to pay for longer than his ten-
antey. The rates were to be made quarterly, but in no
case were the weekly tenants to be called upon to pay a
larger rate than was covered by two week's runt.
The plan was in a great manner in effect in Scotland and
Ireland, and he thought that if the house adopted the bid
it would relieve the tenant from a very groat hardship
that was now inflicted on him.
Mr. GOLDNEY said he gathered from the speech of
the right hon. gentleman, that it was neither more nor
less than to remove a burden from the tenants to the
landlords.

I rLEFT SPEAKING 1

Bank of England Returns.

An Account, pursuant to t
cap. 82, for the week ending

the Act 7th and Bth Victoria,
Wednesday, Feb. 24, 1869.
PARTMENT.
Govcrnint. Debt £11,015,100
Other Securities 3,984,900
Gold Coin and
Bullion
Silver Bullion

ISSUE
Notes issued ....C32,183,55.5

£32,183,535
BANKING D.

4.32,163,535

Proprietors' Capi-
tal .£14,353,000
test
Public Depu;:its
(including Ex-
chequer, Sav-
ings' Banks,
Commissioners
of National
Debt, and Div.
Acco.unts 5,030,893
Other Deposits.. 17,469 13l
Seven Days and "Rtk
other Bills t.. 457,066

ePARTMENT.
CI-oval-unit. Seca-
rities(includiug
Delta IV,!ight
Annuity) .... E. 14,076,537
Other Securities 16,308,037
Notes 9,338,275
Ciuld Silver
Coin

X 40,866,509
Grorti

£40,860,509
ER FORBES, Chief Cashier.