but you must understand that if this I would as soon think of voting for a tramway goes along the river side there rate-aided stage coach as for this Bill. are no streets to cross with the

London GRATUITIES TO ENGLISH PRISONERS. MR. PICKERSGILL: I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons discharged from local prisons in England and Wales during the year ended 31st March, 1897, received a gratuity of £2, the maximum allowed by the Prison Act?

not been able to defray one-half of the cost of such patients, which, on its initiation, it was supposed to do, the rate-inaid amounting to 48. per week; and whether he is aware that the rate-in-aid allowed to Scotch asylums was increased last year to 4s. 3d. per week?

the accounts of every Irish railway whether State-aided or otherwise?

to this company; (3) is it the fact that the company is paying a dividend of 7 per cent. on its entire system, while exacting 4d. in the pound off a congested district in Donegal; (4) can he say what security the guaranteeing baronies have as to the method of calculating earnings and charg ing expenses on the guaranteed part of THE CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE the system under which the ratepayers LORD LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND are called upon to make good a deficit (Mr. GERALD BALFOUR, Leeds, Central): It while other parts of the line are earning is not correct to say that the Parliamen- 7 per cent; (5) have the Board of Works tary grant in aid of the cost of maintenance power under the Act of 1896 to order of Irish pauper lunatics was supposed, or an inquiry into these matters; (6) can he calculated, to defray one-half of the cost state the average earnings per mile per of maintenance. The grant has always week of the guaranteed portion and been a contribution in aid of the local the non-guaranteed portion of the cost of maintenance at the maximum line, with the outlay charged against each rate of 48. a head per week. The contri-section; and (7) whether the Treasury bution has been limited to this maximum have statutory authority to examine into rate, irrespective of what the local cost may be, and it is not proposed to increase the rate. The honourable Member is also under a misapprehension in regard to the Scotch grant. The contribution in aid of pauper lunatics in Scotland is fixed by an Act of 1892 at £115,500 per annum, and is paid out of the Local Taxation Account for Scotland. It is true that this grant in the year 1896-7 was equivalent to a rate of about 4s. 3d. for each lunatic whose maintenance cost 8s. per week, or upwards. Where the cost of maintenance was less than 8s. per week. the rate was proportionately less. For the year 1897-8 the grant was equivalent to a rate of 4s. 2d. per week in cases where the cost was 8s. per week or upwards. No grant is allowed in Scotland in respect of any expenditure in excess of 8s. per week. The Irish grant, as the honour able Member is aware, has hitherto been borne on the votes, and a sum of £143,653 is provided in the Estimates for the current financial year.

THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE

TREASURY (Mr. R. W. HANBURY,
Preston): (1) I am aware of the resolu-
tion of the Dunfanaghy guardians, but
not of that of the grand jury. (2) If the
company referred to is the Lough Swilly
Railway Company-which I believe pays
a dividend of 7 per cent.-it is in con-
templation to pay certain moneys to that
company for the construction of the pro-
posed new Donegal lines; but such pay-
ments have no reference to the Letter-
kenny line. (3) The railway company do
not exact the rate of 4d. in the pound.
That rate is levied under the provisions
of an Act of Parliament for the purpose
of paying principal and interest of a loan
of £35,000 advanced by the Board of
Works for the construction of the Letter-
kenny railway. (4) The Board of Works
have power to examine-and do examine
-the accounts of the Lough Swilly Rail-
way Company, so far as regards their
working of the Letterkenny line. By the
agreement under which the company work
that line, 34 per cent. of the gross receipts
are taken by the Board of Works to pay
their charges in respect of a loan of
£50,000, the first of two loans which
they advanced for construction of the
railway. The local rates are chargeable
only in respect of the second loan of
£35,000. As the Board's receipts from
the undertaking do not suffice to cover
their charges in respect of the first loan,

the rates have to bear the full charge, to-day to consider the question of for the second loan. (5) The Act of 1896 rescinding their resolution.

does not apply to this railway, which was constructed under earlier private Acts. (6) The average earnings per mile per week of the guaranteed line are nearly £8. (7) No. The Board of Works has power of examination into any railway on which it has a mortgage, and the Treasury has also special powers under agreements for the construction and working of certain railways under the

Acts of 1889 and 1896.

PRESTATYN (FLINTSHIRE) BURIAL

DISPUTE.

NEW FOREST VERDERERS'

LITIGATION.

MR. SCOTT MONTAGU (Hants, New the Treasury, what were the costs inForest): I beg to ask the Secretary to curred by the Office of Woods and Forests or the Crown in the late case of New Forest Verderers v. the Crown; whether the Treasury is aware that the future costs of similar actions in the public interest might have to be raised by increasing the fines and dues from the commoners, who were for the most part totally unable to pay any increase; and whether he would therefore recommend that a portion at any rate of the charges thus undoubtedly incurred in the public interest should be repaid by the Treasury?

MR. HANBURY: The costs of the

MR. CARVELL WILLIAMS (Notts, Mansfield): I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that on recently receiving notice of the intended interment under the Burial Act of 1880 in the church cemetery of Prestatyn, Flintshire, of Mrs. Jones, who had resided in apartments in the parish for 18 months, the vicar refused to allow the burial to take place, on the ground that the vestry had in 1879 resolved that none but ratepayers and old inhabitants should be interred of the interests involved, were £635. in the cemetery; whether interment in the parochial graveyard cannot be claimed by law for any person dying in the parish; and whether any steps will be taken to prevent a repetition of such

an occurrence?

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT: I have made inquiry of the vicar about this case, and am informed by him that the resolution of the vestry, referred to in the Question, was directed against the interment of persons other than parishioners, and that he did not consider Mrs. Jones to be a parishioner. The vicar's refusal was given, as I understand, before any notice under the Act of 1880 was served upon him. Neither the vestry nor the vicar have, of course, any power to limit the right of burial given by the common law, but whether that right existed in the present case is a question which it is for the law courts and not for me to decide. It is stated that a meeting of the vestry has been called for

Crown in the recent case, which was compromised to avoid still greater expense out of all proportion to the value

The costs of the Verderers were, I understand, paid out of a capital sum available for the purpose, and no levy was made upon the commoners. It is hardly correct to say that the Verderers took the action they did in the public interest. It appears to have been taken solely in the interest of the local commoners for the protection of their grazing rights. I fear the Treasury would not be justified in paying for the defence of these private local rights at the cost of the general taxpayer, especially as the question of costs were left entirely for the court to decide, and it rejected the Verderers' application for costs, without even calling upon the Crown to reply.

POSTAL TELEGRAPH CHARGES.

MR. HENNIKER HEATON (Canterbury): I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as 1epresenting the Postmaster General, whether he will allow "Charing

Cross" to be placed in the same category
as "Llanfairpwllywyngyll," and counted
as one word in telegrams; what would
be the estimated loss to the Department
by allowing "Kentish Town" to be
charged as one word; and whether he is
aware that "St. Peter" is charged in
telegrams as one word, but
Peter" as two words?

Saint

MR. HANBURY: The rule that the names of separate towns and villages should be treated as one word is, I think, both reasonable and easily understood. If parts of towns are treated as one word it practically means charging as one word the whole of the address except the name of the addressee. The only possible estimate that can be made of the probable loss on charging Kentish Town as word is d. each time that district is mentioned in a telegram. Names with the prefix "St." are treated as similar names with the prefix "O"" or "Mac."

WICKLOW COASTGUARD STATION.

MR. FIELD (Dublin, St. Patrick): I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether the Inspecting Commander of Coastguards, lately appointed to the Wicklow station, whose headquarters are in Wicklow town, and whose duty and service require his presence on the coast, lives several miles inland; and whether this is in accordance with the regulations of the Coastguard system?

THE CIVIL LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN, Worcestershire, E.): The Inspection Commander of the Wicklow Division of Coastguards resides at Glenealy, four miles from Wicklow, as no suitable house could be obtained by him in Wicklow, or nearer one than Glenealy. This is in accordance with the regulations of the Coastguard.

SECRETARYSHIP OF THE NATIONAL

GALLERY.

MR. PIRIE (Aberdeen, N.): I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether, on the recent appointment of a new keeper and Secretary to the National Gallery, the Treasury took advantage of the opportunity to discontinue the allowance of £125 in lieu of a house, made as a personal allowance to the late officer, and to revise the salary of £750 for the office, which is considerably more than those paid for any of the similar posts?

PROPOSED CEMETERY AT BALLYMA-
CARETT.

COLONEL WARING (Down, N.): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether his Dr. Henry (the Medical Officer of Health attention has been called to the report of of Comber, county Down) to the rural sanitary authority of Newtownards Union, with regard to the proposed new cemetery for the Ballymacarett side of Belfast; whether steps will be taken to carry out his suggestion for the prevention of the pollution of the Comber River by the drainage from the cemetery; and in what direction it is proposed to discharge it?

MR. GERALD BALFOUR: I have been MR. HANBURY: The allowance of £125 for a house ceased on the retire-furnished by the Local Government ment of the late holder as I hope other allowances will also cease. The salary has

been reduced from £750 to one commencing at £600, and rising to £750 in eight years. The salary is in excess of that for the similar post at the Tate Gallery, only because this official has extra duties to perform as secretary and accounting officer to the trustees.

Mr. Henniker Heaton.

Board with a copy of the Report of Dr. Henry, referred to in the first paragraph of the Question. The agreement for the purchase of the site of the proposed ceme tery has not yet been completed, and the Board, before expressing their approval, will require to be satisfied that the site is a suitable one, and that the drainage of it can be effected so as not to be injurious to public health. The direct

tion in which it is proposed to discharge | the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland what is the drainage has not yet been decided the cause of the delay in carrying out by the Corporation of Belfast.

SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM

OFFICIALS' PENSIONS.

MR. C. A. WHITMORE (Chelsea): I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee

of Council on Education whether he is aware of the complaints which have been made by the attendants and messengers at the South Kensington Museum against the unequal operation of the principle on which Her Majesty's Treasury have lately assessed their pensions; whether these complaints have been supported by the official heads of that Department; whether their justice has been admitted by the Committee of Council on Education; and whether, under these circumstances, it is practicable that practicable that the grievances of these civil servants shall be referred for inquiry and report to the Select Committee which is now sitting on the Museums of the Science and Art Department?

THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ON EDUCATION

the sale of certain holdings on the Butler estate in the county of Galway, in reference to which an order was made by Mr. Justice Ross, under Section 40 of the Land Act of 1896, in December last?

MR. GERALD BALFOUR: In this case I am informed that some delay has occurred in the office of the solicitor the sale, due,

having carriage of
apparently, to the resettlement of the
rental. The resettlement is in progress,
however, and it is hoped that the request
for an inspection pursuant to Section 40
will soon be issued.

ENTERIC FEVER AMONG EUROPEAN
TROOPS IN INDIA.

I

GENERAL RUSSELL (Cheltenham): beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether the Government of India have arrived at any conclusion regarding the cause of the great increase in enteric fever among European troops in India; whether the investigations which it was promised should be made are concluded; and whether it is proposed to adopt any this malady? special measures to arrest the spread of

(Sir J. GORST, Cambridge University): Complaints have been made by the attendants and messengers at the South THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR Kensington Museum as to the assessment INDIA (Lord G. HAMILTON, Middlesex, of their pensions. These complaints Ealing): No definite conclusion has been have been forwarded by the Committee arrived at as to the cause of the increase of Council to the proper quarter. It is in enteric fever among British troops in not within their province to determine India, and the investigations on this subthe principles upon which pensions shall ject are still proceeding, selected medical be assessed. The question whether the officers having been specially detailed for Select Committee on Museums now this duty. Generally, the measures taken to check the spread of the disease are the provision of pure milk and butter, and improvement of the water supply, the improved sanitation of camps, cantonments, and barracks. One cantonment, Dragshais, where there have been serious outbreaks of enteric fever, has been completely evacuated for a year, pending the installation of an improved water supply and the disinfection of the barracks and their vicinity.

sitting should inquire into and report upon this matter is one which the Com

mittee itself should, in the first instance,

determine.

BUTLER ESTATE, COUNTY GALWAY. MR. WILLIAM REDMOND (Clare, E.) I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to

: