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the officer or non-commissioned officer | this man pending an investigation of would order the removal of the emblem the facts of the case, and until the badge, or whatever it was, without re- House is afforded an opportunity of gard to what it was. considering the matter?

MR. P. O'BRIEN: I beg to ask the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether it is a custom with the Northumberland Fusiliers, when parading on St. George's Day (23rd April), for all officers and men by order to wear two roses, red and white, in their busbies; and whether English, Irish, Scotch, and Welsh soldiers in that regiment are obliged, under pain of punishment for disobedience, to conform to this custom; if so, whether he will cause an order to be made that the wearing of shamrock on St. Patrick's Day shall be discretionary in the Army?

*MR. BRODRICK: The Commanderin-Chief is not cognisant of the custom referred to in the question. There is no necessity to issue an order as to the wearing of the shamrock on St. Patrick's Day, as such matters are within the discretion of commanding officers.

MR. P. O'BRIEN: Seeing how unfairly the discretion is used, is it not desirable that some instructions should be issued? May I also ask, Could not the information be obtained?

*MR. BRODRICK: I think the hon. Member is incorrect in saying that the discretion has been unfairly used. It is not alleged that any application has been made to a commanding officer for leave to wear the shamrock and refused. As regards the custom mentioned in the question, it is not within the knowledge of the War Office, and as it does not come within the regulations for discipline it has not been thought necessary to make inquiry.

MR. P. O'BRIEN: I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether his attention has been called to a report from the Press Association that a stoker at the Seamen's Barracks, Devonport, was ordered 14 days' imprisonment for wearing the shamrock on St. Patrick's Day last; whether he can give the name of the man imprisoned, and of the officer who gave the sentence, and the general circumstances of this case; and, if the Press report is true, whether he will order the release of

Mr. Brodrick

LORD G. HAMILTON: I am informed that Frederick Dwyer, stoker, while on parade at Divisions, was ordered by the lieutenant on duty to take some green decoration out of his cap, and that he refused to obey the order. This was reported to Commander Neville, who thereupon punished the man with 14 days, number 10a, for wilful disobedience in refusing to obey orders. Commander Neville subsequently reduced this sentence to seven days, number 10a. This is one of the ordinary summary punishments authorised by the Regulations in such cases. Grog is stopped, smoking is forbidden, and the offender is practically confined to barracks, but he is not imprisoned. Considering that disobedience to orders is a grave offence against discipline, I do not think the punishment inflicted was severe, nor do I propose to interfere in the matter.

MR. P. O'BRIEN: I beg to give notice that on the first opportunity I will press this matter upon the attention of the House.

MR. T. P. O'CONNOR (Liverpool, Scotland): I would ask the noble Lord if there is any other instance on record of anyone in the National Service having been punished for wearing a national decoration?

LORD G. HAMILTON: I cannot answer that question, but I may say that no decorations of any kind are permitted to be worn by men in Her Majesty's uniform.

MR. SEXTON: I would ask the noble Lord whether there is any objection to the Admiralty issuing a General Order or indication that the Admiralty does not desire that Irishmen in the Service should be required to remove green decorations on St. Patrick's Day.

LORD G. HAMILTON: Whatever Regulation applies to Irishmen must apply to all other nationalities.

MR. J. O'CONNOR (Tipperary, S.): I would ask the noble Lord whether as an Irishman he has ever worn the shamrock himself on St. Patrick's Day?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, order!

MR. P. O'BRIEN: I would like to ask the noble Lord whether, seeing the near approach of Primrose Day, he will give orders that primroses are not to be worn by soldiers or sailors on that day?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, order!

LABOURERS' COTTAGES, ROSCREA UNION.

MR. A. O'CONNOR (Donegal, E.): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether representations from ratepayers of the Borris in Ossory and Moneenalassa electoral divisions of the Roscrea Union for the erection of labourers' cottages were lodged as far back as December, 1888; whether any of these cottages have yet been built; whether the Guardians have even yet obtained possession of the plots of land for their erection; whether the Board of Works required a sum of £30 to be lodged be fore the Government arbitrator was allowed to proceed with the valuation of three half-acre plots; and whether any of this money has been returned to the Roscrea Board, or any account furnished of its disbursement?

*MR. JACKSON: The proposal to provide labourers' cottages in the case mentioned was first submitted to the Local Government Board in December, 1889, and was duly sanctioned under a Provisional Order. The information before me does not show whether the Guardians have yet obtained possession of the land. The Board of Works did obtain the deposit mentioned. They have not yet accounted with the Guardians, as they are awaiting the furnishing by the Arbitrator of his bill of costs.

MR. A. O'CONNOR: Will the Board of Works continue to exact the heavy deposit of £10 in each case, seeing that very often the purchase money does not exceed that?

MR. JACKSON: That is rather a question for the Secretary to the Treasury.

MR. A. O'CONNOR: The right hon. Gentleman may recollect that when he filled the office of Secretary to the Treasury he offered to look into this

matter.

MR. JACKSON: I did make inquiry when I was in Dublin, when, if I re

member aright, the question was the provision of labourers' cottages in a Union in the South of Ireland. The suggestion made was whether a local valuer could not be employed instead of sending down an officer from Dublin. I made inquiries, and I was then told that it was very difficult to arrange that, because in many of these cases it was very difficult to find a local valuer not in some way connected with the matter. The object, of course, is by inquiry to obtain an independent opinion. I did make the suggestion to the Board of Works that they should try and limit the amount of the deposit to what would be a fair amount of the charge.

MR. A. O'CONNOR: Will the right hon. Gentleman see that the unexpended balance is returned to the Guardians?

MR. JACKSON: That is rather a question for the Treasury.

LOANDA TRADE REPORT.

MR. NEVILLE (Liverpool, Exchange): I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the British Consul at Loanda, who receives £700 a year, has made any later Report on the trade of Loanda than that for 1886-7; and if he will explain why regular information is not forwarded to the Foreign Office?

THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. J. W. LOWTHER, Cumberland, Penrith): Reports from Loanda were received and issued by the Foreign Office in 1888 and in 1889. In 1890 the Consul at Loanda, Mr. Annesley, was engaged in special duties in the Oil Rivers district (owing to the illness and subsequent death of Consul Hewett). In 1891 Consul Annesley resigned in consequence of ill-health. Acting Consul Brock was instructed on the 2nd of January last to send home a Report on the trade of Loanda, and he is now engaged in preparing it.

ULVERSTON POSTMASTERSHIP. MR. NEVILLE: I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether the Postmastership at Ulverston, worth £215 per annum, was recently given to a lady who had previously acted as sorting clerk at a salary of 30s. a week;

whether there were many applicants for the post of higher position and longer service; whether such rapid promotion is usual in the Service; and whether in this instance outside influence was brought to bear in respect of the appointment?

SIR J. FERGUSSON: The answer to the first paragraph of the question is, Yes. It was given to Miss Margaret Hornsby, the daughter of the late Postmaster, who in one capacity or another had assisted her father in the office during a period of 18 years. The answer to the second paragraph is, Yes, and to the third, No. To the last paragraph I answer, Yes, in this sense that the locality presented a very influential memorial, and recommended her appointment as Postmistress in succession to her father.

THE PETTY SESSIONS BENCH, RAMEL-
TON, COUNTY DONEGAL.
MR. MAC NEILL: I beg to ask the
Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant
of Ireland whether he is aware that on
the Petty Sessions Bench at Ramelton,
County Donegal, a town with 1,700
inhabitants, of whom fully half are
Roman Catholics, there are six Magis-
trates, and of these five are members of
the Irish Episcopal Church and one a
Presbyterian; and whether he will con-
sider the propriety of taking steps to
secure that members of the Roman
Catholic faith should form part of a
Court in which justice is administered
to so large a Roman Catholic popula-
tion?

any properly qualified Roman Catholics submitted to him, and the Lord Chancellor to give effect to such recommendations when made.

MR. MAC NEILL: There is a vacancy on the Petty Sessions Bench. Will the right hon. Gentleman undertake that if a Roman Catholic gentleman is recommended and found qualified he shall be appointed?

*MR. JACKSON: It is quite out of my power to give any such undertaking; but I am sure if the hon. Member will recommend to the Lord Lieutenant of the county or the Lord Chancellor a suitable person, that recommendation will be most carefully considered.

MR. MAC NEILL: I do not intend that the Lord Lieutenant or the Lord Chancellor should dispense patronage

to me.

MILITARY CANDIDATES-WOOLWICH
AND SANDHURST.

MR. MAC NEILL: I beg to ask the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether the Queen's Regulations require a candidate who presents himself for admission to the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, or the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, to obtain acertificate of moral and satisfactory conduct from his tutor; and whether these certificates are ever dispensed with by the Authorities at the Horse Guards; and, if so, how many of such dispensations have been granted in each of the last three years, and on what grounds?

MR. BRODRICK: The Regulations require certificates as to moral character for the last four years in the case of candidates for the Royal Military College and the Royal Military Academy. This rule is so rigidly adhered to that there has been only one exception during the last three years, and in that case the certificate was only dispensed with under the most special circumstances and after the fullest inquiry.

*MR. JACKSON: I am an unwilling assistant of the hon. Gentleman in his self-imposed task of taking a religious census of the officials of Ireland; but the Secretary to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland reports that there are seven Magistrates attending the Petty Sessions mentioned. The religious denominations of six of these Magistrates is, it is believed, as stated in the question. There is no information on this point as regards the seventh, nor is there information as to the relative PAY OF OFFICERS COMMANDING proportion of the several religious denominations in the district, though I am informed that the statistics of the hon. Member are inaccurate. The Lord Lieutenant of the county is always ready to consider the names of Mr. Neville

DEPOT CENTRES.

COLONEL NOLAN: I beg to ask the Financial Secretary to the War Office what is the total cost of the pay and allowances of the officers commanding depôt centres?

MR. BRODRICK: The cost of employing these officers, instead of giving them the retired pay to which they are entitled and receiving no service in return for it, is £10,950.

COLONEL NOLAN: That is not the information I want. My question is, what is the total cost?

*MR. BRODRICK: I can supply that information, but I thought the hon. and gallant Gentleman wished to know the extra cost.

COLONEL NOLAN: I will repeat the question to-morrow.

FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE.

MR. COBB (Warwick, S.E., Rugby): I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture when the promised new Order will be issued with respect to districts infected with the foot-andmouth disease, to meet, as far as is practicable and safe, the convenience of farmers by permitting beasts to be sent to the Metropolitan Market under proper restrictions?

THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE (Mr. CHAPLIN, Lincolnshire, Sleaford): Beasts can be sent now to the Metropolitan Market from every district in England and Wales, except the Counties of Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Cheshire, portions of Essex and Westmoreland, and part of Lancashire-which I have been compelled to close this morning-and from the districts other than those which are scheduled in Scotland. I hope the new Order to which the hon. Member refers will be issued during the course of the present week.

Willesden, near Bingley, occurred on 19th January last. The district, as the hon. Member is aware, is a cowbreeding one, and, when free, animals are distributed from it widely over the West Riding and Lancashire. It is, moreover, a district that imports considerable numbers of store cattle from Ireland, an importation which is not without danger. I am afraid that for the present the restrictions on the movement of stock out of the district must continue in force.

THE CONVICTS DALY AND EGANSUPERINTENDENT BLACK.

MR. J. E. REDMOND (Waterford): I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to a paragraph which appeared in the London correspondence of the Manchester Evening Mail on 4th March, 1892, in which it is stated that a certain exInspector of police in the provinces absconded; whether the police officer referred to is the Inspector who was the chief witness for the Crown in the prosecution of James Egan and John Daly for treason-felony, and who was in charge of the police who arrested both of them; whether this Inspector has absconded, and whether any charges affecting this Inspector's official career have come to the knowledge of the authorities; whether he is aware that a public testimonial to the Inspector, headed by the Mayor of Birmingham, and another promoted by the police of that city, were abandoned at the request of Mr. Farndale, Chief Constable of Police, acting on

PLEURO-PNEUMONIA IN THE SKIPTON behalf of the authorities, and in con

DIVISION.

MR. MORRISON (York, W.R., Skipton): I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture what is the date of the last outbreak of pleuropneumonia in the Skipton Petty Sessional Division, and the probable time when the restrictions on the movement of stock out of that district will be abrogated?

MR. CHAPLIN: The last two outbreaks of pleuro-pneumonia nearest to the town of Skipton were, one near Grassington, on 8th September, 1891, and the other near Bingley, on 31st November, 1891. Another outbreak at

sequence of the allegations in question having come to their knowledge; and whether, as John Daly and James Egan were convicted largely on the evidence of this Inspector, an investigation will be instituted by the authorities into his official career?

MR. MATTHEWS: I have not seen the newspaper paragraph mentioned in the question, but I learn that its effect is correctly stated. I understand that the officer referred to is ex-Detective Superintendent Black, of the Birmingham police, who was a witness at the trial of Egan and Daly. He was not the officer in charge of the police who

arrested Egan and Daly. Mr. Black
writes to me from Birmingham that he
has not absconded, and his statement
is confirmed in an official Report which
I have received from the Chief Con-
stable. Mr. Black also informs me
that it is his intention, in consequence
of these allegations, to place the
matter in the hands of a solicitor, with
a view to vindicate his character. It is
the fact that a meeting was held by a
number of the inhabitants of the City
of Birmingham, but not headed by the
Mayor, with the object of raising funds
for a testimonial to Mr. Black, and
that subscriptions were invited in the
local newspapers.
I am informed that
Mr. Black put an end to the project
himself by publishing a letter in which
he respectfully declined the testimonial.
This letter led also to the abandonment
of a movement on the part of the police
to collect subscriptions from the general
body of the Force. The Chief Con-
stable was not spoken to on this sub-
ject, and did not request that the sub-
scriptions should be abandoned. I do
not admit that Daly and Egan were
convicted largely on the evidence of
this officer. I am not aware that the
Watch Committee of Birmingham in-
tend to institute an investigation into
his official career.

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THE LAGOS TREATIES.

MR. DALZIEL (Kirkcaldy, &c.) I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether Her Majesty's Government are aware that the Treaty recently signed at Lagos by Mr. S. T. Carter, on behalf of this country and certain Jebus, was invalid in consequence of its not having been executed with the authority of the King and head chiefs of the Jebu people after consultation at a national council duly summoned with the necessary formalities required by native custom; whether the Treaties said to be concluded by the Egbas are similarly defective; and whether, before sanctioning any offensive operations against these independent kingdoms, the Secretary of State would cause careful inquiry to be made as to the circumstances under which these informal documents are considered

BARON H. DE WORMS: A deputation sent to Lagos by the King of Jebu for the purpose of expressing the wishes of his people stated that they represented the whole of the Jebu nation, and that they had full authority_to treat with the Lagos Government. The two Lagos Jebus who witnessed the agreement attested that the messengers

66

MR. J. E. REDMOND: The informa-binding upon Jebuan and Egban subtion I have is of such a character that I jects by the Lagos Government? must ask the right hon. Gentleman another question in reference to this matter. I desire to ask him whether allegations have been made against this police officer of having been engaged for years in a criminal conspiracy; whether the authorities, as soon as these allegations came to their knowledge, went or sent to the testimonial committee and intimated that the testimonial proceedings should be stopped; whether the letter which the right hon. Gentleman has alluded to as having been written by Mr. Black, asking that the testimonial proceedings should be stopped, was written at the instance of the police authorities; and, if these facts are so, whether, in view of the important part played by this police officer in the trial and conviction of Daly and Egan, the right hon. Gentleman will consider the propriety of instituting a judicial investigation into the circum

stances?

Mr. Matthews

In the name of the Awujale and people of Jebu, and on their behalf, agreed to all the terms of the agreement, and undertook to carry thorised to do so. The representatives further them out, and declared that they were ausignified their acceptance of the terms by taking the country oath on kolas and water." The only Treaty with the Egbas is the one of 5th January, 1852. It was concluded by authorised persons, and there is no reason to suppose it is not valid.

MR. SUMMERS: Was this Treaty with the Jebus confirmed by the chiefs?

BARON H. DE WORMS: It was made by the King.

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