THE FIRST COMMISSIONER OF fishery officer stationed at Stornoway is WORKS (Mr. HERBERT GLADSTONE, removed to the East Coast during the Leeds, W.) I do not recollect having great summer herring fishing, steps will given any such promise to spend about be taken by the Fishery Board to retain £20 to carry out the necessary work for a representative at that and other the protection of the Druidical Stones, stations in Ross and Cromarty throughand approaches thereto, at Callernish, out the year? Island of Lewis. The view of the *SIR G. O. TREVELYAN: I am not Office of Works is, that, whilst Govern-aware that numerous steam trawlers ment is bound to protect and maintain work off the coasts of the Island of this ancient monument, and is entitled Lewis, or that, in the absence of a gunto the means of access thereto for that purpose, the Act does not impose upon Government the duty of maintaining or repairing the approaches.

boat, illegal trawling is extensively carried on; but it is within my knowledge that since January last, every complaint made to the Fishery Board of illegal trawling on the north-west coast of Scotland, has been communicated to the Admiral MR. WEIR: I beg to ask the Secre- Superintendent of Naval Reserves, and tary for Scotland if he will state to investigated and reported on by the whom fishermen in the Highlands and Commander of the Starling, who did not Islands of Scotland are to report cases in any of the cases detect any trawlers of illegal trawling during the absence, on working illegally. I will inquire whether holiday, of fishery officers? the officer stationed at Stornoway is to be detached on special duty during the coming season.

a few days, steps will be taken to issue the Report without waiting for the maps, in order that the Crofters' Bill may be introduced before Easter.

COASTGUARD OFFICERS.

MR. WEIR: I beg to ask the Civil Lord of the Admiralty if he will state the name of the Department, or the fund, which provides the remuneration for coastguard officers who also act as fishery officers ?

SIR G. O. TREVELYAN: The Stationery Office have already been instructed to issue the Report at the earliest possible date. THE CIVIL LORD OF THE ADMIDR. MACGREGOR I beg to ask RALTY (Mr. EDMUND ROBERTSON, the Secretary for Scotland whether, in Dundee): The Board of Trade remuneview of the forthcoming issue of the rates coastguard officers for fishery Report of the Highlands and Islands duties. Commission, he will, in drafting a Bill based on that Report, consider the necessity of making any scheme of land purchase optional and not compulsory?

SIR G. O. TREVELYAN: I will note the point referred to by the hon. Member.

SCOTCH FISHERY BOARD.

GAELIC.

MR. WEIR: I beg to ask the Lord Advocate (1) whether he is aware that Sheriff Johnstone, the sheriff principal for the counties of Ross, Cromarty, and Sutherland, has no knowledge of Gaelic; that last Autumn, on his visiting Stornoway, where there is a resident Gaelicspeaking sheriff, he tried and sentenced MR. WEIR: I beg to ask the Secre- to various terms of imprisonment three tary for Scotland, if he will state whe- crofters, for alleged poaching, on the evither the Fishery Board for Scotland ex-dence of one English-speaking witness; pended the sum of £3,000 provided for and also tried and sentenced to imprisonin the Estimates for 1894-5 as a grant ment one young girl for cutting some in aid of piers or quays; and, if so, will grass at the roadside; that none of the he state the names of the works which persons who were sentenced to imprisonhave been executed and the amount ex- ment had the slightest knowledge of pended on each. English; (2) whether he will state why these cases were not tried by the local Gaelic-speaking sheriff; (3) and, whether arrangements can be made to prevent Sheriff Johnstone from trying cases in the Island of Lewis, where the majority of the people speak Gaelic only.

SIR G. O. TREVELYAN: The sum of £3,000 provided for in the Estimates of the Fishery Board for Scotland for 1894-5 under Special Act of Parliament as a grant in aid of piers or quays, has not yet been expended. These annual grants are transferred to a deposit ac- *THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. B. count on which the Board operate for BALFOUR, Clackmannan and Kinross): the payments required from time to I believe that Sheriff Johnston does not time in respect of harbour works assisted know Gaelic, but in cases in which by them. The amounts expended on witnesses are imperfectly acquainted with harbour works during the current finan- English, a skilled interpreter is always cial year are as follows:- Balintore, employed, and in the case referred to the £250; Broadford, £187; Ness, £127; accused were defended by an EnglishCollieston, £55. Total £619. speaking solicitor, who, like the Sheriff, MR. WEIR: I beg to ask the Secre- communicated with them without tary for Scotland if he will state what difficulty through the Interpreter of the has become of the second-hand yacht Court. Although it is true that there New Vigilant, purchased by the Fishery was only one witness for the prosecution, Board last year, and converted into a cruiser for the purpose of protecting the fishing grounds on the north-west coasts of Scotland from illegal trawling?

SIR G. O. TREVELYAN: The fishery cruiser Vigilant has been under repair for damage sustained, but it is expected these repairs will be completed in a few days, when she will resume cruising.

it is not correct to say that the accused were convicted solely upon his evidence. They were convicted, in part, upon their own admission, their defence not having been a negative of the charge, but an excuse which entirely broke down. The accused had taken 37 salmon and 19 sea trout. With reference to the second case mentioned in the question, the girl was

THE VICE-PRESIDENT

OF

THE

not convicted for cutting grass at the roadside. She was convicted of per- COUNCIL (Mr. A. H. D. ACLAND, sistent trespass far away from the road, York, W.R., Rotherham): I am afraid and of cutting and removing grass against I cannot undertake to alter this prowarning from ground where she had no vision. If If candidates fail on two right to be. successive occasions even to pass the admission examination, the fact must be taken to indicate that they are not competent for the teaching profession. and Nairn): I beg to ask the Secretary MR. J. SEYMOUR KEAY (Elgin for Scotland whether, as the new Education Code already somewhat extends the area which receives the benefit of the

QUESTIONS TO MINISTERS.

MR. VICARY GIBBS (Herts, St. Albans): Arising out of these 11 ques

tions, I wish to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer a question of which I have given him previous notice--namely, whether his attention has been drawn to

the fact that those 11 questions, besides Highland Minute Grant by the inclusion several supplementary ones, have been of burghs with less than 10,000 inhabi put by one Member, many of those tants, a modified Minute can be laid upon questions being of little or no public the Table adding, after the words "Inverinterest; and whether he does not regardness, Ross, Argyll, Sutherland, Caithsuch action as an abuse of the privileges ness, and Orkney and Shetland," the of the House, and calculated to lead to amending words "and in the additional the curtailment of a valuable privilege parishes of the counties of Elgin, Banff, enjoyed by hon. Members.

MR. S. T. EVANS (Glamorgan, Mid.): I wish to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has considered the question from the point of view of computing that, if a similar number of questions were asked by every Member of the House, it would take 15 days of eight hours to answer them.

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EX.
CHEQUER (Sir W. HARCOURT, Derby):
That is not a matter of which I am the

judge. The House is the judge, and it
must form its own opinion on that
subject; and, when it expresses that
opinion, I feel sure that hon. Members
will desire to conform to the wishes of
the House and restrain the number of
questions put.
MR. W. JOHNSTON (Belfast, S.):
Has
Member of the Tory Opposition
ever done a thing of this kind?
SiR W. HARCOURT: It is still
less my duty to answer for the
Opposition.

any

Tory

Aberdeen, Perth, and Dunbarton, recognised as falling within the Highland area by the Trust for Education in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland."

SIR GEORGE TREVELYAN: The provisions of the Code in the selection of certain counties for favourable treatment in respect of Grant are based upon the Act of 1872, in regard to the counties of Inverness, Ross, Argyll, and Orkney and have been included in terms of the ParShetland; Caithness and Sutherland liamentary Grant (Caithness and Sutherland) Act, 1889. I am not prepared to place a Minute on the Table except with regard to counties indicated by an Act

of Parliament.

MR. J. H. JOHNSTONE (Sussex, Horsham): I beg to ask the Vice PresiEducation whether, as it is stated in the dent of the Committee of Council on revised instructions issued to Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools, that one of the Codes has been to emphasise, by means objects of the alterations made in recent of a special and graduated grant for discipline and organisation, the importance THE NEW EDUCATION CODE. of conduct and moral training as essenMR. J. ROUND (Essex, S.E., tial factors of the success and usefulness Harwich) I beg to ask the Vice-Presi- of a public elementary school, he will redent of the Committee of Council on consider that portion of the Code of 1895 Education, whether he will consider the which proposes to make the higher grant propriety of omitting section (d) in for discipline and organisation depend Clause 48 of the New Code, which upon provision being made in a school for excludes from the admission examination drill or physical training? to training colleges, candidates who have failed twice.

Mr. J. B. Balfour.

MR. ACLAND: The full description of the object of the Discipline and

Organisation Grant will be found in the as suitable to the standard in which they are when examined.

Code itself (Article 101 b.) It includes a variety of other matters besides those mentioned in the question. When these are looked at as a whole, I do not think that there will be found to be any inconsistency in the requirements made as to drill or physical exercises.

MR. JOHNSTONE: May I ask the right hon. Gentleman if the House will have an opportunity of discussing this part of the Code?

MR. ACLAND: Of course; it may be debated on the Estimates.

MR. ACLAND: Children, when they pass into the Fourth Standard and take tioned in Schedule II., will be instructed up one or more of the class subjects menin the stage applicable to that standard. I do not anticipate that any serious difficulty will result. In many cases the children will have been prepared for the new class subject by the course of object lessons previously taken, and Her Majesty's Inspector will, in all cases, take into account the novelty of the new subject to the children, and make due allowances.

MR. J. G. TALBOT (Oxford University): I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on FOREIGN COIN IN THE TRANSVAAL. Education whether he is aware that the MR. H. O. ARNOLD - FORSTER historical requirements of the new Code, (Belfast, W.): I beg to ask the Under which are widely different from those Secretary of State for the Colonies now in force, will render obsolete nearly whether, under Boer law, any person all the historical reading books now in use, and thereby inflict serious additional expenditure on the various School Boards and school managers; and whether he will reconsider these requirements?

entering the Transvaal with British
silver money in his possession is liable to
be searched and fined or imprisoned ;
whether a similar prohibition exists
and is enforcible by similar penalties
in any civilised country; and whether,
if the facts are as stated, Her Majesty's
Government will call the attention of
the Boer Government to the unfriendly
nature of the enactment referred to,
with a view to securing its prompt
repeal ?
THE UNDER SECRETARY OF
FOR THE COLONIES (Mr.

MR. ACLAND: I may point out to the hon. Member that the new syllabus in history is not compulsory. Any School Board or body of school managers may submit an alternative course for approval, and if such course generally conforms to the syllabus in the previous Code, it will be accepted. This provision will, I hope, satisfactorily meet the cases in which STATE there is a stock of history readers in SYDNEY hand which it is desired to retain in

use.

MR. TALBOT asked if the right hon. Gentleman was aware that the regulation caused consternation amongst the managers of schools, the idea being that the whole of the stock would be worthless?

MR. ACLAND thought this was the result of an imperfect reading of the Code.

BUXTON, Tower Hamlets, Poplar): Under a law of 1891 of the South African Republic, any person bringing into the Transvaal for purposes of circulation any foreign coin is liable to be searched and fined or imprisoned. A somewhat similar prohibition exists in what I think I may call a civilised country, namely, the United Kingdom. It dates from 1886, and is directed against the importation of all MR. J. H. JOHNSTONE: I beg to foreign coins other than gold and silver ask the Vice President of the Committee coins. In 1870, a Proclamation containof Council on Education if, under the ing a somewhat similar prohibition was Code of 1895, when object lessons and issued by the Governor of Gibraltar, suitable occupations are taken as class directed against the importation of subjects for Standards I., II., and III. in foreign copper coins. In Cyprus, in a public elementary school, children who 1879, the importation of all silver (inpass out of those standards, and receive cluding British) coins was prohibited ; instruction in other class subjects, will and in the Straits Settlements, in 1891, be expected to come up to the standard power was given to the Governor to proof examination in those subjects, indi- hibit the importation of such foreign cated in the second schedule to the Code coins, not being legal tender, as might

be specified.
This list is probably not
exhaustive. The coinage of the South
African Republic is not recognised a
legal tender in the British Colonies in
South Africa. I give these facts in reply
to the questions asked; but without ex-
pressing any opinion in regard to the
action the South African Republic have
taken in this matter.

pupils for the quarter ending in December last was considerably reduced, owing to an epidemic of diphtheria; and whether the Commissioners of National Education will duly consider the fact, should the attendance for the current quarter in any such school fall below the number required owing to the exceptional and continuous severity of the weather during MR. ARNOLD - FORSTER asked the months of January and February? whether there were any precedents for MR. J. MORLEY: The Commisthe exclusion of coin of a friendly sioners are aware that in county Monacountry; whether the British precedents ghan diphtheria prevailed in some referred to were not precedents of laws localities, and the attendances of pupils passed to exclude counterfeit coin or at some of the schools were injuriously coin intended for the purpose of commit- affected last quarter owing to the epiting crime. demic. The occurrence of the exceptionally severe weather of January and February has already been under consideration, and in cases where, owing to such cause, or to epidemics, the attendance of pupils for the current quarter is found to fall short of the usual number, the Commissioners will be prepared to deal as leniently with the teachers as the regulations may enable them to do.

MR. SYDNEY BUXTON: I must ask for notice of that question.

IRISH NATIONAL SCHOOLS.

MR. C. DIAMOND (Monaghan, N.): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if he is aware that the salaries of Irish national teachers are paid quarterly, and then not till 15 days after the termination of each quarter; whether payment of the salaries of any other class of public servants is deferred for so long a period after they fall due; and whether, considering the fact that the 14th April (the date of issue of the teachers' money orders) falls this year on Easter Sunday, the Commissioners of National Education will see the desirability of having teachers' money orders issued so as to be in the hands of the teachers on Saturday, 13th April?

CLOTH FACTORIES.

MR. S. WOODS (Lancashire, Ince): I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Bill which he introduced recently, to amend and extend the Law relating to Factories and Workshops, will apply to factories where they manufacture clothing, generally called cloth factories; whether it will apply to industries known by the name of wool-sorters, of which there are a considerable number in Yorkshire and other places; and if the application of the said Bill does not apply to these cases, whether he will extend its operation to meet a very strong desire expressed by the people engaged in these industries?

THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. J. MORLEY, Newcastleupon-Tyne): The practice of remitting the quarterly salaries of teachers a fortnight after the completion of the quarter is, I am informed, a very long-established one, and teachers consequently receive THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR their money exactly three months after THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. the previous payment. The Commis- ASQUITH, Fife, E.): The Bill does sioners could not undertake to alter the extend to the industries to which my quarterly pay-day, nor to have the hon. Friend refers, subject to the general money orders in the hands of teachers exception that the Factory and Workon the 13th April; but they will en- shop Acts do not apply--except in the deavour to expedite the payments as case of certain sanitary provisions-to much as practicable. workshops in which men only are emMR. C. DIAMOND: I beg to ask ployed. An Amendment, however, will the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieu- be proposed by the Government in Comtenant of Ireland whether, in some of mittee on the Bill to extend to such the national schools in the county workshops the power given to the Monaghan the average attendance of Secretary of State by Section 8 of the Mr. Sydney Buxton.