to establish his complaints of the insani- | Whether there is now in the parish of tation, he will be pleased to order a new Gweedore (county Donegal) an extra and independent inquiry, conducted by force of police, who chiefly employ a competent person, who will be enjoined themselves in the affairs of private perto take evidence on the spot, in usual sons by watching the salmon rivers; form? whether, on the 13th instant, the actingserjeant of Barrack No. 2 arrested a boy of about fifteen named Dominick Sweeney, on the bank of the Gweedore River, and, when his mother came and remonstrated against the arrest, lacerated her wrist with a spear or gaff, tearing off the flesh to the wristbone; whether the acting-serjeant took the boy to the barrack, and kept him in custody all day and night, directing his father, who went to the barrack, to have bailsmen ready next morning to go before Mr. Olpherto, a magistrate, who lives ten miles away; whether the acting-serjeant, by interfering as he did in the daytime, exceeded the powers of constable, as laid down by 7 and 8 Vic. c. 108, s. 1; whether the arrest and detention of the boy Dominick Sweeney are contrary to 5 and 6 Vic. c. 106, s. 87; and, what action will be taken with reference to the arrest and the assault, and to provide that constables shall not act in excess of their legal powers in the interest of the owners and lessees of rivers? THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir R. ASSHETON CROSS), in reply, said, that after the first complaint the Board of Supervision called for a Report by the local medical officer, who certified that the complaint was groundless. In consequence of a renewed complaint the Board appointed Dr. Littlejohn as a Special Commissioner to inquire and report, who was clearly of opinion that the local medical officer's view was correct. In consequence of further complaints the then Secretary of State appointed Dr. Maclagan, Professor of Medical Jurisprudence in the University of Edinburgh, to make a special inquiry. He had sent in a very elaborate Report to the effect that the complaints made were groundless. The mode of conducting the examination was left entirely to him. The Secretary of State did not interfere. Under all these circumstances, he (Sir R. Assheton Cross) entirely declined to re-open the question. POOR LAW (IRELAND)-MR. GRAHAM, CLERK TO THE BOARD OF GUAR DIANS, COOTEHILL UNION. MR. BIGGAR asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, What decision the President of the Local Government Board has arrived at regarding the clerk of the Cootehill guar dians? THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Sir WILLIAM HART DYKE): The hon. Member for Queen's County (Mr. Arthur O'Connor) has furnished me, in connection with this Question, with a very full statement of the charges alleged against Mr. Graham. That statement has been carefully examined, and is found to contain no matter which has not been already fully investigated. That being so, there are no grounds on which either I or the Local Government Board could properly re-open the case. ROYAL IRISH CONSTABULARYEXTRA POLICE AT GWEEDORE, CO. DONEGAL. MR. SEXTON asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Mr. Fraser-Mackintosh THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND) (Sir WILLIAM HART DYKE): Owing to the disturbed state of the locality it has been found necessary to send four extra constables to Gweedore. They do not chiefly employ themselves in watching the salmon fishery; but it is, I find, part of their duty to prevent illegal fishing. On the 13th instant they arrested Dominick Sweeny for using a gaff and refusing to give his name. Sweeny's mother and another woman "remonstrated" by endeavouring to rescue the prisoner, and by stoning the police. In the struggle Mrs. Sweeny received a slight wound from the gaff which the sergeant had seized. Sweeny was brought in due time before the nearest magistrate and bailed to appear at Petty Sessions, where he was fined £5. I am advised that the action of the police was in accordance with the law. ARMY-WIRE GUN CONSTRUCTION. MR. GRAY asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether the Government are aware that the Longridge system of wire gun construction has formed the matter of scientific examination by Prussian artillery officers; whether Copies of their Report will be ordered to be printed for the use of Members of this House; and, whether it is the intention of the Government, in any experiments to be made in wire gun construction, to call in the aid of Mr. Longridge, the inventor, and thus insure a full test of the invention? THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (Mr. W. H. SMITH): A lecture on Mr. Longridge's system of wire gun construction was delivered at Coblenz in January last by an officer of Prussian Artillery. It is presumed that this lecture is the Report to which the hon. Member refers. It is not considered that any useful purpose would be answered by presenting the document to Parliament. Mr. Longridge has, however, been recently invited to submit a gun constructed on his principle to the War Department. MR. GRAY asked at whose expense was the gun to be submitted? THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR: He will, of course, be asked to furnish a gun for examination by the Department. "Sir, I am sure the angling readers of The Field in England as well as in Ireland will be astonished to hear the wretched plight to which our beautiful river has been brought by the Limerick Board of Conservators. To begin with, the Board itself is, as a body, broken up and defunct; the clerk (Mr. Alton), the inspecriver from Haggs Head, down near the Atlantic, to Tarmonbarry, in Longford, have been dismissed for want of funds to pay them; the salmon and trout are in consequence left to take care of themselves; and the poachers are plying their vagabond trade wherever net, strokehaul, or gaff can be used with the most deadly effect. Where are the Irish Fishery Inspectors, and what action do they mean to take in the present tor of water bailiffs and every water bailiff on the great crisis. the Coastguards, and in the middle and upper sections of the river by the Royal Irish Constabulary; whether the Government will prevent the Conservators from receiving, next October, the river funds for current season, which it is expected will amount to something like £2,500; and, whether the Inspectors of Fisheries will be instructed to see that the said moneys shall be judiciously expended in the preservation of the Shannon and its tributaries during the ensuing spawning season? THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Sir WILLIAM HART DYKE): The Inspectors inform me that immediately on learning that the bailiffs on the Shannon had been dismissed, they applied and received sanction for Coastguards and Constabulary to look after the enforcement of the law regarding the annual and weekly close seasons. I am also informed that there is no power in the Government to prevent the Conservators who may be elected in October next from receiving the river funds, and the law provides that the management of these funds shall be in the hands of the Conservators. MR. SEXTON asked whether the Conservators generally failed to levy the 10 per cent on the valuation of the fisheries; and whether the right hon. Gentleman would make a full inquiry into the whole question? THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND said, he was not aware of the circumstances mentioned. THE ROYAL IRISH CONSTABULARY— PENSIONERS. MR. O'BRIEN (for Mr. HEALY) asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Will he grant few Constabulary pensioners in Irean inquiry into the claims of the land who received increased pay from 1872 till 1874, in compliance with the recommendations of the Commission which sat in 1872, but who were not granted the increased pensions also recommended by the said Commission; is he aware that several, if not all, of these men were discharged from their respective stations, and not brought before the Constabulary authorities in Dublin in the ordinary way; did men who were discharged a couple of weeks subsequently to the discharge of these men receive the increased pension; and, if no valid ground is found to exist for | Whether he has taken the opinion of having deprived these men of the the Law Officers of the Crown as to benefits they claim to be entitled to whether a publication called The Pall under the recommendations of the Mall Gazete has been guilty of a Commission of 1872, will the Govern- violation of the Law by publishing the ment pay them the arrears of pension obscene matter which has recently apthey think themselves justly entitled to? peared in its columns; and, if their THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRE- opinion is that an offence has been comLAND (Sir WILLIAM HART DYKE): mitted, why the Government have not The claim of the Irish Constabulary instituted a prosecution against that pensioners who received increased pay journal? from 1872 to 1874 to be allowed the benefit of a pension scheme which was not in force when they retired has been recently under the consideration of the Government, on a Memorial from some of their number; but we have seen no reason to alter the decision of successive Governments that the claim is quite untenable. The Inspector General informs me that in dealing with these cases there was no departure from the practice prevailing in the Force at the time. INDIA MADRAS PRESIDENCY — RE- MR. BIGGAR asked the Secretary of State for India, Whether four talooks have recently been disarmed in the Madras Presidency; whether, since December last, there have been two encounters with the troops; whether dynamite has been freely used by the troops; whether one European soldier has been killed, and one officer and several soldiers wounded; and, whether twenty-four insurgents have been killed and none wounded. THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord RANDOLPH CHURCHILL) in reply, said, three talooks had been disarmed since last December. Two encounters had taken place with the troops, in the course of which one officer had been killed and four European soldiers wounded. Dynamite had been used by the troops in order to effect an entrance into a building held by the insurgents. This subject could not be dealt with in the space of an answer, and if the hon. Member moved for Papers they would be presented. LAW AND POLICE-THE "PALL MALL MR. P. A. MUNTZ asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Mr. O'Brien THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir R. ASSHETON CROSS): On the 14th of July I stated that, after consultation with the highest legal advice at their disposal, the Government had come to the conclusion that it would not be desirable to take proceedings against the editor of the paper named. I have never swerved from that conclusion, and the matter remains as before. ARMY EDUCATION-THE STAFF COL- COLONEL MILNE-HOME asked the Secretary of State for War, If, in accordance with a promise made by the late Secretary of State for War to the tion of affording officers at the Staff House on March 19th, 1885, the quesOriental languages has been considered; College opportunities of studying modern and what, if any, decision has been arrived at? THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (Mr. W. H. SMITH): The question has been considered; but the course at the Staff College is so largely is not thought advisable to introduce taken up in military studies that it in any special manner the study of Oriental languages. Steps have, however, been taken for the formation of the study of Arabic, and rewards will be given to successful students by way of encouraging the acquisition of a add that, after much discussion, a knowledge of that language. I may scheme has been elaborated under which the Civil Service Commissioners will hold half-yearly examinations in any languages, including Oriental languages, for which officers may present themselves. There will be two degrees of qualification-one, the simple pass, the other a certificate for an interpretership. classes at Cairo and Alexandria for FISHERY LAWS (IRELAND) THE RIVER SUIR-CASE OF O'SHEA AND OTHERS. MR. R. POWER (for Mr. LEAMY) asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If it is the fact that the Lord Lieutenant lately refused to remit or reduce the fines imposed on a man named O'Shea and others for an offence against the Fishery Laws in the River Suir, although the magistrates who tried the case and the Commissioners of Fisheries recommended the remission of the fines, on the ground of the good characters and the poverty of the persons fined; and, if the Lord Lieutenant consulted the Inspectors of the Fisheries on the matter; if not, will he consult them, and will he reconsider the Memorial praying for a remission of the fines? THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Sir WILLIAM HART DYKE): O'Shea and three other men were fined £3 collectively for an offence against the Fishery Laws. They appealed to the Lord Lieutenant, and His Excellency consulted the Fishery Inspectors, who recommended that the penalty should not be reduced. The fine having been paid and allocated, His Excellency has no power to make any order in the matter. LAW AND JUSTICE (IRELAND)-THE EARL OF BELFAST, CLERK OF THE PEACE, CO. ANTRIM. MR. SEXTON asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether the Earl of Belfast holds, and has held for about 36 years, the office of clerk of the peace for the county of Antrim; whether he draws from this office, in salary and fees, about £1,600 per annum; whether the duties of the office are wholly performed by a deputy at Belfast; whether the clerk, the Earl of Belfast, lives in London, has no Irish address, and has not resided in the County Antrim, or in any part of Ireland, at any time for the past thirty years; whether the clerk is entitled to continue to hold his office, and draw his salary, without performing any of the duties, and without even attaching his signature to decrees of the county court judge, notices for Parliamentary registration, lists of voters, and other documents by law required to be signed by the clerk of the peace; and, how he acquired the office, what is his tenure of it, and whether the Government will take the needful steps to substitute for him a competent person residing in the county? THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Sir WILLIAM HART DYKE): I believe the hon. Member had given Notice of this Question before my right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney General for Ireland made a statement in Committee of Supply on the subject to which it refers. That statement was very full and explicit, and gave all the information that can be procured in answer to the Question. The hon. Member will, therefore. I am sure, not expect me to add anything to it. EGYPT-THE SOUDAN-THE SUAKINBERBER RAILWAY. SIR HENRY TYLER asked the Se cretary of State for War, What is the existing condition of the Railway from Suakin towards Berber; what length of line has been constructed; whether it is now guarded or maintained; and what portion is still available for traffic; and, what quantities of tons of rails and what number of sleepers were purchased or provided; what numbers were despatched from this Country or elsewhere to Suakin; what proportion of those were landed at Suakin, and are still there; what proportion have been sent away from Suakin; to what destination; and where they now are? THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (Mr. W. H. SMITH): No recent Report has been received on the condition of this line; but it is known that a portion has been damaged by heavy rains, and it is reported that another portion has been torn up by the Arabs. The total length constructed was 183 miles. This is not guarded or maintained beyond the west redoubt, about a mile and a-half from the landing place. 15,000 tons of rails and 375,000 sleepers were provided, of which all the rails and 345,000 sleepers were despatched to Suakin. Of the materials sent out, about one-sixth were landed at Suakin, and are still there.__The remainder were brought back to England, and will probably be made use of at certain military stations where tramways are required. ROADS AND BRIDGES (IRELAND)—THE TOUR SLATE QUARRIES-BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER SUIR. MR. MARUM asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether his attention has been directed to the collapse of the workings of the Tour Slate Quarries, as described by Mr. P. Morrissy, of Carrick on Suir, in The Munster Express, as follows: "Some few years ago a gentleman, a native of Wales, bought the interest in a plot of land from Count de la Poer, situated on that part of his property called Tour, within two miles from Kilsheelan, and five from Carrick on Suir. His object was to open a slate quarry, which his long experience as engineer and manager of several works of this kind both in Europe and America enabled him to foresee that it should be a decided success. He imported machinery and implements at great cost and inconvenience, engaged twenty-five men at from 12s. to 18s. per week, and for two or three months the good work went on, every day adding more and more to the enthusiasm of the spirited explorer. A stream runs close by the quarry, which, in order to admit cars to the bye-road leading to the public thoroughfare between Clonmel and Carrick on Suir, it would be necessary to build a bridge over. When the necessity arose, Mr. Thomas Williams, the proprietor of the works, went to the Count de la Poer for advice and co-operation, and was curtly informed that he would neither allow the bridge to be constructed nor the road to be used. All machinery, implements, &c. were packed into the dwelling-house, where they still remain; " and, whether the Government will advise the Board of Public Works in Ireland to send one of the Land Improvement Inspectors to this slate quarry of Tour, to make a report thereon, in order to place an authoritative statement before Count de la Poer, so as to induce him to reconsider his determination, and, further, to lay grounds for an application before the forthcoming Presentment Sessions to construct a bridge on the spot desired? THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Sir WILLIAM HART DYKE): Time has not admitted of my ascertaining the facts of this case; but it appears to be a matter of private undertaking over ranges when at skirmish drill with fixed bayonets; and, whether he will consult the Military authorities as to the necessity of soldiers going through such dangerous practice? THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (Mr. W. H. SMITH): The occurrence referred to was an accident of a most unusual character, and it may be hoped is very unlikely to occur again. It is essential that recruits at certain stages of their training should practice with fixed bayonets, in order to acquire skill and steadiness in the use of their arms. As a rule, the knowledge that bayonets are fixed makes the men very careful. The Military Authorities do not consider that any change in the Regulations is required. POST OFFICE-PRE-PAYMENT OF SIR JOHN KENNAWAY asked the Postmaster General, If he will extend to post offices of towns, being the places of election and head quarters of new Parliamentary divisions, the privilege now afforded to a few large towns of posting letters unstamped but prepaid in cash where the aggregate postage of such letters is not less than five pounds? THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (Lord JOHN MANNERS): I regret that I am unable to accede to the hon. Member's proposal. The abolition many years ago of permissive pre-payment in money has been attended with great advantage; and although, in the case of a few large towns, the rule has been relaxed, further relaxation is very undesirable. It has been considered whether it would be practicable to make arrangements, specially for the days of the approaching elections; but this is found not to be possible. SOUTH AFRICA-BASUTOLAND. SIR ROBERT FOWLER (LORD MAYOR) asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether he has received any recent communication from ARMY-FATAL ACCIDENT AT CATER- Colonel Clarke on the state of affairs in which the Government has no control. HAM RANGES. DR. FARQUHARSON asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether his attention has been drawn to a fatal accident which occurred recently to a recruit of the Guards at the Caterham Basutoland; and, if so, will he inform the House of their purport? THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Colonel STANLEY) : Our last general Report from Colonel Clarke is dated April 22. I fear it |