THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. CHILDERS): My answer to the second part of the hon. Member's question is, that the guarantee is to be joint and several-that is to say, that each Power is responsible, with the reservation that I spoke of in the case of Russia, which is a somewhat difficult matter to explain; but it will appear in the Papers. With respect to the first part of the question, the guarantee is only with respect to the interest, but is with respect to the interest in this sense, that it is for a fixed sum of £315,000 ayear, the difference between that and the actual interest in any particular year on the outstanding loan going to the sinking fund.

selvs; but neither did we object to it, | principal; and, also, whether, following provided it did not involve international that example, there is, apart from the interference with the affairs of Egypt. Convention, any engagement between We therefore assented to an inter- the contracting Powers as to their national guarantee on the model of the separate liability in case of default? Anglo-French Guarantee of the Turkish Loan of 1855, which was a purely financial arrangement. To this the six Powers agree, subject to a reservation, of no practical importance, on the part of Russia, which will be seen in the Papers. The guarantee is to be a joint and several guarantee of the six Powers, and is upon the sum of £315,000 per annum, until the whole of the loan is redeemed, and the loan is to be the first charge on the revenues assigned to the Debt and received by the Caisse. The maximum amount of cash that can be raised is to be £9,000,000. The difference between the interest in each year on the Debt outstanding and the £315,000 is to be carried to a sinking fund only applicable to the present loan. This sinking fund may be augmented to the extent of 1 per cent out of any future surplus in the receipts on the general revenue account. I must mention one other provision of the Agreement which is not purely financial-namely, that taking as a basis Lord Granville's Circular of the 3rd of January, 1883, as to the free use of the Suez Canal, the Powers have agreed that the details should be reported upon by delegates meeting in Paris before the end of this month with the view to an International Act being agreed to by all the Powers. I have now, Sir, stated, without any argument either for or against, the heads of the agreement which has been arrived at. Of course, if it is wished, even at this hour, to ask me any questions as to facts I shall be prepared to the best of my power to answer them; but I should decline on my part, and I hope the House will decline, to enter into any question of argument. I hope to-morrow morning that the Papers--not the Correspondence-but the instruments will be circulated to hon. Members.

MR. ARTHUR ARNOLD: I wish to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer one question as to a matter of fact. He has referred to the example of the AngloFrench Convention of 1855. I wish to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, following that example, the guarantee in this case is only for the interest on the loan, and not of the

The Chancellor of the Exchequer

MR. ARTHUR ARNOLD asked, whether the House was to understand that, following the example of the guarantee of 1855, there would be any engagement apart from the Declaration and the Convention? In 1855 there was an engagement.

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. CHILDERS): No, Sir; the engagement is simply what I have stated it to be-namely, a guarantee of £315,000 per annum, and no other.

SIR JOHN LUBBOCK: In the case of any default, in what proportion will it be borne? What proportion will be borne by the different States? I would also ask what is the rate of interest?

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. CHILDERS): The rate of interest, according to the Convention, is to be at any rate not exceeding 3 per cent. I did not catch the other part of the hon. Baronet's question.

SIR JOHN LUBBOCK: It is, in the event of default, in what proportion will it be borne by the guaranteeing States ?

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. CHILDERS): If there should be a default each of the six Powers will be liable for the whole.

SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTE: I do not quite understand the statement with regard to the meeting on the subject of the Suez Canal. I wish to ask the right hon. Gentleman, with regard to the provision on the subject of the Suez Canal, has the Conference been

also of several Acts relating to Ireland, | labelled not necessarily with the word had been incorporated in the Bill. The "Poison," but with words of caution, Bill took the whole subject of poisons such as "To be used with caution.' out of the Pharmacy Act, leaving that That was a useful provision, because Act to deal solely with pharmacy pro- the common and indiscriminate use of perly so-called. It also transferred to the word "Poison" might lead to the Privy Council certain powers and danger. He then came to the Schedules, duties which that Act imposed on the which were of the essence of the Bill. Pharmaceutical Society in England. The That which contained the list of poisons Pharmaceutical Society was by that Act had been prepared with great care by empowered to make regulations for the the Medical Adviser of the Privy Council dispensing and sale of poisons by che- Office, who was Medical Officer to the mists and druggists. But the Society Local Government Board, and who had had not seen its way since 1868 to exer- had the assistance of a distinguished cise that power. The Bill also imposed specialist in this subject. This Schedule on the Privy Council the duty of adding, was divided into three parts, with which when necessary, to the list of poisons the Bill proposed to deal in three difcontained in the Schedules to the Bill, ferent ways. One part coutained the less which formed the most important part of virulent substances; and this part of it. The power now exercisable by the the Bill was new, as they had never Pharmaceutical Society, with the con- been dealt with by law at all. It resent of the Privy Council, was by the lated to certain substances of a dangerous Bill vested in the Privy Council itself. character which were in common use in Some of the existing precautions were the arts and for domestic purposesretained in the Bill, and others were such, for instance, as carbolic acid, enlarged. The Bill proposed five classes which were included under the scientific of precautions with respect to the sale names in the Schedule. These the proof poisons. First, all poisons of every visions of the Bill required to be labelled class were to be labelled "Poison," and "Poison," and to have the name and with the name and address of the seller. address of the seller printed on the Secondly, every seller of poisons of a packet. Another class of poisons, of certain class must be a qualified person which laudanum might be taken as the -a chemist or druggist, or a qualified type, was only to be saleable by a qualimedical practitioner. This applied when- fied chemist or druggist, or by a proever the poison was sold, and whether it perly qualified medical practitioner; and had a Government stamp on it or not. in any case it was not to be saleable to Thirdly, as to the purchaser of poisons, any young person, or to some others. a new provision was introduced that The sale of another class of poisons, of poisons of a certain class would not be which prussic acid might be taken as saleable to young persons under 17 years the type, would, in addition to the conof age, or to persons unknown to the ditions imposed on other classes of seller, unless introduced by some person poisons, be subject to the restrictions known to him. Fourthly, as to the that the buyer must be known to the mode of selling poisons, a record would seller, or be introduced by someone have to be kept of the sale of poisons known to the seller, and that the whole of a certain class, and the name and transaction of the sale must be recorded address of the purchaser, and other in the manner prescribed in the Scheparticulars. And, fifthly, those who dule. It was not proposed by the Bill dispensed and sold poisons would be to alter the law with regard to the sale subject to regulations made by the Privy of poisons by wholesale otherwise than Council. All these five precautions would to require the packets containing them apply to the more virulent, and some to be labelled with the word "Poison." only would apply to the less virulent As to the so-called "patent medicines," poisons. There was also a special pro- which would be more properly termed vision with respect to arsenic, which "proprietary medicines," the restricnow came under the Arsenic Act. Then tions would apply to them, whether sold there was a clause dealing with sub- under the Government stamp or not. stances which were not exactly poisons, The Government stamp conveyed to the but were of a more or less dangerous mind of the public a meaning which was character. Such substances were to be not accurate-that was to say, some

Lord Carlingford

Great complaint had recently been made on that subject.

THE EARL OF MILLTOWN complained that the Bill, although ordered to be printed so long ago as the 9th of the present month, was only placed in the hands of their Lordships yesterday.

THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH said, he wished to call the attention of the noble Lord in charge of the Bill to the fact that phosphorous, one of the most deadly of poisons, was omitted from the Schedule. He should also like to know whether provision would be made to prevent wholesale houses from selling poison by retail to private customers without some special order from the Privy Council or elsewhere?

thing in the nature of a guarantee for | arsenic.
the articles sold; but it implied nothing
of the kind-it merely meant that a duty
had been paid to the Government; and
though it was unfortunate that £120,000
a-year was derived from such a source,
he must take the facts as he found them,
and deal with them as best he could.
The Bill did not mention patent medi-
cines, but put them on the same footing
as all other medicines. It was supposed
that some of those medicines contained
a serious amount of poisonous ingredients
-such as opium or laudanum-and the
question would be whether the amount
used was beneficial, harmless, or dan-
gerous? The Bill left those who sold
these medicines to take the risk of their
being poisonous. In the event of such
medicines proving poisonous, the seller
would be subject to the penalties im-
posed by the Bill. It was clear that a
vast majority of the compounds sold
under the name of patent medicines
could not be poison, otherwise the popu-
lation of the country must have consider-
ably diminished. No definition of the
word "poisonous" had been laid down in
the Bill. It was difficult to define the
exact meaning of the word. Dr. Johnson
had defined poison as "that which de-
stroys or injures life by a small quantity,
and by means not obvious to the senses."
That was certainly rather a curious defi-
nition of the word, and could scarcely

be introduced into an Act of Parliament.
Should any patent medicines prove to be
of a poisonous character they would be
thereafter included in the Schedules of
the Bill. They threw the responsibility
in the interest of the public on the
manufacturer and the seller of these
compounds to take care that they should
be so compounded as not to come within
the meaning of "poisons" under the
Bill. He did not believe that this or any
Bill could provide complete protection
of the public against carelessness, crime,
and stupidity; but he had great hopes
that the Bill would effect a considerable
improvement in the law, and would give
increased protection. He begged to move
the second reading of the Bill.

Moved, "That the Bill be now read 2." -(The Lord President.)

VISCOUNT BARRINGTON pointed out the advisability of legislating with regard to the wholesale manufacture of wall-paper strongly impregnated with

VOL. CCXCV. [THIRD SERIES.]

LORD CARLINGFORD (LORD PRESIDENT of the COUNCIL) said, he thought the remarks of the noble Duke were well worthy of consideration; but as to phosphorous, he found that some other poisons, which he had supposed were omitted from the Schedule, were there under their scientific names. The Privy Council would have the power of enlarging the Schedules from time to time. As to the complaint of the noble Earl (the Earl of Milltown), he should delay the next stage to whatever date would be suitable.

Motion agreed to; Bill read 2a accordWhole House on Friday the 27th instant. ingly, and committed to a Committee of the

ARMY-THE ROYAL MILITARY COL-
LEGES, SANDHURST AND WOOL-
WICH-REPORT OF BOARD OF VISI-

TORS.

QUESTION. OBSERVATIONS. VISCOUNT ENFIELD, in asking the Under Secretary of State for War, Whether any steps have been taken, or are likely to be taken, to carry out certain recommendations of the Board of Visitors in their report of the year 1884 with respect to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich? said, the Board were greatly satisfied with what they found as to Sandhurst-the high discipline, the physique, and the proficiency

of the cadets were all that could be desired. The cadets, while working hard, were fit to go anywhere and do anything. There were several recommendations, however, as to minor matters which had not been carried out; and there was one

3 H

VISCOUNT BURY asked whether his noble Friend would take his suggestions into consideration?

point as to which the Board felt ex-| adopted. No complaints had come to tremely anxious. There was no hospital his notice with regard to the meals at ward where fever cases, or inflammation Sandhurst. He trusted that the changes of lungs, or such serious diseases could that had been made would be satisfacbe properly attended to. The medical tory. officers strongly impressed the importance of such provision being made for the sick cadets. As to Woolwich, perhaps, the Report was not so satisfactory. The conduct, discipline, and morale were all excellent, but the Board were struck with the jaded and languid appearance of the cadets. It was felt that Woolwich was not, perhaps, so healthy a residence as Sandhurst, and that might account for the cadets not looking so well, though the official Medical Report was on the whole not unfavourable.

VISCOUNT BURY urged that the dietary should be improved, and that the present system of the parents of the cadets supplementing the dietary arrangements of the College should be rendered unnecessary by the provision of a generous diet, such as the growing lads were accustomed to at their homes. Where the body and mind were hard at work, and the young men were growing, it was essential that the dietary should be good.

THE EARL OF MORLEY said, he was sure it would be satisfactory to the House to hear his noble Friend (Viscount Enfield) give so extremely favourable a report of Sandhurst, and also, with a small exception, as to Woolwich. He

believed that what his noble Friend had told the House as to both these Establishments was perfectly true. With regard to the recommendations which were made in the Report of the Board of Visitors at Sandhurst, he might say that all the suggestions had either been attended to or were now being carried out. As to the one matter which required the greatest consideration-namely, the hospital wards, authority had been given to fit out such a ward as was referred to. He hoped that would be done after the Easter Vacation. The suggestions of the Board of Visitors with regard to Sandhurst were being carried out, and especially those with respect to hospital wards. The other recommendations respecting smaller matters would also receive attention. As regarded Woolwich, some complaints had been made by the Board of Visitors with respect to the dietary; a change had been made, and different hours for meals had also been

Viscount Enfield

VISCOUNT ENFIELD, on the part of the Board of Visitors, promised that the noble Viscount's remarks should receive their attention. He might say that at Sandhurst they heard no complaints with respect to the diet; but at Woolwich there were complaints, more especially with regard to the hours, and in a certain degree as to the quality of the provisions. The medical officer thought it his duty to bring these complaints under the notice of the Board.

VISCOUNT BURY said, that complaint was made as to the quantity, not the quality, of the provisions-a more generous diet was required.

ARMY-THE AUXILIARY FORCES.

NOTICE.

Notice on the Paper to call attention to THE EARL OF WEMYSS, who had a the want of organization of the Auxiliary Forces, said, that he did not propose to bring the subject forward on that occasion; but, considering the matter of so much importance, he intended to put in a different form-that of a definite Resolution. He proposed after Easter

to move

"That the present state of the Auxiliary and equipment necessary to enable them to take Forces, deficient as they are in the organization and keep the field, demands the immediate and urgent attention of those who are responsible for their efficiency and the security of the country.” He would read a telegram which he had just received from a Member of their Lordships' House, than whom no one had done more for the Volunteer Force. The Duke of Westminster telegraphed

teers. Efforts of 26 years should be made of "Press equipment and organization of Voluneffect, otherwise absolutely useless, and give air of security terribly false, inviting, possibly, heavy disaster."

He was sure that everyone who was acquainted with the Volunteer Service would endorse the words of the noble Duke.

VISCOUNT BURY wished to express his pleasure at the fact that the noble Earl intended to bring this subject for