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to enter into contracts for taking land, which would enable them to improve the condition of all the stations on the line. Under these circumstances, the objections urged by his hon. Friend fell to the ground at once. He hoped the House would not assent to the Amendment, which, if carried, would prevent an important railway communication being made between the town of New Ross and the City of Waterford.

MR. SULLIVAN suggested, as an Amendment to the Motion of the hon. Member for Dublin, that in place of postponing the second reading of the Bill for six months, it should be postponed for three or four weeks. The object of his hon. Friend would be fully attained by taking that course, and time would be given to enable the Report of Major-General Hutchinson to be circulated and made known among the Members of the House. Although differing from the hon. Member for Dublin to a certain extent, he wished to remind the House that if Westland Row station was going to be improved in any way it would be because of the action taken on the floor of that House by his hon. Friend. The improvement of that station was certainly necessary in order to wipe out a great scandal from the railway management of Ireland. The only reason why the present Bill was opposed was that it was promoted by a Company who had the management of the Dublin and Kingstown line. That had been execrably mismanaged. It was the filthiest line in the whole Empire, and Irishmen felt keenly that it would be a bad line even for the wilds of Connemara. Unfortunately for the character of the country, it was the line which English tourists first encountered when they crossed the Channel from Holyhead, and they naturally turned up their noses at what they considered a very dirty way of doing business. As to the grand Westland Row terminus that was to be built, he could only say that one of the humorous traditions of Dublin, in reference to the management of the Dublin and Kingstown line, was that the most remarkable event in the history of the line occurred within the last 10 years when, on the occasion of a member of the Royal Family going over, a porter was actually seen brushing out the railway carriages with a broom.

MR. RAIKES hoped the hon. Member for Dublin (Mr. M. Brooks) would not put the House to the trouble of dividing on the second reading of the Bill. The hon. and learned Member who had just spoken had expressed himself in terms certainly very strong; but he dare say not at all stronger than were deserved, of the management of the railway between Dublin and Kingstown; but, at the same time, he thought the suggestion made by the hon. and learned Member for Louth was one that would hardly recommend itself to the House on further consideration. The hon. and learned Member suggested that the Bill should be delayed for three weeks or a month, in order that the Report of Major - General Hutchinson should be studied by the House. He did not question that that Report might be studied with advantage; but he did not see what contribution its consideration would bring to the final conclusion to be arrived at with regard to this particular spur of the Dublin, Wicklow, and Wexford Railway. The object of the Bill was to make a small extension of the main system of the Dublin, Wicklow, and Wexford Railway-namely, from the town of New Ross to Waterford, and it did not apply to the Dublin and Kingstown line at all. He believed that the proposition embodied in the measure met with the approval of the landowners in the locality. It was supported by one of the Members for the City of Waterford (Major O'Gorman), and also by the hon. Members for Wexford and Youghal (Sir George Bowyer and Sir Joseph M'Kenna), who were supposed to represent the views of that part of the country. Under these circumstances, he did not think the City of Waterford and the town of New Ross ought to be deprived of the substantial benefit which they would derive from the construction of this railway. He agreed with the hon. Member for Youghal (Sir Joseph M'Kenna), that the objections to the Bill were not in the nature of objections which could be raised before a Committee on the measure, because the hon. Member for Dublin would have no locus standi before a Committee, and the Corporation of Dublin, who had been allowed a locus standi with regard to certain matters, had not raised the objections urged by the hon. Member. He (Mr. Raikes) thought that, upon the

whole, it would be a pity to punish the people of Waterford on account of the defects of a railway between Dublin and Kingstown; and it might be taken for granted, that now the attention of the Board of Trade had been called to the condition of the latter line, matters would not be allowed to rest where they did, but that something would be done with a view of insuring improvement. On this occasion he supported the second reading of the Bill, and he saw no reason why the House should refuse to send it to a Select Committee.

MR. H. HERBERT concurred in the remarks which had been made in regard to the disgraceful state of the Dublin and Kingstown Railway. It had been spoken of repeatedly, and he hoped there was at length some chance of obtaining some improvement of the line. The Report of Major-General Hutchinson concerned not only the Members of that House, but the whole of the public. The condition of the Dublin and Kingstown line was disgraceful, not only to the people of Ireland, but to the public at large. In journeying between London and Dublin the traveller, on his arrival at Kingstown, had to get ashore as he best could. Not unfrequently he was obliged to wait for half or three-quarters of an hour until the mails were got on shore. All the Company cared about was the mails, and they did not care a straw about the comfort or convenience of the passengers or men of business. He thought it would be disgraceful to allow this state of things to be continued.

SIR ARTHUR GUINNESS said, he had been authorized, by the Railway Company who were promoting the present Bill, to state that the Report of MajorGeneral Hutchinson would receive its fullest and most liberal consideration, and that many of the suggestions contained in the Report were in the course of being carried out. He had no doubt that the present condition of the Dublin and Kingstown Railway was, in many respects, very unsatisfactory; but he believed there was every desire to effect an improvement, and he trusted the hon. Member for Dublin, under the circumstances, would withdraw the Motion he had made.

MR. BIGGAR agreed with the hon. Member for Dublin that all the arrangements_affecting the Dublin and Kingstown Railway were of a most dis

Mr. Raikes

graceful character, and that it was perfectly legitimate to place pressure upon the Company, in order to compel it to reform its system of management, even by postponing the consideration of a Bill for another and independent line until some sort of security was obtained that the necessary reforms would be carried out. The general assurance given on the part of the Railway Company by the hon. Baronet the Member for Dublin (Sir Arthur Guinness) was by no means satisfactory or sufficient. All the Company promised was that they would take the Report of Major-General Hutchinson into favourable consideration. They knew perfectly well in that House what "favourable consideration" meant. It meant, in most cases, that there would be no more consideration on the subject, but that it would be quietly shelved. If the Bill were postponed for three or four weeks, the Company would probably be induced, in the meantime,to give a bond fide undertaking, in the form of a clause to be introduced into the Bill in its passage through Committee, binding themselves to carry out the reforms which were necessary, and which were asked for. One very strong argument for the adoption of this course had been supplied by the hon. Member for Chester (Mr. Raikes), when he stated that the hon. Member for Dublin (Mr. Brooks) had no locus standi to appear before the Committee in opposition to the Bill, and, further, that the Corporation of Dublin, as a Corporation, had no power to appear for the purpose of obtaining the improvement of any railway station beyond the scope of the present Bill. He thought the suggestion of the hon. and learned Member for Louth (Mr. Sullivan) ought to be agreed to. At the same time, the arguments of the hon. and gallant Member for Waterford (Major O'Gorman) were entitled to great weight; but, unfortunately, the promoters of the Bill, if they obtained their Act, could snap their fingers at the passengers, and the result might be that the reforms that were asked for would never be carried out. For these reasons, he hoped that the further consideration of the project would be postponed, and that an opportunity would be afforded to the House of forming an opinion as to the value of the reforms which were required by the public, and the promises made by the Company to carry them out.

MR. M. BROOKS said, he felt that there was considerable force in the observations which had been made by his hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Waterford that the residents in one district ought not to be punished, by retarding the construction of a line, in consequence of the mismanagement of the Directors in regard to another part of their system. Therefore, with the leave of the House, he would withdraw the Amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Main Question put, and agreed to. Bill read a second time, and committed.

CHESTER TRAMWAYS BILL.

Ordered, That the Chairman of the Select Committee on Standing Orders be appointed Chairman of the Committee on the Chester

Tramways Bill.-(The Chairman of Ways and Means.)

QUESTIONS.

bandsmen to play tunes while marching through the streets of large towns. The 27 & 28 Vict. c. 65 enables street musicians to be given into custody for playing in the street near a house after being required by the householder to depart. Neither military nor civil bands have any peculiar privileges; but, in fact, it would hardly be contended that military bandsmen, in the performance of their duty, were street musicians within the meaning of the Act. I have said it is not an offence in the language of the hon. Member's Question; but it must be remembered that neither street

musicians, nor bandsmen, nor anybody else are entitled to obstruct the Queen's Highway; and, treated as an obstruction, which it sometimes is, a band may be made a subject of punishment on summary proceedings both in England and in Ireland.

PARLIAMENT - LIABILITIES OF EM

PLOYERS AND WORKMEN-LEGISLATION. QUESTION.

MR. PULESTON asked Mr. Attorney General, Whether he will be prepared to

STREET TRAFFIC-MILITARY BANDS. introduce a Bill to regulate the Liabilities

MEN.-QUESTION.

MR. BIGGAR asked Mr. Attorney General, If it is a criminal offence, punishable by summary conviction, for Volunteer and other regimental bandsmen to play tunes while marching through the streets of London or other English cities and towns; if Military have any greater privileges than civilian bandsmen as to playing tunes through the streets of English or Irish cities and towns, and, if so, under what statute; and, if, where there is no local Act or Corporation bye-law to extend the ordinary common and statute law, it is lawful for magistrates in Ireland summarily to convict and fine or imprison Military or civilian bandsmen for playing tunes while marching through the streets of Irish cities and towns as

English bandsmen were constantly doing everywhere through England?

THE SOLICITOR GENERAL (Sir HARDINGE GIFFARD): Sir, in the absence of my hon. and learned Friend the Attorney General, who is unable to be here, I beg to answer the hon. Member's Question. In the terms in which he has put it, it is not a criminal offence in itself for Volunteer and other regimental

of Employers and Workmen this Session; and, if so, whether he can state the time?

THE SOLICITOR GENERAL (Sir HARDINGE GIFFARD), in reply, said, that a Bill dealing with the subject of the hon. Gentleman's Question was in course of preparation, and would shortly be

introduced.

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ployed. Other garrisons, however, are short of medical officers. This is in some measure due to a number having been withdrawn temporarily for the purpose of undergoing special field training with the Army Hospital Corps at Aldershot. The increase of £5,000 referred to was taken for the employment of civil surgeons at the Cape, as it was found a more economical and desirable arrangement than an augmentation to the staff, as the services of these gentlemen will be dispensed with when no longer required.

that a council of the Judges of the Su- | no private medical practitioners are empreme Court shall assemble at least once in every year, at a time fixed by the Lord Chancellor, to consider the operation of the Act, of the rules of Court, and other matters, and shall report annually to one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State what, if any, amendments or alterations it would in their judgment be expedient to make in the Act, or otherwise relating to the administration of justice; whether the Lord Chancellor has ever fixed a time for the holding of such annual council; whether such annual council has in fact ever been held; and, whether such reports have been duly made at any time since the passing of the Act; and, if so, whether he will lay them upon the Table of the

House?

SIR MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEY, in reply, said, that he had been informed that since the passing of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act rules of Court had been passed from time to time, all of which rules had been laid before both Houses of Parliament, in conformity with the requirements of the Act. Councils of the Judges of the Supreme Court under Section 75 of the Act of 1873 were held on November 20, 1876, and again on December 15, 1877; and at these councils it was determined that sufficient time had not been given for the working of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act to render it expedient to make any alteration or amendment which could not be carried into effect without the authority of Parliament.

ARMY MEDICAL OFFICERS.

QUESTION.

SO

MR. MELDON asked the Secretary of State for War, If it is a fact that the garrison of Woolwich has been denuded of medical officers that the Government has been obliged to sanction the employment of private practitioners to assist in taking medical charge of the soldiers and their families; whether many other garrisons have not been left short of Army medical men; and, whether it is true that more than £5,000 is required to pay private medical practitioners in attending the troops in the field at the Cape?

COLONEL STANLEY: Sir, I am informed that the garrison at Woolwich has its full complement of medical officers, and

Mr. Waddy

MADRAS HARBOUR.-QUESTION.

MR. SMOLLETT asked the Under

Secretary of State for India, Whether Sir Andrew Clarke has inspected the harbour works at Madras, and has officially reported upon the present position of that undertaking; and, if so, if there will be any objection to lay Sir Andrew Clarke's Report upon the Table of the House?

MR. E. STANHOPE: Sir, it appears from the Indian newspapers that Sir Andrew Clarke has recently visited Madras to inspect the harbour works, but no official Report respecting his visit has yet reached this country.

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LORD GEORGE HAMILTON: Sir, we are now in communication with the Treasury upon this subject; and as soon as arrangements can be made by which the Educational Collection can be transferred to another place, we shall be ready to vacate the apartments now occupied by it.

TURKEY-MURDER OF MR. OGLE.

QUESTION.

MR. H. SAMUELSON asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether Mr. Consul General Fawcett's report of his investigation into the murder of Mr. Ogle by Turkish soldiers has arrived; and, if so, when it will be presented to the House; and, whether all documents relating to Mr. Ogle's murder at present in the Foreign Office will be laid upon the Table without delay?

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: Sir, I understand that the Report has not yet been received at the Foreign Office, but that it is expected shortly. When it arrives, the Government will lose as little time as possible in laying the Papers upon the Table.

POST OFFICE-MAIL CONTRACTS.

QUESTION.

MR. HOPWOOD asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether it is the intention of the Government to invite tenders for a Contract or Contracts to carry the Mails on the termination of that now existing with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Shipping Company; if so, when it is probable that advertisements will be issued for the purpose?

SIR HENRY SELWIN-IBBETSON, in reply, said, tenders would be invited on the termination, on January 1, 1880, of the existing contract. A Correspondence was now going on between the Home and Indian Governments as to the terms on which those tenders should be invited, and as soon as that Correspondence was completed the terms would be made known.

SCOTCH BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE.

QUESTION.

DR. CAMERON asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, To state in what order he proposes to pro

ceed with the various Scotch Bills at present before the House; and, whether it is intended to take up any of them before Whitsuntide?

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER, in reply, said, it was a matter of some difficulty to arrange when the Bills relating to Scotland could be brought forward; but his right hon. Friend (Mr. Assheton Cross) had sent him a note to the effect that he thought that the Roads and Bridges Bill might be taken at a Morning Sitting. The Government, however, could not make any positive promise on the subject. Due Notice would be given when the day was fixed. The Government would do their best to have the Bill brought on on Thursday. The Education Bill and the Endowed Schools Bill, having passed the House of Lords, were not so pressing. The Bills as to an Under Secretary of State for Scotland and the Lord Clerk Register, his right hon. Friend thought, might be taken on any convenient day that could be arranged.

ARMY-REGIMENTAL LIEUTENANT

COLONELS.-QUESTION.

GENERAL SHUTE asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether he can take steps to stop the supersession of regimental lieutenant-colonels now taking place by the action of paragraph (f), Article 22, Clause 124, of the Royal Warrant of September, 1877, whereby their positions have suddenly and considerably been altered for the worse; whether, if (as sanctioned by this late Warrant) appointments which a captain would be competent to hold are to qualify for the rank of full colonel, it will not tend largely to increase the list of colonels, which it is an object to reduce; and, whether, instead of thus lowering the standard of practical military experience required for the higher ranks of the Army by allowing an increased number of small appointments to be considered as qualifying for full colonel, he will consider the advantage to the public service of reducing the number to those higher appointments only, in the fulfilment of which, a real qualification for high command is likely to be acquired ?

COLONEL STANLEY, in reply, said, he was afraid that he could only answer very generally the Question of his hon.

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