Rating Bill. everyone who fell into any difficulty of the hon. Member for Stockport, they If they adopted that principle, where had heard very little from the reprewould they stop? The right hon. Gen- sentatives of boroughs in that House. tleman in charge of the Bill said he He hoped the protest made by the hon. pleaded for a deserving class when he Member for Stockport would be imitated spoke for the landlords of this country by other hon. Gentlemen. The GovernHe himself would speak for another ment might make up their minds that most excellent class of which he had the principles upon which the Bill was had experience for 25 the based would be examined with the greatyears class of merchants who had dealt est care, the matter being one that could with China tea in country. not be dealt with without the very He happened to be a little connected greatest consideration from the House.

this

with the tea trade and these China tea merchants had lost the whole of their

Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr.

the Exchequer, Mr. Walter Long, and
Mr. T. W. Russell; presented accord-
ingly, and read 1°; to be read 2o upon
Monday next, and to
be printed.
[Bill 185.]

business, and their trade had been with- Chaplin, Mr. Balfour, Mr. Chancellor of drawn from them in the most ruthless and remorseless way for some years past. Were they going to tax every class in this country to subsidise these merchants? But what was the landlord after all? Looked at from the right hon. Gentleman's point of view the landlord was only a person who dealt in land. He was very sorry the landlord commodity had fallen in price, but with his experience in commercial circles he could say that that was not an uncommon complaint at all. The reason he and other hon. Members protested against THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREAthis Bill was that if they began to tax SURY said, he should propose to take those people who were engaged in a it on Monday next. He imagined that prosperous industry to keep other that would be convenient to hon. Memunfortunate people on their feet whose bers. In that case it would come before industry happened to decay, they would the Education Bill.

*SIR H. FOWLER asked whether the Second Reading of the Bill was to be taken before or after the Second Reading of the Education Bill. He thought they were entitled to have some little idea as to the order in which these great Government Bills might be taken.

shire, E.) asked whether the First Lord of the Treasury would promise not to take the Second Reading of the Agricultural Rating Bill until they had had introduced and circulated the Bills relating to Ireland and Scotland on the same subject.

assent to a principle as bad as ever MR. T. R. BUCHANAN (Aberdeenthe House of Commons agreed to. The First Lord of the Treasury had appealed to them not to unduly prolong the Debate. He did not mean to do so, but the right hon. Gentleman should have some feeling for the state of mind the Bill produced on that side of the House. He found the next matter on the Orders THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREAof the Day was a question connected SURY said, the principle of rating in with advances for telegraphs, and the Ireland and Scotland and the general subsequent one the Military Manœuvres conditions of agriculture in those two Bill. In the state they had been thrown countries were different from those in into by the present Bill, based upon such England, and it would be impossible to inequitable principles, he said it was have one scheme dealing with all three perfectly impossible for them to give countries in precisely the same way. any coherent consideration to these im- They must treat the cases separately, portant subjects. The plea that had though each country would receive the been made behalf of the towns recognised share of the Imperial grant. should receive more attention than it MR. PATRICK O'BRIEN asked had done. He believed the boroughs whether this Bill was to be introduced gave their support to the Tory Party at to the postponement of the Irish Land the last Election, but with the exception Bill, which was down for the same day.

THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREA- | for the money involved in the Bill was SURY said, that this was, he thought, made, and if an explanation was given the first Bill mentioned in the Queen's it might save the trouble of a Division. Speech, and it was only deferred until [Laughter.]

that evening on account of the necessity of bringing in the Budget first. It had always been understood from the very beginning of the Session that this Bill and the Education Bill stood before the Irish Land Bill, but he saw no reason why all three Measures should not become law in the present Session. [Cheers.]

TELEGRAPHS ADVANCES.

Bill reported without amendment; to be read the Third time to-morrow, at Two of the clock.

WAYS AND MEANS (16TH APRIL).
Resolutions reported.

TEA.

1. "That the Duty of Customs now payable on Tea shall continue to be charged, levied, and paid on and after the first day of August, One

Committee thereupon deferred till thousand eight hundred and ninety-six, until the Thursday.

MILITARY MANOEUVRES BILL. Committee deferred till To-morrow at Two of the clock.

NAVAL RESERVE BILL. Committee deferred till Thursday.

BERRIEW SCHOOL BILL.

first day of August, One thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven, on the importation thereof into Great Britain or Ireland (that is to say) :

In the case of Beer called or similar to Mum, Second Reading deferred till To-mor- Spruce, Black Beer, or Berlin White Beer— row at Two of the clock.

MILITARY LANDS ACT (1892) AMEND-
MENT BILL.

Second Reading deferred till To-morrow at Two of the clock.

CONSOLIDATED FUND (No. 2) BILL.

Considered in Committee.

[Mr. J. W. LowTHER in the Chair.]

DR. TANNER (Cork, Mid) moved to report Progress.

*THE CHAIRMAN: Order, order! That Motion cannot be put, because this

For every thirty-six gallons
where the worts thereof
are or were before fer-
mentation of a specific
gravity-

Not exceeding one thou-
sand two hundred and
fifteen degrees, a duty
of

Exceeding one thousand
two hundred and
fifteen degrees, a duty
of

In the case of every descrip-
tion of Beer other than that
above specified-

For every thirty-six
gallons where the worts
thereof were before fer-
mentation of a specific
gravity of one thou-
sand and fifty-five
degrees, a duty of

gravity."

...

£ s. d.

020

024

0 0 6

Bill is specially exempted from the opera- and so in proportion for any difference in tion of the Twelve o'clock Rule. [Cheers.] DR. TANNER said that in that case he should ask for an explanation of the purposes for which the money was demanded. ["Order, order!" and laughter.] He required to know why the demand

EXCISE DUTY ON BEER.

3. "That in addition to the Duty of Excise

payable on and after the first day of July, One thousand eight hundred and ninety-six, in

respect of Beer brewed in the United King- reference to the salary of the Lord dom, there shall be charged, levied, and paid on Lieutenant being placed on the Conand after that day :solidated Fund.

For every thirty-six gallons of worts of a specific gravity of one thousand and fifty-five degrees, the duty of sixpence; and so in proportion for any difference in quantity or gravity."

Resolutions agreed to.

Bill ordered to be brought in Mr. James William Lowther,

Chancellor of the Exchequer,

Mr. Hanbury.

SUPPLY (17TH APRIL).

Resolutions reported.

CIVIL SERVICES AND REVENUE
MENTS ESTIMATES, 1896-7.

CLASS II.

by

*MR. SPEAKER: There is no Vote for the salary of the Lord Lieutenant, and therefore the hon. Gentleman will not be in order in discussing that point.

MR. DILLON said he might be permitted to express the hope that,especially as the salary of the Lord Lieutenant was Mr. withdrawn from the consideration of the and House, that gentleman might not in future be a party hack.

FOR

THE CHIEF SECRETARY IRELAND (Mr. GERALD BALFOUR, Leeds, Central) thought it would be quite apparent to the House why he did not reply on Friday to the two points mentioned by the hon. MemDEPART- ber. He would not have been in Order in referring to the salary of the Lord Lieutenant or as to the law requiring the Lord Lieutenant to be a member of the Protestant religion. The Vote taken on Friday had reference to the chaplains of the Lord Lieutenant, and the larger question as to whether the Lord Lieutenant ought not to be eligible among Catholics as well as Protestants did not arise under the Vote.

1. "That a sum, not exceeding £2,771, be granted to Her Majesty, to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March 1897, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Household of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland."

Resolution agreed to.

3. "That a sum, not exceeding £113,458, be granted to Her Majesty, to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March 1897, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Local Government Board in Ireland, including certain Grants in Aid of Local

MR. DILLON said, considerable Debate took place on this Vote in Committee, and therefore he desired now to 2. "That a sum, not exceeding £1,181, be call attention to two points only. He granted to Her Majesty, to complete the sum wished to know whether the Government necessary to defray the Charge which will come could give them any undertaking that the 31st day of March 1897, for the Salaries and in course of payment during the year ending on they would introduce a Measure to Expenses of the Office of the Commissioners remove the religious disability which of Charitable Donations and Bequests for attached to the office of Lord Lieutenant Ireland." of Ireland. It was an insult to а country like Ireland that the Lord Lieutenant should be obliged to be a member of a particular religious persuasion, a persuasion which was not that of the vast majority of the Irish people. Why a Catholic was allowed to represent Her Majesty in India and in other parts of the world and not in Ireland he could not understand. It was an intolerable state of things. From a Nationalist point of view he did not care whether the Government sent a Catholic or Protestant to be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, but from a Unionist point of view he thought no opportunity of amending the law ought to be lost. second point he wished to raise had

VOL. XXXIX. [FOURTH SERIES.]

A

Taxation."

4. "That a sum, not exceeding £3,566, be granted to Her Majesty, to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March 1897, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Public Record Office in Ireland, and of the Keeper of State Papers in Dublin."

5. "That a sum, not exceeding £10,280, be granted to Her Majesty, to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March 1897, for the Salaries and Expenses in the Department of the Registrar

3 P

Brought from the Commons; read 1a, (Kent, Tonbridge) moved that the Grand

Brought from the Commons; read 1a, himself and other members of the Comand to be printed.—[No. 55.]

STATUTE LAW REVISION BILLS AND were not consulted about the present