banks for some years past to such an or absorbed even by the German Emextent that Ireland was marvellously pire, great as it was? He rather thought prosperous! If he turned to the City not. If, then, there was work for an articles of London newspapers, he found Irish Parliament to do, who could do it that this country was proved to be in a more usefully than Irishmen? The Irish deplorable condition by the accumula- people were not and could not be satistion of money in our banks. At the fied to have the legislation of their counpresent moment every writer on finance try conducted in London. They mainand trade would point to the capital tained that they had the best means of lying in our banks, not as a sign of knowing what was wanted for their wealth, but rather as a sign of stagna- country, and were therefore best qualition of our industry. They were ac-fied to attend to its interests. The real customed in Ireland to hear a great fact was that England had sacrificed the deal about the plea of Irish prosperity. interests of Ireland to its own love of When Lord Carlisle was Viceroy, at the dominion and its desire to act upon a very period when Ireland was passing principle of centralization, instead of through severe sufferings, so much did adopting federation, a system under he dwell upon this topic, that he was which communities could prosper withconstantly called by the name of "Pros-out the healthy life of individual memperity Carlisle." When Ulster was as bers of the community being destroyed. Protestant as it was now, and when it was It was a mistake for England to supas prosperous as compared with the rest of Ireland, Ulster was most democratic, whether in 1782 or in 1789, and in Belfast was held the first banquet in Ireland which celebrated the triumph of the French Revolution. At the period immediately preceding the Union the Minister in England felt himself safe from impeachment, while he was seeking to corrupt and betray the Irish Parliament. The present feeling which had been expressed towards Ulster was prompted by the sentiment that the people of Ulster should be taught that those who dwelt in Ulster needed the power of England to protect it from this peril. He hoped that Ulster might yet become friendly to Home Rule, for he could not think that Ulster had utterly lost its spirit. He could quote a resolution to the effect that the claim of any body of men over the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland was unconstitutional, illegal, and a grievance, and that was signed by men whose grandchildren told them that Ireland could never entertain the idea of governing herself. He was glad to find that Ulster was every day becoming more and more Irish, for borough after borough and county after county was coming into the Irish cause. The real issue was this-was there sufficient Irish work to occupy the attention of an Irish Parliament, and could that work be done usefully by such a Parliament? [An hon. MEMBER: No!] Ireland was as large a country as many in Europe, the independence of which had been guaranteed by England. Would they allow Belgium to be amalgamated pose that the Irish people loved her or her institutions. As a matter of fact, nine-tenths of the Irish people grew up from their childhood with an instinctive hatred and aversion from England. ["No, no!"] Hon. Members might dissent from the statement, but he knew it to be true. He was one of those who grew up with the feelings he had described; but as he approached manhood, and had opportunities of becoming acquainted with the great and noble characteristics of the English character, he looked back with intense regret upon the unreasoning hatred in which he had grown up from the days of his youth. At the same time, it was certain that the feeling to which he had referred still existed, and that it was owing to that fact that England kept Ireland in a state of subjection. ["No, no!"] Well, let them go to the Irish in America and see what were their sentiments. They had filled the world with combustible materials, that bode no good to the peace and tranquillity of England if ever the hour of danger struck for her. In alluding to the hostility of the Irish population he was bearing testimony to facts within his knowledge, not holding forth a menace or threat. The hon. and learned Member for Limerick and his Party now stepped forward to propose a compromise between consolidating the strength of the Empire and securing the liberties of their own land. They made the proposition and they meant to carry it out. They knew that England never would, never dare, to draw the sword upon Ire Bective, Earl of Benett-Stanford, V. F. Blackburne, Col. J. I. land standing upon such an offer of | Beach, rt. hn. Sir M. H. MR. O'SULLIVAN supported the Motion, and in doing so took occasion to inveigh strongly against English policy in Ireland, and to appeal to the House to terminate peacefully a struggle which was a cause of weakness to the Empire at large. Question put. Ferguson, R. Floyer, J. Forster, rt. hon. W. E. son Garnier, J. C. Gladstone, rt. hn. W. E. Gregory, G. B. Cecil, Lord E. H. B. G. Hamilton, Lord G. Clive, Col. hon. G. W. Cole, Col. hon. H. A. Cust, H. C. Digby, Capt. hon. E. The House divided:-Ayes 291; Noes Dillwyn, L. L. 61 Majority 230. Duff, J. Alexander, Colonel Allsopp, C. Anderson, G. Anstruther, Sir W. Bass, A. Elliot, G. W. Bateson, Sir T. Evans, T. W. Mr. Sullican Antrobus, Sir E. Fellowes, E. Hamilton, Marquess of Hartington, Marq. of Hinchingbrook, Visct. Holmesdale, Viscount Home, Captain Hood, hon. Captain A. W. A. N. Hope, A. J. B. B. Howard, hon. C. Howard, E. S. Hughes, W. B. Hunt, rt. hon. G. W. Jenkins, D. J. Johnson, J. G. Johnstone, Sir F. Johnstone, Sir H. Jolliffe, hon. S. Kavanagh, A. MacM. Mulholland, J. Milbank, F. A. Mills, Sir C. H. Monckton, F. Monk, C. J. Montgomerie, R. Moore, S. Morgan, hon. F. Morgan, G. O. Tollemache, hon. W. F. Trevor, Lord A. E. Hill- Price, W. E. Raikes, H. C. Ralli, P. Errington, G. Esmonde, Sir J. Fay, C. J. French, hon. C. Gourley, E. T. Hamond, C. F. Henry, M. Main Question, "That Mr. Speaker do now leave the Chair," put, and agreed to. SUPPLY-CIVIL SERVICES (FURTHER (In the Committee.) Motion made, and Question proposed, "That a further sum not exceeding £436,410 be granted to Her Majesty, on account, for or towards defraying the charge for the following Civil Services, to the 31st day of March, 1877." [Then the respective Services are set forth.] MR. BUTT said, he would move to report Progress, as the Votes before them involved some important questions in connection with education in Ireland. Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Chairman do report Proand ask leave to sit again."—(Mr. gress, Butt.) SIR MICHAEL HICKS - BEACH appealed to the Committee to go on with the Estimates, or else there would be considerable inconvenience entailed in the payment of school teachers' salaries. Motion, by leave, withdrawn. Original Question put, and agreed to. House resumed. officer holding the rank of General in the Russian Army has now a high command in the Servian Army. It has also Resolution to be reported upon Mon- been stated more than once that Russian day next; officers have been crossing over into Servia-presumably with the object of Committee to sit again upon Monday joining the Servian Army. I beg to ask next. LOCAL LOANS (IRELAND) [EXTINGUISHMENT "That it is expedient to authorise the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to extinguish certain Debts due in Ireland to the Consolidated Fund, and all arrears of interest thereon, and to amend the Law with respect to Loans to Local Authorities in Ireland out of the said Fund." Resolution agreed to:-Bill ordered to be brought in by Sir MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH and Mr. SOLICITOR GENERAL for IRELAND. House adjourned at a quarter the noble Earl, Whether those statements are true; and whether he can give the House any information as to the number of Russian officers who have entered the Servian service? THE EARL OF DERBY: I presume that the officer alluded to in the noble Earl's Question as holding the rank of General in the Russian Army is General Tchernayeff. There is no doubt that General Tchernayeff was formerly_employed in the Russian Army, and attained high rank in the Russian service. He subsequently, I am told, quitted that service, and became the Editor of a journal which supports the Sclavonic cause. I am informed that he has since accepted the command which he now holds in the Servian Army. As to the other part of the noble Earl's Question-that relating to Russian officers who may have crossed into Servia with the view of entering into the Servian Army-I am afraid that I canMonday, 3rd July, 1876. not answer it. Everybody knows, however, that there is a strong sympathy MINUTES.]—PUBLIC BILLS-First Reading-felt among the Russian population for Saint Vincent, Tobago, and Grenada Consti- the cause of the Servian insurgents; and tution* (156). Second Reading (134). Committee-General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Provisional Order (Lerwick) (122). HOUSE OF LORDS, Wild Fowl Preservation Committee--Report-Slave Trade (135). Third Reading-Metropolitan Commons (Barnes) * * TURKEY-RUSSIAN OFFICERS IN THE SERVIAN ARMY.-QUESTION. THE EARL OF CAMPERDOWN: My Lords, I rise for the purpose of putting a Question to the noble Earl the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, of which I have given him private Notice. It has been stated in the papers that a Russian it is possible and not improbable that various persons who have held rank and been employed in the Russian service may be serving as volunteers in the Servian Army. But on that point I cannot speak with any certainty; and I have no reason to believe that they do so with the assent, still less with the authority, of the Russian Government. one or two preliminary observations. I am not going to call in question the acts of any other person than those of the noble Earl the Secretary of State, because he is technically responsible for all that has taken place; and also morally responsible-but I desire to qualify that statement by another. I am not so unreasonable as to expect from the Secretary of State a sufficiently careful reading of all the Papers sent from the Straits Settlements, added to all the mass of documents from all the other Colonies, but the country has a right to expect that that duty should be efficiently performed by the officials of the Colonial Office. If I do not say more in exoneration of the noble Earl in this respect, it is to avoid giving him an opening for saying that I am attacking those officials who are not here to defend themselves. It also well may be that the Staff of the Colonial Office is short-handed for the work it has to do, and I would gladly see the noble Earl take measures to strengthen the Staff of his office. I also feel bound in duty to state to your Lordships that which I have had the pleasure of saying in private, that I am grateful to my noble Friend, and that I feel the gratitude of the country is due to him for his conduct with regard to Sultan Ismail, and for having preserved the country from the disgrace which would have attached to any precipitate court martial or mock trial of Sultan Ismail, such as some persons in the colony were desirous of. I wish now to make an observation on the method of the Colonial Office in the matter of Parliamentary Papers. The Fiji Papers were given to your Lordships on the day of the debate; the Gambia Papers were delivered only one clear day before the discussion. The Malay Blue Book, No. 1,111, was delivered in the beginning of August last, though it professed to have been presented July 31st, 1874. This Blue Book may be called the undiscussed Blue Book, and the noble Earl appears to wish that it should be indiscutable, since it was delivered too late for discussion last Session, and February of this year was too early. One of the Blue Books lately delivered, No. 1,320, also professes to have been presented August 6th, 1875, and these Blue Books were only delivered to the other House on the day of a debate there. I will not say that this method of delivering Parliamentary Papers is intended to prevent Parliamentary discussion, though it has that effect; but I say it is a strong proof of the procrastination and dilatoriness of the Colonial Office, which have in a great measure contributed to the recent unfortunate events in the Malay Peninsula-and I would ask the noble Earl why he took nearly two months to answer Sir William Jervois's despatch? Now, this House has already, in the Address in reply to the Speech from the Throne, expressed its regret for the loss of valuable lives during the recent military operations in the Malay Peninsula, and it will, no doubt, also regret, though in a lesser degree, the expenditure which has been caused by those operations; it will probably also regret that military operations should have taken place which must have had the effect of indisposing towards us the inhabitants of the Malay Peninsula. And it may be also supposed that it regrets the loss of life amongst the Malays, who were as much patriots as the Poles or any others who have had the sympathy of this country; and if this House regrets all these circumstances, or even if it should confine its regrets to the loss of the valuable lives of Her Majesty's troops, then it must also regret the cause of that loss, and that cause will be found to be principally the want of timely attention on the part of the Colonial Office. The Blue Books contain a discussion between the Secretary of State and the Governor of the Straits Settlements, chiefly turning upon the point of whether the Residents appointed by Sir Andrew Clarke had, or had not, assumed the administration of the countries where they resided. The Governor says they had; and the Secretary of State maintains, in his despatch of December 10, 1875, that the Residents were merely advisers; but I will show your Lordships that all this was clear to the Colonial Office before Sir William Jervois proceeded to his post, and that the Colonial Department approved of all that the Residents did, until Mr. Birch was killed and a dead body was found at their door, and then they did like the people in the Arabian Nights, who endeavoured to remove the dead hunchback from their own to another door. I do not wish to exonerate Sir William Jervois for having gone beyond his instructions, and there is much to object to in the unseemly tone of his despatches; but he has received hard. |