begged to ask the Secretary of State for | fell upon the planters of Jamaica, but in the Colonies, If there has been any pro- that year a change was made. It was posal from Jamaica to increase the pro- proposed that one-third of the cost portion paid by the Island Exchequer should be defrayed by the general refor the importation of Coolies since that venue of the Island, but that the Home proportion was fixed during the ad- Government refused, and the planters ministration of the Government by Sir were met in this way-that where the J. P. Grant; and he begged to move for- back passage was not claimed by the A Return of the number of Coolies im- Coolies, the money was paid to them as ported in 1873 and 1874 into the colonies bounty for the purpose of inducing them of Mauritius, Trinidad, Jamaica, and to settle in the Island, and it was afterBritish Guiana; showing their total cost wards proposed that the public purse in each Colony, and the proportion of should relieve the burden of the planter such cost which is defrayed from the to the extent of that bounty, but not upon colonial resources. the ground of inducing immigrants to come. In 1874 two proposals were made. The first, which was retrospective, was agreed to; but the second was so unreasonable a proposal--that the whole of the expenses of immigration should be thrown upon the general revenue-that it was declined, and at this moment the condition of the Jamaica planters was as he had described. This was much too large a question to be discussed at the end of the Session and in such a thin House; and he would only say that he was quite sensible of the great difficulties which the West India planters had to deal with. They had not only to contend against a great dearness of labour, but also with the cheapness of sugar. The French Convention had recently come to an end; but it would, perhaps, be kept in force till March next. The season had been bad, and there had been peculiar depression in the Island, and any assistance that the Government could render must be what was reasonable under the circumstances. The immigration of the Coolie would be of great advantage to him, provided he could be properly protected, and receive a fair remuneration for his labour by allowing him to leave a country that was overpopulated and pauperized for a country where he would be able to obtain labour. The question was, however, one of great difficulty. He was now in communication with his noble Friend the Secretary of State for India, and his noble Friend was in communication with the Indian Government on the matter. Whatever was possible to be done in reference to the commercial interests of the colonies it would be their duty to do. He believed also that it would be for the interest of the Coolies that a fair and reasonable solution of the question should be arrived at. THE EARL OF CARNARVON said, that so far as the Return, for which the noble Lord moved was concerned, he thought there would be no difficulty in giving it; but it would be necessary to apply to the Governors of the various Colonies, who would, no doubt, furnish the information which the noble Lord desired. The Question with which the noble Lord had prefaced his Motion was rather a difficult one to answer. It must be stated, touching cursorily upon this question, that it would be very unfair not to point out that Jamaica was placed in a different position from the other two great sugar-growing colonies of Trinidad and British Guiana. The prosperity of the sugar-making colonies depended upon the importation of labour, and in both of them the expenses of obtaining it were borne by the general revenue of the Colony, but in Jamaica no assistance was given from the public purse for this particular purpose. The difference was therefore considerable; the ground of that difference being the maintenance of labour. But whereas sugar was the staple industry or product, so to speak, of British Guiana and Trinidad, in Jamaica there were other interests on which the prosperity of the Colony more or less depended; consequently it had not been thought necessary that the State should make to the planters in Jamaica contributions of public money which had been made to those of Trinidad and British Guiana. He would not stop to discuss how far it was a sound or unsound principle, but to point out simply the difference that existed between these Colonies. When, however, it was stated there had been no change in favour of the planters he could not quite subscribe to that doctrine. Up to 1873 the total expenses of the emigration of the Coolies Address for Return of the number of Coolies | the subject of Copyright, of which notice imported in 1873 and 1874 into the colonies of has been given by the Secretary of State Mauritius, Trinidad, Jamaica, and British Guiana; showing their total cost in each colony for the Colonies, and the names of the and the proportion of such cost which is de- persons who are to compose the Comfrayed from the colonial resources.-(The Lord mission? Stanley of Alderley.) [278]. * Considered as amended-East India Home Go- NAVY-THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF QUESTION. MR. FORSYTH asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, Whether the Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy was reappointed for a fixed or for an indefinite term; and, if for a fixed term, when that term will expire? MR. HUNT, in reply, said, that he was appointed for a fixed term, and that would expire on the 16th of April, 1879. SIR CHARLES ADDERLEY: Sir, it is the intention of the Government to take Her Majesty's pleasure as to issuing a Royal Commission on the whole question of copyright, and as soon as such Commission may be issued I will immediately give information of the terms of appointment and the members of the Commission. I hope it will be before the end of the Session. WEST AFRICA-ALLEGED TRANSFER MR. KNATCHBULL-HUGESSEN asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether, in accordance with the statement of Lord Granville upon the 15th July 1870, that Her Majesty's then Government had informed the French Government that no transfer of the British territory at the Gambia tion of Parliament," Her Majesty's pre"could be completed without the sanc sent Government will undertake that COPYRIGHT-ISSUE OF A ROYAL COM- such transfer until Parliament has had the country shall be committed to no MISSION.-QUESTION. MR. EDWARD JENKINS asked the President of the Board of Trade, Whether he will be prepared to announce to the House, before the end of the Session, the time and terms of the appointment of the Royal Commission on an opportunity of expressing its opinion upon the subject? MR. J. LOWTHER: Sir, no final action will be taken in this matter until ample opportunity has been afforded to Parliament for an expression of its opinion. THE TICHBORNE CASE.-QUESTION. DR. KENEALY asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether he has, in pursuance of the promise given on the 25th of June last, caused inquiry to be made as to whether Mina Jury, who has been twice convicted of felonies in this country, is the same person as Mercivina Caulfield, who was sentenced in 1847 to seven years transportation for a felony committed in Dublin; whether the police authorities in Scotland Yard were aware of that fact at the time the said Mina Jury appeared as a witness for the Crown in the Tichborne prosecution; whether it is true, as she stated at Knutsford Sessions in July 1875, that the Treasury owed her £1,189; and, if not, whether the Treasury owes her any sum, and if so, what sum; and, whether he will state by whom the said Mina Jury was first discovered as a witness in Hobart Town, by whom she was there first examined, and who first gave information about her to the prosecution or to the Treasury? THE SOLICITOR GENERAL, in re SUPPLY. ply, said, his attention had been directed by Mr. O'Neill himself to the subject, by MR. ASSHETON CROSS had to say, in reply to the hon. Member for Stoke sending him a newspaper containing a upon-Trent, that, as he promised, he did report of the observations made by the upon-Trent, that, as he promised, he did Master of the Rolls. It appeared the make inquiries into the case of Mina Master of the Rolls inquired, in hearing Jury. A person was sent over to Dublin, the case of May v. O'Neill, if the deand on searching the criminal records it fendant was an Irishman; but why he was found that on the 27th of June, made that inquiry he (the Solicitor Ge1847, a woman named Mercivina Caul-neral) could not tell. The Master of the field, aged 19, was tried before Baron Rolls was of opinion Mr. O'Neill had no Lefroy for felony and sentenced to seven years' transportation, and that she sailed case, and as far as he (the Solicitor on the 24th January, 1848, in the John General) could ascertain the facts, he Calvin, Captain John Davidson, to entirely concurred with him. Hobart Town. That was the only official record in Ireland, and there were no documents to show what became of the woman after her arrival in the colony, and no person could be found to identify Mrs. Mina Jury as the same woman. Mrs. Jury herself had been seen in Knutsford Gaol, and she entirely denied that she was the same person. With respect to the second part of the Question, the police authorities in Scotland Yard were not aware of the fact the hon. Member alluded to at the time Mina Jury was examined as a witness in the Tichborne case. As to the sum of £1,189, the only answer the Treasury gave was that they owe her nothing whatever, and do not even know who she is. As to the last part of the Question, about her being examined Order for Committee read. Motion made, and Question proposed, "That Mr. Speaker do now leave the Chair." NAVY TRAINING OF CADETSCOMPETITIVE EXAMINATIONS. RESOLUTION. MR. SHAW LEFEVRE rose to call attention to the Departmental Report on the Training of Cadets for the Navy and to the proposed abandonment of the principle of competitive examinations on the entry of Cadets; and to move "That, in the opinion of this House, the abandonment of the principle of limited compe tition in the appointment of Cadets to the Naval | mony to the same effect before the ComService is inexpedient." mittee. He said The hon. Gentleman said, important as increasing complications of our ships, Mr. Shaw Lefevre ralty, that there were continual complaints made that the boys did not come from the Britannia in a satisfactory state of knowledge. Under the old system it was felt that a great many boys were admitted with an insufficient know "I am aware, from what I heard at the Admi ledge, and were, many of them, ultimately dis charged." On making these changes his right hon. Friend appointed a Committee to advise as to the best course of study to be pursued by the cadets while on board the Britannia. The Committee consisted of Dr. Barry, Principal of King's College, and formerly Head Master of Cheltenham School; Dr. Butler, Head Master of Harrow; Professor Main, the then head of the Naval College at Portsmouth; Admiral Powell, Dr. Woolley, and Mr. Inskip. He ventured to think that a stronger Committee could not have been appointed. The Committee, after careful consideration, reported in favour of a technical and professorial education, as opposed to a classical education. In their Report, which was now in the hands of hon. Members, was the following passage:— "We are of opinion that the course of the Britannia should include Mathematics and Navigation, French and English, Geography, History, Drawing, and Physical Science. The jected, on the ground that considering the youth claims of Latin for recognition we have reof the cadets, and the shortness of time which would be available for its study after other paramount demands had been satisfied, it would be hopeless to look for such progress as would the cadets in its pursuit." be marked by appreciable results, and interest The condemnation of Latin by such authorities as Dr. Butler and Dr. Barry was very significant and remarkable. He would here mention that the cadets were entered at the age of 13. They spent two years on board the Britannia. They then went to sea for five years. At the age of 20 they returned for six months' study at Greenwich before passing an examination for the rank of “sublieutenant." Although there were Naval Instructors on board the larger ships, yet the time which could be given for instruction was very limited, seldom exceeding two hours a-day, and it was admitted that midshipmen scarcely kept up the knowledge which they had acquired on board the Britannia. Sir Astley Cooper Key said on this point "At present the officers at Greenwich do not show signs of having kept up their knowledge in the four or five years between leaving the Britannia and coming to Greenwich; they naturally lose a great deal, especially in Algebra, Trigonometry, and Geometry." They found the boys were fully up to the average of the best public schools in point of weight and height; their health was good; they excelled in cricket and boating, and the only defect was that a certain portion of the cadets had a somewhat pale and jaded appearance. This might have been due either to the relaxingel imate of Dartmouth, or to the conditions of life on board the Britannia, where, as the First Lord of the Admiralty had stated, a somewhat severe course of study was combined with the strict discipline, which was essential to a ship of war, and which might be too strict for boys at a young age. The Committee made, as principal recommendations: The education, therefore, of these officers practically ceased at the age of 15, and after that they were engaged in the purely professional training on board ship. It was all the more important, therefore, that we should secure the most intelligent boys for the Service, and that we should make the best use of the very short time at their disposal for education. Such was the system which was in force up till a year ago. In the course of the past year, however, fear appeared-1, the substitution of a College on to have been engendered in the minds of the present First Lord of the Admiralty and the members of his Board that the education of the cadets in the Britannia was being overstrained, and that their health was deteriorated. He believed it was no secret now that this was due to the error of a surgeon on board the Britannia, who filled up a Return in such a way that it appeared that the boys had not gained in weight during a year. However that might be, the Admiralty appointed a Committee to inquire into the matter. The inquiry appeared to have been limited in the first instance to the question whether the condition of the Britannia and the course of study were favourable to the physique of the cadets, and it was only as an afterthought that they were directed to report upon the more important question of the entry of the cadets. He could not but think that if this had been originally contemplated, the Committee would have been differently constituted; for, with all respect to the gentlemen who formed it, he thought it did not at all compare in weight or authority with the previous Committee which he had already named. The Committee consisted of three naval officers-Admiral Rice and two captains -two medical gentlemen, Mr. Osborne Gordon, formerly tutor at Christ Church, and Mr. Morgan, a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge; but there was no one on the Committee with any experience whatever in the education of boys, or with any knowledge of our great public schools, or with any experience of competition. On the main point, the health and physique of the boys, the Report of the Committee was very satisfactory. VOL. CCXXVI. [THIRD SERIES.] shore for the Britannia training ship; 2, the extension of the course of education for three years, interspersed by two short cruises in a training ship; 3, the discontinuance of instruction in grammar, literature, history, physical geography, and physics, and the introduction of Latin in their place; 4, the substitution of pure nomination, with a test examination, for the competitive system. With respect to the first two recommendations, he had nothing to say. He thought the Government had been wise in substituting a College on shore for the Britannia. He also thought it was wise to extend the training of cadets to the age of 16 before they were sent on board the training ships. With respect, however, to the physical science and history, he could not but consider that it was very unwise, and he regretted to learn that the Admiralty had already carried it out. Without, for a moment, undervaluing Latin for the education of boys who could be kept at school till the age of 17 or 18, or who were to go to the Universities, he thought that for boys who were practically to finish their education at the age of 15 or 16, it was very useless and a great waste of time; useless, because the boys could not learn enough of it consistently with other work which was absolutely necessary for naval officers and a waste of time, because it replaced other studies of paramount importance. It seemed to him that the reasons given by Dr. Barry and Dr. Butler against the introduction of Latin were conclusive. Among the reasons given by the more recent Committee in favour of Latin was one so infinitely absurd, that it seemed Q ; |