sent time to inform the hon. Member of | Question at once to the Charity Commisthe decision at which I shall arrive. I sion, and beg to read the reply they have hope, however, very soon to be in a sent meposition to lay before my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department the details of a site which, both as to size and position, will afford adequate accommodation for the business of the central police court.

cumstances could do so with a very fair | "had not thought that Mr. Patterson had chance of success.

grant of money for the public Service use of them, should be conducted at a were before the House, of drawing the safe distance from places where large attention of the Government to any par- bodies of workmen were congregated. ticular subject, and more particularly to The point in connection with this accithe necessity for redressing some griev- dent to which he particularly wished to ance. Representing, as he did, a con- draw the attention of Her Majesty's stituency that contained perhaps as great Government, was the amount of the a number of persons in the service of compassionate allowances awarded to Her Majesty's Government as any other the widows of the two men who were in the country, it was not surprising that killed, and he thought hon. Members he had acquired a certain degree of fa- would agree with him, that they were miliarity with the many hardships inci- miserably inadequate and utterly undental to such employment. These, he worthy of the country. Both men were was bound to say, had hitherto always specially selected for the duty that cost received fair and impartial consideration them their lives, on account of their at the hands of those Members of Her skill, experience, and trustworthiness. Majesty's Government to whom he had Young, the foreman, was 40 years of felt it to be his duty to make represen- age, had been employed 20 years in tations; and it was therefore with feel- the Royal Arsenal, and at the time of ings of regret that he now found himself his death was in receipt of 578. per compelled to ask the indulgence of the week, consequently he would have been House, whilst he briefly drew the atten- entitled to a pension of about 168. per tion of his right hon. Friend the Chan- week, if he had retired the day before cellor of the Exchequer to what appeared the accident occurred. He left a widow to him to be a grievance of no ordinary and seven children, to whom a gratuity magnitude. On the 24th of May last, of £49 and a compassionate allowance for the purpose of trying an experiment, of 78. 10d. per week had been given. a 7-inch Palliser shell was being filled Walstow was 42 years of age, he at the Royal Arsenal, with compressed had been 25 years in the service, gun cotton, by three men -Charles his wages were 33s. per week, and Young (foreman), and two assistants, he would have been entitled to a retiring Joseph Walstow and Joseph Bardon. pension of 14s. 5d. per week. He left a The place selected for this-as it proved widow and three children, and in his to be-exceedingly dangerous operation, case a gratuity of £40 and an allowance was the Cap Factory, where, in a work- of 58. per week had been granted. Thus shop, which, usually and then, was it would be seen that these widows recrowded with men and boys tending the ceived less than half the amount their machines employed in preparing the husbands would have been entitled to copper capsules used in the manufacture on retirement, if their characters had of percussion caps, the shell exploded, been less exemplary than they were; for presumably from the enormous hydraulic it was on account of their excellent chapressure required to force the gun racters that they were chosen for emcotton into its position. The foreman, ployment on this dangerous experiment: Young, was killed on the spot, Walstow survived but a few hours, and Bardon was grievously mutilated; but, by an accident of fortune, little short of a miracle-and certainly in no way due to the prudence of the person who chose such a place for the performance of the operation-none of the other workmen employed in the shop were injured. It was true that the gun cotton in question was wet, and in that condition considered safe; but it seemed to him that, in dealing with such dangerous materials, the nature of which was, by that very occurrence, shown to be yet but imperfectly understood, the greatest caution should be used, and, above all, operations involving an experimental

and it must be remembered that no negligence on their part had ever been suggested, either at the inquest or at the official inquiry that took place immediately after the accident. To put the case in plain language, the Government had actually saved money by the death of these men-they would probably have profited by the success of the experiment, but its failure was to be dearly paid for by the men. He had no wish unduly to blame the Government, but that was practically the result of the transaction, and he repeated that it was unworthy of the country. Economy was no doubt an excellent thing-as the attribute of a statesman it ranked as a virtue-but this was not economy-it

was cruel parsimony. He had no doubt shared in by those who were acquainted he should be told by his right hon. with the facts of the case. He believed Friend that he was unable to give ex- the men had borne a high character, pression to the sympathy, which he was and their death was due to no fault of sure he (the Chancellor of the Exche- their own. At the same time, no blame quer) felt, for the fatherless and the could be imputed to any one in connecwidow in whose behalf he was pleading; tion with the accident. By what might he would probably tell him that he was be called the common law of the Civil bound by rules for the making of which Service, the widows and families of perhe was not responsible-that his hands sons dying in the service were not enwere tied and his actions fettered; but titled to any pension at all. The men this was an occasion when he should free employed were entitled, when past work, himself from those ties and strike off to a pension, but widows were supposed those fetters. What a Treasury Minute to be provided for by their husbands. It had done, he presumed a Treasury Mi- had been the habit, however, in former nute could undo. He might be told that years, when a case like the present the system of compassionate allowances arose, to make a compassionate allowwas intended for exceptional cases, ance of some irregular amount to the and so, no doubt, it was; but this was family. A natural feeling of compassion, an exception amongst exceptions, and and even of justice led to this being therefore entitled to extraordinary con- done. Some two years ago-shortly besideration. A soldier employed for the fore the present Government took office defence of his country must be content -it was thought desirable that these to carry his life in his hand-it was part compassionate allowances should be put of the contract of his service. A work- on a regular footing, and a Treasury man whose duty it was to tend heavy Minute was passed in December, 1873, machinery knew that he was always ex- with the object of securing more cerposed to a certain amount of danger- tainty and consistency of practice. It he might lose a limb or an eye or be was laid down in that Minute that in otherwise crippled through no negli- the cases in question, the widow should gence of his own-for such cases the receive an annual pension not exceeding scale of compassionate allowances was ten sixtieths of the husband's emoluprobably sufficient, but that of which he ments at the time of death; or that a had spoken could not be included in that pension of £12 might be given where category. The work on which these men the amount, calculated as above, fell were employed was unique in its charac- short of that sum. There was also a ter-they were required to prepare a yet provision for children. The House must untried experiment-to brave a danger recognize that it was reasonable the unsuspected even by their superiors-pension to a widow should be less than they were chosen for their skill and trustworthiness proved by long service -were they then to be treated like those who merely took the ordinary risks of their calling-like those who were aware of the dangers that surrounded them, and therefore, by the exercise of care, could in great measure protect themselves? He felt sure that such a course would not commend itself to his right hon. Friend's sense of justice; and that, consequently, he would find means to relax a regulation, the operation of which he thought he had shown to be unjust, and therefore injurious to the interests of the public service.

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER said, he entirely sympathized with his hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich (Mr. Boord) in the feelings he had expressed, and they were largely

that which would be given to the man himself. If the man had been granted a higher pension for life, the widow would have found herself deprived of anything; but, in the present case, the widow would be in receipt of it for the whole of her life, unless she married again. His hon. Friend had not given quite accurately the sums to which the husbands would have been entitled. The man Young was entitled, at the time of his death, to a pension of 148. a-week; his widow received £20 a-year, or about 78. or 8s. a-week. It would be extremely difficult to deal with these questions satisfactorily, if they had to consider each as exceptional. He had carefully considered the matter himself, and he had reluctantly come to the conclusion that the course pursued was the only ono they could adopt.

Bill read the third time, and passed.

LAND TITLES AND TRANSFER BILL.

(Mr. Attorney General.)

CONSIDERATION.

the Government throughout the Committee suggested that they did not really want the Bill to work. When Amendments had been proposed by those very few hon. Members who were acquainted with the subject, and took an interest in it, they had been resisted, generally on the mere ground that the House of Lords had otherwise decided, and if the Government now declared to accede to the Amendments, the responsibility must rest upon them, and not upon the legal Members of the House. The operation of the Bill was entirely a matter of speculation, and it was undesirable that if it should not turn out well, there should be no escape from it.

New Clause (Removal of land from registry of title,)(Mr. Gregory,)brought up, and read the first time.

[Lords.] [BILL 105.] Bill, as amended, considered. MR. GREGORY, in moving the insertion of a clause providing that the registered proprietor of any land entered on the register of title might, with the consent of all persons appearing by the register to be interested in such land, remove the same from the register, and that thereupon the register of title should, as respected such land, be deemed to be closed; and that when the register of title in respect of any registered land was closed there should not be entered on the register any further transfer of a further charge on such land, but there might be made on the register any entries in relation to the title already registered which might have been made if the register of such land had not been closed, and the registered title of any such land should, so far as it extended, have the same effect in all respects as if it had been continued, said, they all knew that the Bill was an experiment. The measure was calculated to operate especially in cases where property might subsequently be sub-divided, and then the parties would have to consider what the operation of the Bill would be upon them. Now, an apprehension was not unreasonably entertained that the operation of the Bill, as regarded small properties, would be vexatious and expensive; consequently, parties who might otherwise register estates for the purposes of sale, would be deterred from doing so, as purchasers for the portions of it would (Mr. Raikes, The Lord Advocate, Mr. Secretary

not be found if these portions were always to be subjected to the register. He believed that, without this clause, the Act would be, to a great extent, a dead letter. He might also add that there was a prejudice against the Bill altogether among many persons, and he was anxious to make it a workable measure, and so to increase its ope

ration.

MR. JACKSON seconded the Amendment. There was no one more capable of giving the House advice on the subject of conveyancing than the hon. Gentleman the Member for East Sussex, and when he came down and said, on his responsibility, that the Bill would not work without this clause, he thought that the Government would do well to accept it. The course taken by

Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Clause be now read a second time."

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL said, that the question had been considered and disposed of by the House on Saturday last, and it was rather hard that it should be brought forward again so soon. He must oppose the clause.

Question put.

The House divided:-Ayes 49; Noes 81: Majority 32.

Amendments made.

with Amendments.
Bill read the third time, and passed,

SHERIFFS SUBSTITUTE (SCOTLAND)
BILL-[BILL 273.]

Cross.)

CONSIDERATION.

Order for Consideration read.

GENERAL SIR GEORGE BALFOUR, who had a Notice upon the Paper for the rejection of the measure, said, he did not intend to offer, at that late period of the Session, any further opposition to it, though his objection remained as strong as ever. In opposing the Bill at its previous stages, he had not been actuated by any factious motives, but from this conviction-that he considered Scotch Members had good grounds for complaining of the manner in which Business relating to their country had been treated that Session. The Scotch Members, when they went back to their constituencies, would have anything but a satisfactory story to tell of the con