the regulations to be framed under the Transvaal Imported Labour Ordinance will prohibit the supply of opium to those labourers. MR. LYTTELTON: The Law to which the hon. Member refers prohibits the supply of intoxicants to coloured persons, except as regards Kaffir beer for the use of natives employed at the mines, and I am communicating with Lord Milner as to the corresponding arrangements to be made in the case of Chinese. As regards the second part of the hon. Member's Question, I am advised that Chinese labourers are not addicted to the excessive use of opium, but the necessity for providing against such abuse will not be lost sight of. Labour Ordinances-Hours of Labour and Pay. MR. SYDNEY BUXTON (Tower Hamlets, Poplar): I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether there is any labour Ordinance of any importance now in force in any Crown colony in which the maximum number of hours of labour per day for the indentured labourer and the minimum rate of wages to be paid him are not provided for in the Ordinance itself. MR. LYTTELTON: I have not been able to assure myself within the short notice given of the facts. It is perhaps sufficient to state that the contract into which the labourer will enter will contain the hours of labour and the rate of wages agreed upon. The contract is fully safeguarded in the interests of the Chinese, not merely by his own intelligence but by a Protector to be appointed in China by the Chinese Government. MR. WHITLEY (Halifax): Can the right hon. Gentleman say what wages have been agreed upon? MR. LYTTELTON: No, Sir. British Indians and the Transvaal Labour Ordinance. probably be objected to by the Indian Government, is based upon any correspondence; and, if so, whether he will lay this correspondence upon the Table of the House. MR. LYTTELTON: The statement in the telegram in question was based, not upon any correspondence, but upon the fact that communications have been proceeding between the Transvaal Government, the Colonial Office, the Indian Office, and the Indian Government with a view of arriving at an agreement with regard to the status of the Indian traders, licensed and unlicensed, carrying on business in the Transvaal now and before the of this matter the Indian Government is war; and that pending the settlement disposed to object to the introduction of Indian coolies into the Transvaal. As those negotiations are still proceeding I do not propose to lay Papers at present. Sunday Trains on Irish Railways. MR. O'SHAUGHNESSY (Limerick, W.): I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the Great Southern and Western Railway Company have for some time discontinued the Sunday trains between Limerick and Tralee, which were continually run by the Waterford and Limerick Railway Company; whether he has received a resolution of the traders and others in Abbeyfeale, in the county of Limerick, complaining of such action: and whether, latter company with the former the seeing that by the amalgamation of the public were guaranteed equal facilities to those heretofore enjoyed by them, he will, in view of the loss and inconvenience o the public caused by the discontinuance of these trains, take steps to have them continued. MR. GERALD BALFOUR: I have received from the hon. Member a copy of the resolution to which he refers. I am inviting the observations of the railway company in the matter and will communicate with the hon. Member on receiving the company's reply. Cork Post Office-Overtime for American Mails. MAJOR SEELY: I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his statement in his telegram to Lord Milner of 16th January, that the provisions of the draft Ordinance MR. J. F. X. O'BRIEN (Cork): I beg for the importation of indentured labour, to ask the Postmaster-General whether, MR. A. J. BALFOUR: I hope this Bill will be introduced before Easter, but the House knows that our pressing necessity at the present moment is Supply, and I can give no absolute pledge on the subject. staff of the Cork Post Office, with four or five exceptions, has suffered to an extent varying from 1d. to 4d. per hour by the abolition of the special rate for overtime for the disposal of the American mail matter, he will increase the minimum rate to ls. per hour, in view of the importance attached to the acceleration of those mails; and whether steps will be taken, without delay, to compensate those officers who have suffered by the late reduction. THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Lord STANLEY, Lancashire, Westhoughton): I have called for a further report on the matter to which the hon. Member refers, and I will give him a reply as soon as possible. CAPTAIN DONELAN (Cork Co., E.): Can the noble Lord say why this special of pay for overtime has been abolished? rat LORD STANLEY: It arises out of a general readjustment based on the recommendations, I believe, of the Tweedmouth Committee. I am making further inquiries into the matter. Marine Insurance Bill. MR. CHARLES MCARTHUR (Liverpool, Exchange): I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury if he will state whether the Marine Insurance Bill will be re-introduced at an early date. THE PRIME MINISTER AND FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR, Manchester, E.): I hope the Bill to which my hon. friend refers, and in which I know he takes the greatest interest, will be introduced at an early date. Parliament and the Press. MR. MALCOLM (Suffolk, Stowmarket): I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether he will consider the advisability of arranging to supply Blue-books and other State Papers, issued by Command or by public departments, simultaneously to Parliament and to the Press. SIR H. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN (Stirling Burghs): Before the right hon. Gentleman answers, may I point out, with regard to the mysterious document to which I have already made reference on two successive days, that we are still without that document, although it appeared in the newspapers on Monday morning? MR. A. J. BALFOUR: I think the fact to which the right hon. Gentleman calls my attention, and of which I was not aware, is most regrettable. I do not know what is the cause of it. The House knows that when the Press gets hold of a document it has very exceptional facilities for rapidly putting it before the public, and no machinery we can construct, will, I think, be able to compete with them. But I think every effort ought to be made in order that documents may be in the hands of Members or, at the very least, in the Vote Office before they are available for the Press for publication. SIR H. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN: The right hon. Gentleman hardly goes back far enough. He says the Press MR. CHARLES MCARTHUR: Will it "got hold " of this document. be first brought in in this House. MR. A. J. BALFOUR: Yes, I believe that is the arrangement. Alien Immigration Bill. MR. TREVELYAN Yorkshire, W.R., Elland) I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether it is probable that the Alien Immigration Bill will be introduced before Easter. MR. A. J. BALFOUR: No, no! I did, it is true, refer to that, but in my I hope, be introduced at a very early general observations I was referring to a date. rule which I think, as far as possible, ought to be applied to all documents. MR. JOHN REDMOND: May we week? As regards that particular document, I hope they may be introduced nex think it is a very serious thing that it should not have been in the hands of Members. I was not in London last week. I was communicated with as to whether there was any objection to publication. I said "No." MR. A. J. BALFOUR: I hope so. The Parliamentary Session. MR. GALLOWAY (Manchester, S. W.): I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether his attention has been called to the proposed alteration in the Parliamentary Session; and if he will give facilities for a discussion upon the subject. MR. A. J. BALFOUR: I do not think anything but good would ensue upon a and I hope my hon. friend will be discussion of this question by the House, successful in the ballot. There are two points to be considered in connection with this matter-one is the great difficulty of rearranging the session in view of the legal end of the financial year and the necessity of getting through the greater part of Supply after the financial year. The second difficulty which has always influenced me in throwing cold water on the proposal is that, while I am quite sure it would be easy to make the *MR. SPEAKER: That does not arise session begin earlier, I am not quite sure out of the Question. MR. FLYNN (Cork County, N.): Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that it is quite customary for the Press to get advance copies of public documents long before they are in the hands of Members ? it would be easy to make it end earlier. NEW WRIT. New Writ for the county of Dorset (Eastern Division), in the room of the Hon. Humphry Napier Sturt, now Baron Alington, called up to the House of Peers. *MR. SPEAKER: Order, order. This (Sir A. Acland-Hood.) is now becoming a debate. Irish Bills. MR JOHN REDMOND (Waterford): I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether he will immediately introduce the promised measure dealing with labourers in Ireland, so as to afford ample time for the consideration of its provisions by those specially interested in the matter. MR. A. J. BALFOUR: Both the Bills to which the hon. Gentleman refers will, STANDING COMMITTEES Sir JAMES FERGUSSON reported from the Chairmen's Panel; That they had appointed Lord Edmund Fitzmaurice to act as Chairman of the Standing Committee for the consideration of Bills relating to Law, and Courts of Justice, and Legal Procedure; and Sir Thomas Esmonde to act as Chairman of the Standing Committee for the consideration of Bills relating to Trade (including Agriculture and Fishing), Shipping, and | Vote A and Vote 1, and it is by arrangeManufactures. ment only that such discussions are allowed on other Votes. I, therefore, think that in this case a general discussion will be permissible. Sir JAMES FERGUSSON further reported from the Chairmen's Panel; That they had agreed to the following Resolution :"That any member of the Chairmen's Panel be and he is hereby empowered to ask any other member of the Chairmen's Panel to take his place in case of necessity." Reports to lie upon the Table. PUBLIC PETITIONS COMMITTEE. Second Report brought up, and read; to lie upon the Table, and to be printed. NEW BILL. OUTDOOR RELIEF (FRIENDLY SOCIETIES) (No. 2) BILL. "To amend The Outdoor Relief (Friendly Societies) Act, 1894," presented by Mr. Gretton; supported by Mr. Butcher, Mr. Cameron, Sir Ernest Flower, Sir Carne Rasch, Mr. Shackleton, and Mr. Soames; to be read a second time upon Wednesday next, and to be printed. [Bill 106.] SUPPLY. Considered in Committee: (In the Committee.) [Mr. J. W. LOWTHER (Cumberland, Penrith) in the Chair.] NAVY ESTIMATES, 1904–5. Motion made, and Question proposed, "That a sum, not exceeding £6,691,000, be granted to His Majesty, to defray the Expenses of Wages, etc., to Officers, Seamen and Boys, Coast Guard, and Royal Marines, which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1905." MR. EDMUND ROBERTSON (Dundee) inquired if a general discussion would be allowed on the Vote. *THE CHAIRMAN: I think the practice has been to allow a general discussion on MR. WILLIAM REDMOND (Clare, E.) said that in continuation of the protest he made on Vote A he intended to move a reduction of the present Vote, which was the first in which they were confronted with a large increase of money for naval expenditure. He thought he was justified from the point of view of the Irish taxpayers in making a practical protest by moving a reduction. MR. WILLIAM REDMOND said he had no desire to prevent hon. Gentlemen above the Gangway indulging in any criticisms they might deem necessary in regard to the policy of the Government, and, therefore, he would content himself with moving a reduction of Item A by the sum of £281,692. He thought it was most unjust and unfair from the point of view of the Irish taxpayer that, without any reference whatever to the capacity of Ireland to meet these great increases of expenditure, these additions to the Estimates should be put down. He did not complain in the slightest degree of the Secretary to the Treasury or of the officials in charge of the Admiralty making what arrangements they considered to be necessary for the efficiency of the Fleet as far as England was concerned, and he held that an Irish Member had very little right in that House to object to any experditurenaval or otherwise of the money of the British taxpayer. The Government was entitled to do exactly as it liked with its own taxation. They could increase the Navy Estimates and the Army Estimates year by year if they chose, but the Irish taxpayers objected-and it was an objection against which no reasonable argument could be advanced-that it was unfair to insist on their paying whether their country was prosperous or not. They ought not to be called upon, whether they liked or not, to pay their share of any increased expenditure which might be deemed necessary by the British Government. That raised at once the whole question of Ireland's position towards Great Britain under the Act of Union, which abolished the Irish Parliament. They were told at the time of the Union that the amalgamation of the Irish and British Legislatures would have most beneficial results so far as Ireland was concerned; they were told that under the Union they would enjoy benefits and advantages which they could never obtain under an Irish Parliament. But those who opposed the Union very wisely predicted that that result very likely would not be achieved, but that, on the contrary, the result of the union of the Irish and British Parliaments would be that Ireland, from a financial point of view, would suffer considerably. He ventured to assert most respectfully that no Member on either side of the House could deny that the effect of the Union down to the present day had been that the Irish taxpayer had been called upon to spend enormous sums for purposes which would never have arisen at all had Ireland remained a self-governing country with a Parliament of her own had been called upon to spend enormous sums of money for purposes which had been brought about owing to the action of England and Scotland, and through no fault of the Irish people themselves. He knew he was bound to confine himself to the Navy Estimates on that particular occasion; otherwise, he thought he would have been able to trace, year by year, during the last century, action on the part of successive Governments which had entailed the expenditure of enormous sums by Ireland owing to the arrangements under the Union from which Ireland had derived no benefit whatever. He would not refer, even briefly, to the South African War which had just been concluded. It was, however, a notorious fact that Ireland had no interest in that war, that the Irish people were passionately opposed to it, and whether they were right or wrong in the estimation o Englishmen, the fact remained that the voices and the votes of Ireland in that House were raised in opposition to it, and that they disclaimed all participation in it. Yet the Irish people had been called upon to pay a very large and unfair proportion of the 250,000,000 or so of money which the war had cost the taxpayers of these countries. These Naval Estimates were simply a continuation of the old policy towards Ireland of making Irish people share an increased expenditure whether they desired to do so or not, and his object in rising that day was to askthough he supposed it would be perfectly futile for him to do so that in the future some arrangement might be made, while the present system of Irish Government lasted, whereby increased expenditure which was initiated by England alone should be borne by England alone, and that the Irish taxpayers should be relieved from this enormous tax upon their slender resources. He knew per fectly well that a great many Members would come at once to the conclusion that in objecting to the increase of those Estimates he, and those of his colleagues who joined him in the objection, were simply actuated by the motive of delaying the transaction of business. There were, he believed, some Members who went so far as to say that their object was simply to waste the time of Parlia ment. Well, they had to put up with those misrepresentations, and he said there, as sincerely and truly as ever any man had made a declaration in that increase because he believed it was monHouse, that he was objecting to that strously unjust and unfair to ask Irish taxpayers for an increase of even one shilling of money under the Vote. He would ask the Secretary to the Treasury |