noble Friend who had charge of the Bill, to discover any sufficient reason for this anomaly. If they held that it was right on principle that persons on accepting Office should vacate their seats, then abide by that rule and let both Offices create a vacancy in the seats. His opinion, however, was, that the best rule would be that neither should vacate their seats. His experience in Parliament satisfied him that great difficulties arose from the present state of the law. Those of their Lordships who remembered the passing of the first Reform Act would recollect that apprehensions were expressed that the disfranchisement of many small boroughs, which afforded a means of bringing into Office persons whose services were likely to be useful, would render it difficult to select the most competent persons for Offices under the Crown. He always felt the force of that view, and the experience of 38 years had satisfied him that such a difficulty now existed. Were it not invidious, he could mention instances in which the most competent persons had been passed over on account of the uncertainty of their securing re-election, and of less competent persons being preferred whose seats were secure. On the second reading of this Bill, objection was taken by the noble Duke near him (the Duke of Richmond) to allowing the Surveyor General of the Ordnance to sit in Parliament, on the ground that the tendency would be to prefer an officer sitting in the House of Commons, although another without a seat might be better qualified. He (Earl Grey) admitted that this argument had some force; but he thought it was sufficiently answered by what was urged by the Government on the other side-that additional professional assistance was required by the Secretary for War in the House of Commons, and it was therefore desirable that this new officer should be capable of sitting in that House. The noble Duke's objection would, however, have increased weight if the Surveyor General by accepting Office vacated his seat. There might be two military officers candidates for the Office, and both with seats in the House of Commons, and if one of them had gained his seat with difficulty and by a small majority, while the the other was secure of re-election, there would be an overwhelming temptation to prefer the latter,

even though he was less qualified than his competitor. If their Lordships held that a great constitutional principle was involved in the vacating of seats, he should be willing to apply it to both these Offices; but he would first propose that the Surveyor General should not vacate his seat by accepting Office, if already a Member of the House of Commons, nor be ineligible for election if not already a Member. If this Amendment was rejected he should move on Clause 3 that the Financial Secretary should also vacate his seat by accepting Office. Amendment moved

clause and insert ("one of Her Majesty's PrinTo leave out from ("Act") to the end of the cipal Secretaries of State may from time to time appoint and at his pleasure remove an officer to be styled the Financial Secretary of the War Office, and such officer shall not by Commons House of Parliament, vacate his seat, virtue of such appointment, if sitting in the or, whether sitting in such House or not, be disqualified from being elected to or sitting or voting in the said Ilouse of Parliament.")-(The Earl Grey.)

THE DUKE OF RICHMOND said, that, though on a previous evening the noble Earl opposite (Earl Granville) blamed him for asking for a postponement of Bills, he hoped the noble Earl would now think he had improved the opportunity he was kind enough to afford him of reflecting on the course which he should take with regard to this clause. During the interval, he had looked at the matter in all its bearings, and had come to the resolution of not offering any further opposition to the measure. He was the more inclined to do this on account of the statement of the noble Lord (Lord Northbrook) that it was by no means necessary that the Surveyor General should have a seat in Parliament, and that the best person would be selected, irrespective of his sitting in Parliament. He still objected to the Office of Surveyor General being made subject to Ministerial changes, and should be glad if the noble Lord in charge of the Bill could consider before the next stage of the Bill the propriety of making the Office a permanent one, and without a seat in Parliament. If, as seemed the general opinion, further professional assistance was required by the Secretary of State in the House of Commons, a third Office might be created, the person who filled it to be styled Assistant Under Secretary of State,

respect of which my right hon. Friend police, he was bound to say that since the President of the Board of Trade he had come to the House he had repromised last year that inquiry should ceived a telegram to the effect that the be made with a view to their removal. police of Manchester had re-considered It is proposed, then, to make the follow- their determination, and ostensibly ofing reductions:-1. Steamers making fered Mr. Johnson protection; but the direct voyages from the East Coast to the arrangements gave him no protection North of Europe will be relieved from whatever, and were perfectly useless to payment in respect of a certain num- him. He therefore would beg to ask ber of lights; by this a relief will be the Secretary of State for the Home given to the extent of about £11,300 Department, If his attention has been per annum. 2. Vessels trading between called to a statement in "The Times" ports in the United Kingdom and ports newspaper that a manufacturer at Manin Europe-except the Mediterranean- chester is unable to sleep in his own will in future be called upon to pay dues house, or to let it be publicly known once only, out and home. The annual where he resides, for fear of outrage on reduction in this case will probably be the part of workmen of a trades union; £21,229. 3. There will be a reduc- that the said gentleman has been refused tion of dues charged in respect of the the protection of the Manchester Police, "Smalls" and "Skerries" Lights from except on the payment of 8d. per hour 1d. to d., subject to the usual abate- for each man; and, if he can state if ment. This will give relief to the ex- such report be correct; and, if so, if tent of £13,300. 4. Vessels calling for the Government intend to take any steps orders at our ports and proceeding thence to put a stop to such a state of things? to foreign ports will in future be exempt from tolls after leaving the port of call. This will cause a reduction of £8,000. In all, the reductions will amount to about £53,800. They will, however, not come into operation till the 1st of October.

MR. GRAVES said, he should like to know whether these reductions would be effected without any curtailment of the expenditure necessary for new works?

MR. SHAW-LEFEVRE: These reductions will not at all affect the expenditure for new works. It may be convenient that I should state that the expenditure on new works during the present year will be £79,798. For the year 1869 it was £66,900, and for 1868 £47,000. It will be seen, therefore, that the expenditure during the current year will, notwithstanding the reductions, be greater than during either of the past two years. The estimated expenditure during the year 1871 on works now in progress will be £54,000.

THREATENED OUTRAGE IN MAN.

CHESTER.-QUESTION.

MR. GILPIN said, he must preface the Question of which he had given Notice by stating that the hon. Member for Manchester (Sir Thomas Bazley) had informed him that the gentleman who was threatened with this outrage bore the highest character; and, in justice to the

MR. BRUCE: Sir, I have read the report in The Times; but I am unable to say whether the facts quoted by the hon. Member are correct or not. I have been in communication with the Manchester magistrates and the local authorities generally upon this subject. It appears that two outrages were committed on the same night, one being an attempt to burn a stackyard of the gentleman referred to within the borough of Manchester, and the other an attempt upon his life outside the borough. I presume, therefore, the application for personal protection would have been made, not to the borough police, but to the police of the county in which the house stood. Application has been made to me by the magistrates to join them in offering a reward for the discovery of the offenders; they propose to offer a reward of £500, and I have, on the part of the Government, consented to add a reward of £100, together with a pardon to any offender who will give evidence leading to the conviction of the others. With respect to the latter part of the Question, I have to say that, in ordinary cases of danger to life and property, it is the duty of the local authorities to furnish the necessary protection; and when the danger is beyond their power and public disturbance is apprehended, the aid of the central authorities can be called in, and the aid of the troops can be granted if the risk be sufficiently

great. In the present case, I have re-buildings at South Kensington to be apceived no such application, nor have I propriated to the Royal School of Naval received any complaint that the magis- Architecture is likely to be completed trates have not done their duty. and roofed in; and, whether he is aware that building materials of great value have been long lying on the ground at South Kensington and suffering deterioration for want of money to make the proper use of them?

sense, and almost in the words, of the hon. Member's Question.

PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS.

MOTION FOR A SELECT COMMITTEE.

law. The faults in the present system to which he would call the attention of the House related in a great measure to the method of appointment and payment of those public officers, but also, what was still more important, to the manner SIR DAVID WEDDERBURN said, in which their proceedings and prehe rose to move for a Select Committee liminary inquiries were conducted, the to inquire into the present system of secret system under which they acted, conducting public prosecutions in Scot- and the arbitrary and irresponsible land, with the view of amending that powers with which the public prosesystem if necessary, and of extending to cutors were invested. It would be quite other parts of the United Kingdom the out of place to enter upon an account of institution of Public Prosecutors. Since the numerous and important functions he had placed this Notice upon the Paper, with which the Office of Lord Advocate, there had been a considerable change in now so worthily filled, had been by dethe aspect of the question. At that time grees intrusted. The original foundahe proposed not only to bring about a tion of that officer as public prosecutor reform in the law of Scotland, but to dated, he believed, from the middle of afford valuable information to those who the 16th century. In its origin it apsought to institute public prosecutors in peared to have been instituted for purely England and Ireland. Since then, how- fiscal purposes, to secure to the Crown ever, a Bill on the subject had been intro- its claims upon the estates of convicted duced, had been read a second time with- criminals. The Lord Advocate had out a Division, and referred to a Select under him a powerful staff of subordiCommittee, and had a very fair prospect of nates, headed by the Solicitor General becoming law this Session. That rendered and four Advocates Depute, appointed his task much simpler, for his object was by the Crown, and going out with the not to extol the system of public prosecu- Government of the day. There were tors, which had been established in Scot- also local public prosecutors called Proland for centuries, but to point out certain curators Fiscal, appointed by the Sheriff reforms which might advantageously be or local Judge, and holding office as long made, to render it more in harmony with as he did. It was their duty to investithe present state of opinion, and thus gate and report cases of crime, and to restore public confidence in the system bring the accused to trial. To the mewhich, in his opinion, still retained too thod of appointment by local officials, he much of the spirit of the times in which had various objections to urge, and he it was first instituted. The time seemed had the highest authority in support of appropriate for establishing a similarity his views. In a letter written in 1833, or identity of the law in the two king- Lord Cockburn, then Solicitor General of doms in this very important particular. Scotland, said, he had long been clear If the Committee were granted he should that Procurators Fiscal should be named wish to limit the inquiry strictly to the by the Crown, and that the present sysinvestigation of this particular case of tem of letting them be named by the prosecutors appointed and paid by the Sheriffs was peculiarly unsatisfactory, public to investigate cases on behalf of even when they appointed right men— the Crown. There had been a Royal and they often appointed wrong men. He Commission to inquire into the legal (Lord Cockburn) would have it distinctly procedure and practice of Scotland; the understood that this was not a political Commission had issued a voluminous office, and the holders ought not to be Report, from which this question had appointed or removed on party consideranot been omitted; but amid the mass of tions. The Lord Advocate possessed prisubjects to which their attention had vileges and powers as a public prosebeen directed it had unavoidably occu-cutor which hardly appeared in keeping pied a position not adequate to its importance. But if a Committee were appointed to inquire into this subject alone they would probably take such evidence and come to such conclusions as would lead to a substantial improvement in the

with the general limits prescribed by the Constitution to Executive officers. He could delegate those powers to whom he pleased, and he was not liable to give security or pay damages for false imprisonment, or for the failure of his at