404 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



ops are to be called the Bishop of Liverpool, 

 the Bishop of Newcastle, the Bishop of South- 

 well, and the Bishop of Wakefield. The Eccle- 

 siastical Commissioners are empowered to re- 

 ceive public contributions for the endowment 

 of any of the new bishoprics : and whenever 

 they certify to the Queen that the annual value 

 of the endowment fund, with the sum to be de- 

 rived from a contributory bishopric, is not less 

 than 3,500 a year, or 3,000 with contribu- 

 tions to raise it within five years to 3,500, then 

 the Queen, by order in Council, may " found" 

 the new bishopric. The number of bishops sit- 

 ting in Parliament is not to be increased. Other 

 important acts of the session are the act for 

 closing the public houses in Ireland on Sun- 

 day, the Public Health Act (1875) Amendment 

 Act, the act for consolidating the public health 

 laws of Ireland, an act for amending and sim- 

 plifying the laws relating to factories and work- 

 shops, an amendatory act relating to highways, 

 and acts in regard to roads and bridges in Scot- 

 land and for the abolition of tolls. 



A select committee of the House of Com- 

 mons, appointed at a previous session, to con- 

 sider the business rules of the House, in order 

 to ascertain what regulations could be applied 

 or made to prevent the obstruction of business 

 by the interposition of dilatory motions and 

 speeches, reported in July. The report sug- 

 gested : first, that the Speaker may propose 

 that an obstructive whom he has found it ne- 

 cessary to "name" shall, after being heard for 



ten minutes, be, in the discretion of the House, 

 suspended for that sitting ; and, secondly, that 

 whenever a motion to adjourn or report prog- 

 ress, or that the Speaker leave the chair, is 

 made by less than twenty members, there shall 

 be no division, but the Speaker shall call up 

 the members and count them instead. 



A bill for modifying and codifying the law 

 relating to indictable offenses was introduced 

 and received with favor, but was afterward 

 withdrawn by the Government, to be referred 

 to a commission, who will revise it and reduce 

 it to a form in which it may be passed without 

 protracted discussion. The Commission con- 

 sists of Lord Blackburn, Mr. Justice Barry, 

 Mr. Justice Lush, and Sir James Stephen. 



Lord Carnarvon announced in the House of 

 Lords on the 25th of January that his resig- 

 nation as Secretary of State for the Colonies 

 had been offered and accepted by her Majesty, 

 and explained the reason for his step, which 

 was a difference of opinion with his associates 

 on the sending of the fleet to the Dardanelles. 

 On the following Monday, the 28th, Earl Der- 

 by explained that he had tendered his resigna- 

 tion as Secretary of State for foreign Affairs 

 because he did not approve of sending the fleet 

 to the Dardanelles; but, as the Government 

 found within thirty-six hours that they were 

 not bound to take that step, he had no difficulty 

 in withdrawing his resignation. The Right 

 Hon. Sir Michael Hicks-Beach was appointed 

 Secretary of State for the Colonies, February 



HELIGOLAND. 



4th, in place of the Earl of Carnarvon, and on 

 the same day the Duke of Northumberland was 

 appointed to the office of Lord Privy Seal in 

 place of the Earl of Beaconsfield. 



The discussion of the Russo-Turkish policy 

 of the Government was carried on vigorously 

 through the earlier weeks of the Parliamentary 

 vacation, and formed the burden of numerous 

 addresses of members to their constituents and 

 ot the resolutions of public meetings. The 

 excitement on the subject had hardly had time 

 to wane when a new theme of intense interest 



manded notice the complications with Af- 

 ghanistan. The subject was mentioned in Par- 

 liament during the last week of the session, 



when the Government being interrogated con- 

 cerning a reported advance of the Russians 

 toward Afghanistan and the dispatch of the 

 mission of Sir Neville Chamberlain (see AF- 

 GHANISTAN), Mr. Bourke replied that they had 

 no official information concerning the move- 

 ments of the Russians, but that the British 

 mission to Cabool was of the kind which 

 seemed to be called for by the circumstances, 

 and for which the Government were ready to 

 take the responsibility. Any interference by 

 Russia with Afghanistan would be objected to 

 now just as much as when the question of a 

 neutral zone was discussed between the two 

 Governments ; and considering that Russia had 



