GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



869 



';.! I. ).:::!(.. Tin- total number of sailors wns 240,- 

 -|sn. ,,f wlic.m :;(),207 were foreigners. Tin- total 

 miiiilMT of vessels registered as belonging to the. 

 I'nited Kingdom and the Channel Islands \\a-. 

 >' I. .!::. ot V.';!>,297 tons, of which 18,8:>:t. of 

 >'.i:; ions, were sailing vessels, and 7,720, of 

 5. .;i ir, -jiiI tons, were steamers. 



HailroiHls. The length of the railroad lines 

 open to traffic on Jan. 1, 1892, was 20,11)1 miles, 

 of which England and Wales had 14, !.">( miles, 

 Scotland 8,172 miles, and Ireland 2.803 miles. 

 The total paid-up capital in shares and loans \\a- 

 919,425,121; and the total receipts for 1891 

 were L'81,800,607, of which 35,130,910 were from 

 passengers and 43,230,717 from freight. The 

 number of passengers carried was 845,403,608, 

 exclusive of holders of season tickets. The to- 

 tal working expenses were 45,144,778, which 

 was 55 per cent, of the gross earnings. 



Posts and Telegraphs. The number of let- 

 ters delivered in the United Kingdom in 1892 

 was 1,767,500,000; of post cards, 214,600,000; of 

 book packets, 495,300.000; of newspapers, 162,- 

 800,000; of parcels, 49,400,000. There were is- 

 sued 8,906,576 inland money orders for the total 

 sum of 24,383,569 ; and, including colonial and 

 foreign orders, the whole number was 10,346,630, 

 amounting to 28,429,634. The postal orders 

 numbered 52,659,545, of the total value of 20,- 

 563,750. The revenue of the post office, exclu- 

 sive of telegraphs, was 10.190,967, and the 

 working expenses were 7,142,269. At the be- 

 ginning of the fiscal year 1892-'93 there were 

 83,054 miles of telegraph lines and 202,286 miles 

 of wire, including 22,781 miles of private wires, 

 but excluding the wires of the railroad compa- 

 nies. The number of messages in 1892 was 

 09,685,480. The gross receipts for 1892 were 

 2.508,138, and the working expenses 2,506,989. 



The Parliamentary Session. The second 

 session of the thirteenth Parliament of Queen 

 Victoria was opened on Jan. 31, 1893. The Queen's 

 speech announced that in connection with the 

 approaching evacuation of Uganda by the Brit- 

 ish East Africa Company a commissioner had 

 been authorized to examine on the spot into the 

 best means of dealing with the country, and, re- 

 garding Egypt, that a slight augmentation had 

 been made in the number of British troops sta- 

 tioned there, which measure did not indicate any 

 change in the policy of the Government in deal- 

 ing with that country. Calling attention to the 

 wide prevalence of agricultural distress, the 

 hope was expressed that the matter would re- 

 ceive the attention of Parliament. Among the 

 measures recommended, the leading place was 

 given to a bill amending the provisions for the 

 government of Ireland, which had been prepared 

 with the desire to afford contentment to the 

 Irish people, relief to Parliament, and additional 

 securities for the strength and union of the em- 

 pire. Measures were recommended for amend- 

 ing the registration in Groat Britain, for short- 

 ening the duration of Parliaments, and for 

 equalizing the franchise by the limitation of 

 each elector to a single vote. In the interests of 

 labor, bills were promised in relation to employ- 

 ers' liability, the hours of labor for railway serv- 

 ants, and the amending of the law of conspiracy. 

 Further recommendations were of measures for 

 the creation of parish councils, for enlarging 



the powers of the London County Council, for 

 tin- prevention of the growth of new \.-ied in- 

 ii-re-ts in the ecclesiastical <-Mablishiiii.-iiN in 

 Scotland and Wales, and for direct local < 

 over the liquor trullic. 



The promised Irish Home-Rule bill was intro- 

 duced and explained by Mr. Gladstone on !' i.. 

 18. After a preamble reciting that it is expedi- 

 ent that, without impairing or restricting the 

 supreme authority of Parliament, an Irish legis- 

 lature should bo created, the bill provided tnat 

 such legislature should consist of the Queen 

 and of two Houses, a legislative council and 

 a legislative assembly. '1 iiis legislature would 

 have power to make laws in matters relating 

 exclusively to Ireland or any part thereof, sub- 

 ject to the limitations that it may not legislate 

 in any matter that relates to the Crown, a regen- 

 cy, or the vice-royalty ; in matters of peace and 

 war, public defense, treaties, and foreign rela- 

 tions, dignities, titles, treason, or alienage ; in 

 matters of external trade, quarantine, or naviga- 

 tion ; in matters relating to coinage, legal ten- 

 der, the standard of weights and measures, trade- 

 marks, or copyright ; and that it may not in any 

 manner restrict religious or personal liberty, 

 abridge educational privileges, or interfere with- 

 out due process of law with the rights of personal 

 or corporate property. The legislative council 

 was to consist of 48 members, to be chosen by 

 electors who own or occupy in the constituency 

 land or a tenement of the ratable value of more 

 than 20; and such councillors are to hold their 

 seats for eight years, regardless of a dissolution. 

 The legislative assembly was to consist of 108 

 members returned by the parliamentary con- 

 stituencies now existing, and elected by the 

 parliamentary electors; and the assembly might, 

 unless sooner dissolved, continue five years from 

 the day on which it is directed by the summons 

 to meet. The constituencies for returning 

 councilors were set forth in a schedule of the 

 act, and the constituencies for members of both 

 Houses of the Legislature, and the distribution 

 of members among the constituencies and the 

 qualifications of the electors must remain for 

 six years as fixed by the act ; thereafter these 

 might be' altered by the Irish legislature, pro- 

 vided that in any redistribution of members due 

 regard was had to the population of the con- 

 stituencies. For the purpose of meeting a dead- 

 lock between the two Houses, it was provided 

 that in case a measure passed by the assembly 

 was rejected by the council and again passed by 

 the assembly, after a dissolution, or after a lapse 

 of two years, then, in case of another disagree- 

 ment by the council, the two branches must 

 meet in joint session and decide the question by 

 a majority of votes. All appropriation or tax 

 bills must originate in the assembly, but the 

 appropriation of any part of the revenue or the 

 laying of any tax. except upon recommendation 

 train the Lord Lieutenant, was prohibited. The 

 executive power remains vested in the Queen, 

 and the Lord Lieutenant, in her behalf should 

 exercise the prerogatives of the Crown, and sum- 

 mon, prorogue, and dissolve the legislature. 

 There was to lie an executive committee of the 

 1'ri \v Council of Ireland to aid and advise in tho 

 government : said committee being of such 

 numbers and comprising persons holding such 



