Chiswickite - formerly The Croydonian

Head scratcher o' the day:

Colonel LOCKWOOD asked the President of the Board of Trade if their returns of imports include live foxes; and, if so, how many were imported last year and this?

Mr. CHURCHILL Live foxes imported are included in the import statistics under the heading, "Animals, living, and other kinds," and the number of foxes so imported cannot be separately distinguished.

Whether the Colonel was a rather a unsporting huntsman or had been overdoing it on the laudanum is not recorded.

And I believe we have a comedian in the House:

Mr. REMNANT  May I ask whether this is one of those exceptional cases in which he can put on an extra import tax?

Glaswegians behaving well:

Mr. BOULTON asked what decrease there has been in the arrests for drunkenness in Glasgow since the Budget Resolutions affecting whisky came into operation as compared with the previous months?

Mr. HOBHOUSE The number of convictions in the City of Glasgow in connection with drunkenness in the three months, June, July, and August, 1908, was 3,733, or an average of 1,244 per month. In the corresponding period of 1909 the number was 2,622, or an average of 874 per month. There has therefore been a decrease in the number of convictions in this period of 1,111, equivalent to an average decrease of 370 per month.

Who'd a thunk it?




Matters military:

Major ANSTRUTHER-GRAY asked the Secretary of State for War whether his advisers are satisfied that there is an ample supply of petrol in the country to secure the full advantages of motor traffic in case of war?

Mr. HALDANE As I have informed the hon. and gallant Member on a previous occasion, it is anticipated that the stocks of petrol ordinarily maintained in this country would be ample for meeting the Army requirements of that article for war purposes.

Some strange military types around at the time, clearly.

Where might one expect the Forces to be spectacularly unpopular?  Maybe Drogheda...

Captain CRAIG asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that anti-enlisting placards, of an offensive nature, were recently posted throughout Drogheda; whether any steps were taken to trace their origin or arrest those who posted them; and can he state the penalty incurred by any one convicted of such an offence?

Mr. HALDANE Nothing is known at the War Office of the matter in question.

A nation of squirrel lovers:

Mr. BERTRAM asked the First Commissioner of Works whether he can state the reason for the regulation which, in a portion of Regent's Park, prohibits the presence of dogs otherwise than attached to a lead, and how long the regulation has been in force; and whether he is aware that it has the effect of preventing owners from making use of the park accompanied by their dogs unless carrying leads for them, although the regulation extends only to the area called the Broad Walk?

Mr. HARCOURT The regulation as to dogs in the Broad Walk of Regent's Park was made in response to widely signed memorials from residents in the neighbourhood. The object of it was the protection and preservation of the semi-tame squirrels which have become so charming a feature in this park. I feel convinced that the owners of dogs would not grudge the slight inconvenience to which they may be put in order to contribute to the pleasure of those who are too poor to possess pets of their own, but are able to enjoy those which they now find in the Park.

Amen Mr Harcourt.




And so from one type of Afghan (supposedly the world's stupidest dog) to another.  Perhaps.

Mr. HART-DAVIES asked whether the Ameer of Afghanistan has yet expressed any views on the subject of the Anglo-Russian Convention (1)?

The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for INDIA (The Master of Elibank) The answer is in the negative.

I expect the Ameer was bidding his time.


(1 - Wherein 'As regards to Afghanistan, Russia recognized the country as a semi-protectorate of Great Britain and "abandoned its earlier efforts to establish direct relations with the emir"')

Knowing which side one's bread is buttered:

 Mr. REES  asked whether the Maharao Raja of Bundi has taken any and, if so, what steps within his state to stamp out sedition against the British Government in India?

The MASTER of ELIBANK The Secretary of State has seen a newspaper report of a notification said to have been issued by the Maharao Raja of Bundi. When an official copy is received I will communicate it to my hon. Friend.

Bundi is a Sikh majority province, by the look of things.

A pretty loose definition of sedition:

Mr. MACKARNESS asked the Undersecretary whether his attention has been called to the conviction of the editor of an Indian newspaper for sedition, by a magistrate of five years' standing at Nagpur, in respect of an article written by him ridiculing the acceptance by Indians of titles of honour, and advocating certain specified reforms, such as the reduction of the Salt Tax, the abolition of liquor shops, the freeing of elementary education, and the releasing of prisoners deported without trial; whether the defendant was fined £70 or, alternatively, a year's imprisonment; and whether he can say upon whose advice such a prosecution was instituted, and whether there is any appeal against the sentence?

The MASTER of ELIBANK The Secretary of State is aware of the prosecution referred to. The penalty imposed was a fine of Rs. 1,000, equal to £66 13s. 4d., or in default a year's simple imprisonment. All prosecutions for sedition under Section 124a of the Indian Penal Code 1987 require the sanction of the Government before they can be instituted, and such sanction was given in this case by the Chief Commissioner. The sentence is open to appeal.

Indeed.

Labels: 1909, Parliament

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