Chiswickite - formerly The Croydonian

And it's back.

So, first things first, flags:

Mr. JOHN ROCHE  May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether he is aware that it is not usual to hoist the Union Jack over public buildings in Ireland on the King's Birthday, and even in the case of the brewers and distillers it has not been done?

Mr. BIRRELL  Very shocking!

Mr. T. L. CORBETT  Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that in Belfast and other loyal parts of the North of Ireland— I know the right hon. Gentleman treats this with contempt—it has been in the past the custom to hoist the Union Jack as the emblem of the unity of empire?

Mr. BIRRELL   I have no knowledge of it.

 Mr. JOYCE   What price do you get for flying it?

Mr. J. MacVEAGH    May I ask whether the right hon. Gentleman is aware that on the last birthday of the King there was not a Union Jack flying in the whole of the constituency of North Down?

I doubt Mr Macveagh checked this in person, but then I am a bit given to cynicism.


Temperance fanatics

Sir JOHN KENNAWAY  asked whether His Majesty's Government propose in any way to modify their policy of discouraging the sale of spirits to the native races of Africa in consequence of the findings of the Committee presided over by Sir Mackenzie Chalmers?

Colonel SEELY  His Majesty's Government do not propose to modify in any way their policy of discouraging the sale of spirits to the native races of Africa, and they will continue to co-operate with other European Powers to that end.

Many years back I encountered a Nigerian beer which had 'Makes you feel real fine' on the label.  It wasn't bad, although not a patch on Lagos Guinness, drinking which is like kissing God, if the blasphemy might be excused.  


The lot of Belgian plasterers:

Mr. J. WARD Is four francs per day the standard rate of wages for plasterers in Brussels?

Mr. CHURCHILL  Yes.

Mr. J. WARD  There is a lot of difference between that and the wages paid in this country.
 

Mr. W. THORNE  Did the right hon. Gentleman advise the contractor as to the rate of wages to be paid?

Mr. CHURCHILL  No, Sir; it is obvious that in decorating an exhibition in a foreign country you cannot import British workmen. That would cause a great deal of ill-feeling, and might destroy the purpose of the exhibition. The rule followed by the Government is to pay the current rate of wages in the district, and that, I am informed, is four francs per day for plasterers.

Well, well, well...




London Electric Call Boxes.

Mr. G. L. COURTHOPE (for Mr. Staveley-Hill) asked the Postmaster-General whether any steps are taken to ventilate the street boxes in London used for electric calls, having regard to the fact that many large towns in England have, in the interests of public health, adopted means for ventilating them?

The POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Mr. Sydney Buxton) If the hon. Member is referring to the cabinets in public telephone call offices, I may assure him that all those installed by the Post Office have ventilators.

I will henceforth always refer to phone boxes as electrical call boxes, and if enough of my readers do likewise, spread the word etc, the gaiety of the nation will be greatly enhanced, I believe.

Dreadnoughts.  Again

Mr. BELLAIRS asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether in official statistics of "Dreadnoughts" and "Invincibles" the German armoured cruiser "Blucher" has not always been excluded on the ground that she has only 8-inch guns, as given in the official Return of Fleets (Great Britain and Foreign Countries); and whether he can now state what is the armament of this ship?

Mr. McKENNA   The heavy and medium armaments stated in the official Return of Fleets (Great Britain and Foreign Countries) for the German armoured cruiser "Blucher" are correct

And here she is:

Handsome, eh?  We sunk her at the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915.

And so to the Autocar League:

Sir JOHN BRUNNER asked the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has been called to a circular issued by the Autocar League requesting its members to take out their licences for motor cars, carriages, male servants, armorial bearings, game, dogs, and guns in those counties specified by the League as being favourably disposed towards motorists; and to inquire whether, in order to secure to each county its fair share of the local taxation licences, he will be prepared to introduce legislation by which it would be made obligatory upon persons liable to duty to take out their licences in the county or county borough in which they ordinarily reside?

Mr. BURNS I have received a copy of the circular referred to, and I have drawn the attention of the Treasury to the matter.

Fancy needing a licence for a male servant.  A rum business.

Electric calling apparatus:

Mr. MORTON asked the Home Secretary whether all the Metropolitan Police 474W stations have yet been connected with the general telephone system; and, if so, what has been the effect?

Mr. GLADSTONE Of the 194 police stations, 131 are now connected with the public telephone. The facilities of communication thus afforded have, I understand, been found a convenience to the public. For police purposes a separate telephone system has, of course, existed for many years.

If you can get past the menu, of course.

Labels: 1909, Parliament

"LORD AMPTHILL rose to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies what had been the result of his negotiations in regard to the question of British Indians in the Transvaal and to move for Papers...I will not take up time by repeating the past history of the question. I will begin with a period of four months ago, when the occasion of the discussion of the South African Constitution Bill raised hopes that this question—this unhappy question—which has reflected no credit on the Colony and no credit on the Imperial Government, which has been fraught with such misery to the British Indians in the Transvaal, would at last be settled; that there would be some generous concession on the part of the Colony, inspired, perhaps, by the Imperial Government, which would enable the British Indians to participate in the general rejoicing over the Union of South Africa. With these hopes in mind two Indian gentlemen, Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Hajee Habib, arrived as delegates from the British Indian community in the Transvaal on the 10th of July. They stated their case to the responsible authorities in this country, they refrained from any sort or kind of public agitation, and they waited patiently in the hope that their expectation would be fulfilled....

...The delegates, who had all this while maintained an admirable patience and self-restraint, made a dignified and temperate statement to the Press and left the country. Mr. Gandhi, the principal of them, is going back to the Transvaal probably to be clapped once more into gaol and treated as a common criminal. That, my Lords, is the recent history of 592 the question, and I think the time has come when we have a right to know what has actually passed between the Imperial Government and the Colonial Government....

The manner which the Colonial Government have chosen for depriving them of this right—a right which I must again remind your Lordships exists in every other part of the Empire and always has existed—is that of classing them as prohibited immigrants; that is to say, classing them with the outcast and the scum of humanity I from every other nation. What it amounts to is this. During the past three years, and while the Imperial Government has been under the direction of the Liberal Party, a colour bar has been instituted in South Africa—a colour bar such as never before existed in the history of the British Empire. While the Bill for the Union of South Africa was under discussion in both Houses of Parliament the leaders of all Parties protested in the most solemn and emphatic manner against a provision instituting a colour bar. That provision was a disqualification from future political rights. But the colour bar which has been instituted in the Transvaal is far more serious, for it amounts to a deprivation of rights which have always existed—not a deprivation of political rights but a deprivation of social rights, of the ordinary rights of the subjects of His Majesty. It is a law declaring all Indians—never mind what their status or their education—unfit even to enter the Colony, because it classes them with prohibited immigrants and places them in an inferior position to the people of any other non-Asiatic nation.

Will none of your Lordships take up the question—take it out of my feeble hands—and press it as you would press any question which concerns the plighted words of our Statesmen, the honour of our race, and the contentment of the people of India. I beg to move.

Moved, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty for Papers relating to the negotiations in regard to the question of British Indians in the Transvaal.—(Lord Ampthill.)

Sticking with India...

LORD LAMINGTON

My Lords, I rise to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, if he has not already done so, he will make a representation to the Government of the Transvaal on the hardship inflicted on Mahomedan political prisoners by the prison authorities making no concession during the Fast of Ramadhân in respect of their meals. This deals with only one small feature of the larger question so ably presented to your Lordships by my noble friend on my right, but it is important as it affects the religious scruples of our Mahomedan fellow- 600 subjects in India. As your Lordships are aware, the Fast of Ramadhân is a very important and stringent Fast and must be observed. No food or drop of water must pass the lips of a Mahomedan from sunrise to sundown, the only exemptions being cases of sickness or when a man is travelling. What Mahomedan political prisoners complain of is that the prison authorities make no concession to them during the Fast of Ramadhân in respect of their meals. No food is allowed to be given to them at special times which would enable them the better to stand the rigours of the Fast. They ask, if food cannot be so supplied by the prison authorities, whether their friends can be allowed to bring it in to them. I think it is very hard that there should not be greater humanity displayed towards those who are strictly political prisoners.

A pretty liberal set of sentiments for 1909.

THE EARL OF CROMER My Lords, what with Suffragettes in this country who will not eat at all and Mahomedans who will only eat at certain hours, it is pretty clear that the question of feeding prisoners is a rather difficult one. I am not familiar with the details of this question, and I cannot state offhand what was the practice in Egypt where there were a few political prisoners; but I should like to testify to the extraordinary importance that Mahomedans generally attach to this matter. The Fast of Ramadhân is, perhaps, one of the most important features of the Mahomedan religion, and I cannot help thinking that the refusal of this concession would not only affect the prisoners themselves, but would be calculated to have a bad influence on the opinions of Mahomedans generally.

Labels: 1909, Parliament

First up, Old Age Pensioners (Number and Cost).

Mr. DUNDAS WHITE asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can say what were the numbers of old age pensioners on the books of the pension officers for England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the United Kingdom as a whole respectively for the latest date to which figures are available; what has been the cost of the pensions in each country from 1st January this year to the latest date for which the figures are available; and what is the estimated total cost of old age pensions for the present financial year?

And the Welsh Wizard duly came up with the numbers   - 682,768.  And it cost £6,554,816 to provide said pensions.  The figures are broken down by age and three of the four nations of these islands, and something that struck me was either a greater proportion of Irish men lived to retire or Irish women did not, as 43% of Irish pensioners were male, compared to 37% for England &Wales and 34% of Scots.  Curious, no? 

Meanwhile, everyone's favourite larch obsessive has competition:

Mr. REES asked the Postmaster-General whether he has received any tenders from Wales for home-grown larch fir to be used in substitution for Norwegian fir for telegraph poles?
 

Mr. BUXTON I received four tenders. One has been accepted for the whole quantity offered, and one definitely declined, the price being prohibitive. The other cases are still under consideration.

I'm sure that got him an admiring paragraph in the Montgomery Bugle when he told them about it.   

One for the dreadnought spotters, so to speak:

Mr. GRETTON asked the First Lord of the Admiralty what increase in the capacity of Great Britain to produce gun-mountings for battleships has been made since last March?

Mr. McKENNA It is not considered desirable to enter into details on the subject, but a satisfactory increase in our capacity has been made.

Can't have Johnny Foreigner knowing that sort of thing, can we?


Meanwhile, a bumper opium crop in Assam:

Sir HENRY COTTON  asked the Under-Secretary of State for India if he can state what was the amount of opium issued and the amount of duty levied in the Assam Valley districts year by year from 1895–6 to 1907–8; what was the Treasury price of opium during this period; and to what figure was the Treasury price of opium raised on 1st April, 1909?

The MASTER of ELIBANK The figures are...  62410 sirs in 1907-08, raising 177684 rupees in duty.

The place where there would always be a policeman when you needed one, but the inhabitants did not like that arrangement.  At all.

Mr. DUFFY asked the Chief Secretary whether he will explain the object of keeping so many policemen in the Hut, at Rosburgh, Kilchreest, Loughrea; is he aware that the people of the district have protested repeatedly against the number of policemen quartered in the parish at present; can he state, respectively, the exact population of the parish, and the number of policemen stationed at Kilchreest and quartered all over the pariah at the present time; and, in view of the peaceable state of the district, will he cause the number of police there stationed to be reduced?

Mr. BIRRELL  I understand that there are eight police at Roxborough and eleven at Kilchreest, and that they are required for the protection of certain persons in the neighbourhood. The population of the parish of Kilchreest is approximately 500. Some of the inhabitants have from time to time protested against the employment of extra police, but the responsible police authorities are unable at present to recommend a reduction in the number of men at either of the above places.

So one for every 26.3 parishioners. Kilchreest is in Galway, and looks rather pretty. It is quite near Athenry, place noted for its fields, I believe.

Labels: 1909, Parliament

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

In the face of overwhelming popular demand, it is back to 1909:

A 1909 Sir Richard Dannatt, as it were:

Mr. T. F. RICHARDS asked the Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been called to a speech made by Lieutenant-Colonel C. T. Mander, D. Squadron, Staffordshire Yeomanry, in which he complained of the Budget, and said that no drill hall or riding school would be provided until there was a new Government; and whether he intends taking any action in the matter?

The SECRETARY of STATE for WAR (Mr. Haldane) The Army Council have now considered and report that, in view of all the circumstances, and of the fact that the officer has expressed his regret for the indiscretion, they do not propose to take any further action beyond administering a severe reprimand.

A senior army officer with - dare I say it ? - Tory leanings?  I am shocked, shocked.

Chinese pork back on the menu.  Or perhaps not:

Mr. FELL asked the President of the Local Government Board if any further report has been received with regard to the condition of the Chinese pork now at the docks; how many further carcases have been examined; and how many, if any, have been condemned by the inspector?

The PRESIDENT of the LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. J. Burns) I am informed that since 7th October, the date of the hon. Member's last question on this subject, 1,469 carcases have been examined, and of these 83 were condemned.

And how, pray, does one spot a Chinese porker?

Mr. FELL asked if the inspectors have reported if it is possible to distinguish Chinese pork, when exposed for sale, from English or Irish pork?

Mr. BURNS I do not think it would be possible to distinguish Chinese pork from English or Irish, except in its fresh and uncured condition, when the inspector might be able to say that the pork had been frozen, and, therefore, was probably not English or Irish.

Sounds reasonable.

Rum, sodomy and the lash:


Mr. BYLES  asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the Admiralty circular of 30th January, 1906, directing the suspension of the King's Regulations respecting the birching and caning of boys and youths in the Royal Navy, is still in force; and whether the use of the cat is now entirely abolished in His Majesty's ships?

Mr. McKENNA  No change has been made since my Noble Friend the late Parliamentary Secretary made his statements on this subject on 21st February and 1st March, 1906. The use of the cat has been suspended by Admiralty order since 1881.

Mr. BYLES Can it be renewed by Admiralty Order?

Mr. McKENNA  Yes; it can be renewed by Admiralty order, and I apprehend that my hon. Friend would take the earliest opportunity of drawing attention to that.

Readers with a naval background can thank their lucky stars...


Hurrah for our kin in the Antipodes:

Mr. ARTHUR LEE  (Still not the creator of 'Forever Changes) asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the large armoured vessels which have recently been offered as contributions to the British (sic) Navy by certain of the self-governing Colonies are in addition to, or included in, the eight large armoured vessels sanctioned by Parliament during the present Session?

Mr. McKENNA The large armoured vessels offered by the Australian and New Zealand Governments are not included in the eight armoured ships sanctioned by Parliament this Session?

Shouldn't that be the Royal Navy?

Oh the lot of PC Plod:

Mr. BOTTOMLEY asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that it is the custom in many parts of the country for rate summonses to be served upon poor people by police officers in uniform; and whether he is in a position to take any step or make any representation with a view to abolishing this practice?

The SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. H. Gladstone)  I believe it is usual for a police officer to wear a uniform when serving a summons. In so doing he is performing a duty as a constable, and it is convenient and right that he should wear a uniform which indicates his office.

Mr. BOTTOMLEY  Does not the right hon. Gentleman think that for an offence which is in no sense a criminal one a plain clothes' officer might be entrusted with the service of these rate summonses?

Mr. GLADSTONE It would be very inconvenient for the police-constable to have to change his clothes for the purpose.

(Let's have that great anecdote again:  (1) Bottomley was a noted fraudster and all round bad egg, but when spotted in prison poised with a needle over a mail sack and asked 'Sewing?' had the wit to reply, 'No, reaping').

Those suffragettes...

Mr. KEIR HARDIE asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received the Report of the Commission sent to report upon the assault committed on a woman prisoner in Strange-ways Gaol, Manchester; and whether he can communicate its terms to the House?

Mr. GLADSTONE  I have received the Commissioner's Report, and its purport is briefly as follows:—While the Visiting Committee of Manchester Prison were present at the prison for one of their ordinary meetings Miss Davison (1) barricaded herself in her cell, and in spite of persuasion and command, refused to open the door. An attempt was made to break into the cell, but the Visiting Committee were afraid that the heavy wooden door, 2½ in thick and lined with sheet iron, might fall suddenly into the cell (as had recently Happened in a case in the male division of the prison), and might injure the prisoner, and they unanimously passed a resolution directing the officers of the prison to play the water hose into the cell in hope of compelling the prisoner to remove her barricade. The order was obeyed, and at first the water was played on to the ceiling. As that had no effect, it was subsequently turned on to the prisoner's shoulder for two or three minutes.  In the meantime the officers succeeded in removing one of the hinges and effected an entrance into the cell, and the prisoner was carried out. She was promptly taken in charge by the matron and the female warders, wrapped in blankets, removed to the hospital, and every necessary attention paid to her health....in my opinion, they were guilty of a grave error of judgment in the measures they adopted. I am communicating with them accordingly.

Mr. H. BELLOC May I ask what measures the Home Secretary would have suggested that would have been more merciful?

Refreshingly honest answer o' the day 

Mr. GLADSTONE  Parliament has not supplied me with much power in the matter.

I reckon this is Emily 'Epsom Derby' Davidson.

Unlikely protest o' the day, both in terms of protesters and venue. 

Mr. T. F. RICHARDS   asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been drawn to a case at the Marlborough-street police court, on the 27th of October, where several members of the National Amalgamated Furnishing Trades' Association and the French Polishers' Society, who had been peacefully acting as pickets in connection with a dispute with the Orchestrelle Company, Bond-street, London, were fined 2s. 6d. each for obstruction; whether he is aware that the men, at the time of the alleged offence, were simply walking along in single file, and that they were stopped by the police and marched off to the police station; and whether he will favourably consider the remission of the fines inflicted and take steps to secure that the right of peaceful picketting shall be vindicated?

Mr. GLADSTONE The learned magistrate, after careful investigation, held that the defendants, eight in number, had caused actual obstruction by parading backwards and forwards over a space of about 19 yards of narrow and crowded footway.

Well, it would rather tangle with one's ability to max out the plastic, wouldn't it?  Wonder if they had the backing of, and placards of the SWP?

Unexpected combination o' the day:

Mr. YOUNGER asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether anything has been decided as to the renewal of the subsidy for the Jamaica banana and mail contract; whether the whole of the elected representatives of the Legislative Council of Jamaica recently voted against its renewal; and whether it was only carried by the casting vote of the Governor?

OK, sharing a ship makes sense, up to a point, but why a combined contract? 


And today's koh-i-noor:

Croydon (Sanitary Condition).

Mr. WILLIAM THORNE asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he can say what number of cesspools now exist in the Croydon rural district area...also asked the President of the Local Government Board whether, in view of the seriousness of the menace to the public health of Croydon by the existence of cesspools in the Croydon rural district area, as stated in the reports of the medical officer of health for the borough and the borough engineer, he will request the Croydon Rural District Council to cause reports to be made to them by the medical officer of health, surveyor, or inspector of nuisances of the rural district on the question and the extent of the danger, so that the rural district council may take action.


Mr. BURNS It is estimated that there are 11,900 inhabited houses in the Croydon rural district, and that approximately 400 properties drain into cesspools. Of these, 270 are outside the areas in respect of which there is an agreement between the councils of the borough and of the rural district for the reception of the sewage into the sewers of the corporation, and these houses are stated to be for the most part in rural portions of the district, and at a considerable distance from an outfall sewer. In one parish, Woodmansterne (2), it is stated that there is urgent need for main drainage for about 90 houses near the boundary of Coulsdon which could be connected with the borough sewers, but this parish is outside the areas from which the corporation receive the sewage, and I am informed that they refuse to extend these areas except upon terms which the district council are unable to accept

(2 - where your humble narrator was born)


Temperance fanatics....

Sir WALTER MENZIES asked the Prime Minister whether he will grant facilities for the concluding stages of the Temperance (Scotland) Bill when the House resumes on 23rd November?


etc etc


The PRIME MINISTER Perhaps I may reply to both of these questions at the same time. The matter is under my consideration, and, in the event, of which I am hopeful, of our being able to give facilities for the Temperance (Scotland) Bill, ample notice will be given. I hope on Wednesday or Thursday to make a statement as to the business which we propose to take when we reassemble (on the 23rd) after the adjournment.


Mr. GEORGE YOUNGER(of the brewing family, I believe)  May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether, in considering the propriety of giving facilities for the Temperance (Scotland) Bill he will bear in mind the changed conditions in respect of new licences, the effect of the minimum duty, and the result which the Chancellor of the Exchequer claims for temperance in Scotland owing to the new Spirit Duty?

Some detail on this odious sounding bill

It is a principle which is also recommended by the Minority Report of the Royal Commission. In an addendum, signed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and others, is the following:— "That the people in every part of the United Kingdom should have power by a substanted majority vote taken by the widest franchise in force, to prevent any premises being licensed to sell intoxicating liquors in their respective localities."

Odious indeed.  If you don't like pubs, don't go to them.

Labels: 1909, Parliament

Back to 100 years ago, with not a lot having happened in 1959.

Soo.

Opium Consumption (Eastern Bengal and Assam) or 'God damn the Pusher Man':

Sir HERBERT ROBERTS asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that the quantity of opium consumed in the Assam districts of the province of Eastern Bengal and Assam rose from 1,299 maunds in 1904–5 to 1,417 maunds in 1906–7, or an increase of about 9 per cent. in three years; whether the revenue derived by the Government from the sale of opium in these districts in 1906–7 represented 62 per cent. of the total Excise revenue

The MASTER of ELIBANK

The Secretary of State is aware that the consumption of opium in the Assam Valley districts has increased of recent years. The figures in maunds are: 1,825 in 1904–5, 1,330 in 1905–6, 1,431 in 1906–7, 1,560 in 1907–8. Later figures are not available. In 1906–7 71 per cent. of the gross Excise revenue in these districts was derived from opium, and in 1907–8 70 per cent. With a view to restrict consumption the number of shops has been reduced from 690 in 1904–5 to 445 in 1908–9, and the price of opium has been raised from 1st April, 1909.

 And someone who does not have the best interests of the revenue at heart:

Sir H Cotton - Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that in the preceding six years, when I had the honour of administering the Province, there was practically no increase in consumption at all?

As to maunds, well I've heard of dime bags, 8ths, wraps and so forth, but that is new to me.  It is about 82.28 pounds, apparently.

Some rather grim stats:

Mauritius and Federated Malay States (Indentured Labourers).

Sir HENRY COTTON asked the Under-Secretary if he could state the rate per thousand of mortality among Indian indentured labourers in Ceylon, Mauritius, the Straits Settlements, the Federated Malay States, British Guiana, Jamaica, the Fiji Islands, and Natal during the year 1908; and whether the attention of the Commission inquiring into the conditions of Indian indentured labour in the Colonies has been drawn to this question, with special reference to the death rate in the Federated Malay States and other places?

Colonel SEELY There are no indentured labourers in Ceylon. As to Mauritius, where the death rate on estates (presumably including indentured immigrants) is said to be 37.6 per 1,000...British Guiana 19.5 per 1,000, Jamaica 16.4 per 1,000, Fiji 20.5 per 1,000, Natal 16.82 per 1,000.

So a circa 4% fatality rate, presumably per year in Mauritius.   

Gratuitous plug o' the day, in a question about tarrifs on imported chocolate:

Mr. ROWLAND HUNT (Ludlow, Con) Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that Messrs. Cadbury have boasted for years that their workpeople work under the very best conditions of labour?

Mr. CHURCHILL I have heard that frequently asserted, and I believe it is perfectly true.

History does not record whether Hunt was taking the chocolate baron's (chocolate?) silver.

Liberals for corporate punishment:

Mr. J. WARD  Are we to understand from the answer of the right hon. Gentleman that guardians can indiscriminately flog boys under their control?

Mr. BURNS Guardians cannot indiscriminately punish boys under their control, but they stand in almost parental relationship to some of these children. There are some children who, in the judgment of the guardians, want correcting. I know I did when I was a boy.

Burns was not pining for his public school, by the way, as he 'declar[ed] to the Commons in a speech in 1901: "I am not ashamed to say that I am the son of a washerwoman". Source.


Unless she was a very successful washerwoman, of course.

Those scoundrels in Jersey:

Mr. MOLTENO asked the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether representations have been made to the States of Jersey in connection with the embargo placed upon potatoes coming from the United Kingdom with a view to its removal?

Sir E. STRACHEY Yes, we are in communication with the States of Jersey on this subject.

Loathsome behaviour.

The Pusher Man re-appears:

Sir HENRY COTTON asked the Under-Secretary of State for India what were the exports of Indian opium to China during each of the years 1904–5, 1905–6, 1906–7, 1907–8, and 1908–9; and what were the exports to the Straits Settlements and to the Federated Malay States during the same periods?....
1908-9 52,758 chests to China, 11,174 Straits Settlements.

Let's say China and Malaysia have seen population rise in lock step,  China had a population some 47 times that of the SS, so that's a lot of opium pipes per head in the latter.


More fun with stats: Motor Cars Imported into the United Kingdom.

Mr. TYSON WILSON asked the President of the Board of Trade if he can give the number and value of the motor cars imported into this country from France during the years 1906, 1907, and 1908?

Mr. CHURCHILL The following statement gives the information desired by my hon. Friend:—

Statement showing the number and value of complete motor cars imported into the United Kingdom consigned to this country from France in 1906, 1907, and 1908 - 4,174,  3,613, 3,175.

And here's a 1907 Panhard-Levassor.  Nice, eh:

Labels: 1909, Parliament