Page:The Annual Register 1899.djvu/110

 102] ENGLISH HISTOEY. [may

Government side of the House, the bill was rejected by 310 to 156 votes, the minority being made up of 119 Liberals, 33 Con- servatives and 4 Liberal Unionists.

No session seemed complete unless it included some more or less successful scheme to relieve the needs of Ireland, or to satisfy the grievances of some section of its inhabitants. The proposal introduced this year by the Irish Secretary, Mr. Gerald Balfour (Leeds, C), was in a great measure based upon a bill introduced two years previously, but not adequately discussed. Nominally establishing a department of agriculture and other industries, and technical instruction in Ireland, the new bill, he ex- plained, concentrated in one department functions at present distributed between five or six different departments ; provided machinery and funds for extending to other parts of Ireland the operations of the Congested Districts Board in the congested districts; and promoted technical instruction in relation to urban industries. The income to be allotted to the department would be 166,000Z. a year, derived chiefly from the Imperial Exchequer, from the Irish Church Fund, and from certain savings effected under the Judicature Act of 1897. A definite sum of 55,000J. a year was allocated to urban technical instruc- tion ; 10,(XXM. to sea fisheries ; and the remaining 101,000J. to agriculture and other rural industries. The new department, which would be directly responsible to Parliament through the Chief Secretary as its president, and a new parliamentary officer as its vice-president, was to be assisted in the application of its funds by an agricultural board and a board of technical instruc- tion ; but only a minority of the members on these boards would be nominated by the Government, the majority being chosen by the County Councils. After Mr. Dillon {Mayo, E.) had protested against the introduction of so important a measure under the ten-minutes rule, and denounced its finance as shabby and unsatisfactory, the bill was read a first time.

Foreign and colonial affairs, although occupying space in the newspapers and obtaining spasmodic attention from the public, were but slightly touched upon in Parliament. In fulfilment of a promise made by Lord Salisbury, the Anglo-Bussian agree- ment with regard to China was laid on the table. Under its provisions, as explained by the Prime Minister (May 1), England had agreed neither to undertake nor encourage the construction of any railway by English persons or others north of the great wall of China. Bussia, on the other hand, had made exactly similar stipulations with respect to the basin of the Yang-tsze. There were in the agreement certain provisions with regard to the railway to be made to Niu Chwang, and our interests in that respect were entirely protected. He was anxious not to appear to attach to the particular stipulations of this agreement an exaggerated importance ; but he attached very great importance to the agreement itself as a sign of good feeling between the Government* of Great Britain and Bussia.