On Wednesday the House of Commons began its work by
indulging in an interesting little debate on rural and other small fire-brigades. Mr. Pym moved the second reading of a Bill which proposed that inspectors should be appointed by the Local Government Board to inspect annually the equip- ment of fire-brigades, to report thereon, and to grant certificates to authorised brigades. It also provided that Connty Councils might call upon local authorities within their administratiVe areas to ' exercise the ' existing statutory pOwers for forming brigades. Mr. Chaplin, though sym- pathetic, could not 'agree to the Bill, but he suggested that it should be droPped, and a Select "Committee re- appointed, and with this Mr. Pyni expressed himself content. Mt. Chaplin incidentally noted how nowadays every one who introduces a. Bill lays the carrying out of it on the shoulders of the Local Government Board.. Later, Mi. O'Malley tried to pass hii Evicted Tenants' (Ireland) Reinitatement Bill. Mr. • Gerald. Balfour, however, most properly refused to be moved by the half-wheedling,half-threatening appeals made to him. To restore the evicted tenants would be to encourage a new recourse to the "Plan of Campaign." This is the main point to remember. The greater part of the evictions were due not to misfortune, but to political causes. The agitators persuaded men who.could pay not to pay, and promised to see that they did not suffer. Evicted tenants of this kind should apply for help to the Nationalists who misled them, not to the Government. Ultimately the Bill was rejected by 98-votes (167 to 69).
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