Sir Stafford Northcote floundered through the Savings-bank Bill on Monday
night at great cost to himself, and without, as 'far as we can see, getting any substantial legislation out of it, except the permission to invest some of the funds in "Con- solidated Stock of the Metropolitan Board of Works." The fusion of accounts of the Old Savings-banks, Post-Office Savings- banks, and Friendly Societies, was carried, but will not be of any use, however,—the Chancellor of the Exchequer having been compelled to promise to continue to keep also the separate :accounts, and to let Parliament have those separate accounts placed before it. He also withdrew his proposal to sanction by this Bill investments in the debentures of Local Authorities, .saying that the proper place for such a sanction is the Local Loans Bill. So that with the one exception we have named, the Bill is very little more than a Bill to sanction the amal- samation for one purpose of accounts which are also to be given separately for another purpose. Mr. Childers's amend- ment on the first clause, which would have kept these accounts separate altogether, was rejected by a majority of only 38 (199 to 161), after a discussion which damaged the Government: and even subsequently to the division, the debate on the later clauses was very injurious to them. This Bill has indeed been a mere aness, and apparently a very needless mess.
