The custody of the registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials, and of all other books and documents containing entries wholly or partly relating to the affairs of the Church or to Ecclesiastical charities, except documents directed by law to be kept with the public books, writings, and papers of the parish, remains as provided by law before the passing of the Local Government Act, _i.e._, in the hands of the incumbent. The Parish Council have a right to reasonable access to all such books and documents referred to above, and the incumbent and Churchwardens have a similar right with respect to books, etc., in the custody of the Parish Council (xvii, 8). There is one matter connected with the particular section of the Local Government Act, 1894, now under consideration, which has given rise to some discussion. In whose custody should the Tithe Map and Award be placed? Should the Incumbent or the Parish Council have the charge of them? Now, I am no lawyer, and I should be very sorry to be supposed to give any opinion on a question which admits of so much argument on both sides. But I do very strongly deprecate any litigation on the matter. It is a very doubtful point, and he who takes the question into a Court of Law must at any rate be prepared to have to back up his opinion with a well-filled purse. The final paragraph of Section 17, Sub-section 8, almost seems as if the draughtsman of the act expected questions to arise under it. It runs thus:--"The Incumbent and Churchwardens on the one part, and the Parish Council on the other, shall have reasonable access to all such books documents, writings, and papers, as are referred to in this Sub-section, and any differences as to custody or access shall be determined by the County Council." Is it not just a case in which, if there is no cause for complaint, and no reasonable access refused, these documents should remain in their existing custody (usually that of the Incumbent), and that if differences arise, an amicable appeal should be made to the County Council, and the decision of that body acquiesced in by both parties? This is evidently the opinion of the President of the Board of Agriculture (Mr. Chaplin), who on February 8th, 1897, in the House of Commons, replied as follows to a question on this subject:--