§ MAJOR TRENCHasked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether he has received a representation from the Grand Jury of the county of Galway relative to the obstructions which have been placed by the Government in the way of the drainage of the Suck Valley with its 72,000 acres of saturated lands; whether, as First Lord of the Treasury, he endorses the instructions given by their Lordships last month to the Board of Works to prevent the occupiers of the inundated lands in the Valley of the Suck from availing themselves of the 1434 Drainage Act of 1863, an Act specially passed to enable sufferers from inundation and bad drainage to combine for the purpose of protecting and improving their lands; and, whether, having regard to the fact that the Chancellor of the Exchequer will hold out no hope of anything being done to prevent the continuance of the dead lock on the Suck and Shannon, he, as First Minister, will take the matter into his consideration, and suggest what course should be pursued by the sufferers to prevent the Act of 1863 from remaining, as regards their district, a dead letter?
MR. GLADSTONE,in reply, said, he had that morning received a representation from the Grand Jury of the County of Galway respecting the drainage of the Suck Valley; but although he had not had time to inform himself of what had been done by the Board of Works, so as to enable himself to offer an opinion on the merits of the case, he might mention that the power of the First Lord of the Treasury to intervene for the purpose of influencing the opinion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer in a purely financial matter was a reserved power, which it was not desirable to call into existence, except on very special occasions; and that it was unnecessary to exercise it in reference to this subject appeared from the fact that his right hon. Friend far from saying he could hold out no hope to the hon. and gallant Member on the subject, having had under consideration the antecedent merits of the question, thought there was a fair case to present to the House on a proper opportunity for some further action on the part of the Government with reference to the drainage of the Valley of the Suck. His right hon. Friend, however, felt the necessity of reserving his own discretion as to the time when such an opportunity might arise.
§ MAJOR TRENCHfurther asked, whether the right hon. Gentleman was aware that in the meantime the people in the inundated districts were deprived of the fruits of their toil?
MR. GLADSTONEsaid, he was aware great inconvenience must arise from the undrained state of the district, but thought that the rules under which the intervention of the Government was invoked, in regard to local enterprise in this country, were of still greater importance than the consulting of the in- 1435 terests of a particular district, and prevented anything being done precipitately.
§ MAJOR TRENCHsaid, the people of this district required no public aid. All they wanted was permission to drain their lands.
MR. GLADSTONEadmitted that to be the case, but said, the question was bound up with the drainage of another district which did require public aid.