LORD CLAUD JOHN HAMILTONasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, If it is a fact that the stipendiary magistrates of Ireland have received no increase of pay or emolument for the last forty years; and, if the Treasury intend carrying out the recommendation of the Commissioners lately appointed to inquire into the matter?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON,in reply, said, he believed it was a fact that the pay and allowances of the stipendiary magistrates of Ireland had not been substantially improved for 40 years. Some alterations had been made, but he did not think the pay had been materially raised. He could not say what the intentions of the Treasury upon the subject were; but they had not yet had an opportunity of carrying out the recommendations of the Commissioners lately appointed to inquire into the matter. The subject was a complicated one, and up to the present time it had been under the consideration of the Irish Government. He believed they were in a position almost immediately to make a proposal to the Treasury on the subject; but the pay of the stipendiary magistrates could not be increased without an Act of Parliament.