MR. SULLIVANasked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, If his attention 274 has been called to a report in the "Belfast News Letter" of the 12th instant of a party demonstration in Belfast, stated to have been presided over by Mr. W. Johnston, Orange Grand Master, who was surrounded by members wearing the insignia of the Order, and who commenced his speech by addressing his auditory as "Brother Orangemen;" whether in that speech Mr. Johnston announced his and their
determination to maintain to the utmost of our power the position which we now occupy as Conservatives and Orangemen in this great frontier town of Belfast,and thereupon proceeded to inveigh against the Catholic claim for a Catholic University, declaring that a Catholic University would "pervert moral philosophy and stifle free thought and free inquiry;" whether this gentleman is a salaried official of the Crown, as Commissioner of Irish Fisheries; and, whether such a display of feeling will be tolerated by Her Majesty's Government on the part of a salaried public functionary?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERMr. Speaker, my attention was called to the report by the Question of the hon. and learned Gentleman, and I communicated with my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary for Ireland on the subject. The report, as given in the Question of the hon. and learned Member, is correct. Of course, it is known to the House that Mr. Johnston is a salaried official of the Crown, and a Commissioner of Irish Fisheries. Mr. Johnston, as we all know, sat for many years in this House, and he has recently become a member of the permanent Civil Service, and is, perhaps, hardly aware as yet how very objectionable the use of such expressions must be, as placing him in an embarrassing position, and in one that is inconsistent with that of a salaried servant of the Crown. My right hon. Friend has given him a caution on the subject, and it is to be hoped that there will not be a repetition of such observations.