§ MR. CHAPLINasked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether it is true, as 1882 stated in the leading journal of Tuesday, that the Irish Executive have represented to the Cabinet the necessity of adopting measures for the suppression of the Land League?
§ MR. ONSLOWsaid, that before the Question was answered, he wished to ask the right hon. Gentleman, whether, considering the serious state of affairs at the present time in Ireland, Her Majesty's Government intend to retain in the service of the Crown, at salaries paid for out of the taxes of the country, officials holding office under the Land League?
§ MR. T. P. O'CONNORasked, whether Her Majesty's Government were considering measures for the suppression of that other Land League known as the House of Lords?
§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTEinquired, whether there was any truth in the report that at a Sheriff's sale at Scariff, in the county of Clare, four policemen were shot dead with revolvers, and two others seriously wounded?
MR. GLADSTONESir, with regard to the Question of the hon. Member for Mid Lincolnshire (Mr. Chaplin), and without any intention of pronouncing any censure upon him, he will allow me to remind him that the responsibility of the Executive Government is undivided, and when he asks me whether the Executive Government of Ireland recommended something to be done to which the Executive Government in England objected, he is simply asking a Question as to the state of opinion within the Government, and, as a general rule, such a Question ought not to be answered. At the same time, the Question having been put, at which I must say I am not surprised, I feel that it would be inconvenient to decline to answer it, and I would therefore say that there is no foundation for the statement to which the hon. Gentleman refers. With respect to the Question of the hon. Member for Guildford (Mr. Onslow), the matter is one which only came under my notice a few moments before he put it. It involves a point which requires serious consideration, and as to which I could not promise any information to the hon. Member in the absence of my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary for Ireland. In reference to the Question with respect to statements in the newspapers this morning, I was led by 1883 those statements to send a telegram to the Irish Office in Dublin for information, and I will read to the House the precise terms of a telegram I received in reply, which will tend, I think, to relieve a good deal of public anxiety, which, undoubtedly, the Government for the moment shared with them. The telegram is as follows:—
The County Inspector at Ennis telegraphs this morning as follows:—'Attended yesterday to protect procses-servers serving writs on Colonel O'Callaghan's tenants. Police fired on by people; shots exchanged; no one shot on either side.'[Laughter.] He did not know whether that laugh showed satisfaction or not.
§ MR. T. P. O'CONNORWe laughed in common with the Benches opposite.
MR. GLADSTONE(continuing to read the telegram)—
Effected service in spite of opposition. County Inspector and a party of 20 men fired at from a plantation at Fortaunbeg at 9.30 p.m., when returning to Ennis. One horse shot under police car; no policeman hit. The County inspector of Donegal telegraphs that on Tuesday last he proceeded in gunboat to Arranmore Island with police force, landed, and served certain summonses. They met with no opposition whatever. Report in this morning's papers is, therefore, untrue.'That is all the information we have received. With respect to a Question of the hon. Member for Galway Town (Mr. T. P. O'Connor), making inquiry of me as to certain evictions on Lord Kenmare's estate at Kenmare, I have to say that I have made inquiry on the subject of the Lord Chamberlain, and my noble Friend, feeling it was not right that attention should be called in this House to any proceedings of his which might be connected with the present difficulties in Ireland without his making known the facts of the case, I have, therefore, received the following information from the noble Lord:—Out of more than 1,000 tenants on his estate at Kenmare there have been five recent evictions. Of the tenants evicted, two defended the actions of ejectment brought against them, and Lord Kenmare obtained verdicts against them from Dublin juries in the month of February last. One of the remaining cases was that of a woman and her children, who appealed to Lord Kenmare to get rid of the stepfather, who married the woman, on account—I will not go into the particulars—of his personal misconduct rendering him untrustworthy. Another was the case of 1884 a woman who held a house in the town at a nominal rent of £5, and who was five years in arrears, and would pay nothing. I gather from the evidence that she was afraid to pay; but she did not pay anything, and Lord Kenmare paid the expenses of her passage to America. The fifth case was that of tenant who was a-year and a half in arrear of rent, and who was re-admitted as caretaker. But the essential feature with regard to the whole five cases is this—that in the full conviction and knowledge of my noble Friend, in every one of them the tenant was able, and thoroughly able, to pay. The cases illustrate the enormous mischief done, and the enormous responsibility incurred, by those who advise the tenants in Ireland who are able to pay their rents not to pay them.
§ LORD EUSTACE CECILinquired of the Secretary of State for War, whether he was in a position to contradict the statements made in some of the papers as to the Cavalry charge said to have taken place in Clonmel?
§ MR. CHILDERSSir, all I can say with reference to the case referred to by my noble Friend, and as to other cases, is that the statements which have appeared are very much exaggerated indeed. If my noble Friend will be good enough to repeat his Question after the Recess, I shall be in a position to afford the House full information as to all the circumstances.
§ MR. PARNELLgave Notice that after the Recess he would ask the Secretary of Slate for War, whether the statement as to the late Cavalry charge at Clonmel, which appeared in the "Freeman's Journal" of yesterday, was true—to the effect that the Cavalry charged a crowd consisting of about two dozen men and women and children who were standing on the footpath listening to the advice of the Rev. Mr. Byrne, and slashed their swords about in a fearful manner?
§ MR. CHILDERSsaid, he would answer the Question on Friday week.
§ MR. O'DONNELLasked the Prime Minister, whether he had examined into the accuracy of the statement with respect to the Kenmare estate with which he had just favoured the House?
MR. GLADSTONE,in reply, said, that he had made no examination of the accuracy of the statement, and should make none. He had absolute and implicit confidence in Lord Kenmare's 1885 honour, and had received his statement with the same.
§ MR. HEALYinquired, whether it was not the fact that Lord Kenmare obtained his writs out of the Superior Courts in Dublin for the purpose of keeping up costs on the tenants?
MR. GLADSTONEWhat I said was that Lord Kenmare had obtained verdicts from Dublin juries in actions brought in the Courts of that City.