THE O'DONOGELUEThe last time I put the Question which stands on the Paper in my name, the Chief Secretary for Ireland complained that I did not give the authority upon which I asked it, and that it did not appear in any newspaper. That may have been an oversight of mine; but, as a matter of fact, the statement to which the Question refers did appear in the Kerry Sentinel, and was the subject of comment at two local public meetings. I now beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If he has now received any information on the alleged misconduct of the soldiers quartered at Castle-island, in Kerry, who from night to night assemble in the streets, whirling their belts, and calling on the "Irish cowards to come out and fight;" why the military authorities do not take steps to prevent such conduct; and, why the police remain passive spectators of proceedings highly calculated to provoke a breach of the peace?
§ MR. W. E. FORSTER, in reply, said, he had made inquiries, and he found that what had happened was this. On one occasion only, the night of the 11th instant, six of those soldiers were drunk, and did create a disturbance in the street. They were, how over, kept in check by a party of police until the arrival of the picket, which was first summoned by the sub-inspector of police, and then they wore taken in charge by the military authorities. There was no assault, nor was any injury done. The statements in the Question were, therefore, incorrect, or very much exaggerated. He did not think that the censure conveyed in the Question on the police was at all justified, as it was not correct that they were passive spectators on the occasion.