§ MR. JUSTIN M'CARTHYasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is true that a young man named John Harte was arrested on the 17th of February last in Longford, and kept in prison until the 21st, and that the police broke into his house, forced open his trunk and tore up the hearthstone, with the result that nothing was found to justify any charge against the young man; whether about twenty persons, men and women, were summoned to appear for examination at the sessions in Longford Court-House on the 21st February, many of them having to come in from distant parts of the county, and, after having been detained 991 the whole day, were not examined; and, whether he will inquire into the cause of these proceedings?
§ MR. TREVELYANI have inquired into this case, and I find that John Harte was arrested on the 17th of February for drunkenness. On his person were found documents which caused grave suspicions of his being concerned in an illegal combination and in outrages which had occurred in the district. He was brought before a magistrate next day and remanded, in order to give time for inquiry. His house was searched, but it was not broken into, as alleged, nor was his trunk forced open, nor the hearthstone torn up. Further documents of a suspicious character were found. An inquiry was subsequently held, under Section 16 of the Prevention of Crime Act, into some of the outrages which had been perpetrated in the neighbourhood, and a number of persons were summoned to attend. None of them came from a distant part of the county. Some of them were examined on oath, and others questioned. They were not all examined. The magistrates decided that it was useless to proceed with the inquiry at the time, and it was adjourned, and Harte discharged.