§ MR. COLERIDGE KENNARDgave the following Notice:—On the first day of Sitting to ask the late President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Chamberlain), "Whether he is correctly reported as having, in a recent speech, charged the 1618 late Government with ruling Ireland in a spirit of unjustifiable oppression, comparable only to the rule of Russia over Poland and of Austria over Venice; and, if so, whether the Cabinet, of which he was a Member, agreed to the course he pursued of thus publicly denouncing the Russian and Austrian systems of government?
§ MR. CHAMBERLAINPerhaps I can save the time of the House by answering the Question at once. I did not use language which I think is capable of the interpretation put upon it by the hon. Member. What I said was, that the government of Ireland resembled that of Russia in Poland and that of Austria in Venice in its centralized and bureaucratic character.