§ MR. JOHNSTON (Belfast, S.)asked the First Lord of the Treasury, If he is aware that Sir Edward Porter Cowan, who has just been appointed Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the county Antrim, is, as described in The Belfast Morning News, "a wholesale licensed trader;" if he will have, "at the next annual October Sessions, to get a certificate from the householders regarding the goodness of his character," in order to carry on the liquor traffic; and, if the First Lord of the Treasury will state on what grounds Sir E. P. Cowan was appointed to a position where he will have the recommendation in his hands of persons to deal with the granting of licences to sell intoxicating liquors in that county?
§ THE FIRST LORD (Mr. W. E. GLADSTONE) (Edinburgh, Mid Lothian)The case stands thus:—Sir Edward Porter Cowan is a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Down, and also a Justice of the Peace for the county of Antrim and the borough of Belfast. He has considerable landed property in County Down and also in Antrim. In the commercial world he has been twice President of the Chamber of Commerce at Belfast. He is a lead- 608 ing member of various Shipping Companies, and he is Chairman of the Ulster Banking Company, with a subscribed capital of over £2,000,000. In fact, he occupies an eminent commercial position. He is also proprietor of the wholesale spirit firm of William Cowan and Co., and in that capacity, I believe, he would be obliged to obtain the certificate to which the Question refers. As a magistrate, he would be much more nearly connected with the business of licensing than as Lord Lieutenant. He has been appointed in consequence of the high, estimation we entertain of his character and capacity, and I believe that his appointment has met with a large amount of public approval.