HC Deb 26 April 1887 vol 314 cc17-9
MR. DILLON (Mayo, E.)

said, he wished to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland a Question in reference to the following Notice of Motion:— Dr. Kenny—Crime (Ireland) (Agrarian Outrages)—Return, by Provinces (a), and Counties (b), of Agrarian Outrages in Ireland, reported by Royal Irish Constabulary, for the year ending 31st December, 1886, and continued to date, giving the following particulars relating thereto:—Number; date of offence; constabulary district or sub-district; name and rank of officer in charge of district or sub-district; name or names of person or persona injured or otherwise affected by outrage; description of outrage; short details of same; whether any person was arrested for commission of same; and, if so, name or names of persons arrested; name of any person made amenable, i.e., brought to trial; tribunal before which made amenable; result of proceedings. This Return was placed upon the Paper last week, and it was again placed upon the Paper for this evening. He noticed it was blocked by one of the Government Whips. As he understood, this Return was taken almost verbatim from the Return laid upon the Table of the House by Mr. Forster in 1881 before he moved for the Coercion Act of that year. The Question he wished to put to the Chief Secretary was, Whether the Government objected to have such a Return furnished to the House now; and, if so, why?

THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. A. J, BALFOUR) (Manchester, E.)

, in reply, said, he believed that communications had already been made to the hon. Member (Dr. Kenny), in whose name the Motion stood, and that the purport of those communications was that they had no objection to give a Return which would substantially give all the facts asked for in this Return, which, in their opinion, bore upon the subject now before the House. The Return on the Paper did not correspond with that furnished by Mr. Forster. It differed from it in many important particulars. The Government were quite prepared to give a Return without particulars as regards names, which they believed might be injurious to individuals in Ireland. But with that exception he was prepared to give a Return in the form in which Mr. Forster gave it in 1881.

MR. DILLON

Would the right hon. Gentleman give us some indication of the form in which he will be prepared to give the Return?

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

I may be wrong; but l believe an intimation on the subject was given to the hon. Member for South Cork (Dr. Kenny) yesterday.

MR. T. P. O'CONNOR (Liverpool, Scotland)

I wish to ask the right hon. Gentleman the First Lord of the Treasury, whether, having regard to the importance which attaches to utterances in his name from the position which he at this moment happens to occupy in this House, he will take care to read all the letters sent in his name in future—

["Order, order!"]—or to employ a Secretary

MR. SPEAKER

Order, order!