§ MR. D. SULLIVAN(for Dr. KENNY) (Cork, S.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether he is aware that the Barony of East Division of West Carberry, South Cork, which is now liable to a cess of 9d. in the £1, struck at last Cork Assizes as a baronial guarantee for the Schull Tramway, offered through the Skibbereen Board of Guardians representing the ratepayers of the district, and also through the Grand Juror for said barony, the most strenuous opposition to the passing of said tramway scheme when brought before the Grand Jury at the Cork Spring Assizes in 1884, as being perfectly useless to the district, and opposed to the objects aimed at in the Act; whether the majority of the Cork Grand Jury who, on that occasion, passed the scheme, were men who have no rated property within said borough, and who are, therefore, not liable for the payment of any portion of this tax, which under the Act is payable exclusively by the occupying ratepayers and not by the landlords; and, whether, since the Schull Tramway is perfectly useless to the inhabitants of the Barony of the East Division of West Carberry, having, in fact, ceased to run, owing to defects of construction, both of permanent way and rolling stock, as shown by the recent Report of Major General Hutchinson, the Government, considering the original opposition of the district to the scheme, and the already overburdened and impoverished condition of the rated occupiers, will take the case into consideration, with a view to affording some temporary relief, either by a grant of the £3,000 necessary, according to General Hutchinson's Report, to put the line into working order, or in such other way as may be found most expedient?
THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER SECRETARY (Colonel KING-HARMAN)(who replied) said (Kent, Isle of Thanet)The rate on the barony of the East Division of West Carberry made at last Cork Assizes for the Schull Tramway appears to be a little over 6d. in the £1, according to the list of county rates. It is a fact that the Skibbereen Board of Guardians opposed the project. The hearing of the case before the Grand 63 Jury in 1884 occupied a considerable time, and the Grand Jury were unanimously agreed that the line should be adopted. It is, no doubt, probable that the majority of the Grand Jury had no rated property in the barony, there being 23 baronies in the County of Cork, each of which must be always represented by a resident in the barony. I understand from the Board of Trade that it is not probable there will be any necessity to go to the barony for any further contributions in the matter of putting the line into working order.