§ MR. HOOPER (Cork, S.E.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, with reference to the case at the County Court House in the City of Cork on Saturday, June 30, when the Sub-Sheriff put up for sale a farm held by Mr. John Hawkins, Barleyfield, at the suit of the landlord, Mr. Baldwin Sealy, Whether he is aware that the tenant held two acres of ground at annual rent of £30, and owed £44, and that he had served a claim in the Land Court to have a fair rent fixed; what was the Poor Law valuation of the farm; and, whether the tenant had entered the Land Court last September, and the sale was effected by the landlord to prevent the tenant taking the benefit he was entitled to under the Act?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR) (Manchester, E.)So far as can be ascertained the facts of the case are as follows:—The farm consists of 27 acres, not two acres, as alleged in the Question. The yearly rent was £30, and the Poor Law valuation £25. Hawkins owed one-and-a-half year's rent to January last, amounting to £45. He had applied to the Court in September last to have a fair rent fixed. The landlord offered to take a half-year's rent as it became due, and not to press for arrears. Hawkins refused to pay any at all, and told the landlord to do his best. It was for this reason that the sale of the farm was effected.