Mr. J. MORLEYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary whether there is any truth in the report that a meeting which is proposed to be held next Sunday at Tipperary, and which is to be addressed by the hon. Members for Cork and East Mayo, is to be proclaimed?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI have no very full details of the objects of the meeting before me yet, but certainly if an open air meeting is to be held in Tipperary in its present condition, and inflammatory speeches are likely to be made, it will, undoubtedly, lead to intimidation, and any such meeting must be stopped.
MR. J. MORLEYWill the right hon. Gentleman state what is the difference between a meeting addressed by Irish Members and a meeting addressed by English Members?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI do not know what meeting the hon. Gentleman alludes to. If he alludes, as perhaps he does, to the banquet at New Tipperary, I may remind him that that banquet did not take place in the open air. [An hon. MEMBER: There was a meeting outside.] Two meetings which were to have been addressed by the hon. Member for North-East Cork were stopped for the reason I have just indicated to the House. If the right hon. Gentleman asks me generally what is the difference between meetings addressed by Irish Members and meetings addressed by English Members, I 1596 should say that the result in the one case is to produce intimidation, and that in the other the result is nil.
MR. J. MORLEYAre we to understand that the deciding consideration is whether a meeting is held in the open air or not?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURUndoubtedly that is one of the considerations. The difference between these mass meetings in the open air, at which inflammatory speeches are delivered, and a meeting held in a building is, as the right hon. Gentleman well knows, vital.
§ MR. PICTONI wish to ask whether the right hon. Gentleman is aware that before the banquet at New Tipperary a very large open air meeting was held, at which speeches of the usual character were made.
§ DR. TANNERBefore the right hon. Gentleman answers I should like to ask him whether detectives were sent from Dublin to attend the open air meeting by orders from the Castle?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURNo, Sir. My recollection is that the promoters of the new Tipperary demonstration were informed that there was not to be an open air meeting, and that as far as their programme consisted of a banquet, it would not be interfered with.
§ MR. GILLIs not the right hon. Gentleman aware that the open air meeting took place in the public square of New Tipperary, that an address was presented by the people of that town to the English visitors, and to the Irish Members of Parliament there attending,. and that this address was replied to, amongst others, by the hon. Member for Leicester, the hon. Member for North-East Cork, the hon. Member for Mid Tipperary, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, and several mayors from other parts of Ireland; and whether, that being the case, the right hon. Gentlemen still persists in denying that a public meeting took place in the open-air in new Tipperary on April 12th?
§ *MR. C. GRAHAMBefore that is answered may I ask whether the same laws apply to public meetings in Ireland as well as England, because, if they do, there will be no difficulty in suppressing the meeting, as we shall have the Front Bench on this side in accord with the Government.
§ MR. J. O'CONNOR (Tipperary, S.)Is it not the case that it is only a short time since this meeting took place, and that since then there has been nothing dangerous in the state of New Tipperary; and is it just to declare that the effect of speeches made there by English ladies and gentlemen was nil?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI have no ground for thinking that the speeches referred to ought to be described by a more complimentary term than that which fell from me. So far as I can recollect the meeting referred to was very subsidiary to the main feature of the demonstration, which was the banquet.
§ MR. J. O'CONNORI rise to ask the right hon. Gentleman whether I am to be allowed to address my constituents on Sunday or not?
§ MR. SEXTONThe right hon. Gentleman has not yet said whether the proclamation of the meeting has, or has not, been determined upon. I may say that not only my hon. Friend below me, but the four Members for Tipperary County intend to use this meeting for the purpose of discussing public affairs with their constituents.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI think the hon. Gentleman must be well aware that there is no objection whatever to hon. Members addressing their constituents on public affairs. There is an objection, however, to large open air demonstrations in a town where intimidation has existed, and does exist to a large extent, where vile crimes are constantly perpetrated, and where there is reasonable ground for supposing that such a meeting would add to the evils I have indicated. I am afraid that an open air meeting held at the time mentioned, even though it might be addressed by the hon. Member for Tipperary, could not be permitted.
§ MR. SEXTONOne more question. Did the great open air meeting held lately have any bad consequences?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI have already told the hon. Gentleman that what he describes as an open air meeting was not represented to me as such at all. The authorities distinctly gave notice that if the programme of the demonstration, the chief item of which was a banquet, was adhered to it would not be interfered with.
§ MR. J. O'CONNORI wish to know whether the intimidation to which the right hon. Gentleman alludes consists of a peaceable surrender to the Member for Hunts of his property, and a peaceable taking possession of property which had been legally acquired?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe surrender-referred to was not necessarily an act of intimidation, but may have been the result of an act of intimidation.