HL Deb 22 July 1861 vol 164 cc1276-8
THE EARL OF LUCAN

rose, pursuant to notice— To call the Attention of the House to the Correspondence between the Lord Lieutenant of County of Mayo an the Government of Ireland on the Subject of the Resignation of his Commission by Quartermaster Dodd of the south Mayo Rifles, and the Appointment of his Successor. The facts were simply these:—An officer commanding one of the regiments of militia, only lately appointed himself, and therefore, little conversant with the proper channel for communications on the subject of discipline, erroneously applied to the Inspector General of Militia with respect to the conduct of a Quartermaster. The Inspector of Militia erroneously entered into a correspondence with the commanding officer, and recommended that a certain course should be pursued, Ultimately the Lord Lieutenant accepted the resignation of Quartermaster Dodd, and appointed a successor, without consulting him (the Earl of Lucan) as Lord Lieutenant of the county. At this time he (the Earl of Lucan) was necessarily absent from the country; but as soon as he became aware of these proceedings he saw Sir Thomas Larcom, and remonstrated with him upon the irregularity of the course which had been adopted. Sir Thomas Larcom admitted the justice of his complaint, and expressed his sorrow that an unusual course should have been taken. He was perfectly satisfied, and should have thought no more of the matter, but for what subsequently occurred. In April he had received a letter from Sir Thomas Larcom, informing him of all which had been going on during two months previous, and which ended in the acceptance by the Government of the resignation of the Quartermaster. In May he wrote a reply protesting against his authority, as Lieutenant of the county, being superseded; and he was in hopes, after the expression of regret by Sir Thomas Larcom, to which he had referred, that the Government of Ireland would have at once admitted that what had been done had been done inadvertently. But great was his astonishment when he received a letter, dated the 11th of June, in which it was distinctly laid down that the position of Lieutenants of counties in Ireland differed entirely from the position of Lieutenants of counties in England; that communication with Lieutenants of counties in Ireland on subjects of discipline was totally unnecessary; and that the most convenient and regular course was for the commanding officer to communicate directly with the Government in Dublin. He believed there were several Lieutenants of English counties present, and he thought they would agree with him that nothing could be more illegal or improper than such direct communications, or that the resignation of an officer should be accepted without the intervention of the Lieutenant of the county. On the receipt of that letter he again remonstrated, and the Government thought is sufficiently important to refer the question to the law officers of the Crown. In their opinion they stated that the Irish Government had acted legally in reference to the case of Quartermaster Dodd, and that the Executive were justified under the circumstances in accepting his resignation. He (the Earl of Lucan) ventured to impugn that decision as being contrary to the intentions of the Legislature when passing the Acts which defined and regulated the duties of Lords-Lieutenant of counties. Looking at those Acts, he contended that there was no such distinction as was alleged between the powers and the duties of the Lords-Lieutenant of the two countries. The appointment of the quartermasters of militia regiments was vested exclusively in the Lords-Lieutenant of counties, and he believed that the Government had acted contrary to law, right, and usage, in appointing an officer as successor to Quartermaster Dodd. The Government said that the appointment of such officers was vested in the colonels of regiments. He concluded that it was vested in the hands of the Lords-Lieutenant of counties. It certainly never was the intention of the Legislature that any act should be done under the authority of law to degrade the office of Lord Lieutenant of counties, and he, therefore, hoped that Her Majesty's Government in that House would be able to give a satisfactory explanation on the subject.

EARL GRANVILLE

was understood to say that he concurred with his noble Friend in his view of the high office of Lord Lieutenant of a county, and that it never was the intention of the Legislature to do anything that was calculated to degrade it. Her Majesty's Government, however, must be bound by the decision of their law officers in such cases as that to which the noble Earl had just called their attention. He thought there could be no doubt that there was a distinction between the office of a Lord Lieutenant in England and in Ireland. The whole subject would, however, be considered by the Government.