§ COLONEL RAWDONwished to know from the noble Lord the Secretary for Ireland whether any information had been received by the Government respecting alleged misconduct on the part of the officers and others connected with the Poor Law Union of Carrickmacross—whether inquiry 41 had been made into the circumstances by Government or by the Poor Law Commissioners; if so, the date of such inquiry, and the date when the complaints of the ratepayers and their demands for investigation were received by the Poor Law Commissioners; if any report had been made upon the subject; and if the Government would consent to its production, and to the evidence taken at the investigation, together with copies of the correspondence which led to, and which related to, such investigation?
The EARL of LINCOLNreplied, that the Government had received information from the Poor Law Commissioners of the circumstances to which the hon. Member referred—that inquiry had been made into the circumstances, not by the Government, but by the Poor Law Commissioners—that Mr. Symons, the Assistant Poor Law Commissioner, had been instructed to make the inquiry on the 9th of May last—that he proceeded to make the inquiry on the 19th, and reported on the 25th—that the Poor Law Commissioners had received the complaint of the ratepayers on the 1st of April — that some correspondence took place between them and the Poor Law Commissioners in the interval between that and the 16th or 17th—that on the 18th the Commissioners referred the case to an eminent counsel for his opinion, and this opinion they did not receive till the 9th of May, when they immediately ordered an inquiry. He (Lord Lincoln) had no objection to produce, not only the report and evidence, but the whole correspondence, which should all be laid on the Table as soon as possible.