MOTION FOR PAPERS. (Hansard, 29 April 1870)

§ VISCOUNT CRICHTON
, in rising to call attention to recent magisterial appointments in the county of Leitrim, and to move for Papers, said, he should make no objection to these appointments on the score of religion, which he hoped would never be a matter brought into question on appointments of this kind, or upon the ground that a man might at some time or other have followed a humble trade or occupation. On the contrary, men who had raised themselves by their intelligence, industry, and ability, frequently made the best and most energetic magistrates. But he did object to men being selected as magistrates because of their religion, or whose social position or occupation was such that they could not inspire in the people among whom they lived that confidence in the administration of the law which was essential. The first two appointments to which he felt it necessary to call attention were those of Mr. Nathaniel Maguire and Mr. Francis M'Keon, made in December last. Mr. Maguire rented a farm valued at £103 15s. a year; he had no fee-simple property whatever in Leitrim, and there was no necessity for an additional magistrate in the district, as there wore already three or four living near, and all within a radius of four miles. There was no objection to Mr. Maguire personally; he was a member of an old family, and he had a fee-simple property in an adjoining county worth £400 a year. The next appointment, however, was one of a very different nature. Mr. Francis 2090 M'Keon, no doubt, was a highly respectable man in his line of life, but hardly the proper person to intrust with magisterial functions. He lived in Drumshambo, where he rented the Market Place, with two or three small houses in the village, and two small farms in the neighbourhood, raising his rating to £134 10s. a year. He had no fee-simple property whatever in the county. He was originally a rag and feather merchant, and one of his nearest relatives kept a public-house in Drumshambo, and was succeeded by his two sons, who became bankrupt. The special objection to this man as a magistrate was that he rented the Market House, and as weigh-master was bound by his lease personally to superintend the crane. He might, therefore, be seen on Bench days, previous to the assembling of the magistrates, weighing lumps of butter and other articles for the country people, receiving coppers in payment from their hands, and issuing in return tickets, with the name "Francis M'Keon, weigh-master," attached. The fact that all the arrangements of the Market House, and any complaints connected therewith, came under the cognizance of the magistrates, made his appointment to the Bench one especially to be deprecated. It was accordingly not to be wondered at that the other magistrates had declined to act with him, the result being that the administration of justice in that part of the county had fallen exclusively into this man's hands. The noble Lord proceeded to refer to the appointment of Mr. Bernard Maguire who, he said, was a tenant-farmer paying £28 a year rent, holding a farm valued at £48 10s. That was his whole locus standi in the county. Mr. Bernard Maguire was not only a lawgiver, but a law-breaker, having within the last 12 years been brought before the quarter or petty sessions no fewer than five times, besides civil bill actions. Under these circumstances, it was hardly to be wondered at that the local magistracy were very indignant at these appointments, and that a memorial had been signed by 30 or 40 of the resident magistrates, protesting against the studied insult which had been offered them. The Government, it was true, were not directly responsible for the qualifications or for the persons recommended for the commission of the peace. The person 2091 who was supposed to inquire into their qualifications and antecedents was the Lord Lieutenant of the county, and he believed it was impossible to acquit the Lord Lieutenant of Leitrim either of culpable negligence or of a desire to degrade the Bench by placing such men upon it. The Lord Lieutenant of Leitrim was the Earl of Granard, whose name had more than once been mentioned in that House and in public, and it would, in his opinion, be better if that noble Lord, instead of airing his Vinegar Hill reminiscences, were to remain at home and perform the duties imposed upon him by the office which he held. He trusted that the House would receive an assurance that the most objectionable of these appointments would not be made if only in contemplation, and if made would be revoked. The noble Lord concluded by moving for the Papers referred to.

§ COLONEL STUART KNOX
seconded the Motion.

§ MR. BRADY
said, that as Member for the county of Leitrim, and having personal knowledge of the parties spoken of, he wished to say a few words in defence of Mr. Bernard Maguire. The hon. Member then explained the charges on which Mr. Bernard Maguire had been brought before the magistrates, and testified that he was a most respectable man, holding a good position in society. As to the charge which the noble Lord had brought against Mr. M'Keon—he had accused Mr. M'Keon of having no property in the county—of his being a weigh-master of butter and corn, and of his still officiating in that capacity. Now, the 2092 fact was that he never did so officiate, and for the last 10 years he had not been connected with trade. Mr. M'Keon had formerly amassed considerable property, and was now living in independence. He took a lease of land from the Earl of Belmore for 999 years at a rental of £4 a year, on which he had built a market for the benefit of the town, with stores and weighing machines, at an expense of some £4,000. These were his own; and no doubt in the official papers certifying the weight of various articles, his name appeared as the weigh-master; but that did not imply, and it was not the fact, that he weighed these articles with his own hands. For 20 years he had acted as a grand juror at the sessions, as a guardian of the poor, as secretary of the Medical Relief Committee, and in other offices, and he had always discharged his public duties to the satisfaction and benefit of the community amongst whom he acted. It was said that he had no stake in the county. But in that very county there were nine magistrates who had not a particle of property in the county except as the agents of other men. The charges, therefore, which the noble Lord had brought forward reflected no great credit on him. He (Mr. Brady) was convinced that, in spite of the charges which the noble Lord had brought forward, the duties which those gentlemen had to fulfil would be performed to the entire satisfaction of the people of Leitrim, and believed that it would cause great discontent in the county if Mr. M'Keon, through the interference of the noble Lord, were to be deprived of the office to which he had been appointed.

§ MR. SHERLOCK
said, that until he heard the statement of the hon. Member for Leitrim (Mr. Brady), he was very much struck with the speech of the noble Lord (Viscount Crichton). With regard, however, to one of the gentlemen, Mr. Nathaniel Maguire, it appeared that the noble Lord withdrew his charges; and as to Mr. Bernard Maguire, the matters which the noble Lord referred to might be capable of explanation. As for Mr. M'Keon, no charge whatever had been brought against him, except that he had risen from a humble position in life. He thought that this system of bringing forward charges against individuals without giving them an opportunity of knowing what they were would 2093 work great injustice. He believed the resident gentry in Leitrim were very few. If an investigation were to be instituted into magisterial appointments in Ireland generally, it would be found that agents who had no property, but who merely represented other persons, were chosen for the commission of the peace far more frequently than men who possessed property. The Lords Lieutenants of counties, with whom the recommendation rested, though they might exercise all the discretion in their power, were in many instances quite unfit to determine dispassionately who ought to be appointed.

§ MR. CHICHESTER FORTESCUE
said, he was glad that his noble Friend (Viscount Crichton) did not oblige him to defend the Government or the Lord Chancellor. He would state the facts of the case as they had been furnished to him by the Lord Chancellor. He was glad that the noble Lord had withdrawn his charge of unfitness with regard to one of the gentlemen, Mr. Nathaniel Maguire; but he had not withdrawn that gentleman's name from the Motion, and if the Motion was to be agreed to it was only right that that should be done. The facts were, as he had been assured by the Lord Chancellor, that Mr. Nathaniel Maguire was a man of substance, in the enjoyment of a property, a considerable portion of it freehold, of nearly £1,000 a year, in a good position, and a near relative of a gentleman who filled the office of High Sheriff of Fermanagh. He was a man highly respected, and, moreover, his appointment was not only expedient, but almost necessary, in the district where he lived. It was, therefore, greatly to be regretted that any charge had been brought against Lord Granard on account of that gentleman's appointment. As to Mr. M'Keon, the Lord Chancellor had found many of the statements made by the deputation to the Commissioners of the Great Seal in his absence directly contradicted on good authority. Mr. M'Keon was represented as a man of substance and intelligence, who commanded the respect of his neighbours. It did appear that, being the owner of a considerable part of the town in which he lived, and enjoying the appointment of weigh-master, he had acted as weigh-master in person. There seemed to be no doubt of that fact. [Mr. BRADY expressed dissent.] Well, he was not 2094 quite clear about it. The Lord Chancellor had informed him that he had found so many irreconcilable statements as to the social position of Mr. M'Keon that he was not perfectly satisfied on the point; he had taken steps to make further inquiry, and upon the result he would make up his mind and communicate the conclusion he had come to to the Lieutenant of the county. With respect to the other gentleman, the Lord Chancellor stated that he was informed by Lord Granard that he had been very much misled by the representations, or want of representations, which had induced him to recommend Mr. Bernard Maguire for the commission of the peace, and both the Lieutenant of the county, who in this ease did not inform himself about the position and antecedents of the person as carefully as would be desirable, and the Lord Chancellor were agreed that if the facts of the ease had been known Mr. Bernard Maguire would not have been placed in the commission of the peace. Mr. Bernard Maguire, however, had resigned the commission. Such being the state in which the question stood, he would ask his noble Friend not to press his Motion, if only for the reason that the Lord Chancellor was making further inquiries, and when they should be concluded he would be happy to lay the Papers on the Table of the House.