MR. HENLEYsaid, that as the right hon. Gentleman the First Lord of the Treasury had been the Chairman of the Private Bill Committee, to which his Question referred, and as it was upon his strong recommendation that the House passed the Bill, he wished to ask, If he can give, or will endeavour to obtain, for the information of the House, any account of what has been done by "The Farmer's Estate Society," incorporated by an Act passed in 1848, to purchase land in Ireland and resell it on credit, if desired, in small quantities? He had not been able to find in the records of Parliament anything about this society further than that in a year or two afterwards they came to Parliament to borrow some money.
MR. GLADSTONESir, it is quite true, as the right hon. Gentleman has said, that I was Chairman of the Private Bill Committee with respect to the Farmer's Estate Society, and I am sorry to add that I have quite lost sight of the body on whose proposals we were then employed. But I entirely agree with the right hon. Gentleman, and I feel obliged to his good memory and discriminating judgment for directing our attention once more to the subject. We will cause particular inquiry to be made in Ireland with respect to the society, and all the information that we can obtain will be laid on the table as soon as we can get it.