§ COLONEL STUART KNOX, before putting his Question, said, that certain words had been struck out of his Question since he gave Notice of it. He was not sorry for that, as he had been informed by a Friend that the retention of the words would have given offence to his right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade, which was the last thing he desired to do. His Question was to ask the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Whether he has thought it desirable to make any further inquiry into the appointment of Mr. Robert Bedford Daly, publican, holding a retail licence for the sale of beer and spirits, to the Commission of the Peace for the borough of Drogheda; whether it is true that up to the 1st of this month no application has been made to the Clerk of the Peace for that borough for the transfer of his licence by the said Robert Bedford Daly to any person; whether it is not necessary under the Acts of Parliament thereunto referring, that a publican's licence should be transferred before the Magistrates at Petit Sessions; and, if so, at what Sessions and before whom did the transfer take place; whether, if the alleged transfer did take place, the person to whom it was granted was Robert Bedford Daly, who by the parish re- 1666 gistry appears to have arrived at the age of twenty-one years on the 19th December 1870; and, if so, if this individual is a near relative of the new Justice of the Peace; whether he is aware that the President of the Board of Trade was misinformed in regard to Mr. Robert Bedford Daly, viz. That Mr. Daly is not a publican and retail dealer in spirits and beer, that the Lord Lieutenant of the county recommended him for the Commission of the Peace three years ago, that the "Irish Times" newspaper withdrew the paragraph in reference to the appointment, and that they inserted a highly complimentary article; whether this Mr. Robert Bedford Daly is the same person who, at the Spring Assizes in 1866, had an action brought against him by one Thornton for work and labour performed, and money paid for hiring mobs at Mr. Whitworth's Election, and who lodged £15 in Court; and, whether, under all the circumstances, he is prepared to sustain the appointment of Mr. Robert Bedford Daly as a magistrate for the borough of Drogheda?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON, in reply, said, he had made further inquiries in reference to the appointment of Mr. Daly since the hon. and gallant Gentleman gave Notice of his Question, and he found that in all essential particulars his right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade was correctly informed when, in answer to a similar Question a fortnight ago, he said Mr. Daly was not a publican in the ordinary sense of the word. Mr. Daly had a large business as an auctioneer, and was also a member of a grocery firm carrying on an extensive business, in which was included a wholesale and retail wine and spirit trade, but this was managed entirely by Mr. Daly's partner. Mr. Daly was under some misapprehension in regard to the transfer of the licence. He took what he supposed to be the requisite steps, with a view to procuring the transfer; but it turned out that all the necessary formalities had not been executed, and the transfer had not been completed. The President of the Board of Trade was not misinformed when he said that the Lord Lieutenant of the county recommended Mr. Daly for the commission of the peace three years ago, and it was true that The Irish Times published a complimentary article 1667 in reference to the appointment. It was true that an action was brought against Mr. Daly by a person named Thornton; but the jury found no verdict. With regard to the Question as to whether he was prepared to sustain the appointment, he had only to repeat that, as the result of inquiries he had made, he agreed with the opinions of his right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade, that Mr. Daly was a fit person to receive the commission of the peace, and he believed the appointment had been received with very general support and favour by politicians on both sides in the borough.