§ MR. PARNELLasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether the Government have any information as to an instruction by the House of Representatives of the United States of America to their Foreign Affairs Committee, to inquire into the circumstances of the conviction of Edward O'Meagher Condon, an American citizen; and to report whether the United States should interfere by a remand for his release or an appeal to British clemency; and, whether the Government will lay before the House information as to the charge upon which Condon was convicted, his sentence, and present place of imprisonment?
§ MR. BOURKEOn the 28th of February, 1874, a Petition was submitted to the House of Representatives in the United States by Mr. Banning, Member from Ohio, with reference to the case of Edward O'Meagher Condon, and on the 3rd of April a resolution of the House of Representatives was passed requesting the President to cause a representation to be made to Her Majesty's Government favouring the release of the convict. That resolution was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Eclations, where it remained until the 2nd of March, 1875. On that day the Chairman of the Committee brought it before the Senate, and asked to be discharged from the further consideration of it. That request was agreed to, and the resolution of the House of Representatives referred to by the hon. Member was thus disposed of. A telegram has appeared in the papers within the last few days announcing that the House of Representatives have lately passed a resolution similar to that passed in 1874, but no official information has reached us on the subject.
§ MR. PARNELLasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether Edward O'Meagher Condon, an American citizen, is now a prisoner in Spike Island Convict Prison; and, if so, whether he has been handcuffed or chained in his cell during any portion of his imprisonment; and, if so, how often, and for how long a period, and for what reasons such punishment has been inflicted?
MR. ASSHETON CROSSThe hon. Member must have been misled by in- 1026 formation he has received. The prisoner named is not in Spike Island Convict Prison and never has been there. He has never been handcuffed and has never been chained.