§ MR. TOTTENHAMrose to put the following Question which stood in his name:—To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, On what authority he has stated that there are only 10,000 proprietors of land in Ireland, and of whom half are absentees; whether his attention has been given to the results of a Return moved for by himself, and presented to Parliament on the 11th of August 1876, by which it appears that the total number of owners of land in Ireland is 68,716; and also to those of a prior Return, presented to the House of Commons on the 23rd of April 1872, by which it appears that the total number of owners of property in country or rural districts in Ireland is 19,547, of whom 3,134 are stated to be either partially or wholly absentees, and whether he has any reason to doubt the accuracy of the Return, by which it appears that the proportion of absentees would be under one-sixth of the whole; and, whether the statement made by him is not wholly incompatible with such Returns?
§ MR. A. M. SULLIVANasked the Speaker, Whether it was in Order to put such a Question, referring, as it did, to a statement which had been made by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in that House during the present Session?
MR. GORSTpointed out that, for all the information which could be gathered from the Question, the statement to which it related might have been made anywhere else.
§ MR. A. M. SULLIVANsaid, the hon. Gentleman who put the Question would not deny that it referred to a statement which had been made in that House during the present Session.
§ MR. SPEAKERIf the Question relates to a speech made by the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the present Session, it will be out of Order to put it. It is, however, for the hon. Member himself to say whether his Question does refer to a speech made in the present Session or not.
§ MR. TOTTENHAMadmitted that the Question did relate to a speech made in the House in the present Session.
§ MR. JOHN BRIGHTPerhaps, Sir, I may be allowed to give an explanation, notwithstanding that the Question itself is ruled to be scarcely regular. My statement was not intended to be statistically accurate. The House will recollect that I was engaged in arguing that the great calamity of Ireland was the immense preponderance of the tenant over the proprietary class. I was speaking without having made reference, or, at least, any immediate or recent reference, to Returns, and said, as far as I can recollect, the tenants were 500,000, and the proprietary class 10,000 or 12,000. That is the way I have generally put it. Well, referring to the proprietary class, I do not take into consideration persons who hold one, two, three, four, or five acres of land; but I took a certain class which I understood to be, in a certain sense, socially and politically influential, by reason of its being a proprietary class; and although I did not explain it—and I am sorry I did not explain it, because I think my statement was a little open to misconception—I should have said I took as my numbers generally for the proprietary class the' persons who held land of 100 acres and upwards. During the last few years there has been a considerable addition to the smaller class of proprietors purchasing under the Church Commission and under the Land Act. But, taking it as I have stated it, it seems that of 100 acres and upwards there are over 13,000 proprietors in Ireland. I think I said there were from 10,000 to 12,000. I stated also that the tenants were about or over 500,000; but I think I understated the number a good deal, and I understated also the proprietors. But I believe, however accurately the figures are looked into, they will be equally potent for my argument—that the tenant class is so numerous, and the proprietary class so small, that the opinion of the tenant class is overwhelming 1063 in its power against that of the proprietary class, and that it would be an enormous advantage to Ireland if the proprietary class were 10 times as numerous as it is. I hope that explanation will be sufficient. I did not pretend to believe or know that I was precisely accurate, but I think that the argument I was using was a correct one; and I think, whatever the figures, the force of that argument will not be in any way impaired.