HC Deb 10 May 1881 vol 261 cc174-5
MR. BURT

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If his attention has been called to an article which appeared in the "Newcastle Chronicle" of the 3rd instant, under the heading of "What the Miner's Agents saw in Galway," in which, among other statements of great hardship and poverty suffered by the tenants and labourers, it is declared that a system of slavery and forced labour exists in that part of Ireland; whether, in particular, he has noticed the following passage:— Mr. Bryson remarked, on the principle that a horse may be led to the water yet he cannot be made to drink, that, after going to the landlord's place by compulsion, they need not work harder than they liked; but he was met by the retort from the men to the effect that the agent, or some one deputed by him, stood over the tenant, armed with a stout cudgel, which he did not fail to lay on to the back and shoulders of the tenant if he showed any signs of shirking his work. The exclamation 'Impossible!' broke out from both of us involuntarily, as we could not for one moment realise that such a system of slave-driving could exist. Up jumped one of the men before us, a respectable-looking man enough, who told us that if we had the slightest doubt on this matter of the stick, he would then and there strip to the skin, and show us undeniable evidence of the beatings he had sustained, the shape of sundry bruises and discolouration which he had received at the hands of the bailiff; whether he can confirm, contradict, or give any information relative to these statements; and, if they are true, whether he can do anything to afford protection to these tenants and labourers against the infliction of such gross cruelties and indignities upon them?

MR. W. E. FORSTER

The hon. Member was kind enough to show me the newspaper from which he has made an extract, and I cannot believe that there is any truth in the statements referred to. I have received no information, either official or otherwise, which tends in the slightest degree to confirm them, and I really think the statements appear to be quite incredible.

MR. T. P. O'CONNOR

asked, whether the right hon. Gentleman had received information contradicting those statements?

MR. W. E. FORSTER

If the House looks at this Question, it will see that it is utterly impossible for me to have received such information. The statement is that injury has been inflicted on some persons in the county of Galway. I do not suppose that anyone who is in official communication with me is acquainted with everybody in the county of Galway. We have never received any information which gives us the slightest reason to believe it is true, and I do not believe it.