HC Deb 20 April 1882 vol 268 cc986-7
MR. LALOR

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Is it the fact that suspects who are now in gaol under the Coercion Act, and who are owners and editors of newspapers, are permitted to write for their journals, provided they shall not refer to imprisonment or to Government; and that in all doubtful cases the governor of the prison shall forward the manuscript of a leading article to the authorities of Dublin Castle; and, if it be not a fact that, in consequence of such regulations, leading articles have been kept back for a fortnight?

MR. W. E. FORSTER,

in reply, said, it was a fact that prisoners confined under the Protection Act were permitted to write for their journals, upon condition that they did not in any way carry on agitation or proceedings which would be thought necessary to detain them. When the Governor of the prison considered articles or communications to be objectionable, he informed the persons concerned that the communications would not be forwarded. The person could then request the Governor to forward them to him (Mr. W. E. Forster) or the Under Secretary. He was not aware that leading articles had been kept back for a fortnight.

MR. LALOR

asked if it was not a fact that the editors were not allowed to mention anything in regard to prisoners, nor in regard to the Government of the country?

MR. W. E. FORSTER

said, undoubtedly the editors could not, from the prisons, write articles complaining against the Government or their treatment.