§ MR. WARTONasked Mr. Attorney General for Ireland, Whether Mr. McCarthy, the present legal Sub-Commissioner for the county of Kerry and the adjoining western part of the county of Cork, was up to the date of his appointment a member of the firm of McCarthy and Hanrahan, solicitors, extensively practising in the county of Kerry; whether he was for many years, and up to the time of his appointment, solicitor to and an active member of a society called "The Cork Land Loan Society," which carried on its operations in the counties of Kerry and Cork, chiefly among the farming classes; and, whether, having regard to the statement of the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, to the effect that Mr. McCarthy ought not longer to act as a Sub-Commissioner in West Cork on account of his professional connection with that district, he would, not, on the same grounds, cause him to cease to act as Sub-Commissioner for the county of Kerry?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. W. M. JOHNSON)Sir, Mr. M'Carthy was formerly a member of the very respectable solicitor's firm of M'Carthy and Hanrahan, whose office was in the city of Cork. I am aware that they carried on their profession in most parts of Ireland, including the county of Kerry. I never heard the society referred to called the Cork Land Loan Society. Its usual appellation, so far as I know, is the Cork Building Society; its operations were not confined to the counties of Cork and Kerry, but its loans were made to anyone who gave satisfactory security. There were about a dozen loans, I understand, in the County Kerry. All of them were mortgages of leasehold interests, and, therefore, did not and could not come within Mr. M'Carthy's judicial cognizance as an Assistant Commissioner. With regard to the final paragraph of the Question, my answer is as follows:—The Land Commissioners inform me that they can only say that in allocating Assistant Commissioners to districts they will carefully consider every circumstance and antecedent of each Assistant 1679 Commissioner, and will make such arrangements as will, in their judgment, be most conducive to the public interests. It is a matter which is entirely in the hands of the Land Commission, and over which the Government have no control.