HC Deb 18 July 1882 vol 272 cc891-2
MR. SEXTON

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether, in the case of Mrs. Margaret O'Grady, tenant to Major General T. C. Crowe, who applied, on the 27th ultimo, to Mr. Charles Kelly, Q.C., the county court judge of Clare, to have a fair rent fixed, the tenant's valuer estimated the fair rent at £55 10s., the landlord's valuer, Mr. William Studdert, J.P., estimated the fair rent at £65 18s., and the county court judge fixed the fair rent at £70, or nearly five pounds in excess of the sum estimated by the landlord's valuator; and, whether the Government will take any notice of the conduct of the judge?

MR. TREVELYAN

This is a serious question, Sir. I have got a letter from Mr. Kelly, and his explanation appears to me thorough and complete. Mr. Kelly says— The following are in substance the facts of the case to which your letter alludes. The valuers of both landlord and tenant valued the land in its present deteriorated condition. It clearly appeared in evidence that the land had been considerably reduced in value by the illegal conduct of the tenants, who by cutting- turf down to the gravel had rendered from 12 to 15 acres utterly unfit for cultivation, contrary to law and the custom of the country. It was doubtful whether the tenant had any right to cut turf; but whether he had or not, he certainly was not at liberty to cut away or destroy the mould under the turf. The valuers submitted that if the turf had been fairly and properly cut the land would have been worth considerably more than their valuations. I am of opinion that, according to the true construction of the Land Act, the rent ought not to be reduced if the reduction in value is owing to the default of the tenant, and on that principle I accordingly left the rent where it stood. I hope the hon. Member for Sligo will excuse me if I now read a sentence or two, not with special reference to him, but in consequence of the number of Questions put to me lately by hon. Mem- bers in different parts of the House with regard to the decisions of officers sitting judicially to administer the Land Act. Mr. Kelly says— I think it prejudicial to the administration of justice and an undue interference with the independence of Judges that a Member of Parliament should be permitted by asking a Question to insinuate that a Judge is deserving of censure. Such a question cannot properly be inquired into by Question and Answer in the House of Commons. If a party feels aggrieved by any decision a remedy is provided for him by appeal to a higher Court, where the merits of the case can be fully investigated.