HC Deb 11 June 1883 vol 280 cc205-6
COLONEL KING-HARMAN

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether he is aware that the Sub-Commissioners in Mayo have recently refused to allow the agents of landlords, who have been brought into the Court for the purpose of having their rents reduced, to cross examine the tenants on matters of fact; and, whether, as the land agent is the person who, presumably, is the most likely person to elicit the truth in reference to matters connected with the property which he is in the habit of managing, and as there appears to be no Clause in the Land Act which prohibits a person acting as agent for a property, under power of attorney, from personally appearing in a case in which his principal is concerned, he will call the attention of the Land Commissioners to the hardship which is inflicted on owners of property by this new regulation, with the view of enabling the landlords' case to be brought before the Courts in the simplest and fairest way, and without the necessity of extraneous professional advice?

MR. O'CONNOR POWER

I rise to Order. I wish to direct your attention, Mr. Speaker, to the opening lines of the second paragraph of this Question, which state that— Whether, as the land agent is the person who, presumably, is the most likely person to elicit the truth in reference to matters connected with the property which he is in the habit of managing. I hold a contrary opinion altogether; and I submit that these words are of a distinctly argumentative character, and, according to the Rules of the House, ought not to be put.

MR. SPEAKER

No doubt, it may be a matter of controversy whether the land agent is the person who is most likely to elicit the truth in reference to matters connected with the property he manages; but, at the same time, I have not thought it necessary to object to the form of the Question.

MR. TREVELYAN

Sir, the 52nd section of the Land Act specifies the persons who may conduct a case before the Sub-Commission. A landlord's agent is not included in the list; and a Sub-Commission, consequntly, acts properly in refusing to allow an agent to cross-examine a tenant, or, in any way, to conduct a case.

COLONEL KING - HARMAN

Have the Sub-Commissioners acted improperly in allowing land agents to cross-examine the tenants up to the present?

MR. TREVELYAN

I conclude that that is the case. There are only four classes of persons specified in the 52nd section, and undoubtedly the landlord's agent is not included.