§ DR. COMMINSasked the Under Secretary of State for War, Whether the usual Church parade of the Irish Volunteers (the 18th Liverpool Rifle Volunteers) at Liverpool on the 16th of March ult. was prohibited by an order direct from himself or from the War Office; whether the privilege of having a Church parade has been allowed them, and practised uninterruptedly, for twenty-three years without offence and without complaint, and is the usual and regular privilege of all Volunteer Corps willing to avail themselves of it; and. whether any order was issued by the War Office prohibiting any other Corps of Volun- 1797 teers from holding a Church parade on the 16th of March last; and, if not, why was such an order issued to the Irish Volunteers of Liverpool?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONSir, it has in former years been the practice of the 18th Liverpool Rifle Volunteers (an Irish corps) to have a church parade on the Sunday preceding St. Patrick's Day, and to march to a Roman Catholic Church with their band playing. The parade has, however, resulted on previous occasions in serious disturbance of the peace, in -which person and property have suffered. The local authorities having represented the danger of these riots being repeated, I considered it best that a parade which, tended to impair the reputation of the Volunteer Force should be prohibited altogether. I may add that I have been informed that the officer who commanded the regiment last year had expressed his intention to have no more of such parades. The church parades which other regiments may hold have not been stopped, because no representation has been made of inconvenience resulting from them.