§ MR. MOOREasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether; there are on the Ballymena Bench of Magistrates eight Protestant, three Presbyterian, and not one single Catholic magistrate; and, whether two of the magistrates are brothers, and have five of their cousins magistrates in the same Petty Sessions District?
§ MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANThe facts as to the constitution of the Ballymena Bench are correctly stated. It is true that two of the magistrates are brothers; but they never sit on the Bench together. There is some cousin-ship between some of the magistrates; but this circumstance in no-wise prevents them from acting impartially and honestly. The Lord Chancellor informs me that he is in communication with the Lieutenant of the county of Antrim as to the placing of a Roman Catholic gentleman on the Ballymena Bench.