§ MR. HEALYasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is the fact that in the case of Thomas Parker, tenant, Cornelius O'Brien, landlord, Messrs. Griffin and Walpole on the 2nd of April 1883, in the absence of the legal Sub-Commis- 855 sioner, decided a question of law as to the effect of a sheriff's sale, and dismissed the originating notice; that on the 31st January 1884 the case was taken before the Recorder of Cork, who refused a dismiss on the same question of law; whether the Land Commission will instruct non-legal Sub-Commissioners to refrain from deciding legal questions when they sit alone; and, if he would inquire what explanation Messrs. Griffin and Walpole have to offer?
§ MR. TREVELYANSir, the Land Commissioners inform me that during the absence through illness of the legal Assistant Commissioner, the instructions to the lay Sub-Commissioners were to comply with any application made either by the landlord or the tenant for the postponement of a case for the attendance of the legal Sub-Commissioner. These instructions were complied with; but no application for adjournment appears to have been made in the case of "Parker v. O'Brien." With regard to the case before the Recorder of Cork, the Land Commissioners inform me that they know nothing about it. They had tried to obtain information, but had failed.
§ MR. HEALYwished to know whether it was not the fact that the lay Sub-Commissioners dismissed the case upon a legal point?
§ MR. TREVELYANThe instructions are that the non-legal Sub-Commissioners are to adjourn if either party in the suit requests them to do so.