§ MR. SEXTONasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether, since the 30th of March last year, the Justices of the Enniscrone (county Sligo) Petty Sessions have had before them five summonses against Mr. Patrick Maughan, day-car proprietor, and the same number of complaints against Mr. H. R. Blakeney, day-car proprietor, for having more passengers on the cars than they were registered to carry; whether Mr. Maughan, on the five complaints against him, was fined £4 2s. 1d., whilst Mr. Blakeney, on the five complaints against him, was fined only 10s. 6d.; whether, on the first summons heard on the 31st March, 1883, Mr. Henn, R.M., fined the defendants one penny each, but, on a subsequent occasion, last year, fined Mr. Maughan a guinea, and, since then, on the 23rd of last month, fined Mr. Blakeney only half a crown; whether Mr. Blakeney is the deputy county surveyor: and, what is the explanation of the difference between the penalties inflicted on the two defendants by the same magistrates?
§ MR. TREVELYAN, in reply, said, he was not able to go fully into this case; but he believed that the amounts of the fines referred to were correct, but the two persons had not committed a similar number of offences. Where the cases were similar, both defendants were fined in the same amount, except that, in one case, Maughan's fine was put at a guinea at his own request, in order that he might appeal. It was correctly stated in the Question that Mr. Blakeney was the deputy county surveyor.