§ MR. BIGGARasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether his attention has been drawn to a report in The Irish Times of the 7th November of the case of Mark S. Synnott v. Margaret Murphy, heard before the Queen's Bench Division, in which Mr. Justice O'Brien is reported to have stated that there had been a gross fraud upon the Treasury; whether he has made himself acquainted with the facts of this case, and whether he is aware that the persons implicated in this matter, namely, Mr. Mark S. Synnott and Mr. Parker G. Synnott are both in the Commission of the Peace for the county of Armagh, and the former also a deputy lieutenant; and, whether it is intended to direct a prosecution against them for this alleged fraud, or to call the attention of the Lord Chancellor to it?
§ THE SOLICITOR GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. WALKER)Perhaps the hon. Member will allow me to answer. I have seen the Report referred to; but I am informed that what Mr. Justice O'Brien said was that a fraud would be practised on the Treasury if the sale was allowed to stand. The proceedings under the Arrears Act were quite regular, and no prosecution could be sustained under that Act. The action of the landlord consisted in endeavouring to execute a judgment which was in legal effect satisfied. There may, no doubt, be a civil remedy for this against the landlord; but it is not, in our opinion, a case in which a criminal prosecution could be 1456 brought, or the matter should be referred to the Lord Chancellor.