MR. JUSTIN HUNTLY M'CARTHY (for Mr. JOHN O'CONNOR)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether it was at the instance of the English Government that Mr. James Stephens has been placed under arrest by the French police authorities; whether Mr. Stephens's opinions are opposed to what is termed the "dynamite policy," and that he has repeatedly expressed and published his disapproval of such policy; whether the Government will at once intimate its desire to the French authorities to have Mr. Stephens set at liberty before permanent injury be done him; and, whether the recent arrest of Mr. James Stephens in Paris was due to any suggestions or promptings of Her Majesty's Government?
§ SIR WILLIAM HARCOURTThe arrest referred to in this Question was not made at the instance, or, indeed, with the knowledge, of the English Government at all. As to the second part of the Question, as far as I know, the statement as to Stephens's opinions upon the use of dynamite is correct. As far as regards the last part of the Question, it is not a matter in which the Government would think themselves justified in interfering with the action of the French authorities; and from information which has reached me—not official information—Stephens is not in custody, nor is he in France, but was ordered to leave the territory, and I believe he has done so.