§ MR. DE COBAIN (Belfast, E.), who had a Notice on the Paper of his intention to put a Question to the Chief Secretary for Ireland, in reference to the action of the Mary Street Branch of the Irish National League, Tralee, on the occasion of the recent election of Poor Law Guardians for the Tralee Union, having intimated to Mr. Speaker that he did not intend putting the Question, Mr. Speaker did not call upon the hon. Gentleman, but called upon Mr. W. H. Smith (Strand, Westminster), whose name was the next on the Paper.
§ MR. T. M. HEALY (Londonderry, S.)I rise, Sir, to a point of Order. I have received a communication on the subject of the Question of the hon. Member for East Belfast (Mr. De Cobain). I am informed that it contains serious charges against individuals which are altogether unfounded. [Cries of "Order!"]
§ MR. SPEAKERThe Question to which the hon. Member refers has been 438 passed over, and is not now before the House.
§ MR. T. M. HEALYWhat I wish, Sir, to know is, whether an hon. Member is entitled to put down upon the Notice Paper a Question involving a disgraceful—I may say an indecent—attack upon innocent persons, and then to absent himself and run away from his Question without giving the Minister to whom the Question was addressed an opportunity of replying and of clearing, in this House, the characters of the persons attacked? I wish to know, Sir, whether it will be competent for me to ask the Question of the Chief Secretary for Ireland myself?
§ MR. SPEAKERThe Question referred to has been postponed; but it will be competent for the hon. Member, if he thinks that it contains a reflection upon the character of anybody, to ask any Question which he thinks will place the matter in a proper light before the House.
§ MR. T. M. HEALYThat being so, I beg to ask the Question which appears upon the Paper in the name of the hon. Member for East Belfast (Mr. De Cobain).
§ MR. SPEAKERI must again point out that the Question upon the Paper has been postponed. If at any time subsequently it should be put, it will be open for the hon. Member to found another Question upon it.
§ At a later stage, after the Questions on the Paper had been gone through,
§ MR. T. M. HEALYsaid, in order to test the manner in which Questions in this House are being made use of by hon. Members from the North of Ireland, I will now put to the Chief Secretary the Question which stands in the name of the hon. Member for East Belfast (Mr. De Cobain), and which is as follows:—
To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether his attention had been drawn to the fact, that the Mary Street Branch of the 'Irish National League,' Tralee, on the occasion of the recent election of poor law guardians for the Tralee Union, threatened in the most serious manner any voter who would support Mr. John Dundon the Conservative candidate; and who would withhold his suffrages from Mr. William Flynn the late chairman of the Tralee Board of Guardians; whether the 'League' had supplied a large quantity of intoxicating drink to voters, and, in consequence of this, a man named 439 William Denny, was brought into Tralee in a state of insensibility, that Drs. Murray and Mulally were obliged to use the stomach pump, with the result that they extracted a pint and a-half of alcohol from the unfortunate man; and, whether Her Majesty's Government will take steps to set aside this election in consequence of these practices?My chief reason for putting the Question is that I have received communications respecting the innocent parties named in it, and upon whom most disgraceful attacks are made by the shameless statements put forward in the Question.
§ MR. SPEAKERIt is a Rule of this House that it is not competent for one hon. Member to put a Question which appears in the name of another hon. Member, and which that hon. Member wishes to withdraw. But I think there is great force in the protest which the hon. Member for South Londonderry (Mr. T. M. Healy) has made, and that Questions which reflect upon the character of individuals ought not to be allowed to remain on the Paper a moment longer than is necessary. Therefore, if the Chief Secretary for Ireland chooses to reply to the Question I shall make no objection to its being put.
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. JOHN MORLEY) (Newcastle-on-Tyne)The police report that there is no such branch of the National League in Tralee as the Mary Street Branch; that there was no candidate named John Dundon, and that William Flynn was not a candidate. They can find no support for the statement as to drink being supplied at the election, and they say that the story about William Denny is entirely without foundation.
§ MR. E. HARRINGTON (Kerry, W.)May I ask the right hon. Gentleman, whether he is aware that the only William Denny in Tralee is or not a nephew of Sir William Denny, a Conservative, and of the same politics as the hon. Gentleman who gave Notice of the Question?
§ MR. JOHN MORLEYI really cannot answer for the genealogy of all the Dennys in Tralee.