§ MR. LALOR (Queen's Co., Leix)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If it is a fact that so far back as the 1st day of July, 1873, Matthew S. Cassan, of Sheffield, in the Queen's County, swore that he had no claim whatever to the estate of his wife, Phœbe Cassan, of Sheffield; if it is a fact that the said Matthew S. Cassan has lately sworn that his wife, the said Phœbe Cassan, died on the 27th of January 1886, and that a suit is pending in the Courts to determine who is the legal owner; is it a fact that on or before the 20th February last, the said Matthew S. Cassan lodged with the clerk of the Mountmellick Board of Guardians a claim to vote at the election of a guardian for the Kylecolemanban Division of said Union as owner and occupier of the said estate; is it a fact that the said Matthew S. Cassan did vote at the said election on the 19th instant, both as owner and occupier of the said estate; did his votes have the effect of returning Joseph Cassan as Guardian for the said Division, in the place of Edward Cooke, the late Guardian; and if, under these circumstances, the return of Mr. Joseph Cassan as Guardian for the said Union is legal; and, if the said election be not legal, will he take steps to prevent the said Joseph Cassan from exercising the functions of Guardian until the legality of Matthew S. Cassan's votes are tested?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. JOHN MORLEY) (Newcastle-on-Tyne)The 733 Local Government Board have no knowledge of what Mr. M. Cassan might have sworn in 1873; but they have documents before them that he was primâ facie properly allowed to vote at the Poor Law elections, and no objection to the return made has been lodged with them. If any objection was lodged it would be the duty of the Board, of course, to investigate it; but, in the meantime, they have no power to prevent the gentleman who has been returned from exercising his function as Guardian.