§ MR. DE COBAIN (Belfast, E.)asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether, among other expressions of opinion elicited by his appeal as to the state of feeling in Ireland in relation to the establishment of a separate Parliament for that Country, his attention has been drawn to the very grave condition of things in that portion of the Empire, as evidenced by the communications addressed to The Record by four hundred 1502 and sixty of the beneficed clergy of the Irish Church in the provinces of Munster, Leinster, and Connaught, showing that there were three hundred and fourteen cases of boycotting; whether it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government to ascertain whether such cases are authentic; and, if so, how do they propose to redress that condition of things; and, in view of the fact that the present revenues and the security of the invested capital of the Church of Ireland have been seriously affected by the present crisis, whether he will take steps to have transferred the mortgages of the Irish Church body from the threatened security of Irish land to Government securities, in order that the Church may not lose any large portion of what was left her of her diminished patrimony?
§ MR. SEXTON (Sligo, S.)May I ask whether the last part of the Question is in Order?
§ MR. SPEAKERI have noticed the paragraph; but I do not perceive that it is out of Order.
THE FIRST LORD (Mr. W. E. GLADSTOKE) (Edinburgh, Mid Lothian)The courtesy of the editor of a newspaper has supplied me with a copy of this information which is not otherwise in our possession in that form; but I have no reason to suppose that it adds to the information already placed before us by the observations and inquiries of the police. If there are any cases not known to the police I should be very happy to make them the subject of inquiry. Of course, we are aware that there is a serious amount of pressure upon individuals from the system known as "Boycotting" in Ireland. In the month of October last there were 800 or 900 cases of that kind; but that is now five months ago. Since that time there has been no increase in the number of these cases. In regard to the closing paragraph of the Question, I am bound to say that I do not regard the matter referred to as in any way connected with the duty of the Government. I think it would be a very unmanageable responsibility for us to recommend or procure investments of funds belonging to the Church Body in Ireland, which is, of course, essentially a private association; and I am not at all sure that the members of that Body would feel themselves placed under any obligation to us if we were so to interfere.