COMMITTEE. (Hansard, 10 September 1886)

§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Sir MICHAEL HICKS - BEACH) (Bristol, W.)
Sir, I wish to state to the House very shortly what is the result of the consideration given to this subject by the Government. The House will recollect that before we came into Office our Predecessors had appointed a Commission of three Gentlemen to inquire into the disturbances at Belfast. We had no reason to find fault with the composition of that Commission, except that it seemed desirable that there should be upon the Commission a Gentleman having experience of the management of police. That addition was made. Then we found there was a very general desire that, in order to make the inquiry complete, Parliament should be asked to confer certain powers upon the Commission which it did not at the time possess, and accordingly this Bill was introduced for that purpose. In the course of the debate on the second reading of the Bill, it appeared from statements made in various quarters of the House that there was a feeling that the construction of the Commission was not quite what might be desired, and also that a Commission vested with the powers proposed to be conferred by this Bill should be strengthened in what is called the judicial element. Well, Sir, I promised to consider these points, and I am able to state to the House that there is reason to suppose that we may be able to obtain the services of Mr. Justice Day, a man of great judicial experience, as Chairman of this Commission. If that proposal should commend itself to the House, we should be prepared, of course, to proceed with the Bill; if, on the other hand, it should not so commend itself, there is no desire on our part to press it upon the House, and least of all would I put forward the name of Mr. Justice Day if I thought 158 it would be made the subject of criticism on the floor of this House upon any ground of partiality or personal feeling. Having made this brief statement, I venture to hope that the Bill may commend itself to hon. Members on both sides of the House.

§ MR. SEXTON (Belfast, W., and Sligo, S.)
Mr. Speaker, the announcement made by the Chief Secretary for Ireland as to the proposed alteration of the Belfast Commission has taken us, of course, entirely by surprise. The right hon. Gentleman makes an announcement of a very important character, and wants us to agree to it at once. I submit to him that we ought to have time to consider whether the Chairmanship of Mr. Justice Day will, in our opinion, militate against the object we have in view. We shall certainly have to consider the matter, and I ask the right hon. Gentleman to allow us to give our decision on Monday.

§ SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH
I did not say that Mr. Justice Day would be appointed to the Commission, but that I had reason to believe he would be willing to give his services. With regard to the proposal of the hon. Member, I hope he will allow the Speaker to leave the Chair, and then we will at once move to report Progress. I wish it clearly to be understood that we will not proceed with this Bill as a contested measure, and that if hon. Members cannot bring themselves to accept the proposal we make the Bill will not be pressed.

§ MR. SEXTON
Sir, I wish to point out that if you leave the Chair now it would be impossible for us on Monday to state our reasons for objection. On the other hand, it would be open to us to do so if the debate were adjourned till Monday.

§ SIR JAMES CORRY (Armagh, Mid)
Sir, I heartily approve the announcement made by the right hon. Gentleman the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, and therefore hope this Bill will be allowed to proceed.

§ MR. T. W. RUSSELL (Tyrone, S.)
Sir, I was perfectly satisfied with the original announcement of the right hon. Gentleman; but I think that 159 the Commission should command the confidence, not of the people of Great Britain alone, but of the Catholic element in Belfast. I am not in a position to say whether or not the appointment of Mr. Justice Day will go in the direction I have indicated. I am quite unwilling to suppose that it will not; but we cannot shut out the religious question in this matter; and unless the presence of Mr. Justice Day will strengthen the Commission in the sense of commanding the confidence of the Catholics, I think it would be very much better that the Commission should stand as it is.