§ MR. P. J. O'BRIEN (Tipperary, N.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether a communication inclosing a Resolution of sympathy and condolence with the 1412 Reverend Mathew Ryan, C.C., was forwarded by the Tipperary Board of Guardians to that reverend gentleman at Kilmainham Prison, where he is at present confined; whether said communication was withheld from Father Ryan by the prison authorities; whether, subsequently, Father Ryan having learned of such a Resolution, sent an acknowledgment thanking the Guardians in reply; and, whether this communication was also withheld by the prison officials, who refused to forward it; and, if so, will he state on what grounds or by what authority the prison officials acted in withholding these communications?
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER SECRETARY (Colonel KING-HARMAN) (Kent, Isle of Thanet)(who replied) said: the communications referred to were detained under the Regulations governing the Correspondence of prisoners, who, though allowed full liberty to write or receive letters upon private matters, are not permitted to discuss questions of a public or Party character.