§ MR. P. O'BRIEN (Monaghan, N.)asked the Chief Secretary to the 10 Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is true that an inmate of Magherafelt Workhouse, named Frank Murphy, alleged to be an imbecile and harmless lunatic, was recently induced to leave that institution by a man named Henry Thompson, in the employment of Mr. Glover, the Returning Officer of Magherafelt Union, for the purpose of acting as an emergency man on a farm at Covick, near Draperstown, on the estate of a Mr. Devlin, and from which a widow named Kelly had been previously evicted; whether two policemen, who were engaged as a protection party to the alleged imbecile emergency man Murphy, have since been withdrawn; and, if so, was it in consequence of representations made by the police themselves, or for what other reason; and, whether the Local Government Board will cause an inquiry into the circumstances under which Murphy was removed from the custody of the Guardians?
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER SECRETARY (Colonel KING-HARMAN) (Kent, Isle of Thanet)(who replied) said, the clerk of the union reported that an inmate named Frank Murphy, whom he stated to be neither an imbecile nor a harmless lunatic, took his discharge on the 11th August and returned on the 19th. He appeared to have acted as caretaker on the farm referred to. The police were withdrawn because the house was unfit for their occupation. The Local Government Board were not aware that any person induced Murphy to leave the workhouse. It was the rule that any pauper might leave the workhouse on three hours' notice.