HC Deb 29 July 1887 vol 318 cc541-2
SIR THOMAS ESMONDE (Dublin Co., S.)

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, On what grounds has County Dublin been proclaimed?

MR. CLANCY (Dublin Co., N.)

Before the Question is answered, I beg to ask whether the Return of crime for County Dublin last quarter was a blank; whether for the previous quarter it was also a blank; whether for the quarter ending 31st December, 1886, it was also a blank; whether for the quarter ending 30th September, 1886, it contained one crime, a threatening letter; whether for the quarter before that it was also a blank; whether for the quarter before that it contained a record of but one crime, an incendiary fire, which never took place; and whether the quarter before that was also a record of only one crime; whether, as a matter of fact, there have been as many crimes committed in County Dublin in 10 years as there are in one month in a similar district of nearly the population in any part of England; and, whether the proclamation of County Dublin is due not at all to the presence of crime, but simply to the expulsion of the right hon. and gallant Gentleman the Member for the Isle of Thanet from the representation of the county?

MR. SPEAKER

Order, order! The hon. Member is putting his Question in a very argumentative form, and is, therefore, out of Order.

THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER SECRETARY (Colonel KING-HARMAN)(who replied) said (Kent, Isle of Thanet)

Dublin has been proclaimed only under those parts of the 2nd section which deal with taking forcible possession and assaults on officers of the law. The Chief Secretary, in his previous answer, has explained that Sub-section 3 may, in the opinion of the Government, very properly be part of the ordinary law.

SIR THOMAS ESMONDE

How many cases of taking forcible possession have occurred in County Dublin?

MR. CLANCY

Is it true that there has been a single case of the sort in County Dublin within the last 10 years?

[No replies.]

MR SEXTON (Belfast, W.)

I would ask the right hon. and gallant Gentleman whether or no offences of the kind specified in the Proclamation have taken place in County Dublin within the memory of man; what practical objects the Government propose to themselves by transferring the trial of offences which have not been committed in the county out of the ordinary jurisdiction?

COLONEL KING-HARMAN

I am afraid I have a good many things to answer for; but I could not answer for the memory of man. I think my answer was that the Government considered that, at the present juncture in Ireland, the sub-section might very properly be made part of the ordinary law.

SIR THOMAS ESMONDE

asked whether the only offence in County Dublin was the cutting off of the tail of a landlord's cow?

MR. SPEAKER

Order, order!