§ MR. T. M. HEALY (Longford, N.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord 1599 Lieutenant of Ireland, On whose recommendation was Mr. Wrench made a Land Commissioner; to how many landlords was he agent, and who were they; is he the same Mr. Wrench whoso conduct was condemned by the Court of Appeal, in December, 1885, for refusing to weigh for certain Catholics in Clones, where a solo right of weighing pork is assorted by the landlord to whom he was then agent; and, did the Government ascertain how many tenants had judicial rents fixed on the properties with which the new Land Commissioner was connected?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR) (Manchester, E.)The office is not in the gift of the Irish Government. I have no information on the second and fourth paragraphs. With respect to the third paragraph, I am informed that Mr. Wrench's conduct was never condemned by the Court of Appeal. The action referred to was one in which no question of religion was involved, and turned solely upon the rights of a patentee of fairs and markets, whose agent Mr. Wrench was. The Court merely decided on certain questions of law, holding that the patentee could not sustain his rights to the extent claimed by him.