§ MR. COX (Clare E.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If he can cite any precedents for the action of the Local Government Board in dismissing, by sealed order, Mr. Patrick Loughry, poor rate collector in the Tulla Union, without any previous communication with the local Board of Guardians; can he state whether it is a fact that the "illegal proceedings" Mr. Loughry was alleged to be concerned in, and for which he was sentenced to 14 days' imprisonment, in default of giving bail to be of good behaviour, and for which he was three months afterwards dismissed by sealed order, consisted in being one of a large party engaged in a hunt with a local pack of harriers; whether it is a fact that the Guardians, having complied with the orders of the Local Government Board to advertise for a successor to Mr. Loughry, and having received no application for the office, passed a Resolution on May 29, stating that— 1123
The Guardians deem it their duty to let the Local Government Board know that it is the belief of the Guardians that no eligible person will apply for the office so long as their sealed order, with the Chief Secretary's signature to it, remains in force;whether, at the meeting of the Board of Guardians on the 19th instant, a Resolution was adopted, again informing the Local Government Board that there was no response to their advertisement for candidates for the vacant situation, and again directing the attention of the Local Government Board to the Resolution of the 29th ultimo, also pointing out that—A large number of poverty-stricken persons have been for the past two months deprived of out-door relief owing entirely to the effect of this sealed order,and, whether, as President of the Local Government Board, he will give instructions to have the order withdrawn?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR) (Manchester, E.), in reply, said, two cases of the kind had occurred—one, the case of the hon. Member for South Cork, and the other, the case of Dr. Magner. Loughry was convicted as one of the promoters of an illegal assembly of 300 or 400 people, who assembled under the guise of a hunt to intimidate persons from taking certain farms in order that the lands might become derelict. The representations in question were made to the Local Government Board; but, as he had already explained, the outdoor relief was discontinued not because of the dismissal of the man—the payment of it had been stopped before that—but because of the financial condition of the Union.