§ MR. HARRIS (Galway, E.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it be true that, in consequence of not having been paid their wages, the labourers who were in the employment of Mr. J. S. Eyre, of Kiltormer, County Galway, refused to continue working for that gentleman, and that they informed the Constabulary, who strove to influence them, that they were quite willing to return to work if Mr. Eyre paid them their wages out of the £95 he had got from the Board of Works for such purposes; and, whether Constable Boardman spent three days last week ploughing and harrowing Mr. Eyre's land, and was also engaged on the 7th instant putting out manure for that gentleman; and, if so, is it allowable that constables may supplement their incomes by wages earned as day labourers, or has instructions been issued which would compel members of the Police Force to work for landlords who may be unable or unwilling to pay their labourers?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR) (Manchester, E.)All, or almost all, of the statements of fact in this Question are declared to be incorrect. It is not true that these workmen left their employer for not having been paid their wages, having been paid in advance. The reason they left him appears to have been that they desired to Boycott him. They did not complain to the police; and the police did not try to induce them to remain with, or return to, their employer. It was not a fact that Constable Boardman had done any agricultural work for Mr. Eyre.
§ MR. HARRISI fear very much that the right hon. Gentleman is very much misinformed.