§ MR. J. F. X. O'BRIEN (Mayo, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that Head Constable Preston, of the Royal Irish Constabulary, was, on behalf of the Times, allowed to visit the prisoner, Thomas Tracey, when brought over to Millbank Prison as a witness for the Special Commission; whether Head Constable Preston saw Tracey in a room without the presence of a warder; and whether he will now allow a similar visit by the solicitor of the hon. Member for South Mayo, who is one of the persons charged by the Times before the Special Commission, and against whom, it is alleged, the agents of the Times sought to induce Tracey to give evidence?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI have already stated to the House, in a previous reply, that it is the case that Head Constable Preston visited Tracey in prison. The visit was not on behalf of the Times, but at the request of the prisoner, and, as already stated, in the presence of the chief warder in charge of the prisoner. Applications to visit prisoners should be addressed to the General Prisons Board.
§ MR. MACNEILLUnder what power had this constable a roving commission to visit prisons in England, and was he paid for his visit?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI must ask the hon. Gentleman to put the question on the Paper.
§ MR. M'CARTANasked the right hon. Gentleman if he was aware that Head Constable Preston visited the prisoner as agent to Mr. Soames; and is he aware that on Friday morning last Tracey was removed from Belfast Gaol to Clonmel, and was refused permission to see his solicitor?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI have no information in regard to the second part of the question, while with reference to the first the question has been sufficiently discussed in the House of Commons, and I would refer the hon. Gentleman to the reports in Hansard.