§ MR. M'CARTAN (Down, S.)asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been called to the strong protests made by the different Boards of 699 Poor Law Guardians in Ulster against the alleged injustice and inconsistency of the alterations made by the Land Commission in the temporary adjustment of judicial rents for last year; whether he will give copies of the instructions sent to the scrutineers and to the Excise officers on whose return of prices this alteration is said to have been grounded; and, whether he will grant a Return showing the prices of produce furnished, and the reports made, by these scrutineers and Excise Officers in respect of the different districts over which they were appointed?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe Land Commissioners inform me that protests have been received from some Boards of Poor Law Guardians in Ulster against the order and schedule of alterations of judicial rents for the year 1888, published by the Irish Land Commission in December last. The Commissioners have no objection to furnishing copies of the instructions sent by them to the serutineers of prices and Excise officers employed. The alterations in the judicial rents, as specified in the schedule, were arrived at by applying the information the Commissioners received from the sources indicated, according to the instructions afforded by the 29th section of the Act; but the Commissioners adhere to the opinion, already expressed on several previous occasions, that they should not be required to furnish returns of the information supplied to them or of their methods of procedure.